Chapter 245: Killing the Caller and Brute

The moment Lucian’s sword flared with mana, the Kobolds’ expressions shifted faintly, their movements changing almost immediately as—

All of a sudden, they began attacking him even more rigorously, their eyes fixated on the bright, shining blade in his hand—almost as if the blue glow had completely captured their attention.

They ignored everything else, their eyes barely moving away from Lucian’s sword.

Seeing this, Lucian’s lips curled into a smirk.

His sword swept through the body of a Kobold, cutting through its scales and flesh as smoothly as a hot knife through butter.

Blood splattered across the ground, but the blade remained untouched—the dense mana covering it preventing even a drop of blood from reaching its surface.

Lucian then raised his sword above his head, immediately drawing even more monsters towards him.

"I’ll attract all of them. You all take care of the main one!"

Hearing his words, Isaac finally snapped out of his surprise.

Because so many of the Kobolds had become obsessed with the shining blade, most had abandoned their previous positions, and they were no longer surrounding the entire group.

There was now a clear path leading towards the caller, whom they had to kill—and the enormous Kobold with the large machete, who was guarding the smaller one.

All the other Kobolds had run after Lucian for some unknown reason.

"Miss Selene and Ella, reduce the number of Kobolds surrounding him!"

He commanded, pointing towards the monsters surrounding Lucian, who was fighting alone in the middle of them, his figure constantly moving as blades and claws passed around him.

The scent of blood had already begun thickening throughout the cave.

"Jake, come with me! And Jennifer, back us up!"

Without any hesitation, everyone moved.

Jennifer and Jake immediately ran after Isaac and Ava, following them towards the caller and its guard.

Meanwhile...

Ella and Selene dashed towards the group of monsters. Their bodies moved swiftly as they stabbed the creatures attempting to rush towards Lucian.

Yet for some reason, despite getting stabbed and killed, the Kobolds didn’t even look towards them.

Their voices came out as frantic screeches as their attention remained fixed on the bright blue light in the middle... almost as though they couldn’t see anything else.

"Should I have just removed the restriction...?"

Lucian muttered to himself, his voice almost lost beneath the sound of the monsters.

He twisted his body, narrowly avoiding another attack before swinging his sword ferociously, barely escaping from the horde that came at him non-stop.

It was a bit difficult for him to fight against all of them at the same time, and because he only had the stats of an F-Ranker, he was getting a bit fatigued, though his regeneration kicked in almost instantly.

[Should I...?]

Akasha asked in a low voice.

But instead of accepting—

"Naaa."

Lucian casually rejected the offer, his expression appearing more and more excited as he tore the monsters apart, his sword glimmering with dense blue mana.

And aside from that...

He liked this feeling even more, as he could feel himself improving within minutes.

...

A few minutes passed.

At the opening of the cave—

Isaac and Jake were fighting against the large Kobold guarding the caller.

The difference between the two monsters was obvious. The caller was thinner and slimmer, its body much closer to that of an ordinary Kobold.

But unlike them... it moved with unnatural speed.

So much so that Jennifer was having a very hard time getting a perfect aim.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Her gunshots only met the ground or the stone walls, not even grazing the caller’s skin.

Jennifer gritted her teeth.

"Shit! How is he this tough?!"

Jake let out a frustrated curse as his dagger barely stabbed into the larger Kobold’s thick scales.

Its body was larger, wider, and far more muscular than the others, and it stood at over 1.5 metres tall, an unnatural height for a normal Kobold.

And based on its attacks, which relied more on defence, along with its thick scales, Isaac could conclude that this one was an evolution of the Kobold.

As Isaac fought against it and Ava tried to fight alongside him, their expressions became increasingly serious.

"It’s E-Rank... there’s no other way it’s this strong."

Even with his axe, Isaac was barely able to make the creature bleed, and since he wasn’t really a battle-hardened fighter to begin with, and after fighting for so long non-stop, his body was already exhausted.

Jake’s eyes widened.

"What should we do then...?"

From his voice, he sounded worried... genuinely worried that they might not be able to escape the dungeon.

But hearing his words, Isaac’s eyes shone slightly, and after a few seconds of silence, a smile appeared on his face.

He immediately called Ava back, who was trying to get closer to the Brute but to no avail.

Then—

"Jennifer!"

His voice echoed inside the cave, resounding against the rocky walls.

Jennifer noticed the Caller moving back while hiding behind a wall, and on top of that, smirking with its ugly features, which made her lips twitch.

But hearing Isaac, she immediately turned towards him.

"Shoot it."

She immediately understood, but before she could aim—

The Brute swung its machete towards Isaac, though before it could even reach him...

Isaac’s leg blurred as he kicked the ground and moved sideways.

At the same time, the wind around his body gathered beneath his feet, and the force of his movement stirred up the dry mud scattered across the cave floor.

Gathering the dirt towards his feet, Isaac thrust his leg forward once again, directly towards the Brute.

"Gkrakkh—!!"

The mud entered the Brute’s eyes, blinding it temporarily.

"Now!"

Isaac pointed at it.

"Shoot the Brute!"

Jennifer immediately pointed towards the Kobold, aiming at its face.

Her fingers tightened around the trigger, but at that exact moment—

The Caller suddenly appeared beside her, its body moving so quickly that Jennifer barely had time to react.

Clang!

Jake immediately intercepted it, his dagger meeting the Kobold’s claws and producing a sharp metallic sound.

"Not on my watch!"

Jake shouted with a smirk, momentarily trying to appear similar to his newly made idol, but unfortunately... the moment his blade met the Kobold’s claws—

His body skidded faintly backwards, and his eyes widened as he barely dodged another attack coming straight at his face.

"Kik-Kik!"

The Kobold’s lips curled, and seeing his frightened expression, it let out a creepy laugh.

’Shit! It’s too fast!’

Jake almost regretted attacking the creature, but even then, he didn’t move away.

He tightened his grip around his dagger and continued standing between the Kobold and Jennifer.

BANG!

The gunshot exploded through the cave as the bullet slammed directly into the Brute’s face, striking it right on its nose.

"GRAAAAAAGKKKKK—!!!!"

A loud, horrifying shriek tore from the creature’s throat, but before its body could even fall completely backwards—

BANG!

Another bullet tore through its body.

BANG!

Then another.

Jennifer didn’t hesitate.

She watched the massive Kobold’s body tremble violently, and within a few seconds...

Its knees buckled, and its body slammed onto the ground, faintly twitching before going limp.

Isaac’s eyes briefly lingered on the dead corpse, but without wasting any time, his gaze immediately snapped towards Jake, who was struggling against the Caller.

"Haahhh... hahh...!"

Isaac took several deep breaths, his heart almost thundering from the fatigue building up within him.

"I..saac... I’ll..."

Ava said something beside him, but he couldn’t even hear her properly.

His muscles ached, but instead of letting himself rest...

Isaac planted his feet firmly against the rocky ground, and in the next instant—

WHOOSH—!!

A powerful gust of wind erupted inside the cave.

The loose dirt and small rocks scattered across the floor were blown away as Isaac’s body shot towards the Caller Kobold, and mid-run, he raised his axe.

The Caller’s ears twitched, immediately noticing him approaching, and ignoring the struggling Jake, it instantly backed away, dodging the descending axe.

The blade only met empty air.

But Isaac didn’t stop. He continued running forward.

He couldn’t afford to let it escape again.

The Kobold’s lips slowly parted.

"Kiir~ aaakkuuu~~~"

Its strange voice escaped once again, oddly echoing throughout the entire cave, and the vibrations of it travelled through the darkness, entering the ears of every person present.

And the remaining Kobolds—the ones still surrounding Lucian—suddenly stopped.

Their eyes snapped towards Isaac as soon as they heard the voice.

But just as they were about to move—

"KRRRRRAA—!!!!!"

The Caller suddenly screamed—carrying no strange, hypnotising tone in its voice—only a terrifying, painful shriek as the axe came into contact, directly digging into the creature’s collarbone.

Its body trembled violently.

Blood spilled from the wound as the Kobold’s claws immediately moved towards Isaac.

And Isaac... he couldn’t even dodge.

Heck, he didn’t even notice it, as his eyes blurred from fatigue.

But before it could reach him—

BANG!

The bullet slammed directly into the Caller’s head, and its body shot backwards from the force, skidding harshly across the rocky ground before finally coming to a stop, its body faintly twitching before going completely still.

The Caller—the one bringing the monsters in here... was finally dead.

"Finally..."

Jake’s exhausted voice came from nearby.

And after staring at the dead Kobold for a moment...

"WE WON!!!"

His victorious shout rang throughout the entire cave, the sound bouncing loudly from one wall to another, breaking the heavy tension that had been hanging over everyone.

Isaac couldn’t help but let out a faint smile.

They had finally done it.

They had finally survived the horde... the Brute and the strange Caller.

They had survived all of it.

The moment he allowed himself to relax, his body swayed, and his vision briefly darkened.

Before he could completely collapse, Jennifer and Jake immediately moved forward and caught him.

"I’m tired..." Ava muttered, similarly exhausted to Isaac, and now all she wanted was to go home and take a long rest.

"We did it, Leader! We did it!"

Jake slapped Isaac’s shoulder... perhaps a bit too hard.

"Cough! Cough...!"

Isaac immediately coughed from the impact.

"Hey! Stop hitting him!" Jennifer snapped angrily, and Jake’s expression instantly dulled.

"Sorry..."

His face became slightly gloomy, though he was still happy... very happy.

’I survived! I won’t die as a virgin!’ he internally exclaimed.

Isaac, still catching his breath, allowed the two of them to help him move towards the others, each step feeling practically heavy, and if not for their support, he would’ve already fallen.

But even with his exhaustion, he couldn’t just become complacent right now.

There were still other monsters.

The other Kobolds were still—

Before he could even complete that thought—

A group of monsters suddenly rushed towards them.

The Kobolds came rushing through the cave in a flurry, their expressions twisted into something that Isaac couldn’t understand.

It almost looked like confusion.

Or perhaps—

Fear.

Jennifer, with a tense expression, instinctively raised her handgun, aiming towards them, ready to fire.

But—

The Kobolds didn’t even spare them a glance.

They simply ran past them, their feet pounding against the rocky ground as they fled deeper into the cave.

And the instant Isaac and the others looked forward, they understood why the creatures were behaving like that.

Their bodies froze.

A chill travelled down their spines as their gazes slowly settled on the terrifying figure standing ahead, his body carrying multiple blood marks, his dark suit blending almost perfectly into the shadows surrounding the cave.

Step.

His footsteps echoed softly through the cave.

Step.

Each step seemed strangely loud in the sudden silence, causing their heartbeats to instinctively quicken as they saw his pale face now covered in blood.

Lucian slowly walked towards them, his blood-red eyes hidden beneath his dark sunglasses.

But the main thing that stood out...

It was the sword in his hand, the bright blue light still enveloping the blade.

It illuminated the surrounding darkness, casting a strange glow across the cave walls.

And the moment Isaac and Ava laid their eyes upon it, they immediately felt the thick mana surrounding it.

Lucian silently looked at the four of them, his gaze lingering on Isaac for a brief moment.

The exhausted Isaac couldn’t help but wonder if Lucian was scrutinising him—perhaps thinking about his leadership.

But Lucian’s gaze slowly moved past him, and though his face turned irritated as he saw the Kobolds escaping...

He didn’t try to pursue them.

Slowly, the mana flowing through his sword decreased, and the mana-enforced blade dimmed before returning to its original form.