Did she already know what I would ask her for?

Ch 168: Did all my efforts end in this?

"Its magic is finished. Now is the time to go on the offensive!" shouted Irina.

They all turn around and run in the teriar's direction, performing the same initial formation with Zia in front.

"Ggggrrr"

Visually, it looks very weak as a side effect of the large amount of mana it has consumed. But contrary to their expectations, this made the monster fight like never before. It won't wait patiently for death! If they want to kill him, they will have to suffer the consequences!

Raising its paw, the monster directly expanded it by 8 meters, decreasing the distance to Alessia's group in the blink of an eye.

'- If I can't block or deflect, then I'll dodge!'

Even when Zia is very skilled with her shield, she has little experience dodging attacks. So, she needed to put all her concentration into it, taking momentum and then performing a great leap.

*Boom*

The collision of the paw against the ground generated a small tremor, causing dozens of stones and chunks of earth to be thrown in all directions.

As for Zia, she managed to narrowly avoid it.

"You still don't learn from your mistakes!"

Suddenly Miria appears near the monster's head with her saber in a horizontal line, planning to pierce with her weapon through the teriar's eye. If all goes well, a single attack will end its life.

Since it just used the technique to expand its foreleg, Teriar chose the lesser evil.

"GGGRRR!"

The teriar moves its head to prevent the saber from entering its eye and destroying its head. The saber makes a cut from its eyelids to its nose, with blood gushing out like a river, dyeing its dark skin red.

"Just like before, there were two of us. Do you remember?"

Teriar: "!!!!"

This time, on the other side of its head, Alessia appears without the monster noticing. This is the human the monster fears the most, not because of her appearance but because of the weapon in her hands. The monster's instincts tell him that the attacks she makes will be deadly.

"GGGGGRGRR!"

With great pain, the monster bends its right foreleg in a strange position and expands it. As a result, its expanded paw acts as a meat shield to protect the right side of its head.

'- This is the intelligence that cannot be seen in the labyrinth. The parents pass on the knowledge to their children, and then the children repeat the cycle with their offspring. It is the instinct inherited for generations!'

Alessia is surprised to see how the monster can choose the lesser evil in just a fraction of a second. Not even the bosses of the labyrinth have shown such intelligence.

*Slash*

"GGGGGRGRRR!"

A deep gash appears above its leg; the depth is such that practically its leg has been cut off at the root; only some flesh holds the two sides of the cut together. The monster won't be able to use it again!

'- That sword... Does it have fused abilities?!'

At a glance, the three annoying beauties were able to see through the weapon.

'- Haa. Until now, I have avoided using my sword to its fullest. I just wanted to be able to carry out my mother-in-law's teachings, and also... I also didn't want to distance myself from them,' she thought sadly, looking at her friends.

If Alessia earlier demonstrated strong sword skills that impressed her friends. Now, adding the special sword she has in her hands, the three annoying beauties understood that all this time she has been holding back.

"Don't lose sight of the target! The teriar has yet to fall!"

The one who restored the atmosphere was Irina. With this, both Miria and Zia came to their senses.

"GGGRRRA"

Hating Alessia to the core, the monster opened its snout wide, trying to eat her flesh and drink her blood!

"You still haven't learned," Zia said, shaking her head.

"Zia..."

Alessia watches as Zia positions herself in front of her and raises her two-handed shield.

*Boom*

The fangs collide with the shield, generating a huge crash sound in the process. Both Zia and Alessia recoiled more than 10 steps back from the impact.

"I will succeed this time!"

Teriar: "!!!!"

Again, Irina took advantage of the situation and attacked at the same moment the teriar lost sight of her. Tightly gripping her spear, she charged toward the monster's eye.

"GGGGRRRRRRA!!!"

A roar like never before was heard all around.

The Teriar suffered from a spear piercing its eye.

"I didn't feel like my spear went all the way through it, but I'm sure I damaged an important part. It mustn't-..."

"STOP!"

A sudden shout was heard from behind them, interrupting Irina's words. As they turned around, they saw a very familiar man.

"Knight Hernan?!"

The same knight who acted as the leader and coordinator of the 12 teams of adventurers.

"You must not keep fighting! The consequences will be disastrous if the leader of the pack were to...!"

This time, it was a roar that interrupted Hernan's words.

"GGGGGGRRRRAARR!!!!"

From one eye, blood gushed out with no apparent end, while in the other, an infinity of veins was seen because of the pain. The monster's hatred for these humans reached its peak! If it is going to die, it won't do it alone!

It quickly chooses its target and opens its snout.

Its target is...

"Irina!"

The event was so sudden that Irina could only watch the scene in front of her as if it were happening to someone else. No matter how tough the enemy was, she was sure there would be no deaths on her team. But this time… 

She never thought Hernan would appear out of nowhere and distract her at the worst moment.

'- I must act fast!'

While Zia and Miria could only scream, Alessia ran towards the monster.

*Slash*

Performing a slash to its neck without guarding anything.

Teriar: "!!!!"

The monster's eyes widened in shock, as if asking, 'Did all my efforts end in this?'

When everyone came to their senses, the monster's head was only 1 meter away from Irina... And in just a blink of an eye, golden particles surrounded the teriar's body.

"Irina!"

With their wet eyes, Zia and Miria jumped towards Irina, hugging her. Alessia arrived a second later and hugged them as well.

Hernan Knight: "..."

'- God... Were they able to assassinate a level 11 boss with only four members? No, more importantly... we must act fast!'

Once the hugs were over, Hernan approached them and spoke.

"Killing a pack leader will grant two bounties, while one will depend on your luck… The other is a fixed loot... a core, to be exact."

"A core?"

They all had a bad feeling.

"Yes. And, as long as a packing monster eats that core, it will have a great chance of evolving into a pack leader."

Hernan didn't want to say it, but the pack leader also has another name.

Mini Boss.

It is not to be scorned by its name; actually, it is a full-blown floor boss. There is simply a trade-off inside it. Strength for Intelligence, that's all.

No one can say for certain which is more dangerous, a Boss or a Mini-Boss, as both have killed enough to create two mountains of corpses. One for each of them.

The golden particles disappeared a second later, and Alessia approached the spot.

[Magnetic Rock]

[Bestial Core]

If Emir were here, his mouth would be watering while reading the description of the latest loot.

"This must be it." Alessia lifted the bestial core.

"Haa... Follow me; we must act fast. A monster wave will be approaching at any moment."

Without waiting for a response, he ran towards the camp, and Alessia's group followed.

***

At the makeshift camp, the 11 teams were briefed about the incoming wave of monsters.

"We should destroy it!" They said, but Hernan denied saying that fragments can also be eaten, even if this one turns to dust. And they still work for the monsters to evolve.

"We may hide it inside the Inventory skill or a storage ring!" They said also, but Hernan gave the respective refusal. "No matter where it is, the monsters have a connection to it. Just as they did to their pack leader."

Of course, the idea of throwing it away from them was also named. But as long as the core exists, the monsters will go into a frenzy. In other words, they will be caught up in the trouble anyway.

After a heated discussion, they had to accept that the monsters were coming, whether they wanted them to or not. They must prepare for the worst.

"Thank you."

"Hm?"

Alessia's group is resting after the heated battle with the Mini Boss while, all around them, everyone is preparing the ground for the waves of monsters coming.

"Thank you for saving Irina. And this goes not only for me but also for Miria and Irina herself." Both Zia and the others bowed slightly in Alessia's direction.

"Huh?! No, no." She stopped them from continuing to bow and said, "We're a team. It's natural to help each other."

"Alessia..."

Very excitedly, they all give Alessia a bear hug. At the sudden show of affection, she didn't know how to react, so she just accepted the gesture with a smile on her face.

Such a hug lasted for almost a minute before they parted.