“Charon!” Zeros shouted quickly. Standing nearby, Sinbar’s expression hardened.
“As expected of Sir Hector...!”
“Amazing! He’s completely overpowering Charon Woodjack!”
On the other hand, Hector’s team members were letting out exclamations of praise.
He had finally knocked that arrogant kid down a few pegs...!
Schwing.
But Charon didn’t get swept up in the atmosphere.
He calmly took out his spare shortsword and immediately resumed the duel.
Clang!
However, after exchanging a few more blows, Charon couldn’t help but admit, I am weaker than him in direction confrontations.This didn’t damage his pride.
The shortsword wasn’t Charon’s primary weapon, nor was close-quarters combat his preferred range.
Of course, he was decently proficient with most weapons... but the weapon that fit him the best was the bow, and his preferred way of fighting wasn’t direct confrontations but hunts.
Considering that fact...
The interior of the cave wasn’t at all ideal terrain for Charon.
It was plain to all that this wasn’t the best place to try and fire a bow.
Luring Hector here had been another blunder on his part...
Things would be different if he had a crossbow, but he didn’t have one with him.
Since that’s the case...
Should he try to suggest stopping this duel?
Return the situation to how it had been?
If they went back to fighting a team versus team battle and dragged it out until the Master of the Cave returned, then Hector would have no choice but to accept Charon’s offer.
He knew that—unexpected as it might be—Hector cared about his allies quite a bit.
It would be cowardly, but Charon didn’t particularly care about things like that.
What power did a promise made only with words hold?
However...
“...”
For some reason, the feeling of wanting to crush Hector here continued to erupt within Charon’s heart.
This was a new feeling for Charon.
“Interesting. Then I’ll also—”
It was then that something completely unexpected happened.
Rumble!
With a loud rumble that sounded as if the sky was falling, the ceiling actually began to cave in.
“...!”
Broken shards of stone fell like hail.
Some were large enough to be called boulders, so Charon immediately shifted his attention to dodging.
Rumble...
After dodging all the falling rocks, he coughed from the dust cloud that had been stirred up.
What is—
At this moment, he saw the silhouette of some huge creature straighten its back within the dust cloud.
“...!”
It was so large that one would need to tilt their neck to see its entirety. It was wearing worn-out clothes that covered its pale skin.
And in its hand was a huge club as big as a tree.
The Master of the Cave!
Had it perhaps entered the cave by breaking through the ceiling?
It was unbelievable, but this monstrous creature might well be capable of that.
Charon immediately checked his surroundings.
Due to the dust, the interior terrain of the cave had changed.
He couldn’t see the young heroes who had been spectating the duel from a distance.
Had they been crushed to death?
That was unlikely. Although this situation was unexpected, they weren’t so useless as to just die without even reacting to the threat.
It was more likely that the stones and debris were blocking his line of sight to them.
The problem was that the fallen rocks had blocked the entrance.
“Dodge!”
As he heard the sudden shout, Charon’s focus returned and he rolled on the ground.
Boom!
The tree club smashed into the ground right where he had been standing, and the hard ground of the cave shattered like glass.
It was a frightening level of power...
“...”
But he also felt that something was off.
He had fought the Master of the Cave before, and for some reason, this felt a little different.
It was acting much more aggressive.
After looking at the creature for a moment, Charon immediately realized why.
Is it hurt?
The straw mat over its body was dyed with blood, and he could hear its breathing was harsher as well.
It seemed to be injured... In that case, the Master of the Cave might not have intended its sudden entrance.
Maybe it was being chased by something, so it hurriedly tried to return to its hideout?
But who could damage this creature?
Hector approached him within the dirt cloud. “Charon.”
“What?”
“When the ceiling caved in, the entrance was blocked. My reinforcements and your group, we don’t know whether they’re alive or dead. I don’t think they’d die so easily, but we can’t wait for help here.”
“So?”
“The only plausible exit is that broken ceiling, but I don’t think this monster will let us be while we try to climb out.”
“Just get to the point.”
“How about we work together until we defeat it?”
Charon’s brow twitched.
Hector let out a sigh as he continued, “That is the only method I can think of right now. Or do you have a better idea?”
Charon thought for a moment, analyzing the situation, before letting out a sigh as well.
“...No.”
“All right. Then since we don’t have much time, I’ll just say this: I’ll buy you time from the front, so fire your arrows at its weak spots.”
Kraaaaaah!
The monster’s roar was amplified in the crushed cave.
It was so loud that stones fell away from the damaged walls.
Charon blocked his ears for a moment, but Hector just ran toward the Master of the Cave by himself.
What does he believe that’s letting him act like this?
Charon observed Hector’s back with a look of disbelief.
With Charon’s movement speed, he could definitely escape while Hector was buying him time, and doing so would be better for him.
He had already learned that the Master of the Cave was a powerful enemy during his last attempt.
Good riddance.
You can fight the monster while I escape.
Charon smirked as he turned around.
“...”
At least, that was what he should have done.
But Charon looked at Hector, who was fighting the Master of the Cave.
Hector didn’t look back a single time as he fought a monster close to 10 meters tall.
It was as if the possibility of Charon just running away had never crossed his mind.
It was laughable.
Why did he think they had such a trusting relationship?
“...Damn it.”
Charon immediately drew the longbow on his back and aimed for the Master of the Cave.
From what he’d learned in his previous fight with the monster, it possessed a thick skin that couldn’t be pierced by most attacks.
Also, it was strong enough to uproot a tree with its bare hands.
It was generally on the slower side, but the explosive speed of its attacks couldn’t be ignored.
That was why Charon had deemed it impossible to fight and defeat with his current power and equipment.
Right now...
This was not a hunt but a fight for his life.
Where are its weak points?
Creak.
As he pulled on his bowstring, Charon’s eye flashed with golden light.
Blessing of Insight.
Although he hadn’t been able to see any weak points the last time he’d used it, maybe it would be different now that the Master of the Cave was injured.
Vwoong!
He saw red energy flowing violently within the Master of the Cave’s body.
Its face? No, toward its neck.
It seemed to have been injured around its neck already, and if that was the case, then the bastard was even tougher than he’d thought.
One of the basics of hunting was to estimate how much the target was bleeding.
It was a decently massive creature, but even so, it had already spilled so much blood that it wouldn’t be odd for it to drop dead at any moment.
But the swings of the monster’s club were still fast and destructive.
However, unlike before, Charon had seen its weak point.
There was evidence that this thing could be defeated.
The moment Charon let go of his taut bowstring, a pwing sound rang out as the arrow flew forward.
The arrow was surrounded by a faint layer of light before it accelerated in the air.
It was a physically impossible phenomenon, but this was the grace of a god, a blessing.
Charon’s arrow carried two of his blessings.
The first, the Blessing of Throwing, did as its name suggested: It increased the power and speed of all thrown and fired attacks.
And the second—
* * * * *
* * * * *
Boom!
“...!”
Hector was startled. The moment the arrow hit the monster, there was a small explosion.
Did Charon use gunpowder?
Hector’s guess was wrong.
Charon’s Blessing of Explosives allowed him to detonate an object he made contact with after a set duration.
To be honest, it doesn’t have great synergy with the Blessing of Throwing...
Since the explosion’s power was greater the longer it had been primed, it didn’t work particularly well with a bow.
Charon had only used it here to increase the power of his attack even a little bit.
And in the end, the arrow had found its mark and landed deep into the weak point of the Master of the Cave.
The attack had worked.
The monster, which had been swinging around its club, suddenly stopped moving, and Hector instinctively realized that this was the first and last opening he would get.
Boom...!
As the Master of the Cave fell to one knee, Hector immediately charged forward.
Since the monster was over 10 meters tall, one dash wasn’t enough.
After landing on the enemy’s knee, Hector immediately ran up the wide giant’s body and reached its neck.
Its neck is too thick.
It looked difficult for Hector to slice it off in one breath with his current weapon.
Or at least, that would’ve been the case normally.
Creak.
Sword ki erupted from his hilt up the entire blade, dyeing it blue.
In this state, he twisted his wrist to perform a unique movement, creating an odd shaking in the blade as an afterimage was formed.
This was Hector’s sword art, Shadow Sword.
Sla-slash!
Although he only swung his sword once, it sounded as if he had swung multiple times.
After his strike, blood flowed from the monster’s neck.
Is it dead?
He’d definitely felt it through his sword. He hadn’t merely sliced the monster’s veins, he had cut deep into its body.
“You idiot! Dodge!”
The moment he heard Charon’s voice, Hector jumped down from the giant’s body without hesitation.
Vwoong!
He felt as if an iron mace had flown by his head.
Had it swung its club right before it died?
If Hector had taken that head-on, he would’ve immediately been flattened. He shivered as goosebumps ran down his back.
Boom...!
The Master of the Cave finally collapsed.
It was so big that it created a ton of dirt clouds even when it fell over.
“...Is it dead?”
Perhaps because he heard Hector’s mumbling, Charon drew his bow back again.
This time, it was nocked with three arrows.
P-p-pwing...
Like magic, the three arrows all landed on different weak points.
B-b-boom...
And three small explosions were heard afterward.
The Master of the Cave didn’t react at all, and soon, its body began to be surrounded by light.
“Fuu...”
Seeing this, Charon and Hector both immediately relaxed.
Hector was honestly in a state of shock as he looked down at his own sword.
That Shadow Sword I just used...
It had been much stronger than usual. He couldn’t say how he had done it either.
He wasn’t confident he could replicate it even if he tried right now, while the feeling was still fresh.
If I can make that feeling mine...
He might have just found the hint that would allow him to reach the next level.
On the other hand, Charon just stared at the body of the Master of the Cave as it began to slowly disappear.
Because it was so big, it was slow to vanish.
We somehow ended up defeating it with just the two of us.
But he didn’t feel especially good about this situation.
If the monster hadn’t been hurt so badly, they wouldn’t have had a chance.
Finally, freed from thinking about the battle, his brain began to function again.
Why had it been injured?
Thinking about it now, the way it had crashed through the ceiling of the cave and moved about, it was as if...
—Maybe it was being chased by something, so it hurriedly tried to...
Charon looked up at where the monster had broken through into the cave.
Through the broken ceiling, he could see the cold air of winter and the sun making its presence known.
“...?”
Suddenly, a shadow covered the sun.
The moment he wondered what it was...
BOOM!
Something fell into the cave, making a loud commotion as it did.
More than falling in, it was so fast that it looked like it had dashed directly into the ground.
Not even Charon could track it even though he had been looking up at the opening the entire time.
“...What the? Why is it dead?”
When Hector heard that voice, he doubted his ears.
From between the clouds of dust, a familiar gold-haired young hero raised his head.
“...Luan Bednicker?”
“Hm?” Luan looked around, his expression curious as he said, “Charon?”
Charon flinched as his body shivered.
“And Hector.”
Hector couldn’t tell him off like usual with a demand that he be called older brother.
“What the?” Luan smiled. “Everyone was here.”
It should’ve been the two brothers’ touching reunion, but both Hector and Charon took a few steps back instead.