* tap * * tap * * tap *
The sound of water droplets splashing when touching tree branches can be heard, now in one of the branches of a giant tree on the edge of a poisonous forest, Reo is seen sitting while reading the Shojo Manga in his hand.
While underneath was seen Karen who was standing with a serious face while holding her wand tightly. She stared into the distance with a hesitant and nervous look.
"Hey, are you sure this plan will work?" Karen asked.
"Hm? Yeah." Reo answered without taking his eyes from the manga in his hand. He looked relaxed even though they were currently in the midst of their plans to storm the place where the Dungeon Boss was.
Although Reo looks calm, but there is one thing that still hangs in his mind. Until now he had not been able to measure how strong the Dungeon Boss they were going to face this time, and how much their probability of successfully killing him. If it was estimated normally, most likely the Dungeon Boss this time was a High-End A-Rank Magic Beast or even a low-level S-Rank Magic Beast.
Reo could only estimate it because he had no idea how far the magical energy in the Dungeon where he was currently had increased since it had turned into a Red Gate.
Before carrying out his current plan, a few minutes before Reo had observed the situation around the cave where the Dungeon Boss was thought to be. No, more precisely the place where thousands of Magic Beasts are currently gathering suspiciously and without making the slightest movement.
It was an underground cave with a very large size, large enough to hold thousands of Magic Beasts in it. And after Reo went around to really make sure, the underground cave had only one natural hole that was connected directly to the surface. That means there is only one way in and out for the Magic Beasts.
Of course the hole made by Giant Worm was an exception, and that was also Reo's concern. His plan this time was full of flaws due to the lack of knowledge he had about the Dungeon and the world of monsters.
Hearing the answer from Reo that sounded uncertain, made Karen pout.
"Why do you sound like you doubt your own plan? If this plan fails, we will all die, you know."
Reo only answered with a flat expression.
"Incorrect, you two will die. And didn't I tell you before? If you have a better idea, then you can tell me."
"..."
Karen just paused while Reo continued.
"Besides that ... If only you had a Spell that was destructive enough to scorch the monsters in one blow, then we don't need to do a plan like this."
Hearing that, Karen could not deny what Reo said. As someone who just became an Awakened a few months ago, she did not have many spells in her 'arsenal'.
For an first-circle Elemental Mage with fire affinity like her, the magic spells she could master were also just various fire-based elemental spells, such as fireballs, waves of fire, and various forms of fire magic.
There are several ways for a Mage or Awakened to get a magic skill or spell. The first and most common way is an innate skill / spell, an innate skill / spell as the name suggests is a skill / spell an Awakened has had since they first experienced the Awakening process.
Innate skills like this are usually in the form of a transfiguration ability that can make users change into a certain creature, or even an ability to summon a creature, this innate ability will determine the class of an Awakened when they register as a Hunter.
Another way to get spells / skills is to practice, this is the most difficult way because not everyone can do this. Namely continue to practice the same movements until it automatically turns into a skill / spell. But not a few people who use this method to increase the variety of their attacks, this method is usually used by hunters with the Fighter class like Liu Zhigang and Heisatsu.
There are also other ways such as using magic items obtained from inside the dungeon, but such things are not included in spells / skills and usually the attack type magic items obtained in the dungeon are disposable items. Because some of the magic items obtained from inside the Dungeon are Buff type items that reinforce the Spells / skills that an Awakened have.
Karen then only pouted while leaning her chin on her wand.
"Hmmm, you really think being a Mage is easy, just learning a Spell takes weeks of hard training, you know." Karen grumbled in a low voice as she thought about her training with a mentor the association sent a few months back.
Her training was quite hard and even took up part of her time as an idol. But when compared to Reo who had to train hard under the guidance of Heisatsu for 6 years, Karen's words would sound like a joke.
The atmosphere then became quiet again, and Karen returned to thinking about discussing their plans that she, Osamu, and Reo had done some time before.
***
"What !? You want to burn the whole forest using my fire magic?"
"Yes." Reo nodded.
Right now, Reo, Osamu, and Karen are sitting while discussing their plans to defeat the Dungeon Boss. They sat in a circle in a cave which was only lit by a campfire made by Karen.
Amami who is bound to the rocks still hasn't regained consciousness.
"Are you crazy? What about Mana Crystal scattered throughout the forest? Do you want to destroy it just like that?" Said Osamu, apparently disagreeing with what Reo wanted to do.
"This is the Red Gate, even if we succeed in clearing it up, there is not enough time for the miners to gather Mana crystals that scattered in the entire forest, once we get out of this Dungeon, the gate will automatically close." Reo said, his golden eyes staring at Osamu and Karen. He then continued with an innocent expression.
"Even someone like you should know that right?"
"Someone like me? What do you mean?" Osamu raised his eyebrows, but Reo did not say anything. While Karen, who was just silent, raised her hand.
"Is there really no other way?"
"If what you say about the strongest spell you had before is true, then yes ... there is no other choice."
Everyone fell silent hearing Reo's words, the atmosphere then became quiet before Reo smiled and said in a playful tone.
"Well ~ even though I will not force you if you really want to die undermined by those insects."
* gulp *
Karen and Osamu certainly don't want to die. Seeing the tense expressions on their faces, Reo then stretched his index finger back and said with a smile.
"So what? Do you want to obey my orders or not?"
Karen and Osamu immediately nodded and Reo who heard that then grinned.
"Good, then, here's the plan ..."
***
"Why did I take the initiative to become a Hunter from the beginning and deal with all this nonsense. * Sigh *" Karen sighed tiredly, that question struck her mind again. The reason why she wants to be a Hunter.
Is it because of popularity? Money? Or praise from her fans? Karen who thought of that looked down and looked at the ground. When she was daydreaming and her mind went somewhere, suddenly Reo's voice made her aware.
"Hey Idol-san, what will you do after we get out of this Red Gate?"
"Huh?" Karen raised her eyebrows and looked sideways, at Reo who had come down from a tree branch without making the slightest noise and had stood beside her.
Reo looked at Karen with a curious face using his golden eyes.
"Are you still going to be a Hunter?" Reo's curiosity was unbearable.
Karen who heard Reo's question couldn't help thinking about what he just said.
' That's right, After experiencing this hell ... what am I going to do next? Will I still be a hunter and face all this nonsense every day? '
Reo then resumed his words, he looked down with a serious expression using his two golden eyes. His body which rose as high as 1.85 m looks very contrast with Karen who is only as high as 1.7 m.
"You've seen it, haven't you? The dark side of humans?" Reo said, referring to Amami's betrayal.
Hearing that the atmosphere became quiet, only the sound of the wind whistling against the leaves in the trees, until Karen suddenly smiled bitterly.
"The dark side of humans, huh. I ... For the past 3 years, I've seen it myself with my eyes. During my time in the celebrity world, I've seen it ... How terrible humans can become when their minds are moved by greed and lust. "
Reo who heard that widened his eyes, his golden eyes sparkled. Karen then turned her gaze towards Reo, their eyes met and Karen said.
" I've seen it. "
* breeze *
The atmosphere fell back into silence before Karen suddenly laughed sourly and looked at the purple sky illuminated by the comic light.
"But you are right, I think seeing battle and blood every day is not the life I want, I might go crazy later. Because of that, I will stop ... I will stop being a Hunter, and refocus to pursue my career as an idol. "
Seeing that, Reo then smiled and said while patting Karen's head which was much shorter than her.
"Yes, a little girl like you shouldn't bother to fight against monsters, because you will only trouble your comrades."
1
Although Karen is relatively short when compared to Reo, but she has been considered quite high for the standards of Asian women. Feeling insulted by Reo's words, Karen removed Reo's hand from her head with a frown.
"A little girl? Don't think of me as a little girl just because your body is taller than me. Despite this, I'm already 20 years old."
'So she is older than me. But, who cares. '
When Reo and Karen were chatting, suddenly Reo felt the subtle vibrations on the ground they were tread on right now. Feeling that, the smile on Reo's face disappeared.
"It's time, burn the forest." Reo said, he then turned and walked back. Hearing Reo's command, Karen, who was initially confused, immediately nodded and ran towards the right.
Karen is then seen tying her black hair so as not to bother her while firing her magic. She then closed her eyes and began to recite her spell. Karen did not forget the plan that Reo had explained before.
***
"First of all, all we have to do is slaughter all the magic beasts that come out of the underground cave all at once. We will kill them as much as possible in one place." Reo said, seen using a wooden branch to visualize his plan into a sketch on the ground.
"Because of that, I want to make a special place, a place where they can't escape anywhere and that's where I will slaughter them all," Reo said, drawing a line on the ground. Representation of the place he meant.
Seeing that Osamu frowned.
"This is impossible, making a place like this won't produce any results. The Magic Beasts with insect type are swarming creatures, they will definitely spread and attack us from all directions, like they did to attack the Attack Force squad before."
"No, this is not impossible. Because we have Idol-san here." Reo glanced at Karen who looked confused while pointing at herself.
"Like I said before, we will burn the forest. But not all of it." Reo then made a dotted line around the line he had made before.
"I will uproot the trees that are here, cut them off with the whole forest. This area will be the arena of death for the monsters." Reo made a cross in the middle of the line.
"That means ..." Karen who seemed to understand quite well what Reo meant was muttering and Reo nodded.
"That's right, we will burn the whole forest except this place that I marked using your own magic. Leaves and trees are highly flammable, and in forests with wide trees like this the fire can easily spread throughout the forest and burn everything to ashes . "
Reo then continued with a thin grin and looked at Osamu and Karen with cold eyes.
"Even though they are monsters, they still have their instincts as insects. Insects naturally hate fire especially smoke produced from unnatural combustion."
Osamu and Karen fell silent when they saw Reo mysterious smile.
"You two do your job, the rest leave it to me."
The atmosphere then becomes quiet, Reo's words are full of confidence, it is a words that can convince everyone who hears. When no one starts a conversation, Osamu suddenly opens his mouth.
"Then, how do you get the Magic Beasts out of the Cave?"
Hearing that, Reo grinned and glanced at Osamu with a mischievous look.
"Hehe ~."
"Huh?"
***
Right after Karen finished reciting her spell, a red magic circle then appeared around her wand that she pointed at the forest. The wind blew her hair out, and slowly a smile appeared on her face.
'That's right, mom ... I don't want to die here, I still want to be spoiled by you. I am afraid of death, I am afraid, I am afraid, I am very afraid. '
"Blazing--
'But now I realize it, the fear I experienced when I did the audition, the fear when I appeared on my debut, or even the fear of death that I currently face ... all those fears that made me what I am now. That fear, from now on ... I will control it! '
Karen smiled before she continued.
--Teardrops !! "
* Burst * * Burst *
Then, dozens of fireballs the size of a basketball were then fired from the magic circle around Karen's wand, soaring up before descending into the forest below it like a rain of fire and burning trees.
Reo who was standing leisurely on the edge of the forest looked up with a smile, it was a very beautiful sight as fireballs slowly fell and hit the trees below, the light looked like a shooting star.
Blazing Teardrops, a Burst Type B-Rank Spell with a Fire affinity that is used to attack large numbers of enemies. This is the strongest spell that Karen can use right now. Even so, this spell has a fatal weakness.
The fire rate that is owned by Spell is quite slow, because it requires a long lag time for him to fall from the height of the peak when fired. Therefore, using this spell directly to enemies who can continue to move flexibly like insect type magic beasts is stupid. Because they will be able to easily avoid it.
"Alright ~ It's time for the left side ~" Reo said while humming.
But Karen's assignment did not stop there, she immediately ran to the left, panting and repeating the same steps she had done before.
Meanwhile, the fire that was burning down the right forest slowly spread, one by one the trees that were there were ignited by the fire that Karen had fired earlier. Black smoke billowed into the dark sky, creating a reflection of their light in the air.
* krssk * * krssk *
The sound of wood slowly burning could be heard from within the forest, the poisonous purple leaves that turned to ashes fell and blew apart in the wind. While Reo just stood casually right on the edge of the forest that was intentionally not burned.
"Blazing Teardrops !!" Karen again fired her magic into the air and fireballs spread in the left side of the forest. And with that, the first phase of Reo's plan has been successfully carried out.
"* pant * * pant *" Karen looked breathless while holding her knee, sweat running down her delicate cheeks.
"Good job, for now your task is finished, take a rest." Reo said, his golden eyes staring towards the front, a faint smile adorned his pale face.
* zyuuut *
Slowly, a white layer that looks like transparent liquid coats Reo's entire body, from head to head. He coated his entire body by using Reinforcement Ki, no, he only increase the intensity of his Reinforcement Ki because to survive the pressure of the magical energy waves in the Dungeon, Reo had to coat his body with a very thin Ki layer.
Karen who saw that again made a confused expression.
'That ... he used it again. That's not magic, what layer is that actually? '
As Karen was thinking, suddenly a distant scream was heard. It was the sound of a man's scream.
"Oh F * ck! F * ck! F * ck! Help me, Reo !!"
It was Osamu, he was seen running from a distance as fast as he could, even though he was only a B-Rank Hunter. But his running speed far surpassed any running athletes, it was a speed that could not be reached by an ordinary human.
He was still seen using his magic robe, but it looked a little wet and damp. Osamu intentionally wet his clothes to reduce the heat generated by a fire burning in the forest. After a few moments of running, slowly hundreds and even thousands of Magic Beasts came out in groups from inside the cave.
They appear to come from various types of Magic Beasts with different types, some are shaped like spiders with giant body sizes, mosquitoes and even Magic Beasts with very small size but have a deadly poison shaped like a bee.
All emerged from the cave and chased Osamu who ran under the trees that were not burned by Karen's fire. He had taken off his glasses and looked breathless while running.
"Reo, HELP ME !!!"
* ssssst * * fwwwiuuut *
Hissing and growling from insects resounded in the burning forest. And as Reo had predicted, the Magic Beasts only gathered and chased after Reo from one direction, which was the part of the forest that was not burned. They seemed uninterested in approaching the flames and clouds of black smoke that reached high into the sky.
And when Osamu began to feel his knees go numb, suddenly there was a crack from the ground below. Realizing what was coming, he cursed.
" F*cking hell ..."
* crack * * rarrrghhh *
The huge mouth of the Giant Worm that looked like a vacuum cleaner punched the ground and opened its mouth wide, trying to devour Osamu's body completely. Osamu who saw that could only be silent while trying to keep running.
'F*ck, I'm done. '
However, when a moment of despair overwhelmed him, Suddenly the sound of wind friction could be heard from his side.
* slash * * spurt *
A few hundred meters in front of him, Reo was seen standing while putting his hand on the handle of his katana. He sent a flying slash reinforced using Ki towards the Giant Worm who tried to devour Osamu and kill it in an instant.
"Ah!"
"Good job, Glasses-kun, now run to the flames," said Reo while stepping forward. Hearing that, Osamu's eyes immediately sparkled and shouted.
"I love you, Reo !!" He then immediately ran into the fiery forest and ran towards Reo through that place to avoid the pursuit of the Insects.
The Magic Beasts who saw Osamu go into the burning forest just like that, seemed uninterested in chasing him. This time, their attention was diverted by Reo who had walked towards them while carrying Honjo Masamune in his hands.
His golden eyes stared at the Magic Beasts who rushed at him with calm eyes.
"Two choices for you, either charred into ashes or cut into minced meat. you decide. "
Reo then smiled faintly with an uninterested look while muttering.
"Let's begin ... The Campfire Party."
* buzz * * zyuuuut * * crack *
Suddenly an invisible spiritual energy pressure appeared and faltered the Magic Beasts that approached Reo, a number of low-level Magic Beasts with a relatively small size were immediately destroyed and green blood gushed from their bodies.
Some others fell and lost their self-awareness, and some others were still able to run even though the pressure had blocked their movements. Reo uses his Domination Ki to destroy low-level monsters and destroy the giants one with his sword.
* dap * * cling *
Honjo Masamune's silver blade glowed, Reinforcement Ki covered his surface, Reo slowly bent his knees and mounted his stance.
"Shirogami Itto-Ryu ..."
"* Raarrghh *" "* Sssstttt *"
Reo's golden eyes glowed, his gaze filled with intent to kill as cold as ice. Before Reo muttered in a low tone.
"... Senbonzakura."
* slash * * slash * * slash *
Reo then began swinging his sword so fast that it could not even be followed by eye movements, dozens of slashes that had been strengthened by Ki he launched into the mob of monsters in front of him.
* spurt *
Green blood gushed from the bodies of the monsters that invaded Reo when their bodies are chopped into small pieces, shattered and torn. Slash flew with terrifying speed, making the Magic Beasts unable to realize for a moment, that their bodies had been cut off.
However, Reo knew that wasn't enough, so he resumed the same stance and muttered.
"Senbonzakura."
Again, Reo uses the same technique to slay the monsters in front of him, he doesn't even move from his original place, just stands there while continuing to swing the katana in his hand towards the Monsters, and kill them one by one.
Karen who saw Reo's actions from a distance widened her eyes and murmured softly.
"Amazing ... Turns out he didn't just talk bullshit before."
* pant * * pant *
Then the sound of breathing hard could be heard in Karen's ears, and caught her attention.
"Are you all right?" Karen asked.
Hearing that Osamu who was still trying to catch his breath said.
"Yes, thankfully no burning branches fell on me."
" Oh, I see... "
After he was able to breathe again normally, Osamu then glanced at Karen.
"So how much Mana left do you have right now?"
Hearing that, Karen then glanced at her wand before muttering softly.
"40%."
Hearing that Osamu can only smile bitterly.
"Haha, as expected of an A-Rank Mage. The capacity of magic energy in your body is very big huh."
Karen then returns Osamu's glasses which he took off before carrying out their plan this time. Osamu then wore it and looked back at Reo who was currently slaughtering the insects using his katana.
"That person, if you think about it, he has never once told me his rank. Is it possible that he is an S-Rank?" Osamu murmured.
Hearing that, Karen also looked at Reo.
"S-Rank, huh. If that's true, then this all makes sense."
Meanwhile, Reo is now seen to have succeeded in slaughtering all the low and middle level monsters that invaded towards him. The bodies of the Magic Beasts which had been cut into small pieces scattered on the ground, their green blood polluted the fertile soil of the forest.
And the unbearable stench can be smelled by Reo. Reo then slowly walked towards the cave, most of the monsters had been killed by him. But not all, suddenly a large caterpillar appears and writhes from inside the cave.
Its body is layered, white and mucous. It looks very disgusting coupled with a very large black skinned mouth. Reaching 10 meters in length.
"Hm?" Reo then walked closer to the creature, and when he tried to approach it suddenly—
* fwuosh *
A figure appeared who suddenly jumped and attacked Reo using blades that grew from its both arms.
* clang *
However, with the help of his Observation Ki, Reo can easily fend off the attacks of the mysterious figure.
* dap *
After feeling that his attack had failed, the figure then immediately jumped back and away, he jumped and stood on one of the branches of a tree that was not burned by fire. And at that moment, Reo finally could see clearly the form of the figure.
The figure looked like a fly with a fairly muscular humanoid body. He has very large red eyes, like flies in general, a suction tube that looks like a thorn extends from his small mouth and he has 2 pairs of transparent wings on his back.
Reo who saw that widened his eyes, he had never met a humanoid type Magic Beast like the humanoid fly in front of him right now. While it flies, he looks like he's looking for something. Moving his big head.
Reo tilted his head before suddenly the humanoid fly opened its mouth.
"You human ... why did you burn our forest?" Said the figure in English that Reo could understand.
While Reo who heard that instead of answering his question, he looked excited, his eyes sparkled and his face looked like someone who had just discovered a treasure.
"you really can talk, ... And also, you can act using your logic and mind. Cool ~."
Reo was amazed by the figure in front of him at this time. Magic Beasts who have enough intellectual mind to speak human languages are very rare to find in Dungeons. Usually only A-Rank Dungeons and higher have such creatures in them, because of that Magic Beasts that are humanoid shaped like they are usually an A-Rank Monster.
Therefore, the higher the level of a Magic Beast, the more their form will become more similar to humans. They will also have emotions, the higher the level the greater the feelings they can feel, and the more proficient their communication skills.
However, when he heard Reo's words, the humonoid fly did not flinch at all, his facial expression did not change when he saw Reo. His face that looked like Kamen Rider was shaking.
"You did not answer my question, why did you burn our forest?" His voice was flat and rigid like a robot.
"Ah about that ... Sorry, I have no other choice, you know. You were the ones who attacked us first, so I killed your comrades," said Reo, glancing at the piles of dead monsters scattered on the ground.
"You ... Humans ... Can only damage and destroy something, you are enemies, you must be killed, I must kill you, kill you all until there is nothing left."
"..."
* Zrut *
The sound of friction could be heard from above as the creature could be seen pulling out another blade which looked like a saw from its thin hand. Reo who saw that tightened the grip of his hand on the handle of Honjo Masamune.
* srruuutt * * fwup * * fwup *
Both pairs of wings began to flap very quickly and even caused the wind to make the leaves around it sway loudly, the distinctive sound of flapping wings flew out before the figure suddenly glided towards Reo.
* fwuosh *
He moved so agile and fast in the air, and pointed the two needles in his hand towards Reo, right to his heart.
But Reo could easily avoid the attack, he just tilted his head to the left before turning his body and gave a punch using the back of his hand that had been strengthened by Ki to break the needle in the hands of the figure.
* zyuuut * * bump * * crack *
Reo easily smashed the needle to pieces even though he did not swing his hand with all his strength. Killing thousands of monsters before has made the Ki in his body significantly strengthened, the number has increased quite a lot considering the number of monsters he killed using his Ki.
But the figure's attack did not stop there, the two blades like a saw then rotated like a fan and tried to slit Reo's neck.
* krrriiiet *
A deafening creaking sound was heard, but instead of using the sword in his hand to cut the figure's body. Reo instead sheathed his katana back, and then spread his arms sideways.
The blades in the fly's hands slowly approached Reo, and tried to kill by making his body chopped, but ---
* krieeet * * grip *
The creaking sound suddenly stopped when Reo casually caught the two saw-shaped blades of the fly hand and caught it using both hands. Reo's golden eyes stared at the big red eyes of the monster, a faint smile plastered on Reo's face before he turned his wrist.
* crack * * spurt *
Reo turned his hand to the side and viciously broke the figure's hand before pulling it and made his hand cut off. Green blood gushed from both of his hands and flowed to the ground, the figure was still unable to respond to what had happened before.
"Sorry, I want to talk to you a little longer, but I also have to get out of this place immediately," said Reo, his expression looked a little disappointed because he had to kill the figure immediately.
"..."
And after saying that, Reo then clenched his right hand before ferociously sending a punch with a terrifying speed right towards the figure's face. And then--
* boom * * splash *
Reo's blow sounded like a giant air rifle shot and in an instant shattered the figure's head into minced meat. His head was completely destroyed, green blood gushed from the neck that had lost its head.
His headless body could not even respond to what had just happened, before it fell helplessly on the ground. Reo's golden eyes stared at the corpse of the humanoid fly for a moment before he looked back to the front, and there the giant caterpillar that had previously followed the figure slowly tried to return to the cave.
But--
* slash * * spurt *
Before it could escape, Reo had sent a flying slash and in an instant cut Its soft body into two parts.
* click *
After that, Reo again sheathed his sword and looked around. All the monsters that came out of the cave were dead, some were killed by him and others who tried to escape died because they were burned by fire.
"Alright, now it's time to go to the Boss room," Reo murmured quietly. He then raised his hand and gave a signal to Osamu and Karen to approach.
Seeing the signal, the two of them looked at each other before nodding and started running towards Reo.
"Are you all right?" Asked Osamu with a serious expression.
Hearing that, Reo looked into his palm before muttering.
"My skin is just blisters, I'm fine. Let's go immediately into the cave. I've checked it and there are still some large size monsters that are staying in the underground cave."
" Then... "
"But that doesn't matter, we got rid of the troublesome little insects, facing the giants will be much more easier. Let's go."
Reo then started to walk and followed by Osamu and Karen behind him. When they reached the mouth of the cave, Reo looked up. The cave was filled with various Mana Crystals that clung to the walls and ceiling of the cave, emitting a dim blue light that illuminated the path of the three of them.
"There are quite a lot of Mana Crystals in this place, it means the concentration of magic energy in the cave is quite big."
Osamu who heard Reo's words nodded and murmured.
"Yes, I'm also suspicious, this underground cave might be the Indoor Dungeon that is connected to another Gate. If that's the case, does that mean there are 2 Dungeon Bosses in this place."
But Reo said nothing, and the three of them continued to walk down the rocks and into the cave. Some of the remaining monsters try to attack them but that can easily be killed by Reo.
* tap * * tap *
Until finally, after walking long enough they arrived at a very wide place, it seemed to be the main part of the underground cave. Thousands of Mana Crystals adorn the place, a large underground river flowing there, the water looks very clear and clean.
Seeing that, Osamu's eyes glowed.
"Woah, river, it looks very clean. Reo, I'll go there to check if it's poisonous or not."
He was excited, because he was quite thirsty after running to survive the pursuit of the Monsters before, while all their drinking water had been used to wet his clothes before.
"It's poisonous, you don't need to check it."
Hearing that, the smile on Osamu's face disappeared.
"Huh? How do you know?"
"The water in that river. That is the same poison that Scout used to kill everyone before. The poison is colorless and odorless."
Hearing that, Osamu and Karen swallowed. While Reo looked around while thinking.
'So when we fought against the first wave of monsters, that's when the Scout went to this place to take poison which is water from this river. But there should still be thousands of insect-type Magic Beasts who were staying here at that time, how could he get out safely. '
Then, Reo looked at the ceiling of the cave.
' What does all this mean? Perhaps, from the beginning he had known all this and and cooperate with monsters. But for what purpose? Only to kill the hunters? '
When Reo was thinking, he suddenly felt a very strong presence from above.
"* gasp *"
Reo was stunned because he felt such an awful aura and an intense killing intent. The aura he had never felt before, it was far stronger than Kenzo or even Heisatsu, his teacher.
The atmosphere became silent before suddenly two purple lights shined from the darkness of the cave and suddenly a woman's voice with a charming but deadly tone could be heard.
"Hu~hu~, I smell the dirty spider from here. Wearing the body parts of my race members as clothes, hey man ~, it seems like you have done something really cruel, haven't you?"
* tap * * tap * * tap *
The sound of water droplets splashing when touching tree branches can be heard, now in one of the branches of a giant tree on the edge of a poisonous forest, Reo is seen sitting while reading the Shojo Manga in his hand.
While underneath was seen Karen who was standing with a serious face while holding her wand tightly. She stared into the distance with a hesitant and nervous look.
"Hey, are you sure this plan will work?" Karen asked.
"Hm? Yeah." Reo answered without taking his eyes from the manga in his hand. He looked relaxed even though they were currently in the midst of their plans to storm the place where the Dungeon Boss was.
Although Reo looks calm, but there is one thing that still hangs in his mind. Until now he had not been able to measure how strong the Dungeon Boss they were going to face this time, and how much their probability of successfully killing him. If it was estimated normally, most likely the Dungeon Boss this time was a High-End A-Rank Magic Beast or even a low-level S-Rank Magic Beast.
Reo could only estimate it because he had no idea how far the magical energy in the Dungeon where he was currently had increased since it had turned into a Red Gate.
Before carrying out his current plan, a few minutes before Reo had observed the situation around the cave where the Dungeon Boss was thought to be. No, more precisely the place where thousands of Magic Beasts are currently gathering suspiciously and without making the slightest movement.
It was an underground cave with a very large size, large enough to hold thousands of Magic Beasts in it. And after Reo went around to really make sure, the underground cave had only one natural hole that was connected directly to the surface. That means there is only one way in and out for the Magic Beasts.
Of course the hole made by Giant Worm was an exception, and that was also Reo's concern. His plan this time was full of flaws due to the lack of knowledge he had about the Dungeon and the world of monsters.
Hearing the answer from Reo that sounded uncertain, made Karen pout.
"Why do you sound like you doubt your own plan? If this plan fails, we will all die, you know."
Reo only answered with a flat expression.
"Incorrect, you two will die. And didn't I tell you before? If you have a better idea, then you can tell me."
"..."
Karen just paused while Reo continued.
"Besides that ... If only you had a Spell that was destructive enough to scorch the monsters in one blow, then we don't need to do a plan like this."
Hearing that, Karen could not deny what Reo said. As someone who just became an Awakened a few months ago, she did not have many spells in her 'arsenal'.
For an first-circle Elemental Mage with fire affinity like her, the magic spells she could master were also just various fire-based elemental spells, such as fireballs, waves of fire, and various forms of fire magic.
There are several ways for a Mage or Awakened to get a magic skill or spell. The first and most common way is an innate skill / spell, an innate skill / spell as the name suggests is a skill / spell an Awakened has had since they first experienced the Awakening process.
Innate skills like this are usually in the form of a transfiguration ability that can make users change into a certain creature, or even an ability to summon a creature, this innate ability will determine the class of an Awakened when they register as a Hunter.
Another way to get spells / skills is to practice, this is the most difficult way because not everyone can do this. Namely continue to practice the same movements until it automatically turns into a skill / spell. But not a few people who use this method to increase the variety of their attacks, this method is usually used by hunters with the Fighter class like Liu Zhigang and Heisatsu.
There are also other ways such as using magic items obtained from inside the dungeon, but such things are not included in spells / skills and usually the attack type magic items obtained in the dungeon are disposable items. Because some of the magic items obtained from inside the Dungeon are Buff type items that reinforce the Spells / skills that an Awakened have.
Karen then only pouted while leaning her chin on her wand.
"Hmmm, you really think being a Mage is easy, just learning a Spell takes weeks of hard training, you know." Karen grumbled in a low voice as she thought about her training with a mentor the association sent a few months back.
Her training was quite hard and even took up part of her time as an idol. But when compared to Reo who had to train hard under the guidance of Heisatsu for 6 years, Karen's words would sound like a joke.
The atmosphere then became quiet again, and Karen returned to thinking about discussing their plans that she, Osamu, and Reo had done some time before.
***
"What !? You want to burn the whole forest using my fire magic?"
"Yes." Reo nodded.
Right now, Reo, Osamu, and Karen are sitting while discussing their plans to defeat the Dungeon Boss. They sat in a circle in a cave which was only lit by a campfire made by Karen.
Amami who is bound to the rocks still hasn't regained consciousness.
"Are you crazy? What about Mana Crystal scattered throughout the forest? Do you want to destroy it just like that?" Said Osamu, apparently disagreeing with what Reo wanted to do.
"This is the Red Gate, even if we succeed in clearing it up, there is not enough time for the miners to gather Mana crystals that scattered in the entire forest, once we get out of this Dungeon, the gate will automatically close." Reo said, his golden eyes staring at Osamu and Karen. He then continued with an innocent expression.
"Even someone like you should know that right?"
"Someone like me? What do you mean?" Osamu raised his eyebrows, but Reo did not say anything. While Karen, who was just silent, raised her hand.
"Is there really no other way?"
"If what you say about the strongest spell you had before is true, then yes ... there is no other choice."
Everyone fell silent hearing Reo's words, the atmosphere then became quiet before Reo smiled and said in a playful tone.
"Well ~ even though I will not force you if you really want to die undermined by those insects."
* gulp *
Karen and Osamu certainly don't want to die. Seeing the tense expressions on their faces, Reo then stretched his index finger back and said with a smile.
"So what? Do you want to obey my orders or not?"
Karen and Osamu immediately nodded and Reo who heard that then grinned.
"Good, then, here's the plan ..."
***
"Why did I take the initiative to become a Hunter from the beginning and deal with all this nonsense. * Sigh *" Karen sighed tiredly, that question struck her mind again. The reason why she wants to be a Hunter.
Is it because of popularity? Money? Or praise from her fans? Karen who thought of that looked down and looked at the ground. When she was daydreaming and her mind went somewhere, suddenly Reo's voice made her aware.
"Hey Idol-san, what will you do after we get out of this Red Gate?"
"Huh?" Karen raised her eyebrows and looked sideways, at Reo who had come down from a tree branch without making the slightest noise and had stood beside her.
Reo looked at Karen with a curious face using his golden eyes.
"Are you still going to be a Hunter?" Reo's curiosity was unbearable.
Karen who heard Reo's question couldn't help thinking about what he just said.
' That's right, After experiencing this hell ... what am I going to do next? Will I still be a hunter and face all this nonsense every day? '
Reo then resumed his words, he looked down with a serious expression using his two golden eyes. His body which rose as high as 1.85 m looks very contrast with Karen who is only as high as 1.7 m.
"You've seen it, haven't you? The dark side of humans?" Reo said, referring to Amami's betrayal.
Hearing that the atmosphere became quiet, only the sound of the wind whistling against the leaves in the trees, until Karen suddenly smiled bitterly.
"The dark side of humans, huh. I ... For the past 3 years, I've seen it myself with my eyes. During my time in the celebrity world, I've seen it ... How terrible humans can become when their minds are moved by greed and lust. "
Reo who heard that widened his eyes, his golden eyes sparkled. Karen then turned her gaze towards Reo, their eyes met and Karen said.
" I've seen it. "
* breeze *
The atmosphere fell back into silence before Karen suddenly laughed sourly and looked at the purple sky illuminated by the comic light.
"But you are right, I think seeing battle and blood every day is not the life I want, I might go crazy later. Because of that, I will stop ... I will stop being a Hunter, and refocus to pursue my career as an idol. "
Seeing that, Reo then smiled and said while patting Karen's head which was much shorter than her.
"Yes, a little girl like you shouldn't bother to fight against monsters, because you will only trouble your comrades."
1
Although Karen is relatively short when compared to Reo, but she has been considered quite high for the standards of Asian women. Feeling insulted by Reo's words, Karen removed Reo's hand from her head with a frown.
"A little girl? Don't think of me as a little girl just because your body is taller than me. Despite this, I'm already 20 years old."
'So she is older than me. But, who cares. '
When Reo and Karen were chatting, suddenly Reo felt the subtle vibrations on the ground they were tread on right now. Feeling that, the smile on Reo's face disappeared.
"It's time, burn the forest." Reo said, he then turned and walked back. Hearing Reo's command, Karen, who was initially confused, immediately nodded and ran towards the right.
Karen is then seen tying her black hair so as not to bother her while firing her magic. She then closed her eyes and began to recite her spell. Karen did not forget the plan that Reo had explained before.
***
"First of all, all we have to do is slaughter all the magic beasts that come out of the underground cave all at once. We will kill them as much as possible in one place." Reo said, seen using a wooden branch to visualize his plan into a sketch on the ground.
"Because of that, I want to make a special place, a place where they can't escape anywhere and that's where I will slaughter them all," Reo said, drawing a line on the ground. Representation of the place he meant.
Seeing that Osamu frowned.
"This is impossible, making a place like this won't produce any results. The Magic Beasts with insect type are swarming creatures, they will definitely spread and attack us from all directions, like they did to attack the Attack Force squad before."
"No, this is not impossible. Because we have Idol-san here." Reo glanced at Karen who looked confused while pointing at herself.
"Like I said before, we will burn the forest. But not all of it." Reo then made a dotted line around the line he had made before.
"I will uproot the trees that are here, cut them off with the whole forest. This area will be the arena of death for the monsters." Reo made a cross in the middle of the line.
"That means ..." Karen who seemed to understand quite well what Reo meant was muttering and Reo nodded.
"That's right, we will burn the whole forest except this place that I marked using your own magic. Leaves and trees are highly flammable, and in forests with wide trees like this the fire can easily spread throughout the forest and burn everything to ashes . "
Reo then continued with a thin grin and looked at Osamu and Karen with cold eyes.
"Even though they are monsters, they still have their instincts as insects. Insects naturally hate fire especially smoke produced from unnatural combustion."
Osamu and Karen fell silent when they saw Reo mysterious smile.
"You two do your job, the rest leave it to me."
The atmosphere then becomes quiet, Reo's words are full of confidence, it is a words that can convince everyone who hears. When no one starts a conversation, Osamu suddenly opens his mouth.
"Then, how do you get the Magic Beasts out of the Cave?"
Hearing that, Reo grinned and glanced at Osamu with a mischievous look.
"Hehe ~."
"Huh?"
***
Right after Karen finished reciting her spell, a red magic circle then appeared around her wand that she pointed at the forest. The wind blew her hair out, and slowly a smile appeared on her face.
'That's right, mom ... I don't want to die here, I still want to be spoiled by you. I am afraid of death, I am afraid, I am afraid, I am very afraid. '
"Blazing--
'But now I realize it, the fear I experienced when I did the audition, the fear when I appeared on my debut, or even the fear of death that I currently face ... all those fears that made me what I am now. That fear, from now on ... I will control it! '
Karen smiled before she continued.
--Teardrops !! "
* Burst * * Burst *
Then, dozens of fireballs the size of a basketball were then fired from the magic circle around Karen's wand, soaring up before descending into the forest below it like a rain of fire and burning trees.
Reo who was standing leisurely on the edge of the forest looked up with a smile, it was a very beautiful sight as fireballs slowly fell and hit the trees below, the light looked like a shooting star.
Blazing Teardrops, a Burst Type B-Rank Spell with a Fire affinity that is used to attack large numbers of enemies. This is the strongest spell that Karen can use right now. Even so, this spell has a fatal weakness.
The fire rate that is owned by Spell is quite slow, because it requires a long lag time for him to fall from the height of the peak when fired. Therefore, using this spell directly to enemies who can continue to move flexibly like insect type magic beasts is stupid. Because they will be able to easily avoid it.
"Alright ~ It's time for the left side ~" Reo said while humming.
But Karen's assignment did not stop there, she immediately ran to the left, panting and repeating the same steps she had done before.
Meanwhile, the fire that was burning down the right forest slowly spread, one by one the trees that were there were ignited by the fire that Karen had fired earlier. Black smoke billowed into the dark sky, creating a reflection of their light in the air.
* krssk * * krssk *
The sound of wood slowly burning could be heard from within the forest, the poisonous purple leaves that turned to ashes fell and blew apart in the wind. While Reo just stood casually right on the edge of the forest that was intentionally not burned.
"Blazing Teardrops !!" Karen again fired her magic into the air and fireballs spread in the left side of the forest. And with that, the first phase of Reo's plan has been successfully carried out.
"* pant * * pant *" Karen looked breathless while holding her knee, sweat running down her delicate cheeks.
"Good job, for now your task is finished, take a rest." Reo said, his golden eyes staring towards the front, a faint smile adorned his pale face.
* zyuuut *
Slowly, a white layer that looks like transparent liquid coats Reo's entire body, from head to head. He coated his entire body by using Reinforcement Ki, no, he only increase the intensity of his Reinforcement Ki because to survive the pressure of the magical energy waves in the Dungeon, Reo had to coat his body with a very thin Ki layer.
Karen who saw that again made a confused expression.
'That ... he used it again. That's not magic, what layer is that actually? '
As Karen was thinking, suddenly a distant scream was heard. It was the sound of a man's scream.
"Oh F * ck! F * ck! F * ck! Help me, Reo !!"
It was Osamu, he was seen running from a distance as fast as he could, even though he was only a B-Rank Hunter. But his running speed far surpassed any running athletes, it was a speed that could not be reached by an ordinary human.
He was still seen using his magic robe, but it looked a little wet and damp. Osamu intentionally wet his clothes to reduce the heat generated by a fire burning in the forest. After a few moments of running, slowly hundreds and even thousands of Magic Beasts came out in groups from inside the cave.
They appear to come from various types of Magic Beasts with different types, some are shaped like spiders with giant body sizes, mosquitoes and even Magic Beasts with very small size but have a deadly poison shaped like a bee.
All emerged from the cave and chased Osamu who ran under the trees that were not burned by Karen's fire. He had taken off his glasses and looked breathless while running.
"Reo, HELP ME !!!"
* ssssst * * fwwwiuuut *
Hissing and growling from insects resounded in the burning forest. And as Reo had predicted, the Magic Beasts only gathered and chased after Reo from one direction, which was the part of the forest that was not burned. They seemed uninterested in approaching the flames and clouds of black smoke that reached high into the sky.
And when Osamu began to feel his knees go numb, suddenly there was a crack from the ground below. Realizing what was coming, he cursed.
" F*cking hell ..."
* crack * * rarrrghhh *
The huge mouth of the Giant Worm that looked like a vacuum cleaner punched the ground and opened its mouth wide, trying to devour Osamu's body completely. Osamu who saw that could only be silent while trying to keep running.
'F*ck, I'm done. '
However, when a moment of despair overwhelmed him, Suddenly the sound of wind friction could be heard from his side.
* slash * * spurt *
A few hundred meters in front of him, Reo was seen standing while putting his hand on the handle of his katana. He sent a flying slash reinforced using Ki towards the Giant Worm who tried to devour Osamu and kill it in an instant.
"Ah!"
"Good job, Glasses-kun, now run to the flames," said Reo while stepping forward. Hearing that, Osamu's eyes immediately sparkled and shouted.
"I love you, Reo !!" He then immediately ran into the fiery forest and ran towards Reo through that place to avoid the pursuit of the Insects.
The Magic Beasts who saw Osamu go into the burning forest just like that, seemed uninterested in chasing him. This time, their attention was diverted by Reo who had walked towards them while carrying Honjo Masamune in his hands.
His golden eyes stared at the Magic Beasts who rushed at him with calm eyes.
"Two choices for you, either charred into ashes or cut into minced meat. you decide. "
Reo then smiled faintly with an uninterested look while muttering.
"Let's begin ... The Campfire Party."
* buzz * * zyuuuut * * crack *
Suddenly an invisible spiritual energy pressure appeared and faltered the Magic Beasts that approached Reo, a number of low-level Magic Beasts with a relatively small size were immediately destroyed and green blood gushed from their bodies.
Some others fell and lost their self-awareness, and some others were still able to run even though the pressure had blocked their movements. Reo uses his Domination Ki to destroy low-level monsters and destroy the giants one with his sword.
* dap * * cling *
Honjo Masamune's silver blade glowed, Reinforcement Ki covered his surface, Reo slowly bent his knees and mounted his stance.
"Shirogami Itto-Ryu ..."
"* Raarrghh *" "* Sssstttt *"
Reo's golden eyes glowed, his gaze filled with intent to kill as cold as ice. Before Reo muttered in a low tone.
"... Senbonzakura."
* slash * * slash * * slash *
Reo then began swinging his sword so fast that it could not even be followed by eye movements, dozens of slashes that had been strengthened by Ki he launched into the mob of monsters in front of him.
* spurt *
Green blood gushed from the bodies of the monsters that invaded Reo when their bodies are chopped into small pieces, shattered and torn. Slash flew with terrifying speed, making the Magic Beasts unable to realize for a moment, that their bodies had been cut off.
However, Reo knew that wasn't enough, so he resumed the same stance and muttered.
"Senbonzakura."
Again, Reo uses the same technique to slay the monsters in front of him, he doesn't even move from his original place, just stands there while continuing to swing the katana in his hand towards the Monsters, and kill them one by one.
Karen who saw Reo's actions from a distance widened her eyes and murmured softly.
"Amazing ... Turns out he didn't just talk bullshit before."
* pant * * pant *
Then the sound of breathing hard could be heard in Karen's ears, and caught her attention.
"Are you all right?" Karen asked.
Hearing that Osamu who was still trying to catch his breath said.
"Yes, thankfully no burning branches fell on me."
" Oh, I see... "
After he was able to breathe again normally, Osamu then glanced at Karen.
"So how much Mana left do you have right now?"
Hearing that, Karen then glanced at her wand before muttering softly.
"40%."
Hearing that Osamu can only smile bitterly.
"Haha, as expected of an A-Rank Mage. The capacity of magic energy in your body is very big huh."
Karen then returns Osamu's glasses which he took off before carrying out their plan this time. Osamu then wore it and looked back at Reo who was currently slaughtering the insects using his katana.
"That person, if you think about it, he has never once told me his rank. Is it possible that he is an S-Rank?" Osamu murmured.
Hearing that, Karen also looked at Reo.
"S-Rank, huh. If that's true, then this all makes sense."
Meanwhile, Reo is now seen to have succeeded in slaughtering all the low and middle level monsters that invaded towards him. The bodies of the Magic Beasts which had been cut into small pieces scattered on the ground, their green blood polluted the fertile soil of the forest.
And the unbearable stench can be smelled by Reo. Reo then slowly walked towards the cave, most of the monsters had been killed by him. But not all, suddenly a large caterpillar appears and writhes from inside the cave.
Its body is layered, white and mucous. It looks very disgusting coupled with a very large black skinned mouth. Reaching 10 meters in length.
"Hm?" Reo then walked closer to the creature, and when he tried to approach it suddenly—
* fwuosh *
A figure appeared who suddenly jumped and attacked Reo using blades that grew from its both arms.
* clang *
However, with the help of his Observation Ki, Reo can easily fend off the attacks of the mysterious figure.
* dap *
After feeling that his attack had failed, the figure then immediately jumped back and away, he jumped and stood on one of the branches of a tree that was not burned by fire. And at that moment, Reo finally could see clearly the form of the figure.
The figure looked like a fly with a fairly muscular humanoid body. He has very large red eyes, like flies in general, a suction tube that looks like a thorn extends from his small mouth and he has 2 pairs of transparent wings on his back.
Reo who saw that widened his eyes, he had never met a humanoid type Magic Beast like the humanoid fly in front of him right now. While it flies, he looks like he's looking for something. Moving his big head.
Reo tilted his head before suddenly the humanoid fly opened its mouth.
"You human ... why did you burn our forest?" Said the figure in English that Reo could understand.
While Reo who heard that instead of answering his question, he looked excited, his eyes sparkled and his face looked like someone who had just discovered a treasure.
"you really can talk, ... And also, you can act using your logic and mind. Cool ~."
Reo was amazed by the figure in front of him at this time. Magic Beasts who have enough intellectual mind to speak human languages are very rare to find in Dungeons. Usually only A-Rank Dungeons and higher have such creatures in them, because of that Magic Beasts that are humanoid shaped like they are usually an A-Rank Monster.
Therefore, the higher the level of a Magic Beast, the more their form will become more similar to humans. They will also have emotions, the higher the level the greater the feelings they can feel, and the more proficient their communication skills.
However, when he heard Reo's words, the humonoid fly did not flinch at all, his facial expression did not change when he saw Reo. His face that looked like Kamen Rider was shaking.
"You did not answer my question, why did you burn our forest?" His voice was flat and rigid like a robot.
"Ah about that ... Sorry, I have no other choice, you know. You were the ones who attacked us first, so I killed your comrades," said Reo, glancing at the piles of dead monsters scattered on the ground.
"You ... Humans ... Can only damage and destroy something, you are enemies, you must be killed, I must kill you, kill you all until there is nothing left."
"..."
* Zrut *
The sound of friction could be heard from above as the creature could be seen pulling out another blade which looked like a saw from its thin hand. Reo who saw that tightened the grip of his hand on the handle of Honjo Masamune.
* srruuutt * * fwup * * fwup *
Both pairs of wings began to flap very quickly and even caused the wind to make the leaves around it sway loudly, the distinctive sound of flapping wings flew out before the figure suddenly glided towards Reo.
* fwuosh *
He moved so agile and fast in the air, and pointed the two needles in his hand towards Reo, right to his heart.
But Reo could easily avoid the attack, he just tilted his head to the left before turning his body and gave a punch using the back of his hand that had been strengthened by Ki to break the needle in the hands of the figure.
* zyuuut * * bump * * crack *
Reo easily smashed the needle to pieces even though he did not swing his hand with all his strength. Killing thousands of monsters before has made the Ki in his body significantly strengthened, the number has increased quite a lot considering the number of monsters he killed using his Ki.
But the figure's attack did not stop there, the two blades like a saw then rotated like a fan and tried to slit Reo's neck.
* krrriiiet *
A deafening creaking sound was heard, but instead of using the sword in his hand to cut the figure's body. Reo instead sheathed his katana back, and then spread his arms sideways.
The blades in the fly's hands slowly approached Reo, and tried to kill by making his body chopped, but ---
* krieeet * * grip *
The creaking sound suddenly stopped when Reo casually caught the two saw-shaped blades of the fly hand and caught it using both hands. Reo's golden eyes stared at the big red eyes of the monster, a faint smile plastered on Reo's face before he turned his wrist.
* crack * * spurt *
Reo turned his hand to the side and viciously broke the figure's hand before pulling it and made his hand cut off. Green blood gushed from both of his hands and flowed to the ground, the figure was still unable to respond to what had happened before.
"Sorry, I want to talk to you a little longer, but I also have to get out of this place immediately," said Reo, his expression looked a little disappointed because he had to kill the figure immediately.
"..."
And after saying that, Reo then clenched his right hand before ferociously sending a punch with a terrifying speed right towards the figure's face. And then--
* boom * * splash *
Reo's blow sounded like a giant air rifle shot and in an instant shattered the figure's head into minced meat. His head was completely destroyed, green blood gushed from the neck that had lost its head.
His headless body could not even respond to what had just happened, before it fell helplessly on the ground. Reo's golden eyes stared at the corpse of the humanoid fly for a moment before he looked back to the front, and there the giant caterpillar that had previously followed the figure slowly tried to return to the cave.
But--
* slash * * spurt *
Before it could escape, Reo had sent a flying slash and in an instant cut Its soft body into two parts.
* click *
After that, Reo again sheathed his sword and looked around. All the monsters that came out of the cave were dead, some were killed by him and others who tried to escape died because they were burned by fire.
"Alright, now it's time to go to the Boss room," Reo murmured quietly. He then raised his hand and gave a signal to Osamu and Karen to approach.
Seeing the signal, the two of them looked at each other before nodding and started running towards Reo.
"Are you all right?" Asked Osamu with a serious expression.
Hearing that, Reo looked into his palm before muttering.
"My skin is just blisters, I'm fine. Let's go immediately into the cave. I've checked it and there are still some large size monsters that are staying in the underground cave."
" Then... "
"But that doesn't matter, we got rid of the troublesome little insects, facing the giants will be much more easier. Let's go."
Reo then started to walk and followed by Osamu and Karen behind him. When they reached the mouth of the cave, Reo looked up. The cave was filled with various Mana Crystals that clung to the walls and ceiling of the cave, emitting a dim blue light that illuminated the path of the three of them.
"There are quite a lot of Mana Crystals in this place, it means the concentration of magic energy in the cave is quite big."
Osamu who heard Reo's words nodded and murmured.
"Yes, I'm also suspicious, this underground cave might be the Indoor Dungeon that is connected to another Gate. If that's the case, does that mean there are 2 Dungeon Bosses in this place."
But Reo said nothing, and the three of them continued to walk down the rocks and into the cave. Some of the remaining monsters try to attack them but that can easily be killed by Reo.
* tap * * tap *
Until finally, after walking long enough they arrived at a very wide place, it seemed to be the main part of the underground cave. Thousands of Mana Crystals adorn the place, a large underground river flowing there, the water looks very clear and clean.
Seeing that, Osamu's eyes glowed.
"Woah, river, it looks very clean. Reo, I'll go there to check if it's poisonous or not."
He was excited, because he was quite thirsty after running to survive the pursuit of the Monsters before, while all their drinking water had been used to wet his clothes before.
"It's poisonous, you don't need to check it."
Hearing that, the smile on Osamu's face disappeared.
"Huh? How do you know?"
"The water in that river. That is the same poison that Scout used to kill everyone before. The poison is colorless and odorless."
Hearing that, Osamu and Karen swallowed. While Reo looked around while thinking.
'So when we fought against the first wave of monsters, that's when the Scout went to this place to take poison which is water from this river. But there should still be thousands of insect-type Magic Beasts who were staying here at that time, how could he get out safely. '
Then, Reo looked at the ceiling of the cave.
' What does all this mean? Perhaps, from the beginning he had known all this and and cooperate with monsters. But for what purpose? Only to kill the hunters? '
When Reo was thinking, he suddenly felt a very strong presence from above.
"* gasp *"
Reo was stunned because he felt such an awful aura and an intense killing intent. The aura he had never felt before, it was far stronger than Kenzo or even Heisatsu, his teacher.
The atmosphere became silent before suddenly two purple lights shined from the darkness of the cave and suddenly a woman's voice with a charming but deadly tone could be heard.
"Hu~hu~, I smell the dirty spider from here. Wearing the body parts of my race members as clothes, hey man ~, it seems like you have done something really cruel, haven't you?"
