Overestimated?

The snake used its massive body to propel itself forward, its mouth open, getting ready to swallow Zaroth.

He just barely managed to dodge by jumping to the side.

Silverfang immediately jumped the snake with no hesitation.

Lily extended her arms forward as ice began to cover the body of the snake, limiting its movement.

A few swords floating around Roran immediately shot forward, attacking the head of the snake.

With a curse, Zaroth stretched out his hand, and the next moment, a green fireball appeared, ready to be fired.

Lily and Zaroth's magic, Silverfang's claws, and Roran's swords attacked the snake violently with no hesitation.

Yet the creature remained perfectly fine as all of their attacks were useless against its thick scales.

"What now?" Zaroth asked himself, observing the surroundings, trying to find something that he could use to his advantage.

"Where is Zack?!" he muttered. He wasn't sure, but the way his neck bent when he took the hit from the snake, he was almost certainly paralyzed—if not that, he was at least bleeding internally, so he was useless in combat.

Still, Zaroth couldn't help himself but search for him. He was supposed to be someone on the ground, slowly bleeding, so where the hell was he?

Why couldn't Zaroth find him?

The snake, getting annoyed by the attacks, produced an ear-piercing screech.

Zaroth had no choice but to put his hands on his ears in an attempt to prevent his eardrums from exploding.

After the snake had finished its screech, Zaroth's party was dazed, and they couldn't move for a moment.

Seizing the opportunity, the snake propelled its body towards Roran.

"Hey." A voice suddenly called out. It somehow carried an emotion that Zaroth hadn't seen before, it was hard to explain.

But one thing was certain, the voice was firm, almost like a command.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Zaroth shifted his gaze to the person that was talking, and his eyes narrowed in shock.

"Zack?" Zaroth muttered.

Zack was supposed to be on the ground, bleeding slowly and paralyzed, yet he stood like he hadn't just taken a frontal attack directly to his neck.

"That hit was pretty good, you know? So I'm sure you wouldn't mind if I returned the gesture, right?"

Zack spoke as a menacing smile appeared on his face.

It seemed the snake recognized him as the biggest current threat, so it shifted its body to face him.

The next instant, Zack exploded towards the snake with dazzling speed, almost like an arrow—no, he was faster than an arrow.

He extended his arm, and a sword made from blood appeared.

But unlike before, this sword was different. It was bigger, much bigger—at least two meters—and it somehow appeared more menacing, more lethal.

As Zack reached the snake, he slashed.

And made a deep wound on its side.

The snake, overwhelmed by the pain, screamed in anger as it moved its head with the intention to devour Zack, only to be stopped by Silverfang, who had thrown its body against the snake.

Lily and Zaroth immediately fired their spells at the wounds that Zack had created.

"I am not done yet!" Zack proclaimed as he jumped high into the sky and slashed again, injuring the snake's left eye.

Zaroth narrowed his eyes in shock, because Zack's sword seemed to grow.

"Is… is his sword absorbing the blood of the snake?" Zaroth muttered under his breath as he tightened the grip on his sword and charged towards the snake.

Roran did the same as he also directed his sword to strike at the wounded eye of the snake.

Overwhelmed by the coordinated attacks, the snake screamed again. This time, its roar wasn't menacing or hostile, it was more of a cry for help.

It moved its tail again, getting ready to hit Roran, but before it could, Zack jumped again, and as he landed on the snake's head, he smiled as he brought his sword down, piercing the snake's skull and brain, killing it in an instant.

The body of the snake shuddered and fell to the ground, dead.

Everyone was exhausted and even wounded, but they were alive, which was the most important thing.

Zaroth collapsed to his knees, greedily breathing the air, and his companions did the same. Everyone was tired.

A Rare beast had ambushed them and almost killed them. Maybe they were really too overconfident that they could take on a Rare beast as they pleased.

Zaroth shifted his gaze to Zack.

'How is he fine after that attack? At least he should have been paralyzed. At worst, he should have died.'

He then shifted his gaze to Roran.

'What was that giant golden sword that appeared, splitting the hyena in two just before it reached Lily?'

Zaroth smiled menacingly as he muttered,

"It seems I am not the only one that hides my real strength here."

Everyone was exhausted and in a bad mood, so after taking proof of having slain the snake, they decided to head back to their camp.

Zaroth didn't try to resurrect the snake as this time he didn't feel the energy that came from Silverfang and the bear.

It took them about an hour to return to the camp, and now everyone was sitting around the fire, deep in thought.

Zaroth glanced at his leg, which he had patched with some herbs. During the time he was taking care of his mother, he had learned a thing or two, so he knew what was good to patch injuries.

He did the same for Roran and Lily, while Zack…

Despite being the person who should have been the most injured, he was spotless, with not a single injury on his body.

After the awkward silence between the four continued for some time, Zaroth sighed as he spoke.

Being the leader and all, he had to play his role.

"We must admit the truth, it's that we most likely overestimated our abilities."

Everyone shifted their gazes to him, but no one interrupted.

"Just from the ambush of one Rare beast, we almost died. If it had been more—or, in case a pack of Rare monsters, like the pack of hyenas that attacked us before—we would have been doomed."

"So, do you think we should head back to the main camp?" Zack asked, leaning back.

"True, we have the proof of killing two Rare beasts, and that should, technically, put us above the competition… but we still have twelve days remaining, so this is what I suggest."

He leaned forward, getting a bit closer to the fire.

"We stop searching for Rare beasts and focus on weaker enemies until the end of the hunting competition."

In the end, no one objected, so after having a quiet dinner, they all went to sleep.

*****

Sofia cleaned her sword with her sleeve while muttering,

"Second day, and we've already slain 12 Rare beasts… not bad."

Suddenly, the sound of a staff being dropped to the ground made her shift her attention to her friend.

"Vera? Is something wrong?"

Without saying anything, the weak girl slowly stretched her trembling hand forward, pointing with her finger.

Sofia glanced in the direction she was pointing but didn't see anything, so she raised an eyebrow as she asked,

"What's there?"

Vera took a shaky breath before she spoke, her voice trembling.

"Epic beasts… they're coming."