Athena in Tower Defense Game! [LitRPG]

0065 – Imminent Changes

The force rebounding from her hands made Athena's arm numb, causing her to naturally step back two steps.

Watching the barrier light emerge from [ Black Planet ], she frowned. The black phosphorus snake, seeing Athena's hostile gaze, wriggled its heavily injured body and burrowed into the barrier. Although Athena couldn't open the barrier, it posed no obstacle to the black phosphorus snake.

By now, [ Black Planet ] had collapsed inside the barrier. Although the system had blocked her axe just now, her previous attacks had landed squarely on the opponent.

Trying to strike the barrier twice from a distance, Athena confirmed she couldn't open it as she shout.

"Is this plot armor?!"

The system prevented her from killing [ Black Planet ], but it hadn't stopped her when she was attacked with a spear by someone from Region 004. The rules during the regional battles even encouraged them to kill each other, with no rule mentioning that same-area contestants couldn't harm each other. So what's going on now?

Fourth in the rankings of Region 004? The system seemed to want to select strong individuals; the lives of the weak were inconsequential. Yet all these top players were exceptional.

Upon realizing she couldn't kill [ Black Planet ] and disregard the system for pissing her off, she had already shifted her focus elsewhere, pursuing [ Big World ].

As time passed, surely the first batch of people ahead would become aware of this hidden rule. However, it seemed that not many knew about it yet, including the [ Big World ] or else the opponent wouldn't have used all available items and fled so desperately.

This was a mechanism for protecting top players by the system, but this mechanism would surely change later on; otherwise, the top ten wouldn't have a chance to compete.

When this hidden rule became public knowledge, this place wouldn't be a battlefield for 400 players anymore, nor would it be a competition for the top ten; it would become a hunting ground for the strong against the weak.

For now, she could only catch one by blackmailing one before others caught on.

Although this battle took less than a minute, this brief time was enough for [ Big World ] to cover a considerable distance.

Athena stared at the traces on the ground, relentlessly following them.

"Let me kill you!"

[ Big World ] was solely focused on fleeing desperately. She didn't know how long the fool from before could hold her back, filling her heart with endless worry and fear. Faced with a life-or-death situation, she couldn't afford to slack off.

Having just experienced a short teleportation, she had expended too much energy, her breath becoming rapid and labored, yet she dared not stop. It felt as if there were invisible pursuers behind her, keeping her in a state of constant tension.

She gritted her teeth and continued to run forward, pouring all her strength into her legs.

Even though she was faster than most players, she had initially thought she could escape, but she could feel something tracking her relentlessly, watching her.

This was her other skill, 'Sharpness'!

With only one teleportation opportunity and all hidden items already used, if there were no other methods, she might really die here today.

Escape, run to where there are more people, maybe there she could find a glimmer of hope.

However, this thought was quickly dismissed by herself. One was a disadvantaged prey, the other a powerful predator. Even if someone saw them, they would prioritize attacking her rather than Athena behind her.

Her teammate's skills were still on cooldown and unusable.

It seemed she could only fight to the death, with no other way out.

The purple light spot that had disappeared from the map earlier was not only noticed by Athena, but almost everyone paying attention to the map.

[ Big World ] had myriad thoughts in her mind. Perhaps there were hunters there, or maybe there were powerful monsters. If it was a monster, perhaps it could really give her a chance at survival.

With her acute sense of danger, perhaps it wouldn't necessarily be her who was caught up by the monster.

At this point, all she could do was bet her life on this last hope.

After running for a long time, she was beginning to feel some fatigue. The human ahead was really fast, running even faster than a shuttle!

Cats aren't typically long-distance runners, but without Athena, it wasn't willing to lose sight of the person. The person ahead suddenly changed direction, and Mikmik's whiskers trembled as it continued to trot on its short legs.

Athena, behind them, saw the sudden change in direction and gave up following the tracks, choosing to cut across in the nearest direction. Athena quickened her pace; she knew she couldn't afford to lose them.

As the distance closed, the light spot ahead turned again, and the gap between them narrowed. Suddenly, she heard a buzzing sound and looked up to see a swarm of giant bees flying towards her. Each of these bees was as big as a soccer ball, and the sound of their wings was eerie.

But what was worse was what she saw: [ Big World ] and Mikmik running back ahead of the bees. These giant bees seemed highly aggressive, relentlessly attacking [ Big World ] and Mikmik.

Mikmik didn't even have time to find a place to hide. As Athena dodged the bees' attacks, she pondered her options.

Meeting at a narrow pass... The woman locked eyes with Athena again, but this time she felt the oppressive force of the swarm behind her, so she continued sprinting in Athena's direction.

Life and death are fated; wealth and honor lie in afterlife! Athena furrowed her brows tightly, watching the huge and fierce swarm of bees brought by the person and cat. They were pouring in like a tide.

They flapped their wings, emitting a deafening buzzing sound, as if they were going to devour the two. Faced with such a scene, Athena didn't hesitate to turn her body 180 degrees and then sprint with all her might.

Compared to her arrival, she was now running much faster.

The wind whistled in her ears, and the heartbeat of [ Big World ] sounded like war drums. Her legs churned like engines, each step filled with power and determination. Beside her was Athena, running alongside her, and behind her were the relentless pursuing bees.

"Damn you!"

This girl wants her dead! Athena's gaze was sharp, coldly staring at her, as if she wanted to tear this culprit apart. Mikmik, exhausted, was already jumping on Athena's shoulder, cheering.

When a man is about to die, his words are good. [ Big World ] had never felt so brave before. She turned her head and roared angrily at Athena, "If you hadn't been chasing me all this time, would I have run to this place? Now we're being chased by bees because of you!"

Athena's face suddenly melted like an iceberg, with a faint smile, seemingly agreeing with the other's words. She raised her black abyss axe again; even while running, dealing with [ Big World ] was well within her capabilities.

"A weakling like you? Stop complaining!"

You don't need to outrun the beasts; you just need to outrun your enemies.

Seeing the glinting black abyss axe in the other's hand, [ Big World ] suddenly felt like she wanted to live again.