Chapter 4

We could only watch as the gigantic creature stood tall, glaring down at us like ants. Its black-skin body it's littered with bone protrusions. Its cheeks had yellow circles, and its horns were like a jester outfit. It didn't have legs. Instead, it was producing a red cloud below its torso. I can see its bone and muscle fibers. I can't tell if this thing was a zombie or some kind of demon. The terrifying thing was that its yellow eyes told me one thing about it. It was what I picked up from my mother's training.

Experience. This monster knows when and how to fight, and if its theory is correct, this monster might be the boss.

"What the hell is that!?" I yelled, stepping back in caution. "It's a Grendel-type." The gunner said while bringing out her gun. "A Grendel-type?" I asked, not taking my eyes off the beast.

"Yes, this thing is resistent to physical damage, and its size is nothing like I've seen before."

Are you kidding me!? First the Salamander, next to the slimes, and now this thing!? It's like this dungeon is an execution ground for physical fighters. My eyes widen when I realized what this dungeon was all about.

The monsters with physical resistance would tire out the magic users. Once the larger monster fulfilled its purpose, the weaker ones will overwhelm the mages by number. The details... it just made too much sense for something that's supposed to be random.

Could something be going on behind the scenes? I shook my head to regain my focus. The creature roared and struck the first blow. We avoided it, but the shockwave sent us flying into the air. Maya regained her balance mid-air and fired her gun while I landed on my bum and rolled back.

Wait, physical resistance, that there's a limit on how much damage it can take. I could supercharge my explosives, and we made a run for it. Grabbing one vial, I yelled to get behind me. She gave me a confused look but complied.

Enhancing the vial to a dangerous level, I threw it at the monster and ran as far as I could with my enchanted legs while carrying Maya away. The moment the vial made contact with its body, the explosion that happened was massive.

"What the hell did you do!?" Maya was terrified as the inferno was chasing them.

"I threw a bomb!" I was unaware of what was happening, but the heat I felt behind me was enough to tell me not to stop. The moment my eyes landed on a pillar large enough to cover us, I dashed it and dived behind it.

I heard Spring's worried voice, but I couldn't answer her for now. Once it was over, we took a peek and saw the burnt remains of the beast. For a boss level, that seems too easy. Maybe I'm just too overpowered for this type of dungeon.

*SLAP*

"Ow! What was that for?" I rubbed my head while glaring at Maya.

"Are you trying to kill us both!? You could have killed us when you did that. It's a miracle the place didn't collapse." Maya growled while ready to give me a beating of a lifetime.

"Whoa now, let's not jump to violence. We can talk this out." Raising my arms to protect myself, my instincts flared and quickly pushed Maya to the floor. A giant fist made its way through the pillar we were hiding.

"How is that thing still alive?" Maya uttered in fear.

My eyes couldn't believe what it was seeing either. The Grendel had some burns with bits of flesh being charred, but the terrifying part was the injury it received was small, as if something else took the blast.

I turned my attention back to charred remains and saw the things I missed. The remains didn't match the Grendel. It's closer to that salamander I encountered. Did it tank the explosion for the boss?

I rolled out of the incoming fist and grabbed another vial. Maya, realizing my plan, started running away. Before I can throw my explosive, the beast figured out my intentions and started throwing boulders towards me.

Clicking my tongue in annoyance, I began evading the projectiles, sending me further away from it. Looks like we're dealing with a smart one. I can't use the same trick twice now, it seems. Then I turned my attention towards the incoming horde of gremlins, swinging my blade left and right. The horde kept coming in droves. For each one I kill, five more took their place.

"Die! Die, just die already, dirtbags!" Maya yelled from the other side, killing another horde of gremlins, unaware of the approaching Grendel behind her. But I did. Breaking one of the gremlin's jaw and making it swallow one of my explosives. I hurled the little thing at the Grendel, but it caught the little monster mid-air.

It gave me an amused look as if I was the first one to attempt such a thing and succeeded. Smirking back at it, I pointed back to the gremlin that was bloating up. The Grendel noticed the extra weight in its palm and realized what I had done. It was too late.

While not massive, the explosion had done two of its objectives. One was to warn Maya about the sneak attack, and two took the monster's eyes. The bones of the gremlin acted as shrapnels and pierced right into its pupils.

The monster roared in agony, swinging its arm left and right to harm one of us. The only thing it did was give Maya the opportunity she needed to escape from the pincer attack. She rushes towards and provides support.

We made our way through the horde, killing as many as we can. Ignoring the roars of the enraged boss, now I'm just hoping it doesn't have regeneration, or else I just made it personal. Our escape was cut short when we encountered a cliff.

"Spring, we're stuck. Find us another escape route, fast." I said through the earcons.

[Already on it.] Spring said.

Our heads turned back to where Grendel was, the tremors that we felt were enough to warn us it was heading our way. Maya thought of something, and honestly, it was our best choice at the moment.

The plan was simple: wait for the beast to arrive and make its appearance. Then draw its attention to the cliff and make the foothold collapse with my bombs.

Spring gave me the coordinates for our escape route, which I told Maya about if we get separated. If the worst happens, I can rely on Spring to send me to the nearest seeker and partner with them. Maya doesn't have anyone to guide her. So we set our plan into motion. I stood at the edge of the cliff while Maya hid to provide cover fire the moment we sprang our trap. Each tremor we felt made us more nervous than the last. Did I, by any chance, trigger its second phase? For a minute it stopped, then it came back faster than before.

"Shit, it's making a beeline towards me," I growled, readying the vials. However, instead of the Grendel appearing, it was a massive demonic orc. Okay, this is easy enough to deal with. As the huge green monster tried to bisect me with its war ax, I slid between its legs and severed its tendons before kicking off the cliff reserved for the Grendel.

"14... 17... 20... oh wow it's really deep," I muttered before hearing a loud thud. Yep, enough to kill that thing. We just need to let gravity do its dirty work. My ears pick something coming towards me. Turning my head, I quickly rolled off to the side as a boulder passed me. Another one came and it went to where Maya was hiding. It forced the young woman to move out of her cover lest she wished to be crushed.

"Okay, what the hell? It shouldn't have known you were hiding there." I was worried that my worst fear was coming true. We kept dodging the incoming projectiles, and this thing was pulling a UNO reverse card.

"Shit, if this keeps up, we're gonna fall." Maya growled.

"Split up. It can't throw those things in both directions." I ordered, earning a nod from my companion. We went separate directions, and the assault stopped. We looked around before I noticed the shade covering me. I didn't need to know what it was.

Escaping from death's grasp, I glared at whatever tried to jump me. To my surprise, it was the Grendel we were waiting for, but something was different about it. The monster was now more demonic and disgusting to look at.

I almost vomited when the smell reached my nose. The monster roars and charges after me, completely ignoring Maya. The game of cat and mouse resumes. I kept running around the monster with Maya's cover fire, occasionally taking some swings, but even my elven blades were getting chipped.

It was all we could do since we didn't have many options. During the fight, I was figuring out how it found Maya's hiding spot despite how well she hid. Checking my vials, I clicked my tongue. There are only two left in my pocket. We need to improvise our plan, or else it's over.

The monster roared before, in a burst of speed, it closed the distance between us and threw a punch. All I could do was [enhance] my arms as I defended. My bones rattled from each blow. I parry the next attack and swing my blade, pushing the monster towards the cliff.

I must have missed something, as Maya called out my name. I felt something grabbing my arm before slamming into one wall. Coughing up blood, I tried to see what was restraining my arm and found a tentacle wrapped around it, but the closer I looked, it's more like it was an intestine.

"Karma!" Maya yelled out. She rushes in to help, but Grendel uses their other arm and almost got her. Using my other arm to cut off the restraint, I heard the monster scream in agony as the organ retreated inside.

I glanced at Maya, and she gave me a nod. Now we knew its weakness. The only problem was how to exploit it. Making it swallow my bomb won't work since it's missing the lower part. Throwing a rock, I watched how it scampered for cover. When it realized I had tricked it, it stood still and waited while facing against us.

I stopped Maya when she was about to move. So Grendels can adapt to any situation and since it lost its eyesight, its hearing and smell had increased. Not to mention, it was smart enough to prioritize me since I had the tools to hurt it and adapted to my fighting style.

Informing Maya about what I found out, she gives me a surprised look. I know it was quick, but certain books contain this information. I was just unfortunate about being unable to read some journals and findings.

"You figured out its dangerous abilities that fast. Are you some kind of prodigy?" She muttered.

"Nah, I just played too many video games," I said, missing her disbelief at my claim. It was true back in my previous life. While I was average in PvP, I was a monster in PVE. During raids and other boss-related fights, I can figure out the patterns given enough time.

It wasn't any different, except I don't have any extra life, and most attacks are, while random, it's easy to read.

"Stay here, watch my back," I said while making my way towards the boss. Ignoring the protest from my partners, I purposefully made a noise.

The beast snaps its head in my direction and charges. For a boss, this thing is dumb in certain areas. Narrowly avoiding a deadly blow, I lunged to escape the corner I made myself. My wide grin almost became predatory as my gamble paid off.

Maya saw what I did and quickly ducked as the last of my bombs exploded. The cliff collapsed as the monster fell while making a roar. The shockwave sent me rolling, but it was worth it. We didn't have to worry about that thing anymore.

"Next time, I'm bringing explosive rounds..." I muttered to myself.

"You did it." Maya whispers while helping me stand up.

"I got lucky." My eyes scanned our surroundings. Strange, why is it so quiet? With all we have been causing, some or most monsters should head this way. Did something happen that occupied most of the monsters? Whatever, it was time to get out of this death trap. I had enough action.

Just as we were about to leave, something wrapped around my waist. It didn't take a genius to figure out what it was.

Stupid Cliches...

"KARMA!!!" Maya yells for me as something drags me into the abyss.