Without hesitation, she erected a thick ice shield before the bus.

The mutated insect crashed into the shield, breaking it apart. Then, it recoiled.

Selene’s expression was grim as she swung the door open and stepped outside. Glancing back at Reymond, she said quietly.

"I’ll handle it."

The door shut behind her, and she turned to face the mutated insect that was floating in a single position.

BZZZZZZZZZ-!

Its four metallic wings that moved rapidly created an annoying sound that made Selene’s brows twitch.

’A dragonfly. Really troublesome.’

She wasn’t a fan of insects, but she knew a bit about dragonflies.

The Mutated Dragonfly had a metallic blue-black body with six razor-sharp legs folded beneath its body.

Its two large compound eyes glowed green with intelligence, contrasting the yellow glow of the soul crystal on its head.

Selene made this observation quickly, then raised her hand.

Four ice bullets appeared around her and shot toward the dragonfly.

Unsurprisingly, it instantly blitzed from its original position, appearing just a few meters away from her.

Selene’s eyes narrowed, then she snorted.

A thick ice wall appeared between them, halting the dragonfly’s charge. Surprisingly, it didn’t crash into the ice shield. Instead, it dodged at the last moment, appearing before her instead.

Selene stepped back with her arms crossed as its sharp legs shot forward.

Despite her wearing the silver armor, the vambraces were torn and her flesh was cut.

Blood splattered onto the ground, and she winced faintly.

Since the dragonfly was at close range, she shot a pair of ice bullets at it, but it simply blitzed upwards, dodging her attack.

’It’s too fast. I can’t even follow its movements properly. Ice bullets and Ice Spikes aren’t going to work.’

She stepped back, careful not to come in contact with the spikes on the bus. Then, she decided to change her tactics.

Exhaling a cold breath, she created twenty ice bullets and surrounded the dragonfly with them.

Then, one of the ice bullets shot at the insect. Not even a second later, three more followed, targeting points a few meters away from its current position.

The mutated dragonfly dodged, but one of the ice bullets grazed its wings.

BZZZZZZZZZ-!

The large insect glared at her hatefully, its compound eyes keeping track of the remaining ice bullets surrounding it.

Just as it prepared itself to dodge any incoming projectile, it saw Selene smirk.

Bang!

All the ice bullets exploded into shards of ice and released a cold mist into the atmosphere. The large mutated dragonfly tried to move instinctively, but with the ’attack’ coming from every angle, it couldn’t decide which direction to head to.

Hence, it remained in its position and let the harmless shards fall onto its wings.

Selene’s smirk widened, and she created more ice bullets around the dragonfly, shattering them again.

This caused more cold mist to envelop the mutated dragonfly, and its wings began to beat stiffly.

Selene’s expression became indifferent once again, and she created an ice spike, shooting it straight at the insect. As expected, it dodged.

However, this time, it wasn’t unscathed.

One of its left wings got torn badly that it affected its flight, causing it to wobble through the air.

Without pausing, Selene shot a few more ice spikes at it. The dragonfly dodged them all, but it was obvious that its speed had reduced.

This made Selene relieved, but she didn’t let down her guard. Despite its unmatched speed being impaired, it was still a dangerous Tier One creature.

Just as she expected, the mutated dragonfly seemed annoyed and directly attacked her, not bothering to stall and wear her out.

Selene anticipated this and shot a thick ice spike straight at it. This time, the dragonfly didn’t dodge.

It brought forth its sharp metallic legs and clashed with the spike, shattering it into pieces. However, the shattered pieces were large enough to obstruct its flight, forcing it to flap its wings in discomfort.

Selene rushed forward and forged a blade of ice, slashing it towards the neck of the monster that had completely lost control of its flight.

Slice! Thud!

[You have slain a Level 29 Tier One Evolved Dragonfly! +7 Mana points gained!]

[You have leveled up to Level...]

[You have leveled up to Level 25! +10 Stat points gained!]

[You have reached a threshold level]

[Evolution Requirements are ready. View?]

Selene paused at the additional notifications, then chose to sit in the bus before checking it.

Before she left, she plucked the soul crystal out of the dragonfly’s head. Then, she re-entered the bus.

"Wow. You really did well, Selene," Reymond praised with a smile.

He had been anxious when he saw her get injured. However, seeing her defeat it, he felt proud in his heart.

Selene was growing stronger!

She glanced at him and nodded. His gaze shifted to her bleeding arms, and he immediately turned to Fel who was seated behind them.

"Can you heal her?"

The brown-haired girl hesitated, "This..."

Before she could continue, Selene cut in. "There is no need. She should reserve her ability for when those two reach us. They might be injured too."

Gwen’s brows furrowed in worry. "But your arms are..."

"It’s fine," Selene nodded. "I want to test my body’s natural healing too."

With the reasoning she had provided, none of her friends could argue anymore. Gwen simply helped her bandage the wounds while they waited for Leon and Cassie.

’Are they alright? It’s going to be dangerous traversing the city on foot.’

The brown-haired girl looked outside the window with a worried gaze. Just as Reymond was about to pat her shoulder and tell her to be patient, her eyes lit up, and a wide smile unconsciously appeared on her lips.

"Look! They’re here!"

She pointed at the street adjacent to them, and when everyone looked outside the window, they could see Leon and Cassie running over to the bus, waving at them.

Selene glanced at them once, then looked away.

"At least he’s not injured this time."

Soon, the duo finally reached the bus, and they were pulled in before the door closed behind them.

Leon heaved a sigh, sweeping his gaze over everyone present.

"Good. No one is missing."

Then, he turned to Richard, "Start the vehicle. We’re leaving."