บท 33: Whoever may be the Hunters (3)

Was the combination of the martial artist and the newly awakened knight enough to take down the gigantic beetle? Any hunter with some experience would have been able to answer quite easily, for there were no chances it would be. The beetle was on its last leg, that much was certain, but the hunters didn't look that good themselves.

The housewife barely stood on her feet, her top torn apart and showing deep cuts all over her torso. Seneos still had his broken arm and just to add salt to the injury, his body had decided that now was the best moment to show the consequences of the man's poor sleep schedule. He had an urge to yawn in perhaps the worst moment.

All was not lost, however, as the sharpshooter ran towards his exhausted comrades and pushed them away, an enormous leg burying itself in the ground a split second after. It was followed by the screech of the bug who chased after the black-haired hunter. Unable to reload his handgun, said hunter just made a bee-line for the arched entrance of the boss room. The boss couldn't possibly fit inside that arch and would try to stab him from afar, which had no chance to work.

That was if it was a normal bug, with the intelligence his kind was known to possess. This one was much smarter and as the ground shook, the only hunter with a long-ranged weapon understood just how much he had underestimated it. A tremor followed its jump and the same happened as it landed, sending the man flying away.

It stood before the arch, glaring at all the humans in the room with its onyx black eyes. It had cornered itself but at the same time, it had sent shivers down the bodies of all who could witness its last stand. If a human's determination was something incredible to see, a six meters tall beetle's own final attempt at victory made a few hunters doubt their chances.

A voice coming from behind the boss brought some much needed comfort to them. Another hunter had found the boss room.

"Dear Lord! I knew the Devil had some amazing cruelty, but I didn't know he was bad enough to create something this ugly!" A priest showed his head under the beetle who immediately sent a leg crashing through the cave walls and directly towards him. Rocks fell left and right as the leg neared the hunter, but he didn't move in the slightest.

A shadow loomed over the creature.

*BOOM!*

Another screech, one louder than any other before, echoed through the entire cave. All who had ventured inside the dungeon heard this one, all shook in fright. But none more than the creature itself.

"You....You shouldn't forget about us too quickly." Sen spat out some blood as he nursed his other arm. If he was a normal human, he would've been in casts for months after what he just made his poor limbs go through. He would have to train his body to make sure it could handle the sort of power he had just unleashed.

Having observed knights and fought like them over his entire career, he knew much more than someone having just unlocked the path should. The skill he had just used was called [ Flat Smash ] and was normally executed with the flat side of a sword, instead, Sen had just used his ruined dagger and the force behind the blow had broken his entire remaining arm.

At the other side of the cave, the black-haired shooter shook his head.

"I am tired of anomalies, seriously...."

A fist raised difficultly at his martial artist colleague, Seneos smiled at her, blue-ish blood dripping over his mouth and chin.

"Don't take a nap now, grandma. We gotta finish this little shit!" He roared before bracing himself. He grit his teeth, closed his bruised hand over his dagger once more, and then lifted in the air again.

The 'ground' beneath him moved, he lost balance and screamed

"WOW THE FUCK IS IT-AHHHH!"

The beetle had just rolled on it's side to get Seneos off of it. It got back on it's remaining legs and launched itself towards the hunters, none of them having the reflexes to protect themselves in that small opening.

*FWOOSH*

A wave of fire washed over the creature, cauterizing all of it's opened wounds in an instant. It stumbled on it's legs, the pain becoming unbearable at this point. It released a pathetic screech and slowly turned towards the priest, a man who strangely ressembled the sharpshooter. Said hunter just smiled at the man who saved the day and loaded a single bullet inside his handgun. It had a glowing blue rune on its head.

The creature used two legs to drag itself towards Sen who had just regained his footing. Multiple shadows blurred around him and four hunters stood before him. Battered and broken, the knights, the martial artist, and the healer all put up a strong front to face off against the boss.

With a slightly trembling voice, the housewife spoke.

"Healer, get ready on the side. Launch an attack boost spell on the kid when we get an opening. I think I get where the best spot to attack it is. During the whole fight...Heh...."

She smiled at the creature, putting her hands in a boxing stance, small bits of metal mixed in with her flesh.

"During the whole fight, that thing kept itself low at all moments. It never tried to put its body high enough for us to not hit it. It was making sure we wouldn't be able to target its belly." She explained, her tone as confident as it could be. Even with the sudden appearance of the priest, they weren't saved yet.

"Priest!" She roared at the hunter who braced himself. "Launch fireballs only when you can! Don't get close to us! You will be killed before you can heal us, you don't have enough defense to get close without getting swatted away!" She ordered. The hunter threw a look at the shooter at the other side of the room and received a simple nod. He returned it and angled his palm towards the creature's back legs.

At that moment, as all got ready for the final strike, Sen looked on his right where he felt a presence and heard a young feminine voice.

"It appears that this path will serve you well. We need only to get you some equipment, but I guess you will get it easily if you trap some hunters in your world. Or perhaps my data severely overestimates the prices of magical objects, yet that is something I doubt." The voice went to his other side and become much older.

"Hmm....Perhaps you could let one of those knights die. Would it be frowned upon if you take the equipment of a dead hunter?" Vodka asked. Sen would never admit to it, but he had to force down some bile at her words.

"I would say...Of fucking course it is!" He hissed. Not only was she naturally off-putting, but she just had to propose something so ludicrous.

At that moment, he would also deny that he heard another voice whisper to him.

"As long as you didn't kill him...It would be good....You could kill him....Do it, do it, do it."

A hopeless brought him back to the battle at hand. He would be the main damage dealer in that last strike unless the sharpshooter found a way to target the belly the creature was still not showing, but he doubted it. Perhaps a shot to the eye.

Turning around as he ran with his colleagues, Sen yelled at the shooter.

"HIT IT'S EYES! YOU WON'T GET ANOTHER SOFT SPOT!"

Snapping his neck back into position, Sen ducked under a leg and dragged one of the knights with him, the man being far too slow to dodge the sudden attack. As the middle-aged man muttered a thanks, Sen saw the martial artist throw an uppercut directly at the creature's face. It moved backward with the force and Sen rushed as fast as his legs could take him.

He felt his body grow much stronger, his muscles bulging with explosive power. He was about to throw a thankful look to the healer, but a blur appeared in his vision and he screamed.

"TAE-YEON!"

"Huh?" The healer looked to his side and saw something sharp right before his eyes, a meter away from him. Perhaps for the first time since they entered the dungeon, he proved he had earned his rank and reacted faster than Sen could even register. He moved to the right while shielding himself with his staff.

Sen stopped in his tracks, his breathing having died in his throat. His eyes went up and down, following the dripping of crimson liquid.

The creature lifted its leg and the healer found himself going with it, his left arm having been nearly cleaved by the appendage. A mix of his own weight and gravity later, the healer found himself punching and kicking the limb in the air while roaring in pain.

"GET IT OFF ME!"

He tried to get the end of the leg out of his arm, but quickly stopped once he realized his arm would probably leave with it.

Sen watched with his eyes wide as saucers, while the beast flung the healer away like a ragdoll, and he couldn't help himself as images appeared in his mind.

'....Am I going to watch that whole team get murdered? Am I some sort of curse for them?'

Twice they had gone with him, twice he had been a witness to a member of that very team getting destroyed by a boss. But this time, it was different wasn't it?

This time he had power. It amounted to nothing, but it was there. And he wouldn't let it go to waste like everything before. All of the happiness he had felt when his new chance at life became obvious to him, all of the excitement that still hadn't died down. He knew he shouldn't have been feeling like that, but then again he had always been the one to smile at the face of death. This time he would end up saving someone, or he at least he hoped it would, so things had changed.

"Vodka....Someone with my confidence won't be able to tell, so...."

"Hmm... Yes?"

"Witness, and then tell me if I am worthy."

He smiled but didn't look where he felt her presence. He heard her chuckle and took off.

He jumped and heard a loud explosion, a blue light passed right by him and crushed one of the creature's eyes. He bellowed a war cry and followed with a skill once he got close enough. He could only thank his past experience for all the techniques he already knew. Perhaps his career hadn't been a complete disaster after all.

"[ JAVELIN HEAD ]"

A white light washed over his body, he became a blur to the eyes of many and burrowed himself inside the face of the beast. It recoiled and exposed its belly.

"NOW!!!" Sen and Moon shouted at the same time. Steel swords cut open the belly of the monster, blood showering them before they used their shields as umbrellas. Moon slid past them and spun around in an instant to angle herself right below the middle of the beast's belly. Her hand became a blade, a blade that passed through the soft flesh in one go.

She removed it and struck again with a different hand, and then once more with the former. She followed blows after blows, her blurry hands completely drenched in the liquid the creature had already lost too much of.

Seeing the remaining eye of the beetle slowly close, Sen urged his colleagues to continue their assault. And then, it stopped producing any sound. The only thing Sen could hear was the sudden explosions produced by the fireballs of the priest, and the sickening noises of flesh being torn apart, right under him.

"We....We won." Sen whispered, a bit surprised at himself. They had won, and this time he had been determinant in that very victory.

He jumped off of the beast and exclaimed loudly.

"WE WON!"

At the same time, at the entrance of the cave, a mop of short yellow hair passed through the rippling portal, followed by a plume of steam and a laugh. A man looked at an expensive watch and his laughter died down.

"That was fast.....But not fast enough. Should've sought the danger and the mystery. I win."

The sound of keys being pressed echoed through the empty entrance of the cave. A blue light illuminated the brown walls and multiple still red eyes shone in the shadows, as far as possible from said entrance. The portal rippled once more and all noises disappeared.