Helen felt a chilling breeze as the claw passed by her eyes, enough to make it feel as though they touched her eyelashes.

The air in her chest escaped upon violently landing on the ground. Throbbing pain in her stomach was soon accompanied by shooting pain along her back, the force of impact being strong enough to make Helen bounce. Eyes rolling around, Helen tried to regain her senses and watched the blurs flashing about. It wasn't long before she put together the shapes belonging to the others, jumping and evading the monster's attack.

"What the hell is this thing?!" Cynth slashed the thing on the side before jumping back, gaining distance before it tried to attack her.

Instead of the other creatures joining in on the battle, the two sides of monsters appeared to observe how their small group handled the fight. Though they were able to hold off the monster while dealing damage, it refused to be killed. Each major blow only added fuel to the rage as it continued to swing at them.

Getting back onto her feet, Helen shook her head to clear the residual fog in her mind. She was thankful for May, who had kicked her in the abdomen, just in time to avoid having her head ripped off. Something deep inside of her pushed Helen to get back into the fight. "C'mon, Helen! You can do this!"

Tightening her grip on the sword, she took a long deep breath. Letting it out slowly, she rushed towards the danger.

A strong feeling welled up inside, flowing into her legs. Helen pushed off of the ground. Feeling as though gravity temporarily released her from its pull. Lifting her sword above her head, she slammed the blade into the shoulder of the creature.

"Helen! Get out of there!" Catharina cried out.

Seeing how deep the attack sliced through the thing, Helen felt pride in her abilities. "I definitely got strong..."

Helen felt something tighten around her body, realizing it was the monster's hand grasping her body. It wasn't long before she was lifted into the air. The arm pulling back.

Out of the corner of her eye, Helen witnessed May jumping on the monster's head. May struck the head with both of her daggers, an uncontrollable shiver went throughout the thing's body. It was as though the strike had hit something vital.

Pointing at the monster, "Did you see that?! Everyone! Go!" Cynth grinned as she swung back her weapon and charged forward.

Squirming, Helen tried to get out of the clutches of the monster. "I need to help them out!" She thought to herself furiously. Trying to gain the same feeling as early, she closed her eyes and thought about the warmth. "Hurry... Hurry... Hurry...," Helen desperately searched inside of herself. The last thing she wanted was to be thrown far away, unable to assist.

Instead of the intense warmth, it was close to a lukewarm feeling like getting into a bath drawn a long time ago. As it slipped over her, it wasn't a feeling of water enveloping her but instead of viscous liquid spurting out. Her brows furrowed as she fought to keep it. At any moment, the sensation felt as if it would slip out of her fingers like oil, only leaving behind a residue.

With the increase in substance growing, she pushed her arms out. Nothing happened initially. It wasn't until a few moments before she felt the constricting sensation leave her body. Still keeping her eyes closed, Helen laterally raised her elbows and slipped out.

Feeling herself freed, she opened her eyes and lost all sensation of the lukewarm substance inside of her. Not wanting to dwell on the issue, she found herself on the thing's shoulder. Helen saw it was kneeling on the ground. Another shiver ran through the monster, and looking to the head, she saw Su had struck the skull with her spear.

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Parts of the skull had already broken off. Instead of feeling in pain, the monster acted as though it was losing strength.

Grinning, Helen grabbed her weapon with both hands and pulled it back. Thinking of the skull as a ball, she aimed for the fences and shattered a majority of the weakened bone.

"I did it!" Helen lifted her sword into the air.

Celebrating her victory, she was distracted from initially feeling the monster fall forward. Helen jumped off of the thing at the last moment, in time for it to crash into the ground.

Landing on the ground, there wasn't time before a feeling of strength welled up inside. From prior monsters, they fought in the hallway, Helen knew it was the world somehow giving her power. Eyes widening, Helen understood that the amount flowing into her was more significant than all the other times.

Eyeing the others, it was apparent they were feeling a similar sensation though not as significant. She remembered Katya's words about them, not feeling as much due to their own experiences before entering the portal.

Though Catharina was talking to the others about something, Helen was distracted. Closing her eyes, she searched for the feeling. A part of her hope it would be more accessible after defeating the monster.

Sweat beaded on her forehead as she concentrated, but her efforts were in vain. "Why isn't it working? Each time I killed a monster before, I would see improvement but nothing when it comes to that feeling." Gritting her teeth, Helen refused to give up.

"Helen!"

Startled, Helen opened her eyes to see Catharina lightly shaking her. Worry in her eyes.

"Are you okay? Did you get hurt?" Catharina's eyes wandered all over Helen's face as though searching for something.

Shaking her head, "I'm fine. I was just trying to adjust..." Helen felt a little guilty for not being open to Catharina.

Lifting an eyebrow, as though not wholly convinced, "Well, don't get too distracted. We need to be ready for the others."

A light tap on Helen's arm made her look to see Su, winking, and nodding her head. "I got a pretty shocking sensation, too." She pulled back the end of her spear. With one hand, she spun the weapon enough to cause the grass beneath them to wave from the wind.

"Even though we might be in a spot beyond our ability, I agree about what happened," May looked at her two daggers. "It feels as though they're closer to me, more familiar."

"What are those things waiting for?!" Cynth didn't join in on the wonder, focusing on the two groups. "I want to test out whether the skull is the weak point for all of them!" Baring her teeth, she looked like a leopard ready to pounce on its prey.

Catharina wiped sweat from her forehead, looking a little pale but invigorated by the boost. "For me, I'd rather they left us alone. If we had that much trouble with one, I could only imagine what fighting dozens of them will be like."

A sense of dread fell upon them, as they watched the monsters staring back at them.

Helen gritted her teeth, thinking of what was to come as only a test to see whether she had grown stronger. Though in the previous battle, her contribution was little, a part of her felt facing the danger would temper her skills. She wondered what she would become after engaging such a significant number of them.

Unaware, a slight grin formed as she readied herself.