Chapter 33: The Third Stage (3)

They all got just a brief moment to catch their breaths before the sounds of horses galloping returned.

It was from the forest. Suddenly, nine horse-riding monsters rushed onto the scene, charging straight at the survivors who stood in the area. Many of them were shocked and jumped back into the huts while some of them, including Raydel, stood their ground at the center of the village.

Raydel could sense that Sheryl and Shane tensed up, ready to sweep him up and drag him away. He stopped the two and whispered.

"Stay still."

"You…!" Sheryl cried. She wanted to run away from the monsters, but it was too late. The horses were heading right at them. All they could do was squeeze their eyes shut, bracing for impact.

Raydel stared at the monsters and in the blink of an eye, they all leapt over them!

The sound of horses galloping gradually quieted down as they ran into the forest. Raydel let out a deep sight. He had just realized his legs were trembling so much that he almost fell to the ground. His hands were covered in sweat, and so were Sheryl and Shane's.

They looked at him. It was rather an intense, angry stare for Sheryl. She looked like she had some foul things she wanted to say, but she just asked him a question.

"Why did they not run into us?"

Raydel swallowed.

"That's because…"

"What do you know?"

"No, I just thought we're lucky. If we ran when they were running past us, they would have stomped us for sure. That's why the only solution is to stay put."

"Where did they run to?" Shane asked. "Oh, look at the message box."

Raydel turned around and saw a message box floating in the air.

[Follow them to find the boss.]

"It's definitely a trap! Who would follow them?" Someone said.

The other survivors agreed. They were exhausted and trembling with fear due to the Four Corners game. Each of them was horrifyingly covered in blood stains. And after being deceived into running toward the wolves and hounds in the forest, they just could not trust anything in this dungeon anymore.

The weather kept getting colder. The nasty smell of the bodies had taken over the place. They could feel the heavy pressure in the air. The weird silence felt like a bad omen. Raydel's heart kept pounding. He was nervous.

"Your cloak is torn," Shane said from behind.

He meant the three-layered cloak. The coattail had been destroyed by the wolves' claws, causing its quality to decline. It could not protect him against the cold as well as it used to. Raydel gave Shane a faint smile. Then, he crossed his arms and listened to other hunters arguing.

They were debating whether to follow the monsters.

Some of them believed it was a trap while the rest thought it was really just telling them where to go next. They fought over it fiercely. Sheryl raised her hand.

"So, what do we know about them?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Forms, appearance, like from which culture are they from?"

"You saw them. They're just shadows and smoke. There's no way we can tell what they are."

"If we saw their weapons or their attacks, at least, then we may be able to find something."

Everyone shrugged. They all were busy trying to survive. No one paid attention to the appearance of the monsters.

"Their names and levels are still locked as well. We're stuck in the dark here."

"But if they're monsters in a C-ranked dungeon, their levels must be around forty to fifty, right?"

"Has anybody tried fighting it? Were they so strong or were we just too focused on surviving that we didn't try fighting it?"

No one did, so nobody knew how strong they were.

As everyone was brainstorming on what to do next, Shane elbowed Raydel.

"Do you have anything?" he asked.

"I'm not sure…"

"Just say it."

"All I know is that they're related to winter. I'm not sure if they're humans or spirits. It's already so hard to guess what they are with the information we have. And just because I'm right about the monsters, that doesn't mean I'll be right about the boss. And if I'm right about the boss…"

"Come on. Just tell me."

Raydel tightened his lips. Then, he raised his finger one by one.

"Winter, night, horse riders, wolves, hounds, and even the Four Corners game. All of these things are related to 'hunting'. I didn't think it would be this at first. But I just realized that we're not crushed to pieces by the monsters because we were standing at the center of the road."

"The center of the road?"

"We can find this in the 'Wild Hunt'. If we stand at the center of a road, we'll survive," Raydel said. "The problem is… if they really are the Wild Hunt, we'd have no way of knowing what the boss is. It could be a spirit, a devil, an elf, a king from the past, or a god. It could be anything. And if I don't know what the boss is, I can't predict its abilities."

Shane was speechless.

Then, out of nowhere, he slapped Raydel's shoulders.

"You're quite good at this. How do you know about all this? You like reading?"

"Yes?" Raydel stuttered. "Reading? I…"

He stood still.

Right, why did he know about all this?

He had been through lots of dungeons and had been using this kind of thinking several times now. This was the first time he ever questioned himself. How do I know all this? In his past life, was he an avid reader? He could not recall him visiting a library to read about history and legends. He was not… an avid reader or something like that.

But it was a deep sense of something… a feeling that got him intertwined with all these stories.

In the novel 'How to Be No.1 Hunter'.

"The Wild Hunt," Shane repeated. He then pointed his thumb toward the other hunters. "We should tell them. Even though we're not sure yet, it's nice to have something. We can figure out what the boss might be together."

Raydel nodded. He agreed with Shane. It would be nice to help the team with some clues. But before he even took a step, he heard something flying straight at him. His entire body tensed up as stress ran through his veins.

He heard Shane shout.

"Hide!"

He pushed Raydel to the side. A spear plunged into the ground in front of his eyes!

Raydel was stunned. He heard the other hunters screaming in the background.

"They're coming back!?"

It was not the monsters on the horses. They did not return. Raydel looked around and saw who threw the spear.

Something was flying in the sky.

With a lean figure and huge white wings, it floated right between him and the moon, so he saw nothing but a silhouette. A second later, it disappeared from his sight and a rain of spears started pouring down!

The spears plunged into the ground as the hunters ran around for their lives. The thing in the sky flew here and there and raised its arm up high. A faint blue glow appeared on its fingertips and shot down before dashing into the huts.

[Boss activates the skill 'resurrection.']

The foul, disgusting smell intensified.

Something started stumbling out of the huts. They looked just like worms wiggling trying to get out of the earth.

Raydel felt his blood run cold. Zombies?

The hunters that had died were reborn as zombies. As soon as they caught a scent of living humans, they raced toward them immediately. Sheryl ordered everyone to gather together. They all pressed their backs against one another and had their weapons ready. The leader was Sheryl who looked around, anxious.

She slashed at the first zombie that lunged towards her!

Blood sprayed all over Sheryl. She gritted her teeth and dodged an attack from another zombie before stabbing it in the throat with her dagger. Still, it kept pushing closer to her.

"How can we defeat seventy zombies?!" someone shouted.

"You!" Sheryl said to Shane, "You have the crossbow, right? Shoot it down!"

"What?"

"Shoot the boss! Bring it down! It might stop the skill!"

"For God's sake," Shane whispered to himself and summoned his crossbow. "In this darkness? Seriously?"

He aimed at the sky where the boss was still flying everywhere, making it difficult to track. Sometimes it would throw down some spears, forcing Raydel and the others to protect themselves against them. Raydel summoned the Plague Doctor, but based on the number of zombies, he did not think the boss could handle it.

Now, everything depended on Shane.

The man gritted his teeth nervously. Sweat broke out everywhere from intense concentration. He repeatedly shot the bow, but they all missed because the target kept moving.

"Everybody, get on the roof!" Sheryl commanded the hunters.

They all helped each other in climbing onto the roof. It was a good plan since the zombies could not climb. Raydel was one of the last hunters that climbed to the roof. He was almost dragged down by the zombies, but he kicked them in the face in full force. And with the help of the Plague Doctor who lifted him up, he finally made it to the roof.

The zombies' hands were everywhere, trying to grab the nearest ankle. Raydel kicked those hands away as he panted heavily. He noticed that there was still no arrow on the boss.

"It keeps moving!" Shane cried.

"Then someone has to distract it," Raydel said. He wasted no time to think before sprinting and jumping down from the roof to a spot free of zombies.

The zombies turned to look at him instantly. Some of them ran after him. Raydel forced himself to look straight ahead so he would not be overwhelmed with fear. He grabbed one of the boss' spears and summoned the Plague Doctor. He knew he did not have the strength and precision it took, but the Plague Doctor did.

"Throw this at the boss!" Raydel said.

The Plague Doctor took the spear and threw it at the boss!

Clang!

The boss easily pushed the spear out of the way. It summoned a sword so fast no one noticed when. But the moment it stayed still midair, it tottered because something pierced through its wing.

It was Shane's arrow.

The zombies were getting closer. Raydel jumped into the Plague Doctor's arms and told him to get on the roof. The boss fell to the ground at the same moment, causing a thick curtain of smoke in the area.

[Successfully met the secret condition 'hauling the boss down to the ground'. Unlock the boss' name.]

More than twenty zombies fell down as if the boss' skill stopped working. Still, a tremendous number of enemies remained.

[Unlock the name of the boss.]

[Boss 'Valkyrie']

Valkyrie, Raydel repeated. It's really the Wild Hunt.

The boss stood up. Its white wings clung to its slender figure. It had the body of a woman and had shimmering golden hair. It wore a full-body armor that looked like a short dress. However, its face was in complete darkness, hiding all of its features. It made some horrifying sounds similar to when someone gritted their teeth violently.

After managing to stand upright, the boss summoned a sword and looked up at everyone with an intense, murderous stare.

In a blink of an eye, the boss appeared in front of him!

"...!"

The Plague Doctor appeared and took the attack. Even though Valkyrie was the boss of a C-ranked dungeon, it displayed unusual strength. Each sword slash was unleashed with powerful force, creating flickering sparks as the dagger and the sword clashed. The fight was so loud that Raydel, who was hiding behind the Plague Doctor, frowned.

Valkyrie expanded its wings and flew backward before kicking the Plague Doctor's chest!

Raydel opened his arms to hold the Plague Doctor. He was pushed against the roof of the hut by the weight of the Plague Doctor. While Valkyrie was swinging its sword, it stopped midway. Something similar to a dagger scratched one of its wings and drew some blood.

Raydel turned around and realized it was Sheryl who threw the dagger.

She summoned a new dagger and tried to speak.

"Come…!"

Valkyrie appeared in front of her in the blink of an eye. She gritted her teeth and raised her dagger up to parry the attack aiming at her belly. Sparks appeared. The boss elbowed her right in the middle of her stomach.

Sheryl coughed up air as she fell down. Still, she grabbed the boss hair and pulled it.

Valkyrie flew up into the sky and took her with it.

Sheryl was now high up in the air. The boss was about to stab her but Raydel had the Plague Doctor thrown a dagger at it first. Sheryl saw an opening. She tightened her grip on its hair and started stabbing it in the flank fearlessly!

"...!"

She squealed as Valkyrie tossed her away.

She twisted in pain on the ground. Still, Sheryl rolled over quickly enough to dodge the zombies that jumped at her. She held her stomach. Sweat streamed down to her eyelids, so she closed her eyes and shook her face to get rid of it. In that moment, the boss charged at her and swung its sword at her from above.

Clang!

Sheryl parried the attack and used her other hand to punch at in the middle of the boss' belly.

She punched and then slammed it with her knees nonstop till it collapsed. Her heart was pounding as she decided to yanked the boss hair backward and cut its throat with her dagger!

Blood sprayed out all over her face. Valkyrie swayed back and forth, struggling to fly away. It fell down in front of Raydel. The whole body disintegrated swiftly. A flat object was the only thing left on the ground.

Raydel picked the object up and instantly recognized what it was.

He looked up and saw that the zombies were closing in on her. He threw the thing in his hand at her. She froze before seizing it beautifully. Sheryl read Raydel's lips and repeated what he was saying. Then, she turned around and killed a zombie with a sword that came out of nowhere!

Sheryl's entire body was glowing red. The aura looked like smoke that floats mesmerizingly.

Raydel swallowed hard as he thought to himself.

It must be the skill 'Einherjar'.

Sheryl had just defeated Valkyrie. So, she received the artifact with the power of the boss.

The skill 'Einherjar' was one of those attack buff skills. The more enemies the user killed, the more attack power it buffed. Sheryl had killed just one zombie and she already got the buff. The other zombies flocked in on her. She killed them all one by one. The more bodies on the ground, the more intense her red aura got.

Raydel took a look at the sword in her hand.

And that's the skill "Hildr", the skill that allows you to summon the signature weapon of the boss, making it Sheryl's sixth signature weapon.

Now, Sheryl was blanketed in a horrifyingly bloody red aura. She walked forward and killed one zombie each time she swung her sword. The others could only stand there and watched in awe as she handled all the zombies by herself.

Still, there were some moments she slipped up.

A zombie managed to land a hit on her. She kneeled down in pain, but still thrusted the sword in her hand into the zombie's chest. As she pushed herself up, golden aura appeared around her. It shone brightly and wrapped itself around her like it was alive.

The skill 'Sigrdrífa' was activated.

If the user got hit, they would receive a buff that lasted until they won the battle.

Sheryl had already eradicated all of the zombies. Each swing was filled with so much rage and strength, making her appear like a great warrior. After slaying the last zombie, she shook the sword to remove the bloodstain... Then, she activated the skill 'the Wings of Valkyrie'. A pair of white wings appeared on her back for a second and disappeared.

The only thing left was Sheryl, panting and standing alone in silence.

The rest of the hunters were still stunned.

Raydel laughed awkwardly, thinking to himself, She really was meant for this skill. He knew well what power Valkyrie had. It was a unique artifact that should have been among the many abilities of the novel's protagonist. Now, it belonged to Sheryl, a side character.

Sheryl plunged her sword into the ground. Raydel and Shane cheered.

"Sheryl, you're so badass!"

The woman smirked and muttered.

"Such nonsense."