ROARRRRR!!!!
It roared wildly, and the swarm of earth worms it summoned instantly grew even more frantic! They twisted and writhed horribly, ready to tear me to shreds at any moment.
"You… I see you now," it said, staring at me as if it were looking at a demon, even though it was the soulless monster.
But that frenzy… it wasn't because I'd destroyed its weak spot. I knew that better than anyone… because I'd used my power again, making it go berserk and grow stronger, just like before!
Change of plans! I quickly sheathed my sword and decided to switch to a long-range strategy. I drew my new pistol. This time I had plenty of ammo, and honestly… this might be the weapon I'm better with anyway.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
I fired continuously to hold back the swarm of worms while retreating into the forest inside Stone City's border. But then I did something stupid...
I tripped over a root I didn't see and fell flat on my face! And soon… the worms it summoned were on me! I tried to roll away and fire back, but there were just too many of them! One managed to slither past my bullets and sink its fangs into my right hand!
"Aaargh!" The searing pain made the gun fly from my grip. It was too late to draw my sword now!
"Damn it! I got careless!"
ROARRRRR!!
Suddenly, the swarm of worms dissolved, and the Soul Either charged at me with incredible speed. It must be going for the kill! But before I could even get a clear look at it...
The hellish vision appeared again! This time, it was even more terrifying. The air around me turned bone-chillingly cold, and I saw the same skeleton... bigger than before... standing tall right in front of me...
Before I heard a loud gunshot ring out! It snapped me out of the horrifying vision.
The scene before me was a woman… light brown hair, tall and slender, probably around my age. She was holding a pistol to the Soul Either's mouth and firing relentlessly! Its head was a complete mess!
But it wasn't dead… that wasn't its weak spot. She could shoot it a hundred more times and it wouldn't die!
Then she turned and glared at me with an incredibly annoyed look.
"What are you waiting for!? Hurry up and destroy its weak spot!"
She yelled at me. I quickly grabbed "Divine Moon" from its scabbard.
I gathered my last bit of strength and lunged forward, slashing my blade at both of its wrists with perfect precision!
SWISH!
The Soul Either's body froze before dissolving into black mist, leaving behind… a white crystal! It fell to the ground.
I was panting heavily, unable to believe what I was seeing… Who is this woman? The question echoed in my head.
"High-level..." she said softly, but I heard her clearly. I couldn't believe my ears.
"High... level…?" I repeated.
"Mmm... high-level, but because it recklessly entered the barrier, its power was drained until it was more like a mid-level," she explained fluently, as if this were all perfectly normal for her.
"By the way... who are you?" I finally asked.
"Hehe... got it!" She didn't answer my question. Instead, she walked over, picked up the white crystal, held it up to the sky, and grinned triumphantly.
Then she turned back to me.
"Thanks a lot! Haha!" She slapped my shoulder hard in a friendly way before starting to just walk away.
"Wait a minute! Who the hell are you!?" I shouted, stopping her.
She paused for a moment before turning back with a mischievous smile.
"My name issssss…" she drew out the word annoyingly.
"...Miwa of Greed!"
My eyebrow twitched. This girl's way of talking was way too weird.
"I'm... Rift. Uh… nice to meet you," I introduced myself, still confused.
"Rift? That's a good name!" she said, laughing cheerfully. "Thanks a lot, Rift! Heha!"
"See ya!" she said goodbye and started to walk away again.
"Wait!" I quickly stopped her again.
"What now?" She turned back with a bored expression.
"Well... could you help me with something?" I decided to take a chance.
"Could you help me… hunt two more mid-level Soul Eithers?"