(Swordsman) First Disciple, (Harp) Second Disciple

"What?!"

Thanks to the System, Albrecht was warned of the unexpected attack. However, it didn't give Albrecht enough leeway to dodge the attack.

Adding to that, he was so surprised that he momentarily lost his bearings. If it were any normal situation, Albrecht would've reacted in time and activated his skill 'Chronos Reversion'. However, he was caught off-guard at a very crucial time.

Swish~!

Even though he was unable to activate his skill, he watched in slow motion as the wind slash cut through the air and zoomed towards him. He gulped, imagining just how much it would hurt if he were to get hit.

At the last second, Albrecht closed his eyes and braced for impact. The adrenaline rapidly coursed through his System as panic set in.

BABAM!

As it turned out, it wasn't a single wind slash, but two consecutive ones. The first one hit Albrecht directly on the stomach, and the second one hit him on the legs, leaving a huge gash of a cut that profusely bled. There was also a huge open wound on his stomach, thanks to the first wind slash.

From afar, the seemingly proportionate undead flashed a mischievous smile at Albrecht before she put her hands on the harp for the second time, playing a harmonious yet ominous set of notes imbued with dark energy.

Another couple of wind slashes traveled through the air, and Albrecht could sense that another hit from them would grant him a permanent place in a cemetery.

Blood came out of Albrecht's mouth, and he tasted a hint of iron in his saliva. Before the wind slashes could connect, he jumped sideways and hid behind the First Disciple, turning him into a temporary shield as Albrecht tried to calm down.

He wanted to panic, but he knew that that would just aggravate the situation. More than anything, he had to regain his composure.

[Skill 'Chronos Reversion' activated]

[Skill 'Saddim's Touch' activated]

[Zombie Overlord's Scepter equipped]

[Item: Zombie Overlord Scepter (S-Rank)—The scepter of the zombie overlord, capable of handling dark energy and accumulated Zecian Aura. Increases the affinity to an element by 50% bestows an additional 100% effectivity. Grants slight regeneration to Zecian Aura, and fills up one's Zecian Aura by 80% should it fall below 20%.]

Chronos Reversion gave Albrecht a bit of breathing space as he assessed the dire situation. He then activated his skill Saddim's Touch in order to equip the Zombie Overlord's Scepter.

For a moment, Albrecht wondered whether the 'deterioration effect' of Saddim's Touch would work on the First and Second Disciples. But then, he realized that they were undead, so they probably won't be affected by it.

Clicking his tongue, Albrecht was finally prepared to go on the offensive.

"Here we go," He said, clicking his tongue a second time.

His current predicament reminded him of the time when he was just a 'useless' member of the Heroes of Relics. After all, there were only two B-Rank monsters in front of him, but he couldn't fight them head-on.

"No... if I want to catch up to them... if I want to surpass them, then I need to work twice as hard." Albrecht said to himself. He still remembered the smug faces of his ex-party members as they kicked him out of the group.

He had done everything to fulfill his role and fill in the gaps in their teamwork, but he wasn't given prior notice before he was kicked out.

It would've been acceptable if they respected him enough. But no, they got rid of him like an old rusty knife that couldn't be used anymore— discarded with all the other garbage.

As expected, the First Disciple was hit with the wind slashes, and it gave Albrecht an idea of how he'd get rid of the two.

Once again, Albrecht moved forward, ducking as low as possible. He also tried to move as slowly as he could while trying to keep up with the First Disciple's slashes.

The First Disciple lunged at Albrecht, and he dodged at the last second as if he was struggling to go head-to-head with him. Every time the First Disciple would attack, Albrecht would temporarily activate his skill 'Chronos Reversion' so he could cleanly dodge at the last second.

This only worked since the First Disciple was at least a B-Rank Monster. If it were an A-Rank, he wouldn't be able to play such a tactic. He'd have to activate Chronos Reversion all the time in order to keep up with it.

To be fair, Albrecht could actually dodge the First Disciple's onslaught even without Chronos Reversion. However, he needed to make it seem like he was having a hard time—

— so the Second Disciple could aim and shoot him with her wind blades.

As expected, the Second Disciple shot a couple of wind blades at Albrecht once again, playing the harp she balanced on her thighs.

Her shadow was actually seductive due to how prepossessingly proportionate she was... but if one were to take a closer look, one would see a rotting corpse with most of her flesh gouged out and her bones showing.

"Nice~," Albrecht said to himself.

Straining his ankles, Albrecht jumped upward, causing the First Disciple to look up and took advantage of his opening. However, Albrecht was expecting this, that's why he jumped in the first place.

And just like how he expected, the First Disciple couldn't bend forward, so he wasn't able to deflect the wind slashes that Albrecht dodged.

It was perfect timing, and before the First Disciple's attack hit him, the wind slashes hit the First Disciple, and he flew towards the other end of the Dungeon when the slashes connected.

"Yes," Albrecht said to himself as the First Disciple weakly stood up, dragging his feet towards Albrecht while he slung the sword on his shoulder.

Meanwhile, Albrecht dodged the wind slashes coming from the harp of the Second Disciple. He was going to attack him as soon as he dealt with the First Disciple.

"I can do thi—" Excitedly, Albrecht was about to say that he'd be able conquer the Hidden Dungeon. But before he could finish his exclamation, a window popped up in front of him.

[Warning!]

[Warning!]

Before the System could warn him, he detected a couple of gazes directed at him. "Oi oi oi~ are you kidding me?" Albrecht muttered to himself.

The Third and Fourth Disciple got out of their pedestal, and they threateningly walked towards Albrecht.