Chapter 57: Greed in the Mist

Blood splashed across the dark, moss-covered bark of the giant tree root.

Summer breathed heavily, her bare feet slipping slightly in the mixture of her own blood and that of the monsters.

Without her Swift Strider Boots, she felt every rough ridge and sharp splinter beneath her soles. Without her Iron Brawler Gauntlets, every impact against the bone-dense hides of the two Level 30 beasts sent sharp shocks of pain straight through her bare arms.

Even though her body was mutilated, with bones and skin dangling down, her eyes remained as cold and emotionless as ever.

The Void-Winged Raven circled above in the dense green mist, its three vertical red eyes glowing with spatial mana.

Below, the Corrosive Thunder Toad croaked weakly, its purple warts oozing puddles of sizzling acid that ate through the wooden floor.

Both mutated monsters recognized the pale zombie girl as the primary threat. Despite her ruined clothes and bleeding body, her aura was far too dangerous.

The toad reacted first. It opened its massive maw and launched a thick stream of toxic acid directly at her face.

Summer did not retreat. She surged forward, channeling every drop of her remaining corrupted mana into her bare feet to burst across the gap. She ducked under the acid spray, but a stray droplet splashed against her left arm.

SIZZLE!

The acid instantly dissolved her skin and muscle, eating straight down to the bone. Pain spiked in her mind, but Summer did not even blink. She locked her right arm into a tight fist and drove her bare knuckle straight into the toad’s cracked lightning horn.

CRASH!

The crystal horn shattered into glowing blue fragments. The toad let out a horrifying, deafening shriek as the backfire of its own mana exploded inside its skull.

Before Summer could pull back, the Void-Winged Raven swooped down from the ceiling like a black streak of lightning. Its massive talons, sharp as steel broadswords, swept through the misty air.

SLICE!

A sharp wave of spatial wind passed through Summer’s left side. Her left arm, already ruined by the acid, was completely severed at the shoulder. Blood sprayed into the air as her arm landed heavily on the mossy ground.

Summer stumbled sideways, her balance ruined by the sudden loss of weight and the brutal impact of the wind pressure.

[Warning: High physical damage sustained!]

[HP is falling rapidly!]

The system’s blue windows flashed frantically across her vision, but Summer ignored them completely. She forced her body to pivot on her bare right foot, using her momentum to swing around just as the giant bird glided past.

She summoned every ounce of her remaining earth-element mana, creating a spike of sharp rock directly beneath the bird’s left wing.

THWACK!

The stone pillar impaled the Raven’s wing joint, locking the giant avian to the root floor for a single split second.

"Die," Summer spat out flatly.

She leaped onto the back of the struggling Corrosive Thunder Toad, using its slimy head as a launching pad. With her remaining right hand, she drove her bare fingers straight into the toad’s exposed, bleeding eye socket.

PLUNG!

She channeled a concentrated burst of heavy physical force directly into the monster’s brain cavity.

The toad’s massive body shuddered violently. Its yellow eyes went completely dull, and its giant frame collapsed onto the root, dissolving rapidly into dark ash and system energy.

[You have slain the Corrosive Thunder Toad!]

[Experience gained...]

Summer didn’t stop to read the numbers. The moment the toad turned to ash, she fell toward the ground.

The Void-Winged Raven, having torn its wing free from the stone spike, let out a furious, vengeful shriek. Its beak opened wide, unleashing its class skill: Void Slash.

A crescent blade of pitch-black spatial energy cut horizontally across the chamber.

Summer tried to dodge, but without her speed enhancements and with only one arm for balance, her reaction was a fraction of a second too slow.

CLANG! SLICE! 𝐟𝑟ⅇ

The spatial blade tore through her right leg just below the knee.

Summer hit the hard wooden floor violently, rolling across the rough bark until she crashed against the root wall. Blood pooled beneath her mutilated body.

Her left arm was gone, her right leg was severed below the knee, and her torso was covered in deep, black-stained wind gashes.

Her HP bar was hovering in the dangerous single digits.

Yet, as the giant bird hovered above her to deliver the final strike, Summer’s red eyes did not contain a single trace of fear.

Instead, a cold, vicious light flared deep within her pupils.

’Come down,’ Summer thought smoothly.

As the Void-Winged Raven dived with wide talons to crush her skull, the world around the giant avian suddenly distorted. The heavy scent of metallic blood vanished, replaced by an unsettling, silent mist.

The battered, bleeding zombie girl lying on the bark morphed into a phantom image, flickering like a shattered mirror.

It was Three.

From the very beginning of the chaotic brawl, Summer had ordered her puppet to hide in the shadowed cracks of the root ceiling, waiting for the precise moment when the monsters would drop their guard.

The Level 30 Raven’s three vertical eyes blinked in sudden confusion as its talons slammed into empty air, tearing through nothing more than a fading illusion. That brief second of disorientation was all Summer needed.

Lying a few meters to the side, mutilated and bleeding, Summer’s dark ruby eyes burned with cold determination. She channeled every remaining drop of her mana pool, forcing her system stats to the absolute limit.

A dark, corrupted aura burst from her back as the stone construct she had bound as her Echo materialized directly behind the confused Raven. The heavy stone puppet slammed its thick arms onto the giant bird’s back, pinning its spatial wings firmly to the wooden floor.

"Die," Summer muttered inwardly. With her mana pool completely dry, she directed her raw elemental control over the surrounding terrain.

The massive wooden ceiling above groaned violently as a colossal chunk of compressed earth and stone tore free, plummeting like a meteor straight down onto the trapped beast.

BOOM!

The heavy earth wall smashed onto the Void-Winged Raven with bone-shattering force. The cavernous chamber shook violently as clouds of dust, pulverized rock, and black feathers filled the air.

The giant bird let out one final, muffled screech before its massive frame was crushed into dark ash and system energy.

[You have slain the Void-Winged Raven!]

[Massive experience points acquired!]

[Level Up...]

The absolute silence returned to the hollow chamber. The green mist hung thick in the air, smelling heavily of iron, acid, and ozone.

Summer lay flat on her back against the mossy bark. Her left arm was gone. Her right leg was severed below the knee. Her clothes were shredded to ribbons, and her pale skin was coated in dried blood and dark monster ash.

Her lungs expanded slowly as she dragged air into her exhausted body. Her passive undead regeneration was working slowly, but without corruption or mana, her body felt as heavy as lead.

Still, she had won.

She had slaughtered two Level 30 mutated monsters by herself, pushing her raw combat limits to the absolute edge.

’I survived...’ Summer thought flatly, letting out a long, quiet breath of relief. She closed her eyes for a brief moment, letting her mind settle as her system interface began processing the massive experience rewards.

SHOO!

A sharp, whistling sound sliced through the quiet green mist. Before Summer’s brain could even register the high-pitched wind sound, a heavy wooden arrow tipped with reinforced iron tore through the air and drove straight into her chest.

PUNCTURE!

The broadhead arrow pierced deep into her flesh, shattering her breastbone and pinning her heart directly to the wooden wall behind her back. Summer’s eyes snapped open.

A violent shock wave of pain tore through her nervous system, forcing a harsh cough of dark blood from her lips.

"Got her!" A cheerful, triumphant male voice echoed down from the higher root ledge above. "I landed the shot! The beast didn’t even move! She’s completely pinned!"

Heavy footsteps echoed through the misty tunnel as fifteen human figures stepped out from the shadows, led by a proud blonde girl holding a rapier and a tall woman clad in refined leather.

Walking near the front of the group, holding a wooden staff with eyes wide with unhinged, dark greed, was Maya.

Summer slowly turned her head. Her dark ruby eyes, glowing with a cold, terrifying light amidst the blood on her face, fixed directly onto the approaching humans.