“It’s not connecting… it’s still not connecting…”

After trying who knows how many times, Monica felt like she was going to crush her phone screen with her thumb, but the call just wouldn’t go through. She was so angry she wanted to throw the phone away.

“Ahhh!” Monica said in frustration. “If I had known, I wouldn’t have been so stingy and bought such a cheap phone, it can’t even make a call!”

Once she got out of here, she was definitely going to throw this phone into a stinking ditch and get a new one!

“Miss Phil! Did it stop chasing us?”

“Don’t look back.”

“But there doesn’t seem to be any sound behind us.”

“Don’t waste your energy on talking nonsense, keep running.”

Phil floated beside her, her gaze fixed entirely on the pitch-black tunnel behind them.

There was indeed no movement there.

The Mutant that was roaring just a moment ago seemed to have suddenly vanished, leaving only the sound of dripping water, echoing rhythmically through the empty sewer.

Seeing this, Monica couldn’t help but feel a little hopeful, thinking, “Did we actually lose it?”

It seemed like a sudden outburst of good karma accumulated over time. Just as Monica felt she might be able to escape, her prayers were answered when the call to the SAVE Branch finally connected.

“Hello, this is the X City SAVE Branch. How can I help you?”

Hearing this heavenly voice, Monica almost burst into tears. She quickly reported her address and continued to add more information—

“Here—”

Before she could finish her sentence.

Boom!

A violent tremor shook the entire sewer system. Small stones fell from above with a rustling sound, and the wastewater shook violently as if thrown into a washing machine!

Monica was startled by the intense shaking. Losing her balance, the phone in her hand flew straight out.

Under Monica’s despairing gaze, the phone carrying all her hopes splashed magnificently into the sewage. The non-waterproof screen instantly glitched and died.

“…”

I did want to throw you into a stinking ditch.

But not right now!!

The next moment, the darkness behind her blasted away.

A thin, elongated, and twisted figure came sprinting close to the wall. Its limbs braced against the tunnel walls like some kind of insect, and every landing left deep cracks in the concrete.

Its speed was inhumanly fast.

“Yaaahhhhhh!”

Monica screamed and sped up.

“Miss Phil! It’s catching up! It’s catching up!”

“I’m not blind.”

“Why are you still so calm?!”

The distance was rapidly shrinking.

30 meters.

20 meters.

10 meters.

Monica could even hear the muddy, ragged breathing rattling in the Mutant’s throat.

That was not the breathing of a normal creature.

It sounded more like a broken engine being forcibly run inside flesh and blood, letting out a noise that sounded like it would tear everything apart, including itself.

Phil sighed softly.

“It can’t be helped.”

She suddenly flew forward and stopped in front of Monica.

“M-Miss Phil?!”

“Let me take over.”

“Eh?!”

“As you wished, I’m here to cover for you.”

An incredibly alluring smile suddenly bloomed on Phil’s stunningly beautiful face.

It wasn’t a metaphor. Anyone who saw this smile would understand.

It was the smile of a Devil.

“Give me your soul.”

Monica glanced back.

The Mutant was already close enough for her to see its hideous, twisted chitin growths.

She clenched her jaw and looked at Phil again.

Phil opened her arms.

Her figure was even more petite than Monica’s, her long silvery-white hair floating gently in the dim surroundings. At this moment, her arms were spread wide.

As if to embrace her.

Monica took a deep breath, then, as if making up her mind, stepped forward and crashed hard into Phil’s embrace.

“Relax, don’t resist,” Phil said.

The next instant, Monica’s consciousness felt as though it had deeply into water.

She heard her own heartbeat.

And then another.

The two heartbeats echoed alternately, intertwining like an embrace.

She heard a soft chuckle echo gently in the depths of her heart—

“The deal is done.”

Monica opened her eyes again.

But that was no longer Monica’s gaze.

The timidity, panic, and hesitation had all vanished.

They were replaced by a calmness bordering on “nothingness.”

—Phil had taken over her body.

The Mutant’s sharp claws had already torn through the air, sweeping toward her head.

Phil did not retreat; she merely raised her hand slightly.

Formless Telekinesis compressed in front of her into an invisible wall.

Boom!

The moment the claws crashed into the barrier, the entire sewer trembled.

Monica’s body slid backward for several meters, the soles of her boots leaving two long trails on the floor.

On the other side, the rebound blasted the Mutant’s claws into a bloody mess. The Mutant clutched its wound and let out a blood-curdling scream.

“Ah… it hurts, no… ahhh!”

Phil flexed her fingers.

“What an addictive feeling…”

Unlike this morning, Monica’s body felt much smoother to control this time.

The output of Telekinesis was more stable, and the reaction speed was faster.

She didn’t know if it was because Monica trusted her more, if the so-called Soul Domination had increased, or if Monica’s own recent growth had strengthened her body’s endurance.

In short, Phil felt she could exert more power this time than she had in the morning.

But it still didn’t seem to be enough…

A B-Class Calamity—

According to SAVE’s regulations, normally subduing a B-Class target requires the deployment of a LV4 Ability User, or other Transcendents of equal strength.

In emergency situations, it still requires at least one LV3 Ability User leading three or more team members to handle it cooperatively.

And right now, the Monica she was controlling could only barely count as a LV3 Telekinesis Ability User under the enhancement of her own soul.

And a LV3 who had just finished fighting a pack of rats and expended a lot of stamina at that.

“The conditions are really poor,” Phil said softly.

“But, it’s not unwinnable.”

She could feel that she was still able to release the [Illusion] and [Threads] abilities.

It seemed that the abilities she had exchanged for using skill points in that dark game space were bound to her soul, and would not be lost just because the physical body she manipulated had changed.

The Mutant pounced again.

Phil took a half-step back and lightly hooked her fingertips.

In the darkness, several magic threads, so thin they were almost invisible, quietly emerged and wrapped around the Mutant’s wrists and knees.

Its movements visibly paused.

Phil used Telekinesis to grab the broken iron pipe on the ground and launched it like a javelin.

The iron pipe pierced toward the Mutant’s chest, sending it flying like a baseball.

However, Phil’s expression did not improve in the slightest.

Because she clearly saw that before the iron pipe could truly pierce through the Mutant, it was forcefully blocked by a thick layer of chitin, leaving only a shallow crack.

So tough, what a trash mob.

Phil’s eyes darkened slightly.

The Mutant that had fallen to the ground let out a low roar and suddenly leapt up.

Phil released Threads again, wanting to repeat her old trick, but saw the Mutant’s arms suddenly bulge, forcibly tearing the Threads apart.

It suddenly opened its mouth, and a puff of grayish-black mist sprayed from its throat.

Phil’s danger perception blared warnings as if it were going to explode, and she dodged sideways almost instinctively.

The mist brushed past her shoulder and landed on the wall, actually emitting a sizzling corrosive sound and burning a large hole.

If she had been hit by that just now, the consequences would be unimaginable.

It seemed this highly threatening poisonous mist was the ability this Mutant had awakened.

Phil used Telekinesis to pull her body forward at high speed. At the same time, a flash of red light suddenly gleamed in her eyes.

The dim environment of the sewer seemed to distort for a moment before quickly returning to normal.

Meanwhile, three “Monicas” simultaneously appeared in front of the Mutant, attacking it from different directions.

So its movements paused for a moment.

Very brief.

Less than half a second.

But it was enough for Phil.

After activating [Illusion], the real her had already slid along the wall to the Mutant’s rear flank. Under the control of Telekinesis, her dagger flew out, piercing straight towards the muscle on its neck that had not yet been fully covered by chitin.

The blade flashed—

“Aaaaaaaagh!!”

Black, foul blood splattered in all directions, making terrifying corrosive sounds as it landed on the ground and walls. The Mutant roared in agony, wildly swinging its overgrown claws around without any pattern.

Phil gracefully retreated, her dagger drawing an arc in her hand; the Mutant couldn’t even touch the hem of her clothes.

“So that’s how it is…”

Phil muttered to herself.

Although this guy’s ability level had reached B-Class, its movements were completely disorganized, and it couldn’t even use its own abilities proficiently.

With no combat experience, it probably hadn’t even fully adapted to its own body yet.

It was like a fake that had been forcibly pushed to B-Class.

Possessing the power of a B-Class in vain, without the matching overall qualities.

“You are an incomplete defective product, aren’t you?”

Although she herself was currently just a Pseudo-LV3 Ability User whose body couldn’t match the strength of her soul.

Then let’s see exactly which fake is stronger…