Demons Among Gods

After an unknown amount of time, Livy slowly woke up.

She felt as if a giant had stomped her under its foot and broken all her bones.

Her skull was dented, rib cage caved in, arm, leg, back, and waist bones all broken.

She wanted to cry due to the pain she was experiencing, yet she held on and didn’t make a single noise. She knew her ability, Vitality of Water, was working and had already healed her enough to wake her.

At least she hadn’t died!

If she made noises, who knew? Some beast might be attracted toward her. So, she held back her desire to wail and poured her remaining Stamina and Mana into speeding up the healing at full force.

She first healed her skull and face—otherwise, even thinking was painful—then the damaged spine, back, shoulder, waist, ribcage, hands, and finally her legs.

After healing completely, she sat up and gasped for breath.

She was completely drained, with only a tiny bit of both Mana and Stamina remaining.

She had a strange feeling that her Constitution had increased, along with her healing speed. For now, she pushed those thoughts aside and used her remaining Mana to open a door in her Space Ring, where refilling potions and water were stocked. It was her emergency slot, created long ago.

She started chugging them one after another, then pulled out a few large fruits and chewed and ate like a barbarian. She was also extremely hungry; Stamina Potion was no replacement for food.

After she finished, she lay back on the ground, resting an arm behind her head as a pillow.

She peacefully gazed at the blue sky, visible through the branches and leaves above.

She tried to recall what had happened.

All she could remember was that Lyria had suddenly transformed into an ugly, fat, gigantic spider and attacked her…

Livy quickly shook her head. Her memory was still fuzzy. She tried piecing together recent events step by step—and soon, her face paled.

Eric and Lyria were both in serious danger! This was no time to relax!

She swiftly stood up—only then noticing she was entirely naked.

Her eyes watered. That armor had been her favorite. Even Eric had praised her, saying she looked "cool" and "badass" in it.

Well... he praised everything she wore, but each compliment was priceless, filled with sweet feelings and memories. Now, that armor was likely destroyed to nothing.

Silently weeping, she pulled out a robe with long sleeves and put it on. Since she needed to sprint, lightweight clothing was best—armor would only hinder her.

After covering herself, she was about to dash forward—but stopped, dumbfounded.

Which direction was she supposed to go?

She glanced around, realizing she was in an unfamiliar place with scattered trees and bushes.

She took a deep breath, analyzing the area for clues.

She noticed broken branches in a line and realized she’d hit the tall tree behind her before falling.

She pulled out a compass and determined she needed to travel roughly northwest—though the distance was unknown.

She also didn’t know how long she’d been unconscious. She checked her watch—made by Eric—but couldn’t be sure if an entire day had passed. Hopefully not, or else...

Tears streamed down her face.

She wiped them away and sprinted northwest, following the compass.

While sprinting, she thought deeply and felt it shouldn’t have been that long. Her Vitality of Water wouldn’t take that long to heal; if it did, then she probably would have died, as that meant her injury was too severe for her ability to heal her back before it was too late.

She swiftly passed through all terrains, and as she was passing by a small stream, she suddenly stopped, her eyes widening uncontrollably.

She suddenly recalled that there was a broad river passing from the South towards the Northeast of Everwood Village. Eric had also started sprinting east after leaving the village. Perhaps it was also his goal!

Livy sped up toward the village’s direction while keeping an eye out for that river.

After a few more minutes, she finally arrived at a place where she could see the wide river. She quickly looked around and found the plateau where the village was located.

She nearly cried out of joy, but then she heard loud, groundbreaking noises and faint tremors coming from the other side of the river.

She detected they were coming from approximately where they had been fighting the giant spider. It was away from their previous location—though that wasn’t the most important thing. What was important was that both of them should still be alive!

She again felt like crying. She no longer wasted time and charged toward the river.

After crossing the river, she turned around and started to gather 'water drops' from it.

After a while of doing so, she was startled.

Previously, she could barely control fifty drops of Hydro Explosion, and it took considerable focus not to lose control over them. However, currently, she had already passed fifty and still didn’t feel any difficulty gathering more. Not only that—she felt all drops were now under her absolute control. She could even make a necklace out of them and wear them around her neck without fearing they would explode at all—unless she willed it.

For a moment, she stood there, shocked. She quickly shook her head and started gathering more with deep anticipation.

Soon, she reached her peak—one hundred drops! Not only that, she felt she had complete control over all of them, though she couldn’t collect more.

And that wasn’t the most terrifying fact. She felt that if she wished, she could gather all one hundred drops into a single drop!

Her heart raced with both fear and anticipation.

She wanted to try immediately, but she quickly dropped that thought. She had a feeling that the power of "hundred into one" would be extremely terrifying and devastating… Moreover, she felt she wouldn’t be able to control such a powerful drop for long.

She quickly collected all one hundred drops under her long sleeve and ran approximately toward where she had heard the noises and tremors earlier.

While running, she checked the hundred drops again to see if they were still under her control.

If those exploded, nothing of her would remain. But strangely, at this moment, she felt they were like a hundred arms of hers—fully obedient. If she wanted them to explode, they would. Otherwise, nothing could easily detonate them. It almost felt like their constitution had also risen—though that was just a feeling.

She quickly arrived at a place.

Gazing at the devastated landscape, she was completely stupefied.

It felt almost like a mountain had been dragged from one side to another. She couldn’t even see where the devastation had started or where it was heading—it stretched that far.

All trees, boulders, and terrain had been flattened and crushed into bits. The terrifying presence of a Rank 3 Mana Beast lingered everywhere.

Soon, she noticed a few long, deep lines on the ground. It didn’t take her long to realize those trenches were made by the Rank 3 Crimson Tide Spider’s limbs. But why did it feel like the spider had been dragged along the way? And with extreme force and violence? Almost as if it had been beaten senseless and dragged across the ruined forest like a criminal.

She couldn’t make sense of the situation.

She ignored that for now and tried to sense the spider’s current location. However, its presence was scattered, interfering with her tracking. So, she closely observed the ground and deduced it had been dragged toward her right. Without hesitation, she sprinted in that direction.

No matter what had occurred while she was gone, her only concern was Eric and Lyria—and she was deeply worried for them.

She had been suppressing her anxiety ever since recalling the events after waking up. Now, nearing the spider’s possible location, her fear and restlessness only grew.

She prayed desperately that both of them were still alive and well.

After a while, she caught sight of the gigantic spider—and was left dazed.

Unlike its previous malevolent appearance, it now looked pure and beautiful—completely different. What made her even more tongue-tied as she closed in was that this pure spider seemed to have been bullied so badly that it covered its eyes with its left front limb while the opposite limb flailed wildly, as if swatting away imaginary flies.

She could even hear faint weeping sounds coming from somewhere inside the white spider. Though she couldn’t decipher the noises, she somehow understood—it was crying over being bullied so mercilessly that it had lost all faith in heaven.

Even she started feeling terrible for this pretty spider.

'What is going on here? Where did the previous spider go?' Livy thought in bewilderment.

She shook away her confusion and ignored the spider’s trauma for now.

Her sole goal—her only reason for returning—was to find her two souls.

While sprinting toward the spider, she looked around in apprehension.

Then, suddenly, she came to a stop.

Her eyes welled up as she spotted two figures standing side by side, watching the spider.

She couldn’t hold back. Charging at her fastest speed, she raced toward them.