"Old-timer, stick close to me, what kind of —— godforsaken place is this!" Eileen whispered to the young man beside her, keeping her voice low.
They were now walking through a dark and damp abandoned sewer.
Underfoot, apart from filthy puddles of water, there were strange moss-like plants that Eileen had never seen before. The eerie surroundings were accompanied by low, hoarse roars that seemed to come from all directions in the sewer, echoing in their ears.
That was not a noise that humans or animals could make. Eileen had heard it twice before, and both times were distinctly memorable because it was a sound that only the Tainted corpse could make.
Eileen kept her nerves on edge, protecting Renji beside her. She hadn't forgotten her duty, and the real threat she was wary of was not the treacherous abandoned sewer filled with dangers, but the nun leading the way ahead.
Maria suddenly stopped, gesturing to the two behind her. Following her gaze, Eileen saw at the junction of the pipes, two Tainted Corpses. Their bodies were rotting, with arms twisted into grotesque shapes and thick muscles coiling around, eventually transforming into meat pincers as they roamed within.
This was their only way forward, and it was clear that a battle was inevitable if they wanted to pass.
"Don't worry about me" Renji spoke up in advance, reassuring Eileen.
At present, among their trio, Eileen was the only one suited for close combat. If the girl rushed ahead, only the nun would remain by her side.
Eileen decided not to use her gun. In a place like the sewer, any slight sound would be amplified by the echoes, and the release of Tainted energy from her body, which eventually formed into a bloody sword, was a better choice for her. It was different from the bloody red greatsword she used at the Callewa Factory. This one was narrower and shorter, seemingly adapted to the narrow environment of the sewer.
Eileen judged that two Tainted Corpses would not warrant the use of her abilities. With a swift movement, she silently approached, closing the distance to around ten meters. The two wandering Tainted Corpses seemed to catch a whiff of something and turned their heads, all facing the shadow where Eileen was hidden.
lightsnοvεl Seeing that they had been exposed, Eileen didn't hesitate. Ten meters was close enough for her. She no longer sneaked, but instead, she burst out, taking less than half a breath to reach the first Tainted Corpse. She thrust the bloody sword directly into its neck.
Splat!*Th1s chapter is updated by n)ovel/\bin/\
After reaching [Danger Rank] Eileen's strength had indeed improved significantly. The force of this strike directly chopped off the Tainted Corpse's head. Following this, the second one that rushed toward her was swiftly dealt with. Eileen bent down to dodge its meat pincer attack, then delivered a kick to knock it off balance. She followed up with another strike, thrusting it straight into its forehead.
It was a clean and efficient battle, and she had effectively dispatched both Tainted Corpses in seconds.
"Miss Eileen, you're amazing!" Maria, who had watched Eileen's battle, couldn't help but admire the young girl strength. The earlier tension seemed to have lessened after witnessing Eileen's combat skills.
"Well, it's not a big deal." Eileen responded modestly.
"May I ask, Miss Eileen, what did you do before becoming an Eclipse? And how did you become an Eclipse? How did you meet Mr. Renji?" Maria's curiosity seemed to have been ignited in this environment, and she started to engage in conversation with Eileen.
Eileen initially didn't want to answer, but seeing that Renji didn't mind at all and seemed to encourage them to communicate, she hesitated for a moment before replying,
Eileen felt a shiver down her spine, unable to imagine what would have happened if Renji hadn't intervened forcefully, forcing her to switch from offense to defense. Even if her sword had struck the Tainted Corpse, it would have been a case of injuring the enemy while harming herself.
'What's going on?'
Eileen finally noticed it now. The two marks behind the Tainted Corpse, shimmering with a bloody red light, were those...
'There's no other choice; it seems I have to...'
Just as Eileen was about to activate her special ability and summon her true form of the greatsword again, a brief chanting sound filled the air, followed by a burst of holy light that completely enveloped the mutated Tainted Corpse.
"Ughhhhhhhhh!"
The Tainted Corpse let out a cry of pain. In the blink of an eye, its massive body began to shrink, and the bulging muscles rapidly withered away. In less than a second, it reverted to the appearance of an ordinary Tainted Corpse, and the two bloody red marks on its back, which had previously been emitting a bloody glow, disappeared completely.
"This..."
Eileen hadn't even fully grasped the situation when, in the next moment, a beam of light pierced through the Tainted Corpse's head like a dart. Even the Tainted Corpse that had proven to be a powerful mutated monster at [Danger Rank] seemed to have... died so easily?
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'[Divine Word: Silence]'
'And [Holy Punishment?]'
Renji immediately recognized the two skills that Maria, the seemingly fragile nun beside him, had just used. These were classic abilities of the cleric class.
However, in the game, a character's skill slots are unlocked based on their rank. For example, when Eileen was at the [Common] rank, she only had one skill, [Berserk] It was only after breaking through to the [Danger Rank] that she gained another skill, [Annihilation].
But so far, the "fragile" little nun, Maria, had displayed four different abilities including [divination], [teleportation], and the two she just used
This seemed to confirm a certain suspicion in Renji's heart—a suspicion he didn't particularly like.
"Miss Eileen, are you alright?" Maria quickly ran to the girl's side.
Eileen shook her head and glanced at the Tainted Corpse. Then she looked at the nun.
"Thank you, but Maria, what you just did..."
"It's just a little ability I learned from the church. I'm glad it was useful."
Seeing Eileen's slightly furrowed brow and about to ask more, Renji, who had also approached, deliberately ended the topic. He urged that now was not the time for lengthy discussions; Nolan was up ahead.