Chapter 42 life or death (part 1)

—Dik's perspective

The moment Dik stepped through the teleportation door, his whole body tensed and a shiver ran through every part of his body. That's when he looked at the place where he was.

An empty field, dry and burnt, a cloudy sky gray and dark, and the atmosphere in the place was so heavy that it was hard to breathe. Then Dik looked at the monster, whose roar left him paralyzed.

Dik felt death before his eyes. The monster's roar echoed so loudly that his whole body froze and he couldn't even move a single finger.

"Hrrrnnng-AAAAAAAAAARRR!!!"

Dik's ears snapped and blood gushed out. Drops hit his cheek and quickly the red colored drops coming out of his ears hit his shoulder and then fell to the ground.

"Drip" "Drip" "Drip" "Drip."

Drop after drop of blood fell to the ground from his ears. Then the monster looked at him for a few seconds before looking at the rest of the group.

A height of ten meters, a dark gray muscular body, three heads and arms so thick that the veins in his arms looked like a tube of water. Its ferocious mouth protruded with long, sharp teeth, its six eyes white as if there was nothing there. The whole monster radiated an extremely dense and oppressive mana as it bared its teeth.

It was definitely a monster that truly deserved its position as a grade 6.

Then Dik simply froze, unable to move even a little.

He was afraid again.

This was also happening with the death worm, also a grade 6 monster. Just having a grade 6 in front of him made his whole body tremble.

On the outside, Dik looked indomitable, strong and brave, but inside he was so horrified that he wanted to run away, but couldn't.

"This..." He couldn't speak properly, fear was unavoidable for Dik.

"Don't... No..." He repeated the phrase over and over again.

"This... I didn't... Wanted to" were his thoughts that invaded him.

Dik simply wanted to get out of this place and be safe and show his arrogant and indomitable side, like a knight who is fearless and disdainful of others. He simply wanted to be like this as usual, but in the face of death in front of his eyes?

It was inevitable, his fear consumed him and he slowly closed his eyes, but....

"Hey idiot... If you faint from fear I'll kill you myself!"

It was Alicia's voice that made Dik's eyes instantly widen. It was as if Alicia's voice calmed him for a few moments, but not enough.

"If you close those eyes... I'll kill you myself."

Again her voice echoed and Dik regained his sanity, then he could move his body a little.

"She... What the hell is wrong with me?" he only knew one thing.

Dik... He felt that Alicia could help him overcome the fear, that was all Dik thought.

But he quickly snapped out of his thoughts when the monster roared again.

"Hrrrnnng-AAAAAAAAAARRR!!!"

It was then that the monster's huge body started running towards all of them. Dik felt like he would instantly faint, but he tried to control himself. If it kept going like this, he knew he would die.

"Damn it... Don't be afraid." Dik bit his lips and blood splattered from his lips, then he felt a small pain in his mouth.

Dik brought his hand to his waist and gripped his sword tightly. He knew very well that if the fear was still in him, he would die right there.

It was an unstable fact, he didn't want to die in this place and he wouldn't, but only if he could eliminate that fear.

He had to get over the fear and stop being his usual arrogant, unhinged, bloody bastard self. Now he had to act like he was supposed to.

Like a true gentleman in action.

***

—Scene change.

—Alicia's perspective.

The moment Alicia passed through the teleportation door, her body felt strange, something felt suffocating, it was something she had felt and that's when she saw it.

Alicia looked at a large, muscular monster, a three-headed monster, whose skin seemed to be very tough and of a dark gray color, but that didn't matter to her.

It was the mana in the monster.

Starting at grade 6, monsters have mana, which makes them much stronger and more resilient beings.

"Shit... It's more complicated than I thought." Alicia thought they could defeat the monster with the full strength of the group, but seeing the monster's mana?

It was a problem for Alicia, and a serious one at that.

How will they be able to defeat a monster that uses mana?

"But... Why... Why does it have to be a mutant?"

The fact was that the monster was not a normal one, but a mutant, a monster that has a different development and can use mana much more easily, making them very strong opponents in almost every aspect.

"But it's the only way out."

Alice knew that to get out they would have to kill the monster, but it wouldn't be that easy. They might have a small chance of killing it, but it was also possible that one of them would die in the attempt.

Alicia didn't want that, so she looked at Dik.

As expected, he was in fear, his eyes and face said it very clearly, then Alicia shouted.

"Hey you idiot... If you pass out from fear I'll kill you myself!"

She had to make Dik come to his senses and look at the situation. It was too hard to let one of her companions lose control of himself, so she tried to get his attention.

The monster, for the moment, did not pounce on them or attack them.

Then, after looking once more, Alice saw Dik. He was closing his eyes, but the moment she screamed, Dik quickly opened them.

"What the hell...?" After looking at what happened, Alicia only thought of one thing.

"He... He reacted just because I yelled at him."

It was something absurd, but it seemed real, then to check it Alicia said it again and shouted.

"If you close those eyes... I'll kill you myself!"

"It worked."

It really had worked. Dik opened his eyes and, after a few seconds, he seemed to be changing his face. That's when Dik grabbed his sword and raised it to the front of the monster while holding it tightly. It was then that Alice knew immediately.

"He's overcoming his fear just because of my scream."

It's a stupid idea, but it seemed like it was indeed working. That's why Alicia came to that conclusion. She looked at the rest of the group and then spotted Clara.

"She doesn't look scared."

It was a relief to Alicia, but looking at Clara it was obvious that she wasn't well. She looked a little strange, but other than that everything was fine.

Alicia was confused, but she let it go and then looked at the man standing next to Asher. It was then that a fear came over her after just looking at him for a second.

"Who the... Hell?" she felt scared. It was strange, but it really scared her to see that man, his empty stare and emotionless face.

Alicia knew something was strange about the group and Clara seemed to know something, but she didn't want to tell her.

"Why didn't she tell me anything, who is that man?"

Despite having questions in her head, she again looked at the monster. It hadn't even moved an inch and was simply watching them.

Alicia felt a lump in her throat. Just seeing the monster and that thick mana coming out of its entire body scared her to death, but.... Alicia remained calm. If she lost her sanity and sank into fear, all would be lost.

"Don't be afraid of him," she repeated the same phrase to herself over and over again.

If she was afraid, then she would die, but if she wasn't, there might be a chance to make it out alive. Despite knowing that this monster was terribly strong, especially physically, Alice knew that if she let her guard down, she might die. So, she grabbed her bow that she carried on her back.

"I won't be afraid and I'll get out of here."

She shouldn't have even entered this dungeon in the first place, but she wanted to help Asher. Alicia wanted to accomplish Asher's goal, but the journey was much more dangerous than it seemed.

So she set out, raised her bow and a green arrow with a yellow glow appeared in the bow. Alicia was ready for any moment.

***

-Scene change.

-Clara's perspective.

The atmosphere was not as Clara had expected. In fact, this situation with the grade 6 monster right in front of her eyes felt very unsettling to her.

"It's like having death right in front of your eyes."

Of course, faced with a situation where death is possible, Clara felt a very unsettling feeling. She knew she could die, but she didn't want that, especially not in a place like this.

"I'll have to start with everything." Of course, Clara wasn't cut out for combat, but she could help if she started with stronger attacks.

Strong enough to manage to hurt the monster. After all, Clara is a third circle mage and not considered someone weak in this case.

But she couldn't be sure that she could really hurt the monster, though she still decided to start with her strongest attacks.

Among the abilities Clara has are poison goleman, acid storm and her long distance ability, and the one, creation sphere.

Three spells, the only three strongest spells Clara has so far.

"Though she could turn the ground into a sea of acid."

One of her spells was "Sea of Acid," but this spell consumes too much mana and doesn't cover much ground, so it wouldn't be as useful as the other three on her list.

Then Clara looked at her staff. Clara's staff allows her to store mana and at any time she could use it. Then she looked around.

"They don't seem to be worried."

Was what she thought after seeing Alice and Dik getting ready. Then Clara looked at Asher.

"What about his sword?... I don't even know what his expression is right now."

That was because Asher wears a mask on his face and it is impossible to see the expression he is having at the moment. Then Clara looked at the man who was always next to Asher, it was as if those two were one person at the same time, but they were not.

Every time Clara looked at that man, she felt fear. Even the monster wasn't that scary. Rather, you could even say that man was the real monster.

Clara looked at the monster, it was about thirty meters away. The first spell she would cast would be poison golem, which could serve as a distraction while the others attacked it from somewhere else.

Then he would follow up with acid storm. This spell creates acid blasts that can melt flesh and anything, even metal. In addition, the air becomes poisonous and paralyzes his opponents. Of course, he would cast this ability only when others are not near the monster.

The third spell would be creation sphere, which he mainly uses to create tentacles, as it has a far-reaching ability and enormous strength.

"Why doesn't it attack?" Clara finished thinking when she looked at the monster, which wasn't even moving.

It was strange. Anyone would wonder why the monster wasn't moving, but it really didn't make sense.

The monster was supposed to attack the moment they entered this place. So why didn't it attack instantly?

Clara knew something was different, but she also couldn't believe Asher's words when he explained about the monster. Maybe she only knew about the monster, but she didn't really know that it would attack instantly. At first, Clara didn't believe anything, but when she walked in and looked at the monster, she changed her mind.

But then, why doesn't it attack? It is also logical for a monster to attack instantly.

All these thoughts brought her out of her concentration when....

"Rumble."

Then the monster started walking. It walked slowly and only took one step, but the ground shook so hard that it felt strange.

"Rumble."

The monster took another step and then looked at Clara's whole group.

"What are you doing?"

Clara was a little uneasy and so she was about to cast her first spell, but she didn't. First she had to wait for the monster's first move and then that would be the right time. So she waited to see what the monster would do.

"What's wrong, why aren't you moving?" Clara started to feel angry, in fact, she didn't even feel afraid for the monster anymore.

Then, the monster's big mouth opened and a roar echoed so loud that it stunned Clara.

"Raaaawr-rrrRRRRRREEEEEEGGHH!!!"

It was definitely such a loud roar, but that wasn't the only thing. The monster looked at the whole group and then changed its gait. It quickly appeared right next to the whole group, right next to Asher.

Then the monster started its attack and Clara instantly prepared her spell. That was when it had all started. No one was sure if they would get out of this place...