CHAPTER 162: SURVIVORS

Rachel continued to check one body after another, yet all she found were mangled bodies, with even the undead having failed to escape the same fate.

'Huh?'

surprised sound escaped her mouth, and a faint glimmer of life returned to her previously lifeless eyes.

She quickly shoved two skeletons aside to reveal an unconscious Iris. This young senior of hers, despite appearing pale, had suffered little to no injuries, which shocked her deeply.

Even she, who had been farther away from the group, was deeply injured, and she had even wanted to chug some potions down. Unfortunately, she couldn't anymore.

Ever since her recent debacle involving breaking free from some of the System's restraints, she had found out that some of the shop features were no longer available to her.

She had had no choice but to endure her minor injuries since then, and could only hope Sophia would heal her, which the young girl did occasionally.

So here she was, deeply injured and with no way to heal herself, while Iris, who should have suffered far worse injuries than her, remained relatively unscathed. None of it made sense.

Suddenly, the mysterious being spoke to her again.

[Didn't you shove two bodies on top of her?]

Rachel's brows furrowed slightly.

The mysterious being sighed before they continued:

[Those two boys shielded her from the explosion without a second thought for their own lives. I suspect her control over them is far stronger than she has let on. She must have been smart and conscious enough to restrain them until now.]

Rachel contemplated the being's words for a moment. It was true that the power Iris displayed, compared to that of the other Epic-ranked awakened, was somewhat lacklustre. In fact, her power seemed like a far inferior version of Rose's, but was that truly the case?

Speaking of Rose...

Rachel quickly turned in all directions, trying to guess where the little girl could be. With the explosion having thrown them in different directions, she couldn't pinpoint her exact location.

[You should kill this girl, too.]

Rachel turned back to Iris's prone figure.

[You might not be able to control her soul, but the EXP she gives you should be more than enough to propel you up over ten levels.]

She lingered for a moment before she summoned a new cloak over her body. She covered her hands in new gloves and made sure none of her skin was exposed. Only then did she bend down, pick Iris up, and throw her over her shoulder. She winced in pain as her injuries flared up, but she gritted her teeth and bore through it. With her superhuman strength, carrying the young senior was hardly a burden.

As for the mysterious being, who was still trying to convince her to kill, Rachel simply ignored them.

She wasn't a mindless killer. More importantly, she refused to let this presence control her. Not completely, anyway.

Ben was someone she hadn't hesitated to kill, as he would have died a few seconds later. As for the issue of taking his soul, that was an entirely different matter altogether. She had never liked the young teacher in the first place, and she could even argue that she had saved herself and any other survivors from having to struggle against another abomination. Yet, the thought that his soul might never find peace, trapped in the clutches of a worm, still weighed on her.

Tuning the mysterious being out, Rachel moved to find Rose. As for Kael, her mind subconsciously avoided thinking about him.

It took a few minutes, but she eventually found Rose. Yet what she saw made her yelp in fright and stumble backwards onto her rear, Iris slipping off her shoulder and landing unceremoniously on the ground.

There, barely a meter away from her, was the little girl, who was barely eight years old. There was no visible mark on her, and unlike Iris, she didn't even look pale.

Instead, she appeared to be merely sleeping.

Yet, as shocking as this was, it wasn't what had frightened Rachel so badly.

No, it was another body, just as small as Rose's, lying a few meters away from the latter.

Half her body had been ripped apart, her young blonde hair soaked in the blood that had pooled beneath her. And yet, even as a dim golden light continued to glow within her body, and flesh and bones squirmed and healed under its influence, while the spreading corruption was purged beneath its holy radiance, Sophia's single intact eye was still staring fixedly at Rachel, with a cold light flashing in its depths.

Suddenly, she opened her mouth, a cold voice that belied her young age sounding out:

"Bring me anyone who's still alive. I should be fully healed soon, and I'll help them as well."

Under the little girl's piercing gaze, Rachel found herself nodding obediently. She quickly scrambled to her feet, momentarily forgetting about Iris beside her, and hurried away...

Yet again, she had barely taken a few steps when another change occurred. A bright purple light flashed in the distance, and the old principal and the female teacher suddenly appeared before her.