Achlys saw that the other two had retreated, so he began to focus his strength on his sword. He needed a powerful enough blow to buy time and stop the monsters.
"It should have stopped them for at least a minute," He estimated.
A green aura began to appear around his body and then filled the sword, flames rose from the sword but it was dyed green making it look much more demonic than usual.
While gathering strength, Achlys had already sent another clone to start searching in the opposite direction. Once he finished using this attack, he would immediately switch to that clone to save time.
The monsters were swarming, and the most prominent among them was the giant monster that had given Renji and Aoi trouble earlier.
"Then I'll use you to open the door!"
He swung his sword down—a powerful slash that released a wave of eerie blue energy. The magical fire flared up violently, spreading like a storm, burning the entire space.
The ground shook violently. A giant crack tore through the floor, stretqing as if to swallow everything. Pillars collapsed, walls cracked, creating an artificial landslide.
The monsters were wiped out in chaos. The smaller ones were instantly blown away like dust. The giant monster roared in anger, but immediately after, it was swallowed by the magic tornado, falling into the abyss created by Achlys himself.
BOOM!
A terrifying explosion echoed throughout the tunnel, followed by shock waves.
The entire area in front of Achlys collapsed completely, blocking the path of the surviving monsters. Dust and smoke obscured vision, but Achlys was no longer there.
The moment the attack reached its climax, he switched places with his clone—a perfect plan to save time.
Further down the dark tunnel, Achlys started running after switching. Ruminas had said she would return via another path, so it was most likely from here, but when Achlys ran back, he found that the path was blocked by rocks and dirt.
"It definitely won't be that easy."
Achlys quickly opened the map and ran down another path that he thought would be most likely to meet Ruminas.
….
In another development, Ruminas was just blocked by monsters and she had to change to another path.
But-
Now she not only had to escape but also had to protect the umbrella in her hand well, otherwise the creature inside would kill her first.
Boom!
Giant parasitic snake appears.
Not knowing how many times it had blocked her path, Ruminas had wasted a lot of time because of it. She had almost run all the way to the end of the road in this area because of it.
"I have to deal with this group, otherwise if I drag them all to the ship it will be troublesome, the white qi has recovered a bit but it won't be enough to fight, the black qi is…"
Ruminas thought back to what happened earlier.
When she only used black qi for a split second to get past the snake, she almost died, now it would be a long battle so using black qi was even more risky.
But if she didn't use it, there was no way Ruminas could get through.
While she was hesitating, other monsters had already arrived, big and small monsters of all kinds, and they had surrounded her at a crossroads, with monsters now swarming from all four directions.
"I can help you suppress that thing…" Just then, the female voice from within the umbrella rang out again.
"Can you?" Ruminas asked back.
"Sure, but I have one condition," the voice continued.
"What is it?" Ruminas's expression became a bit more serious, she knew for sure that there would be no such thing as freebies.
"Be my pet for a day"
"Huh!?" Ruminas' eyes widened, not believing what she had just heard, but at this moment, the monsters charged forward.
With no other choice, Ruminas had no choice but to fight while continuing to negotiate with the voice inside the umbrella.
"I won't let you bargain, whether you agree or not is your business. Anyway, I still have a way to escape from this crowd." The voice rang out with unshakable determination and a hint of laughter as if it was very amusing about this.
Ruminas of course didn't want to agree, even if she had to fight something terrible, it was still better than being someone's pet.
She kept silent, the voice in the cell was silent too.
It takes no time.
Ruminas was the one in trouble and needed help, but it was still as calm as ever, and seeing Ruminas hesitate and then be forced to agree made it feel even more pleasure.
Ruminas was indeed in a difficult situation, she had just killed a few monsters and the amount of white qi in her body had already dropped to near rock bottom. But the monsters were getting closer, making her escape route now zero.
In the end, Ruminas gritted her teeth and said, "Alright, I accept."
"Haha, then open the umbrella" The voice rang out.
Ruminas swung her axe in a circle, knocking the monsters away and quickly followed suit. As soon as she opened her umbrella, she was met with many eyes looking down at her.
"What the—"
Ruminas got goosebumps, before she could react further, a pair of hands slowly appeared and then the woman's entire body emerged, she slowly got out of the umbrella and hugged Ruminas.
"What do you want to do…?"
"Possession"
The voice rang out right next to Ruminas's ear and the woman slowly melted into her body.
After a few seconds, Ruminas didn't feel anything unusual, which made her a little curious. At this moment, a voice rang out in her head again: "Now that you can freely use that power, I will lend you more of my abilities."
Ruminas heard this and immediately activated the black aura within her. Sure enough, there was no voice or feeling of discomfort, as if she had complete control over this black aura.
At the same time, a cold air emanated from Ruminas, causing the surrounding temperature to rapidly drop. She realized that this might be the power of that woman.
"I'll deal with the future later, right now I have to use this power to escape first!"
Ruminas gripped the axe handle tightly, feeling the new power flowing through her body. She no longer felt dizzy or exhausted like before—the dark energy now flowed naturally through her, with nothing binding or resisting her.
The surrounding temperature continued to drop sharply, making the air gradually become heavier. The surrounding monsters no longer rushed in immediately but began to hesitate, they sensed the change in her.
Ruminas didn't wait for them to have time to adapt.
Pop!
She stomped her foot on the ground, a thin layer of ice immediately spreading from her position, freezing the floor and slowing down the monsters' movement speed.
Immediately after, she swung her axe down.
BOOM!
A slash filled with black qi sweeps across, tearing apart a series of monsters in a wide area. The combination of black qi and cold air creates a terrifying effect—any monster hit is partially frozen before being shattered into pieces.
"...It really doesn't feel bad at all."
Ruminas muttered, unable to deny that she felt comfortable in her heart that her power was no longer restricted.
But the monsters were not completely scared away. The giant parasitic snake appeared again, its fanged mouth wide open, ready to swallow her whole.
"You dare block my way again and again… You are really annoying."
Ruminas took a slight step back, her body preparing for a more powerful attack. She raised her axe, black aura began to swirl around the blade, while a cold air radiated from her palm, combining with that power to form something demonic.
Inside her head, the woman's voice rang out: "Use my power properly… If not, I will have to teach you a lesson later."
Ruminas smirked coldly, then immediately charged forward.
BOOM!
She swung her axe straight at the snake, releasing all the black and cold air in a single strike. A jet-black explosion accompanied by a stream of frost spread out, engulfing the giant monster in a deadly storm of magical energy.
The surrounding monsters screeched in fear. Some began to back away, their instincts telling them that the creature before them was no longer easy prey.
Ruminas stood there, her eyes cold as she looked around. She could feel the energy still surging through her body, but she also knew not to overdo it.
However, when the dust cleared, the snake was not dead.
Ruminas frowned slightly when he saw that the snake was still moving. Even though its body was partially torn apart, and even though its tail had turned to ice, its bloodshot eyes still glowed brightly in the darkness.
"That's tough"
She tightened her grip on the axe handle, preparing for another finishing blow, but at that moment—
TROUBLE TROUBLE!
A terrifying sound rang out from within the snake's body. Cracks in the ice suddenly spread, and before Ruminas could react, the snake tore itself apart.
Swish!
The outer skin was torn away like an old shell, revealing a horror within—a new body, smaller but more agile, writhing in the cold mist.
Rebirth.
Ruminas immediately realized that this was no ordinary monster. It was not simply a parasitic snake—but a creature that could shed its skin to evolve when injured.
Its old skin was still partially frozen, but its new body was completely immune to low temperatures. Furthermore, the wound from earlier seemed to have almost completely healed.
"…Indeed, it can't be that easy. Not just that mixed monster last time, but all of these have the ability to adapt and evolve very quickly. Maybe Beru was like that last time too, but now this is my trouble."
Ruminas muttered, and as soon as he finished speaking, the new snake rushed over at terrifying speed.
Whoosh!
She dodged, but it wasn't just faster—it was smarter. Its head swiveled at an impossible angle, its mouth opening wide to spit out a stream of black slime.
Ruminas immediately swung her axe in front of her.
Sizzle sizzle!
The slime hit the axe blade, creating a piercing corrosive sound. The cold air was instantly amplified to counteract it, but Ruminas could feel an extremely strong poison spreading from the trail of slime.
Not only did it evolve in speed, but it also gained corrosive toxicity. Inside her head, the voice laughed with delight.