Crouching in the sand, I pursed my lips as I glanced back at the forest, my ears still catching the sounds of battle in the distance despite the soothing sound of the ocean behind me, as well as the soft breeze that lapped at my skin.
"So? What'd you think? Quite a beautiful thing, wasn't it?"
I looked at the Marquess for a moment and spoke before the rest, saying "I hate to say this, Marquess, but our views on beautiful are drastically different. That was..."
"Demented."
Leone finished what I was going to say, the Vampire frowning as she glanced back at the forest as well, adding "It was mindless slaughter just for the sake of slaughter. They ignored the guards entirely and instead focus on massacring one another, all for what? To reset the island and kill themselves? It just doesn't make sense..."
"Yes, it is all for a chance to be the faction that pulls the heart from this land, ending their generation and wiping the slate clean. That, however, is so beautiful... Their devotion to annihilation and bloodshed, the singleminded focus on being better then the other faction no matter what... it's. glorious thing to behold! Anput and Jahi agree with me... don't you?"
The Jackalkin pursed her lips before shrugging, while Jahi gave a small nod as she scratched her cheek, a smile tugging at her lips as she muttered "It... does seem rather entertaining, and there is a simple beauty to be found in their battle..."
Leone and I just frowned at the two, before sighing as we turned back to the Marquess, who began to speak again.
"This island would have been even more beautiful if I hadn't culled the strongest monsters and undead already... each time this place gets reset, the two factions get a suite of evolved, upgraded monsters and undead that are leagues above the others, with the ability to command the two factions as they please, making this more like an actual war zone then it is now, but because of that they only come back whenever the island is reset, so..."
She waved at the forest, finishing what she was saying with a sigh.
"What's left are the chaff; the pieces of the factions that can be replaced and remade whenever they need to be, so there is little innovation or semblance of strategy in their movements currently, but don't let that lull you into a false sense of security. They're still smarter then the monsters you're opposed to, and the undead are almost at the level of humans with their love for swarm tactics and simplistic stratagems.
Don't knock it though, since they can be effective at any level and any skill; they are the foundational building blocks of what we use today, after all. NIrinia can tell you just how deadly throwing bodies at a meat grinder can be..."
The Djinn nodded, her jade eyes narrowed as she stared at the sand for a moment, before her attention was drawn to Jahi, who stood up and brushed the sand off her body.
"Well, if there isn't anything else pressing, I'd like to hunt one of each of the factions before the sun falls to get a better grasp on their strength. Are you two just going to stay here?"
"Mhm~! Sadly I need to remain here, lest the inhabitants of Sisyphea Island begin to grow in leaps and bounds to match my threat to them, and the same goes for Nirinia; in theory you all could deal with a monster or two at her level, but in practice... I wouldn't try to just yet. So go on, hunt your monster and undead; you have a few hours left here~!"
The Demoness grinned at her daughter, before leaning back and sprawling out in the sand, sighing as she closed her eyes and basked in the sun, enjoying herself.
Pursing my lips again, I sighed as I stood back up and gestured towards the left side of the island, saying "Let's go for a monster first then; they seemed closer than the undead. Besides, it'll need to be a more diverse collection of monsters that we hunt since they're all so different. The undead are at least all roughly the same."
Jahi nodded, before beckoning for me to lead the way, motioning Anput to my side while Leone took the middle, where she was protected by all of us; the mage was almost always a glass cannon, and Leone hadn't broken free from that mould just yet...
So we set off, the Marquess, Nirinia, and Sla'Caligo watching as we marched over the beach and into the forest, keeping close to the shoreline as we began to move around the edge of the island, back towards the fighting.
ραndαsΝοvεl ƈοm It didn't take long for Anput and I to catch a whiff of a monster, our noses twitching as the scent of something besides moss, dirt, and flora wafted through the air, and we motioned for the others to quiet down and be careful as we stalked forwards, our blades at the ready.
Already I had a wind sphere around us diffusing our own scent and silencing our noise further, increasing our stealth as we crept forwards, where we got to see a few Goblins hacking away at a tree, peeling the bark back and revealing the soft wood beneath.
Their primitive stone tools weren't the most intimidating, but they would do the trick against flesh, so we needed to be cautious against them; on top of that, axes and clubs were a perfect counter for chainmail, since they dealt far more blunt force damage then a sword did.
However, we could take them all out before they realized we were here, and after getting a nod from Jahi we began to spread out, taking a Goblin each as we readied our weapons, preparing to lunge forwards and kill four of the five Goblins in the clearing.
With another nod, Jahi lurched forwards and cleaved her great sword through the torso of her Goblin, bisecting it and killing it instantly, allowing her to turn towards the extra and stab it in the sternum.
Anput raised her katana high and slashed down, opening a deep gash across the Goblin's chest that made it stumbled backwards, only to release a muffled grunt as her blade pierced its throat, silencing it.
Leone didn't bother with her Estoc, instead hurling a simple Firebolt forwards and following it up with a lance, which pierced the Goblin's chest and enveloped it in flame, burning it to a crisp.
Lastly, I sprinted forwards silently and slipped my arm around its neck, grabbing its jaw and wrenching its head back, allowing my Shatter Fang to slide across its throat and freeze its voicebox, earning me a silent kill.
[Sisyphea Goblin killed!]
[9,890 Xp awarded!]
Lowering the corpse to the ground, I raised a brow as I looked at the number, before focusing on the Goblin as it began to turn to dust.
Something that easy provided that much experience?
It hadn't reacted to anything, and while it had a tough hide, the monster still died so easily...
So...
Wasn't this going to be an absolute Xp haven?
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter