The beast roared, demonstrating his male dominance in front of the two females, but to his surprise, both began to run away. Knowing that the blonde woman didn't get caught easily, he decided to try with the other female.

Elrianthe ran toward the corridor leading to the dungeons. There were only three exits in the hall, one occupied by a monster, so she had no other choice. She had to drag the beast away from Alison. She headed for the passage and intended to run on, but stopped momentarily.

“The bastard prefers brunettes!” She shouted, realizing she was no longer the object of interest of the troll chasing her.

She turned around and ran to the living area. There she saw the troll trying to force the door closed. He was furious, unable to destroy them or even scratch them. Alison, hiding on the other side, fortified the door's durability with her mana, effectively stopping the monster.

'I envy you that giga brain, Alison. But you won't last long,' thought Elrianthe.

Then she pulled from the storage space one of the failed potions she had forgotten to dispose of. The contents of the vial should have healing properties, but when it came into contact with the skin, it caused severe skin irritation.

"Hey, ugly! Catch this!" Cried Elrianthe, throwing the vial in the direction of the monster.

The glass bottle shattered in its face, and the contents splashed over its body. Momentarily, everything began to burn and pinch him.

*GGRRUUUUUHH!*

The monster roared, and in a panic began to pounce on the walls, which only added to the chaos.

'It's even worse than before!' She thought, achieving the opposite effect.

She wanted to attract his attention again when she suddenly remembered how she had changed her appearance to resemble Matt. She took a stone in her hand, taking the form of Alison, and threw it at the rampaging beast.

“Oi, you abominable shit-sniffer!” She called out, throwing the stone.

The troll turned and, spotting the black-haired priestess standing in the hallway, dashed toward her.

Elrianthe began to run toward the dungeons, recognizing this as the only place where she could keep the monster for longer. The thick doors and solid walls should pose quite a challenge for him.

With a slight advantage over the troll, Elrianthe managed to run downstairs. Hugging her back to the wall next to the entrance, she waited for the monster to descend.

"Alison?" Jim asked, surprised.

"You'd like that," she replied and used her skill.

< Domination >

[ Successfully acquiring a new puppet ]

[ Jim Utter Level 3 ]

[ Control: 100% ]

[ Carl Rig Level 4 ]

[ Control: 100% ]

By taking control of both men, she had a slightly better chance of succeeding with her plan. She approached to open their cells, when suddenly a troll roared, running down the stairs.

*GRRUUUUUUUUUH*

"Stop him!" She called out, creating an Alison-like illusion in front of the cell, and then backed up against the wall.

The troll, impetuously running down the stairs, spotted the woman and, charging inside, launched himself at the illusion, which disappeared just before contact. The speeding beast crashed into the metal bars, which failed to withstand the impact, and its head stuck between them.

Elrianthe took advantage of the moment to run back upstairs. Closing the door behind her at the top of the stairs, she gained a moment to breathe and think about how to defeat this creature.

"Miss Elrianthe! Are you all right?" Alison called out, clearly worried.

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She walked out into the main hall a moment after Elrianthe dragged the threat away from the door of her room.

"I'm fine, but I don't know what's going on with Gaz and Taygeer. They were outside, and Matt and the others..." she replied.

"What about them?"

"They're dead. They died before my eyes," confessed Elrianthe, drained of energy.

"It must have been difficult."

"It's not that I cared about them, but... I felt then how powerless I was. I ran away from there when they stepped to my defense. I ran filled with fear, like a child. I don't want to live like that..." she lamented, sitting at the table.

[ Puppet: Jim Utter was killed. ]

'This doesn't help,' she commented in her mind.

"We have to do something about it, Alison. We can't handle it in a typical clash. He is too strong to be defeated in a fight. He can regenerate instantly and is unpredictable, although one thing is certain - he loves to chase women... I don't know what I should do," Elrianthe said.

"You managed to drag him away, didn't you?" Alison asked, sitting down next to her.

[ Puppet: Carl Rig was killed. ]

"I had to illusively take on your appearance to get him to pay attention to me..." she replied, ignoring the message.

"But it worked, didn't it? He started running after you. Take advantage of that. And as for regeneration..." Alison pondered. "He must have some kind of core that allows him to do that. I would bet on the heart, but you'll have to check it yourself and attack that point."

"How? My ability doesn't even show his life level," replied Elrianthe.

"But you have a second, more accurate ability that will work if you touch something," suggested Alison.

"I doubt he'll let me touch for that long..." she countered, reminding herself that it takes at least a few seconds to analyze concoctions, and the larger and more complicated the sample, the longer it takes.

"He won't have a choice," Alison stated, getting up from the table.

Elrianthe looked at her with a questioning gaze. In the rush of thoughts, she didn't notice that Alison had come up with an idea that had a real chance of success.

"Elrianthe! Elrianthe!" A voice called out from the hallway.

"Here!" She called out in response.

"Elrianthe!" Cried Gaz again, running into the hall.

"Why the hell are you shouting... I'm thinking. Can't you see?"

"Taygeer," choked out Gaz. "He's badly injured. The potions don't work."

"No. No, no, no..." howled a terrified Elrianthe, before getting up and running out of the room.

Elrianthe had only two people she could call friends: Alison and Taygeer. Losing anyone from Gaz's gang didn't matter much to her, but losing one of those two would be a real nightmare that she would prefer to avoid.

As the troll moved to chase Elrianthe, it rammed Gaz, who fell nearby. Taygeer, trying to block the strike, failed to do so, and the monster's sharp claws sunk into his body, causing deep wounds that were almost impossible to heal. The modest armor was unable to stop them.

Taygeer lay on the ground, bound with rags to stop his bleeding wounds. Next to him lay empty vials of a healing potion, unfortunately, ineffective in his case. He was losing more and more blood by the minute.

Gaz tried everything at his disposal to help him survive, but time was working against him. Finally, he decided to run for help.

"Taygeer! Taygeeer!" Cried Elrianthe from a distance.

“Boss...” he mumbled.

Elrianthe ran up to him, knelt beside him, and moved closer to assess his condition.

"Taygeer, can you hear me? Taygeer, you will be fine. Hold on, please. Alison will heal you, okay? Stay with me. I beg of you," Elrianthe said nervously, recognizing the seriousness of the situation.

“Boss... I'm glad... You're... fine...” he replied, barely making a sound.

"Hold on a moment longer, okay? Alison is already running. Just a moment more," whispered Elrianthe, stroking his head gently.

"Elrianthe. Thank you ... for ... what you did ... for us," mumbled Taygeer.

Soon, Elrianthe kneeling by her companion, who was at death's door, was joined by Alison and Gaz. As an experienced healer, Alison quickly assessed the injuries and knew she would not be able to help him. His lungs were damaged, his internal organs were crushed, and his major veins were ruptured.

“Alison, help him!” Elrianthe called out, in a shaky voice.

"His wounds are too deep. I won't be able to heal it. Only someone at the level of a Saint could help him," Alison declared.

“Please... Try,” asked Elrianthe as tears began to gather in her eyes.

Alison moved closer and attempted treatment, but as she had already determined, it was not working. Her skills and the concoctions she created only supported the body's natural regeneration. To force Taygeer's body to rebuild, she would have to reconstruct most of the damaged tissues, which is beyond her capabilities.

"Don't worry... It's fine. You gave me... freedom and... I wanted to... repay you," Taygeer said, looking with cloudy eyes at the weeping girl who had changed his life when he had lost all hope.

"Taygeer... please. I don't want to lose you," begged Elrianthe, wiping her cheeks wet with tears.

"I will... follow... and support... you... always. Thank you... for everything."

[ Puppet: Taygeer Breezetail was killed ]

Elrianthe lost five puppets and a friend that day.