Free Web NovelChapter 33: Investment 33— Fierce Battles in the Dungeon(Part Two)
The huge dark-skinned Minotaur loomed over the student council core members and the green-haired boy. Red eyes filled with unhinged rage and insatiable hunger.
Thick translucent saliva dripped as it opened its horse-like mouth filled with jagged teeth that their eyes could not count with a single glance, letting out a booming roar.
"Grahhhhhhhhhhh!"
A gust of air that seemed to reek of rotten tomatoes blew out from the Minotaur’s wide-open mouth. This was highly intimidating. The green-haired boy named Jin buckled to his feet and placed both arms on his head, shrieking in fear. His teeth chattered.
"Oh my goodness, we are done for."
His reaction wasn’t the abnormal thing here. What was truly abnormal and shocking, even to the stupid Minotaur before them, were the calm expressions on the student council’s core members’ faces beside the shrieking Jin.
Most students would run away. Some might even wet their pants in fear. But yet these nerve-racking nobles didn’t even bat an eye.
"Was that supposed to be intimidating?"
August placed a hand over his mouth and yawned very loudly.
"How are they all still so calm? That’s a Minotaur, a B-rank Greater Minotaur."
Jin couldn’t wrap his head around their surreal calmness in what was supposed to be a very dire situation. Students coming into the dungeon for the first time weren’t normally supposed to come across monsters of that threat level, and even if they did, it was advised to run.
But the student council core members were not even following the Adonite Academy Dungeon Survival Guide Manual. Act No.4 clearly stated that when faced with an abnormality, students should flee and inform their instructors. In a case where running wasn’t possible, the tracing stones would immediately alert the dungeon instructors.
They were all supposed to be model students who followed all the rules. As the saying goes: the rules are usually broken by those who made them.
Given the look on the Minotaur’s face, if it could speak, it would have said these words:
"I put a lot of effort into that, you bastards."
"I’m sitting this one out. You guys can take care of it."
Knowing Rose, she was one who never wasted her time on weak opponents. The crazy part was her labelling a Minotaur, who could destroy a party of C-rank Arbiters and still have enough mana to go on another rampage, as weak.
As if the Minotaur knew that she wasn’t taking it seriously as a threat, it took the advantage to attack with its jagged claws the moment it thought she had let her guard down.
"Holy shit! Is she okay?"
Jin turned his head quickly in panic. The Minotaur moved in a blur of motion. The gust from the attack dispersed the sand around them, causing the formation of a shock screen around Rose and the left arm of the Minotaur.
A sinister grin crept across its horse-like face. It thought that its attack would have finished her off.
A thick dark-red blood sprayed out from the mist, but it wasn’t that of Rose. The Minotaur’s arm fell to the ground with a booming sound.
"I don’t need to be blessed by a god to take out trash like you."
Rose stood from the rock, her sword coated with the blood of the Minotaur. Her eyes remained closed, not due to blindness, just her usual appearance. As expected of the noble who brutalized a 5th-year in last year’s Battle Royale while she was still a first-year.
The Minotaur quickly acted on its survival instincts the moment it noticed she was a threat. It covered its severed arm as it let out a cry of frustration and leaped backwards.
But it was already too late for it to escape.
She was "a hunter who always made sure her prey was hunted down."
And unfortunately, its foolish act had marked it as prey not just by her, but also by her cursed blade and best partner, Temogi Anteca, more widely known as the Scythe of Despair.
It was one of the very few Transcendent-class cursed artifacts still in existence. Unlike other artifacts, cursed artifacts demanded insane mental strength and fortitude, not just sufficient mana. There had been many before Rose that got sucked dry and killed by the very blade she wielded today.
One of the special effects that came along with the Death Scythe was its ability to grant its host an enhanced affinity.
There were two types of affinities in the world of Hale: basic affinities like fire, heat, and so on. Then there were the enhanced affinities that could only be attained through the fusion of two or more basic affinities.
Many had tried and failed to gain an enhanced affinity in their lifetime, and some even died in the process.
Patterns of dark thorny roses started to spread from the left shoulder of the Minotaur, where its left arm was once attached, to the rest parts of its body, reaching its face.
Then, in that instant, its heart burst and its body was rendered lifeless as it fell to the floor with a great BOOM.
"13th-tier cursed spell: Glunt."
She sheathed her blade that seemed to have absorbed the blood of the Minotaur.
"Thanks for the meal, Master."
A feminine and sweet voice echoed inside her head. It belonged to the Death Scythe.
"Anytime," she whispered, still maintaining her calm demeanor. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
Futaba was already raring to go, but Rose had already disposed of the Minotaur before she could have her shot.
"Rose, why do you have to finish everything so quickly?"
She played with her scarlet-coloured hair frantically.
"At least you would have allowed the beast to suffer a bit."
A devilish grin crept across her face.
"I have always despised that disgusting habit of yours."
Rose walked towards the rock with a detached look on her face.
"Girl, you know I love it when you get feisty."
Futaba teased her instead of getting annoyed. As far as she was concerned, her and Rose were practically inseparable.
"And yet people call me the monster."
Rose sat on the stone and crossed her legs, but deep within, she dubbed Futaba her sister.
"Ehmmm... ladies, the Minotaur’s body is moving."
August pointed a finger at the Minotaur that was supposed to be dead.
The Minotaur’s body suddenly convulsed.
A sickening series of cracks rang out from its bones as its back arched violently off the ground. Its arms lifted first, twitching erratically, followed by its legs that folded beneath it in stiff, unnatural movements.
It didn’t stand.
It assembled itself upward.
Like a broken machine forcing itself to function again.
"How did it survive a strike from Rose?"
Leonard blurted out with a disturbed look on his face.
