Leader

The city of New York had been mostly restored since a lot of dungeons appeared there. So, there were a lot of guilds around. Since it would be more convenient for them, they restored the city.

Still, the dungeon that they were heading to was located in the middle of Long Island. So, it was a critical spot… since the number of exits in case of evacuation was limited.

Unlike his hometown, Terry didn't see many parts of the city that had people wearing rags and looking as thin as fuck. The situation there was a lot better… to the point that Terry even saw some kids playing around while armed hunters were heading to the dungeon. The closer to a guild or dungeon, the more repaired a place can be, but it was also dangerous now that monsters were crossing the portal.

Eventually, they reached the dungeon zone of the area. Which was two kilometers radius around the portal. Only hunters could cross it… it didn't take long for them to hear the sound of the fighting in the distance and some smoke rising to the sky as well…

When they found the final blockade of soldiers, the group was forced to leave the jeep and proceed on foot.

"Although this might be dangerous for me, I will accompany you to introduce you to the others," Louis said. "I will be counting on you to protect me. We are a team, after all, right?"

No one said yes, as expected. Terry wasn't the only one that was annoyed by Louis' behavior and words. It didn't take long for them to find some tents around in the area around the portal. Alongside Terry, Mary and Oliver frowned when they saw the extra large portal. It was ten meters tall, two times bigger than the others.

"This is supposed to be confidential as well, but the portals can grow; once they become twenty meters long and tall, they explode, destroying everything in the area and bringing a massive army of monsters to this side," Louis explained. "Few people survived those events, and those that did it had to run for their lives."

"Where did that happen already?" Oliver asked.

"Not in our country, so you can rest easy," Louis said.

"If an army of monsters came to this side, then they must have created their own base here," Terry said. "How can someone rest easy knowing that?"

"Because it isn't our problem, we only have to worry about defending our territory; we don't have resources and personnel to help people all over the world," Louis explained.

That made sense, but that kind of mentality was still dangerous. Letting the monsters create a foothold on the planet was beyond stupid. It was insane. Terry thought that they should have formed an elite team to destroy those places as well… what would be the point of knowing that dangerous creatures were growing on the planet and doing nothing?

That was why Terry hated the society that worked around hunters, they lived in peace after fifteen years of endless war, but it seemed that they forgot that and now wanted to protect their fake peace.

When the group approached the sphere, they saw a weird creature jump on from it… a single one. While it was humanoid, it had a grotesque appearance. If Terry had to compare, he imagined that humans would evolve their flesh like that after being punched and having their flesh cut all over again before the wounds could properly heal. It was that rough, and that was just the beginning. The creature had a tail that was thick and rough because of scales, and on the head, it had some horn-like things in the shape of small pillars…

Six hunters stepped in to deal with the creature. Three of them attacked the beast with earth lances to slow down the creature. After that, the three others tried to stab the beast with spears. The creature grunted in annoyance and then made its sword expand like scales across its right arm and then the body. A metallic sound spread across the area when the spears hit the armor.

The monster dashed toward the hunters and swung its sword in an arc. The hunters blocked the attack but were pushed back for several meters.

The backline joined the fight again, but the earth spears barely caused any damage or slowed the beast down. Before the front line could recover, the monster charged to attack the backline, but then a lightning bolt fell from the sky and hit the creature.

Terry looked around and saw a woman sitting on the edge of a nearby building and watching the battle. That had been one hell of a spell… a lot of steam left the monster's body, and the creature stayed paralyzed for several seconds. The spearman used that chance to stab the beast in the face several times before it could kill it.

"Those things should give me a lot of experience… but a direct fight right now would be…" Terry rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "If I can snipe it, I can probably kill it with a Triple Shot."

The bow still could become at least two times stronger, so eventually, even ordinary hits would cause a lot of damage. However, Terry will need a better pair of Gloves… the question was how to get them without revealing much or raising questions regarding his trait.

While Terry was thinking about that, the woman that was sitting on the edge of the building landed nearby after jumping and then approached the group. Not only did she have the aura of someone powerful, but she also was gorgeous as well… long red hair that was flying due to the wind, emerald green eyes that were as intense as her lightning bolt, and a curvy body that was accentuated by her light armor. In any case, she walked in a straight line toward Terry.