Chapter 9: RUN

Renan could clearly feel the ground shaking as if something heavy and gigantic was coming their way. But he couldn't really see the direction it was coming from since the Stone Stalagmite that Ars' casted was blocking his view.

"Hey Renan, where'd all the goblins go? Did you take care of them while I was out?"

The recently awakened girl, Ars, probably didn't realize yet or was still a bit muddle-headed—but this wasn't the time to be asking such questions. He didn't know why but he surely felt his canine senses tingling, warning him of an imminent threat or danger heading towards them.

"Something's coming our way…" Renan murmured.

But Ars, not catching what he mumbled just now, asked him back: "Hmm? Sorry, I didn't hear you speaking. Can you repeat that?"

However, disallowing Renan the time to answer her question, a couple of hurried footsteps were approaching over at the Stone Stalagmite. Next, a gruff voice could be heard from the other side speaking.

"…Huh? The hell is this piece of rock doing here?"

"Who knows man? But we have to hurry, those two ain't gonna buy us much time!"

"Yeah, you're right. Let's quickly go around it."

As their conversation ended, two men darted past the right of the stalagmite while another went to the left. And Renan, who was sitting quietly behind the stalagmite with Ars, finally saw the trio reveal themselves. The first to come out was a man with a moustache on his face, followed by his partner who didn't have any distinguishing features. But the first man in particular caught Renan's eye, and the former must've noticed them too as a trace of surprise was visible in his expression. However, that soon distorted into a nasty grin as a crafty light flickered in his eyes.

They swiftly flitted pass the couple, not bothering to give them another glance and just went on their way. Renan watched the trio for a moment, and with his sharp eyes, he spotted the last man carrying a sack on his back. Additionally, he could make out something moving in there and thrashing about as if wanting to escape.

"Miss Ars, let's go."

"Huh? Do you mean to follow those men?"

"YES, LET'S GO NOW!" He anxiously shouted out and grabbed the stunned Ars' hand.

Then, he made a break for it. And that proved to be a wise decision because as soon as they left the Stone Stalagmite behind them, it exploded out into countless bits and pieces. What later came out of the dust and debris was a hulking monster standing about eight feet tall and seventy inches wide. The beast let out a bestial roar that was filled with rage and anger from where it was standing, before charging over like an eight-ton bulldozer without breaks.

(The Beast, Lv. ???)

Monster Type: Field Boss

Health: ???

Mana: ???

Armor: ???

Physical Damage: ???

When both Ars and Renan saw that the Monster Display wasn't even giving them a reading, they could feel shivers running down their spines; not to mention the bucket load of cold sweat drenching their foreheads and backs.

"W-What is a field boss doing here of all places!!? Shouldn't they normally be roaming around in their own territories?!" Ars was uncharacteristically vocal with her words, apparent by the way her pitch sounded a tad bit higher than usual.

Contrary to the slow and perplexed manner she was showcasing before, Ars was now wholeheartedly running alongside Renan and trying to flee from this mad beast as far away as her legs would take her.

Meanwhile, a bit further in front of them: the trio from earlier were still going at it, and yet, they remarkably had some time in their hands to get a conversation going between them.

"We were lucky to have run into those couple from before, huh?" The average-looking man started.

"Hahaha! Maybe it's a sign that the heavens are helping us!"

"Hey, can you guys slow down a little? This sack is pretty heavy y'know!" Shuu, who was trailing behind them, said this while panting hard like a dog.

Since they were currently a fair distance away, their strained minds and taut senses could finally take a breather from all that adrenaline rushing through their veins. Subsequently, they could at present, calmly judge the situation they were in and think of a way to get out of this predicament.

"Hmm… Hey Rebel, do you think we can maybe separate here and go in different directions to shake off that thing?" The average-looking man raised a question.

The man with a moustache, who was also known as Rebel, instantly flew into a rage when heard that stupid question being asked. "Huh? Did you hit your head or something when you were a kid? What the hell kind of question is that!? Of course that won't work you dumbass! If we left Shuu to fend for himself, then that beast would definitely set him as its priority target with him carrying the cub! Then what do you think will happen, huh?! All our efforts would have been in vain!"

He blabbered on and on with his moustache flaring about how stupid and tiny the man's brain must be for posing such a dumb question. And Shuu, who was listening in from behind, interjected at once when he saw that things were getting out of hand.

"Now, now people. Let's all try to calm down, okay? Rebel, aren't you going a little overboard with your criticism here. I mean look at him, you're making him want to bang his head to a wall at this point."

"Heh, wouldn't I like to see that." Rebel remarked with a sadistic grin on his face. "And who knows, maybe it will even be of some help to him in fixing that lousy head of his."

While they were arguing with each other, a cloud of dust was forming behind them in the distance accompanied by the loud angry roars of a feral beast. And if they squinted their eyes and looked hard enough, they could vaguely make out a pair of pointy-long ears that resembled that of a wolf's poking out of the brown fog.

"Wow, they sure made it here fast." Rebel couldn't help but to comment on that.