Chapter 85: The Great Struggle

"Shoot!!!" I gave orders.

Pif shot his arrow, and Lara followed. Meanwhile, Kat came forward with a torch to illuminate the body of the giant monster.

The two arrows hit one of the monster's eyes. It immediately stopped in its tracks, then stood on its two hind legs, probably from the incredible pain.

So, the weakness of this beast is the eyes. It was a stroke of luck for me, who chose that part at random.

"Rox, attack!" Running backward, Kat gave orders to her dog. Rox advanced at high speed and bit one of the monster's hind legs, right where Leva had slashed.

The giant stump scorpion scurried wildly to free the dog, but Rox was able to hold on to his bite, though his body swayed back and forth.

The combination of all of that was enough to give Leva time to fully stand up and look for her weapon. When she found the large machete a few meters away from her, the girl jumped and rolled over to get it faster.

After that, she ran towards the monster, jumped again, and hugged the joints of the giant stump scorpion.

The monster continued to move wildly. However, Leva also managed to keep herself from falling and continued to stab the wound she had made on the giant stump scorpion's hand.

And after that, I heard thousands of more footsteps in the distance. I pressed the pause button and used the hover feature.

A larger group of stump scorpions came to my colonists' location. And what's worse, they were accompanied by two giant stump scorpions.

Electricity felt as if it ran through my body. I don't know if it's really happening in my body, because of the game's features, or it's just my feelings. I just stayed in the air for a few moments.

It couldn't possibly end like this, right?

I landed back on the ground, looked at Leva, who was still perched on the pincer of the giant monster, then turned to my colonists, who were still on the tree branches. And for the last, I looked at Rox, who had become part of my colony.

My tears are flowing again. Even in the real world, I've never felt anything like this. As if something was stifling in the chest and forced out, at the same time instilling immeasurable pain.

After this, I will lose them.

"Sorry...." I choked out, feeling that the word wasn't appropriate anymore in the current situation. So, I took a deep breath and sighed. "Thank you everyone, I had fun with all of you, even if only for a moment."

And I pressed the play button again. I certainly want to avoid all this, log out and return to the real world. However, that means I'm running away, and that's a disgrace. They will just become data in some hardware. Forgotten. That's worse than death.

Yes, they will feel immeasurable pain. I can't feel it like them, but at least I'll still be here for them.

Leva screamed in a hoarse voice, slashing again at the pincer joint of the giant stump scorpion, breaking the machete in her hand. However, at the same time, that right pincer detached, made the monster squirm like crazy.

"You guys heard that!?" Lara gasped. "Are they coming again with more numbers!?"

Leva isn't done yet. With a loud moan, she lifted the pincer, which was almost as big as her body, then ran with the sharp point of the pincer facing forward.

The front of the giant stump scorpion's body was pinched by its pincer vertically. Leva jumped and stepped on the pincer's back with both feet.

It sounded like something was being squeezed so hard. The giant stump scorpion's face was squashed by the pincer. Its body immediately collapsed, and its legs could only move limply.

At that moment, the echoes of the thousands of stump scorpions stopped at one.

What?

It wasn't long before the clattering sound was heard again, but this time away rather than closer. I used the hover feature to check again.

The horde of monsters really started to leave us. What happened? Why are they like that? Were they frightened by the madness of Leva, who killed one of their commanders?

"Hey, don't run away!" Leva shouted again in a voice that was barely audible for being so hoarse. "I'm not done with you guys yet!"

Leva picked up her broken machete from the ground and started walking forward. Now, I can see the toll of all the madness that she had been doing. Her steps were so limp, her body was shaking uncontrollably, and she had to breathe through her mouth because it was so difficult to do it with the nose.

I dropped to the ground again, immediately whispered to the woman. "Stop it, Leva. This is all over. Your friends are safe and you don't have to fight anymore."

However, the red-haired girl kept walking.

"I don't want you to die, damn it!" Very frustrated, I was about to ask Seb to persuade Leva, but suddenly Kat ran towards the red-haired woman.

The amber-eyed girl stuck the torch in her hand into the ground, then hugged Leva from behind. Leva immediately stopped because of that.

"Enough, Leva." Kat said in a voice that was also hoarse. Her body moved up and down like someone crying. However, since she buried her head into Leva's back, I can't be sure.

"I promised your sister to protect you and I broke that promise." Kat sounded like she was having a hard time speaking. "I won't let you commit suicide like this."

Leva didn't answer. Her blank gaze was fixed ahead. Her tears were dry and no longer dripping.

And finally, those eyes closed. Leva fell.

"Leva!" Kat screamed, knelt down, and rocked her colony mate. She wasn't like the usual Kat, who was always expressionless. This time, the girl looked like an ordinary person who was crying. Full of sadness and despair. "Leva, don't leave me!"

I called the others to come to check on Leva.

"Here, we have nothing to treat her." Pif gulped. "All the medical equipment is in our house."

"Are you insane!?" Lara snapped. "There's no guarantee that it's safe there!"

"It's okay. They're not around your house anymore." I, just checking the state of settlement with my own eyes, informed my colonists. "So, you three can take her there."

"Then let's pick her up and take her there." Seb suggested.

"Hey, are you guys deaf!?" Lara looked even more frustrated, especially when my three colonists really picked Leva up.