Answosa froze as the demonic heart was ripped away. The dark power around him quickly lost its stability, waves of black gas rising from his body as if he was being eaten away from within. But even weakened, his eyes still shone with a murderous aura.
"Do you think that's it?" His voice was low but full of menace.
Without hesitation, he charged at Ruminas with a speed that was still terrifyingly fast. She reflexively raised her hand to defend, but the moment their fists met, Ruminas realized—he was still stronger than she thought.
"What a monster…!"
Answosa's punch carried a remnant of dark power, creating a violent shockwave that spread throughout the surrounding space. Ruminas's arm shook with pain, her entire body was pushed back several meters. But before she could regain her balance, Answosa closed in again, swinging his sword straight at her neck.
Ruminas gritted her teeth, ducked down to dodge, and kicked him in the stomach. However, the kick had little effect—Answosa's body, despite being weakened , was still as hard as steel. He grabbed her leg with his hands, squeezed it tightly, and threw her straight to the ground.
Pain spread throughout her body, but Ruminas did not stop. She used her invisible power to absorb the shock and immediately counterattacked. Their punches and slashes continuously collided, neither willing to yield.
The surrounding space was continuously destroyed, huge rocks fell like rain but could not stop the pace of the two.
But then, Ruminas realized something unusual—
Even though he was wounded, even though he had lost his demonic heart, Answosa showed no signs of slowing down. No, rather, he was fighting without any concern for himself.
"Are you going to drag me down with you?" She asked through gritted teeth.
He smirked. "You think I'll let myself die alone?"
"It's funny, the one who once called himself a hunter is now so desperate to drag his prey to death with him," Ruminas sneered.
Her words seemed to have provoked him, causing him to lose the last of his reason.
His attacks became more and more ferocious, as if he no longer cared about his own body. Ruminas tried to dodge, but a punch caught her right in the shoulder, causing her to lose her balance. She tried to counterattack, but he swung his sword down.
In that moment, Ruminas realized—
I couldn't avoid it.
But somehow, "luck" was on her side.
The blade that was supposed to cut through her neck missed by a hair. A crack suddenly appeared on the ground right under Answosa's feet, causing one side of his body to sag and causing the sword to deviate. That single step was enough for Ruminas to counterattack.
She used all her strength to counterattack. The sword was immediately sent flying and Answosa also lost her momentum.
Ruminas beat him to pieces, parts of his body started falling off and eventually the entire part from his right chest to his arm was severed.
"Let's finish it!"
Ruminas gathered all of her remaining strength into her palm and charged forward.
This time, Answosa could not resist.
The punch landed, creating a shockwave so strong that the surrounding space shook. His head was blown off, his body staggered and fell.
And then, all was quiet.
After a few seconds of silence, a message appeared.
[Congratulations on successfully completing the event. Rewards will be doubled]
[Reward: 2000 EXP, 20 Random Stat Points, 2 Ghost Hearts]
[Dungeon has been cleared. Calculating the participation level of players… Ruminas: 100%]
[Since you completed this dungeon alone, there will be additional rewards]
[1st Place Reward after Completing the Dungeon: 1000 EXP, 10 Optional Stat Points, 1 Special Item]
[Additional Reward: 500 EXP, 5 Random Stat Points]
[Enough EXP to level up]
[Level Up Reward: 5 Optional Stat Points]
[Queen of Valor Mission: Part 2 Completed]
[Reward: 500 EXP, 8 Random Stat Points, 1 A-Grade Weapon]
"Wow, this is the result…" Ruminas looked at the rewards that kept appearing and cried silently.
"It's true that if you try hard, you will be rewarded."
Ruminas relaxed her body, feeling the fatigue that was about to crush her right after the battle ended. But looking at the endless stream of notifications, she couldn't help but smile.
She opened her status panel and saw the stats, EXP, and valuable rewards displayed on the screen. Two Demon Hearts, a Special Item, and even an A-Rank Weapon. These were things she never thought she could obtain in just one dungeon run.
"It was worth it…" She muttered, sitting down on the ground, feeling her body still aching.
But before he could rest for long, another message appeared.
[The dungeon will collapse after 5 minutes. Players please leave immediately]
"Wait, what?!" Ruminas immediately jumped up.
Around her, the dungeon began to shake violently. Cracks appeared everywhere, and rocks from the ceiling fell with deafening noises. There was no time to rest, she had to leave this place immediately.
"Damn, I haven't even used the reward yet!"
She quickly turned on the fastest movement mode possible, aiming for the emergency exit and dashing. Although her body had not fully recovered, now was not the time to worry about that.
"Can't die here in vain!"
Every step she took was shuddered by the dungeon's collapse. The spiraling corridors she had once traversed were now death traps, as boulders tumbled and cracks widened.
Ruminas used her chi to block everything and shatter any rocks in her path.
Final-
A blinding light enveloped her body, pulling her away from danger. When she opened her eyes again, she was standing outside, the deep blue sky stretching out before her.
Ruminas took a deep breath, then sat down on the ground. She looked up at the sky, a sense of relief filling her heart.
In the end, she survived.
"Escaped!" Ruminas screamed and fell down on the grass.
"The feeling of dying 99 times and still being alive is really different…"
But Ruminas realized that it wasn't safe outside so she started moving again. Not long after, she entered an abandoned building, and after confirming that there were no monsters nearby, she was finally able to relax.
"The air on the ground is still the best!"
After resting for a while, she started checking her stats and status. The total random stats were 33 and were divided into 9 strength points, 7 defense points, 7 agility points, 5 endurance points, and 2 luck points.
"There are still 15 optional points left… Hmm, maybe I should balance it out a bit. Especially luck, it seemed like it was just for show, but this time it saved my life." Ruminas then divided 9 points for luck and the remaining 6 points for intelligence.
[Notice: You are eligible to evolve. Please evolve quickly]
"Evolution… what?" Ruminas wondered.
[Explanation: Every time you level up 10, you can evolve once. After evolving, your level will increase by one star, and other things will also change]
"Oh, so how do you evolve?"
[Explanation: Just choose to evolve. Note: when evolving, you will lose consciousness, so choose a safe place first]
"I see, but this place probably isn't safe right now, right…? And how long will the evolution take?" Ruminas continued to ask.
[Explanation: One day]
"A whole day? Then I have to be a little careful in finding a place to evolve. Maybe I can go back to that dungeon, it's buried, but with my new power I can easily break the rocks and create a safe enough shelter."
"Yeah, okay."
[Notification: You have a message from the Heroic Queen]
"Oh, what is this again? Not directly giving a mission but leaving a message…?"
Ruminas did not rush to open it and read it, but instead returned to the dungeon, proceeded to destroy the blocking rocks, and created a shelter for herself in there to temporarily avoid the monsters.
"Okay, now let's get the rest of the problems out of the way!"