Chapter 23 - 14: A Helping Hand

’Is that an Alpha Beast?’

The thought had barely crossed Paige Summers’s mind when she felt a firm grip on her waist. Her body was spun around and swiftly set down on the other side of the SUV.

Just as she found her footing, a Mutant Beast rounded the vehicle from the left and lunged at them. Jayden Yeats quickly released her waist, raised his arm, and a dragon of fire surged to meet the creature.

Paige Summers couldn’t just stand there—two more were coming from the right!

’I have to run!’

The SUV was behind her, but she didn’t have the skill to jump on top of it. To her left, Jayden Yeats was locked in combat with the Mutant Beast. ’I can’t go that way,’ she thought. ’He’d be attacked from both sides. He’d probably die before I even got hurt.’ In a split second, Paige Summers gritted her teeth and plunged into the sparse woods ahead.

This patch of trees seemed to be an extension of the forest. The trees were sparse, and through their trunks, she could vaguely see the wilderness beyond.

As she sprinted forward, nimbly weaving around trees of all sizes, her mind raced for a plan. ’The open ground is worse than these woods,’ she reasoned. ’I might as well try to run them in circles here. Sylvester Marshall and the others have to be on their way.’

It was a good idea, but the Mutant Beasts weren’t stupid. They quickly saw through her plan to run them in circles and decisively moved to flank her from both sides.

’Damn it! Why aren’t those bastards here yet!’

Paige Summers’s Speed Superpower was a low Level to begin with, and she couldn’t maintain this full-throttle pace for long. She could clearly feel the energy within her dwindling as her speed began to drop. The foul stench of the Mutant Beasts drew nearer... like the Grim Reaper slowly closing in...

’This feeling couldn’t possibly be any worse!’

With no better option, she stopped worrying about how many Poison Arrows she had left and forced herself to twist around mid-sprint and fire one off.

Unsurprisingly, it missed...

A second arrow, then a third. By the time her final Poison Arrow grazed one of the Mutant Beast’s bodies, she was on the verge of collapse.

Yet, her rescuers had still not arrived.

To her astonishment, the poison was incredibly potent. The Mutant Beast that had only been grazed began to stagger, its speed dropping to even slower than her own.

Realizing there was only one left, Paige Summers, who had been about to collapse, felt a sudden surge of hope. Her spirits lifted, and she used her last ounce of strength to circle back the way she came...

A figure rushed into view, and her eyes lit up. In the next second, however, that light died. ’I can’t believe it,’ she thought. ’The first person to show up is him—Quentin Carter!’

He wore an anxious expression, but it couldn’t stop a chill from spreading through her chest.

’Rescue?’

’Ha. This guy isn’t here to save me. He’s here to finish me off!’

But in her current state, she was a spent force. Evasion was impossible. A cold glint flashed in her eyes. The instant he raised his hand toward her, she pulled the trigger on her Crossbow.

The ground beneath her feet cracked and splintered, and her left foot plunged into a fissure.

Meanwhile, the Mutant Beast behind her took two leaps, its jaws gaping and drooling as it pounced. As she fell backward into the fissure, she twisted sideways and emptied her Crossbow of its remaining bolts. At that same moment, excruciating pain shot through her right foot.

The Mutant Beast was viciously trying to bite her foot clean off. The sight of its sharp teeth closing in seemed to play out in slow motion, unfolding clearly before her eyes.

Paige Summers only had time for one last, indignant roar in her mind. ’What did my limbs ever do to you people that you all have to take turns messing with them!’ She could take no more and passed out.

But just as her eyes closed, a dark shadow seemed to flash past her side...

’It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, AAAAAAH!’

Not only was there pain, but her body was unbearably hot, as if she were being roasted over a fire.

’Did I transmigrate again? And this time, did I become a shish kebab or some pork belly ready for the grill?’ The bizarre thought flashed through her hazy consciousness. She tried desperately to scream, and after who knows how many attempts, a few faint, barely audible moans finally reached her ears.

Paige Summers’s eyes snapped open. She was awake.

’A bed!’

’I’m actually lying in a bed!’

Surprised, she tried to sit up, only to find her entire body was sore and weak. Her right foot throbbed with a sharp pain.

At that, a sense of relief washed over her, grounding her in reality.

’So I didn’t die. I didn’t go through another bizarre transmigration. I was rescued... right?’

"Ah! You’re awake!"

The joyful cry fully roused her. Turning her head, she found the person leaning over her was Nola.

’Maybe...’

Don’t ask her why she was suspicious. The only two times they’d met, the woman had either been arrogant and standoffish or putting on a noble and aloof air. When had she ever seen Nola like this—blushing, with a gentle, bashful look in her eyes? She was like a teenage girl next door in the throes of puppy love. Paired with Nola’s fierce, queenly features, it was truly... horrifying.