"Damn, this corridor is too narrow!" complained the bald man as he stepped through the door.
The corridor they entered was so narrow that he and the nobleman couldn't walk side by side, forcing the nobleman to walk behind him.
"Considering who lives here, it doesn't even surprise me," snorted the nobleman.
AAAAAHHHH.....
Slowing his pace, the bald man sighed, "I really dislike this place."
"No one likes the place."
"Yeah, you are right," the bald one nodded and resumed his walk.
Soon, they passed by the narrow corridor and emerged in an immense circular chamber.
All over the chamber, there were several jails, each containing one or several monsters.
On the opposite side of the corridor, both men spotted a man sitting on a chair, his back turned to the newcomers and draped in an ominous black robe.
Despite the sounds of their footsteps, the man didn't bother to glance in their direction, his gaze focused on the bodies of three women who were tied up on tables in front of him.
Clearing his throat, the bald man inquired, "I see that you are still at it, huh, Rangyl?"
"Huh?" The robed man, Rangyl, turned around and observed the newcomers with his green eyes. A wide smile crossed his face as he greeted them, "Oh, Eric, Stanis, it's you guys. Welcome, welcome."
The two men stared at Rangyl for an instant, and then the nobleman, Stanis, asked, "What was that scream a few minutes ago?"
"Oh, it's that failure," Rangyl pointed to one of the several jails in the chamber.
Glancing into the jail Rangyl was pointing to, the two of them spotted a creature so revolting that they immediately turned away. The sight was so disturbing that they felt if they stared at it for too long, they might puke out their breakfast.
"Still creating disgusting things, I see," Stanis spoke with disdain.
"What can I say, I love doing my work," Rangyl shrugged while turning back to observe the women on the tables.
The two men observed his back for a moment before approaching and standing just over his shoulder.
They observed the women tied to the tables for a moment before the bald man, Eric, spoke in surprise, "Are you trying to turn followers of the goddess of light? Are you crazy?"
Rangyl glanced at him with a dark expression, then sighed and replied, "I was trying to turn them, but it won't work anyway. It seems that their goddess is really protecting them."
"At least their blind trust in their goddess is rewarded. Unlike some others here," Stanis snorted.
"What did you say?" Rangyl glared at Stanis with a somber expression and killing intent in his eyes.
"You perfectly heard me. What are you goin-"
"Alright, alright, that's enough you two," Eric interjected between the two men.
Rangyl and Stanis looked at Eric before both of them harrumphed at the same time.
"Why are you here anyway?" Rangyl inquired.
"We came to see the boss," Eric answered as he placed down the unconscious woman.
"Why do you want to see him?"
"Because of her," Eric pointed to the woman on the ground and asked, "how much time until he comes back?"
Rangyl smiled at Eric, "well, you are in luck; he just came back."
****
Boom
"Amelia?" Alex scanned his surroundings after landing on the ground, still holding Lilia in his arms.
"It's okay, I managed to get away," Amelia replied as she landed just a few meters behind Alex, Cedrix in her arms.
'What was that?' Anna asked.
She couldn't see what was going on, but due to the internal curse Alex muttered before taking Lilia and jumping from the branch, she understood that something was wrong.
'We have just been attacked,' Alex answered her.
'By who?' Anna inquired.
'I don't know yet, but the fact that I couldn't sense the one that attacked us until the last minute proves that its level is higher than mine. Thus, I guess it should be a being of a level superior to 4.'
"You can put me down," Lilia said as she tugged the sleeve of Alex's shirt.
"Oh, right," Alex placed Lilia down.
"Thanks," Lilia said as she stretched her arms, "do you know what attacked us?"
"No, I barely had enough time to jump, didn't have enough time to see what it was," Alex replied, then turned to Amelia, "did you see what it was?"
Amelia simply shook her head.
"I guess we will know in about a second," Alex said as he felt that the being that had attacked them was approaching.
As the being approached further, Alex remarked that it had a humanoid shape.
'Human?' he wondered.
'Is it a human that attacked you?' Anna, who could read what he was thinking, asked.
'It seems so,' Alex replied.
Just as he thought about it, a short woman came out of the dust and walked towards them. She had black hair and was wearing tight leather armor.
'As expected,' Alex thought when he felt the level of the woman.
'What is it?'
'The one who attacked us is at level 5.'
'Ah, do you need help?'
'Don't be silly, there's only one of her, and we are-' Alex's expression suddenly hardened when he felt two other presences swiftly approaching them, and just like the woman, those two were also at level 5.
Just like him, the expression of Lilia and Amelia became solemn the instant they felt that two others level 5 were appearing.
'Okay, now things are getting complicated,' Alex thought as he pondered how to get themselves out of this situation.
One level 5 was manageable; she would have been difficult to fight but still manageable. Three of them, however, that was going to be a problem—a big problem.
If the level 5 individuals approaching them were monsters, Alex wouldn't feel as threatened as he currently did. Even though monsters theoretically possess stronger raw power than humans at the same level, humans at level 5 could defeat monsters at level 5. Why was that? Simple. The winner of a fight isn't solely determined by the level of strength of the enemy; various factors may allow someone weaker to overcome someone stronger. For instance, Alex's control over smoke granted him the ability to teleport out of a monkey-like monster's tight grip during their fights. Taking advantage of its shock, he could then launch counterattacks.
The factors determining the outcome of a fight are numerous, but the most significant factor enabling humans to defeat their monster counterparts is the shrewdness of human minds. While monsters begin gaining intelligence at level 5, in the majority of cases, it can't be compared to human intelligence. Additionally, humans don't usually fight alone, making it possible to slay monsters at a level above their own.
This means that even though level 5 monsters might have more potential raw power than level 5 humans, it's much harder to kill a human than a monster.
'Also, the fact that I couldn't detect this one before she was already upon us means she is faster than the monkey,' assessed Alex.
"Alex...." Lilia glanced at him and drew her light sword.
"I understand. We need to deal with her before the others arrive," Alex nodded, puffing out smoke and making it to swirl around the upper part of his body.
"Amelia, try to immobilize her," Alex ordered.
Before Amelia could nod in understanding, he had already moved, streaking toward the woman at his fastest speed, with Lilia following just behind him.
The woman raised a brow, surprised that a level 4 was this fast, but she showed no panic nor attempted to defend herself. Instead, she pointed her finger at the charging Alex, and immediately, wind began gathering around her finger, forming what looked like an arrow.
When Alex was just two meters from the woman, the arrow of wind was launched toward him, aiming right at his heart!
Due to how close he was to the woman, the moment the arrow was launched, it was already in front of Alex, mere inches from piercing his chest and reaching his heart.
Utilizing the swirling smoke around him, Alex quickly dodged the arrow, positioning himself to the right side of the woman.
The arrow that Alex dodged was headed straight for Lilia, yet she made no attempt to avoid it.
Swinging her sword to deflect the wind arrow, Lilia crouched slightly, using the motion to propel herself towards the woman. Simultaneously, Alex who was positioned at the woman's right side, launched a punch aimed at her ribs. The coordinated attack aimed to catch the woman off guard from two different angles.
However, just as the two attacks were about to land, the woman explosively retreated, successfully evading them. Yet, before she could even sigh in relief, the branches of the tree behind her outstretched and whipped her body aside.
The woman's body was sent flying in the air towards another tree.
Planting her feet firmly on the ground, she managed to halt herself just before colliding with the tree. Raising her head, the woman saw Alex and Lilia charging at her at their fastest speed, and smiled at them.
"You were too slow."
As the words barely left her mouth, the couple explosively retreated, narrowly avoiding attacks from above.
Boom Boom