Not fit to be a hero

Dai couldn't believe it!

No, actually, she could. Teru had never liked her, but she couldn't believe that her dislike had turned into murderous intent!

Dai couldn't hold back disbelieving thoughts as death breathed down her neck. Instinct warned her, and so she immediately rolled over, and good thing she listened. A heavy foot landed where her body had been moments ago, slamming through the wooden floor. Dai could easily imagine her chest ending up like that. Dented inside.

She seized the moment before the mutant woman freed her leg and stood up herself. Dai's eyes darted back and forth, wondering what the hell she was supposed to do now! This is exactly why it's better to have a backup plan!

Which she didn't have.

She looked back to the Dragon Door. She only had one option and that was to get in, but she doubted Teru would let her. She didn't have time to wrestle with her for the door! Now she regretted not working out her muscles more. As a cultivator she should.... oh yeah! She is a cultivator after all!

She took a deep breath and ran at full speed. And that was no small speed, the System itself complimented her.

Only she wasn't quite ready for it. Because of her haste to not miss the nighttime, she hadn't had the chance to really test what she could do now. So her reflexes hadn't kept up with her speed.

Everything went blurry, her body slammed against the door, and Dai found herself on the floor again, perhaps even more shaken than when Teru had pushed her. Despite the situation, she felt like she might as well die right now rather than be faced with this embarrassment.

Dai started to get up again, but a heavy, furry foot landed on her chest, pinning her to the floor. Dai rolled her eyes at the woman above her.

"Hahaha.... you're pretty funny. Were you trying to cause your own quick death?" She taunted her.

Dai felt a chill run down her spine. It seemed that these would be her last seconds in this world.

"If I was playing the clown, would you leave me alone?" She had to take her thoughts back. She'd rather be humiliated than dead.

The mutated woman smiled crookedly, Dai felt like she could see her bones with those teeth. "The most fun will be seeing you squirm in pain in my mistress's name."

She lifted her leg off Dai, but only to kick her hard. Dai's body was thrown violently backward, she heard her bones crack and spit out a mouthful of blood. The impact with the wall was enough for her spine to withstand, but it made her groan in pain.

"Fufufu... I heard bones crack. That's gotta hurt, right?" The woman taunted, walking over to her.

Dai blinked to get rid of the tears of pain. It had been a long time since she was really seriously hurt, it brought back unpleasant memories.

She grabbed her hurting ribs and tried to stand up again. The stabbing pain tortured her, she could feel the sharp bone digging into her flesh. All she could do was grit her teeth and try to do something before being beaten to a pulp by this crazy woman.

"Aaahhh can you be quiet? Not only are you going to kill me but you're going to torture me with your bullshit? Give me a break." She moaned, if she thought it would help, she would have begged. But it was clear from the mutated woman's behavior that she would only be making an unnecessary effort.

The woman stopped smiling and looked even angrier. Ah, whatever. If she was going to die, at least have Dai piss her off properly.

The mutated woman was at her again within moments and this time kicked her in the stomach. This time her body flew into the air, hit the ceiling, and bounced back. Her impact back on the floor was even more painful. Dai stopped trying to move, besides the pain, the thought of how badly her insides were hurt now terrified her.

System: "Boss, redirect your spiritual energy into your organs to protect them. Otherwise, the internal injuries will kill you quickly." System's quiet voice rang in her ear, giving her advice.

It was nice advice, but Dai didn't know how to do it.

System: "Just concentrate a little bit, like when you're trying to meditate, you'll feel the pull of the energy. Just direct it where you need it to go."

Dai did as she was told, thankfully the omnipresent pain allowed her to feel the flow of energy, under normal circumstances, she would have been distracted by too many things. She could feel the direction of the energy, it was a strange sensation, it felt like it was being controlled by something residing in her spine.

Spiritual energy filled her organs, but Dai wasn't sure if it would do any good. Wasn't she just prolonging her dying?

She gathered her courage and tried to get up again. A black, clawed hand flashed before her eyes and she nearly choked as it grabbed her by the throat and slammed her against the wall.

Dai felt like every surface in the room had already tested the strength of her bones.

She looked up, at the mutant woman who was glaring hatefully at her. "I don't like those who try to fake bravery when their life is over." She growled.

Dai couldn't care less if she likes something or not. Then her gaze fell on the room behind her, and she quickly averted her gaze so as not to show her shock.

Her mind instantly cleared and began working at full speed. There's a chance!

With her mind, Dai opened the system interface and moved to the Connections folder. Immediately, she terminated the connection to Shelter 22 with her mind. The Dragon Door began to disappear and the mutant didn't notice.

"The first principle of a good salesman. You make the rules, not the customer. The customer just has to think he's getting his way."

"What?"

"The second principle of a good salesman. The customer must always leave satisfied with the feeling that he has made a good trade. The salesman, however, must be the one who has profited the most."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"The third principle of a good salesman. Follow your own rules, it'll keep the bad customers away, but it'll bring the good ones back." Dai began to recite her business rules like some kind of mantra.

"Tck. I've probably already damaged your brain? You human beings are so fragile." The mutated woman clicked her tongue in annoyance.

She held up her free hand, which was twisted into claws, probably about to deliver the final blow.

"Ow!" She cried suddenly, letting go of Dai, who fell to the ground.

Dai wasn't lazy and immediately pressed her hands to the floor and began to mount her shop before looking up and glaring at the mutant woman who backed away, twitching as she tried to shake off the man who was suddenly clinging to her.

"You bloody idiot! What kind of shit have you gotten yourself into?!" Horn yelled angrily while looking like a skin full of thumbtacks. Dai could hardly believe she was seeing him. She didn't understand why he had come, much less why he was saving her, but she wasn't going to waste this opportunity.

"What the hell are you still stuck in there for? Get out!" He yelled at her while clinging to the mutant's back, dodging her hands to keep her from grabbing him.

"Hold on a moment!" She called back in a voice filled with energy as she regained her hope of getting out of this.

"You... I'm really going to kill you!" Horn's voice sounded like he already regretted helping her.

"You can do that later!"

"You maggots!" The mutant woman shouted angrily, her body glowing with spiritual energy. Horn could no longer hold onto her and was knocked backward.

Horn landed on a wall not far from Dai and his ability was instantly cancelled.

"Ha, ha..." He panted heavily. "What the hell are you doing!?" He didn't understand how Dai could have missed her chance to escape.

"This!" Dai exclaimed as the Dragon Door appeared on the floor. She grabbed the doorknob, grabbed Horn with the other, and opened the door, then fell through it, pulling Horn with her.

Dai fell from a height into the grass and Horn landed on top of her, knocking the breath out of her and making her already broken bones feel even more broken.

Horn rolled off her back and looked up at the sky, where the door was floating in the air.

"What the hell...?" He looked around but immediately jerked as a mutated woman burst through the door.

"So this was your plan! She can come in here too!" Horn yelled in annoyance, glaring accusingly at Dai.

Thankfully, even the woman was surprised by the change in location, so she looked around before rushing at them again.

Dai took advantage of that. "Hey. Batwoman. What's your name?" she called.

The woman fixed her with a look, startled by the sudden question. Perhaps the human being wanted to know the name of her killer?

"Devvil." She replied, resolved to grant the worm this.

Dai nodded. "Okay. And goodbye. You just got blacklisted." She said, giving the System a command.

Dai glared at her and activated Removal. She wasn't sure how strong Devvil was, but it was supposed to work on the Middle High Realm, so she hoped Devvil wasn't in the Higher Realm.

Devvil didn't understand what Dai was doing, but she didn't care. She was just going to kill them.

But after taking a single step, she suddenly froze and an unknown force closed around her body.

She immediately activated her spiritual energy and tried to break free. Even though she felt the grip loosen, she was unable to break free.

And then she flew and was thrown into the open door in the sky, which no longer showed the ceiling of the destroyed Dai House, but a gray-white vortex. Then the door slammed shut behind her.

Devvil warped space before her eyes and suddenly she was in some forest.

"You vermin..." She growled.

Dai moaned and finally let her body relax. She remained lying on the ground and closed her eyes. This was one of the worst moments of her life. She had never been in such a dangerous situation. If it wasn't for Horn...

She opened her eyes and looked at the man next to her who was still staring at the door in the sky. "Hey. Not that I'm not grateful, but what were you doing at my house?"

Horn frowned and pierced her with his gaze. "And what am I supposed to do when my merchant doesn't show up at the market for a few days? You owe me crystals."

The corner of Dai's mouth twitched. "So you're here for a payoff? When you saw I was to be killed, you couldn't part with the crystals?"

Horn turned away and stood up. "My reasons are mine alone."

Dai stared at in puzzlement, she really couldn't understand the man. He was a bastard and a bully, and his character really would not fit the role of a hero. Still, he had saved her. Damn it, what was wrong with this world?

Dai carefully began to lift herself, panting a lot and being careful not to hurt herself further. Horn ignored her discomfort, but she didn't expect any gentlemanly behavior from him either.

She looked around. She remembered well the person who had done this to her. But she didn't see Teru anywhere. She couldn't have disappeared, after all the only exit had disappeared before, and now they were hanging in the sky. So she's in the shop?

Dai took a shaky step and Horn followed, both heading for the shop.

After a few steps, Horn frowned and gestured with his hand. "What the hell is that?"

The two approached and Dai's face went pale.

"Fuck! How am I going to explain this to Filn?"

They both stared at what looked like a cocoon. But in reality, it was a pinkish worm, unnaturally large with a body stretched into the shape of a human figure. The best worm in the world had eaten Teru?

How? Why?!?

The best Worm in the world raised his head without eyes but with a round mouth full of sharp teeth. The other end of it lifted a little and started to wiggle.

The master has returned!