Caught by surprise at Casanova's sudden loud scream, Draken hurriedly tried to cover his mouth with a hand. Alas, he was a little bit too late to do so and must now suffer the consequences.
"Crap! You freaking stupid, loud-mouthed idiot!"
When they heard another commotion happening behind them, the entire expedition team once again halted in their tracks. And as expected, a bellow full of spite came from Tunok the Tikbalang afterwards.
"Alright, that it! I've f***ing had it with you two screeching dumb cunts! I'm gonna come over there and kick your—"
Just when Tunok was about to menacingly walk towards them, he abruptly stood rooted on the spot stunned, as he was completely caught off guard by what transpired next. Like a flash of lightning, a hulking Tikbalang moved in front of Draken and Casanova, then sent out a powerful sweeping roundhouse kick.
"Puh!"
"Guha…!"
With no chance to react, they were both cleanly flung away at the same time by that single slug. Then, the both of them crashed into a tree and threw up blood before sliding down pathetically to the ground.
"B-Boss Gaius!" Tunok gasped.
That's right, the one who easily struck down Draken and Casanova was none other than the leader of the Tikbalang group—Gaius.
"…Ah, sh-sh* t! Cough, cough…! Ptui!"
Casanova violently retched as he spitted out the blood from his mouth and then wiped it off with his arm. Thereafter, he looked up from his sitting position and gave a hard glare to the person responsible for suddenly kicking him and his pal Draken.
"What the hell was that for, bub?"
"Nothing much. I'd just decided to get rid of a couple of nuisances from our expedition."
"Hahaha! F**k… Is that so?"
Casanova couldn't help but let out a boisterous laugh because of how angry he was feeling. In return, Gaius replied to him without a change of expression,
"Yeah, but don't you worry. It won't take that long at all."
As if wanting to demonstrate that what he said is the truth, Gaius brandished the axe that was on his shoulder. The humungous axe, which was just about as big as its wielder, gave off a piercing cry when it was made to chop down at a rapid speed.
"Son of a b**ch!"
Casanova somehow managed to quickly dodge out of the way by rolling over to the side in a clumsy display.
BOOM!
From where the huge axe hit the ground, debris flew everywhere while some battered onto Casanova's bruised body. He hurriedly curled himself up and tried to block a portion of the damage as much as he could using his arms. After that, he jumped backward and casted offensive magic aimed at the Tikbalang to repay his attack in kind.
"Blasted Flames!"
Casanova landed steadily on the ground and pushed his hands out in front of him. Subsequently, burning hot fire started pouring out of his palms like a stream as the element directed all of its temper towards Gaius.
"Earthen Fortification!"
With a stomp of his hoof, a thick wall erected from the ground and defended against the deadly flames.
"Hmph! Your puny ember can't even reach me, buffoon."
"Boss, behind you! Watch out!"
"Huh?"
Numerous bats swiftly flew over to his back unbeknownst to him, then suddenly transformed into the figure of a bloodthirsty vampire.
"Petrifying Bite!"
Draken materialized in an instant and dug his sharp fangs into Gaius' neck, discharging paralytic toxins in the process.
"Uhh…! I-I can't move!"
Not being able to maintain his Earthen Fortification any longer due to being paralyzed, the thick wall crumbled to pieces as a result, and raging flames came barreling forward later.
"AHHHH!!!"
He was directly consumed by fire; an endless amount of it. Casanova never stopped and didn't let up his Blasted Flames for a second, even when his mana was close to depleting.
"Ora! Get burned and roasted to a crisp, you horsesh*t! You really think you're the stuff just because you've reached level 7, huh?!"
"You bastard! You actually dare to attack our boss?! Take this!"
"Tch!"
Unfortunately, his barrage of flames needed to be canceled since an axe was coming in his direction, and he had to get out of the way or else die from a bloody headshot to the skull.
On the other hand, Gaius their leader was saved just in time from burning to death. He got down on one knee and was panting heavily like he was out of breath. Nevertheless, his equine eyes were leering straight at his perpetrator with malicious intent. He got back up to his feet and was just about ready to wreak havoc when everybody heard a reproachful yell.
"Everyone, stop what you're doing!"
Consequently, all eyes turned to the person who was yelling such a thing. Standing with a straight back and an air of confidence around him was a pale red-colored youth who had ferocious eyes and razor teeth.
"Young Master Valedd!"
When the players realized who it was that ordered them to stop, they immediately did so and got down on one knee to pay respect—that included Gaius, Draken, and Casanova.
"What the hell do you think you lousy subordinates are doing?! Do you plan to rebel and ruin our expedition here?! If so, then I will have the entire Aswang clan of Nebuchadnezzar hunt you down and lop off your heads!"
"N-No! O-Of course not, Young Master Valedd! Excuse my rudeness, but this subordinate of yours was just trying to clean up a couple of trash that was in the way of our expedition. Yes, they were a cause of bother and delay time and time again! As such, they needed to be taught a harsh lesson."
"Hoh? And where do you get off saying that, Gaius?! It was you and your horse lackeys that acted out first and wanted to start a fight! We merely reciprocated in order to defend ourselves."
Hearing this horse attempting to muddy the waters, Draken immediately spoke up to refute his claim. Hence, as a result, the atmosphere was once more filled with murderous intentions as the five players were eyeing each other hatefully.
"I said enough! You five, this is not the purpose of why I've brought you here! I have explicitly given all of you the job to protect me while I go out to hunt demonic beasts and gain experience. Not to cause a racket, and what's more, infighting! Am I understood?!"