'This feeling,' he mused as the waves of buff started to overlap, making him stronger.
He could feel himself being recharged, restored, and growing stronger with every buff she coated him with each second.
Holding his sword felt different now as he overflowed with energy.
Now, both he and Larkers engaged in a staring competition, waiting and watching for the first attack.
Even though Larkers had an advantage in numbers, they were wary of him. That's why they circled him instead of attacking instantly.
His display of power, where he killed one of them in a single move, made them wary, refraining from going wild instantly. Even monsters had an instinct to sense danger.
They engaged in a battle of patience, staring into each other's eyes, as the one who made the first move would lose.
Despite the crazy strong buffs, he was currently on the losing side, and he acknowledged that more than anyone. He knew defeating them all was impossible for him at the moment.
'It's my luck that made them wary of me,' he thought as their silent battle continued.
He had no intention of immersing himself in this battle solely for the sake of gaining experience. His goal was to create an opening and flee instantly at that moment.
From every perspective, he was on the losing side. He wasn't more powerful than them, lacked the numbers to defeat them, and couldn't handle them coming at him together.
The best he could probably do was to execute one big, loud, fancy attack that would distract them for a second and allow him to get away as fast as possible.
*creak*
Despite their instinctual caution, they couldn't resist the urge to kill him and make the first move. One of them launched himself at him.
Instantly, its claw was only feet away from his throat, and if it touched his neck, there wouldn't be a neck left—just a headless decoration.
'Close!'
At the right moment, just a few inches from his neck, he dodged when he noticed. His ability to dodge was enhanced by the buff she had given him.
Expressing his gratitude, he swung his sword, piercing the creature's belly with precision.
Due to its agility, the monster easily turned around and deflected his sword with its claws.
*Swif*
As one of them showed the courage to attack him, others weren't here to watch and entertain themselves. Without hesitation, they joined the fight, rushing in to engage him.
'Fuck!'
Now, the situation had turned for the worse as all the Larkers attacked him from every direction.
In the midst of their airborne assault, he made a risky move, ducking down and distancing himself through the space between them and the ground.
He successfully escaped their encirclement and put some distance between himself and them.
'Let me go, bro!'
Distancing himself from them meant little since they could close the gap with a single leap, and they did. That's what he was waiting for, and luckily, it happened just as he predicted.
'Thank you, dumbfucks!' he smirked cunningly, having a plan in mind.
He did have a plan in his mind, and it was pretty simple. He intended to prepare an aura blast much bigger than before. The challenge, however, was that he needed to condense mana for it, which took about half a minute. During that time, he wouldn't be able to make any quick movements, so he needed someone to distract the Larkers.
Luckily, he had a solution to this problem, and it wasn't Rie, as she had made it clear she wouldn't interfere unless he was about to die. His solution lay within his inventory.
He brought it out from his back pocket, and it was a stun grenade. By its design, it looked like a stress ball, but it was a long-radius and powerful stun grenade. Using this stun grenade would ideally give him about a minute to prepare for his biggest aura blast, almost double the time he needed to condense enough aura for a powerful explosion.
Quickly, he brought the stun grenade closer to the edge of his mouth, pulled out its pin with his teeth, and spat it on the ground.
*Tak* *talk*
After waiting for a few seconds, he threw it onto the ground where he stood and moved back further as it was still in midair as they were going to be in his place there.
*Bang*
With an ear-ripping sound and a blinding flash, the stun grenade blasted, stunning the Lurkers. They howled and went on a rampage in confusion and panic, unable to hear or see anything due to the stun grenade. Lloyd was also within its radius, but he had already taken preventive measures, closing his eyes and covering his ears with his pinkies before it hit the ground and exploded.
Blinded and deafened, the Lurkers went on a rampage, panicking in confusion. They started running into each other, ruining their coordination and causing them to attack one another. Like hungry beasts, they bit and ripped flesh from each other's bodies, engaging in frenzied infighting.
That gave him a sense of relief as they were fighting amongst themselves, severely damaging each other. Like wild animals without any leader to guide them, they couldn't differentiate between allies and enemies. The stun grenade also emitted a smell that blocked their sense of smell, making them truly blind. As a result, they continued to kill each other for the next minute.
"If it continues like that, I won't even have to fight. They'll end up defeating themselves before I make a move," he mused, a hint of wry amusement and surprise in his tone.
Not even he expected it to work out so well. He had only anticipated them freezing, but the chaotic frenzy was the cherry on top of the cake.
However, it was only half of his plan. Although he had gained more than he expected, he had yet to execute the second step of his plan.
*****