Before making any move, Ramiel decided to assess the situation soberly first.
My opponent is in a deplorable state. His mana reserves should be running low. The question remains: Why hasn't he attacked yet? Is he waiting for something concrete, or is he simply savoring the last minutes of existence?
Ramiel was uncomfortable with the rat's passive attitude. In his place, he would have tried to do anything. First of all, retreat. If he couldn't, he would take as many hostile sparks of life as possible with him to the grave.
While the former hunter was thinking about solving the puzzle, Caera took some steps. She put an arrow on the bowstring and folded it to fire the shot. She wanted to seal the battle.
" Stop ! " - Ramiel responded firmly. His instincts rang alarm bells as soon as the elfess aimed. Ever since the unpleasant incident in the dead dungeon, the former hunter had trusted his hunches and the clues prompted by his instincts without question. Once he hadn't, and how had he ended up? From a comfortable life at the height of civilization, he ended up here... Besides, he didn't know if the upper limit of death was 10,000, and something told him tentatively that it was.
" Let the Wolves and The Condemned Sloth take care of him. "
Caera stopped sipping her bow, and there were two question marks in her golden eyes. The elfess didn't understand why Ramiel didn't let her finish off the enemy, but she didn't question his decision either. He was the one here to think, not her.
" Surprise me, and don't die like idiots. " - Ramiel's words acted as a fuse. The monsters, feeling the pressure from the master, rushed at the wounded rat.
The four Wolves circled him, baring their teeth and growling. Fresh blood dripped from their mouths, a trace of the recent slaughter.
Despite the hopeless situation, the wounded monster remained unwaveringly calm. This reassured Ramiel that his decision was the right one. Someone who knows how to remain calm in the face of death is definitely not easy.
There was only one piece in the whole puzzle that didn't fit the former hunter. Why did the humanoid rat fly into a rage and send all the forces at once? That one move made no sense at all.
Ramiel couldn't understand it. The monster's two contradictory attitudes didn't give him peace of mind.
Maybe he underestimated me?
While Ramiel pondered the mystery, the damned sloths rushed at the wounded enemy. Something strange happened as their claws were about to rip him to shreds.
A huge amount of mana was released from the rat's body, creating something like a shockwave. The Condemned Sloth's bodies were torn to shreds leaving a sticky ooze behind.
The wolves proved to be much smarter by keeping a proper distance. As a result, only one of them died. The rest suffered from small internal hemorrhages. With their high vitality, it was nothing terrible.
" You can stop pretending to be stupid. You are only wasting my time and yours. " - Ramiel sounded subdued, taunting the wounded monster. Above all, he wanted to throw him off balance.
In a second, the veins on the rodent's forehead came to the surface. However, as the former hunter mistakenly thought, this wasn't due to his provocation but to the loss of a trump card.
The rat's skill was to release accumulated damage in the form of a shockwave. The stronger the enemy's attack, the bigger the wave was. If Ramiel hadn't stopped Resident in time, the shockwave would have killed all the residents of the dungeon of damnation, and the monster could have returned to where it came from.
" I have to congratulate you. You are the first to get this far. " - An unpleasant and harsh voice spread through the corridor. It resembled the sound of bricks grinding against each other.
" Huh, so you know how to talk after all... However, I must sadden you, my adventure doesn't end here. " - Ramiel wasn't bluffing. He was sure of his words. He had already partially figured out the monster's skill.
" Do you know how many times I have heard similar boasts?" - Rodent paused, expecting an answer, which didn't come. " ...Dozens... if not hundreds, and yet somehow I'm still alive and talking to you. Interesting, isn't it? "
This time, the roles were reversed. However, Ramiel wasn't too concerned about the threats. He had heard plenty of them in his life.
" I have a suggestion: Join me. You have talent; it will be a shame to waste it. " - Ramiel suddenly fired back, surprising everyone. He liked the rodent's skills. He valued exceptional beings with talents. When he was still alive on Earth, he searched for such people, but the big teams had already taken most of them. Back then, he had to bypass the taste.
But now?
You're crazy! You can't do it. It's too dangerous. The risk is too great. ' - Avi shouted in Ramiel's mind, giving him a headache, but he ignored her. All he cared about was the rodent's answer.
" It's been a long time since someone has amused me this much. Do you really think I will be your lapdog after the massacre you caused? " - Rat laughed mockingly. He was angry and tried to hide it, but his beady eyes betrayed him.
" Think about it. Armies can be rebuilt, and you only have one life. After all, what is pride in the face of death? - " Ramiel tried to drag out the conversation as long as he could. This happened for two reasons. First, he was waiting for his mana to regenerate, and second, he wanted to gain as much as possible from Leach. His previous engines had died, and along with them, the gain gained was gone.
" Poor man... you don't even know who I am... your stupidity amazes me. "
Ramiel didn't let the monster finish. He looked at him with superiority.
" Five minutes. That's how long your mana negation skill needs to reactivate, and that's enough for me to kill you. I'll say it one last time, join me or die. There will be no more offers. "
The rat smiled, showing rows of black teeth.
" You are the first and the last. "
Ramiel's icy gaze sent chills down the rodent's skin, but the rodent stood firm and confident.
" This is your answer? Quite original, I must admit. " - Ramiel muttered grimly. He was getting tired of playing cat and mouse.
" Poor man, don't waste any more of our time. Trying to convince me is as pointless as your existence... " - The rat laughed and added. " Even if by some miracle you succeeded, I still couldn't do it. The contract I am bound by will never allow it. "
The rodent's words caught Ramiel's attention. If there was a contract, there also had to be a contractor. The two were inseparable. One couldn't exist without the other.
' Do you know anything about this? ' - Ramiel's voice resounded in the fairy's head. Avi was beating herself up. She knew what kind of person it could be, but was it worth betraying her? Definitely not. No matter how strong Ramiel becomes, he will never surpass her.
' I don't know. ' - The fairy wasn't lying. She was just revealing the truth a little.
After all, she didn't have to share her own thoughts.
" Let's try it from the other side. If you tell me the name of the being with whom you signed a contract. I will ensure you a quick and painless death. Be reasonable and accept the manifestation of mercy. You won't get another." - Ramiel made one last offer, but it too was rejected.
Rodent had already resigned himself to his fate. He knew that this time, his opponent was above him. This didn't mean he would sell his skin cheaply; he still possessed a warrior's pride.
" Poor man, you don't even know how much attention you attract. Sometimes ignorance is a blessing in disguise. " - Those were his last words. After them, the rat moved forward, causing an immediate reaction from the wolves. The animals growled menacingly, warning him. They tried to use a unique ability on him, but apparently, he was immune to it.
Ramiel rolled his eyes. He hated people throwing riddles left and right. In his opinion, they should be hanged.
" Kill him. " The former hunter's unscrupulous order spurred the Condemned Wolves. One of them jumped furiously at its prey, but its urges were quickly cooled.
A spear made of shadows appeared in the rat's hand. With a deft move, the rodent drove it into the charging monster. The wounded wolf knew it wouldn't come out of it whole. But that didn't mean it would give up easily. Instead, it clenched its jaws against the weapon's shaft and wouldn't let go.
At the same time, microscopic water particles in the air were frozen into ice picks. Using all of her remaining mana, Asme sent the shimmering weapon at the struggling rat.
The ten ice picks flying in a tight formation were breathtaking. Behind them stretched a ribbon of microscopic ice particles. Together, they were a feast for the eyes,
At the sight of the spell, Rodent used the Negation skill. Immediately, most of the spears lost their momentum and disintegrated in midair. Only two of them reached their target, but they, were even significantly weakened.
The rat released the spear from his hand, easily avoiding the flying projectiles. But this was only the beginning of his problems.
Using the Shadow Step, Ramiel appeared like a ghost right before the rodent. His amethyst eyes flashed mysteriously as dozens of tiny lightning bolts covered the twin blades. Taking advantage of the element of surprise, he slammed them into the rodent's torso, piercing it through and through. Almost immediately, an electric charge leaped from the weapon, stopping the pest's heart. Unfortunately, the rat didn't have enough mana to defend itself.
Ramiel saw the life drain from the rodent's eyes, but then something happened that he didn't expect. The runes on the weapon lit up with scarlet light, and the rodent's body was torn apart from the inside by hundreds of bloody spikes. Strangest of all, they were as hard as steel, and their crimson hue mesmerized.
Ramiel's pupils constricted in shock, not from the bloody spectacle but from the event that accompanied it. Ramiel felt his mana replenish. It must have had something to do with his weapon because when the runes stopped shining, the effect disappeared, and the bloody spikes turned back into liquid.
Former hunter had a theory.
His blades stored the blood of his victims, extracting the mana they contained and transferring it to him once a certain threshold was reached. As for the devastating attack... the stored blood had to be released somehow, so why not use it to attack? Ramiel couldn't think of a better solution. Of course, he could be wrong. After all, no one is infallible.
The former hunter looked forward to further research on his new toy. Subconsciously, Ramiel felt that his weapon could do much more. He just had to discover the secrets behind its abilities.
One thing he was sure of, the driving force behind the blades was blood. He considered the ability to loot mana a blatant cheat, but it was exactly the kind of cheat he needed most. At least it temporarily solved the problem of low energy particle reserves.
The former hunter took the monster's remains off his sword and breathed a sigh of relief. At last, he could relax.
The dark area that had appeared at the beginning of the attack was dissipating. Ramiel's only regret was that he had failed to recruit the humanoid rat.
Together with the departure of the impenetrable veil of darkness, thunderous cheers came from behind the barricade. Residents of the Condemned Dungeon were celebrating their first major victory. This was the first battle in which the entire Condemned Army took part. Their losses weren't great either, just one wolf and two The Condemned Sloths. It was nothing that couldn't be recovered.
Ramiel holstered his weapons and looked around the battlefield. However, he couldn't enjoy the victory for long. Already, his thoughts were revolving around how to get rid of all the corpses. He couldn't leave them alone. Rotting bodies are a problem and the outbreak of all kinds of diseases.
" At least I shouldn't run out of monster cores anytime soon. " - Ramiel couldn't know how wrong he was. If he knew the near future, he would definitely bite his tongue...
The former hunter's knuckles shot up. Lately, he had become addicted to doing this. It gave him indescribable satisfaction. He felt like a ghoul from a popular anime.
Casting one last glance at the battlefield, he headed for the dungeon. He felt like a corpse. All he dreamed of was a warm bath and a comfortable bed. While the first thing was within his reach, the second was unattainable. The Dead Gnu's skins could never replace a soft mattress and pillow. Ramiel would kill for that.
As he passed through the barricade, he was greeted by a mass of cheers and applause. Wolves bowed their heads, goblins cheered with wild noises, and women clapped. The warm welcome didn't particularly move Ramiel. He used to cherish such moments, but they had become indifferent to him after the recent incident.
The former hunter passed the cheering troops and approached Avi directly. He wanted to rest with all his heart, but first, he had to deal with current affairs.
" Bring all the free skeletons here, even the special ones. We need to clean up the battlefield. "
Avi nodded immediately, departing. The fairy didn't dare look Ramiel in the eye, not after what she wanted to do.
She just felt terrible. In the face of danger, she lost faith in the former hunter. She wanted to sacrifice him for the sake of the dungeon... Unfortunately, it made her realize how fragile her trust and faith in the man was.