"Charon!" Zeros shouted frantically. Even Shinba, standing nearby, wore a grim expression.
"As expected of Sir Hector...!"
"Amazing! He's completely overpowering Charon!"
Hector's group cheered in admiration. At last, they had struck a proper blow against that arrogant bastard.
Charon, however, remained unmoved by the shift in atmosphere. Calmly, he drew his spare dagger and reengaged without hesitation.
Kakakang!
After only a few more exchanges, Charon was forced to admit inwardly, I am being pushed.
The realization barely dented his pride. The dagger was not his main weapon, and close-quarters combat had never been his specialty. Charon could wield many weapons with considerable skill, but his true forte was the bow, and his style centered on hunting, not direct confrontation.
Given that, the cave was far from an ideal battlefield. Even a novice could tell it was a terrible place for archery. Luring Hector here had backfired badly. If he had a crossbow, the situation could have been different, but he was not equipped for that.
Then should I pretend this confrontation never happened? Reset the situation entirely?
If he reignited a full-scale clash between their groups and dragged the fight out until the Cave Master returned, Hector would have no choice but to accept Charon's earlier proposal.
Charon knew Hector cared more about his comrades than he let on.
Resorting to such tactics would be cowardly, but Charon felt no particular shame. What weight did a verbal agreement even hold?
And yet, for some reason, a fierce, unfamiliar urge stirred within him—to crush Hector completely, here and now.
"Interesting," Charon muttered. "In that case, from now on—"
At that moment, the unthinkable happened.
A deafening crash, like the sky itself had been torn apart, echoed through the cave. The ceiling began to collapse, sending broken stone raining down like hail. Some of the fragments were so massive they could only be called boulders.
Charon had no choice but to focus entirely on evasion.
After narrowly dodging the falling debris, he coughed harshly, his throat burning from the dust that now choked the air.
What the hell—
Through the lingering dust, he saw a massive figure straightening its back. The monster was so large that Charon had to tilt his head to see its face. Pale skin peeked out from beneath tattered fabric, and in its hand was a wooden club the size of a giant tree.
The Cave Master!
Had it really smashed through the ceiling to enter? It sounded insane, but given the monster's brute strength, it was possible.
Charon quickly surveyed his surroundings. The dust had reshaped the cave's interior, and he could no longer see the hero disciples who had been standing at a distance.
Had they been crushed to death?
He doubted it. The situation was chaotic, but they were not so clumsy as to die so easily. More likely, the rubble was blocking his view.
The real problem was the massive pile of debris now blocking the exit.
"Move!"
The sudden shout jolted Charon back to his senses. Instinctively, he dove to the side.
A massive wooden club slammed into the ground where he had just stood, shattering the rocky floor as if it were made of glass. The monster's destructive power was still bone-chilling.
At first glance, something about it felt strange. Charon had fought the Cave Master before, but now it seemed even more aggressive than he remembered.
Charon studied it for a moment and soon realized why. It's wounded.
Blood stained its bulky frame, and its breathing was ragged. It had clearly suffered serious injuries.
If so, perhaps its sudden arrival had not been intentional. It had rushed back to its lair as if fleeing from something. But what in the world could have wounded it?
"Charon." Hector approached through the dust.
"What is it?" Charon asked.
"The ceiling just collapsed. The cave entrance is blocked. I don't know if my group is alive or dead—let alone yours. They won't die easily, but we can't expect them to cooperate anytime soon," Hector said.
"So?"
"The only exit I see is the hole this thing smashed through in the ceiling. But do you really think it'll just stand there while we climb out?"
"Get to the point," Charon snapped.
"How about we work together—just until we bring that thing down?"
Charon's eyebrows twitched at the suggestion.
Hector sighed and added, "It's the only plan that comes to mind right now. Unless you have a better idea?"
Charon analyzed the situation for a moment, then sighed along with him. "No."
"Good. We don't have time to waste, so I'll be brief. I'll distract it. You aim for its weak points with your arrows," Hector instructed.
A deafening roar echoed through the collapsed cave, shaking loose shards of stone that rained from the walls.
As Charon instinctively covered his ears, Hector charged the Cave Master alone.
What the hell is he thinking?
Charon stared in disbelief at Hector's retreating back.
His mobility was enough to run while Hector stalled for time. In fact, escaping made more sense. He already knew the Cave Master was a terrifying enemy.
Perfect. You fight that monster. I'll be long gone by the time you're crushed.
Or at least, that was what he should have done.
Instead, Charon watched Hector charge the Cave Master head-on. The monster towered nearly ten meters tall, but Hector didn't hesitate—he didn't even glance back. It was as if he hadn't considered the possibility that Charon could abandon him.
What a ridiculous fellow. When had there ever been trust between them?
"Damn it."
Charon yanked the longbow from his back and aimed at the Cave Master. He already knew the creature's skin could withstand most attacks, and its raw strength was monstrous—it could rip a tree from the earth with its bare hands. Meanwhile, its movements were sluggish, but its explosive strikes were anything but slow.
Due to this, Charon knew that he couldn't hunt it with his current strength and equipment.
Right now, it's not a hunt. It's a fight for survival. Where are its vital points?
As he drew back the bowstring, Charon's eyes flashed gold. He had activated the Penetrating Gaze Blessing.
The last time he used this blessing, he couldn't find any weaknesses, but the Cave Master was different now. A crimson aura flared around its body.
The face? No. The neck?
It seemed there was a wound near its throat, but even if that was the case, this monster was ridiculously tough.
One of the basics of hunting was calculating blood loss. Given the monster's size and how much it had already bled, it should have died long ago. Yet, it still swung its massive club with terrifying speed and force.
Still, unlike before, Charon could now see an opening. It was proof that it was worth trying.
He released the taut bowstring. The arrow shot forward, surrounded by a faint shimmer. Mid-flight, its speed exploded, accelerating beyond what was physically possible. It was unnatural, but this was a god's grace and blessing.
Charon had imbued the arrow with two blessings. The first, Throwing Blessing, dramatically enhanced the speed and force of any projectile.
The second was—
An explosion rang out, and Hector flinched in shock.
At the moment of impact, the arrow detonated.
Were explosives attached to it?
Hector's guess was wrong. Charon had activated the Explosion Blessing, which triggered a delayed detonation upon contact.
Honestly, it doesn't pair well with the Throwing Blessing, Charon thought.
The longer the delay, the stronger the explosion, but arrows hit their targets almost instantly. Still, Charon prioritized raw power for this strike.
The arrow landed cleanly in the Cave Master's vital point, and its rampaging swings came to an abrupt halt for the first time.
Hector instinctively recognized this as his first and final opportunity. He leaped the moment the Cave Master dropped to one knee.
At nearly ten meters tall, a single jump wouldn't suffice. Landing on its massive knee, Hector sprinted up its body with ferocious speed, closing the distance to its throat in an instant.
The neck is too thick.
It seemed impossible to slash through in one strike with Hector's sword.
Normally, that would be the case. Yet, Sword Qi suddenly surged from the hilt, forming a bluish hue across the blade. Twisting his wrist, Hector added a unique variation to his swing. A strange vibration rippled through the air, and afterimages of the sword appeared.
This was Hector's Afterimage Sword. It was a single strike, yet it sounded as though the monster had been struck multiple times in rapid succession.
Soon, blood splattered from the monster's throat.
Did I do it?
The sensation was unmistakable. It wasn't a shallow cut—he had felt the clean severing of the cervical spine.
"Idiot! Move!"
Hearing Charon's voice, Hector jumped off the monster's giant body without hesitation.
At the same time, he felt like something heavy, like a mace, grazed his hair.
Did it swing the club just before it died? If that blow had connected, I would have been pulverized instantly. The thought made his hair stand on end.
Finally, the Cave Master collapsed, raising a cloud of dust as it fell.
"Is it dead?"
Hearing Hector's question, Charon silently nocked three arrows and drew back his bowstring.
As if by magic, the three arrows shot out simultaneously, each striking a different vital point on the fallen monster.
Three small explosions followed.
The Cave Master didn't even twitch. Slowly, its body was engulfed in a mass of light.
Seeing that, Charon and Hector exhaled, releasing the tension that had gripped them.
Hector stared at his sword, dazed. The Afterimage Sword I just used was much more powerful than usual, but I don't know how I did it.
If asked to repeat it now, Hector doubted he could.
If I can make that sensation my own, this could be the key to the next level.
In the meantime, Charon kept his eyes on the Cave Master's fading body. As expected, it was slow to disappear due to its size.
We managed to bring it down, somehow.
However, something about it felt off. If the monster had been uninjured from the start, they wouldn't have stood a chance.
Now that the heat of battle was over, Charon's mind finally started working again.
Why was it wounded?
The way it crashed through the cave's ceiling, its panicked movements—it had seemed desperate, running from something in terror.
Charon's gaze shifted to where the monster had first fallen. Beyond the shattered ceiling, the endless winter sky stretched, with the sun blazing overhead.
For a moment, a shadow passed over the sun.
What is thi—
Before Charon could finish his thought, a deafening crash echoed as something plummeted from the sky. No, it wasn't falling—it dived toward the ground, slamming into it with incredible force.
Even Charon, who had been staring straight up, barely caught a glimpse of it.
"What the hell? Why is it dead?"
A voice rang out, and Hector questioned his own ears. Through the lingering dust, he saw the silhouette of a familiar platinum-blond-haired hero disciple.
"Luan Badniker?" Charon exclaimed.
" Huh? " Luan looked around, dazed. "Charon?"
Charon shuddered.
"And Hector."
Even Hector, who normally insisted on being addressed as "Brother Hector," remained silent this time.
"What the heck?" Luan smiled brightly. "You're both here too."
It should have been a heartwarming reunion between brothers, but Hector, and even Charon, flinched, instinctively stepping back.