"Poison Fang!!!" Souta yelled.
~A skill that brings out fangs imbued with poison, about twenty of them shoot up from the ground~
The ground in front of him cracked and ripped apart, and sharp fangs shot out like angry snakes, they pierced every single goblin in the area.
The goblins didn't even have time to scream properly just short squeals before they fell, twitching and foaming at the mouth. The whole place became a massacre scene in seconds.
Level 24 [174/240]
"Ugh… that was pretty easy," Souta muttered, rubbing the back of his neck like it was nothing.
"This is how I want things to go, with this skill I can kill a LOT."
Nagato & Aoi — Separate Battle
Elsewhere in the dungeon, Nagato's staff whirled, sending waves of water spears crashing into a group of armored lizardmen. Beside him, Aoi's wind magic formed slicing arcs, cutting down beasts that dared to flank.
The siblings fought in perfect sync, their magic flowing like a dance Nagato weakening their prey, Aoi finishing them with razor sharp gusts.
When the last beast fell, Nagato grinned, that's another thirty, How many you got?
"Not enough," Aoi replied curtly, already moving toward the next group.
…
Void Step!
In the blink of an eye, Souta vanished from where he stood and reappeared in front of a wolf, his dagger flashing. one clean slash across its throat blood sprayed into the air the wolf's body fell with a thud.
Another wolf jumped at him from behind, but he twisted, stabbed, and kept moving. By the time he was done, ten wolves lay lifeless at his feet.
All of them were just F–E rank beasts, Too weak, Too slow. Nothing but EXP and monster points for him.
Level 24: [218/240]
…
Minutes later…
Souta walked through the dungeon like he owned it, hands in his pockets, calm eyes scanning for prey, He was the hunter, and everything else was just meat.
That's when he saw them C-RANK goblins.
They were bigger than normal ones, muscles covered in scars, eyes full of hatred, each one held a thick, heavy wooden club that looked like it could smash a man's skull with one hit and they had earth magic, the ground trembled under their feet.
"This is going to be sweet," Souta murmured, licking his lips slightly.
The moment the goblins saw him, they roared and charged.
Souta stood completely still, waiting for them to come closer.
Closer…
Closer…
Just a bit more, and he would unleash Poison Fang again.
But then
He felt it.
A presence.
A faint smile tugged at his lips.
The goblins reached him
BANG!
He stumbled back slightly, blocking one club strike with his dagger.
Then he shouted, "HELP!"
From behind the goblins, a figure darted forward. A flash of steel two goblins fell instantly, their heads rolling.
It was Akane.
Souta's eyes lit up. "Good… Good…"
Her eyes burned with fire literally her class was fire related, and her blade glowed faintly red from heat she moved like lightning, weaving between goblins, slicing one across the chest, kicking another in the face, and spinning to cut down a third.
One goblin tried to slam her with its club, but she ducked, swept its legs, and plunged her blade straight into its throat.
In moments, all the C-rank goblins were dead.
"T…thank you for s…saving me," Souta said in a trembling voice, acting like a scared newbie.
"Hmph." Akane folded her arms and looked away.
"I was only helping the weak," she said coldly. Then she turned and walked off without another glance.
Souta's shoulders shook, a low chuckle escaped him.
Then
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
The sound echoed through the dungeon like a maniac's cry.
"The weak? Hah!" he said, a smirk twisting on his lips.
…
In an open space
Many hunters were locked in battle with different monsters the place was chaos blades clashing, spells flying, roars echoing.
"Yh… DIE!!!" she screamed, slamming a wind blade through a monster's chest her clothes were torn in places, dirt and blood smudging her skin, but her eyes were sharp.
"I should've killed over 200 now," Aoi muttered, panting heavily.
"I still need more… I wonder how my brother is doing."
She looked up at the glowing timer above in her system. 15 minutes left.
Tch… no time to waste, she said.
Her wind magic swirled around her, boosting her speed. She darted forward, clashing with five C-rank monsters at once.
A claw came for her head she ducked, wind slicing the monster's arm clean off, a second beast leapt at her she spun, a whirlwind blade cutting it in half mid-air.
She weaved between them, her movements like a dancing storm.
Within moments, all five monsters lay dead.
She didn't stop to breathe she kept running more kills meant more points.
…
Back to Souta
"Ugh…" Souta panted, yanking his dagger out of a wolf's head, i should have killed over 300 now, still need more.
A couple more steps, and he found himself in the middle of a formed battlefield.
It was awful.
The ground was soaked with blood dead monsters were everywhere twisted limbs, torn bodies, shattered bones, some hunters were on the ground, barely breathing. Others screamed in pain as they clutched wounds the smell of blood was so thick, it made the air feel heavy.
"Get off me!!!" a woman's voice screamed.
Souta's eyes moved to the side.
A steamgnasher a disgusting beast with boiling steam leaking from its skin, was tearing at a woman's clothes.
Another steamgnasher pounced, its teeth snapping, a third one began charging up its acidic breath.
"Poison Fang!" Souta's voice cut through the noise.
SCREECH!!! SCREECH!!!
Twenty poisonous fangs shot from the ground, impaling all three steamgnashers instantly. Their eyes froze in terror as death took them.
Akane looked up.
There he was Souta standing like some kind of hero with hands in his pockets.
No need to thank me, he said with a dark smirk. "I was just helping the weak."
Her eyes widened, the words hit like a slap.
Before she could respond
swoosh!
he vanished, leaving only a cloud of dust behind.
The dust spread over her face as she lay there with her heart burning.
She could still see him, how he moved like a predator, dominating the battlefield every monster he passed died instantly.
She bit her lip so hard it almost bled, her body trembled not from fear, but frustration and exhaustion.
She wanted to fight, She wanted to show her strength, but her legs wouldn't move.
She kept wondering how he was that strong. Why did he let her help him earlier.
"MOCKERY."
Fire flickered around her body as rage consumed her.
Souta moved like a storm every strike spilling blood, every kill his, People turned to watch him, some in awe, some in fear.
Whoever was in danger Souta got there first and took the kill, His points shot up.
The leaderboard shifted he climbed to the top as.
Number 1.