Return Of The Strongest Player

Eleanor rushed forward, wrapping her greatsword in flames. With an expression that was akin to the crackling of voracious fire, she swung her sword towards the zombie's neck, trying to disarm it before bashing its head.

However, the zombie sidestepped, avoiding the blow before extending its palm.

Eleanor felt her body crumple like paper. As soon as the palm collided with the side of her abdomen, she flew several meters before crashing into a nearby tree, shaking it violently to the point where all fruits fell to the soil beneath.

Arthur let out a laugh in his original voice, hurriedly covering his mouth. Luckily, it seemed like Eleanor hadn't noticed, since her attention was focused on the zombie. A single palm was enough to disturb her mental state.

'She's weaker than I expected,' thought the crimson-eyed man. 'Especially mentally.'

Regarding her mental state, Arthur heard she improved in the future. However, for now, it was a glaring weakness that any competent warrior could exploit. More importantly, during the few seconds she consumed to recover, Arthur could've easily killed her.

'Too many vulnerabilities…'

All it would take was one successful attack.

'Also, didn't she use a silver aura? Why is she using regular fire magic?' Arthur wondered, recalling what Eleanor used for fighting in his former life. Instead of regular flames, she made use of a pristine, silver flame-like substance.

It wasn't fire, but something similar.

In his former life, it was considered one of the most potent energy types in the entire tower, capable of burning an entire floor down in a matter of hours. One of the lower floors, that was, considering the higher floors were practically indestructible.

Emphasis on 'practically'.

Materializing her flames, Eleanor raised the tip of her greatsword to face the sky. The crackles of flames resounded in Arthur's ears as thousands of particles of fire materialized on and beside the greatsword.

Eleanor's eyes burnt a distinct shade of orange-red, reflecting her desire to grow stronger.

"Ignition."

As she uttered that word, the particles of fire condensed into embers or miniature representations of a bonfire. The temperature of the forest rose exponentially in a matter of seconds.

Sweat dripped from Arthur's forehead as a smile of amusement blossomed upon his face, his eyes glowing as he witnessed the spectacle.

Eleanor's face remained deadpan, while the zombie growled. The latter tightened its neck. At that moment, the zombie's knee-length hair began growing at an exponential rate before levitating beside its head, as if it were alive.

'So it fights using its hair,' thought Arthur. 'It's fucked. Hair versus fire…'

As expected, as thousands of embers flew toward the zombie, no matter how much protection its hair provided, it was all for naught. Its hair was burnt down instantly, leaving a gaping hole in his defense.

Then, Eleanor rushed forward, swinging her greatsword in an arc.

'Game over.'

Boom!

The greatsword collided with the zombie, splitting its neck from the rest of its body. As Eleanor approached the corpse, she attempted to grab the flag, but to no avail, as Arthur appeared beside her in an instant.

Smack!

Smacking her hand, Arthur snatched the flag. "Remember what we agreed on? Now, don't be a thief, and go kill some more zombies."

"Weren't you going to help? Why the fuck did you sit like a pussy and watch?"

"Because I wanted to watch as she destroyed you."

Arthur climbed atop a tree in an instant, spreading [Mana Sense] as far as he could while utilizing his heightened senses to sense other foes. On the other hand, Eleanor bashed the zombie's head, deciding to pursue the shadow that emerged from it.

She ran as fast as she possibly could, speeding through the forest while chasing after a sliver of darkness. It truly was shaped like a sperm, with a rounded face and a pointy butt. The only difference was its dark color.

'So this is what a part of a shadow looks like,' thought Eleanor, narrowing her eyes while pursuing the shadow. Her feet were soft like feathers but were terrifyingly quick like lightning. A few minutes passed in an instant.

As the shadow took a sharp left turn, Eleanor hopped on the side of a tree, twisting her body sideways before using the bark to propel her feet towards the shadow, gaining a few inches on the sperm-like object.

As she continued to close the gap, she realized she had gotten separated from Arthur. But that did not matter.

She was powerful enough to sustain herself.

Their alliance was based solely on coincidence, and neither of them would risk anything for the other. Their comradery was non-existent, as neither wanted to be associated with the other. They were merely strangers striving to achieve the same or similar goals.

Survival and excellence.

Finally, as she dove to catch the shadow, a childish, strikingly familiar voice caught her off-guard. 

"Princess?" The childish voice spoke, letting out muffled laughter. As Eleanor raised her head, she paled, gazing at the somewhat chubby face of the one person she did not wish to see. It was Umbral.

The Child Of Shadows, apparently.

Beside the child were dozens of zombies, all mindlessly staring at the red-haired woman who quickly stood up in embarrassment. Dusting her clothes with a quick swat, she glared at Umbral. 'Fuck… The shadow returned to its master.'

'Then again, this might be for the best,' thought Eleanor, gazing at the zombies beside Umbral. 'If I can kill them all, I can get a high score on the leaderboards. Then again, am I capable of doing so?'

Silence.

"Yes, I am."

"Have you gone insane, princess?" Umbral inquired, confused by her sudden words. Since he was not able to eavesdrop on her monologue, it was impossible to discern what she was currently thinking of.

Eleanor let out awkward coughs, unsheathing her greatsword as she smiled at Umbral.

'With a little more information, which I can get by simply engaging in battle, it should be possible to get rid of all of them.'

Eleanor spoke in confidence, believing she could dispose of all the zombies by herself.

Oh, how wrong she was.