Chapter 18: E Rank Dungeon Raid (2)
Rooaaarr! The berserked chimaera beast shrieked in pain, swiping the hunters near it in rage and desperation.
The Hunters jumped back from the beast mouths agape, as they still couldn't fathom what had just happened. Arthur's body blitzed as he leapt into the air again, spinning like a tornado, his blade slashed cleanly once more cutting off the beast's scorpion tail that had been causing everyone trouble. At this point in time, with Ellie's buff Arthur's stats had already surpassed 100, reaching the entry level of a B rank Hunter.
Voldor struggled to keep up with Arthur's sheer speed, as he watched him flash around the beast, slowly dwindling its health down. With every swing, the berserked beast roared in pain, trying to escape from its death but the F rank Hunter wouldn't let it escape so easy. Arthur hadn't stopped once to regain his breath, as he was on a timer, his 'mana' stat was still too low, to be using this bookmark; he had a remaining 20 seconds before his body would be completely fatigued.
"Everyone help him! One final push!" Voldor screamed, as he also charged towards the weakened beast. The mages fired their spells and the damage dealers also charged in.
[Sword Qi]
As lightning sparks of mana coated Arthur's blade, with one final swing, a slash of
streak of condensed mana was fired. A painful shriek could be heard, following a large dust cloud. All the attacks had coagulated and had finally killed the beast.
['Physique' has increased 36 >>> 40]
['Strength' has increased 36 >>> 40]
Whilst the dust cloud caused the Hunter's visions to be blocked, Arthur had managed to get back to Ellie's side again, putting on the large backpack. His body shook from the fatigue, even making him struggle to stay standing.
'This is a horrible drawback.' Arthur thought, but he smiled when he realised he had gained 8 stat points altogether. He knew that gaining stat points was difficult, even he thought his rate of raising his stats was painstakingly slow. However, a quick search on the WorldNet showed that he actually growing at an extroadinary pace due to his Unique Class. The average Hunter would only be able to raise their stats by a range of 5 - 20 on average over the whole year, this was accounting that the Hunter went on non-stop dungeon raids.
Gaining stats like this was a blessing.
"Keep your eyes and ears open! We don't know if this wave was the last for this instance. Ellie, and the support mages, start healing the party members." Voldor immediately gave out orders.
'Those idiots gave us the wrong information. What was a <Rare> Tier beast doing in this instance. If it wasn't berserked it wouldn't have been a problem. But who was that person? They were moving so fast even I couldn't keep track of them. Shucks! I don't even know how they look!' Voldor cursed, looking around, trying to look for the Hunter that was responsible for bringing the berserked beast near to death.
"Oh my! Where did you come from?! And why do you look like you ran a marathon!" Ellie turned to see a tall and athletic figured boy, in a poor state.
"I had an anxiety attack. I was scared so I stood at the back of the group." Arthur made up a lie, huffing and puffing to sell his lie.
'My acting should be believable as I'm genuinely tired as hell!! My muscles are spasming.' Arthur grimaced, showing discomfort.
"Okay, once I heal the others I'll come and heal any injuries you had. Stay here, you understand!" She said sternly, like a mother.
The boy nodded in response sitting down on a boulder.
Whilst the Hunters were getting treated, the commotion slowly built up as they discussed the unknown identity of the individual that had stepped in to fight the beast. Was there someone this powerful among them? Then why did they watch as their fellow brethren died in front of them? Why step in at the last moment to help? The hunters' frustration and anger grew as some of them had lost good friends in this hunt.
"I've had enough! Oi! Whoever you are, you better step forward! How could you be so heartless? You're a coward! I hope you know this. You could have helped. You could have helped us all! Why step in when our friends had already died? Why?" A young man stood up on a boulder shouting towards the recuperating crowd, his emotion pouring out through his voice, as tears started to well up in his eyes. His friend tried to stop him, pulling on his trouser, but he also was becoming teary-eyed, for they had lost two of their best friends that were in their party.
"Yeah! Show yourself! Coward!"
"Who was it?! Was it you! I saw him use a sword."
"He must have a speed ability. It must be you!"
"How could it be me? Are you sick in the mind? Mentally challenged? It was clearly you!"
The crowd of the Hunters started to grow furious, blaming each other to try to find the culprit.
'Typical. Never taking accountability for their actions and blaming others for their lack of ability. A true trait of the weak.' Arthur shook his head, watching the chaos ensue from afar. Although he did feel bad for those that had lost their friends and close ones, he was not a blind hero that would swoop in, just for himself to get killed in the process. Arthur was no match for that <Rare> tier beast. Only with the buffs he had, and the fact that the beast was already slightly weakened and distracted, did he manage to help slay that monster.
"Quiet down! Silence! Are all of you mentally deficient?! We're in a Dungeon! Who cares who that was? We can always find out after. We need to clear this instance and make it out alive. That takes priority." Voldor ordered, his voice being heard by every hunter present.
As the Hunters all quietened down, most of them had rejuvenated. The group of 50 Hunters had dwindled down to 35, 15 people had died in this raid alone. This was unheard of for an E rank Dungeon. The <rare> tier beast truly was an anomaly, that's what the Hunters all thought - that the intel that the association gave was false, but Arthur had a horrible feeling. As the front squads were split into groups of 5 by Voldor, they spread out trying to scout if there was a second wave. Luckily, they had concluded that this was a singular wave dungeon.
'It's that heart wrenching feeling again. It's like a premonition for danger. I can sense it, something bad will happen. But these people won't heed to my words. Should I leave without them?' Arthur looked back towards the blue portal now open again, a way to the outside. He was situated 800 meters away from the portal, quite the distance.
"Porter boy, stop slacking and get to work, we need these monster cores and mana crystals. Here's a pickaxe." Voldor threw him a pickaxe, issuing him to start working. This led the boy with no choice, but to act like he was working whilst slowly making his way towards the portal.
An hour went by, the party of 35 had been busy cleaning up the aftermath, trying to find whatever loot they could. From slain beast skin, to beast cores and mana crystals, the farming was going well.
It was then that a tremendous aura froze everyone in their tracks, including Arthur. A ferocious presence suddenly appeared, causing every being inside the dungeon to lose autonomy over their bodies.
'What is this? I can't move!' Arthur's face was ashen, as he failed to understand the ceiling of this mighty presence's power.
"Oh, humans, puny humans. I didn't think I'd meet any down here. Kekeke. How delicious." The scaly demonic figure emerged from the shadows of the dungeon, its form towering over the unsuspecting humans with a menacing presence, standing at a tall 3 meter stature. Its skin, a shade of charcoal gray, was covered in thick, rugged scales that seemed to ripple with malevolent energy. Sinewy muscles bulged beneath its scales, hinting at the creature's immense strength and agility.
Dark, leathery wings spread wide behind its hulking frame, their edges jagged and torn.As it walked towards the frozen humans, it carried with it the stench of decay and despair.
Its face was a grotesque mask of twisted features, with sunken, glowing red eyes that burned with a hunger beyond comprehension. Rows of sharp, serrated teeth lined its gaping maw, dripping with drool as it spoke to itself of how lucky he was that a meal was ready for him just as he'd arrived.
A sinister grin spread across its face, revealing a mouthful of razor-sharp fangs. With a guttural chuckle that sent shivers down the spines of the frozen hunters, the demonic being licked its lips hungrily, relishing the fear and despair that emanated from its prey.
'It's a Xandarian and a <Knight> Rank! What on Earth is it doing in a dungeon?! And why did it appear now?! I need to do something, but I can't move. MOVE!' Arthur struggled, causing his body to shake, as his muscles shook, fighting against the immense force pushing down on them.
The humans had devised different tiers to the power of this alien race, starting with Soldier, Knight, General, Duke and lastly King Level. This one had wings, meaning it was definitely above the Soldier Level.
Those who had never met a Xandarian would face this same fate, frozen under its presence alone. Knights were on par with the top of the crop B rank Hunters. As the Xandarian walked leisurely, it swiped with its sharp claws, killing the frozen prey, and consuming the flesh from their bodies.
"Kekekekekekeke!!! SO DELICIOUS! When was the last time I had human flesh?!" The Xandarian laughed in rivery, blood drooling from its mouth.
'I will not die here! What a monster, I can't even move. Think Arthur! Think!' Arthur calmed himself, scanning through all the ideas in his head, till one came up.
"Mmh, I smell something interesting. Something sweet, someone out of you livestock is surely a different type of human." The Xandarian spoke, dropping a limp and headless body from its down to the cold floor.
'Shit! It's coming this way!' Arthur's mind worked overdrive, activating the skill he wanted.
[Librarian's Gift: 'Epic of The Demon King Slayer']
As a whirlwind of mana started to surround Arthur's body, the Xandarian noticed this and smiled.
"Found you…" The Xandarian said playfully, leisurely walking towards the delicious prey. Its step wasn't slow as it had reached Arthur's position in a few seconds.
It reached out his hand into the blue whirlwind of mana with a devilish grin on its face…
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