The only thing he shared with Gabriel was the name, his appearance was the same as the previous spawn. His daggers on the other hand seemed to be of remarkably better quality.

The bow straining at her back put her between a rock and a hard place. She had to choose between blocking the archer's shots or the spawn’s deadly daggers. The choice was instantaneous.

She dashed towards the archer and threw another dagger after blocking the arrows, immediately turning around to protect her neck. However, the attack was a feint. Neither the whispers, nor the armor could prevent it.

His dagger was so sharp that it easily slid between her ribs. If it were not for the fact that she endured the pain and recoiled abruptly, aggravating the cut, it would have gone all the way to her heart.

The spawn smirked, but so did she. The poison from the dagger coursed through her body, but Jean isolated it. With its help, she quickly healed the wound.

The whispers warned her again. She barely had time to turn around to block an arrow. She backed up to touch the wall and took a deep breath as they surrounded her. The situation was getting out of control. She had to nip it in the bud and do whatever it took to stay alone with the spawn. Which one did she focus on first?

She advanced with the shield held high and threw one dagger at the spawn. He easily dodged it, but the archer behind him didn’t react in time; he was crouched down picking up some of the arrows lying around.

The dagger hit him squarely, throwing him off balance. Jean dashed and combined Cursed Punish with Swift Strike. The druid conjured a magical barrier, but he didn't get to activate it, his companion's head exploded into pieces long before.

Without missing a beat, Jean dodged the emerging vines and charged at the warrior protecting the druid. Of course, without taking her eyes off the spawn. In spite of her divided focus, she easily blocked the greatsword heading towards her head; whispers were always vigilant.

Believing that he could put her against the ropes, the warrior attacked two more times, which she parried without any problem. The problem was the spawn; he had moved out of her range of vision. Thankfully, the chain gave away his position.

Whispers alerted her of an attack from behind. She moved until she was practically glued to the warrior, hindering his angle of attack, and swiftly moved around him.

Both of his daggers crashed into the warrior's armor, briefly knocking both off balance. Jean needed no more, she clenched her grip, attacking with the same combination as before, Cursed Punish and Swift Strike. One slash was enough to sever the warrior’s head, which fell more than 5 meters away; the spawn evaded the attack.

Cursed Binding was stealing mostly Strength and Dexterity from the spawn, and the idiot wasn't even noticing. The skill was much more effective than before getting the chains. The materialized curse increased attribute stealing considerably. Even so, it still wasn't enough to hit him.

The vines crept up her feet, catching her off guard. It was only a 2 meter diameter circle this time, a couple of steps and she would be out. That's what she thought, but taking a single step was a nightmare. This time the druid didn't intend to let her escape; the vines rapidly crawled up to her waist.

Jean blocked a few more of the spawn's attacks. His movements became slower and weaker. Feints like the one before seemed impossible now.

The spawn threw a dagger and stepped back a little, gaining some space. He reached for some potions from his belt and swallowed them. Jean sensed that they would be to counteract the miasma, but they would do him no good. He had recovered, but it was only a temporary solution. All the miasma flooding the tunnel kept flowing into Jean, and thus, would end up weakening him again.

Jean took the opportunity to switch to the two-handed sledgehammer on her back. She quickly swung it over her head in a full circle and hurled it. Neither the druid's magic barrier nor the robust skin spell prevented the hammer from reaching him. They barely damaged him, but dazed him enough for the vines to loosen a bit.

Getting away from the magic circle was an arduous task. Not only because of the pain of tearing off the vines, the spawn returned to the charge.

She blocked a few more attacks, bashed the spawn with the shield, and dashed forward enduring the pain. She had no time to waste, the spawn had gained enough time for the druid to regain awareness.

The druid hurriedly cast his two defensive spells again, but they weren’t enough. At the third slash of the powerful combination, his head failed completely to stay attached to his body. Not even a fleeting attempt to heal himself saved him. Being the support of the group, he had no offensive skills that could pose a threat on his own.

For a moment, she saw a reflection of her past self on the ground. The druid had always strived to protect his friends throughout the fight. All to be crushed by the new Jean. "I'm sorry, but ...at least you won't outlive yours."

After hearing the spawn speeding up, she turned around, shield in one hand and long sword in the other. She expected an attack from either the back or the side, but nothing happened. He didn't move in the slightest. He stood watching her from a distance while sheathing both daggers on his back. Probably to renew the poison coating the daggers. At least that's what his glow made her suspect when he unsheathed one of them. On the other hand he grabbed the short sword on his side.

He turned invisible, or so he thought; the chain gave away his position. He approached step-by-step, carefully dodging all the puddles and jumping over those that were smaller. All without getting close enough to get into her attack range.

Jean feigned concern, looking around continuously. She even attacked several times in the air to encourage him to approach. But the most effective way was to turn around.

He dashed forward immediately, aiming his sword at her neck. She expected it, but the whispers confirmed it. She blocked it and went on the offensive. However, the spawn surprised her by slipping the dagger behind her shield, causing a sharp cut near the jugular. He was slower, but not enough.

Jean put her hand to the wound and stepped back until she touched the tunnel wall. She feigned desperation, the wound was already healed. If the spawn didn't plan to go on an all-out offensive, she could go all day like this; her attributes allowed her to do so. However, she couldn’t afford it. If she didn't end it quickly, the other undead would raise again.

Jean sighed and ignored the whispers. If it weren't for her healing, she wouldn’t put her life in as much danger as she was going to.

She screamed as his sword ruptured several internal organs until it collided against the back of her ribcage. The fall of her sword followed, but it wasn't just from pain; it was to make him let his guard down too.

She elbowed him in the head, breaking his invisibility, and then clutched his right wrist, enduring indescribable pain as blood dripped to her feet.

The spawn quickly regained his balance and attacked her right side with the dagger.

Jean narrowly avoided the attack midway, but not without consequences. Such a feat required another sacrifice. She slowed the attack by grabbing the blade, but it slipped from her grasp, cutting her palm in the process. The dagger had just begun to pierce her skin when she managed to squeeze the handle tightly, crushing his fingers in the process.

Jean wasn't going to let pain stop her. This was just a glimpse of her resolve, she was determined to defeat him. Everyone involved in the treason deserved to die.

She looked him in the eye while healing. "Getting weaker, huh?! Let's check who is stronger now!"

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He struggled, but as expected, Jean's strength was far superior. First, she broke his left hand before he could free it due to her bleeding hand.

Letting anger cloud her judgment, she gritted her teeth while coughing up a lot of blood. "CAN YOU SEE IT?! IT'S YOUR FUCKING END! YOU ALL WILL PAY!"

The spawn tried to pull the sword out of her entrails, but as Jean refused to let go of his wrist, he pushed the sword hard and twisted it repeatedly.

She screamed in pain, weakening her grip. An opportunity that he took to release his right arm and grab the dagger on his back.

Jean managed to raise the shield in extremis to protect her neck, however, the dagger deflected, cutting her cheekbone and ear.

She pushed him down by the arm with all her strength, forcing him to end up on his knees, and launched a powerful kick directly at his head.

He stopped the attack, sacrificing his intact arm, but he ended up unarmed on the ground. The dagger fell to the ground due to the impact.

Jean lifted her leg ready to stomp him, but the sword was in the way. She promptly removed it and closed the wound. However, the spawn took the opportunity to grab her leg with his own, throwing her off balance.

After tumbling backwards, she rolled to the side. Not only did she manage to get to her feet swiftly, but she also avoided two desperate kicks from the spawn. Shortly after, he ran into the depths. It was his best option.

Jean picked up the spear she had left on the floor at the beginning of the fight and chased after him. Her wounds were not fully healed and needed urgent attention, but that didn't last long.

The distance between them increased in the meanwhile, and to make matters worse, he had also turned invisible. Luckily, he was still in the range of the binding, so she was able to track him. She sprinted and threw the spear with all her strength.

The spear pierced his back before he could react. He hadn't even fallen yet and Jean was already at his side, beating him. The punches with Cursed Punish were so powerful now that at the third impact the spawn didn't move again.

"Eh?! I've killed him?! The other one lasted a little longer!"

It made sense. The fight had lasted much longer than the other time and her skills were much more powerful.

She sighed as her temporary attributes wore off. She wanted to see if she could get any information out of him. “Shit! All this for nothing!"

At least her newfound self-confidence was strengthened a bit. Maybe she wasn't as far away from facing the real Gabriel as she thought.

««◊◊◊« »◊◊◊»»

Sitting against the tunnel wall, Jean rested from her latest harvest. She was gradually getting used to alternating between her weapons. In the last three rounds, she easily killed 36 undead without a single bruise. Mastering them was only a matter of time.

She looked right while frowning. Further ascending seemed less and less appealing. The whispers were to blame. The more she advanced, the more they warned her of the danger involved. The foul smell of the miasma also grew stronger, as if death awaited her ahead.

She spent her points in Intelligence and checked the notifications calmly. She needed her healing to become ridiculously instantaneous.

[You have defeated Undead Human. Level 15.]

[You have defeated Undead Human. Level 22.] x29

[You have defeated Undead Human. Level 23.] x37

[You have defeated Undead Human. Level 25.]

[You have defeated Undead Human. Level 26.]

[You have defeated Spawn. Level 32.]

[Experience bonus awarded for killing creatures corrupted by evil.]

[You have acquired +2 Dexterity, +2 Strength,+2 Endurance, +1 Perception.]

[You have reached Level 25. +10 attribute points.]

[You have learned Enchain — Level 1.

Tired of chasing sneaky enemies? Not anymore. You can materialize your chains to bind them to the ground.]

[You have learned Magic Vines— Level 1.

It will not manifest as an independent skill, it will be combined with Enchain. The moment a chain binds an enemy, it will branch to increase the binding strength.]

[Cursed Armor has increased to Level 1. Rank 2.

Now, when a weapon is wounding you and in contact with the armor, it will be slowly absorbed.]

[You have learned Magic Barrier and Sturdy Skin— Level 1.

They will not manifest as independent skills, they will be combined with Cursed Armor. Your armor gains an active barrier that temporarily gives as much magical resistance as the armor’s toughness. In addition, it increases them by 10%.]

[Precise Aim has increased to level 3.]

[Purify Soul has increased to level 5.]

[Cursed Search, Chameleon and Cursed Perception have increased to level 7.]

[Cursed Punish has increased to level 8.]

[Cursed Healing and Cursed Binding have increased to level 9.]

[Cursed Manage has increased to level 1. Rank 2.

Now it is even more effective, allowing you to handle more evil without it affecting you.]

[Hunger for Evil and Pupil of Evil have increased to level 3. Rank 2.]

Status

Strength: 28

Dexterity: 31

Vitality: 50

Endurance: 23

Intelligence: 55

Willpower: 50

Perception: 21

“During the fight I felt pletoric, but... How strong am I really without the bonuses?”

“[Not too much. In a combat in which you can't use any of your skills, your Strength, Dexterity and Endurance wouldn't be good enough. Your technique has improved a lot in the time being, but you would still find it hard to defeat an enemy of your level. Naturally, the skills exist to close that gap. The long duration of combat and that your enemies weren't resistant to the curse has played in your favor so far. In another situation...]”

"Am I a long way from being able to beat a paladin of around level 50? I don't know how to explain it, but I got the feeling that Gabriel's level was close to that."

“[It depends on whether his build is offensive or defensive.]”

"Offensive from what I remember.”

“[Then yes. Your Vitality is quite high, allowing you to survive where others may fall. However, while your healing capacity is worthy of envy, your mana would be depleted if you are simply on the defensive.]”

"Maybe the Enchain skill will make the difference. I'd like to test it against something stronger than... the expedition members."

“[Don't advance upwards. Remember our warnings.]”

"Relax! I'll keep my distance and go camouflaged with Chameleon!"