Chapter 45 - 31: Valley Bottom

Paige Summers was clamped in the White Lion’s jaws, her body sailing through the air. The wind howled past her ears, blowing so hard she could barely keep her eyes open. She realized that even a creature as powerful as the White Lion couldn’t withstand the monster’s final, desperate burst of strength.

And so, they were sent flying toward the valley wall.

’Even if I get out of this alive, I’ll still be severely injured,’ she thought. But to her surprise, the moment they hit the vines covering the valley wall, she and the lion plunged right through. Covered in a tangled mess of snapped vines, they had been coincidentally "delivered" by the monster into the very place it had been guarding.

It was pitch-black inside; she couldn’t see a thing.

But before she could even feel a moment of relief, her body began to plummet once more!

It felt like a tunnel. There was no telling how long it was, or what lay at the bottom. If it was hard ground... The outcome was something she didn’t even dare to think about.

Paige Summers gritted her teeth. The situation truly couldn’t be worse. Her superpower was exhausted, her back throbbed with excruciating pain, and it was a struggle to even lift her arm.

’But I can’t just wait here to die!’

She summoned all her strength and ripped the headband from her hair. No matter what, she had to give it a shot!

But just then, the lion’s jaws around her loosened. As they continued their rapid descent, a pair of strong, human arms wrapped around her body instead...

Sensing the change, she was completely dumbfounded.

’What’s going on?!’

Before she could make sense of it, the rushing wind told her the ground was getting closer. There was no time to sort through her jumbled thoughts. With life and death on the line, she had no time for shock.

She wrapped the headband’s elastic cord twice around her palm, preparing to throw the decorative metal flower on the other end. If she could just anchor it to the wall—even if it only slowed their descent—it would give them a better chance of survival!

’I don’t want to die!’

But just as she was about to raise her arm, a large hand firmly pushed it down. At the same time, she suddenly felt a wave of energy ripple around them.

’A protective shield!’

The moment they finally hit the ground, a single thought flashed through her mind. ’This time, I’m really not going to die, am I!’

In fact, not only did she survive.

Thanks to the man holding her tight, she hadn’t sustained any new injuries, though the impact sent a jolt of intense pain through her already wounded back. They rolled several times with the momentum of the landing, leaving her slightly dizzy, but her head cleared quickly.

After steadying her, the man let go and took two steps back. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she pushed herself up from the cold ground. "You... who are you?"

He didn’t answer—nor did he need to. Instead, he asked in a deep, resonant voice, "Are you all right?"

The familiar voice sent Paige Summers’s thoughts into a tailspin.

She had to admit, the thought had crossed her mind when she was rescued before: the White Lion’s owner had to be one of the five people in their group. It was too much of a coincidence for it to appear at such a critical moment otherwise. But she never, ever would have guessed that there was no imaginary owner. The White Lion... was a person! And not just anyone—it was Marcus Monroe!

Even in the darkness, the man seemed to sense her shock. He cleared his throat, a little embarrassed. "Sorry, I never told you... We’ve actually met."

’That’s not the point!’ Paige Summers screamed internally. ’The point is, aren’t you a human? How can you turn into a lion? That makes absolutely no scientific sense! Or wait, are you not human at all and just showed your true form? Please don’t tell me you’re some kind of hybrid—human-beast stuff is way too intense! Amidst her tangled confusion, an idea suddenly struck her. A term she had heard once, long since forgotten, surfaced in her mind... ’A Transformer?’

’That’s right, how could I have forgotten about that! The more I think about it, the more I realize my thought process is still stuck in my past life. This is the apocalypse from a novel, after all.’

She let out a breath. "You’re a Transformer?" Even though she had already guessed, she couldn’t resist confirming it.

Now it was Marcus Monroe’s turn to be puzzled. "I thought you already knew." ’Is her surprise really not just because she didn’t expect it to be him?’ he wondered. ’After all, when The Dead City was first established, I was always around, frequently leading teams outside the walls to clear out Zombies. Plenty of people in the city knew what kind of superpower I had. Or rather, they only knew about *this* superpower, not any others. Even if she’s a shut-in, have her friends or family really never mentioned it?’

’I’m not a local, and I’m not exactly well-informed. It’d be a miracle if I knew!’ Paige Summers gave a nervous laugh and changed the subject. "I haven’t even properly thanked you for saving me—twice!"