Chapter 51

The footsteps of eight black-robed men echoed between the stone walls; it was pitch black after entering the cave, but no one lit a torch or cast a lighting spell, as if the darkness had no effect on them at all.

A few minutes later, Lacus, who was at the very front of the team, stopped abruptly.

The tip of his nose twitched slightly under the shadow of his hood; besides the bloody smell, there was also a fishy smell of wild beasts in the air here.

A moment later, Lacus let out a soft laugh.

He saw through the prey's trick at a glance, but didn't care at all.

"Lots of little tricks, but this isn't one of those true no-man's lands; what kind of monster could..."

While talking to himself, Lacus rounded the last corner and saw a giant bear, two stories high, staring at them with squinted eyes and slowly rising!

"Lacus... my lord?"

A hesitant voice came from behind; Lacus's brain was running at high speed.

This giant bear looked very familiar, but he couldn't remember what breed it was for a moment.

But just based on this size, it shouldn't be too weak.

The scripture must be found, otherwise, let alone the promotion ceremony, he would even be severely punished.

There were no forks in this cave; that little thief must still be hiding somewhere inside.

After all, this was the wild near human activity areas, not the true wilderness or the deep layers of the dungeon; the monster's level shouldn't be too high.

With his LV40 level, plus his 7 subordinates...

Lacus was still trying to analyze the strength of both sides, but the giant bear couldn't wait.

If it encountered so many people normally, it might hesitate, but now, nameless anger swirled in its heart; it couldn't wait to kill these intruders who disturbed its sleep!

The giant bear roared, raised its palms high, and then slapped down heavily, releasing its skill.

[Gravity Field LV6]

In an instant, nearly twice the weight of their bodies pressed down on the black-robed men present; caught off guard, everyone staggered.

The iconic skill made Lacus gasp out loud: "Tyrant Bear!?"

However, Lacus quickly regained his sanity.

Under the gravity field of a truly adult Tyrant Bear, he and his subordinates could never stand so "easily"!

In other words, this two-story-high giant bear was actually just a cub?

Thinking of this, Lacus immediately spoke out to stabilize the morale that had been shaken by the three words "Tyrant Bear."

He had already seen one guy intending to slip away; he would definitely deal with him later!

"Don't panic!

This is just a cub or a subspecies; we can kill it if we show our strength!

Don't forget, no one will have a good end if we return empty-handed!"

Lacus's words worked; the black-robed men finally calmed down and planned to fight back.

Slap—

The black-robed man on the far right, who had just raised his staff, was slapped into a meat patty by the giant bear.

Although the LV6 gravity field couldn't crush them directly, it made them lose their flexibility.

Those with stronger strength could barely move under gravity, but mages and the like were using all their strength just to stand, let alone dodge the giant bear's slap.

The team that had just been organized fell into chaos again after one person was killed instantly.

Some were red-eyed and rushed forward on their own, some tried their best to retreat and avoid the battle, and the one who wanted to run before was really running away!

"A bunch of trash!"

Amidst the cursing, Lacus turned into a bat wrapped in black mist and flew behind the fleeing black-robed man in an instant.

Turning back into his original form, he pressed his head from behind and bit down on his neck.

The man tried to push Lacus's head away with both hands, but couldn't push it away due to the gap in strength.

The resistance became weaker and weaker, leaving only a drowning-like whimper in the end.

Lacus, with a mouth full of blood, threw away the guy who had turned into a dried corpse.

"Attack! Whoever retreats one more step, I'll kill him!"

His unquestionable order shattered the last trace of hesitation in the others.

With no other choice, even though another unlucky guy was slapped against the wall and became a pile of moaning mush, the remaining few still bit the bullet and rushed up.

Lacus wasn't idle either; with a wave of his hand, the blood in the body of his dead subordinate was drawn out, and as for the half-dead one, he naturally died after his blood was drawn.

A ball of blood gathered in his hand and condensed into cones, shooting at the giant bear; each shot could explode a blood hole in the giant bear's body.

It was just that this little injury was only a skin wound compared to the giant bear's huge body.

As the battle continued, his subordinates died one after another, and finally only Lacus and Avina, who wasn't good at melee, remained.

Forced, Lacus could only rely on repeatedly turning into a bat to fight the giant bear, which was already covered in wounds.

Dodging the bear paw again, Lacus turned all the remaining blood in his palm into a spear, held it, and dove down from mid-air, stabbing the spear into the giant bear's eye!

"Go to hell, you beast!"

"My lord, be careful!"

Lacus, whose eyes were red with killing, didn't notice Avina's warning at all.

Under the heavy injury, the giant bear used the acceleration skill, and this vengeful strike hit Lacus before he could react; he immediately smashed into the wall like a cannonball.

After one slap, the giant bear had no strength to support itself anymore, and after two mournful cries, it fell heavily to the ground.

"My lord, are you okay?"

Avina hurriedly ran to check on Lacus; if the commander died, it would be a big trouble for a subordinate.

Unexpectedly, from the rubble, an arm pierced through Avina's heart.

"Hoo... you..."

Lacus, whose face was hideous and half-bat-like, supported his upper body that could still move, pounced on Avina who had been suddenly hit hard, and began to suck her blood in large gulps.

He was too badly injured; if he didn't replenish fresh blood rich in vitality, he would die.

As a subordinate, it was only right for Avina to sacrifice her life for him in this situation!

By the time the person in his arms was sucked dry of the last drop of blood, his broken spine finally barely reconnected.

Now, his strength was less than 20% of his peak...

Looking at the cave that was full of bloody smell but had no living people left, Lacus still dragged his weak body, drew out the giant bear's blood, and then exploded it into countless tiny blood blades, shooting in all directions.

After a short and dense collision sound, the entire inner wall of the cave was covered with fine scratches.

Scanning the circle, Lacus couldn't find any abnormalities.

He wasn't good at tracking, but eating Avina just now was a last resort.

That damn human might have slipped out during the chaos!

After searching again unwillingly, Lacus could only roar and turn into a bat to fly away.

He now had to find more living human blood to heal his wounds...

The cave fell into dead silence again.

After waiting until the sun rose outside, something the same color as the stone in a crack between the rock wall and the ground moved.

Returning to his original color, Dylan, who had been lying flat for half a day, crawled out from below, half-dead.

"Alive... survived..."

Although he was lucky enough not to be directly affected by the attack, the gravity field was equally effective on him, and his old bones were almost crushed.

Thanks to the Mimicry that had been upgraded to LV3, it was so suitable for a newbie like him!

[Listening to me definitely ensures survival]

Looking at the book that was claiming credit on the side, Dylan wanted to say something.

These black-robed men, or rather, the demon race led by a vampire.

Not hesitating to fight the giant bear, was it to find him?

How could... how...

The look in Dylan's eyes as he stared at the page gradually became dazed—

Maybe... it really was to find him...

Thanks to this book's help, he was able to escape with his life.

[Pick me up, I can still help you]

Dylan didn't hesitate this time and directly held the yellow book in his hand.

Faint wind sounds and mournful cries came from around the cave, but besides the sound, Dylan didn't feel anything.

Subsequently, a force poured from the book into Dylan's body.

After a brief jolt, Dylan actually recovered his physical strength!

No!

Not just recovery, but better than before!

Although not much, this was the feeling of attributes rising!

"Amazing..."

[Of course, as long as I'm here, you can become even stronger!]

"Become... stronger..."

[Yes, now we just need to find a remote place where no one will notice even if someone dies, for example]

"For example, the dungeon!"

[...]

[Ah, hmm]

[The dungeon, that's also fine]

In the sunlight, the spirited Dylan walked out of the cave exit.

Identifying the direction, he put his faithful partner, the yellow book, close to his body inside his clothes, and walked toward the dungeon.

(End of chapter)