But before Ruminas could be happy for long, the surrounding monsters attacked. She didn't choose to fight and immediately ran away.
"Time's up, I can't hold on any longer," said the woman.
Ruminas heard that and immediately withdrew all of her black and yellow aura, then she felt as if her body had just lost something. She knew that she could no longer use the black aura anymore.
A white stream of qi immediately appeared to replace it and Ruminas accelerated even further.
"Just one more turn and I am there!" Ruminas clenched her fists.
But, the monsters didn't think so, long range attacks started appearing from behind causing Ruminas to dodge with all her might.
She was also very tired, she hadn't had a moment to rest since the mission started, so with such a long distance to go, Ruminas showed her exhaustion.
"Damn, I have to build up my stamina after this!" she said to herself.
The problem now was that the monsters behind were very close, some even jumped forward to attack but Ruminas still dodged, she used her dagger to stab them once causing them to fall behind.
"Hey, can't you try a little harder?" Ruminas asked.
"Three times the price," the woman replied.
Ruminas was silent again.
There was no other way, she could only run for her life.
Suddenly, a giant monster jumped from the side, becoming the monster chasing Ruminas the closest, its hand suddenly stretched out making her unable to defend in time.
At this moment, a figure appeared and rushed past Ruminas, swinging a slash followed by the monster's scream. Next, another figure from the right rushed to slash the nearest monster, then another figure from the left.
Another person appeared and ran beside her as if to protect her.
"Where did all these people come from?" Ruminas wondered.
Because the hallway was too dark, she couldn't see the figures of these people clearly. She quickly blinked a few times to get a clearer view of their figures and then realized that they were all the same person.
"Achlys?!" She cried out involuntarily.
Ruminas could tell because a fire had erupted from behind, reflecting part of the figures and faces of the others.
"Hello," the voice replied immediately.
"This is…?"
"Just a clone, let them handle it," he said.
Ruminas nodded and continued running.
Thanks to Achlys and his clones, Ruminas no longer needed to worry about the monsters behind her. She focused all her strength on running —there was only one more turn to reach her destination.
The monsters still did not give up, but Achlys's clones quickly blocked their path. Each sharp slash, each spreading wave of darkness , each shadow moving as fast as lightning—everything happened so smoothly, almost forming a perfect protective screen.
Ruminas took the opportunity to glance at Achlys. He was still running beside her, his face cold but his eyes calm.
"How is the situation over there?" Ruminas asked.
"We can leave when you come back, and it's been ten minutes since I left. I don't know if those two can hold out…" He said, his voice uncertain.
Ruminas felt uneasy again, of course if possible she didn't want anyone to die because the other two were also good people, especially Aoi.
Thinking of this, Ruminas accelerated even more. Her legs were numb and aqing to the point of paralysis, but she still did not stop.
"Do you need help?" Achlys asked.
Ruminas shook her head.
Suddenly, a loud bang came from behind, and fire flared up, illuminating the dark hallway. A giant monster had just broken through a wall and appeared right in front of them, blocking their way!
"Again…!" Ruminas gritted her teeth.
"Back off"
Achlys said as he continued to advance, his sword flaring with powerful flames that made Ruminas feel some pressure but other than that she also felt another kind of power that was quite familiar.
Ruminas pondered for a few seconds and then exclaimed: "Qi!"
Achlys showed no reaction and just continued to attack, he jumped high and slashed his sword down.
The monster confidently reached out to block, but then unexpectedly its hand was pierced by the sword, followed by its entire body being cut in half.
The two body parts fell to the sides, making way for Ruminas and Achlys to continue running.
"Is that… 'qi'?" Ruminas asked softly.
"Same as you," Achlys replied.
Ruminas was a bit surprised, she had been told before that this type of power was still quite rare, but she didn't expect that so quickly she would meet someone else who knew how to use it.
"Looks like we have something to talk about," Ruminas said.
Achlys smiled slightly but did not reply.
The two of them didn't encounter any more difficulties on the remaining journey. When they arrived at the train, they saw Aoi and Renji struggling to fight off the monsters to prevent them from getting inside, but it seemed like they were about to collapse.
Both of them rushed forward and joined the group.
"Rumi-chan, you're back!" Aoi was so happy that she forgot about fighting.
"Focus, did you want to die!?" Renji shouted.
"Go start the ship!" Achlys said.
Aoi nodded and immediately ran to the control station while the other three fought off the monsters.
Monsters came from both sides, so the number was terrifying. In just a short while, their bodies were covered with wounds. Even Achlys couldn't avoid being injured.
"Why isn't it starting yet?!" Renji said loudly.
Immediately after that, the engine sounded, the train shook slightly and started moving, the remaining monsters were all blown away.
Oops!
The train officially started and left the station.
The monsters chased after them but their speed could not match and could only let out growls from behind until their figures completely disappeared.
"Sorry, I pressed the wrong button." Aoi ran out and saw three people lying in a pool of blood, each with at least a dozen wounds on their bodies.
Aoi rushed over, her face pale when she saw the condition of the other three.
"Is everyone okay?!"
"Do we look okay?" Renji panted, his hands still clenched around his weapons, blood dripping from his wounds onto the deck.
Achlys said nothing, just leaned against the ship's wall, breathing deeply to stabilize his body. Although he was still conscious, he was not much better.
"Let me bandage everyone up, okay? There aren't any first aid kits here, right…" Aoi said, then shook her head.
"No need," Ruminas replied, activating the healing effect of the bracelet she was wearing, her wounds quickly healed but her magic power was also consumed quite a bit.
"Oh, Rumi-chan, you have good stuff," said Aoi.
"My magic power is only enough to heal one more person," Ruminas said.
"I can heal myself," Achlys said, and a green aura surrounded him to help the wound heal faster.
"Oh" Ruminas also forgot that Achlys had Qi and Qi could help wounds heal faster.
She then turned to treat Renji, his face showing relief as the wounds slowly disappeared.
"Thanks, kid," said Renji.
[Stage One – Part Two Mission Completed]
[Start summarizing players' contribution levels]
"Oh, there's this thing?" Aoi said.
But the others remained silent. Although their wounds had healed, their strength had not, so they really wanted to rest but still tried to stay awake to hear the system's announcement.
[Evaluation results: 1. Ruminas (39%) 2. Achlys (37%) 3. Takahashi Renji (13%) 4. Shiranui Aoi (11%)]
[Fixed Reward: 1000 EXP, 10 Random Stat Points, 1 Skill Point, 1 B-Rank Weapon]
[Rewards by rank:]
[1. 1000 EXP, 10 Random Stat Points
800 EXP, 8 Random Stat Points 500 EXP, 5 Random Stat Points 300 EXP, 3 Random Stat Points]
"Why am I last!?" Aoi shouted.
"Because you only hide," Renji replied.
"Well, I guess it can't be helped. I'm happy that Rumi-chan got first place," said Aoi.
[The first act of the third mission has begun. You can watch it]
In addition to those notification rounds, Ruminas also received several separate notification lines.
[Summarizing the items you received]
[…]
[Received: 5410 EXP,…]
Ruminas only looked at the experience section, as there were too many other items for her to read.
"This time I have a lot of experience, it's worth it" Ruminas calculated silently. "Just a little more and I could continue evolving…"
[Enough EXP to level up]
[Level Up Reward: 5 Optional Stat Points]
[Enough EXP to level up]
[Level Up Reward: 5 Optional Stat Points]
"Ten stamina points," Ruminas chose.
[Receive random stats: +4 strength, +3 defense, +4 agility, +5 intelligence, +4 luck]
"As for this third mission, let's put it aside for now, I'm too tired…" Ruminas closed her eyes and leaned against the wall.
"Rumi-chan, are you okay?" Aoi approached, placing her hand on Ruminas' shoulder.
Ruminas nodded.
"Just a little sleepy," she replied.
Aoi was about to reply, but at that moment, a soft laugh rang out from not far away, causing all four people to immediately wake up and be alert.