Xing Lan quickly pulled back and swung the crescent in her hand. The sharp crescent instantly left a bloody wound on the hand.
"Ah!!" An extremely raspy, deep roar came from the darkness. The cry was peculiar, sounding like both a human and a monster.
"Well, I thought it was a lucky opportunity, but after all that, it turned out to be a dungeon." Xing Lan formed a star in her hand and casually tossed it, knocking the lock off the gate.
"Hela, it's dangerous here. Get to the side and hide." With that, she formed another crescent in her hand and charged straight in.
After thinking for a moment, Hela nevertheless headed outside.
Xing Lan swung her right hand, forming a giant crescent that slashed at the monster before her.
Clang-!
The crescent seemed to strike something hard, producing a crisp clang. Xing Lan froze for a moment, and then a huge fist came flying out of the darkness and slammed into her, sending her flying several meters before she fell to the ground.
Xing Lan climbed to her feet, staring fixedly ahead. "I was careless..."
"Ah!!" The roar came from the darkness again, and a long, slender insect leg emerged.
Xing Lan's pupils instantly contracted, and she froze on the spot.
There, illuminated by the moonlight, a huge old man's head about three meters tall appeared before her.
Insect-like limbs grew from the neck of the old man's head, supporting it as it slowly walked out.
At the front of the old man were two mantis-like forelimbs, while two withered hands jutted incongruously from either side of his face. The whole thing looked like a toy haphazardly cobbled together by some prank-loving child.
"I get the feeling... this won't be easy to deal with..." Xing Lan felt a chill as she looked at the sickening monster before her. "It seems to be at the 'Homicide' level."
The old man roared and charged at Xing Lan, reaching out with both his forelimbs and his hands.
Xing Lan spread her wings and quickly dodged to one side. The two scythe-like forelimbs missed her and sliced straight into the wall.
Two huge gashes were instantly cut into the concrete wall as though it were tofu.
"If only I had a sword..." Xing Lan muttered. Countless stars then fired from the two pairs of wings on her back, pelting the old man like raindrops.
"Ah!!" The old man covered his face with his hands, then screamed and lunged at Xing Lan again, swinging his forelimbs.
Xing Lan stopped attacking and formed a crescent in her right hand. Then she pushed off hard with both legs and charged straight at him at tremendous speed.
Just as the two were about to collide, Xing Lan quickly dropped into a slide and slipped beneath the spider old man. She then swung her right hand across one of his spider-like legs, leaving a scratch on its surface that was neither deep nor shallow.
Xing Lan got to her feet and looked at the spider old man, whose back was to her. Her expression was somewhat embarrassed.
She had thought that move would sever his leg outright or leave him unable to move, but in the end, she had not even broken through his defense.
Watching the spider old man clumsily turn around, Xing Lan's lips curved upward again.
It looked like he was just a tank, with high attack and defense but shortcomings in speed and agility. Agility, however, happened to be Xing Lan's strong suit. As long as she kept dodging his attacks and dealing damage, she could wear the Variant to death.
Stars fired from Xing Lan's wings again like a violent storm, striking the spider old man mercilessly.
The spider old man let out a miserable scream, then noticed Hela outside the gate. He promptly abandoned his fight with Xing Lan and charged toward her.
"Hey! Ugly spider, where do you think you're going?" Xing Lan leaped in front of the spider old man, blocking his path.
"Ah!!" The spider old man roared and grappled with Xing Lan again.
Hela, who had been watching them from outside, suddenly noticed something and turned to look.
The elderly landlady was walking unsteadily out of the old house. Seeing Hela standing there unharmed, she was utterly shocked. "You... how are you still alive?"
"Ah!!" The sounds of Xing Lan and the spider old man fighting reached her, and the elderly landlady's heart instantly skipped a beat. Ignoring Hela, she hurried toward the basement with stumbling steps.
Inside the basement, Xing Lan dodged another of the spider old man's attacks with a slide, then spread both pairs of wings and fired stars.
The stars struck the spider old man, drawing a scream of pain. "Hey, there's finally a bit of a reaction...
Hey! What are you doing?" Xing Lan had just smiled smugly when the elderly landlady lunged at her and grabbed her arm with both hands.
The old woman clutched her arm and stood in front of Xing Lan, blocking her. "Don't hit my old man, don't hit him..." The old woman shook her arm over and over, her eyes brimming with tears.
Xing Lan stopped firing stars so she would not hurt the old woman. "Ma'am, that's a Variant that hurts people! He's not your husband!"
"He is my old man. Don't hit him..." The old woman kept hold of Xing Lan, leaving her at a loss, unsure what to do for the moment.
After Xing Lan stopped attacking, the spider old man let out a roar and charged straight at Hela outside.
Xing Lan wanted to rush over and stop him, but the old woman clung to her arm and refused to let go.
Bang-!
The spider old man smashed through the iron gate headfirst, then rushed up to Hela, swinging his forelimbs.
Xing Lan gritted her teeth and shoved the old woman to the ground. Then she spread her wings and immediately flew over, hoping to stop him.
But by then, the spider old man had already reached Hela and swung his scythe-like forelimb.
"Hela!!" As Xing Lan watched, Hela was instantly cut in half at the waist.
The sharp forelimb easily severed her spine. Hela's upper body fell to the ground with a thud, while her lower body remained eerily standing in place, as though it had yet to react.
In midair, Xing Lan, like a star, suddenly lost all power. She fell helplessly and slumped to the ground.
She could scarcely believe what had happened before her eyes. Hela, who had once been unable even to eat by herself but could now say good morning to her in the morning and good night to her at night, and usually accompany her shopping and out to play, had died just like that. She had died because Xing Lan had taken it upon herself to insist on staying here.
A tear of regret flowed from the corner of Xing Lan's eye and down her deathly pale cheek.
The spider old man turned toward Xing Lan, who was sitting slumped on the ground with lifeless eyes, and slowly walked up to her.
Xing Lan, however, was still lost in grief and did not realize danger was approaching.
The spider old man raised his sharp forelimb again, preparing to kill her.
Whoosh-!
Suddenly, a streak of silver light flashed across the horizon. Then, with a tremendous crash, a silver-white spear instantly shattered the spider old man's sharp forelimb and embedded itself in the ground before Xing Lan. At the same time, a figure wearing a black tank top appeared in front of her.
Xing Lan raised her head, and upon seeing who had come, tears once again flowed uncontrollably from her starry eyes.
"Xiao... Xiaogang... Hela, she..."