27 Inugamin Winged Ravennas
"He received two battle traits?!"
"But he's a lesser species! Two battle traits only happened often to higher species and occasionally to average species."
"Forget about two battle traits! Look at his fists. He has an affinity to holy fucking fire!"
"Damn, I knew it was right to join his squad! I can get close to a player who has immense potential on the first floor!"
As the squad's morale skyrocketed and most of the Paragon Knights voiced out their awe, a broad smile didn't want to leave Aaron's face, eyes focused on Liam.
'I fucking knew it! He is the World's Greatest Hero for a reason,' thought Aaron after the earlier situations made him feel a bit hopeless.
Like how he had anticipated it since at the beginning, Liam Kai Smith would be the luminary persona he used to be even in the <Mighty Tower>.
Liam was extraordinary.
'Hey, System! Play a classic narutard's battle theme playlist, please!' Liam requested to the system and it miraculously understood his request, playing a shinobi battle theme song that only he could hear in his head.
Whooosh!
Liam took the lead.
He kicked the ground and dashed forward like a real shinobi, leaving specks of dust to the location he was standing just a second ago.
Two assassin type <Brawlers> followed right away, utilizing mana in their cultivation system to greatly heightened their physical capabilities.
Liam and the two <Brawlers> were switching places as they closed the distance between them and the Inugamin Winged Ravenna.
Despite not utilizing mana since he could not choose a cultivation type yet that would suit him yet, Liam was astonishingly keeping up with the two Light Stage of Nascent Warrior with him so far.
Perplexed about the confusing tactic and the three's hasty attack attempt, the Inugamin Winged Ravenna had spread its giant black wings, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.
Now!
The intelligent creature flapped its giant black wings continuously to produce violent wind blades at a short distance, hoping to land its attacks.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Unfortunately for the Inugamin Winged Ravenna, the three effortlessly slipped past the wind blades by jumping and tilting their body acrobatically to evade all of it.
'You're finished!' the three thought in unison.
Liam leaped straight upwards as high as he could to get the monster's full attention, front-flipping mid-air to gain more momentum.
Seeing the holy fire on Liam's fists up close, memories streamed in the Inugamin Winged Ravenna's head.
Long ago, they were apex predators on the <First Floor> feared both in the Light Kingdom and the Dark Empire.
One of the things that separated them from other <monsters> was their ability to learn from all of their ancestors' mistakes by magically gaining the memories after the hatchlings grew at a certain age.
It was a peaceful night in their dungeon when someone barged in alone, panicking the adult Inugamin Winged Ravennas in the dungeon about the danger of being found out.
But those feelings immediately vanished when they found out that it was just a single player.
Players, one of the weakest enemies in their eyes that could scarcely handle common beasts alone.
If the Inugamin Winged Ravennas could speak, they would definitely mock the player and laugh at him.
However.
Those belittling thoughts didn't last that long.
The player smiled ear to ear once he had realized that he finally found the dungeon of the apex predators he was looking for, laughing loud and nonstop as if the ravennas were not there.
Before the threat that the player possessed could sink in, most of them were dead already.
The player mercilessly and successfully eradicated all the adult Inugamin Winged Ravennas without getting touched.
And the killing spree wasn't supposed to stop there.
The hatchlings' hearts skipped a beat once the player shifted his attention to them.
In one quick look, even at a young age, the hatchlings could tell that the player would brutally kill them like how the player ruthlessly slaughtered their parents.
That player was that remorseless!
If the Second Light King of the Light Kingdom arrived a few seconds late to contain the player inside an indestructible spherical force field, the Inugamin Winged Ravennas were long extinct.
Because of that reason, they weren't hunting anymore and only stalking prey, using other weaker monsters to finish the job for them.
The memory was so vivid that it was enough to make their entire species a scavenger.
Not much was known about that player since it vanished on the <First Floor> quickly right after.
But the holy fire it utilized to slay thousands of Inugamin Winged Ravenna alone was something their species wouldn't forget even after thousands of years.
Wary of Liam because his fists were emitting the same type of flame, the sole Inugamin Winged Ravenna completely disregarded the two assassins on the ground, using its wings to brace itself from Liam's attack.
"Damn, humongous bird! Are you mocking me?"
"You're going to pay for that, stupid bird!"
The two assassin type <Brawlers> bolted faster towards the Inugamin Winged Ravenna's feet after they saw openings and spun like a fidget-spinner to slice it off with their activated battle skills.
Shiiiiiiing!!!!
Those were invigorating slashes!
SCREEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!
The excruciating pain unintentionally made the Inugamin Winged Ravenna scream as loud as a horn.
"Now, Captain!!!!"
A silhouette abruptly covered the sun in the Inugamin Winged Ravenna's view as Liam rolled mid-air as many as he could while he was descending, landing a plummeting and scorching blow on the creature's beak.
"Shut your beak!"
BOOOOOOOM!
The Inugamin Winged Ravenna's head harshly slammed on the ground after the two assassins severed its feet.
At the same time, the monster's life in its health bar decreased significantly before it entirely turned black.
**Ding!**
[You've killed a monster!]
A new system message popped up into Liam's view to confirm his kill.
Phew!
The other two <Brawlers> expelled sighs when they realized that there was no need for them to follow up on an attack.
Scre! Scre! Scre!
The other Inugamin Winged Ravennas hurriedly fled after they saw another one of them die from the holy fire.
"That's right! Run, bastards!"
"Don't ever leave your nest again!"
The squad celebrated their win as if all of them actually contributed to achieving it.
"Ladies and gentlemen, it's getting late. All of you should drag the Inugamin Winged Ravenna's body after doing nothing in battle so we could report what happened in our Mana Beast's Lair search attempt. And... somebody, pick up NightKorra's body so we could still give our comrade a proper burial," Liam thoughtfully commanded after he pensively stared at NightKorra's lifeless body.
"And... go back to the Light Kingdom without me. There is another thing I need to investigate as the squad's captain."
* * * * *
After the squad left Liam alone, he nonchalantly stared at the otherworldly trees' shadows.
"They are gone. Our conversation would be a lot better if you start showing yourself!"
Another <Player> revealed itself from the darkness, cleaning its right ear with his pinky finger and hiccupping as if he was bored as hell.
