Chapter 195 : I’m Out of Energy
Chapter 195: I’m Out of Energy
Lilia only wanted to go home now.
Even being drained of all her remaining value by Hera would be better than playing a survival horror game in this mass grave filled with wandering spirits.
“Um… Bulara?”
Lilia clutched Bulara tightly with both hands, shrinking into herself like a quail, practically trying to stick to her back as a pendant. “Can we slow down a bit? I don’t think the feng shui ahead looks good—ominous signs, dark aura on the forehead, definite bloodshed incoming…”
Bulara, walking ahead, seemed not to hear her at all, maintaining a steady pace.
*Rip—*
A sharp tearing sound cut through the darkness.
Several black vines as thick as wrists suddenly shot out from above and the side without warning, their hooked tips aiming straight for Lilia’s neck.
They were so fast they left only afterimages—clearly treating this delicate human as takeout.
“Holy—!”
Several streaks of silver light flashed through the darkness.
*Slash slash slash.*
Those aggressive vines were instantly severed into multiple pieces, falling to the ground like dead snakes. From the broken ends, foul-smelling dark green fluid splattered out. The remaining halves writhed in pain before frantically retracting back into the darkness.
“Obstacle cleared.”
The heart that had been lodged in Lilia’s throat finally dropped back into her chest.
She patted her chest.
“Nice job!”
Lilia stopped trembling, straightened her back, and even reached out to pat Bulara’s stiff shoulder. “I knew His Majesty had a reason for sending you! With you around, forget tree demons—even if Sadako showed up, she’d have to crawl away!”
With such a strong figure leading the way, she could just slack off and shout “nice!” from behind.
Once her mindset adjusted, the eerie forest didn’t seem quite as terrifying anymore.
The two of them moved quickly through the silent woodland, one in front, one behind.
The deeper they went, the heavier the suffocating pressure became. The stench of decay in the air gradually shifted into a stronger metallic smell of rust. The twisted trunks around them began to show disturbing claw marks, like the final struggles of some massive beast before death.
The phosphorescent lights grew fewer.
Eventually, even the last faint glow was swallowed, leaving absolute darkness where one couldn’t see their own fingers.
Suddenly—
Bulara, walking in front, stopped without any warning.
The abrupt halt was so sudden that Lilia, who had been looking down counting her steps, nearly crashed into that rigid back.
“What’s wrong?”
Lilia poked her head out, cautiously scanning the surroundings. “Another blind firewood stick coming to die?”
Bulara didn’t answer.
She stood upright, her head slowly turning like an unlubricated gear, producing an ear-grating *click-click* sound.
On that pale, stiff face, her gray eyes stared straight ahead at a patch of dense fog.
“High-energy reaction detected ahead.”
Her voice sounded in the dead silence, carrying a strange mechanical tone. “Detected a large aggregation of resentful spirits.”
Lilia followed her gaze.
About a dozen meters ahead, a gray-white mist had risen silently in the darkness. Within the churning fog, countless distorted human faces floated and sank. Empty eye sockets streamed with blood tears, mouths stretched wide—either screaming or wailing soundlessly.
That bone-deep chill could freeze blood from afar.
“Damn…”
Lilia sucked in a breath, feeling cold air rushing to her skull. “This isn’t a few—this is a whole reinforced unit!”
That dense mass would give nightmares even to people without trypophobia.
“Um… Bulara?”
Lilia looked at her expectantly.
After all, those vine-cutting moves earlier had been cool as hell.
As long as Bulara stood in front and drew aggro, Lilia could slip through in the chaos. After all, this thing didn’t fear possession.
Bulara turned her head and looked at Lilia, who was full of anticipation.
On her previously expressionless face, the corners of her mouth suddenly twitched upward in an extremely strange arc.
“Apologies, Senior Lilia.”
Lilia’s heart skipped.
“The high-speed movement and obstacle clearing earlier have already exhausted the backup energy.” Bulara’s arms, which had transformed into scythes, reverted back into hands with a hissing release of pressure. “Current energy reserves are insufficient to support combat mode.”
“…What?”
Lilia doubted her ears. “Insufficient? Didn’t you just eat an entire lamb leg?!”
That lamb leg had been stored in her system inventory for ages, and this thing swallowed it in a few bites—now she was saying she was out of fuel?
“That was merely fuel for maintaining basic movement.”
Bulara stood there righteously. Not only did she put away her weapons, she even shamelessly stepped aside, exposing Lilia—the completely unprepared meat shield—to the approaching swarm of resentful spirits. “Combat, as a high-consumption activity, is not included in the basic package.”
“You—!” Lilia nearly had a stroke on the spot.
“And, His Majesty gave special instructions.”
Bulara looked at the gray fog that was already about to reach them. In her dead fish eyes flickered a malicious anticipation. “Although Senior isn’t very bright, that flesh of yours, enhanced by the ‘Seed of Life,’ is the most delicious nourishment for these resentful spirits.”
“Since energy is insufficient, I’ll have to trouble you, Senior… to carry me out.”
Before her words even finished, Bulara went completely still like a puppet with cut strings. She even thoughtfully closed her eyes, putting on a shameless “I’ve shut down, do whatever you want” posture.
“I’ll nourish your damn ancestors!”
Lilia stared at the army of resentful spirits already right in front of her. Those twisted faces were almost pressed against her own, the icy deathly aura drilling into her pores like shards of ice.
Run?
Where to?
Behind her was the even more dangerous depths of the Dark Forest. Ahead was a swarm of starving ghosts.
And beside her was a traitorous puppet waiting to watch her get devoured alive.
“Fine! You’re playing dead, huh?!”
If she wasn’t allowed to live, then nobody would!
“Since you’re out of power, I’ll throw you into this pack of wandering spirits and see whether they eat this fresh meat first—or chew on your rotten wood first!”
Not only did Lilia not retreat, she grabbed Bulara by the collar.