"Gah!"
Bayek's heavy body flew through the air and crashed into a nearby tree. Blood came out of his mouth as his limp body slid down to the ground.
"Bayek!"
Anne quickly cast [Heal] and helped him get up. While most of his injuries were gone thanks to the spell, he couldn't get rid of the fatigue.
His body trembled as he stood straight with the now cracked sword. Even though it was made from specialized iron ore which was famous for its durability, the blade was dangerously close to breaking.
"Anne... You run for the teleportation stone too. I'll hold back the snake."
"No."
Anne shot down the suggestion instantly and cast several buff spells on Bayek.
"The high-level buff skills are still in cooldown... If you can hold on for fifteen minutes, I can cast them again."
Anne said with a tired voice.
"Understood."
Bayek growled and positioned himself. His powerful legs gathered strength and pushed his body forward. Like an arrow, his body rushed towards the giant snake.
"Hah!"
His sword hit the head of the snake just as planned... But it broke almost immediately right after clashing with the scales. Bayek didn't panic.
Instead he used his momentum to get on the head of the reptile. With a loud warcry, he brought down the broken sword with all his strength.
The sharp edges of the broken blade pierced through the scales and hit the hard skull underneath. The snake hissed and shook its head to get the man off it, but Bayek was stubborn.
He pushed the sword deeper and held on tightly. The snake twisted in pain but couldn't do anything about it.
Frustrated, it suddenly turned its head around and smashed it to the ground.
"Fuck, it's going to smash me!"
Bayek barely moved out of the area before the head crashed into the ground. The boss took a lot of damage but it was still in decent condition.
On the other hand, Bayek's sword was broken and lost with the attack. His body was fatigued and large injuries couldn't be healed properly with low-level heals.
Anne was a non-combatant... Only Bayek had any chance of fighting back.
"Tsk... Is this how it ends?"
He sighed and suddenly jumped back. His burly hand wrapped around Anne's waist as he smiled.
"I... I am glad that I met you."
He said before turning away. His eyes focused on the snake before them.
"Come, you bastard."
The snake accepted the provocation with a hiss and slowly approached the two.
Just then.
"Master!"
An arrow came from behind the snake and pierced its head. It didn't do much damage, but it successfully took away its aggro.
"HISSSSS!"
The snake turned and looked at the two young people standing behind it.
"Lily! Drake! Why are you here?!"
Bayek despaired as he watched the snake move towards the two.
"Master Bayek! Master Anne! We came to save... No, fight with you!"
Lily said with a flushed face while Drake just smiled. Bayek belatedly noticed the weird expression on the boy's face.
"I feel like something's wrong..."
He thought as he watched the young warrior grab his sword.
"Die."
Drake suddenly smiled and dashed forward. Bayek couldn't believe his eyes. The speed Drake had achieved was much more than an A-ranker... It was almost equivalent to an S-rank Hunter.
In mere moments, Drake appeared beside the Snake and climbed up the scales. The snake moved to throw him off, but it was too slow compared to Drake.
The young warrior reached the top of the head of the boss and used a sword skill.
The skill was much more powerful than before, surprising Bayek further. The snake didn't stand a chance.
A bright crack appeared in the middle of its head before the entire head exploded. Flesh and blood scattered all over the place as the headless body fell to the ground. It soon turned into ashes and disappeared, leaving behind some gems and loot.
Drake softly landed in front of Bayek and bowed. Anne, who was behind him, looked surprised and relieved. However...
"Who... Who are you?"
Bayek wasn't happy. He was cautious and extremely suspicious of the young warrior in front of him.
"I am Drake, Master Bayek."
Drake looked confused but answered nonetheless.
Immediately after, a sharp punch hit his nose and his body was thrown back to the entrance of the cave where the teleportation stone was.
"W-what are you doing, Bayek?!"
Anne was angry at the sudden attack, but Bayek's glare shut her up.
"You aren't Drake! Drake wasn't so powerful before!"
The old Hunter growled as he picked up the broken blade from the ground. It had fallen off after the snake died.
"I'll beat you and get the information out of your mouth, you fucking imposter."
"W-wait, Master-"
"Shut up!"
Bayek dashed forward and slashed at Drake. The former knew that he was no match for the latter's raw strength... But he did it anyway. However... The result was surprising.
"Why aren't you defending?!"
Bayek hissed as he held the sword a few millimetres away from Drake's throat.
"I... How can I hold a sword against you, Master Bayek?"
"... Are you really Drake?"
Bayek furrowed his brows and asked. Just like the actual Drake, this guy didn't dare to fight Bayek. If he was really just an imposter, then why wouldn't he fight back?
Only Bayek and Drake knew that the latter never fought against the former due to stubbornly refusing to hold his sword against his master.
"I am. I don't know how... But my power increased suddenly when I visited the third floor of the dungeon."
"Third floor? Not first?"
"Yes... The teleportation stone only takes us to the third floor."
"Hah... Fine. I believe you."
Bayek removed his sword and extended his hand toward his disciple. Drake smiled and grabbed it to stand up.
"Master! Drake!"
Lily, who had been frozen in fear, finally approached the two with a relieved expression.
"Bayek... You are too short-tempered."
Anne said with a sigh before ruffling Drake's hair.
"I'm glad that you came back for us, Drake. Thanks."
The young warrior just smiled and shook his head before turning away from them.
"Masters, I don't think we can get out of this place via conventional means. Perhaps we have to clear all fifty floors before we can get out."
"... I see."
Bayek said nothing more and started walking.
"If we need to clear it, best start soon. Otherwise, we'll starve to death before clearing it."
The old Hunter was correct, and soon all four of them appeared on the third floor.
Here, Drake showed unbelievable power.
-------------------------------
"Kaaaahhhhh!"
With a scream, another ghoul was torn apart and soon turned to ashes. Drake retracted his sword and took a deep breath.
They were almost at the end of the third floor. Drake, who was leading the party, didn't seem tired even though he alone had been fighting for hours.-
"I-impressive..."
Even Bayek was shocked. Drake had told him that he had unlocked his true potential... But this was too much for the old Hunter.
At the same time, Bayek was also terrified and worried. If it was Drake, he could trust him with power... But if the power increased like this, then the young warrior would be consumed.
There had been many S-rankers and above who couldn't control their energy and were destroyed from inside. It was a fate crueller than death. Bayek wholeheartedly prayed that Drake wouldn't meet such an end.
"Master. Let's take this route."
Drake, without noticing his master's worried gaze, turned towards a small corridor to their right.
"But the boss room is in front of us?"
Bayek was more confused.
"Yes, Master. But even with my current strength, I'll not be able to defeat the boss monster... For that, all of you need to awaken your true powers too."
"Our... True powers?"
Lily murmured with shock.
"Yes, all of you can increase your strength like me if you want to. Master, let me show you the way?"
"Alright... We'll follow you."
They had no other choice. Without Drake, they would get annihilated.
Soon, they entered the narrow corridor and arrived at a room. As soon as the party stepped into the room, three gasps sounded.
All of their eyes were focused on the corpse in the middle.
"Isn't that... "
Bayek immediately recognized whose corpse it was and frowned.
"Axel Martinz. The E-rank Hunter."
Drake quietly muttered before looking at the people behind him.
"Master Bayek, you knew him, didn't you?"
"Yeah... I wouldn't say I knew him... More like I disliked him."
"You hated him so much that you didn't recover his corpse?"
Drake asked furrowing his brows. The old hunter shrugged.
"That was a unanimous decision by the townspeople. We didn't want to bring that lump of bad luck with us."
"Isn't that... Cruel?"
Drake said, his voice slightly shaking. No one noticed the trace of anger in his voice.
"Drake... I think Master is right. E-rank adventurers are the worst, they bring bad luck everywhere they go. Recovering a corpse from a dungeon also costs money and would be a waste for someone like that guy."
Lily said with a sad smile. Drake stared at her for a few moments before looking at Anne.
"Master Anne, you think so too?"
"You are asking me... ? Well, I agree that it was cruel, but also think that it was necessary."
"Huh... I see."
Drake turned away from them and stared at the corpse.
"Haha... Hahaha.... HAHAHAHAHA!"
A mad laugh escaped his mouth as he bent over laughing. Bayek, Anne and Lily took a step back in fear.
The current Drake... He had an extremely malicious aura around him. Vile energy was covering the young man's entire body... He almost felt like the embodiment of death.
As the three stared at him with horror, Drake's laugh suddenly stopped. He turned around and looked at them with his pitch-black eyes.
"I wanted to give you guys a chance but... You don't deserve my kindness."
The young warrior... No, the [Vengeful Spirit] brandished his sword and aimed it towards its enemies.