Rule jumped back in order to break the deadlock. Having been an experienced adventurer himself, he recovered from his shock rather quickly.

“A monster...” the man narrowed his eyes.

Just his luck. A random monster appeared right when he was going to attack the two. And it’s an unknown monster to boot, so he wouldn’t know its behavior and abilities.

But Rule didn’t reach C-class for nothing. He immediately called out to his two teammates. “Gale, Helen! Get ready to support me!”

The wizard was quick on her feet. “Yes!” On the other hand, Helen fumbled through her words but still took on her battle stance.

Rule cleared his mind. Yes, actually, this could be a chance for him. After this battle, the two newbies would be tired from the fighting, and maybe that’s when he could strike...

An ominous grin spreads through his lips. This might be actually the stroke of luck he just needs.

“I’ll be the frontline, just focus on supporting me.” He gripped his sword tightly between his hands.

On the backline, their sole healer trembled on her feet. “W-What kind of monster is that? A-A slime?”

Gale shook her head. She had her book open with her right hand in front of her. “No, that’s not a slime. Slimes residing in this forest are green in color, not red.” Not to mention that it doesn’t even look like it’s made up of liquid.

Rule did not waste any more time and rushed up fast towards the monster. First, a quick, short slash to feint it into parrying with its two swords...

Clang!

It took it! Rule used the bouncing momentum of his sword and rotated, aiming a wide slash on the monster’s right side.

“There!”

What a supposed clean hit turned out to be nothing. It felt as is his sword hit a rock or something similar. Rule almost even let go of his sword from the impact, not expecting such a fleshy looking creature to be as hard as that.

“!” Gale held out her open left hand. A pair of tiny orbs of flame expanded, reaching the size of a head. It flew off towards the monster, scoring another direct hit.

“Kuruuuu!” it yelled in its ear-scratching voice. It shambled back away from Rule, giving the knight a time to breathe.

Rule seized the chance given to him and tried to attack once again. This time, he used one of his skills as his normal attacks do not look like they’d work. “!”

Tiny speckles of white energy began to gather around the weapon, it glowing in pure albescent light. The knight yelled at the top of his lungs as he swung the weapon.

The stone-like toughness of the monster’s hide, rendered useless by magic, was also penetrated by Rule’s empowered attack. It’s following screech made the three adventurers cover their ears in pain.

“Kreeeeeiiiieee!” Red blood gushed out from the large gash on its body. Its tentacles lay unmoving on the ground, made limp from the painful sensation running through its whole body.

“!” Helen shakily pointed her staff at the downed monster. A pillar of pure holy energy appeared over the creature, searing it with the borrowed powers of the gods.

One final cry. After the combined attacks of the three adventurers, the monster breathes its last air and finally slumped down on the ground. It tried crawling away in a last-ditch attempt to escape, but Rule drove another into it and completely cut it in half. It laid motionless on its own pool of blood in a matter of seconds.

“Bugger, you don’t mess with me…” Rule whispered to the dead monster as he drew out his blade. To his surprise, almost a fourth of his sword was gone, melted off inside the creature’s stomach. “Ah, damn.”

“We killed it?” Helen walked near the corpse and poked it with the bottom of her staff. It didn’t move. “Wow…”

“It seems to be an unknown monster.” Gale pushed up her glasses, smiling. “We’ll cash in a hefty amount of gold if we bring this to the guild.”

“You said what I was thinking.” Rule grinned.

Not only will he get to play with these two newbies, but he’ll also get some money to boot. This really is a lucky day.

Just to make sure, he should tire them out more as much as he can.

The knight turned to the healer, feigning a tired expression. “Helen, can you cast to me and Gale?”

“Eh? You got tired?... But Gale didn't really do much, so she's not tired. Are you, Gale?” She glanced at the wizard.

“Not particularly, no. Shouldn’t it be wise to preserve Helen’s mana for later?” She thought that they might encounter more monsters later.

Rule’s smile twitched. “… That’s my point. What will you do if we fight later and you’re both tired?” He saw the flash of fear on Helen’s eyes.

“I-I understand.” She held her staff with both of her hands with her eyes closed. “.”

The two adventurers were momentarily covered in pure white. Fatigue vanished from their body, leaving them refreshed as if they just woke up. Meanwhile, Helen’s breathing got a bit ragged from the continuous use of her holy magic.

‘This coward Healer is already tired. It shouldn’t be too hard to fight this lone Wizard now…’ Rule slowly reached out for the hidden dagger on his right leg. Gale’s eyes were on the kneeling Helen, and her back is turned to Rule.

He can already imagine it. Them wailing below his body, insistently crying for help in the middle of a damned forest. Him doing whatever he wants, then tossing their dead body out to the river when he’s finished. Just like every time.

“Turning your back to me will be your greatest regret in life…”

[Warning! User’s physical health has reached hypercritical levels. Warning! User’s physical health has…]

This foreign energy, ‘magic’ they call it, proved effective against his kind’s body. The flames hurt more than usual, and even that white light rendered him motionless just from the pure agony he felt.

The knight was also strong. He managed to penetrate his defense on his second hit. Not to mention that that human was far more experienced in sword fighting than him.

Without his Stage II brain, he’d probably be really dead by now.

The blood flowing out from his body stopped its movement and began to get sucked back inside him. It looked as if time itself was rewinding backward; even the liquids that stuck on the ground and grass returned.

His two separated body, cleaved cleanly in the middle, began to stitch themselves back together. Fiber by fiber reconnected with each other until his body was one whole figure once again.

[You have completely consumed your digested food. You are now hungry.]

His tentacles shot back into the air, coming into life. He finally soaked his bone blades with gastric juices, turning it into his ability, .

He looked up to see the back of the man that almost killed him. Without a second thought, he jumped up above the unsuspecting man and directed his mouth right on its target.

Clomp.

Gale and Helen were surprised to hear the muffled cries of their party leader. Upon turning, the horrific sight of Rule’s head being covered by the monster they thought they have defeated a while ago greeted their eyes. From the neck down, sizzling yellow liquid poured down on his body, melting even the light metal armor he was wielding.

“GRMMMFFP! GMMRPFPP!”

They can’t see his face, but they can already imagine it full of terror and panic. The two were similarly paralyzed in fear and shock. All they could do was watch as Rule’s bones were eventually turned visible by his rapidly dissolving body. It wasn’t long after his cries turned silent. Soon his body knelt on the ground as his hands went slack and motionless.

Gale’s glasses fell off from her face, while the white dress of Helen’s pelvic area darkened.