The woman stared in shock at the person who had appeared out of nowhere. Her eyes blinked, taking a few seconds to even comprehend what had just happened.
“Are you okay?” Arthur asked the man as he looked over his shoulder. “If you can, then move.”
“Huh?… Uh, yes!” Taking a second to snap out of his daze, the injured man quickly stood up and ran away. Meanwhile, Arthur stared at the monster as it recuperated from the ambush, its eyes looking even angrier than before.
Its eyes were bloodshot, and its teeth gnashed in anger as it glared at Arthur.
‘Nice, now it thinks I’m the only target,’ he thought as he exhaled and looked at Deka.
“Get your men and get the hell out of here. I’ll follow you in a moment,” he said as he cracked his knuckles. “It won’t take too long.”
“…” The woman blinked for a moment.
“Are you listening to me? Go!”
His second yell snapped her out of her daze before she looked at her companions. “… Let’s go!”
“But Deka… He’s—”
“Actions now, questions later. Hurry!”
Saying that, the woman turned around and helped one of her friends up as she started moving away from the area, along with everyone else.
The Yeti seemed to notice that, as its attention shifted to the injured group of people. Then, it dashed toward them, aiming to kill these prey before they could escape.
But before it could even take five steps, a silhouette appeared right in front of its face.
“No, no, not today,” Arthur said as he clenched his fist tightly. “Your target is me.”
BANG
Then, he punched the monster violently, sending it flying back several feet as it dragged through the snow.
Deka witnessed that scene and could only hold her breath in awe. That speed and that power were simply unimaginable.
“T-Thank you!” she muttered as she turned around and continued running.
Meanwhile, Arthur slowly unsheathed his sword and faced the monster. “Now, big guy. Let’s get this over with. I have some stuff to do.”
“ROARRR!!!”
“I’ll take that as a yes~”
Then, without any hesitation, Arthur dashed forward. He was now far more confident than before, as he knew everything these monsters had to offer, and all he had to do was avoid them.
“Deka… Who is that guy?” one of the injured mercenaries asked Deka with a frown on his face.
“It’s a goddamn kid! Where the hell did he come from? Are we hallucinating?!” another added.
Meanwhile, Deka focused on the path ahead with a serious expression.
“Deka? Do you know him?”
“He isn’t just a kid,” she replied coldly. “Now, hurry. We have to get back to the cave.”
“… Ugh, be careful! My rib is broken!”
The group hurried their steps back, following their initial trail as they navigated the rough terrain of the mountain slope. They didn’t know if that boy was going to survive or not, and they frankly couldn’t care at that moment.
They could only thank their luck that they had survived that battle and could go back to where they came from.
A few minutes passed as they kept looking back every few seconds to make sure that their enemy wasn’t following them. The fear of seeing that gigantic creature rushing toward them still haunted them.
In reality, these mercenaries weren’t just any mercenaries—they were the best of the best on the first floor, and they had fought many Yetis before in their lives. But that job never gets easy and never becomes a walk in the park.
It was the most dangerous job in the capital, and they had to do it every single day. Many die, and even more lose their friends and family members to these monsters. It was never easy, and never fun.
If it weren’t for money and status, these mercenaries would’ve left the job a long time ago. But society sees mercenaries as the prestigious knights of the common people. They weren’t as flashy or sacred as the real knights of the royal family, nor were they complete pushovers.
Even when they were harboring all these scars of pain and trauma, they didn’t want to leave, as if they did, the entire tower would spiral out of control. Looking into their eyes, one could see deep fear mixed with determination and the will to continue pushing forward.
They knew that they might not make it till tomorrow, but if they did, they would continue to tread this path… till their last breath.
“Oi!!!”
At that moment, they heard someone calling for them from afar. Looking back, they were shocked to see the same boy from before approaching them quickly.
“Huh?”
“He’s here?”
“What happened?”
“Did he… defeat the Yeti?”
Many questions popped into their heads when they saw the boy fairly unscathed and in good shape.
“There you are. I had to keep searching for you. The storm is getting stronger,” he said as he reached them.
“…”
The mercenaries looked at him as if he were some kind of alien, but none spoke. They were trying to figure out who that person was.
“Hey, hold him for a second.” At that moment, Deka stepped forward, put her companion to the side, and approached Arthur.
She eyed him up and down for a moment before extending her hand forward. “Thank you for helping us, Arthur. Also, it’s good to see you again.”
“…” The boy blinked before smiling faintly. “No problem. I just stumbled upon you by pure coincidence. Thank fate for that.”
“…”
“So, you do know him, Deka?”
“Yes. He’s not an enemy, don’t worry,” she said as she focused on the boy again. “I didn’t expect you to come near the foot of the mountain.”
“It was within my plans. I wanted to explore the floor more while killing some monsters. Those Yetis are quite the tough foes, I can’t lie.”
‘He’s speaking about them as if they’re… nothing.’ All the mercenaries thought at the same time with blank expressions. They couldn’t believe a kid was treating Yetis as if they were just another monster he had to kill.
These creatures dominated the first floor, and even humans had to fight them in groups to kill them. These battles usually ended with casualties on both sides, if not a total loss for the mercenaries.
“Anyway, where are you heading now?”
“Back to the cave… Our squad is still there… The rest of it, at least,” Deka replied.
‘The rest of it, huh?’ The boy knitted his eyebrows. Examining Deka’s tired, pale face, he could only shake his head. ‘Must’ve been quite the rough two days for her.’
“Can I go with you?” Arthur asked after a moment.
“… Yes, of course. In fact, we would appreciate it if you do. We need all the helping hands we can get before help arrives,” Deka nodded, her eyes lighting up in excitement. She couldn’t believe a very strong ally had come their way seemingly out of nowhere.
This was good news amidst the dark, gloomy times. This kid was their new hope and perhaps with him, they could truly go back.
A//N: Thank you all for the gifts, golden tickets, and PS. Let’s keep it up!