The beam of light that wrapped around the two girls moved far too fast. Even with Ryuji's blood energy technique active, he couldn't catch up.
He had no choice but to take a risk.
"Please let this work!"
Taking a deep breath, Ryuji's heart began to race, beating at twice the speed of a normal human's. At the same time, he activated Life Return and Blood Energy Control, using them to protect his blood vessels and delicate nerves while adjusting the flow of blood throughout his body.
He slowed the blood flow to his brain, carefully regulating it so he wouldn't suffer a vessel rupture due to this reckless method.
In fact, while training this technique, he had often burst his own blood vessels. But through relentless effort and repeated brushes with death, he had finally succeeded in mastering it.
His speed surged once more.
He couldn't fight in this state—not yet—but for the purpose of closing distance, it worked perfectly.
The one-meter steps that once slowed him down were now no obstacle. With every leap, he soared forward. And when he gave it his all, a single jump now launched him three meters high. Running along the cliffside felt almost like flying.
Am I really this strong now?!
Leaping upward once again, Ryuji glanced down and couldn't help but be amazed. In just a few seconds, he'd already gained nearly fifty meters of elevation—and the whole mountain was only a few hundred meters tall!
Bounding from ledge to ledge, feeling the wind rush past him, Ryuji felt a thrill he hadn't known in a long time.
It was the exhilaration of unleashing his full strength. The rush of moving faster and faster.
He landed on a wide mountaintop plateau. The other peaks still loomed higher, but the fear they once inspired was gone.
He wanted to laugh out loud in triumph—but the sight of the falling "shooting stars" kept the joy locked in his chest. He focused instead on driving his blood energy harder.
His body burned with heat. His genes screamed that he was pushing past his limits. His system flooded with dopamine and adrenaline, dulling pain and fueling his motion.
This survival mechanism—the one that lets humans fight even at death's door—now filled him with unparalleled euphoria.
This is it! I can go even faster!
Blood energy flared wildly as his excitement peaked. His mind sharpened. His thoughts sped up.
He had never felt so alive. This was beyond physical strength. Beyond what his genes were supposed to allow. A feeling of sheer bliss from surpassing all limits.
Unlike the buffs he received in the 7 Days to Die world, Ryuji knew this power was truly his. It was the result of his own training and effort.
This is amazing.
He accelerated even more. From a distance, he looked like he might catch up with the falling beams of light.
But just as he crested the other side of the mountain, the shooting star-like light surged ahead again, its glowing trail flashing just past his fingertips.
Too late!
On instinct, Ryuji leapt after it, but missed again by mere seconds.
His body tilted forward, sending him tumbling downhill. The light kept falling, its path now set—toward a deep mountain valley below.
"Damn it!"
Realizing he'd gotten too carried away, Ryuji quickly adjusted in midair. Twisting his body, he planted his feet on the slope and redirected his momentum, charging straight down after the meteor-like figures.
Meanwhile, the light from the falling pair began to dim—but only for a moment. Soon, it flared brighter than before, then accelerated again.
Ryuji could only continue pushing himself. But he was still too slow.
With a deafening boom, the light slammed into the earth. The entire mountain shook.
"Please be alive…"
Still burning with adrenaline, Ryuji sighed, then hurled himself down like a meteor of his own.
But what he didn't know was this—
The moment those twin beams of light hit the ground, a strange change occurred.
And the two figures within the light… landed safely on this new world.
"Cough… cough…"
A white-haired princess coughed lightly. Though the light shielded her from serious harm, the turbulence of world travel and the shock of landing still left her body reeling.
"Where… is this?"
Dazed, she lifted her head and scanned her surroundings—only to find no peace, only horror.
From the brilliant light that had carried them down, monsters began to emerge.
Each one exuded black mist, with bony masks on their heads. Tentacles, half-real and half-illusory, writhed across their forms. Just one glance made her stomach churn.
And they weren't alone.
Among the flickering colors were grotesque, corpse-like humans, each bearing fatal wounds. None of them looked remotely alive.
"ROAAARRR!!"
One of the monsters burst free from the light.
It lunged directly at her and the other girl, its maw wide and filled with razor-sharp teeth.
The white-haired girl, never having fought before, instinctively shielded herself with both arms. But she didn't realize that these creatures knew no mercy.
Just before the monster struck—
"Hey! bullying on people isn't cool!"
A voice rang out.
A confident girl leapt in front of the princess with a smirk, assuming a martial arts stance. In one smooth motion, she kicked the charging monster—and shattered its mask.
In that instant, the beast's body, mouth, and writhing limbs dissolved into ash.
If not for the lingering stench, one might have thought it was just an illusion.
But the girl wasn't pleased. Her eyes, though lacking light, gleamed with a fierce, adorable menace. She scanned the surroundings, her bare feet pressing against the ground—but received no response.
Her name was Toph, and she wielded the power of Earth.
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In her world, she was called an elemental master.
Ever since training under earth badgermoles, her blindness hadn't mattered. She could sense every vibration in the ground and pinpoint anything around her.
But in this strange place, she couldn't feel the earth at all. Her powers were gone.
She could only rely on her inner energy and martial skill.
Sensing vibrations and hearing the wind, Toph spoke to the slightly older girl behind her.
"Hey, stay sharp. I can't handle all these freaks alone. Also, my name's Toph. What's yours?"
"Understood. I'm… Elsa."
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The white-haired princess looked at the girl who had shielded her and felt a pang of shame.
It should've been me protecting her...
"Got it, Elsa. But are you an elemental too? You've got some insane power inside you—but you don't seem to know how to use it. And what's with that look? I'm an adult, y'know!"
Toph could sense the overwhelming power within Elsa—something she'd only ever felt from the earth itself. Even the so-called gods who taught her couldn't compare.
Not even close.
Those gods borrowed power from the world. But this girl—
She herself seemed to be the world.
But the power was heavily sealed. Like a volcano, its suppression only made it more dangerous.
Elsa panicked. Her deepest secret had been exposed.
"A-ah… it's… magic. A dangerous kind."
She hated her magic. It had nearly killed her sister. It had trapped Arendelle in ice for years.
She feared it, yet it was part of her.
Before she could explain further, more black monsters burst from the earth, screaming as their gaping maws opened, tentacles flailing.
These ones were even bigger than the earlier creatures.
Toph's ears twitched. She sensed their size and strength—and grabbed Elsa's hand.
"If you don't let loose, we're dead!"
She yanked Elsa to the front, directly facing the monsters.
"Ahhhhh!!"
Faced with those monstrous fangs and grotesque tentacles, Elsa screamed—and flung out her hand.
In an instant, freezing winds burst forth, encasing every monster in solid ice and forming a towering wall before them.
The frozen beasts remained locked in their final expressions—horrific, yet still.
Only once the cold calmed did Elsa dare to open her eyes.
"Did… did we win?"
Toph glanced at her own frozen arm and had no words. If not for her circulating inner energy, she would've been frozen too.
But more importantly—
"Nope!"
Feeling tremors beneath the ice, Toph grabbed Elsa's arm and ran.
The monsters had far more vitality than she expected.
As they fled, the ice cracked apart behind them, and the monsters roared in fury.
They ran like hell.
Elsa, still confused, let herself be dragged along. But even as she ran, she reached out with one hand, sending cold blasts behind them.
When she finally conjured a wide field of ice spikes to slow their pursuers, Toph suddenly tripped—and took Elsa down with her.
Only then did Elsa realize—
Toph… is blind.
Just now… was she really hoping for an blind girl to save her?
But Elsa didn't have much time to be shocked—because the monsters were already upon her.
Terrified, she watched as countless beasts lunged at her. In despair, she squeezed her eyes shut.
And in the next moment—
Ryuji dropped from the sky like a bolt of lightning. His foot landed squarely on one of the monster's heads, brutally interrupting its attack as its skull smashed into the ground.
Without hesitation, his sword plunged into the creature's mask. Cracks spread across the mask as the blade pierced through it, and with a pained screech, the monster beneath him dissolved into black sand that scattered into the wind.
He didn't stop for even a second. While descending, he had already assessed the battlefield—seeing the girl named Toph crush a mask with a single kick, easily dispatching her foe, while Elsa had frozen her enemies in place but failed to do any real damage.
His brain gave the next command almost before his feet touched the ground.
O flames—wrap around me!
As if by instinct, fire formed around his sword, the magic responding directly to his will. With a sweeping motion, a blazing whip of flame surged from the blade.
At the same time, Ryuji fully activated his Blood Qi technique. His reflexes, already at a human peak thanks to a skill book from Song Hana, were now pushed even further. He felt as if his consciousness was outpacing his own body.
The burning whip slashed across the monsters, cutting through mask after mask. As they vanished one by one, black smoke trailing behind them, a wall of fire coiled into a flaming tornado, encircling the two girls and shielding them from harm. Dozens more monsters tried to approach—but the inferno tore through them, reducing them to nothing.
Only then did Ryuji begin to truly grasp the power of Magic Release: Flame. There was no need for complex control—he simply released magic and willed it to become fire, and it did.
But the rapid drain of mana from his body made him click his tongue in frustration.
That short burst had nearly emptied his reserves. And after running for so long, his stamina was almost gone too.
And yet… the monsters just kept coming.
He raised his left hand, revealing a black gun fully loaded with bullets. Explosive fire spat from its barrel, suppressing the oncoming monsters with sheer firepower.
His aim had worsened without the system's assistance—but these were slow-moving targets that barely tried to dodge.
And Ryuji was no slacker when it came to getting things done.
The monsters faltered under the barrage, unable to advance. Ryuji turned his attention to the direction the girls had tried to flee earlier—to those strange lights.
The shining glow that had wrapped the girls had disappeared. But what remained were ten mask-wearing beasts still charging toward them—and hundreds of zombies.
Ryuji didn't recognize these masked monsters, but the zombies? He knew them all too well.
Their rotting forms, their mad rush toward living beings—they looked almost identical to the zombies from the 7 Days to Die world.
Disgusting? Yes. But he had gotten used to them. Hell, he could eat while watching them shuffle around.
As for fear?
That had long since vanished.
"Tch… you damn things just don't know when to quit."
He'd thought he'd left these monsters behind for good—but here they were, even in this new world.
Tiny embers, like butterflies, danced around him, wrapping around his blade.
His remaining mana was running low. His Blood Qi was nearly spent. He'd have to start conserving his strength.
He still needed to figure out how to truly merge into this world.
Ryuji's eyes hardened with determination. He channeled the last of his magic into his sword, forming burning copies of its shape. These flaming blades floated up around him, spinning rapidly at his sides and behind his back.
A crazed grin spread across his face.
The monsters were almost upon him.
But it didn't feel like he was the one being surrounded.
"Just this many—"
He sliced off the heads of two zombies in one swift motion, his grin turning bloodthirsty.
"—aren't nearly enough!"