At the same time, in the corridor of the castle.
"Charge, charge, charge!"
Renedia carried the Mechanical Hammer, baring her little tiger teeth, and with a casual sweep, the long hammer, driven by immense power, crushed the attacking Stone Statue Knights into pieces.
These Stone Statue Knights did not regenerate. After being smashed into fragments, an occasional electric spark would appear, preventing the chunks from writhing and fusing back together.
Since the first time she shattered the statues and learned they could merge, Renedia had been using her ability.
Fusion requires power too. Even water, when it flows, possesses dynamic energy. As a Dynamic Person, she exerted counter-force on these statues, preventing the stone chunks from coming together, making it impossible for the Stone Knights to fuse.
Renedia's ability allows her to imbue anything with power. For something like a statue, which is inherently lifeless, she can even exert intense force upon them.
The supposedly indestructible Stone Knights posed no real threat to Renedia.
The Stone Knights were no obstacle to her; the corridor's door, under her power, was as fragile as tofu, opening with a single hammer strike.
She sang along the way, hammering the stones she encountered, hammering the doors she passed, with no set destination.
"What a lousy place, all stones, not a single room door? Wanted to explore some treasure, but this kind of hellhole... Sage! Where are you?"
Renedia's voice echoed in the quiet corridor, inducing an echo.
The torches on the walls made the corridors deep and eerie, silent and terrifying.
But Renedia was not a timid person; though young, she understood as an Ability User that when in doubt, rely on her abilities, as there aren't many strange entities in the world.
Even ghosts don't exist suddenly; they must be Ability Users.
Otherwise, common folks would have been scared long ago by the presence of these moving stone statues in the eerie corridors.
As Renedia called out, the flames around her suddenly flickered briefly, as if a gust of wind had blown, or a shadow had passed.
Suddenly, a bloodline appeared on Renedia's white neck.
"Counter Power!"
At the moment of pain, Renedia's pupils shrank, and she cried out forcefully, releasing a surge of electricity from her body, repulsing all forces applied to her.
As an Ability User, she knew her body was frail, and Sage had advised her that she was too young for training, encouraging her to develop her abilities more instead.
However, when developing her abilities, she must not forget to protect herself. Previously, during her actions, someone had to protect her, usually of the High-Ranking Officer level, like Mute, Pearl, rotating as her guardians, sometimes even Gin would follow along.
She was, indeed, the true soul of the Death Star, the sea rumor claimed that cherishing a ship leads to the spirit of the ship's birth, though no one had seen it, Renedia's importance was far from lesser than such a spirit.
Legendary Ship Spirit, small wooden hammer and raincoat, appearing only on foggy days, repairing and controlling the vessel out of gratitude.
The true Ship Spirit, Renedia, was constantly on the ship, controlling it at any moment, and occasionally producing small inventions for the crew's convenience.
Sage knew of her significance and instilled in Renedia the concept of her importance. In critical situations, anyone could be sacrificed as long as she was preserved.
After all, the High-Ranking Officers had sufficient self-preservation capability, whereas Renedia was slightly lacking, so during solo operations, she adhered to Sage's advice to counter any anomalies immediately.
Just like now.
"What kind of ghostly thing, come out and face me!"
Renedia unleashed dynamic power, electricity coiling around the Mechanical Hammer, quickly swung the hammer around her.
Smack!
At the spot on her neck, the hammer struck an object, its force embedded it into the wall.
It was a dagger!
But beyond the dagger, nothing else was visible.
"Blow it up here!"
Boom!!
Renedia abruptly turned, the Mechanical Hammer opened its barrel, aiming at the overhead spot behind, firing a shell that blasted through the ceiling, causing debris to fall.
Without stopping, amid the rebounding dynamic electricity, the Mechanical Hammer elongated, smashing into the wall on both sides, creating two large holes, allowing the stones to accumulate behind her, building an obstacle and cutting off the retreat.
Simultaneously, Renedia locked onto the area.
Nothing behind, leaving only the front!
Under the dynamic force, the Mechanical Hammer reassembled and transformed, the open barrel morphing into three muzzles, as Renedia twisted the hammer handle mechanism, sparks erupted from the gun muzzle.
Rat-a-tat-tat!!
A torrent of lead bullets poured out, striking the corner of the corridor ahead.
"You won't escape!"
Renedia shouted, "I'm going to beat your guts out!"
"Hehehe..."
Just as she was about to continue twisting the hammer handle, a low chuckle sounded from a corner on the right side of the corridor ahead.
Renedia didn't bother speaking and directly rotated the hammer, aiming at the direction and pulling the trigger.
Rat-a-tat-tat!
Lead bullets hit it, sparking off, the bullets dropped to the ground, but they struck nothing.
"Turned out to be an Ability User, no wonder the assassination failed."
In front of Renedia, a human-like figure emerged, distinct from surrounding stones, materializing in the air, taking the form of a person.