"It's recognizably slower... well, you win some you lose some. I can live with that much."
The young shrugged his shoulders, releasing his soul artifact and continuing the walk toward the exit...
"SCWEEEE!" "SCWEEE!" "SCWEEE!" "SCWEEEE!" "SCWEEEEE!" "SCWEE!" "SCWEEEE!" "YIIIIIIIP!" "SCWEEE!" "GHAHYOOON!" "SCWEEE!" "SCWEEEE!" "SCWEEEEE!" "SCWEE!" "YIIIIIIIIIIIP!" "SCWEEE!" "SCWEEEE!" "SCWEE!" "SCWEE!"
While Viria had his back turned on the area, a bunch of monsters came running from different tunnels at the same time – their screeches mixed into a loud cacophonic roar, but it still was possible to recognize that some of them were different.
"...!"
And when Viria turned around he saw exactly what the differences were – amongst a bunch of mole-rabbit there were at least two mole-foxes, and further in the back was a third type of monster that the young man never managed to encounter before.
It was on the back not because it was trying o use the other monsters as a meat shield, but plainly because it was too slow to keep up with them on its short, stubby legs. But what the creature lacked with a speed, it definitely make up with the ridiculous size of its jaws.
The slowest monster was also the one that was hardest to compare to an actual animal, mostly because of its quite ridiculous appearance.
The best way to describe it would be – a children's drawing of a very dangerous dog.
Jaws at least twice as big as its body, bulbous eyes on both sides of it, and a small but bulky short black-fur-covered torso with four stumbly legs – that still were geared with sturdy black claws perfect for digging in the rocky ground.
Whenever the creature opened its mouth to let out a particular howl, the inside of its mouth was revealed – its teeth were in different shades of brown and gray, a palette that blended splendidly with the ground and walls of the first-floor monster spawning area.
And when the monster was opening its mouth – it was really opening them – whatever muscles and tendons were at work there, it allowed the creature a full one-hundred and eighty degrees range of movement.
That feature was also directly connected to the reason why the particular beast didn't need to be fast on its feet.
Just like a mole-fox, it was an ambush hunter...
"Mole-rabbits, mole-foxes, and a mole-trap?! Boss! It's fine – no new floor bosses in sight! I will hold them back, you retreat first!"
Lithsar didn't stay on the ground for long, the moment she heard the roars she jumped back up on her feet and quickly assessed the situation, recognizing the beasts rushing at them, and summoning her soul artifact – a sturdy-looking short spear.
*WHOOOSH*
"Eh...?! BOSS?!"
But then Viria passed her without a moment of hesitation, running head-first towards the danger with the prison shiv in a backward grip in his right hand and his left hand wrapped with the beaten-up skin of a mole rabbit clenched into a fist.
*WHAM* *CRUNCH* *CRUNCH* *CRUNCH*
With a single left hook, the young man caused the spine of the closest mole-rabbit to crack – but instead of finishing the attack there, Viria continued the motion, and with the body of the fallen monster as some oversized glove, he hit and broke the necks of two next monsters that had the misfortune of aligning themselves with the first victim...
*SHIIIIIIIIING*
"SCWEEEEGHHH...!" "SCWEEEHHH...!" "SCWEEEGH...!" "SCWEEEEFGH...!" "SCWEEEEEH!..." "SCWEEGH!..." "SCWEEEEGHGHGH...!"
Without stopping the momentum Viria twisted his body and swung his soul artifact around, not actually killing any of the monsters, but managing to severely wound two mole-rabbits and at least graze the next five.
"SCWEE...! Eeeeggfffhhh...!"
But the severity of the wound did not matter for the skill that singlehandedly pushed the prison shiv into the middle rank of soul artifacts – bleeding.
Even if the wound was just a scratch, the ridiculously overpowered status effect – the streams of blood gushing out of the seven wounded mole-rabbits mixed together with the blood of the victims of Viria's earlier rampage.
The wounded beast stood no chance and even the lightest wounded ones became slugi=gish and lethargic in no time, eliminating them from the fight.
*WHAM*
"YIIPFGH!"
…a fight that continued without stopping, with the young man standing up and uppercutting a mole-fox that tried to jump on his back and tore open his neck.
"Huh? Tougher than before."
Viria scoffed in anger, seeing the monster backflip in the air and land, merely shaking its head in response to the punch it received.
*SHING*
"YIIIP?!"
With his back looking as vulnerable and not guarded as possible, the other mole-fox took the gamble and pounced at the young man – a mistake it paid for by getting slashed with the prison shiv in the abdomen.
*splurt*
The injured mole-fox landed in front of Viria and immediately started running to the side – but as it did, the flood of blood came gushing out of its abdomen. The crimson liquid was escaping the body of a mole-fox so fast that it caused the originally not lethal wound to burst open and eject the intestines from the unfortunate creature's stomach.
'YIIIIIIIIIP!"
*SHING*
The first mole-fox jumped over to help its comrade but paid for it by getting its head sliced clean off of its torso with a decisive movement.
*WHAM* *CRUNCH* *WHAM* *CRUNCH* *WHAM* *CRUNCH* *SHING* *SHING* *WHAM* *CRUNCH*
Just as the voices of the monsters emerging from the tunnels before became a mighty roar, the sound of the six remaining mole rabbits getting eviscerated by Viria's fist and blade all melted together into a blood-chilling symphony.
*WHAM* *CRUSH*
"GHA...?!" *CHOMP*
Only when Viria finished off the suffering mole-fox with its guts hanging out, the slowest monster of the group – the mole-trap - realized that there was something wrong and its body reacted to how it was created – shut the bear-trap-like jaws of its close and think what to do next later.
Its reaction speed was lightning fast, but the movement of every single muscle and tendon in its body that wasn't meant for controlling the mechanism of the massive jaws was rather weak and definitely not meant to accommodate any last-moment reactions.
Suddenly coming to a stop after it reached its maximum speed wasn't easy for a creature that was comically not adjusted for running, and its weight distribution became its downfall.