Level 1 to Infinity: My Bloodline Is the Ultimate Cheat - Chapter 47

Chapter 47: Red-haired Woman

Ethan crouched behind a massive boulder at the edge of Blood Abyss Bridge, his sharp eyes scanning the chaos beyond.

The towering figure on the other side continued his rampage, tearing through the NPCs without mercy. Yet, even with its relentless slaughter, a few managed to slip by, crossing the bridge and disappearing into the misty expanse ahead.

After a while, Ethan sighed. Staying hidden wasn’t going to solve anything.

Just as he debated whether to make a run for it, the sound of creaking echoed behind him. A faint movement drew his attention to the massive iron gates far behind. A red-haired woman stepped through the gap, her fiery hair catching the dim light like a flicker of flame.

Ethan’s heart skipped. She was tall, easily a head taller than him, and her slitted pupils, reminiscent of a lizard’s, glowed faintly in the shadows. Unlike the others, she didn’t seem mindless. No, this one was sharp, focused.

The moment the woman appeared, a wave of heat rolled over the area, making Ethan instinctively tense. Her eyes scanned the surroundings briefly before locking onto the bridge. Without hesitation, she began walking forward, her expression calm but deliberate.

When her gaze landed on the rampaging brute, her slitted pupils flashed red. A faint beam of light shot from her eyes, crossing the bridge and landing squarely on the figure.

Ethan froze. “That’s… some kind of scanning ability, isn’t it?”

The brute, oblivious to the beam, continued his carnage as if nothing had happened. But the red-haired woman’s expression shifted, a flicker of unease crossing her face. She hesitated for a moment before slipping into the crowd of NPCs, blending in seamlessly.

As she reached the bridge’s edge, her eyes swept the area, and landed directly on Ethan.

Ethan’s breath hitched. How? He was in stealth, carefully hidden behind the stone boulder, with only his head peeking out.

For a second, the woman seemed puzzled. Then, she turned to face him directly.

Panic shot through Ethan. ‘Did she see me?’

He immediately cast Appraisal on her, hoping to get some information.

—

Name: ???

Level: ???

Attack: ???

Defense: ???

—

Nothing. Not even her name. Ethan frowned. Normally, even if an appraisal failed, the target’s name would still appear. But this… this was completely blank.

The woman’s brow furrowed slightly, as if sensing something. She muttered a series of guttural sounds, her eyes flashing red again. This time, a beam of light shot toward Ethan.

In an instant, his stealth shattered. He was completely exposed.

She pointed directly at him, barking something unintelligible in her strange language.

“Uh… you speak English?” Ethan asked hesitantly.

The red-haired woman tilted her head, clearly not understanding. In the next instant, she closed the distance between them with alarming speed, her hand darting toward him.

Ethan barely managed to sidestep. Her hand grasped at empty air, but she didn’t stop. She kept lunging for him, relentless.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” Ethan shouted, dodging again. He retaliated with Rake, following it up with Shred. Both skills connected, but there was no reaction. No health bar drop. No bleed effect. Nothing.

She didn’t even flinch.

Ethan’s attacks, with over 500 damage output, hadn’t scratched her. Not even the system’s forced damage reduction worked.

“What kind of monster are you?” he muttered, narrowly avoiding another grab. Every time she reached for him, it was always the same target, his tail.

“That’s it! You’re insane!” Ethan growled, transforming into his human form mid-dodge. “Stop trying to grab my tail, you…”

The woman abruptly halted her pursuit. Her lizard-like eyes flicked to something behind him, her expression shifting slightly. She barked another string of incomprehensible sounds, pointing toward Ethan with growing frustration.

From her gestures, Ethan guessed she was demanding something. Does she think I’m hiding something?

When Ethan didn’t respond, her face twisted into a scowl. Flames erupted in her hand, blazing violently as she hurled a fireball at him without warning.

The instant the fire ignited, Ethan’s instincts screamed at him. Danger. The kind of danger that, in his previous life, had always been followed by death.

Without hesitation, he transformed into Bear Form, charging toward the far end of the bridge where a cluster of NPCs huddled.

BOOM!

The fireball exploded where Ethan had stood just moments ago, leaving behind a charred, smoldering patch of stone. Despite the solid construction of the bridge, the impact was enough to make it tremble slightly.

Ethan glanced back mid-charge, his heart pounding. If that had hit him directly, he wouldn’t have survived. Not even a chance.

“What the hell is she?” he muttered under his breath, pushing himself to run faster.

Ethan’s charge ended with a sharp stop, his massive bear form slamming into an NPC, pinning it in place. The path he’d carved was littered with chaos, NPCs scattered like bowling pins, some unfortunate enough to be knocked clean off the bridge. They plunged into the River of Blood below, where the surging crimson torrent swallowed them instantly.

The red-haired woman narrowed her glowing eyes as her fireball missed its mark. Without hesitation, she conjured flames in both hands, hurling them toward the bridge in twin arcs.

“Shit!” Ethan cursed. “This is a wooden bridge! One hit and this whole thing will go up in flames!”

Without wasting a second, he transformed into Panther Form, leaping into the air. His paws landed on the shoulders of crowded NPCs as he darted across their heads, weaving through the chaotic mass.

BOOM! BOOM!

The fireballs detonated behind him, engulfing dozens of NPCs in an instant. Ethan braced himself for the sight of flames consuming the bridge, but to his surprise, the wooden planks remained intact, not even a scorch mark.

His eyes widened. “What the…? This wood’s incredible!”

If he could rip a few of these planks off and give them to that master blacksmith, he could forge some fire-immune gear!

The thought lingered briefly before reality smacked him back into focus. The red-haired woman had spotted him again. This time, her form shifted into that of a black panther, looking sleek and dangerous, her eyes gleaming with excitement as she sprinted toward him.

Surprised, ethan leapt ahead, landing nimbly atop a cluster of NPCs. He glanced back to see her attempt to jump, only to be pressed back down as though an invisible force restrained her. She hissed in frustration, her claws tearing at the air.

So, there’s an anti-airfield here, Ethan thought. He had noticed the faint barrier earlier, it was close enough to his back that he could practically feel its edge. The woman, unable to leap after him, pushed through the throng of NPCs instead.

Perched on an NPC’s shoulder, Ethan muttered under his breath, “Just what does she want, why does she keep chasing me?”

The commotion drew the attention of the tall brute on the far side of the bridge. The creature turned, his blank, bloodthirsty gaze locking onto the chaos. Slowly, the brute began moving across the bridge toward them, slaughtering NPCs in his path with wide sweeps of his massive chain spear.

Ethan’s chest tightened as the brute’s gaze flickered between him and the red-haired woman. The brute’s expression shifted, it was the look of a predator who’d just found new prey.

Ethan gritted his teeth, weighing his odds. Trapped between two lethal enemies, he forced himself to remain calm. He took a deep breath and made his decision.

He ran.

Turning on his heel, he bolted toward the brute, using the crowd of NPCs as cover. Behind him, the woman pursued relentlessly, while ahead, the brute’s chain spear twirled menacingly. The distance between them shrank with every second.

When the brute was just ten meters away, he swung his weapon. The chain, impossibly short just moments before, extended in an instant, snaking through the air like a living thing. Ethan’s heart stopped as the massive hook at the end of the chain shot toward him.

Every instinct screamed at him to move. His fur stood on end, and his body stiffened in terror. At the last moment, Ethan dove headfirst into the crowd of NPCs, disappearing among them.

The chain hook, now hurtling toward the red-haired woman, changed course. Ethan’s careful positioning had perfectly aligned his two enemies.

The woman’s focus had been locked on Ethan, her claws outstretched to grab his tail. When he suddenly vanished into the crowd, her expression froze in surprise. It was too late.

The brute’s chain weapon closed the distance in a heartbeat.

The woman reacted quickly, crossing her arms as a fiery red shield materialized in front of her.

BANG! BOOM!

The hook smashed into the shield with a deafening impact. The shield cracked, then shattered in a fiery explosion. The resulting shockwave blasted everything in a ten-meter radius into oblivion. NPCs close to the blast were reduced to ash, while those farther away were thrown into the air. Some landed back on the bridge, battered but alive; others weren’t so lucky, plunging into the River of Blood below.

The red-haired woman stood her ground despite the devastating impact. Though her shield was destroyed, she didn’t move an inch, her feet planted firmly on the bridge.

The brute reeled in his chain weapon, the weapon glinting faintly as glowing runes danced along its length.

Ethan, hiding among the NPCs, stole a glance at the two figures.

“What the hell have I gotten myself into…”