Chapter 11: Shadow Demon Assault
The final Forest Wolf had its heart pierced by a sword.
After twitching twice, it died completely.
【EXP +0.5】
Dolores pulled the sword from the corpse and flicked away the blood staining the blade.
She admitted it.
She got a little too cocky earlier.
It was true that level two Wind Blade could instantly kill Forest Wolves.
And she had indeed handled the first wave very easily.
But who could’ve guessed those Forest Wolves were deliberately pretending to be idiots?
They intentionally sent weaklings first to lower her guard and make her think Forest Wolves were trash mobs.
Then the later wolf packs turned out insanely agile, leaping through the forest all over the place.
She couldn’t hit them at all.
Especially that alpha wolf.
One swipe of its claws could split a tree trunk in half.
Its speed was so absurdly fast she could barely even see its movements.
After dodging desperately for ages, she finally managed to land one hit—
Only to scrape off a tiny patch of fur.
High attack and agility were one thing.
But why the hell was its defense so high too?!
Was that even balanced?!
In the end, after painfully chipping away at it for forever, she exhausted all her mana.
Left with no choice, she transformed and cut the alpha wolf down in a single strike before mowing down the rest like grass.
She felt so annoyed!
All that experience…
Gone.
Completely gone!
Dolores puffed up angrily, almost wanting to stab the corpse a few more times.
She glanced at the level display on her panel and became even more irritated.
【Level: lv4】
【4.5 EXP required until lv5】
Damn it!
If she had just killed one more wolf before transforming—
Even just one—
She would’ve leveled up already!
Also, why didn’t leveling restore her status like in games?
If leveling recovered mana, she might’ve been able to slowly grind down that alpha wolf without transforming at all.
Haaa…
Dolores let out a long sigh.
Then she suddenly noticed a new pop-up window on the panel.
【Enable level-up restoration of all mana?】
【Note: Once enabled, this cannot be disabled. Please choose carefully!】
Do they even need to ask?
Obviously she’d enable it!
Dolores already moved her finger toward 【Yes】.
Wait!
She suddenly realized an extremely serious issue.
After transforming into Dolores, leveling up would fully restore her mana too.
So if she leveled up before exhausting all her mana, wouldn’t she have to drain it all over again from the beginning?
And if she kept leveling before running out…
Wouldn’t that basically mean she could never transform back?!
That was close!
Way too close!
She nearly pressed it!
No no no no no!
Reject it immediately!
Dolores frantically tapped 【No】 over ten times.
Only after confirming the pop-up would never appear again did she finally lower her hand.
She absolutely couldn’t act recklessly…
Without realizing it, Dolores had already walked out of the forest and arrived at an open clearing.
Ahead of her lay the canyon exit.
The carriage she previously rode in sat there, already sliced into several shattered pieces.
The driver’s corpse and the horses had long since disappeared.
This was the exact location where Philly fought the Shadow Demon in the game.
Dolores immediately heightened her guard and released her perception magic to scan the surroundings.
In the game, the Shadow Demon appeared directly in front of the player.
But she had no idea where it might hide while preparing an ambush.
Nearly two hours had passed since the transfer magic activated.
She doubted the Shadow Demon would still patiently wait here for prey.
Maybe after seeing nobody appear, it went back to hunt Philly and Dailina instead?
Very possible.
Since the Shadow Demon probably wasn’t here, she should hurry and leave.
Inside the forest, a black shadow rapidly approached Dolores.
The moment it emerged from the forest’s darkness, a dagger extended from the shadow and stabbed toward her back.
Dolores sensed the attack instantly.
She turned and knocked aside the dagger with her sword before immediately slashing toward the shadow.
The shadow dispersed at once.
She felt like she hit nothing at all.
“Oh?”
“Nice reflexes.”
The black shadow reformed atop the ruined carriage, taking the shape of a figure wearing tattered black robes.
A loose, oversized cloak draped over its body, while the hood hung low enough to conceal most of its face, exposing only a pale lower jaw.
One skeletal hand extended from the ragged robe, gripping a dagger surrounded by black mist.
Beneath the hood, a pair of dark red eyes stared fixedly at Dolores.
“I originally thought the mission had failed…”
Its lips slowly stretched into a grin.
“But who would’ve thought I’d gain an unexpected reward instead?”
“……”
Dolores remained silent.
This was the Shadow Demon that specialized in assassinating academy students.
It usually targeted students while they traveled for missions.
Shadow Demons possessed terrifying speed.
Ordinary people couldn’t even detect their movements.
That alpha wolf earlier was merely too fast to see clearly.
Shadow Demons, on the other hand, couldn’t be seen at all.
Once they transformed into shadows, even magical perception often failed to detect them.
Thankfully, Dolores’s perception ability was incredibly strong.
She immediately noticed its shadow.
If it were Xia instead, that dagger probably would’ve pierced straight through his heart already.
“Your aura…”
“It doesn’t resemble that of an ordinary student.”
The Shadow Demon pinched its chin while carefully sizing her up.
“In all these years, you are the first person who noticed my shadow this quickly.”
“Hmm?”
“Why aren’t you speaking?”
Dolores still said nothing.
This Shadow Demon talked way too damn much.
Back in the game, after its sneak attack failed, it also spent ages rambling.
And Philly, being weirdly idle, actually responded to it.
The two of them literally chatted for dozens of pages before fighting.
Every new playthrough, she had to mash the skip button until her fingers cramped.
She absolutely didn’t want to hear all that nonsense again.
Her remaining mana was already down to one-third.
She couldn’t afford to waste time.
Better to attack immediately.
Dolores twisted her wrist.
Golden light gathered upon the blade.
In the next instant, her figure vanished from where she stood and appeared directly before the Shadow Demon, swinging her sword downward.
Caught off guard, the Shadow Demon forcefully twisted its body.
The edge of its black robe tore apart beneath the slash, releasing black mist from the opening.
It staggered backward.
Its hood slipped off, revealing a pale, withered face.
“You actually launched a sneak attack—”
“Heh.”
“You’re allowed to ambush people, but I’m not?”
Dolores gave it no opportunity to continue speaking.
Her second strike descended immediately.
After the black light vanished, only Philly and Dailina remained within the forest.
“Student Philly…”
“Student Xia…”
Dailina sat collapsed on the ground, her voice trembling.
“I know…”
Philly stood silently in place, staring toward the spot where Xia disappeared.
She never expected things to turn out this way.
When Dailina rushed forward to save Xia earlier, Philly originally intended to forcibly drag her back.
But before she could act, Xia had already shaken off Dailina’s hand himself and pushed her out of the magic circle.
…That idiot.
Tsk.
Philly bit her lip lightly.
No.
She couldn’t waver.
She absolutely had to return to the academy with Dailina immediately.
If they missed the mission submission deadline again, this life would be ruined too.
Taking a deep breath, she turned around and extended her hand toward Dailina.
“Let’s go.”
“We’re returning to the academy…”
“Let’s go save Student Xia.”
Philly’s hand froze midair.
“If he’s alone…”
“He’ll definitely die.”
Dailina didn’t take her hand.
Instead, she raised her head and looked at Philly with moist emerald eyes.
“Please don’t abandon Student Xia…”
“Okay?”
Philly stared into those eyes and fell silent.
No matter how many times she reincarnated, she never wanted to hurt Dailina’s feelings.
The only danger during the return journey had already been eliminated.
Dailina should be safe returning alone.
If Philly rushed toward the canyon immediately and then traveled through the night using 【Wind Shadow】, she should still make tomorrow’s deadline in time.
As long as she saved Xia, that would be enough, right?
As for what happened afterward…
She didn’t care anymore.
“…Fine.”
“I’ll go save him.”
Philly lowered her hand, her voice carrying a trace of helplessness.
“Dailina, you return to the academy first.”
“I’m going too!”
Dailina stood up, determination filling her eyes.
Philly opened her mouth slightly.
But she knew there was no convincing her otherwise.
In the end, she could only sigh.
“…Then let’s go.”