New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

In the cave, about halfway down the slope that led to the fruit's alcove, Selena was having a whole other set of problems.

The cavern tunnel wasn't much in terms of width or height, so she didn't have as many enemies swarming her simultaneously. But the frenzied monsters were starting to pile up behind the first row, and slowly but surely, the pile was pushing her down the slope.

Luckily for her, even though unbeknownst, Leon had taken a heavy burden off her shoulders by taunting the monsters outside. He may not grab all their attention, but he was lessening the speed at which she was being driven down.

But Selena was built more for speed than power in her current human form, and if she tried changing into her tiger form, she would no longer be able to handle the horde.

Her size would keep her from being as mobile as she was now, and she would quickly start letting enemies through.

This wasn't an ideal outcome, so she tried to hold it off for as long as possible. But there was only so little she could do in this form.

She had yet to see any ally come to her side, as the king had promised her, but she knew the situation was not as simple.

Bouncing off the walls and ceiling, she kept slashing at vital parts of the incoming monsters, dealing fatal or near-fatal damage on each strike. But there was a quality in quantity.

Selena fought with all her might, leaving piles of corpses on the slope that the monsters stepped over, transforming into paste and blood. This quickly transformed the downward tunnel into a river of blood and other bodily fluids, making it dangerous.

But Selena was not giving up.

The blood and guts splashed on her with every step she touched the ground, and the pristine white fur on her feet was already stained red and dripping with every movement. Her claws kept her from slipping as she pounced and leapt.

But something needed to change.

'I'm almost at the bottom of the slope. At this, I'll be pushed into the alcove again in two minutes. This isn't enough time!'

***

Inside said alcove, Astaroth was still struggling to stay alive against the Aether rippling through his mind and body. But he could sense the incoming monsters for miles around and knew the dire situation was about to take a turn for the worse.

'Genie! White! I don't know where you guys are, but I need you!' he shouted through their mental connection.

And, like the bells of a church announcing a new day, two howls suddenly echoed through the woods, reaching inside the alcove through the multiple tunnels dug into the ceiling.

***

On the surface, zone bosses and rare monsters had started appearing amongst the masses of monsters, and Leon had to divert his entire attention to them lest they push into Selena and kill her.

This, in turn, allowed more monsters to push into the Beastwoman, accelerating her trip downward.

But, suddenly, a burst of roots and wind blades flew into the horde of monsters, decimating dozens of them in a single second before two howls echoed through the forest.

Leon saw a flash of white and brown zip past him, dashing into the horde, straight for the tunnel's entrance, before blocking it with its body.

"About time you showed up, Genie. Let them have it, girl!" Leon shouted at her as he kicked away a giant stag beetle, whose shell resounded like steel under his foot.

The next second, a blue flash zipped past him as well, hovering over the mountain the cave was in and sinking into a burrow.

"Huh?" Leon exclaimed, confused.

***

Astaroth felt his hair stand on end inside the alcove as the air suddenly filled with static electricity. His mind immediately panicked as flashes of the Raijū's lightning in his sight filled his mind.

He couldn't look away from the fruit as he was focused on redirecting the Aether towards it, but he heard the distinct low growl of a canine behind him.

Lightning bolts arced in all directions around him, vaporizing the insect-type enemies that had burrowed their way into the alcove before he heard a snicker from Shegror.

"Heh! Blue suits you, Death. Take care of this room; I'll help the tiger girl!"

A bark echoed in the room, and Astaroth felt Shegror dash out of the room.

That's when Astaroth recognized the essence of the being inside the alcove with him. Although it had changed slightly, he could still feel the tether inside his mind.

'I'm sorry I'm late, master. We were already fighting some of these monsters a little ways away from here when a sweet scent wafted over us. We ended up following them toward here as you asked for help and slowed down to kill some of them on our way here.'

Astaroth took a second to look away from the fruit, taking two ticks of damage because of whiplash from his failing concentration, and saw White Death, whose fur wasn't as white as before, clear blue striped zigzagging on his pelt.

He had no horn on his forehead, like the Raijū, but a single blue star was marked on his forehead where the horn should have been.

"What the hell happened to you?" he yelled before snapping his head toward the fruit.

'Long story. We can discuss this later. The battle is about to get a lot rougher. We brought along unwanted guests,' White replied.

And as he said that, the ground of the cavern shook, as a massive hole appeared right at the entrance. And from inside, it climbed out a giant mole-looking monster with red eyes.

It screeched at White and Astaroth, the former responding with a threatening growl. Novel Fire - novelfire.net

"Shit. I can't help you fight it. Not until this damned fruit is done ripening," Astaroth shouted, feeling the energy level of this monster.

It was at least an Elite grade and most likely a Zone Boss.

'I'll be fine. This new form doesn't just come with new powers, master. This monster is barely a match for me now,' White confidently replied.

"I hope you can back that statement. Because at this rate, this fruit will kill me before I can ripen it," Astaroth shouted, looking at the quest interface.

*Fruit Ripeness: 99%*

'Only halfway there, and I'm already exhausted, almost dead, and the monsters are only getting fiercer. This is terrible…'

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