Chapter 6: Tunnel

"That's disappointing. I have high expectations from them. I knew they were using monsters as the main component of the suit but who would have thought that they were keeping them alive, or at least conscious."

"From my experience, you can't really put your trust in a monster. They have no one to blame but themselves." - Shunji said to himself as he continued to eat.

//Pursia River//

Time, 2:00 a.m.

At the tunnel under the bridge connecting City Q and City P, there are three shadows of inhuman figures swinging from side to side, illuminated by the light coming from the campfire in the center of the shadows.

"Eeeeekkkk!!" - A squeak was heard which echoed throughout the tunnel.

*Nom… Nom… Nom!*

"Fuck!! Those stupid humans!! They think they could just always harass us without facing any consequences to the point of pushing us to the corners like this, like some kind of low-lives?! Fuck, I hate this shit." - A figure with a grotesque face shouted furiously. On his right hand was the body of a toasted bird with feathers still on it, holding it on its feet.

The grotesque looking figure threw the bone left of the bird and accidentally hit the other guy.

"Fuck! Do you want me to kill you, you fucking bastard?! I pissed of as it is and you can't even shut your fucking mouth!!" - A figure with a huge head, resembling a toad, shouted.

"What did you say?! Do you want me to your other arm that badly, you fucking frog?!" - The grotesque looking man shouted back.

The toad headed man wanted to say something but an ominous feeling caused him to swallow his word.

"Hey, you shitheads. Will you lower your voice? We are in an open area, do you really want us to die? Do you think you can survive those things a second time?" - A figure with a huge build said while releasing his killing intent. He has long but muscular arms like that of a gorilla which look like they can tear anything apart. His legs and feet are like that of a horse, and his head looks like a chimpanzee. His whole body is covered with red fur.

"Ahh, ha… haha. S-sorry about that boss. It's just that since encountering those guys, everything is not going well for us." - The grotesque man said.

"T-that's right boss. We didn't think that those pieces of trash have that kind of technology. Although we've evolved and surpassed human capabilities, they're still smart enough to develop weapons capable of inflicting fatal injuries to us. Even among monsters, we were at the top of the food chain but they still dared to humiliate us like this." - The toad man said.

"Hnn. Don't think that I'm just sitting here while sucking my thumb for the past 3 days. I already devised a plan to make those humans pay for what they did." - The red furred man said confidently.

He then proceeded to explain his plan to his two companions.

…

"Woah! You're not only super strong, but you're really smart as well, boss. I don't regret giving my loyalty to you after saving me from those humans 3 days ago. Hahaha." - The grotesque looking man said with amazement.

"That's our boss. Hahahaha." - The toad man laughed.

'Hehe. That's right. I don't regret saving the two of you either. After seeing your capabilities, you're without a doubt will be a good bait for this plan. Hehehe. - The red furred man said with a sinister laugh, plotting behind his companions backs.

The three of them don't have any idea that the humans they fought 3 days ago are already dead, with only a sole survivor. The humans they're referring to are the elite troops who wore advanced suits capable of increasing the overall fighting capabilities.

While they were chatting, a man wearing full back appeared at the top of the light post out of nowhere. He's like a shadow in the darkness that cannot be seen no matter how you look.

Shunji observed the three of them. Taking into account their habits, expressions, appearances, the sounds generated by their movements, the shifts in the air every time they breathe, and their heart beats. He was able to determine all of these within just a minute.

Whoever his target is, it became his routine to observe them from afar. This is one of the things he developed while training to be a ninja.

He disappeared from his spot and appeared a minute later.

"That's the strongest monster I've faced so far. To think that the gap between them and the others I've fought so far is that huge. Especially that monkey looking monster. I say, he's probably a high-tiger level monster." - Shunji said to himself as he adjusted his mask.

He looked at the collapsed bridge and then the thing in his arm before disappearing again.

//Flashback//

While the three of them were chatting, splashes of blood paited the wall of the tunnel.

Two heads rolled over to the ground.

As the red furred monster tried to make sense of what happened, a blade was already in behind his neck, threatening to cut his head off just like his two companions.

To Shunji's surprise, the monster was able to duck, avoiding his imminent death.

'That's the first time a monster was able to dodge my slash even though I'm not giving it my all. With his bulky muscles, I didn't expect him to be this agile and fast. But still, to dodge my attack coming from his blind spot… I don't think it's his speed alone. I can tell that he's really panicking right now so it's possible that he is not that fast but rather has an insane level of instinct. That will be more troublesome to deal with. Let's test how far it can go then.' - Shunji noted as he analysed his opponent.

He swung his sword to get rid of the blood and sheathed it to his back hanging vertically.

He drew his daggers and held it back handedly. With his long blade, he can cut anything even from a distance so he switched to his close quarter weapons so as to not end this fight quickly.

'W-who is this guy? He's on a completely different level. I don't know what he's thinking but he could easily kill me with his katana. Why change weapons now? Tks! No matter, this is my chance to escape.' - The red furred monster said to himself as he devised a plan in his mind.

"H-hey. Why not call it a day? Y-you already killed two of my comdra-" - Before he could finish his sentence, the figure hiding in the shadow of the tunnel disappeared like a blur.

*Slash*

The monster lifted his arms up in a crossed position to black the attack on his neck. The figure was too fast for him to dodge so all he could do was block.

*Spurt*

Blood spurted everywhere as a pair of hands fell to the ground.