Meanwhile, Ruyue was running at full speed towards a hidden cave she had spotted in the distance.
Although her range didn't match Damien's entirely, it wasn't that far behind. She was still ahead of him in terms of levels.
As she felt the wind brush past her face and heard the trees rustling around her, Ruyue felt oddly at peace. It was a feeling like she didn't truly want to leave this forest and return back to her responsibilities.
But she didn't allow such a feeling to break her mindset, regardless of what her emotions were telling her at the moment, she still had a duty to fulfill.
She had her master who had taken her in and trained her, protecting her from the outside world as much as she could. He was the one who sent her on this mission, and she had no plans of betraying his trust.
Not to mention…
Ruyue shook her head as a slight rosy color emerged on her cheeks.
'What am I even thinking at this kind of time?'
It didn't take her long at all to reach the cave, with a few kilometers distance being nothing to her. The problem was, the location where she sensed the cave wasn't anything special. It was just another part of the forest that looked the exact same as the rest.
But she wouldn't be fooled by something like this. Perhaps if her perception wasn't up to par, this kind of disguise would force her to doubt herself, but that wasn't the case.
As she was about to enter, Ruyue hesitated slightly.
'Be sure to contact me when you find them just to be safe.'
Those were the words he said to her. Glancing at the messaging talisman that was sitting in her spatial ring, Ruyue paused.
She didn't know whether she actually wanted to call him or not. While it warmed her heart that he cared about her safety, she also didn't feel like it was necessary to have him here.
There was only one person within the cave and his level wasn't that far apart from Hera, so she should be able to handle the situation without him.
There were also supposedly more people hiding in the forest, so she thought it might be best if he continued searching for them.
Spreading her awareness to cover the area of the forest she was in, Ruyue noticed that Damien wasn't anywhere nearby.
'It would take him too long to come, so there's no point. Besides, I don't need protection for something minor like this.'
She firmed her resolve, taking her attention away from the messaging talisman before walking forward without hesitation.
Although from an outsider's perspective, it looked like she was simply walking through the forest like normal, it wasn't that simple.
Every once in a while, she'd slightly alter her direction, almost as if she was drunkenly staggering. And by the time she took her 20th step in this manner, the surroundings started to change.
The forest was no more as she had already entered the cave. Her previous movements were to avoid the cues set up to misdirect people who happened to pass by.
Staring into the gnawing darkness in front of her, Ruyue's eyes turned cold.
"What's the point of hiding? You already know I'm aware of your position."
"Ahahaha. It seems like I've been caught. Though, I didn't expect it to be a beauty like you who did so." A rough voice responded.
Out of the darkness emerged the massive figure of the man Damien had seen previously, the stalk of grass still within his mouth.
"So? Did you come to play with me, or is there something else?" He continued, his gaze becoming lewd as he scanned Ruyue's body.
Even in her disguise, her proportions were still above average. It wasn't a surprise that a man like this, who was obviously in his barbaric tendencies, would immediately become lustful.
"Even a child would be smarter than you if you truly think that. I'll make sure that you can't speak such filthy words again once I'm finished here." Ruyue responded in disgust. The tips of her fingers began to glow as blue flames appeared on top of them.
The man grinned widely, grabbing a massive battle axe strapped to his back. "Good! I haven't had a proper battle in a while, so I hope you can entertain me."
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The man immediately charged, his footsteps thundering and causing cracks to appear on the cave floor. Ruyue didn't follow suit, however, opting to keep her distance.
She swung her arms upward, causing arcs of flame to shoot in the man's direction.
As if that wasn't enough, ten swords made of the same fire materialized in the air around her before following the previous arcs.
The man halted his advance, his expression becoming more serious as he heavily swung his battle axe.
"Haaa!"
The blade impacted the ground, causing a fissure to form and a pressurized blade of wind to charge towards the arcs of flame trying to consume him.
When the two attacks collided, a small explosion rang out, causing dust to cloud Ruyue's vision. Still, her swords moved unhindered.
They charged towards the man in a group, as Ruyue used her awareness to control them, surrounding the man and attempting to attack him from all sides.
A red aura surrounded his body and his veins began to bulge. He swung his axe wildly, trying to mitigate as much damage as possible.
But he wasn't entirely successful. 3 of the flaming swords managed to pierce the man's body, spreading iceflames across his skin. The red aura around him tried to combat it, but it wasn't totally effective.
While the man was distracted, Ruyue silently rushed along the edge of the dust cloud, concealing herself within the atmosphere.
She calmly approached the man and when she got within 10 feet of him, she made her move.
She put her wrists together and cupped her hands, allowing a beautiful flame to bloom within them.
The flame continued to bud, becoming a palm-sized lotus with 13 petals. But despite its small size, its power was immense enough to attract the man's attention.
He sensed immediate danger in his surroundings, turning to look at Ruyue while ignoring the flames that were still slowly spreading through his body.
The man once again attempted to charge, but Ruyue didn't allow him that opportunity. She lightly threw the flaming lotus in her palm, causing it to flutter through the air.
Its speed seemed as slow as a falling piece of paper, but it reached its target in an instant. And when it made contact…
Boom!
An explosion rocked the cave, causing the walls and ceiling to come crumbling down. Ruyue crossed her arms in front of her, creating a flame shield to protect her from any collateral damage.
The explosion continued for many seconds, and smaller consecutive explosions rang out from each petal she had made as part of the lotus. By the time it had all ended, Ruyue was sure the man was no more.
"What an idiot." She muttered in scorn. That was barely even a battle, more like she just pummeled him into the ground without any effort.
'Wait…How could someone that stupid manage to cause a ruckus within the forest?'
By the time it dawned on her, the dust from the explosion had already cleared up. Standing in front of her was half the body of the man she had just been fighting.
Yes, it was still standing even though it was only the upper half of the body. Rather, the body itself was slowly turning into particles of light.
'He wasn't real!' She exclaimed inwardly as she realized her mistake.
She began to feel a sense of foreboding. Something was happening that she had been unaware of all this time.
She wanted to rush towards the village as fast as possible to make sure nothing had gone wrong, but at that time…
"You're already too late."
The grinning face of the burly man let out those final words before disappearing into particles.