[You don’t want teammates competing for loot with you, right? You don’t want anyone to know you defeated the boss, right? Then don’t save her! Everything is as I calculated, both it and she are low on health now, just wait to reap the benefits!] The system said.
Its voice was as rational as ever.
It naturally provided instructions to maximize benefits.
It believed Milora should have all the loot, and for future safety, no one should know she took the loot to avoid attracting enemies.
So only Milora needed to walk out of the boss room alive.
[Fifteen seconds, she will be defeated in fifteen seconds.
You need to attack in the moment it relaxes after killing her! Fully thrust the sword into its back!] These were completely rational, accurate, and safe instructions.
“You—!!!!” But Milora couldn’t accept it.
How could she accept it? She wanted to step forward, but the ring tightened further, the pain in her fingers made her unable to hold the sword!
[Only ruthless people can reach the top! Don’t make me repeat myself!]
“But—”
[Just listen to me! I won’t harm you, only I will truly be good to you!]
“But…”
With red eyes, Grelou launched a brutal assault on Ji Xue! Ji Xue, skilled in swordsmanship, was good at deflecting force, but the power gap between them was too vast, and one of her hands was already severely fractured! She fought back tears and endured the pain, desperately retreating to avoid attacks, using all her skills to deflect the giant ax, but this was her limit! The next strike, the next strike would smash her into pulp!
At this desperate moment—Milora, unable to bear it any longer, acted.
[Hey!? Idiot, don’t—]
But Milora, filled with adrenaline, couldn’t care about that anymore! She was ten meters away from Grelou’s back, and those ten meters were the distance between life and death! It was too late to run over and thrust the sword in to save Ji Xue, there was only one way!
“Stop!!!!!!!!!!”
She threw an explosive bomb with all her might, hitting Grelou squarely! The sudden explosion caused the giant ax to veer slightly, narrowly missing Ji Xue’s head! At this moment, Ji Xue finally exhausted her strength, the fracture and bleeding made her unable to support herself, her legs gave way, and she fainted, while Grelou turned abruptly, charging at Milora!
Boom!!!!!
Impact.
Then, a brief sensation of floating.
Milora’s mouth was filled with the taste of blood.
She desperately dodged at the last moment, using a short sword to block, but Grelou’s elbow strike shattered the short sword, sending her flying, landing on the ground in a twisted position, coughing blood, her legs in too much pain to stand.
[Idiot!!!!! Why didn’t you listen to me!?]
“Huff… huff… hiss… ah…”
But Milora couldn’t even speak anymore, she had no room to think.
If she had listened to the system earlier, sacrificing Ji Xue, she could have killed the boss and escaped with the loot.
Now, Ji Xue was severely injured, Milora was severely injured, and the boss wasn’t dead, leading to the worst outcome.
Grelou didn’t immediately pursue, it pulled out the sword stuck in its back, the wound reaching its organs was already unbearably painful, coupled with the anger from being ambushed, it—entered the second phase.
“I’ve had enough of wild mushrooms!!!!”
For the first time, the boss shouted something in a voice humans could understand, throwing away the giant ax, then grabbing the head of the Fly Chancellor perched on its shoulder, pulling and twisting, dirty blood sprayed all over it, the big fly couldn’t ‘t even scream before dying on the spot! Covered in blood, it completely lost the last bit of restraint, letting out a roar that shook the entire underground cavern! Without the restraint of reason and mushrooms, its killing intent surged wildly, kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill!
It spread its arms, walking towards the immobile Milora, the pressure was like a tsunami crashing down, the system’s words were useless now, the only outcome awaiting her was being pounded into a pulp by its fists.
Was Feng Aotian’s path going to end just as it began?
Not only unable to protect herself, but also sacrificing her companions?
No.
No.
No.
This kind of thing, no—
“ᛗᚷᚩᛉ!”
A silver-white lightning bolt suddenly pierced through space, striking Grelou’s face!
“Holy Flame Arrow.”
A golden flame arrow followed, hitting Grelou’s chest, the dual-attribute attack of holy magic and fire left a scorched mark on its chest!
“Eh…?”
Milora and Ji Xue struggled to lift their heads, looking at the newcomers.
It was Torina and Laxis.
Why were they here?
Torina was supposed to take Anna-veil to fight the boss, and they were supposed to leave at midnight, right?
“What? Not happy to see me?” Torina said.
Although she spoke teasingly, her tone was icy, very icy, so cold it felt unfamiliar.
Her gaze at Milora lacked the usual warmth and sweetness.
On the contrary, it was filled with undisguised disappointment.
————————
Rewind time a bit—
At dusk, Torina, finally recovered, sensed something was wrong.
“Where’s Milora?”
She searched the inn but couldn’t find her, went to her room, and found everything packed up, the equipment she had given her neatly stacked on the bed, as if the room’s owner was silently saying, “I don’t want these things anymore.”
“What’s going on…”
She had a vague sense of foreboding, hurriedly went downstairs to ask the bartender, who told her he saw Milora and Ji Xue leaving sneakily.
At this moment, she happened to meet Laxis coming downstairs.
“What’s wrong, Captain? You look uneasy.”
“Someone saw Milora and Ji Xue go out, something’s not right…”
“Milora? Speaking of which, she seemed a bit off last night, I went to the bathhouse when it was empty at midnight, and ran into her coming downstairs, she was crying.”
“Huh? She was crying?”
“Didn’t you make her cry? I saw her coming down from your floor.”
“But she was in a good mood when she left yesterday… ah!” Torina realized.
After Milora left at midnight, she talked a lot with Anna-veil.
The next day, Milora’s attitude took a 180-degree turn.
If someone wanted to stir things up, consciously guiding Milora’s thoughts…?
“…Tsk! Laxis, have you seen Anna-veil!?”
“Haven’t seen her all day.”
“Where did she go at this time, seriously! Then—Laxis, are you free now? Come with me!”
“Oh? So sudden? What’s up?”
“Just come with me!!!”
So, Torina hurriedly took Laxis to the Amana Forest.
Meanwhile, Anna-veil was at a hair salon getting her hair done for the evening’s date—ah, adventure, excitedly, but unfortunately, there was no chance now~
