Chapter 23 - Strange things. (Patreon)

The monsters just ahead weren't all of the same type. There were two completely different kinds, both belonging to the highest rank of monsters on that floor: Minotaurs and Ligerfangs.

A group of four monsters. Two Minotaurs and two Ligerfangs, working together.

This was something Bella had never seen before, and it certainly wasn't normal. If she asked every adventurer she knew whether they'd ever seen anything like this, they would undoubtedly say no.

Kael, who had some knowledge of this world, had never seen anything like it.

Minotaurs and Ligerfangs working together in a group? That definitely wasn't supposed to happen.

'Or maybe I just don't know enough. But even when I studied the Dungeon, I never came across anything about this.'

Despite having Bella by his side, Kael felt a little nervous.

He took a step back and asked, “Are you sure it's a good idea to move forward? They haven't noticed us yet.”

“...” After thinking for a moment, Bella said, “I'm curious. I want to see what happens when I kill those monsters.”

Kael heard her words and couldn't understand.

Why would anything different happen?

However, since Bella was strong and intelligent, Kael simply said, “Do whatever you want. I'll support you. I'm not going to run away.”

“Good. Use your ability as much as necessary to confuse them. If you do that, I'll be able to take all their heads off in no time.”

“All right,” Kael said, nodding.

He then activated his Teleportation ability and disappeared.

Bella looked toward the monsters and noticed that Kael had appeared right in the middle of the four of them. The Ligerfangs, enormous tiger-like monsters, immediately noticed his presence.

Since they were incredibly fast monsters, Kael remained cautious.

When he realized they were about to attack, he disappeared and reappeared several meters away.

“Over here!” he shouted, drawing their attention.

The two enormous tigers, drooling with rage, leaped toward Kael. Meanwhile, the Minotaurs roared, trying to instill fear in him. Kael felt his legs trembling, but his ability activated without any problems.

The Ligerfangs managed to keep up with Kael and reached him in an instant, but he teleported away just as quickly.

As Bella had asked, he was keeping the monsters confused.

The two tigers ran back and forth, gradually tiring themselves out. They couldn't land a single hit on Kael, and they were becoming increasingly impatient. Meanwhile, the Minotaurs, having lost sight of Kael, began running toward where the tigers had gone.

Bella took advantage of this opportunity to attack them from behind.

With a smile on her face, she approached one of the Minotaurs like a bolt of lightning. She sliced through the air, and before the Minotaur could react, Bella's knife was buried in the back of its head.

The impact was like an explosion.

The Minotaur's brain practically exploded, and its body fell to the ground before disappearing.

The second Minotaur turned around to attack Bella, who was already prepared to face it. However, Kael suddenly appeared right above its shoulders and swung his sword across its neck.

A deep gash opened, and blood sprayed forward, toward Bella.

She avoided the blood and watched as Kael repeatedly plunged his sword into the Minotaur's head.

Kael smiled and collected its magic stone.

“So, where are the others? Did you kill them?”

Kael smiled and said, “They're right behind me.”

As soon as he said that, the two enormous tigers came running toward them. Bella prepared to fight, and so did Kael.

“I'll take care of one of them,” Kael said before disappearing and reappearing directly in front of one of the tigers.

He didn't want to run anymore. He wanted to kill one of those tigers.

The tiger was startled and stopped running. It raised its paws, trying to slash Kael with its 10-centimeter claws, but Kael disappeared and reappeared above the tiger, spinning his body in midair.

He slashed the tiger's back and disappeared again.

The tiger paid no attention to the wound and tried to strike Kael.

But, of course, he was no longer there.

Kael began to toy with the tiger, leaving it utterly confused. Its mind became increasingly disoriented as more wounds appeared across its body. The only things the tiger managed to attack were Kael's afterimages.

Despite its incredible speed, it couldn't hit Kael even once.

It was a completely one-sided fight.

And that was probably because Kael was taking things seriously. Before, he had been playing around with his enemies, but now he was treating this fight with absolute seriousness. He was carefully considering every move he made.

His mind was working in a way it never had before.

He could practically predict the monster's next move.

His Teleportation ability had nothing to do with it, since it wasn't supposed to produce this kind of effect.

'Maybe this brain of mine really is incredible.' Kael thought as he watched the Ligerfang succumb to its wounds. He collected its magic stone, which was larger than normal, and examined it.

“It's a shame I only got 1,500 EXP for killing such a powerful monster.”

“EXP points?” Bella, who had heard his words, asked in confusion.

Kael turned around and said, “It's nothing. Forget I said that.”

“All right. Here, put the magic stone in the bag. Let's move on quickly before more groups show up.”

“You seem nervous.”

“Any adventurer would be nervous after all the strange things that have been happening.” Bella clicked her tongue and quickened her pace. “Let's get to Rivira already. We need to rest.”

“All right.”

Little did Bella know that this was only the beginning of the strange things happening.