Chapter 4: Perfect Timing
“Karito, are you sure we can explore this ruins safely with just our small group? I heard that the Kingdom once sent a search party of 50 people to explore this place, and after they went in, there was no news.”
At the entrance of the ruins, Yake asked Karito, the organizer of this expedition, with a worried look.
“Hmph, what’s there to be afraid of? Yake, don’t forget, this team was assembled by me, with the strongest elites I could find from all around the world over two years. How could they possibly compare to that ragtag group the Kingdom put together?”
Karito smiled fearlessly. He had been in the adventurer business for nearly ten years, and he had seen it all. It was just a ruins; with his elite team, wasn’t it easy to go in and wipe everything out?
“I’m not scared! I’m confident in my strength, but… I still think we should prepare a retreat route just in case.”
Yake remained worried about what might be lurking in the ruins. After all, this ruins had been capable of wiping out a Kingdom team. He didn’t believe for a second that there weren’t any powerful monsters inside.
“Don’t worry, Yake. Those things are just a waste of time. Rather than planning an escape route, it’s better to focus all our strength on attacking and fighting back.”
Karito pat Yake on the shoulder, telling him not to think too much. If someone thought they had no chance of victory from the start, that person was already defeated without a fight.
“Sigh.”
Seeing that Karito was set on his decision, Yake said no more and followed the team into the ruins.
“This ruins… are there really this many vines? That info didn’t mention anything about this.”
Once they entered the ruins and saw the corridors covered in vines, one team member felt something was off. Normally, in ruins where sunlight couldn’t reach, there shouldn’t be this many vines unless someone was controlling them to grow like this.
“Maybe the one who wrote the report thought vines weren’t a threat and just skipped it.”
Though Karito also felt something was wrong, he didn’t think too much of it. These plants had no offensive capability whatsoever.
“Alright, we’ll split up now. Fly Head, you take this group of 12 to the left; I’ll lead the other 11 to the right.”
After leading the team for a while, they arrived at a fork in the maze. It was time to split into two groups.
“Okay, let’s go.”
Geliza selected 12 people to head left, while Karito took the other 11, including Yake, right.
“We’re splitting up here? I can’t understand it; willingly dispersing our combat power?”
Through the vines, Aierjisi had learned that these intruders had split into two teams. Splitting up like this in ruins was essentially a suicide mission unless every one of them was an elite fighter. Unfortunately, they were not.
Not long after the teams split, Fly Head’s group encountered 5 Air Blade Bears and found themselves in a tough battle, while Karito’s group faced a Hell Hound.
“Running into a Hell Hound this early? Talk about bad luck today.”
Karito stared at the giant dog blocked in front of the team, surrounded by magma. He couldn’t help but complain about his rotten luck – facing a high-level monster like the Hell Hound right off the bat.
“Does anyone know Ice Magic? Oh… the Ice Mage was taken by Fly Head’s group. Damn.”
Karito had hoped for an Ice Mage to help, but he was stuck without one. What a hassle…
“Forget it, we can still fight without a Mage. Alright, everyone! Get ready for battle. Don’t touch its surface; you’ll get burned.”
Karito’s fearless smile remained intact. His life motto was “Fight like a hero, or die like a coward.” No matter how strong the enemy, just charge in!
“Understood!”
The team members prepared for battle and started a life-and-death struggle against the Hell Hound.
“Shield bearers, step up, draw its aggro, and tank its attacks. The rest of you, let’s show this guy a warm welcome!”
Under Karito’s command, three shield-bearers bravely stepped forward to provoke the Hell Hound and attract its ire.
The nearly mindless Hell Hound easily focused its anger on them, attacking with its claws that scraped against the hard Yin shields, producing an unsettling grinding sound.
“Now’s our chance! Everyone, go for it! Don’t save your strongest moves for the kill; hit it with everything you’ve got!”
Karito seized the moment and dashed in, slashing at the Hell Hound’s thigh. Other team members followed suit, seizing every opportunity to inflict damage on the beast. After about eight minutes of fierce fighting, the massive Hell Hound finally could fight no longer, letting out a final roar before collapsing.
“Alright. Job’s done. We’ve taken care of this guy; let’s see if he’s got any treasures for us.”
As the Hell Hound fell, Karito instructed the team to clean up their gear and gather around the corpse to dissect it for valuables. Even a magical beast corpse could be valuable alchemical material.
“Oh? Looks like there are quite a few goodies here. Ouch, it’s hot! Can’t hold on for long.”
Karito pulled out a crystal ball from inside the Hell Hound, still radiating heat. This was the essence condensed from the beast’s insides and would surely fetch a good price.
While Karito was reaping rewards, Fly Head’s side wasn’t doing so well. Air Blade Bears were troublesome opponents that could unleash air blades. If they slipped up, they’d be shredded, and with five of them, Fly Head had a tough time. It was frustrating though; even if they killed them, these monsters wouldn’t drop anything valuable. It was a complete loss.
“Oh, looks like these guys are tougher than they look. But the deeper we go, the stronger the enemies will be.”
Through the vines, Aierjisi learned that they had cleared out the beasts near the entrance. However, if she wanted to reach the depths of the ruins herself, she’d still have to deal with plenty of troublesome monsters along the way. She couldn’t help but wonder if these guys could truly make it to the very core of the ruins.
“I guess it’s time for me to move. Since someone is drawing the monsters’ attention, I won’t hesitate to accept your help.”
Aierjisi stood up and headed towards the route leading outside the ruins, hoping to see if there were any tasty monsters along the way to grab a snack.
