Chapter 7 · Bound to the Executioner: Leveling Up With My Enemy - Chapter 7: Needles and Mind Bleed

"Get your fucking hands off me!"

I screamed it, but the sound was drowned out by the wet, slapping noise of the parasite's maw closing around my waist. The creature didn't just bite; it suctioned, pulling me deeper into the sludge-filled pipe. I clawed at the slime-slicked walls, my nails tearing, but there was no grip.

Then, a flash of silver.

Soren’s blade sliced through the air, severing the primary tentacle with a sickening squelch. The pressure vanished instantly. I tumbled backward, slamming into the shallow, freezing water of the drain with a splash that knocked the wind out of me.

"Stay down," Soren barked. He was breathing hard, his chest heaving under the ruined leather of his inquisitor's coat. He didn't look at me. He was too busy hacking at the thrashing remains of the beast, his movements jagged and desperate.

I coughed up a mouthful of metallic-tasting sewer water and glared at him. "Stay down? I almost got eaten, you arrogant prick!"

"And you're still talking," he snapped, finally turning. His eyes were bloodshot, the pupils blown wide. He looked less like a High Inquisitor and more like a wounded animal. "Can't you feel it?