The Demonic Beast

Soon enough, the smoke disappeared from the area and the bloody ground with green blood was seen.

It looked like Ary's attack worked.

While gasping, Ary knelt with the support of his blade, wondering,

'Why do I always end up being fatigued after this attack?'

"Ding!"

Suddenly, Almita made a dinging noise, announcing,

<Upgraded skills:- Assassin Walk and Water Blade have been upgraded to LVL 2.>

After hearing this announcement,

Ary's face shaped into a bewildered expression. He thought,

'When will I get a new skill? Damn!'

While gasping, Ary uttered,

"Flamal recovery–Activate!"

And a familiar blue flame surrounded him, and so, his fatigues vanished.

He took a deep breath to inhale fresh air.

"Are you alright?"

Suddenly, Ary heard a familiar voice.

He raised his head and saw Kashi in front of him.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Senior."

Ary assured him with a little smile.

"Ary!"

And as expected, Erica stepped toward him with a worried look.

"Ah, yeah. Don't worry, I'm fine."

Ary assured her, knowing that she might be worried.

While taking a breath of relief, Erica replied,

"Thank goodness."

"Well,"

Kashi called out as he turned around, adding,

"If all is good, then let's get going."

Then, he started walking forward.

"Ah, yeah."

Ary replied to his words, then glanced at Emily and Mary.

But abruptly, his face shaped into a bewildered expression again as he noticed the unconscious Mike.

"Um, what will we do to him?"

He asked while pointing his index finger at Mike.

"Rest assured."

Mary said as she pointed the tip of her staff at Mike and called out,

"Mataton–awake him!"

"Wakh?!"

With a gasping response, Mike got up.

"Wh-What just happened?"

Mike asked as he didn't understand why he felt like someone had slapped him so hard.

"Well, we'll explain it later. But first, let's get going."

Ary said with a sigh.

Then, again, they started moving forward.

"Listen, Ary."

Suddenly, Kashi called out.

"Hmm? What is it?"

Ary reacted as his gaze shifted to Kashi, who was just a step farther than him.

"You have an angel weapon that guides and supports you. That's why you train better and keep in mind that, since you're a Warrior, your only aim is to defeat the Demon King. Don't forget that."

While walking forward, Kashi offered advice.

"Yes, I understand, senior."

With a determined voice, Ary nodded.

Every warrior aimed to defeat the Demon King at any cost, and to do so, they first needed to defeat the minors like Demon Lords and others.

"Hmmm..."

While musing on her thoughts, Erica reacted while folding her arms.

She was having a hard time figuring out a query.

But after not understanding for a while, she broke her peace and called out,

"Hey, guys..."

"Hmm?"

Others reacted as their attention shifted to her.

Erica glanced at them and showed her query,

"Isn't it strange? Till now, we hadn't encountered any other Warriors. What happened to the others?"

After hearing her query, Ary called out,

"Well, yeah. Maybe they are in the deeper area of the dungeon."

"But what Erica said was right. It's strange."

Emily called out while placing her right-handed fingers on her chin.

"Hmmm..."

Kashi frowned at his eyebrows after hearing that.

He closed his eyes and began focusing on the energy of the Warriors.

"Hmm?!"

Kashi opened his eyes in shock as he sensed something terrible.

He started running toward the right.

"Hmm? Senior, wait!"

Ary yelled as he followed him.

"Ary, wait!"

Erica yelled, but then she and the others started following him.

"Man, where's this guy going?"

Mike said about Kashi while running.

"Let's follow him. Maybe he might find something."

Emily said while running.

While running, Kashi, with a tense expression, thought,

'No way. Why are all the Warriors there?'

"Senior, at least tell us where we are heading?"

Ary squeaked while running to catch up to Kashi.

"Just stay On Guard!"

Kashi replied in a serious voice.

"Huh?"

Ary reacted.

Soon, they reached the front of a red-coated cave.

While gasping, Erica called out,

"So...what's going on? Will you explain that please?"

"Senior, is there something you have found?"

Ary asked while stepping toward Kashi.

"Yeah."

Kashi replied as he took out his blade from the black scabbard on his left waist and added,

"The presence of a strong Demon."

"Wha?!"

Mike was left terrified.

His tired expression changed into a cry-like expression. He commented,

"Why do I always get dragged into a situation like this?"

"Mike, you're truly an idiot."

Emily commented with a sigh while placing her right palm over her face.

"Almita, retrieve my blade."

Swish!

Ary called out, and with a swishing sound, his cutter blade of death appeared on his right hand.

While grabbing the blade tightly with both hands, Ary stepped forward, asking,

"So, shall we go in?"

"Not yet. Let me- Huh?!"

Unexpectedly, Kashi halted with a shocking reaction, widening his eyes as he glimpsed something coming out of the cage.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

A beast was seen in the shadow stepping toward them.

Clink!

A sound of a blade was made as Kashi tightened his blade, saying,

"Stay on guard, it's a Demonic Beast."

"Okay!"

Ary replied in an alert voice.

While Mike summoned his scythe, he stepped backward behind Emily, asking,

"Remember what my mother used to say?"

"Hmmm?"

Emily reacted.

Mike stepped backward while thrusting Emily forward, saying,

"Ladies first."

"Tsk! Dummy!"

Emily, out of anger, punched Mike on the head.

"Ouch!"

Mike yelled as he caressed his head out of pain.

Soon enough, the beast finally came out of the cage.

It was an enormous lion-like beast with two wings like a bat, two horns like a deer, and red-colored claws.

"Grrr!!!"

Kashi started gritting his teeth after seeing it.

"Wait, is that a..."

Ary called out,

"Ding!"

Almita interrupted his words with a dinging sound, reporting,

<A Demonic Beast has been detected.>

<Attack:- Claw attack, Fireball, Plasma Ball, Laser Beam.>

<Rank:- H-ranked beast.>

<Chance of winning for the host:-5 percent.>

"What?!"

Ary was left flabbergasted after hearing about the chance of victory.

He gritted his teeth and said inwardly,

'It's the do and die one. Goddamnit!'