As the purple smoke released by the explosion began to clear, a weak and trembling voice could be heard."I am fine!"

It was Selin. She had survived the attack, even though she had taken some damage. Her armor was slightly dented around her stomach and covered in dirt. Her sword lay a short distance away. She sprinted toward it, slid across the ground, grabbed it, and stood back up, armed and ready to defend herself.

For the first time, the cloud began to fight on its own. The green cloud shot straight toward Selin, but it had not accounted for Hero. He counterattacked, slashing his katana into the skin of the cloud as it flew close to the ground. The katana slid in cleanly, but it did not deal much damage. The cloud's skin thinned and the katana became stuck.

Hero was about to ask Cloudless to change form when the green cloud suddenly slammed into him with full force. Luckily, or maybe not, he avoided the sharp teeth but was hurled violently into the rocky wall. Large stones broke loose and fell. Hero lay on the ground, unable to move, paralyzed, hoping no rock would crush him like Mike, who was still buried under rubble.

Hero was lucky. Every stone that fell from the ceiling missed him, but large rocks trapped him in place. Normally this would not have been a problem, but injured as he was, he could not even stand.

Selin struck. The distracted cloud had focused on Hero and seemed to have forgotten her. She swung her sword with full force, gripping it tightly. The blade slid off. A sound echoed through the cave, like metal striking metal. "Cling." The sword could not pierce the hardened skin.

The cloud reacted and fired four large stones at Selin once again. This time they were too close. They flew straight toward her. She could not react in time. Her sword was still low, only just being raised, when the stones slammed into her.

The impact was brutal. Each stone shattered. Blood splattered across the ground. Her armor was partially destroyed. Her arm guards fell off, leaving her arms unprotected. Her nose was bleeding and her lip was split. Her chest plate was still intact, but it would not withstand many more attacks. All four stones were broken. She had stopped them all.

Selin stood there trembling, on the verge of collapse, but something inside her kept her standing. She raised her sword with shaking hands. Blood dripped onto the wet and cold cave floor. She breathed heavily but refused to fall, for her people.

"Ice, please heal me," Selin asked.

Ice nodded and raised her hands. The cloud did not want this to happen and prepared to attack Ice, but only smaller stones rose. It seemed the cloud had used up its supply of large boulders. The small stones fell harmlessly to the ground.

The cloud opened its strange mouth, revealing its sharp teeth, and launched itself at Selin, who was being healed. A green aura surrounded Selin's body and closed her wounds. Ice collapsed immediately afterward and could no longer move. She clearly had not fully recovered yet and needed rest for several days.

Selin was fully healed, though her armor was not. She intended to avoid being hit again anyway. She held her sword steady, ready to strike as the cloud rushed toward her.

Suddenly, a system message appeared."Admins will be summoned in two minutes and five seconds.""Forty five shadows summoned."

Mike stood atop the rubble that had once buried him. Around him were forty five shadow creatures, making the cave feel tighter and more cramped. Mike simply pointed at the cloud and said, "Kill it."

The shadows rushed toward the cloud with bloodlust. It stopped its attack on Selin and was forced to deal with them. The shadows climbed onto it and dragged it down, but when it opened its mouth, a massacre followed. The shadows vanished rapidly.

Mike used the opportunity and dashed toward Hero beneath the rubble. He smashed apart every piece of debris trapping Hero. Hero was still conscious. Mike drew his sword, the golden hilt glowing as always, and held it out to Hero.

"Take it. I am about to disappear. I cannot explain."

Mike glanced at the timer."Admin meeting in one minute and two seconds."

Hero weakly raised his hand and grabbed the golden hilt. As Mike released the blade, the shadows surrounding it withdrew, revealing the gray white blade beneath.

Mike looked back at the battlefield. The remaining shadows tore chunks from the cloud's skin, at least draining some of its strength. Mike closed his eyes, unsure what would happen next.

"Admins are meeting."

Mike dissolved into the air, disappearing as if swallowed by something unseen.

Hero understood nothing, but he knew Mike was counting on him. He stood up and saw the few remaining shadows. None of it made sense to him, but he saw Selin, exhausted and barely holding on. She was losing hope and strength.

So Hero gave her new motivation and shouted,"Attack!"

The two of them charged forward just as the cloud finished destroying the last shadow. They rushed in, ready to finally end this fight. But the cloud shot upward, all the way to the cave ceiling, and created something. It ignored the missing pieces of its skin, though it was clear that the hardened layer had faded. Mike had weakened it.

Suddenly, the cloud shouted in rage,"Just die already!"

A white beam shot out and once again lit up the cave. Beneath the cloud, a bodiless dragon head appeared. It was covered in red scales but had no eyes, only empty sockets. Inside its mouth, a red breath of fire formed and was released immediately.

Selin saw it coming at once. She flew up to the ceiling and then sharply to the right. The fire chased her, but she could rely on her companion. Hero jumped instantly and sliced the dragon head in half. This weakened the cloud so much that its green skin began to glow, and the cloud crashed powerless to the ground.

Selin flew down immediately, determined to end it. She raised her sword and struck straight through the center of the cloud. Cloudless was still embedded in its skin, visible as a white piece of cloud stuck inside the green body. Selin cut Cloudless free, releasing it, then swung her sword completely through the cloud's body.

"Creator Cloud killed!""You have obtained a large piece of Cloudless!""Parasite has been released!"

"Parasite?"

Selin jumped back, but she did not notice a green slime climbing up her leg. It wrapped around her arms and seemed to sink into her skin. Her body began to change. Green skin appeared and spread across her. Her head and thoughts became unclear. A desire to kill rose inside her.

Her target was Hero. She wanted to kill Hero.

Without resisting it, Selin lunged at him. Hero barely managed to raise Mike's sword in time. The blades collided. Both were powerful, striking again and again, but Hero tried to understand.

"Are you betraying us?" Hero asked quickly between breaths.

Selin shrugged."No..."

She paused. Her voice became strong and eerily similar to the cloud's."We take revenge!"

We?

"What do you mean by we?"

Instead of answering, Selin attacked again. Her blade grazed Hero's skin. He dodged to the right, but a sharp tip still hit him. A small cut appeared on his shoulder.

"You mean this seriously!"

Hero took a fighting stance, ready to strike. Then Selin charged once more, but this time Hero held his sword steady. Selin was pierced completely. The blade went straight through her body and emerged from her back.

She spat blood.

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