Twenty-four hours passed like a gust of wind. Ruminas hadn't made much progress with her training, but now wasn't the time to sit and meditate.
Everyone had gathered to prepare for the next leg of their journey. Aoi had just woken up after her evolution. With little time to spare, Ruminas briefly explained the plan and the situation.
"I get it! I'm stronger now, and I won't let you all fight alone anymore!" Aoi declared, her voice and eyes brimming with confidence.
But just as she finished speaking, a violent tremor shook the train, causing the once-steady vehicle to lurch violently.
"What the hell is this now!?" Aoi yelped, as usual.
Before they could grasp what was happening, the train arrived at a new location.
Gone was the dark, narrow tunnel. They now found themselves in a vast cavern illuminated by glowing crystals. But before anyone could admire the scenery, the cavern began to tremble slightly.
The lights in the train car flickered. In the split second when they flared back on, everyone glimpsed a massive hand emerging from the side.
It smashed through the wall, revealing itself, then slammed into the train with tremendous force, sending it careening off the tracks and tumbling several times. Those inside could only cling desperately to their surroundings to avoid being thrown around.
The train rolled over a dozen times before coming to a stop. Everything inside was in disarray, but fortunately, no one was crushed.
Ruminas shielded Aoi in her arms, sustaining a few bruises herself but nothing serious. She tested her movements, then slowly sat up.
"Aoi-san, let's go," Ruminas said.
"Okay."
The two followed the faint light, crawling toward the outside.
When they emerged, the other two had already climbed out, sporting minor injuries but with their limbs intact. The three NPCs, meanwhile, had exited earlier, unscathed.
"Oh, my back!" Renji groaned softly.
"Quite the dramatic start," Achlys said with a faint chuckle.
"Finally free! Feels so good!" the torn-mouthed woman exclaimed, stretching her arms.
"Well, I'm off," she said as her final words before vanishing.
Jack the Ripper brushed the dust off his clothes, turned to Achlys, and said, "Don't forget, I only lost to you last time because I went easy. Next time we meet, we'll settle it!"
With that, he leaped high into the air and disappeared.
"Good riddance! Being around them scared me to death!" Aoi said.
Ruminas said nothing, only glancing at The Parasol Lady.
"Are you leaving too?" she asked.
The Parasol Lady shook her head.
"I'll stay with you until you fulfill your promise," she said with a smile.
"…Alright."
"For convenience, I'll merge with you. It'll also help you control that thing a bit."
"You're not going to raise the price again, are you?" Ruminas asked suspiciously.
"No, I won't."
"Then thanks in advance."
With that, The Parasol Lady merged into Ruminas, vanishing completely. Now, only the four players remained to tackle the mission.
"So, the mission's started?" Aoi asked softly.
Ruminas looked ahead. The tracks were nearly a kilometer above, yet despite falling from such a height, none of them had sustained serious injuries.
"Just how powerful is the system's authority…?" she sighed to herself.
"No time to dawdle. The monsters are already here," Achlys said.
Everyone nodded.
They had the map and a planned route, so getting lost wasn't a concern. At the same time, Ruminas and Achlys needed experience from the monsters to evolve, so they didn't rush to flee.
"Stick to the plan," Ruminas said.
For this first leg, the plan was for the other three to run ahead and draw the monsters' attention. Ruminas would use the invisibility of her current outfit to launch sneak attacks from the flank, racking up experience.
If any monster could detect her invisibility, she'd flee in a different direction and regroup with the others at the dungeon entrance, ensuring she had enough experience to level up by then.
"Get into position," Achlys said.
Everyone nodded.
The formation had Aoi and Renji at the front to maintain a safe distance when the monsters charged. Achlys would stay in the middle, while Ruminas hid on the flank.
Achlys quietly sensed their surroundings, picking up the sounds of monsters surging from behind—an overwhelming number, no different from Act Two.
"They're here!" he announced.
Everyone gripped their weapons tightly.
Wet, slithering sounds echoed through the cavern.
From the depths of the darkness, parasitic creatures began to emerge. They weren't a single species but a grotesque amalgamation of various beings, all infected by something far more terrifying than themselves.
A wolf with its head torn open, reduced to a pulsating mass of red flesh, sprouted thin, root-like tendrils. It was still alive, moving on four legs, but its eyes held no trace of consciousness.
A humanoid creature, emaciated, with skin clinging tightly to its bones. Its chest was ripped open, and from it slithered another entity—a small octopus with human eyes, smirking as it spotted its prey.
The horde of parasitic monsters crawled out of the shadows, moving in bizarre ways. Some shuffled like zombies, others scampered on all fours like wild beasts, and some skittered across the cavern ceiling like giant spiders.
The stench of decay filled the air.
"Gross…" Aoi grimaced.
"What kind of monsters are these?" Renji muttered.
"New ones again? And so many of them this time. They're still reproducing and evolving rapidly," Ruminas whispered, hidden to one side.
Achlys narrowed his eyes, tightening his grip on his weapon.
"These aren't normal living creatures anymore. Attacks on their original bodies might be useless. Target the parasitic parts," he said.
Everyone nodded.
Ruminas silently vanished into the shadows, using her invisibility outfit to maneuver to the flank. She didn't plan to rush in immediately, opting to observe the situation first.
Aoi and Renji provided support from the rear. Aoi unleashed a barrage of fireballs, her spell-casting noticeably faster and more powerful post-evolution. The fireballs dealt significant damage.
Renji slammed his greatsword into the ground with force, causing the earth to quake and creating cracks that slowed the monsters' advance. His Earthshatter skill proved highly effective in this scenario.
"Beru, help them out!" Ruminas commanded.
Beru nodded and began summoning stone pillars that shot up from the ground, killing a few monsters and adding further obstacles.
"Just a bit longer…" Ruminas waited.
The monsters were still over sixty meters from the other three. Ruminas needed them to get closer to unleash a devastating attack that could wipe out the weaker ones first.
At that moment, she received another unexpected notification.
[Heroic Queen Mission: Part 3]
[Description: The Heroic Queen has been quite busy lately and forgot to assign your next mission. Seeing that you're about to enter battle, she now wishes to offer an additional mission for extra rewards.]
[Completion Conditions]
Eliminate 50 random monsters (0/50)
Eliminate 2 Stage Three monsters (0/2)
Eliminate 1 Heed monster (0/1)
[Rewards: 1000 EXP, 8 Random Stat Points]
"Whoa, perfect timing. This is all about combat, but it's so specific… Stage Three monsters!?"
Ruminas took a sharp breath at the realization.
"Have the monsters already evolved to Stage Three?" she wondered.
[The Valiant Queen responds: This is only the early phase of Stage Three, so only a few specimens have reached it. Coincidentally, this area has just enough for you to complete the mission.]
"Alright, but what's a Heed?" Ruminas asked.
[The Valiant Queen advises you not to rush. Focus on the task at hand for now.]
"Fair enough. Thanks for the help, Your Majesty."
Meanwhile, Achlys had drawn his sword and begun fighting. Blue flames erupted, incinerating any monster that touched them. Despite the horde's numbers, they couldn't withstand Achlys's teleportation-like agility, which let him dart across the battlefield like a bird.
"Whoops, almost got distracted. Focus, Ruminas," she reminded herself.
Noticing the monsters were close enough, she readied her weapon. For a bold, high-impact opening attack to take out as many monsters as possible, nothing was better than her axe.
"Use it," The Parasol Lady's voice echoed in her mind.
"Thanks!"
Ruminas took a deep breath.
Black aura surged around her, enveloping both her and the axe. This time, she unleashed it fully, radiating an intense killing intent. Alongside the black aura, the axe glowed faintly green, with the ethereal image of a serpent shimmering around it.
Some of the keener monsters sensed the killing intent and began to screech, but before they could react, Ruminas's devastating attack struck.
"Slaughter Strike!" she roared internally.
Ruminas swung the axe in a horizontal arc toward the horde. The unleashed power triggered a mid-sized explosion, shaking the massive cavern. Stones fell from the ceiling, and cracks spiderwebbed across the walls.
[Received: 1990 EXP, …]
"Nice!"
After landing the powerful blow, Ruminas instantly teleported away from her position to avoid being swarmed by the monsters.
Thick dust clouded the air, obscuring visibility, but a few monsters detected her movement and lunged. Ruminas deftly dodged and countered with lethal dagger strikes.
"Time to hunt!" Ruminas said with a faint smile.