Amidst the flash of purple lightning that illuminated the surroundings even more, Evangeline noticed how Kang Lan pointed her magic staff at her and the lingering trail of mana unmistakably similar to the one she felt coming from the ball of white light informed her who the person healing her was.

"Watch out!"

The young assassin girl yelled when she noticed something from the distance.

Her high-pitched call that exuded urgency naturally reached Kang Lan's ears, but the young healer this time did not have time to move in time even though she herself finally managed to notice the incoming danger.

A vine of the First Order mutant flower had silently slipped into the back of her body and when it entered the half meter range it stiffened to the point of not missing with a steel sword before stabbing towards her brain mercilessly.

Kang Lan's face went terribly pale as she discovered to her horror that even with her Lightning Movement powering her Agility, she would not be enough to get out of this.

The distance between the vine and her was too close!

In a flash of inspiration and just before her short life met its end on this tormenting and cruel bloody battlefield, Kang Lan swung her magic staff backward at the last moment.

Bang!

Kang Lan's magic staff had been forged by Bai Zemin using bones of a First Order beast, it was not a magic staff forged from normal materials by any means. Therefore, the fatal vine of the First Order mutant flower failed to pierce through it.

Even so, the magic staff was sent flying away from Kang Lan's hands due to the power behind the impact as her Strength was still barely comparable to that of a strong adult male before the apocalypse but by no means sufficient to take such a hit head-on.

The fingers of her right hand also broke and a small whimper escaped her mouth as her right shoulder was struck by the vine. Although thanks to the powerful Rank 1 armor forged by Bai Zemin she managed to prevent her shoulder from being pierced, the blow was enough to send her flying two or three meters.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

The First Order mutant flower did not have the slightest apparent trace of intelligence so after its previous attack failed it simply continued to attack relentlessly. Several vines were slashed forward cutting through the air with ease aiming to claim the human's life at close range.

With outstanding instincts, Kang Lan hastily stood up and backed away just in time to avoid being hit or worse yet killed.

"Great... I lost my weapon and my right hand is useless." Kang Lan muttered in pain as she continued to use her left hand to continue launching defensive attacks and restraining the vine.

Her Lesser Healing skill was already at the First Order's peak, but because it had not yet evolved, Kang Lan could only use two orbs of light before her skill went into cooldown. This also meant that after healing Yan Tu and Evangeline, she herself could not heal despite her injuries.

"Try to hold on as long as you can!"

A female voice reached her. 

Kang Lan raised her head and her tired eyes met Evangeline's, who in the midst of fierce combat was encouraging her.

"I'll help you as soon as I'm finished here!"

Hearing this, Kang Lan's heart felt extremely bitter.

Help her? How could Evangeline do that?

Kang Lan was no fool and since she had managed to help Evangeline out of a tight spot she naturally realized that the young assassin who she had recently met would definitely not be able to help her. 

Although Evangeline was strong, Kang Lan did not believe that she had the strength to free herself from those three First Order beasts. Therefore, instead of wasting her already scarce energy, she did not reply and continued to run in circles around the vine to prevent the monster from charging towards the soul evolvers and normal humans, thus avoiding a disaster at the cost of her own safety.

Evangeline gritted her teeth and dodged the purple panther's double claw attack before counterattacking with her dagger, performing several slashes in sync for a perfect combo that made the beast howl in pain before retreating with several deep wounds on its back.

Just then, a powerful and anxiety-filled voice came from the radio at her waist:

"Evangeline! Some agility monster is slaughtering the back lines!"

Although it was only a flash, the image of Lu Yan automatically appeared in the young assassin's mind when she heard that voice. Although she had never had any direct interaction with this particular former leader, one of the jobs of an assassin was to know those in power so Evangeline was naturally aware of Lu Yan's existence.

She nimbly pressed the button and replied in a slightly exhausted voice:

"I am busy right now. Yan Tu and I are fighting six First Order beasts. We don't have the time nor are we in a position to look somewhere else." 

She did not name Kang Lan nor the First Order mutant flower she was facing since that battlefield was in the center of everyone so that it could be seen from practically anywhere. Evangeline believed that sooner or later Lu Yan would see for himself.

The fire-toothed tiger lunged forward and bit towards her waist right after she answered in the negative to the request for urgent help and Evangeline had no choice but to retreat. However, her movements had slowed to a great extent and she could feel her body becoming more and more rigid with each passing second as a consequence of the paralyzing effect of the earthworm's bite.

With a second's delay, Evangeline managed to avoid being injured by the bite of the fire-toothed tiger; however, the intercom at her waist was completely shattered, leaving her now cut off from the situation unfolding in the back line.

Although she was bothered by the matter of the agility-type beast that had sneaked in, Evangeline did not have the time nor could she afford to look away as her own life was not guaranteed.

Swoosh!

The purple panther came back for more, lunging with both claws raised and slamming down with the intention of crushing everything using the overwhelming weight of its six-foot tall body.

Disturbed and slightly upset by the emotions, Evangeline decided not to evade this time.

With a glint brimming with murderous intent flashing in her eyes, she silently activated the skill attached to her Magic grade treasure dagger. 

The skill Death's Kiss went into immediate effect and the rose that adorned her dagger released a mysterious purple mist that completely enveloped the weapon, which gave it an extremely ominous appearance to the naked eye but still did not lose its former elegance and beauty.

Deciding to end this battle sooner rather than later, Evangeline activated her special movement skill called First Order Shadow Steps. This was a skill that increased her Agility by 40 points and had the characteristic that it had no time limit.

However, all good things usually had bad things as well, and this also applied to Evangeline's Shadow Steps skill... While the skill could be maintained seemingly indefinitely, it actually consumed a large amount of Stamina as the Stamina consumption in combat immediately multiplied by 2 times just by activating the skill. Moreover, for every five minutes that passed, the Stamina consumption gradually increased more and more. 

Evangeline really wanted to finish the fight as quickly as possible... Either with her emerging victorious and surviving or with her losing not only the fight but also her life in the process.

Ever since she became an assassin she was already mentally prepared for her death. She knew that, at the end of the day, this profession would be the cause of her downfall... and she accepted it. Therefore, she did not feel too much regret about it.... Still, it would be a lie to say that her heart did not feel a little bit bittersweet at the thought of the lives of those innocent little children who might soon be devoured if the beast horde managed to break through the defense completely and reach the base of the humankind.

Moreover, Evangeline had also had a small glimmer of hope to fulfill her greatest wish in life at the appearance of Bai Zemin when she met him several days ago. Unfortunately, he might as well have died inside the forest while facing some unknown being of great power.

A bitter smile formed on her lips for a second before indifference reigned supreme again.

Taking advantage of the fact that the purple panther had given up its agility to gain power, Evangeline slipped expertly to the beast's lower body and with some difficulty ignored the pain in her still healing leg to avoid the two fierce claws, gaining a shallow but bleeding cut on her right arm.

However, every sacrifice will surely have its reward.

Splash!

The dagger plunged deep into the purple panther's chest and hot blood stained Evangeline's tight clothing. She ignored the blood that hit her face unexpectedly and a vicious glint shone in her gaze as using the beast's own weight she slashed from below upwards.

[Critical Hit!]

The purple panther's movements stalled when the paralyzing effect of the Death's Kiss skill affected the beast for a second. But even though it was only for a second, in a battle at supernatural speeds, a single second was enough for anyone to die at the slightest carelessness; let alone freeze for an entire second.

Evangeline immediately jumped out from under the falling panther's body and dodged the earthworm's sneak attack with an extremely agile leap as she struggled internally with the pain in her leg. 

Bang!

The purple panther fell heavily on the ground and a large orb of warm light flew out towards Evangeline's body, boosting her stats, replenishing her Stamina and Mana to the max, and pushing both stats even higher.

Even though her right leg was bleeding and hurting horribly after losing a part of its flesh, even though several cuts filled her beautiful slender arms, Evangeline's gaze was as steady and lethal as the dagger in her hand as she glared at the fire-toothed tiger and guarded against the vanishing earthworm.

However, she knew that even if she managed to win, she would unfortunately not have time to return to the back lines and support the weaker ones.... But even then, her life was not guaranteed despite having killed one First Order beast while facing two others in the process as her most lethal attack had been used.

...

After receiving a negative response from Evangeline, Lu Yan did not bother to report the dark situation to Yan Tu as Lu Yan now knew that the burly man was also facing beings that left him no choice but to fight to the death or fight to the death.

After the First Order Shadow Tiger slaughtered the two soul evolvers, the beast tore off a few mouthfuls of flesh, which gave the gunmen time to fire several bursts of fire.

Machine gun muzzles roared relentlessly and rifles thundered one after another as more than thirty armed men focused on trying to kill the most dangerous monster. However, the bullets barely left white marks on the beast's white fur without even being able to penetrate its defenses at all.

Although the bullets did not succeed in wounding it, the Shadow Tiger felt a great deal of pain after being hit by metal over and over again. Furious, its golden eyes glanced at the nearest group and it lunged towards them.

In the blink of an eye the beast had already traveled over a hundred meters, and with a swing of its claws. the head of a militant was sent flying through the air.

* * * * * * *

A/N: 2/3

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