When Aya saw the two crawlers falling to the ground, she sighed in relief in his mind.

Likewise, when one of the crawlers stood up again, she tensed up.

Aya had not much information about Aleen’s skill, but she knew that he couldn’t use it freely; otherwise, he would use it more often.

So, though it was very powerful, he probably couldn’t use it again for the time being.

Of course, Aya doubted it would be a problem for Aleen. He probably could face the creature while waiting to use his skill again and kill it… Maybe, he could even kill the creature without using his skill.

But while Aleen could take care of himself, Aya knew that he could not help them while he was fighting.

So, they had to face the last level-two for themselves.

Aya had experience fighting a level-two. When she was facing the huge zombie, she could feel how much stronger it was compared with normal zombies. To be honest, even when she had the help of Lily and the two bodyguards, she wasn’t sure of being able to kill it.

If it wasn’t because Aleen appeared just in time, perhaps some of them would have died.

And now, they had to face another creature like that, and Aleen could not help them.

Aya knew that this fight would be dangerous.

But though she was afraid, she was not cowering.

Growing without parents as an orphan, and then living in the streets, taught her to be strong. She never trusted someone to help her, and always used her own capabilities to resolve her troubles.

This time, it was the same.

Even if she didn’t know what her skill was, she was a level-two too.

And if Aleen could face a level-two without help, how could she fear another level-two when she had the help of Lily and the two bodyguards?

So, when the creature jumped towards her, she didn’t cower.

She never learned to use a spear, but she knew how to swing a stick. So, she put all her strength on her arms, and swung the stick down in the direction of the creature.

However, it avoided the attack easily. The creature moved at great speed and twisted its body while extending a claw to tear Aya apart.

Aya instinctively ducked down, evading the claw. However, it gave the crawler enough time to close the remaining distance between them and open its mouth to attack her.

Aya was unable to avoid it; the attack was too fast and unpredictable. She could only stare while the rotten mouth of the creature advanced towards her neck.

Fortunately, Lily moved at that moment.

She extended her two front paws and pounced against the crawler’s face. The creature detected the attack, and unwillingly, avoided it jumping towards a wall, giving Aya enough time to recover her stance.

But before she could breathe a sigh of relief, the crawler jumped towards them again.

This time, it attacked one of the bodyguards.

The man instinctively protected his body using the baton he was wielding, but the strength of the creature was greater than his expectations.

The creature threw his body against the ground and created an enormous gash in his shoulder while it tried to bit his face, but his partner attacked with the axe that the college girl had been using until now.

The crawler used a claw to deflect the axe easily; with so much strength that the weapon flew from the bodyguard’s hands. But the time that the bodyguard bought with that attack was enough for Aya to reach them and attack the creature with her spear, forcing it to retreat again.

Panting heavily, she looked at how the creature crawled through the walls preparing for its next attack. Aya knew that the situation was bad. She thought that this creature would be like the level two zombie they faced on the third floor, but she never expected it to be so much stronger.

No, it wasn’t stronger. It was faster.

If the huge zombie was a heavy unit, this one was a light one. It moved so quickly that, even with her instincts, Aya had trouble reacting in time.

It was worse for the others. The two bodyguards could hardly react to the creature’s attacks; much less think of attacking it.

Five seconds. Only five seconds had passed from the beginning of the fight, and two of them almost died already.

They had to do something or one of them was going to die before long... Before Aleen could come to help them.

‘How is he doing? is he winning?’ Aya wondered briefly about it, but she hadn’t the freedom to leave her thoughts wander.

The crawler attacked once more.

… And Aya noticed that it was attacking the bodyguards again.

More precisely, it was attacking the same bodyguard as before.

That bodyguard had been injured three times already, and his state was far from good. Aya reacted immediately when she noticed the crawler’s intentions, but though she also was a level-two, she was too slow.

She was not going to reach him on time.

She could see the expression of panic on the bodyguard's face, and could see the jaws of the crawler opening to bit his neck. She could see the expressions of despair in the rest of the group.

But her body was too slow.

Aya closed her eyes in despair. She was weak, too weak… too slow.

So, she asked for help.

She never did it before, but instinctively, she felt that it was possible.

Through the link in his mind, she communicated her desire to her best friend.

‘I want to save him.’ She said.

… And she answered.

Lily’s silver paws were dyed black, and her body flew towards the crawler at great speed, leaving behind a silvery black trace.

At the next instant, the crawler let out a cry of pain.