Zarek had a wide grin on his face, surfing down the avalanche of rock, stone, and soil as though he was having the time of his life.
The wind lance was strapped to his back, and his amber eyes blazed with fire.
At that moment, he felt a sort of high on life, an adrenaline he had been suppressing since the previous night come roaring back to him.
Maybe it was the case that the Eclipse Threat had had some sort of effect on him. It wasn't as great as what it had had on Thalion, but to think it had actually managed to make him forget the most important thing…
Just how fun that had been.
It was what he loved to do most—to toe the line of life and death, and yet come out victorious in the end.
That was what he was feared for. It was the reason he was called the Ashborn Demon.
What a coincidence it was that there were seven so-called Demons waiting for him on this planet. He would have to check them one by one to see if they were truly worthy of such a moniker or if they were as cowardly as this so-called Imperial Wind Lineage heir.
BANG!
Zarek hit the bottom of the cliff with a strong moment, the lance flickering around him.
'I'm going to borrow that for a moment, thanks.'
Up in the skies, Thalion was fighting for his life. Not literally, but was instead rolling in the currents of the air, bobbing and weaving to try and regain some sort of balance and control over the situation.
But the series of arrows was only coming faster and stronger. This was an expert who knew how to press an advantage, and since they felt they had Thalion in their crosshairs, they wouldn't allow him to so easily regain his bearings.
Seeing this scene, Zarek believed what Thalion had said a lot more. It wasn't just because Thalion had managed to survive until now despite being caught off guard and despite the clear disadvantage, but there was something to be found in the demeanor of this mysterious archer as well.
There was something almost… desperate to the way they released arrow after arrow. They didn't have the patience of a sniper lurking in the shadows, but more like an overly eager rookie who had caught some big prey in a trap they hadn't managed to lay out perfectly.
The only way someone so powerful would be so antsy before the boy-man was if he was truly the unnamed Eighth Demon.
Unfortunately, that was his problem to deal with.
Zarek had already entered the forestry of the valley below, his body snaking through the shadows.
It was impossible to tell what vantage point the others were watching from, and Zarek was sure that there were definitely more people here than just the archer alone, but by the time they noticed, it would already be too late.
Plus, there was the obvious deduction…
How many archers could there possibly be lying in wait? And if there weren't any more, then how many of those left had ranged attacks capable of threatening him?
The answer seemed to be zero before Zarek's palm had already pressed onto the Hub before anyone noticed, the grin on his face just as wide as ever.
'Please and thanks.'
These kids were truly just that. They came here to bloviate and flex their talent, but whether it was Thalion or the others, their actual experience was clearly lacking.
Thalion had come here somehow expecting that no one would be waiting to ambush him. The idiot had even planned on taking an extra day longer than Zarek had taken, as though the treasures would be waiting here prim and proper for him and him alone.
Then there were the others lying in ambush. They were actually so much more focused on Thalion than the actual prize of the situation: the Treasure Hub.
A blinding light peeled across the skies, ripping through the clouds and forcing a twirling mass to take shape.
Zarek caught a vial and was speechless for a moment.
'This is…'
—
[You have received: {B Class Refined Strength Godsfall Droplet}]
—
'I'm being pranked. Yup, that's got to be what's happening.'
This was an A Class Treasure Hub. Why the hell was it giving out something so useless?
Of course, this vial was far from useless. If Zarek consumed it now, even without his special technique, his Strength Core Stat would probably hit C immediately.
A progression from C- to C was absolutely enormous. In rough estimates, it was probably as difficult as going from D- to DD—even worse if one considered that all of Zarek's Growth Potentials hovered around B now.
With B Class rapidly approaching, Zarek's improvement was flattening out as he came to his ceiling. After all, it had to be remembered that a Growth Potential wasn't just a measure of how fast one grew, but also of what was usually the best Class one's Core Stat could reach.
So the vial was far from useless. But it wasn't good enough for Thalion to have come all this way for it.
'This must be the worst kind of Treasure Hub…' Zarek groaned inwardly.
Treasure Hubs didn't come with any drawbacks, that was true. But there were some kinds that came with catches. These were Jackpot Treasure Hubs, ones that had many "useless" Treasures, and one Jackpot that would appear based on chance.
The more often you activated that Treasure Hub, the more likely the Jackpot would be next. But every time you did, that beam of light would shoot to the skies and alert every human and Turned in the vicinity that a Treasure Hub was being scalped.
Zarek slammed his palm down again.
'Just fantastic.'
—
[You have received: {B Class Refined Dexterity Godsfall Droplet}]
—
Zarek popped vials open and slammed them as though he were chugging a pair of beers.
He pushed [Limit Break] to its brink as he dove back just in time for an arrow to whiz by, cutting his shirt open.