Nagao, who had overcome his trauma, saw the monster carcass he had subdued. His gaze settled in silence. However, a thin smile appeared on his face. It hinted at many meanings.
Not only that, but many notifications appear instantly...
[Side mission: kill The Goliath-Bulldog Bear.] (1/1)
[You've gained +300 exp and +300 stat points.] (1/1)
...
[Collect some exp points to level up your level.] (95/100)
Nagao wanted to check more about the notification that appeared. However, the applause sound distracted his desire to check those notification boards...
*Plak* *Plak* *Plak!*
"What A soul-stirring life-and-death battle!" Someone gave a speech while clapping.
Nagao immediately turned and realized the figure that greeted him just now...
"Hoho~, not replying to my words? Your attitude is so cold compared to before. Is this... the effect of eating monster meat? So you lose your mind because of it? Hahahaha!"
However, Nagao only silently heard his words. Shot up with a sharp gaze. Nagao's hands tightly gripped the dagger handle. His jaw tightened, and his facial muscles tensed became his physical reactions that showed at this moment...
"Hm? Answer when spoken to, lowly creature! Are you starting to become mute—," When Oliver hadn't finished speaking, Nagao dashed to Oliver and received a wound on his left cheek—"?!!" Oliver displayed a shocked reaction clearly.
The long incision wound from the cheek until the neck occurred as a result of Nagao's attack. Oliver, who panicked, kicked Nagao's solar plexus hard.
*Thud!*
"Urggh—," Nagao showed a queasy expression—"Brghh!" Nagao hardly struggled to hold back his urge to vomit.
Both of them had kept their distance. In their minds, only one thought is definite...
(Destroy it before It gets destroyed!) They ran to start the attack.
*Tang!*
The weapons clanked each other. Every swing until the movement they made is fast and fierce...
*Swoosh!* *Tang!* *Swoosh!* *Tang!* *Krrk!*
"Your movements... everything has been seen! Your attacks this time are completely useless, you lowly creature!" Oliver blocks Nagao's attack. "However, a communal being like you should be appreciated for daring to injure me. Be proud and enjoy your rotten death fate, dipshit!"
"A guard dog that couldn't kill its prey is just a rotting pile of carcasses!" Nagao immediately blocked Oliver's follow-up attack. "You'd better die while bearing your shame of failure!"
Nagao's sudden attack dived sharply to stab Oliver's right shoulder...
*Shrock!*
"AAARRRRGGHH!" Oliver screamed in pain.
Nagao's stab went deep until the dagger blade entered his scapula muscle completely. In response, Oliver stabbed Nagao's right thigh...
*Shrrock!*
"Urgh!" Nagao endured his pain.
Oliver's stab penetrated Nagao's thigh backside. After drawing his sword, Oliver tried to cut off Nagao's head. When Oliver tried to slash Nagao's head from right to left from his perspective, Nagao executed a sweeping kick aimed at Oliver's ankle. Even though his right thigh was injured, Nagao endured pain while carrying out the attack. The swift attack was successfully carried out, and Oliver fell to the ground...
*Thud!*
Nagao had trouble getting to his feet. On the other hand, Oliver stood up slowly. He then commented,
"Insolent! You rancid creature! How dare a lowly person like you hurt me!" Oliver walked towards Nagao while pulling out the embedded dagger. Blood came out from his body without stopping. His expression was already very annoyed. "After the falling incident and the fight against Goliath for the first time, I intended to kill you earlier. However, realizing your life signs were gone, I undo my intention—," Oliver recalled the previous incident where he checked Nagao's neck pulse—"However, when gotten info that you were still alive, it sounded impossible at first. But, guess what, what did I find here? A rotten cockroach that rose from the dead. You're trying to become the undead, huh?!"
Nagao, who had just glanced around, noticed someone running towards him. Realizing that, he smiled sinisterly and said,
"Not a bad nickname for a guard dog that failed to execute its prey!"
Oliver immediately aimed at Nagao with his Sword-Power-up-Rifle as he said,
"Bastard! Die—," Before he could shoot him, Oliver's body collided hard—"Arghh!" He was thrown and bounced several meters to the side.
"Both of you took late time to come here!" Nagao sighed, realizing both persons were present before him.
"More precisely, on time, you stupid!" Said A woman irritated.
"Brat! We'll take care of this one. Better you rest than nothing!" Said a man wearing jet-black armor with a large sword.
"Alright!" Nagao stood up slowly through his pain. Realizing this, Adolph and Mr. Schmidt helped Nagao to his feet. After Nagao was able to stand up, both of them started to attack the enemy.
The two-against one-battle begins. Even though they attacked simultaneously, Oliver could keep up with their attack movements. Even Oliver could give some deadly attacks. Luckily, with alertness, those attacks could be avoided by them...
*Swoosh!* *Tang!* *Krrkk!* *Swoosh!*
Gold chance got by them. They intended to kill Oliver concurrently when Adolph aimed his head while Mr. Schmidt aimed his feet. But when they wanted to slash from both different sides, Oliver performed an unusual maneuver...
*Tap!* *Swoosh!*
Oliver spun his body in the air. In that momentum, he lifted his chest and legs into the air. He also controlled both arm swings so that his shoulders rotated and pulled his arms inward. All the maneuvers that he did in once.
"What the fuck with that move?!" Adolph exclaimed in frustration as her attack failed to materialize.
Nagao displayed a surprised expression. Even so, Mr. Schmidt just didn't react. When Mr. Schmidt wanted to punch Oliver's face...
*Tang!*
Oliver blocked Mr. Schmidt's fist with the dagger side-blade supported by his left hand. On a different side, Adolph, who saw an opening, immediately executed a left side kick aiming for his waist...
*Swoosh!*
Oliver, who was aware of her attack, kicked Mr. Schmidt backward and caught Adolph's leg. Oliver, who caught her leg, intended to punch Adolph's face with his left hand. Realizing Oliver's attack, Adolph took off her prosthetic leg and did a quick mid-air armlock...
*Swoosh*
Her fast armlock nearly broke his hand. Even so, he didn't lose his mind by slamming Adolph to the ground...
*Bam!*
Despite being slammed to the ground, Adolph reflexively protected her neck. Unfortunately, due to her previous action, her armlock loosened, and Oliver instantly freed himself. As Oliver attempted to punch Adolph's face with his right hand, he was prevented by Mr. Schmidt's powerful kick to his face...
*Bam!*
Oliver bounced away several meters because of it.
On the other hand, the morning wind blew fiercely, directed towards Oliver. Nagao, who noticed this, remembered something...
'... Embrace the invisible trail, guided by elusory clues, and forsaking earthly waypoints.'
Realizing this memory, Nagao began to take out a grenade from Storage. He wrapped the grenade with one monster meat. Because its size is quite large, it could cover the body grenade. After doing that, he hurled it at Oliver...
*Swoosh* *Tap!*
The grenade was beside Oliver. Immediately, Nagao shouted,
"Adolph, Mr. Schmidt! Stay away from him!"
Hearing his words, the two of them were confused. As Nagao saw their reactions, he shouted again,
"Don't ask many questions! Get back here quickly, you idiots!"
Finally, Adolph took back her prosthetic leg, and they retreated backward. They didn't attack Oliver again. On the different side, Oliver, who had a broken nose, shouted,
"Come here, bastards! I'll kill you—," Instantly, a small explosion sound and smoke emerged from the meat thrown by Nagao—"?!!" Oliver was immediately shocked to see this incident.
He instantly grabbed that thing based on his curiosity. Reflexively, a puff smoke swiftly engulfed Oliver's senses at once. Suddenly, Oliver experienced disturbances in his senses...
"ARGGH!!!! HOT! SICK! MY EYES... MY NOSE... EVERYTHING! ARGGHHH!!!" Oliver screamed in pain.
Oliver even had to crawl on the ground due to not being strong with its puff smoke. Blood profusely came out from his shoulder, affecting his movement. Unfortunately, the smoke still approached him...
"Cough... cough!" Oliver started coughing loudly. In fact, his cough brought up blood. "DAMN IT! WHAT THE HECK IS THIS, ARGGHH!!" Oliver screamed furiously.
After several moments of Oliver amidst puff smoke, Oliver's skin was irritated all over his body. Continuously, a burning sensation and pain appeared on his skin. Even Oliver's whole body felt stiff, hot, to the point of itching...
"AARGH! IT HURTS! MY SKIN IS LIKE ON BURNING! AAARRGGHH!" Oliver roared with a scream of pain.
Witnessing the scene before her, Adolph commented,
"So this is what you meant earlier?! What kind of weapon did you get, dammit!"
"You creep me out!" Mr. Schmidt commented while looking at the scene before him.
"Whether you want it or not," Nagao answered in a curt tone. "I just defended myself."
Hearing his statement just now, Adolph and Mr. Schmidt looked at each other with thoughts of their own.
Not long after that statement, Oliver began to freeze and suddenly move uncontrollably. His body's response was uncontrollable for several moments, accompanied by an uncontrolled blood cough. Even Oliver had stammered,
"It hurts... my body... rigid... couldn't... move... ARGH!" Oliver screamed while coughing up blood.
Adolph could only turn her head away. Mr. Schmidt was speechless with a surprised look through his brows. As for Nagao, he was silent and watched this scene.
Time went on until Oliver's body stopped moving altogether. Simultaneously with that incident, many notifications from the status board appeared before them...
*Ding!* *Ding!* *Ding!* *Ding!* *Ding!*
Among the status boards that appeared, one notification board caught their attention...
[Congratulations! You've completed the Hidden mission, "Three Musketeers". This mission provides a special reward. Check the battle statistics data for view more.]
...
[Main mission stage 2 completed: triggering the conflict. View more.] (1/1)
"Eh...???" They all reacted similarly.