Commander Apex looked at the Crypt Master. "So you are going to let one of them die after all. I know you are still as bloodthirsty as ever!"

But the way he said it sounded almost like a compliment, as if he cared little about what happened to Stallus. Even though, to him, it would be a bit difficult to lose a girl they had already spent so many resources on, it was still nothing in the grand scheme of things.

The Crypt Master frowned and thought, Have I miscalculated? But that’s impossible. I agree that this crypt is difficult, but not to that extent!

Out loud, the Crypt Master said, "I don’t give them crypts they won’t be able to clear." He had been sure of that, but looking at the glass now, he wasn’t so certain anymore because how was she supposed to do this? There was no move she could make anymore!

Kael was frozen. He knew Stallus’s strength, and if only there were a way for her to move, then he was absolutely sure she’d clear it. But now that she was trapped between two deaths, there was simply no way she could get out of this one.

Alex was clenching his hands against his knees with intense tension, his eyes locked on the screen. He didn’t say anything, but his eyes burned with the knowledge of what he believed was about to happen.

Even Catena was fully awake now, his eyes wide open and his breath held as he watched Stallus fight thousands of zombies in what looked like a hopeless battle. Soon, he knew, they would outrun her, and that would be the end. He stood hurriedly. "Crypt Master, please send me to her immediately! The crypt you gave her is a puzzle she wasn’t able to solve..."

The Crypt Master looked at him, and for a moment it almost seemed like he would do as Catena said, but then he closed his eyes. "This is a personal test, and we can’t interfere. Unless you are going to take responsibility for her automatically failing?"

Catena faltered. Take responsibility? That was something he couldn’t do, and he also couldn’t interfere in another warrior’s fight because he wouldn’t want his own battles interfered with either. "I understand."

Azaroth was watching the whole thing coldly. He was...surprised. He hadn’t thought Stallus would be cornered like this. Now she was standing between two types of death. He knew there was nothing she could do.

Then he thought to himself, If I’m the one in that situation, how will I handle it? He found that he really didn’t know the answer to that, and it bothered him. "What are you going to do now?"

Stallus was sweating, and not because she felt any heat. It was the stress of having to decide which way to die. She was still fighting the zombies, but it looked mechanical because her mind wasn’t there. "I don’t want to die." 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Her brain started to overwork. The only way to get out of this was to get to that island surrounded by water. But how was she supposed to do that? Her mind began connecting dots she hadn’t thought possible. Dots that were too risky, but that was still better than turning into food for the zombies.

"Who am I kidding? I don’t want to die." Then she brought two crystals out of her ring. She sent one toward the zombies, then quickly turned and threw the next one over the edge.

It was a hasty, risky plan built entirely on timing. But that was all she had—a small chance at life. Then she gathered all her essence and covered her legs before leaping after the crystal. Her legs were above the crystal when she made it explode.

She flinched as the heat washed over her, but more importantly, the force of the explosion propelled and carried her forward, hurling her onto the stone floor of the island with her head banging painfully against the ground.

Her heart was beating so fast it felt as though it would escape from her chest, but that didn’t matter at all. Because she was alive! Her head throbbed like a drum, but she sniffed and smiled. "I’m really alive."

She had thought her plan would fail and she’d fall into the water.

Her head might have been leaking blood and her legs tender with burns, but her eyes shone with warmth. "I did it."

Up on the cliff, the zombies screamed their soundless roars, but they dared not come close, let alone disappear and appear behind her. It seemed they couldn’t come there.

Now the only thing remaining—she looked at the boss glaring at her. The boss was shaped like the zombies, but with a firm and complete body.

Stallus grimaced. "You can’t just die and let me go?"

The monster roared at her and began to come closer, its eyes burning with blue fire and its stomach big and stretched.

Stallus quickly checked her core. There was still some essence left, but not enough to last through a long battle. So she had to plan carefully and choose the right moment to use it.

She pushed herself up and stumbled backward from it. The boss seemed slow, and if she could just keep away from it while looking for a way to defeat it, then maybe she still had a chance.

Then its eyes flashed, and the boss opened its mouth wide while facing her. On instinct, Stallus was already jumping away from the spot. And she was right because pressurized liquid—the same water that vaporized everything—jetted out of its mouth.

"That’s cheating!" Stallus complained when she looked at the place she’d just jumped away from. The ground had been eaten through and now smoked red like lava. Stallus became even more wary. "You are slow, but you can shoot things out that can burn me and turn me to gas. That’s not fair."

But Stallus already knew there was no fairness in this world, so she studied the monster for possible weaknesses. She knew she couldn’t get close in her current condition, so she’d have to fight from a distance.

"This Crypt is too troublesome."