"What kind of monster are we fighting?" Gunther asked when he ran behind Alan. He held the war-scythe in his hands.
"Apparently, there is a monster going rogue around in the woods," Alan replied without looking back. "It has killed countless people, and no one has even scratched it."
"What?" Gunther reacted with his eyes expanded in shock. "Are you crazy? Why are we approaching it then? Shouldn't we get away from it?"
Alan didn't even react to his words and ran away. "Hey, wait!" Gunther called in anxiousness as he looked around. He feared being alone in the dense woods. "Wait," He looked and around and chased Alan again. "Stop for me."
…
"Hey, are you not scared of the monster?" Gunther asked in a shaky voice while he looked around and clasped the war-scythe against his chest.
Alan and Gunther were walking in the woods. The chirping of birds and the buzzing of cicadas played in the background.
"It must be nearby," Alan said and stopped his legs while looking around. Gunther stopped and looked around as well but he felt frightened a bit.
"It is so silent here. I can sense nothing around," Alan thought. He found it strange there was no sign of the creature anywhere. He could not hear its cries either. He felt it strange that there were no soldiers around as well.
"I think we should return to the academy. Why are we playing heroes here?" Gunther mentioned.
"You can turn back freely," Alan said without even looking at him. His eyes had unwavering sternness when he walked ahead into the deeper area of the forest.
Suddenly, they heard a loud deafening cry while they walked and also heard some clanking sounds as if pieces of metals clashed with each other. Alan increased his pace and headed towards the sound.
As soon as he reached an open area amidst the woods, he saw a few young men with weapons in their hands fighting a weird-looking multiple-armed gorilla-like creature. He noticed a familiar face among them as well.
"Oh, so they have sent the senior students to fight off the monster," He thought. He moved his gaze on the monster when it clashed with the senior students of the academy.
"It perfectly matches the description that soldier gave," He thought and looked at its tail that was full of spikes and had sharp-pointed endings. "So, I have to stay away from those tails."
A student with a war hammer in his hands landed a blow on its chest with a bang while he controlling the flow of his spiritual energy resulting in amplification of the impact. The creature went immobile for a few seconds.
"Did he get it?" Alan wondered.
"This is the chance," Marya said and jumped at the creature from behind with her sword raised behind her ears. Alan noticed some movement in the creature's pupils and understood there was something wrong.
"No, stay away!" He shouted before the creature moved three of its tails and attacked her from three directions: both of her sides and behind her back. Marya had raised her guard when Alan shouted and evaded the attacks by kicking the back of the creature and jumped aside to the left while twisting her body to dodge the tail that was coming towards her. After she landed on the ground, she jumped back and maintained a safe distance before noticing Alan and Gunther at a distance.
"What are you two doing here?" She asked when her eyebrows formed a scowl.
"We are here to fight the monster," Alan answered.
Gunther trembled when he looked at the monster. "Are we going to fight that thing?" He muttered.
"Yeah, we are," Alan said and pulled out his sword.
"You will only die," Marya mentioned before she evaded another tail. "A person with no spiritual energy cannot defeat this creature."
"I don't care," Alan said and sprinted towards the creature.
"No, wait!" Gunther cried but forced his hands to hold the weapon facing the front when Alan didn't listen.
"Idiot, he is still trying to act cool," Marya mumbled and sprinted towards the monster as well. "He doesn't know breaking a rock and defeating a monster is different."
Alan jumped at the creature while its tails spread like an umbrella behind its back and made itself look like a dancing peacock.
"This looks dangerous," He thought, but he was already in the air and there was no way to evade its attacks now. The creature planted its tails behind him from over his head and enveloped him inside. "Marya! Gunther! Everyone! Attack its neck!" He screamed.
They all had their senses awakened because of the scream, and they all jumped at the creature. But the monster was a step ahead of them. The tips of the tails it planted into the ground erupted out at a lightning speed from various places.
"What the hell," Marya blocked it with a clank and jumped back. They all somehow dodged or blocked its tails with Gunther dodging it by a hair.
The tips all went into the ground, and the creature pulled the tails out. They all witnessed that Alan held his sword horizontally and tried to push it against the monster while the monster held it as well and did the same from the two of its arms. The other two of its arms held Alan's waist and lifted him above the ground.
While he struggled, his sword snapped as the monster put too much pressure on it.
"Huh?"
The monster threw him aside, and while he was still in the air, it threw its tails at him.
"What the hell. This monster attacks when we are in the air," Alan thought while he watched those pointed endings of the tails approaching him. "Does it know we cannot change our direction in the middle of the air?"
When the tails were about to reach him, Marya pushed him aside while he was still in the air. They both rolled on the ground with Marya ending on top of him when they stopped.
"I never thought you would save me," Alan mentioned, making Marya open her eyes. "I thought you hated me enough to kill me."
She jumped up in a flash to stand and her cheeks got red when she came to know she was too close to a boy, but she didn't show it and glared at him.
"If you are going to be saved by someone, you are not fit for a battle. You will only get yourself killed," She said before she turned away to look at the monster that was busy fighting other students. "It is better for you to return to where you came from." She sprinted towards the monster after she spoke.
Alan stood up and smiled while he muttered, "Heh, this creature is on a whole other league. Mere students can't defeat it."
He knew they needed 'Demon' level warriors to deal with it. However, it was pointless to hope for anyone of that level to arrive. He knew he had to deal with it before it devoured other people.