In front of the group stood a Monster more than twenty meters tall.
The fur on its body was black.
Its two sturdy-looking white horns were embedded deep inside a Minotaur's stomach.
The Monster lifted its head and the Minotaur's whole body with it.
It shook its head sideways and the bloody Minotaur was launched away.
'What is it?'
[A Higher Minotaur: A [C-] Rank Monster.]
'Kalès, you know what to do.'
The Underling started running towards the Higher Minotaur.
He was noticed immediately.
Kalès swung his battle-ax at the Monster's leg.
The Higher Minotaur did not bother dodging.
Instead, it punched down towards Kalès.
Its reaction speed was very high.
Which already told Mark all he needed to know.
'Dodge.'
The Underling barely managed to jump back.
As the Monster's fist hit the floor, cracks appeared all over it.
Drops of blood were going down Kalès' shoulder as the Higher Minotaur had grazed him.
'This guy... Is strong!' Mark thought with shiny eyes.
'Kira, Light. Get him.'
The next instant, the Higher Minotaur's leg was wounded and a huge Fire Ball hit its back.
Its whole back was now burnt, but the injuries were not fatal in the least.
The Higher Minotaur turned towards its strongest opponent, Kira.
It roared loudly.
So loudly and ferociously that the echoing roar made Mark's arm shake for a moment.
The next instant, its foot was cut off.
The Higher Minotaur lost its balance and fell to the ground.
As it directed its gaze towards its wounded leg, it noticed that Kalès was in the air about to swing his weapon at its head.
The Monster quickly pushed Kalès away with an open hand.
Even though it wasn't a punch, the push had great strength.
Kalès was launched away and rolled on the ground until he hit a wall.
'Mm. It's very strong. Not strong enough to pose a problem by itself though...'
Suddenly, the Monster felt something hot going down its neck.
Its own blood was dripping down its body.
The Shadow Wolf Light had used a combination of Shadow Transfer, Surprise Attack and Shadow Betrayal to slash the Monster's neck multiple times.
Before the Higher Minotaur could understand what was happening, a Lightning Bolt hit its uninjured leg.
The Monster lost that leg.
The next instant, Kalès, who had recovered, cut the Higher Minotaur's head off.
Massive amounts of blood spurted.
'...'
Droplets of the red blood fell on Mark's arm.
He raised his arm towards his face.
The blood's smell made Mark's eyes widen.
His heart started beating faster.
The blood was hot.
Steaming.
Mark licked the droplets off his arm.
'I shouldn't...'
Hunger-
Mark walked towards the Higher Minotaur's body.
'I'll have... plenty of opportunities...'
Mark controlled himself and revived the Monster.
'Welcome to the team. If there aren't stronger Minotaurs around here, you'll probably stay for a while. Tor should do it as a name.'
The new Underling stood up.
Its black fur became red, and its white horns black.
'Show me his status.'
[ Name: Tor
Species & Level : Abyssal Higher Minotaur Lv1 (0/6000Exp)
HP: 5600/5600
Endurance: 2500/2500
Stats: Strength: 123
Agility: 41
Sense: 34
Vigor: 560
Endurance: 250
Skill(s): War Shout.
]
'War Shout... That was the intimidating roar he let out. Good.'
A bit later, Tor was armed with a truly huge mace made with the bones of another Higher Minotaur.
He also had armor made with the same bones.
...
With the addition of Tor to the group, advancing through the Eighth Floor got even faster.
As each enemy gave 1000 to 3000 Experience Points, leveling up got easier.
After a while, a message appeared as Mark was devouring a Higher Minotaur.
[Evolution is available.]
'Nice. Show me the options.'
[You can evolve into:
1) Elite Abyssal Minotaur .
2) Unique Abyssal Lower Minotaur.
3) Abyssal Smilodon.
]
'Shit... Smilodon? That's some kind of ancient tiger, right? I really want to evolve since I'm missing an arm, but I'll have to wait some more. I can't even evolve into a Higher Minotaur. Even if I could, those aren't the most agile and they're too big.'
The group continued their advance until the way split in two.
Previously, the way was nothing more than a very wide tunnel.
But now, the group could either continue forward or take the slightly narrower tunnel on their left.
'I don't even know which one leads to the Guardian. Not that I'm eager to get there... I'd rather get stronger and Evolve before that.'
Mark decided to take the left tunnel.
'Let's explore, I guess? I don't have a map, but the smaller tunnel probably won't lead to the Guardian.'
The tunnel was narrower, but Kira could still walk in with no problem.
The group entered.
'Huh...'
The skeletons of Higher Minotaurs were everywhere.
After a bit, Light stopped walking forward.
'What's up?'
He started growling.
'Mm. I can't sense anything at all...'
Light had the highest Sense Stat of the group, therefore, he was often the first one to notice the enemies.
After walking forward a bit more, Mark could finally see the Monster that stood in his way.
It was a bit smaller than Kira.
Its body was covered with golden fur.
The Monster had six long and muscular arms.
Its head left Mark perplexed.
'The head... Of a goat? What is that??'
[Calamity Of Minos: [C] Rank Monster.]
'Its strength is probably-'
Mark's thoughts were interrupted as the Monster suddenly sprinted towards the group without wasting a second.
Mark used the skeletons around him to shoot spikes at the incoming Monster.
It used one of its six arms to protect itself.
Kira, who stood at the front, shot a Lightning Bolt that was easily dodged.
The Monster stood in front of Kira.
It used two of its arms to punch the Underling with all its strength.
The punches hit Kira's neck.
Even though his neck was protected by the golden armor made with an Esteemed Crab King's shell, Kira threw up a bit of blood.
'Strong...'
Nevertheless, Kira countered by biting the Monster's neck.
The Abyssal Thunder Chimera did its best to stop the enemy from moving.
While he only managed to stop it for a handful of seconds, it was enough for Mark to shoot two Corrupting Javelins that hit the Monster's side and for Light to slash its legs multiple times.
The Calamity broke free and jumped back.
The next instant, Tor's huge mace quickly approached its side.
The Calamity Of Minos used two of its arms to stop the attack and a third arm to attack the enemy.
Tor was pushed back and his body hit Kira.
Mark's eyes widened at the Monster's strength.
The Calamity was looking for its next prey, when five thunderbolts flew towards it.
It raised its arms defensively, but this wasn't the type of attack that could be defended against this way.
'All of you, attack while it can't move!!'
Mark's Underlings immediately started attacking.
Kalès used his battle-ax to hit the Monster's leg.
Light used his "Shadow Betrayal" Skill to slash that same leg multiple times.
Kira shot three Lightning bolts.
The Calamity lost three arms and a portion of its right leg before it could move once more.
It immediately jumped back and stared at its enemies.
Its horizontal pupils dilated.
The Calamity Of Minos opened its mouth wide.
'What kind of Magic Skill is that?'
An orb of dark energy appeared in front of its open mouth.
The next instant, the ball was shot towards Kira.
'Tor! Protect Kira!'
The Higher Minotaur, more agile than the Chimera, managed to take the attack before it could reach Kira.
But to Mark's surprise,
[Your Underling has returned to the dead.]
'In... One hit...??'
As soon as the attack had touched Tor, the Abyssal Higher Minotaur's upper body turned into dust.
'Shit... Kill it! Kill it now!'
Thunderbolts, Conjuring Javelins and Fire Bombs rained down on the Calamity.
Light ran towards it without showing himself.
A big portion of the Monster's body was now burnt.
It stood on one leg, and only had two of its six arms left.
It was heavily throwing up black blood.
'Just a bit more!!' Mark thought as he shot another Conjuring Javelin.
The Calamity of Minos, feeling cornered, needed to use its strongest Skill.
A Magic Skill that consumed insanely high amounts of Mana.
A dark sphere appeared in front of the Calamity's mouth.
'Shit! Shit! Not Kira!!'
The Calamity of Minos aimed the sphere of dark energy at the biggest enemy to limit the chances of the attack missing.
Which of course, meant aiming at Kira.
But just before the attack was shot,
Slash-
A dark shadow had slashed the Calamity's right eye.
The Monster's aim was thrown off, and its attack hit the wall.
'Light... Nice. That was... Perfect!'
Mark and his Underlings went back on the offensive.
With relative ease, the Monster was defeated.
Probably because it hadn't used that dark energy again.
Maybe because it couldn't use that dark energy again?
[You have defeated The Calamity Of Minos. 6000 Gold Coins and 12.000 Experience Points earned.]
[You have leveled up!]
The stronger the Magic Skill, the more Mana Points it costs.