Arc 1 Chapter 41 : Chest Trap

[Raul's POV]

That night, after defeating the two humanoid monsters, Valeria and I settled in a building to rest and sleep.

I was eating my last piece of bread to fill my stomach. Tomorrow, Valeria and I would need to start looking for food supplies by hunting down other participants who had already entered the city area.

Speaking of the green-haired girl, as I expected, she found a way to defeat the two monsters. In the middle of a battle, you need to stay calm and be able to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of your enemy to exploit them for victory.

As someone who created her character, I'm proud of Valeria. I hope her intelligence will always be relied upon by those who need and trust her when the great disaster arrives.

The same goes for the others. I hope they, too, can grow and rise when their time comes to save the world.

Right now, she's sitting beside me, asleep. Her head rests on my shoulder. I can hear the sound of her breathing clearly.

For some reason, Valeria has become more comfortable with physical contact with me lately. Before, she used to hate it when I even looked in her direction.

Not that I mind or anything, but younger women aren't my type.

Well... technically, my body is the same age as hers. But inside this body is the soul of a 25-year-old man.

My ex-girlfriend Liana had the same long black hair as Raul, but my favorite hair color on a woman is crimson. However, the ideal woman only exists in a man's fantasy; you won't find her in the real world.

I gazed up at the night sky.

The stars were beautifully scattered above. I wish I could see this together with Liana... the woman I loved deeply.

Boom!

My daydream was abruptly interrupted when I saw a flash of yellow lightning from the north.

"That lightning... looks like she's angry," I muttered, immediately thinking of a blonde-haired woman. "Who would dare to disturb Elena at this hour?"

---

[Elena's POV]

Ughhh... Why is this happening to us?

Right now, my teammate Geralt and I are running from monsters chasing us in the city area.

We were supposed to rest tonight after exhausting ourselves fighting the endless wave of monsters.

"Elena, ahead of you!" Geralt warned, pointing at eight monsters up ahead.

I gathered mana in my right hand and charged my sword with lightning.

"Lightning Whip!"

I swung my sword, and the lightning extended from it, striking down the eight monsters in front of me.

"Blazing Slash!"

I glanced behind me to see Geralt had just defeated four more monsters at once.

Groaahhh!

A loud roar echoed. In the distance, a three-meter-tall humanoid monster wrapped in sand was heading our way.

"Damn it! They never stop coming!" Geralt cursed, frustrated with our situation.

I began walking toward the monster calmly. More monsters appeared behind the humanoid one.

"Enough is enough..." I muttered.

Ten monsters charged at me from the front.

"I already told you I need sleep!" I shouted angrily. "I'll wipe you all out for making me this angry, you filthy creatures!"

Activating one of my Profound Codices—Almerio del Lerampago, my body became enveloped in yellow lightning.

I would finish them all off with my strongest magic!

Whoosh!

The wind rushed past as I sprinted at blinding speed toward the monsters. My focus was singular: to eliminate them all without a trace!

Slash!

The first monster didn't even have time to react as I beheaded it. At this speed, you'll be dead before you can blink!

Slash, slash, slash! The monsters' blood splattered across my uniform. Within seconds of activating my magic, all these vile creatures lay dead.

Now only the big one remained.

Groooaahh!

It roared loudly, swinging a fist at me.

"Too slow..."

I disappeared from my spot and reappeared beside its body. I quickly sliced through its sand-covered leg.

Groaahhh!

The monster screamed in pain, its body dropping to one knee from my attack.

It tried to strike me again with its large hand, but I swiftly leaped into the air to dodge. There's no way such a slow attack could ever hit me.

Once again, my sword was charged with yellow lightning. This time, I would finish it off in one strike.

"Lightning Strike!"

I descended toward the monster, my sword cutting through its body from head to toe.

The monster collapsed, its blood splattering everywhere.

"That's what you get for disturbing my sleep."

---

These monsters are so weak... I haven't encountered a challenge that has pushed me to my limits in this second trial.

With my favorite sword, I can finally fight at full potential. For that reason, I want to face him.

I want to finish the battle we left incomplete...

I want to fight him with everything we've got.

As I gaze at the moon illuminating the night sky over this dead city, I wonder... what is he doing now?

I want to repay him for what he did during the first trial.

"We'll fight again, Raul..." I murmured as I walked away from the place littered with monster corpses. "I want to feel the thrill of fighting a strong opponent again."

---

[3rd POV]

On the night of the third day, all remaining participants had entered the city area. Many teams perished upon entering, unable to withstand the relentless monster attacks.

Meanwhile, participants who formed alliances with others survived, though their logistical conditions were dire.

It was certain that tomorrow, battles would erupt among the participants over food supplies in order to reach the finish line.

"Hey, our food supply will only last until tomorrow," said a man in a group of eight from a four-team alliance. "No matter what, we have to steal supplies from other participants tomorrow."

"Well... what kind of team are we targeting?" asked a wizard in the group. "If we go after solo teams, their supplies will probably be minimal and won't be enough for all of us."

"You're right, Gisco," a Healer in the group agreed. "But if we target large groups like ours, the fight will be much tougher."

They couldn't afford to fight for too long either, since the noise would attract monsters to their location.

"That's why we're lucky to have reached the city on the first day," Gisco said confidently. "We can set up an ambush to gain the upper hand in the fight tomorrow."

Everyone nodded in agreement with Gisco's plan.

While the seven were discussing their strategy, one of them was patrolling the building to keep watch.

"Ugh, why did they choose me for this when I'm so tired?" the man complained. "Huh? A chest? I wonder what's inside."

The man stumbled upon a chest in the building. He approached it and forcibly opened it.

"Hehe~ Boy... looks like my bad luck just turned into good fortune!" the man grinned. "I didn't expect to find treasure in the middle of nowhere!"

He reached into the chest and pulled out a golden statue of a monster.

Shung...!

Suddenly, a magic circle appeared around the statue. The man panicked and threw it to the ground, but instead of shattering, the statue began to grow larger.

"Damn! What did I just find?" the man exclaimed, confused.

"Hey, Farlo! What's going on down there?" several of his teammates called, coming to check on him.

"Ah, nothing! I just found a strange statue," Farlo replied.

The statue kept growing, reaching two meters tall. Cracks began forming on its surface.

And then, suddenly...

Crack!

The statue transformed into a terrifying monster. The humans who witnessed this were shocked as the once harmless statue became a vicious creature.

"At-attack the monster!" one of them shouted.

"Wind Cutter!"

Their wizard cast a wind spell, slicing the monster in half.

"Huh? I thought it was a strong and terrifying monster! Turns out it's no different from the weak goblins we encountered earlier!" Farlo said, the man who had found the statue.

But his joy was short-lived. To his horror, he saw the monster's body regenerate. The upper half grew new legs, while the lower half sprouted a new upper body.

Now there were two monsters.

"The-the monster can split itself!" the wizard exclaimed.

They tried to attack the monsters again, but their efforts were in vain. The monsters kept multiplying until there were 16 of them.

Kikiki...

The monsters laughed at their futile attempts.

"What kind of monsters are these?!"

The creatures began to swarm them, using their overwhelming numbers to overpower the participants. Despite their efforts to fight back, their attacks only caused the monsters to multiply further.

That night, the group occupying the building was wiped out by the mysterious monsters that had been accidentally unleashed.