Chapter 7

A few minutes ago...

Just as Kaminari was fighting against the goblins, the Crossbow guy halted his steps as he had already reached a fair distance from the hobgoblin.

Luckily, it was too occupied with throwing goblins to notice him.

Without wasting time, he loaded his crossbow and aimed at it as he pulled the trigger, launching an arrow that swiftly flew toward one of its eyes.

Swish~

Unsurprisingly, The arrow pierced its left eye as the hobgoblin shrieked in agony. The pain from the arrow made It instinctively drop the goblins it was holding.

KEUKEEKKE!!

The hobgoblin fumed due to the pain from its left eye as it stomped its foot, accidentally crushing the pitiful goblins around it to bloody pieces.

As for the Crossbow guy, he frowned slightly and felt dissatisfied after seeing his arrow failing to kill the monster.

'That wasn't deep enough'

The Crossbow guy sighed internally, he wanted his arrow to pierce deep enough into its brain. Unfortunately, that didn't happen as the force of the arrow wasn't strong enough.

He however didn't waste the chance that the monster was distracted and shifted his position to its now blind side.

Kekeekeke!

The hobgoblin finally stopped squirming in pain and glared around, trying to find the bastard who shot its eye.

But alas, all it saw was a pile of smashed and crushed bloody pieces of goblins on its toes.

Keukeeke?

Fortunately, the hobgoblin didn't see the Crossbow guy moving around on its left due to the impaired vision in its left eye from the arrow earlier.

"Hoh..."

As if the Crossbow guy wasn't satisfied with his move earlier, he dished out a more lethal one and activated a skill.

"Lock on!"

The moment the Crossbow guy eyed the hobgoblin, a red virtual target appeared just right above its head.

Loading his crossbow, he aimed it at the sky and launched an arrow that magically multiplied in the air. Exactly ten arrows appeared and accurately rained down on the hobgoblin from above.

KEEKKEUK?!

The hobgoblin screeched, feeling its entire body pricked by multiple large needles as greenish blood dripped down from the wounds.

It became insane from the pain, smashing down the surroundings with its arm, wildly flailing everywhere, and roaring at the sky as it felt indignant.

"...!?"

The Crossbow guy had to duck and weave the flying rubbles as well as the occasional flailing arms to avoid getting hurt.

As for the hobgoblin, it continued its tantrum but soon stopped when it saw the crowd of humans in the distance and thought of something.

Kekeekkee!!

The hobgoblin crackled maniacally, wanting to take its anger out on the pathetic humans as it strolled forward, heading toward them.

Seeing this, the Crossbow guy frowned and moved, trying to intercept it as he couldn't let it get to the civilians.

"Stun Arrow"

The Crossbow guy aimed his crossbow at the monster, launching an enchanted arrow that was flickering with electricity.

Swish~

The arrow flew swiftly and pierced the back of its right knee as a surge of electricity went to its body, making it groan in pain.

KEUKEKKEE?!

The hobgoblin had to drop its right knee to the ground, halting its steps while being accompanied by the slight numbing pain of electrocution.

Turning its head behind, a loud and furious growl was let out from its mouth as it saw a familiar human. It was the same human that it saw charging at him earlier.

Groowl!!

Glaring at the human, the hobgoblin couldn't help but be attracted to the item in the human's hand, it was a crossbow.

As if an imaginary light bulb appeared above its head, the hobgoblin fumed as steaming smoke was let out of its nose.

Everything finally clicked, from the sudden shot of an arrow in its left eye as well to the prickling pain it was feeling from all the arrows stuck in its body.

This human was the culprit!

KEUKEKEKE!!!

The hobgoblin howled, forcing itself to stand up despite the pain from its knee and lunging toward the human with its mouth wide open.

Seeing this, the Crossbow guy looked unfazed by the imminent death and calmly aimed his crossbow at its wide-open mouth.

"Hmm..."

A surge of wind suddenly swirled in the tip of the arrow, making the Crossbow guy nonchalantly glance at it for a split second before pulling the trigger.

Swish~

The arrow launched at a frightening speed, flying toward the monster's mouth and piercing out into its back.

Kekeukk?!

The hobgoblin flinched in midair before falling to the ground and sliding itself before stopping by an inch in front of the human.

Without hesitation, the Crossbow guy aimed at its head in point-blank range and pulled the trigger as an arrow finally pierced into its brain, killing it instantly.

"Hm, that takes care of it"

The Crossbow guy slightly smiled with a hint of pride while staring at the dead hobgoblin as he turned his head at the crowd of people in the distance.

Seeing the young man take care of the goblins with ease, he nodded in satisfaction.

"That kid's not ba- Wha?!"

Just as the Crossbow guy was feeling proud. The building on his right suddenly collapses and a figure of a gigantic being emerges out of it.

Before the Crossbow guy could react, the figure had slashed its large axe at him with enormous force.

Slash~

The Crossbow guy spewed out a mouthful of blood due to the sudden attack as a large gash wound appeared in his chest before he was sent flying from the impact until he crashed into a building, collapsing it from the inside.

Boom!

•••

Back to the present

"What!?"

Kaminari just happened to see the scene where the Crossbow guy was sent flying by a gigantic figure that burst out from a building.

Although, he realized the man was a C-Rank and even a high-tier one from the way the man managed to kill the hobgoblin.

But for him to be one-shotted and likely to be dead now, implies how strong the mysterious figure was.

'It might be a B-rank or even higher'

Kamimari narrowed his eyes, focusing his sight on the image of the figure and trying to get a clearer image when he finally saw its appearance.

It was a muscular and gigantic bluish-skinned monster, slightly bigger than the hobgoblin with a large axe in its hand as well as shoulder pads and armored leggings on its legs.

Even from a distance, he could feel the heavy and sinister aura that was coming off it.

And that made him pale as he gulped and felt his back turn cold from the sweat.

"Is this... what it feels like to face a high-rank monster?"

Even though Kaminari should be feeling scared right now due to the crisis but instead, he only feels a slight tinge of excitement in his heart.

The thought of fighting against one made him boil in anticipation. That's when the monster suddenly turned its head and started to walk toward them.

And it was then he realized, he was still in a precarious situation.

'This is no time for dilly-dallying'

Kaminari immediately straightened his back and ran toward where Wataru and the pair were, wanting to protect them from the danger.

He however didn't even bother to continue killing the goblins anymore as he passed by others who were calling for his help.

Call him selfish or whatever but with the current situation, he doesn't have the power or the strength to save everyone.

Which was why he decided to protect the ones he cares about rather than some stranger. Although, that doesn't mean he didn't feel a single ounce of guilt with his actions.

'Shit...'

Kaminari bit his lower lip so hard to the point that blood started dripping down from it and felt helpless as the same thing was happening all over again.

He turned his head to where the other Hunters were, hoping to call them over for help when he saw what they were doing and flinched at the sight.

"...!?"

The Hunters were actually trying to sneakily escape away from the scene.

Seeing this, Kaminari couldn't help letting out a curse from his mouth in anger at the shamelessness of these people.

"Those fucking cowards!"

Kaminari tightly clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, silently making a mental note to pay them back after this was over

'It was a mistake to have put my trust in them'

Kaminari glared at the Hunters with piercing eyes as he saw them make it out of the horde safely and watch their backs slowly fade away in the distance.

Shaking his head, he temporarily put his anger aside and concentrated on his current task first.

Right now, with the Hunters gone. The rampaging goblins will set their target unto them, the defenseless civilians.

And with the looming threat of an unidentified monster which he believes is an advanced form of a hobgoblin.

Their situation is dire and unlike last time, there would be no way out to escape.

Boom!

As if to prove how dire the situation is, another gigantic figure burst through a building on his right, collapsing it as large rubbles flew from the impact and landed in Kaminari's path.

Now the way forward was blocked and he had no way to get to the others.

"Now, I know for a fact the world really hates me"

Kaminari scoffed and spat on the floor out of bitterness.

Keke... hu..mans... Keeke!

A chilling and scuffed whisper echoed in the air, pulling out Kaminari of his thoughts as he turned to look at the gigantic figure.

It was the same monster that killed the Crossbow guy earlier but unlike an axe, it had a sword in its hand.

But what made this thing really different was the creepy and wide smile plastered on its face.

Keke... kill..humans... keeke!

Hearing this, Kaminari felt a chill down his spine and felt scared for the first time.

He had never heard nor known of a monster speaking in all his years. It was a definite fact that monsters and humans cannot communicate no matter what.

After all, history had already proven it to be true.

Keke... human..kill... keeke!

The monster then turned to look at Kaminari with a bright smile as saliva dripped down from the corner of its mouth.

This brought alarm bells inside Kaminari's mind and didn't hesitate to run away immediately.

Kekeekeeke!

As if the monster was mocking him for his useless effort, it swung its sword downward as a sword slash flew and went straight toward him at a frightening speed.

Slash~

Seeing this, Kaminari wanted to dodge in time but the speed at which it was flying was too fast for him to evade as he could only stand there helplessly.

He gritted his teeth and braced himself as he closed his eyes, waiting for his death to come.

"...?"

Kaminari waited for an entire minute before realizing that nothing happened to him.

Knowing this, he narrowly opened his eyes and peeked at the situation.

With a light gasp, he saw himself far away from his initial position and saw a deep gash in the ground that extend all the way. It must have been caused by the sword slash from the hobgoblin warrior earlier.

But what made him confused was how he managed to get away from the attack.

"How did I...?"

"Young master, are you okay?"

The sudden voice interrupted his thoughts and immediately assumed a vigilant stance as he turned his head around and saw a middle-aged man in a black suit.

"Who... are you?"

Hearing the question, the man walked toward Kaminari and kneeled in front of him with his right hand on his chest.

"I am Jirochou of the Hidden Guard. I was entrusted to protect you, young master"

Kaminari slightly arched his right eyebrow and thought about it for a second before recognizing the name.

"You're a member of the Clan's Hidden Guard?"

"Yes, young master"

Kaminari had heard and known of this unit in the clan, it was a group specializing in protecting the main members of the family in the shadows.

He however had never seen a member of this so-called hidden guard before but It could be because there was no need to show themselves.

Which illustrates how committed they are to the unit's name, being hidden.

"Hm, then prove it"

The man or Jirochou shove his hand in his suit and took a badge with an emblem that Kaminari recognized, it was the symbol of the Ryuji Clan's hidden guard unit.

With this proof, Kaminari now believes him but instead of being delighted, he was mad.

"Hmm, I see... then why didn't you appear when I was in danger earlier?!"

"I apologize, young master. I had just arrived recently. It was negligence on my part, I will punish myself after this"

Kaminari narrowed his eyes in suspicion, not believing his words even once.

And just as he was about to refute him, a roar echoed which halted the words he was about to say.

Grooowl!!

Kaminari turned his head around and saw the hobgoblin warrior leap high in the air, plunging towards them with its sword raised and ready to slice.

"...This is just getting tiring"

Jirochou instantly grab Kaminari and flashed away using his swift speed to escape the plunging attack.

Crash!

The hobgoblin warrior slashed at the ground, creating a dust cloud until the wind blew it off and saw no dead bodies.

It tilted its head and scratched the back of its head, looking confused at where the humans had gone to.

Keukeke??

Seeing the hobgoblin warrior still confused, Jirochou didn't miss the chance and wanted to grab Kaminari away from this area.

"What are you doing?!"

Kaminari immediately slapped his hand away from his shoulder, looking vigilant and cautious at him.

"I'm taking you away from here, young master. The situation is too dangerous for you to stay"

"No, I'm staying and you will too"

"Young master, this isn't a laughing matter"

Jirochou didn't look impressed hearing his young master's words.

"I know, all I want is for you to save the remaining survivors"

"..."

"With your strength, I'm sure you can take them all away from here and after that, you can do your damn job"

Kaminari's reason for doing this was not out of kindness but out of guilt, he didn't like abandoning everyone when he had the chance to save them.

Especially when there were children on board. Since there was someone who has the power to do it then he'll force him by using himself.

"Young master, I would like to remind you that there are currently two B-rank monsters here as well as three incoming ones and I'm only a single and lone B-rank assassin"

Kaminari flinched at his words, surprised at the fact there were multiple high-rank monsters.

"Do you still want to continue with this?"

"...Yes, I'm sure"

Jirochou stared at him before sighing and nodding reluctantly after seeing the determined look on his young master's face.

"I understand, young master. Then I shall fulfill your request"

Before Kaminari could even say anything and react, Jirochou had suddenly activated a skill and multiplied himself by three.

"Shadow Clone!"