The second female lead Dual Cultivates

The pain in Maria's side was nothing compared to what she felt as she watched as friends fell down the crack. She had tried so hard to catch the falling hair before tragedy struck them but her single motion of broken concentration had done her in.

"You! What have you done?" Maria's voice was layered in horror as she watched the pair crash into the mold of flesh that the node was.

The more time she spent down here, the more Maroa understood what the bode was and the realization sent shivers down her spine. It was such a big secret and it needed to be kept quiet from the wrong hands.

"Done? Why, nothing. Whatever happened was because of you" Rucci smiled her 'wrong' smile and Maria felt fury build up inside her. How dare the girl show her this face after trying to sink the whole continent with her foolishness.

And then to blame Maria for it all was another height of foolishness Maria could not tolerate. Her blood snagged with the tone of vengeance and her magic agreed with the notion. Her chains sang with glee as well at a chance of being let go.

It was an utterly foolish thing for Maria to do but she couldn't help it. She had to eliminate this threat before it increased and then clean up the area to make sure no one alive knew the secret except the guarding tribe and-

-these emotions were not her one. She was being led astray by the nodes' emotions again which was a bad thing. Maria was no one's puppet but the nide made her feel like one anyway. It had too much of a sway on her.

"You're getting distracted. Maybe you'll die here as well and this node will be mine. I shall become a candidate and help my master out" Rocci laughed in utter joy as she tried to slash at Maria. Her zombies had already given up on and now existed as broken bodies around the pair.

Many of them had landed in the blood pool with their eyes still open and Maria felt sympathy for them. Those people did not deserve this end.

"Nao, Suna. Are you both alright?" Maria asked as she parried away another attack and landed near the fallen pair. The node was still throbbing like a heart which meant that it was not dead yet but it was getting closer and close to dying.

Maria could feel the labor the node was going through to survive but the embryo inside the node was as good as dead already. It would need to be replaced by a better and fresher body that would become a demonic lord candidate.

The whole race was to get the unborn embryo's power and press forward as a candidate. It was all about the power and Maria knew she would not allow Rucci to have it here. She would die fighting if she had to.

"You're friends are being drained dry right now by the world tree. You better drag them away before they die" it was true and Maria could feel it as well. Her friend's life forces were being sucked by the tree node to ensure its survival.

It had latched on like a leech to them and would not let go till there was a better substitute. Maria tried to get her friends from the node but the veins were holding them tight and would not let go without sustaining damage.

And then there was this problem named Rucci that was attacking them still. It was hard to keep away from Suna and Nao's unconscious bodies behind her and Maria could feel the build-up around her. This place was going to explode and take this continent any second with itself.

Maria parried another attack aimed at the node behind her as she held her temper in. She would not allow others to see her struggle to contain herself. Such a liability this situation had left her being a sitting duck for the next attack.

Maria tried to move her chains but her endurance was way past its limit and the attack made its way past Maria's defenses.

"Say bye" Maria glared back at the chimera and waited for the blow. It would not be a bad way for her to go away either. At the center of the node with her friends.

It just sucked that she lost at such a crucial time. There was no stopping the node now and Maria felt the sadness all around her. The node was terrified at the happenings but unable to do anything without someone taking away its powers for usage.

But the only people capable of it were unconscious and laying dead to the world. There seemed to be no hope.

"Get away from her" there should not have been any hope but the furious attack happening over Maria's head said otherwise. She found the power to duck down from the incoming attack.

"Y-You alright?" A familiar but scared voice asked from Maria's right as she felt arms supporting her. Her swimming vision spotted Samuel as the one who had supported her while his kid brother seemed to be engaged in an archery fight with the chimera.

The small-bodied child was at a disadvantage against the chimera but it did not show up in the exchange of blows. Maria was sure it was a mesmerizing display of skills but her vision was not coherent enough to make out the details of the same.

"S-Suna and N-Nao" Maria tried to walk toward her two friends and Samuel complied with her request. Suna seemed to be in a bad shape while Nao looked relatively unharmed. But both did not look in any condition to be moved away from their position.