Chapter 54 Another Struggle

Sonya finally smiled with relief when she saw Asqa appear. She should be able to survive the monster's attacks since her stats are all maxed out.

She walked closer to her without caring about the monster that was on the verge of death.

But the monster's soft voice was still heard. So that made Asqa look worriedly at its body that was lying on the ground.

"I-It's not dead, Sonya," Asqa said.

Sonya looked back. But she turned back to Asqa with a smile on her face.

"Don't worry. That thing won't live much longer," Sonya said calmly.

"Are you sure?" Asqa asked.

Sonia nodded.

And of course, what Sonya said was true. A moment later a notification indicating that the monster was dead appeared before Sonya's eyes.

[ You have killed Artifact Bearer (Lv.33) ]

[ You gained 30 Exp. ]

"That's true," Sonya said after seeing the notification.

"What?" Asqa asked.

"The monster's strength has increased from before," answered Sonya. "And it's clear that someone messes with the setting. I only got 30 Exp."

Ashka looked shocked. "So that's the reason the monster can rise again."

Sonia nodded. "Definitely. Whoever started this apocalypse are some assholes in power!"

Sonya looks furious. She even stomped her feet when she said the sentence just now.

"Hey, watch your words!" Asqa said.

"Why?"

"Aren't they watching us?"

Sonya's eyes suddenly widened because she realized that.

"You're right," said Sonya. "Shit, what if they get us in even more trouble?"

"It can't be helped. They have heard what you said, right? We just have to keep fighting," Asqa replied.

Sonya looked at Asqa and then smiled a thin smile.

"It's not like I can help much, though," Asqa added with a sigh.

"Hey, didn't I tell you not to say that again!" Sonya said.

"I'm sorry."

Sonia sighed. "It's okay. Let's get the artifacts and catch up with the others."

Asqa just nodded.

"Maybe they're also having a hard time now that the monsters' Levels have gone up. But I'm sure they'll be fine."

They then took the artifact that was inside the monster's body and left from there.

The night is still early. But it's possible that their desire to take another Quest should be canceled.

Now they know that the Level of monsters has increased.

However, they still don't know what other surprises have been prepared by the party carrying out this apocalypse. Who was watching them from an unknown place?

~~~

However, what they didn't know was that the World Masters watching from behind the monitor in the white room felt the same confusion as them.

"What's going on?" Luccio stared at the screen with a frown.

He was seeing with his own eyes that the Players were fighting monsters with higher Levels than they should be.

Even though, he didn't do anything to change the settings.

Luccio turned to Agatha. The woman was now sitting against the white wall.

She had gotten out of the pool of her blood and was now sitting next to it.

Agatha's face still looked pale and her eyes were still red as if filled with blood.

Wounds all over her body were a little better than before. But that doesn't mean it's completely healed.

The wounds still showed open and showed cut tissue of flesh and skin. The grotesque scene would still last for a few more hours.

"Hey, you know something?" Luccio asked Agatha in an unsympathetic tone.

Agatha looked at him with angry eyes. Her teeth gritted before she was able to let out a nice-sounding reply to Luccio.

"No, Seniors."

'Did he forget that he just tied me up like this with that damn chain! I don't even know what he's talking about!' Agatha thought inside her head with explosive anger.

Agatha didn't even want to waste her energy staring at the screen. She focused her Magic Power on self-healing.

"Yeah. I think so too," Luccio said with a thoughtful expression. "But who's messing with the difficulty?"

'Someone messed with the difficulty?' thought Agatha.

Her astonishment was the same as Luccio's. If anyone really changed anything during the Selection Stage, it would probably be them, the Demon Kings, or their lower subordinates.

Agatha had already seen several Demon Kings act up and interfere with the Selection Stage.

However, just like the World Masters, 'they' also had to pay a pretty high price to be able to do that.

Though, the high price is a relative thing.

For Celestials, what they - World Masters - considered expensive, could mean nothing.

"The damned Demon Kings," Luccio muttered angrily.

Luccio thought for a few moments. He just kept silent and stared at the floor with a frown. A sign that he was thinking about something heavy.

"Agatha." Suddenly Luccio called her. Agatha immediately looked up.

"You should quickly meet that young man. Or, I suspect a Demon will approach him first."

Agatha gritted her teeth. "I'm still a bit weak, Senior. Why don't you just meet him?"

"He's a man. Do you think he'll want to meet me who is also a men?" Lucio replied.

Based on her assessment of the human named Clyde, she knew that he wouldn't care who met him be it men or a woman.

But of course, Luccio still has his reasons for not meeting him in person. And it's not because they are both men.

"I will see him in a moment, Senior," said Agatha.

In the end, Agatha could only obey Luccio's orders. She saw Luccio nodding with a faint smile on his couch.

"Good," Luccio said.

So Agatha began to focus on healing herself more than before.

~~~

Asqa and Sonya leave to find the rest of the group. The longer they searched, the more worried they became.

Maybe, the Regressors will be caught off guard because previously they were almost in a very dangerous situation because of the surprise given by the gray monster.

But soon they finally found them. More precisely, they found Mona lying on the hood of a car.

While Eric was struggling against the gray monster.

~~~