Finally, I can...

"So you just gonna stand there and watch us fight?!!!"

"O-of course not, I can… command. Yes, I can command."

Although they doubt what he's saying, he's still a genuine D-Class Awakened after all. The E-class guy turned around to his fellow awakeners.

"Anyone agrees?"

Everyone's eyes exchange affirmation glances, before hesitatingly nodding in agreement.

They have no choice. This team wouldn't function without a leader.

And soon, the Awakeners prepared for the battle with frowning expressions etched in their faces. They didn't even have the time to argue with the man as the orc's figure already appeared in their line of sight.

Gulp—

Hans could hear the gulping noises of these Awakened, indicating that they were scared. Who wouldn't?

Awakeners' job is fighting monsters day or night. But the difference between dungeon raids and now is that the enemy is far stronger than any of them individually.

But what can they do? Wouldn't they die if they don't fight it?

'Confident huh.'

Approximately, there are 30 E-Class Awakeners stationed in their group. There is quite balance in the group here having the right amount of damage and defense.

Perhaps it's also because of their numbers that these people were quite a little confident.

Shortly after, the battle began.

And it was supposed to be an easy fight.

That's what Hans thought.

Unfortunately, in just a few minutes the party is now caught in a tight situation.

"Tanks, pull the aggro!!!"

"We're already doing it!"

"Damage dealers!! What are you doing!!?? Attack the head!!"

"You fucker, we're doing our best here!!!"

"I'm out of Mana!!!"

Because they are low-rank Awakeners, their attacks don't seem effective to this orc as he quickly brushes their skills with a swing of his ax, effortlessly.

BOOM!!!!

The orc raised its ax once more and slammed it to the nearby Awakened. The ground beneath the man's foot formed a small crater due to the power contained in the strike.

"Krahh!!! Cough—"

The tanker cough a mouthful of blood as he kneeled on the ground. Fortunately, the Awakened is a tanker, or else he'd be split into half by now.

"Assassins get him out of there!!"

"W-we're out of mana."

"That guy might die at this rate. Someone fr—.. !"

"Then save him, you goddamn coward!! Although we agreed to let you command, it doesn't mean you can order us anytime!!"

These Awakened appear like they have reached their limits.

'As expected.'

Hans knew that the party wouldn't last without a leader. Also, due to their almost nonexistent chemistry, some even cast their skills when the orc is in defense.

In short, it's like watching a group of dancers dancing in different styles at the same time.

It's utter chaos.

'Hah— I could help but…'

He wasn't prepared to go to the limelight yet or else his secrets might be exposed.

'For now… I need to be careful.'

Hans's gaze shifted to the orc slamming his ax to the tankers consecutively. Observing the orc meticulously, Hans noticed its stamina seems endless.

'A skill?'

Of course, the orc is injured as well but its firepower wasn't affected slightly at all.

'If I could render it defenseless then…'

What these groups needed right now is a powerful attack that could make it weaken. Even if it is weak, as long as it can help, then that's enough.

'I can at least do this much.'

Hans swept his eyes to the surroundings before sneakily going far from a distance others cannot see. Of course, he did this while the civilians' attentions were focused on the fight.

'This should be enough.'

He pulled the small dagger hidden in his jacket, leaned back slightly, and positioned his feet before assuming a clumsy throwing stance.

[Body Enhancement.]

Hans gripped the dagger tightly before the muscles on his arms began swelling up in force. With this posture he can maximize the damage this dagger can deal.

'Now then…'

The thick green veins showed up in the entirety of his hands and leg while the pulsing veins popped up in his forehead.

With the acrobat skill, all of his physical power not just strength was focused on this one strike.

Hans closed his left eye, aim towards the orc's head, and slowly opened it again to retain peripheral vision.

'Now!'

Swish—

Shortly, his arms that were pulled back in trance, shot forward towards the orc's weak spot… it's head.

.............

Aegeus's face is turning darker and darker as he brought down his massive hammer towards the lizardman's head.

Earlier after that explosion sounded, he felt a powerful presence lurking around. So he went to investigate as that existence might be a threat to humanity.

Why did he say this?

The leader of the 'Basilisk' is a genuine peak SS-Class Awakened. Due to being teammates for more than 15 years, he knows how strong an SS-Class can be.

This is why his curiosity came to its peak as this lurking figure's aura… is far beyond what he can recognize.

Unfortunately, when he went to track its position, it swiftly vanished into thin white mist. So he had no choice but to get back to the survivors.

But suddenly, a bonafide Boss Lizardman successfully sneak into his vicinity and dashed through where the survivors are. Caught off guard, Aegeus quickly followed its tracks.

Unluckily, he didn't prevent someone from dying.

And now he's delayed again.

"Haaaahh!!!"

Aegeus leap through the air and narrowed his eyes towards the lizardman.

'It seems I need to use this.'

Mana pressure rendered the area cold and gloomy. His strong yellowish mana flowed through his hands to his weapon.

Suddenly, the hammer equipped to his right hand began swelling bigger and bigger. For a whole 3 seconds, the process takes place before it stops.

Due to the weight of the weapon, Aegeus's hands seemed to bulge. Sweats drip from his face as he tried to maintain his balance from mid-air.

Woosh—

"Hey, aren't you good at dodging?"

Aegeus glared at the lizardman, grinning in delight.

"Then how about... you dodge this!"

The hammer's head covered the entirety of the sky, slowly falls to the ground carrying the weight of its judgment.

"Hahhhh!!!!!"

WHOOOSH—

BAAAAAM—

.........…

After decapitating the centaur, class B awakened, Johnny, quickly rushed to where others are.

He's been anxious since he started holding the monsters back. Dodging a projectile aimed at his torso, Johnny instantly step sideways. Even though there is an enemy behind, he didn't worry and continued running.

'Jon…'

The reason why Johnny's anxious is because his brother is part of those civilians who escaped as well.

Think it more like a blood instinct. It's telling him that something bad is going to happen. What if something bad happens to his brother? Which is why he's running towards them.

Swoosh—

His blurry figure left shadowy afterimages, as he sprinted faster than he used to be. Cold sweat drops formed in his forehead while his hands clenched tightly in hope.

'Please…'

Soon he arrived at the scene and from a distance, Johnny saw his brother getting smashed into the ground. The gifted shield that he gave to him is also showing cracks as well.

At this rate, his brother will die, even before he can save him. Thus, Johnny could only cry out without holding himself back.

"NO!!!!!"

It was at this moment that he saw it. A thing flew from out of nowhere as it ripped the strong wind in the silent air.

'What!?!'

Though he's B-Class, he didn't literally 'see' it. Perhaps it was due to tiredness as well that his vision hadn't processed what the thing is. But with his perception, he clearly senses it.

It was not so fast but also not too slow.

Shu—

That 'thing' cleanly penetrated the orc's head and it pass through to a large truck.

'What the hell?'

Johnny brakes his feet, stopping his tracks, and hurriedly darted his gaze around the vicinity. Using perception, he tried sensing any hidden lifeforms nearby but to no avail, he got no feedback.

"Our attack is working!! Save the tanker, first!"

"It's falling!!!"

"Wait stop! There is someone besides the orc."

"Isn't that Johnny? B-Class Johnny!?"

Everyone's halted their attacks and focused their eyes towards the muscular man beside the now swaying monster. It seems that none of them noticed the object hitting the orc's brow as they are immersed in their attacks.

Shriiieeek—

In the end, the orc launches its final roar. It lunges towards the nearby Awakened like a mindless beast.

But before the mad orc could even attack, it was cut off by a strong fist, crushing its skull.

Crack—

The large figure of the orc fell to the floor powerlessly.

Wahhhh—

The awakeners cried out in joy with smiles on their faces.

"We won!!"

"Finally!!"

Only Johnny had seen what really transpired.

"Jo, Help!!"

Johnny was awakened from his trance by the voice and quickly shifted his attention to his brother.

"Hahaha man, your face looks like a pig."

He slowly approached giggling and help his brother get out from under the rubble. Fortunately, there are class E healers nearby as they hurriedly tended to the injured ones.

"I'll leave my brother to you."

"Yes."

Johnny strolled around the vicinity of the fallen orc; his gaze searched around the surroundings.

'Just what is it?'

Small debris crush under his foot as he carefully gallops towards where the car was.

'Is this…?'

Kacha—

Johnny pulled the thing out from the car and meticulously inspect it, which was now just a broken item. Even if a civilian see this, he'll know it at one glance. No doubt, this is a dagger.

'Someone threw this thing and killed an orc capable of brushing off the combined attack of 30 plus awakeners?'

How crazy is that?

Johnny knew that there is no C-class Awakened in the team as he was the last who left them to hold monsters back.

Unless it's a C-class, this thing wouldn't penetrate the monster's head.

'Forget it.'

Johnny took one last glance at the orc's corpse and the broken dagger before he ran past the large rocks and in the direction the dagger flew from.

But before he could approach the area, a hand wrapped around his shoulders.

"Jo, why are you late? I almost died you know."

"Aren't you alive? Now get out of my face."

Johnny cocked his head sideways, trying to make a straight face.

"No!!!... Isn't that what you said? I heard it, Keke"

After imitating Johnny's expression earlier, Sonny cheekily grinned.

"I didn't say that."

"You did."

"I didn't."

"But you did… Ahhh!!"

Johnny wrapped his large arms around his brother's neck and caught it in a headlock.

"Now shut up and go. I'm searching if there are monster remnants nearby."

"Oh, alright… be careful."

Johnny watches his brother's disappearing back. He placed his hand on his chest and sigh in relief.

'Thank god.'

He thought shortly, before finally galloping towards a destroyed building. The inside was burned as if it was toasted like a 'mallow.

'I'm positive. It came here.'

But the only problem is, there's no one in his line of sight. He tried sensing any human nearby but to his dismay, he found no one.

Sighing in loss, Johnny rested his hands on his hips.

"I just wanted to thank him… Forget it."

Since that guy doesn't want to be seen, Johnny can't do something about it, right? He didn't even know if it's a guy or not.

He raised his hand and stared once more at the broken dagger in sight.

'Whoever threw you, thanks for saving my brother.'

Of course, he'd never know, as the one who threw the dagger is silently mixed in the civilians.

......…

Meanwhile, Hans was looking at the face of the awakeners celebrating their victory. Earlier, he turned around to leave as soon as the dagger hit its target.

Of course, he's well aware of the fact that he's the one who 'almost' killed it though he stood still and just quietly remained silent.

This is the decision he made after considering all of the possible outcomes.

Usually, once a monster is taken down they produce a large chunk of mana stone depending on how strong the monster is.

If he wanted to, he could get all the rights to keep it all. However, he has no proof that he's the one who killed the orc.

Who would believe that the F-class, Hans Luther, can crush an orc that almost exhausted 30 E-class awakeners? More importantly, it would be problematic as he had to explain how did he get strong to take down an orc effortlessly.

Then he'd be forced to reveal all of his secrets in which he doesn't want to happen.

'Forget it. I don't need that for now.'

He's a man of determination and his priority is to safely get out of this place alive. As for that mana stone, he'll just leave it to those E-classes.

Well, if he thought more about it, he gain even more than he expected. For him, this was more than enough as one of his doubts was confirmed now.

Hans raised his head, towards where the white letters floated in the corner of his eyes. His eyes gleamed in joy and anticipation.

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

….

[Current level: 5]

This was the message he heard the moment that B-class Awakened took the orc down.

'I-I can level up now?'

But his thoughts were cut off when a large object abruptly covered the sky.

'Is that a UFO?'