After learning about the bet between Alex and Artemia, Isabella wished to participate as well, but she knew that now wasn't the time to be capricious; therefore, she shut down that desire.
The group advanced through the mountains to arrive at what they believe to be a town previously established by past adventurers. Because no other adventurers had made it this far, this became a ghost town; not even monsters tried to occupy this empty town; well, it was probably due to almost dead monster repelling barrier covering the town.
''Let's leave,'' Alex said after giving one last glance at the ghost town.
Artemia and Isabella silently followed after him, and soon they appeared in another forest; this one was a little darker than the last forest; it was eerily quiet.
Stepping on dead branches that makes a cracking sound, Alex launched one of his throwing knives on his left.
Pui! Thud!
The thing hiding there was instantly killed; however, Alex didn't have the time to rejoice because, in the next instant, numerous pairs of red eyes appeared all over the dark forest.
''Kobold? Interesting!" Alex muttered and readied his knives. Thanks to his right eye, he was able to identify the monsters hiding.
Swoosh!
Faster than Alex, Artemia moved; a blue bolt of lightning was dancing around her feet as she moved between trees harvesting kobold's lives as if they jokes.
''Not gonna lose,'' Alex muttered before kicking off the ground and launched himself in a pack of kobolds who came to understand that these intruders were better not to be provoked.
Unfortunately, it was already too late by the time they realized this; Alex beheaded two kobolds; as their heads were dancing in the air, still confused about what just happened, Alex kicked another kobold hard in the stomach, instantly crushing the latter organs, he finished the kobold with a knife in the head.
Stepping over the same knife, Alex launched himself into the air to dodge arrows fired by a kobold archer; before the latter could understand how Alex could know that arrows were coming toward him, it had lost his life with a knife piercing through its right eye.
This makes the fifth kobolds Alex killed in less than two minutes; however, he was happy because Artemia was already on her eighth kill.
Using a tree branch to propulse himself into the air, Alex threw his remaining knives at the fleeing kobolds before two guns appeared inside his hands as he started free falling.
〖Let's teach the little lass a lesson.〗Silveria shouted, and Alex ignored her before starting his killing spree.
BANG! BANG!!!!!!!!
Bullets rained down on the poor kobolds killing them in one shot; some of them had their heads blow up, some their hearts crushed. In the span of five minutes, thirty kobolds lost their lives under Alex's bullets. Never, in their wildest dreams, would these kobolds have thought they had provoked deaths, gods. They couldn't flee in peace; either a bullet would claim their lives from the back, or it was lightning bolts.
Before long, the once silent forest regained its calm, but this time corpses were littered the forest ground.
Alex and Artemia looked at each other with a smile, both declared at the same time.
''70"
''80''
''Tch!"
''Tch!"
The two clicked their tongues simultaneously and went on their separate ways like boxers that decided to decide on the winner in the next round.
At the side, Isabella had her mouth wide open as she watched everything unfold. From start to finish she didn't make any move, not that she didn't wish to do it but because she was slow, by the time she moves her spear, everything was over, the two monsters killed more than a hundred kobolds in less than fifteen minutes, unbelievable, if she was present that is.
''Seriously, it's great that you two are having fun, but you should at least let the other person partake. If not-"
Before Isabella couldn't finish her complaint, she got stopped by Alex and Artemia's glare.
''Nobody told you to be slow as a turtle.'' the two said in unison.
Isabella opened and closed her mouth repeatedly, unable to come up with a rebuttal.
''Let's move to the next floor.'' Alex declared as he started to walk deeper into the forest.
However, it had not taken his tenth step before he crossed his arms in front of his chest.
By the time the other could ask him why he suddenly stopped, they found him back; he crashed against a tree before rolling on the ground.
Wiping away the blood around his mouth, Alex declared, ''Let's call for a truce until we deal with this enemy.''
Artemia nodded her head and stared at the gigantic monster in them. The group instantly knew this was not going to be an easy opponent.
It was a giant black snake of twelve meters. This monster goes by the name of Phantom Snake; from the record, it is said that this monster could perfectly blend its presence, making it hard to detect, not until it attacked. It was probably why Alex couldn't know that he was stepped into the monster's territory; the reason the phantom snake didn't completely wipe out the kobolds sharing its territory was simply that it would be starving itself to death if he did that.
When you could allow these weak monsters to use your territory in exchange for periodically eating some of them, why bother wiping them out? Such was the thought of the Phantom Snake.
This thought was proven to be right as it became harder for adventurers to descend to this floor, meaning a drop in the quality of meals. While monsters wouldn't die if they do not eat as they could sustain themselves using ambient mana, they would be weakened if they don't eat monsters and others creatures periodically.
So, when the Phantom Snake saw high-quality meals after such a long time, he didn't mind them killing the sheep he was rearing as the Phantom Snake believe that by letting them think they have managed to clear up this floor after slaughtering these kobolds before killing them would make Alex and his group far tastier.
So, the Phantom Snake finally moved to harvest quality meals after patiently waiting.