Chapter 207 Part 1: Faceless

"….Hmm…"

Arnold and the four Valkyries were currently standing near the entrance of a small forest.

It was very dark inside the forest due to the trees being so densely clustered up next to each other. He could sense several signatures within the forest.

The strange thing is that none of them came near the entrance.

Why?

Well, there was a cloud of black gas drifting near the entrance of the forest.

"It's fresh," Vatria approached the entrance, careful not to enter the gas-like mist.

"Fresh? What do you mean?" Arnold asked.

Ruene replied to him, "Usually when the demonic energy is this dark shade of black, it means that a demon was recently in the general area. If a few hours passed by then it would resemble steam."

"Then that means the monster is inside the forest." Arnold activated his aura, heightening all senses. He tried to locate the largest energy signature.

"What's wrong, Arnold?" Vatria looked back at him in confusion.

"I'm trying to see if I can sense where the monster is by identifying its signature. Hmm, the forest is fairly big so I'll need to head inside."

"Signature…?" Vatria frowned hearing that word, "I don't understand? Can you pinpoint a monster's location like that?"

"You're telling me you don't even know how to identify energy signatures individually?" Arnold looked at her flabbergasted. How can a level 60 warrior not have this basic skill?

Sebastian taught him to do this when his level was in the single digits.

"No. We can't accurately identify enemies using just their signatures alone so we can't determine their location. Usually it's just a bunch of signatures surrounding each other."

Basically it's like the monsters are right next to each other even if they're several meters away from each other. Think of it like drawing circles a few inches next to each other. This makes their senses unreliable.

'What the hell is with the Valkyrie tribe's recruits these days? The game makes them sound so cool but they can't even sense energy signatures and determine direction of their targets. That's an important skill for a warrior.'

Arnold was a bit annoyed that a level 68 couldn't even do something that he can do and the fact that she's less skilled than he is even though he's lower-levelled than her.

This generation of divine warriors turned out to be a disappointment. He doesn't even want to know the state of the divine realm itself if it's warriors are this underwhelming. Then again, these four women weren't exactly recognized as Valkyries(yet) so they shouldn't be the standard.

Perhaps he'll meet a real Valkyrie one day who has both the skill and wits to surpass him in battle.

"You guys should prioritize your training instead of accepting every single job offering to kill monsters…" Arnold said with a soft sigh.

Vatria averted her eyes with a blush.

'It seems she knows why I'm saying this.'

"Why are you just standing around here and chatting up Vatria, human?" Bitch Kellene screeched from behind Arnold, "This is our chance to slay the beast and sweep this whole mess under the rug. So stop wasting time. Get to it, bait."

Her voice, gestures and way of speaking was a complete mirror of Stella—annoying.

Arnold was about to throw a remark with the intention of pissing her off but he felt a cold sweat on his back when he turned around. He hurriedly moved in front of Kellene and grasped at empty—no, something flew at Kellene's face like a whip. He caught it just when it arrived in front of her face.

"Eek!?" Kellene jumped back in surprise.

"En garde!" Vatria unsheathed her weapon, prompting Neena and Ruene to do the same.

Hoh, to respond to danger this quickly. He was rather impressed.

Arnold looked down at what he caught.

'A tentacle?'

It was a tar-like tentacle that wiggled like a worm in his hand. The monster that it belonged to didn't even attempt to pull it back.

"Vatria, is this—"

"No, based off the physical descriptions from witnesses, I can confidently say that the divine beast does not have tentacles." Vatria replied to Arnold.

He noticed the vigilant expression on all four of their faces. The air surrounding them changed.

"All of you stand back."

They did as he said, standing right behind him.

A blue blaze surrounded the hand holding the tentacle, before the blaze spread along the tentacle as if it was doused in oil.

The blade illuminated the forest as it travelled down the tentacle. Even as it was burned with his skill, the tentacle remained docile as if it didn't hurt.

Arnold infused aura into his eyes to look down the forest path that was illuminated by his skill.

He saw it.

A blob slowly moving through the trees, with another monster hanging out of its slime-like body.

Arnold froze.

The saliva, which he was unable to swallow, got clogged in his throat.

Arnold looked at the tar-coloured mist.

'This can't be…'

A premonition for the future flashed by his mind.

'…Status…'

·        Race: Starborn Offspring

·        Level: ???

It was as he feared… It's one of them…

Arnold looked back at Vatria and her comrades, "…Whichever one of you who is good at divine spells support me from behind. Divine energy is our only means of defeating what comes next."

"Divine spells…? Arnold, what are we up against?" Vatria asked after noticing the dark shadow over his face.

Arnold could see the creature's body slowly shrinking (or morphing?) then taking form of a humanoid with a long tentacle growing out of the back of its smooth and faceless head.

Faceless should be its unofficial name. There will definitely be other variants out there so classifying them in groups is important to determine combat strength, intelligence, speed, etc.  

"Uhm, guys, that thing managed to kill the divine beast that we were after…" Ruene laughed awkwardly when it emerged from the forest.

Its body was completely white. It had no face but its head was a dark purple, with a formation of lights on the front of its head that resembled a galaxy.

A giant beast was floating next to it. By the looks of it, the beast was killed just like Ruene said.

The beast was suddenly thrown across the ground with tremendous force.

Telekinesis… And to think it was that strong…

"…It's not attacking?"

The humanoid just silently stood there gazing at them. Even this looked terrifying.

Suddenly it lifted its arm and pointed at Arnold then at itself.

It was taunting him using gestures.

'If that's the case… I should assume that this is one of those intelligent offspring…'

That seemed even more likely if you observe its attitude towards the five of them. It wasn't impulsive and didn't attack them out of nowhere.

The danger signals went off inside Arnold's head.

Arnold glanced back at the girls, "One of you go get Yorm."

"What? Why?" Vatria asked.

"We can't handle this thing alone. It managed to kill that divine beast without suffering any visible injuries. This thing is no ordinary monster."

"You know what it is?" Ruene asked.

"…I'll tell you later. For now go call Yorm. It doesn't look like this monster will attack us unprovoked."

Vatria looked at Neena, "You go, Neena. Make sure you explain the situation to Lady Yorm clearly."

"Right! I'll be back right away!" without hesitation, Neena quickly left the others behind.

The monster didn't even react. It taunted Arnold again but Arnold didn't move an inch.

Suddenly it tilted its head as if in confusion.

Arnold narrowed his eyes.

'You're full of openings.'

If he had no knowledge of this thing and its kind then he would've activated his martial art at full power in an attempt to kill it. The fact that it could kill a divine beast would warrant this level of caution.

"I demand you identify yourself!" Vatria suddenly stepped forward, "Afterwards, kindly follow us so that we may examine if you're a threat or not."

A horizontal slit opened up on the front of its head. A hideous smile appeared.

"!!" Arnold's body moved at that moment.

A powerful shockwave pushed Vatria, Ruene and Kellene back.

"Kuh!" Arnold managed to stop the monster's tentacle from ripping off Vatria's head. However, he dislocated his shoulder in the process of stopping its attack. He let go of its tentacle, which it pulled back with a downward grimace, perhaps disappointed that it couldn't see Vatria's head flying.

"E-Eh?" Vatria blinked dumbfounded when she noticed that Arnold was in front of her.

The monster smirked again. Then there was a hideous laughter. It sounded like the kind of laughter you'd hear in a cave, coming from its depths but you are unable to pinpoint where which makes it even creepier. It was neither close nor far but you can still hear it.

Arnold's whole body began to sweat. It felt like his heart was going to pound as fiercely as it did earlier today. He relaxed his whole body before blood rushed to his head.

No.

I won't cower in front of this inferior lifeform, he thought as his glare intensified. The pounding in his chest stopped. His shaking hands were relaxed and his breathing stabilized.

'Treat this as any other fight, Arnold. This thing is nothing special. Don't let that weak earthling take over your emotions.' He thought to himself.

"I-I couldn't even see its attack," Kellene's face was pale. Vatria and Ruene weren't any different.

Arnold forcibly put his shoulder back into its socket and grunted.

The attack wasn't strong but the sheer speed was enough to knock his arm out of its socket.

This monster's speed might be on par with Arnold's speed. If it's this fast, how strong is it at full power?

It's best if Arnold is the one who aggros the enemy while Vatria and the others chip away at its HP.

The three of them wouldn't even last a few minutes alone.

"I want the three of you to support me. I'm going to try to keep its focus on me. Use your strongest skills."

"Who made you the leader!?" Kellene shouted at him and tried approach the monster with her longsword unsheathed.

Arnold looked at her. She went "eek" when she saw his expression. She timidly backed away from him.

"…Are you sure, Arnold? You're going to be in the most danger…" Vatria asked.

Arnold faced the enemy again, "All I want is the divine beast's heart. But I know this thing won't let me go that easily."

He didn't grab Luxtivin. He approached the enemy with only his clenched fists.

He didn't notice it before but the enemy was two heads taller than him.

It smirked while looking down at him.

He smirked back.

Arnold jumped at that moment with his left knee raised up high. It was so fast that his jump didn't make a sound, only the grass blew slightly from the wind emitted by his jump.

The monster tried to back away but Arnold turned his body around in mid-air to go for a full kick. His foot was covered in his aura.

The monster blocked the attack with its arms.

That happened in just 2 seconds. It responded to the kick in nearly half the amount of tine.

Now then, how long will it take to counterattack?

1… 2…

!!

The tentacle behind its head tried to wrap itself around Arnold's body. Arnold jumped through the opening at the top, narrowly avoiding his body from possibly being crushed.

2 seconds again.

Arnold charged at it with his fists covered in aura.

However, instead of attacking, he moved out of the way.

"Kh?" the monster looked at him in confusion. However, a lance went through its chest in the next moment, "Nuah!?"

"Vatria, use divine power!" Arnold shouted at the owner of that lance.

"Right!" a large amount of divine power surrounded Vatria's lance.

The monster's mouth glowed in a golden light before it exploded into chunks of slime.

"Eh!? We beat it!?" Kellene shouted in disbelief.

'I'd like to believe that but…'

·        Starborn

·        Level: ???

Its status window was still floating above the chunks that was once its body.

"Attack together before it regenerates!" Arnold shouted.

All three gave an affirmation and activated their skills at the same time.

The next moment a powerful unified beam of divine energy shot at the chunks of slime.

Arnold hurriedly got out of the way.

An explosion soon resulted from that beam of energy.

Surely, that was enough?

'No.' Arnold grabbed Luxtivin and surrounded it in 40% of his aura.

He held it up to the sky and shouted the name:

"[Storm of the Water Dragon]!"

A massive blue water dragon shot out of his armament into the sky. The blueish shine from its scales were even brighter than the sun. 

Arnold swung down Luxtivin. The power behind the swing was heavy since he was using most of his aura to summon the skill.

Another devastating explosion followed when the dragon hit the ground.

Since divine power was already used to weaken it, the Faceless should be vulnerable to most attacks.

Arnold jumped in the air and pulled back both arms.

A fiery blaze surrounded his forearms. He also coated his arms in aura.

Combining both Aura Blasts and Flaming Gauntlets, a stronger skill is born.

The beam of fiery blue and red shot towards the ground with almost the same ferocity of his water dragon.

Again, an explosion shook the forest.

Arnold landed next to Vatria and the others. He noticed that they were looking at him silently.

"What is it?"

"…Uhm, it's just… Was it really necessary to do all of that…?" Vatria smiled wryly, "I feel like we're destroying the environment for nothing…"

"It's something that's necessary to ensure it doesn't escape. Also," Arnold looked at the system screen, "that was seemingly not enough to kill it."

·        Starborn

"""Eh!?"""

"Get ready for round 2. Remember we need to hold it off until Yorm gets here."

Arnold's warrior sense screamed at him to dodge, so he jumped up just as the ground split open, sending a gigantic pike straight at him.

Seeing that, he used the flat end of his armament to change its trajectory, sending it into the air, piercing the clouds above.

Even more of them shot out of the ground. It seems the enemy considers him a bigger threat than the girls.

'Bring it on, you fucker.'

Arnold made eye contact with Vatria just before the pikes reached him. He was too far to relay his thoughts to her so he hoped that she would get it just by his gaze alone.

Miraculously, she nodded and told the other two to gather around her.

Arnold parried another pike, sending it crashing into the forest.

It seems the monster wasn't actually aiming in directly at him, only in his general direction. It probably wasn't capable of doing something like that.

'To gauge my opponent's level, I'll need to keep on fighting,' they'll appear in the later arcs anyway, 'What kind of moves, skills and magic do they use? This is my chance to find out.'

Also, he'll be able to rank them all in the future should he meet another one.

Dozens of those pikes shot at him at once after he parried three more pikes.

He let go of Luxtivin and pulled back both arms.

"Huup!"

A force of aura was send flying at the pikes, blowing them back onto the ground. Arnold then aimed his left arm behind him and let out another Aura Force, propelling him downwards at incredible speeds.

He coated his right arm in aura after he span around three times to build up momentum.

Thankfully the monster didn't send more pikes at him.

Arnold punched the ground so hard that most of the trees were blown away. The ground was obliterated from the sheer force of his physical strength. He felt himself hit something.

"Huup!" he punched the ground again, producing a smaller but powerful shockwave again.

He punched again.

And again.

And again.

By now there was a crater from that alone.

Something appeared next to him.

The monster's face was near his face.

"Tch!" He swung his arm but the monster caught it with one hand.

He then jumped up and kicked with his left leg. The monster then let go of his arm with incredible speed. Arnold smirked.

From this action, he could tell that the monster had low defense which scales way below its insanely high physical strength and speed.

Arnold then teleported behind it and punched its lower back—no, a hole opened at the spot he was aiming for.

'What the—' he quickly pulled out his hand and jumped back.

The hole then closed.

 'It has incredible physical strength, speed, it can regenerate its body even if it's destroyed into pieces, it can distort its body at will… Is that all it can do? I'm assuming those pikes were a part of its body that quickly regenerated. If it's natural then it should've been smaller by now from manifesting those pikes.'

Arnold grabbed Luxtivin.

'I'll tank a few hits then test its speed and physical strength.'

He needed to know how strong its physical attacks are so that he can decide if it's best to evade or tank its hit.

He wouldn't be doing this if he wasn't testing its capabilities. Tanking hits as a warrior for no reason is idiotic to say the least.

You're only letting your enemy chip away at your health. Things would be different if he used a shield.

'Should I use Storm's Demise or keep using my soul sword?'

The reason for this is to test if it is more vulnerable to slash or bludgeoning.

Seeing as how it's a slime-type monster… the latter seems more likely.

What about magic…?

'Hmm…' Arnold remembered the scroll he bought from the merchant, 'All types of slimes are weak to fire and ice magic in the game…' but he knows that he shouldn't compare this thing to an E-rank monster.

'First test: slashing damage.'

Arnold charged at the monster. Several tentacles came out of its body, took the form of sharp blades and flew towards him.

Arnold versus "the Faceless"… He wasn't confident in killing it on his own to get its XP but at the very least he'll hold it off until Yorm gets here.