The Monster Monarch System-Chapter 128: Separated Party (Part 2)

"How many damn Hellhounds are there?!" Mika shouted out as she dodged yet another slash attack from a Hellhound, leaping backward – her movements were laced with precision and her azure eyes glowered with determination, burning with soul energy.

As soon as her eyes locked onto the Hellhound that had attacked her, Mika leapt into the air, the ground below her vibrating as she closed the distance between herself and the Hellhound. The Hellhound opened it’s mouth, sending forth sound waves with the intent of paralyzing Mika mid-air.

But Mika endured the attack relentlessly and soon arrived before the Hellhound, throwing her fist forward with soul energy laced around it. Her fist made contact with the Hellhound’s forehead and a distinct shattering sound echoed across the surrounding area as the Monster fell to the ground, joining the pile of Hellhounds that lay across the ground.

Mika stared at the corpse, a grin stretching at her lips as a tremendous amount of soul energy gathered in her eyes, shimmering at a blinding intensity. Mika soon looked over her shoulder, more Hellhounds were coming but they were soon killed by a series of explosions.

"Finally awakened a skill huh?" Tero’s voice was clear as day as he emerged from the smoke, his blue eyes glowing, "I can see it,"

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"Why not go back to regroup with the others?" Mika asked as she dashed alongside Tero, they were sprinting through the dungeon at an absurd pace – any monster that dared to interrupt their dash was quickly blasted by a powerful explosion.

"You don’t really have the drive to grow stronger, do you?" Tero asked while his eyes glowed, he was staring ahead but Mika felt as if he was staring at her – his presence was intimidating, just like Rem’s.

"Of course I do," Mika said with conviction, "Everyone who becomes an Apprentice wants to grow stronger, that’s why they bother sparing the effort,"

Tero glanced at her, unsure of what to say. He took in a deep breath.

"You’re wrong," Tero said, "Some people are motivated by several desires, many people just want to become Cavaliers or Magus for the fame that comes along with it – not that I blame them, anyone would succumb to such a reason but these people lack the drive to grow stronger,"

"If it’s for the sake of fame, would you risk your own life against a Monster that you know you wouldn’t be able to defeat?" Tero asked and continued without waiting for her reply, "Even the greatest man on this planet wouldn’t be able to sacrifice his life for the sake of others that he doesn’t know if he has a family at home,"

Mika just kept running ahead, knowing that there was meaning behind his words.

"But for you, there’s something different," Tero said, "That’s why I chose to rescue you from those Hellhounds,"

"E-even if you weren’t there, I would have beaten them up," Mika shot back.

"Both of us know that skill awakening or not, Fatigue was already catching up with you," Tero said, "If you had faced those Hellhounds that I killed, you would have been dead by now,"

Mika shuddered but changed the subject.

"Why are we even meeting other people?" Mika asked, making Tero chuckle.

"I’m not an idiot," Tero replied, "It would be nearly impossible for both of us to survive this dungeon alone so we have to regroup with people of similar strength – We benefit from them and they benefit from us, an enticing offer," 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

"But keep your Sensory abilities a secret," Tero said as they drew ever so closer to the two people, "We don’t want anyone knowing that you can sense over 300 Kilometers now, do we?"

Mika nodded and soon the glow faded from her eyes.

"Do you think Rem and the other people from my Party will be fine?" Mika asked.

"As for the Beastkin and Rem, with such astounding reserves of soul energy – they should be fine," Tero said, "But Soulless – I’m not so sure,"

Mika bit her lips.

"Don’t call him Soulless, he’s human just like the rest of us," Mika said and Tero knew not to push a little bit more, besides they had already reached their destination.

Olivia’s movements were fast, even Mika couldn’t keep up with it – the Apprentice blitzed all over the rocky dungeon floor, slicing through Monsters left and right with zero effort, but every human had their limits and Olivia reached her’s, her speed slowed down as fatigue caught up with her... She looked alarm and Mika turned to Tero who looked as steady as ever.

They stood on a rock formation not too far away from the battle and Mika was alarmed that Cole wasn’t intervening yet... at this rate, Olivia would die to the monsters attacking her.

"Let’s go," She said while tugging on his sleeve but Tero didn’t budge, his eyes stared at the battlefield focused.

Olivia gave a glance at the person she was protecting – a boy which bore similar features as her and gritted her teeth, clutching her sword with determination burning in her eyes. Her reserves had run down to the minimum and it was only a matter of time before she was killed by the Monsters.

*Sigh*

A magnificent explosion occurred right in front of her, echoing it’s glory throughout the battlefield she had once struggled in. Her eyes widened as she witnessed a silver haired boy walk through the smoke alongside a blue-haired girl – both of them had been Apprentices.

"My dear, do you need some help?" Tero asked with a kind smile, his eyes radiating warmth that surprised even Mika.

Olivia didn’t say any words, unsure of the situation or how to respond to it but they were soon interrupted by a cough coming from the boy that lay at the corner – he coughed up blood.

’Poisoning, huh?’ Tero thought as he grinned inwardly, he was going to have her loyalty in the bag.

Tero took a step forward, heading toward the boy without a second’s hesitation, ignoring Olivia’s surprised glare and as he walked, he pulled out a vial from his pocket – the glistening fluid calming down her heart... it was an antidote.

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Author’s Note:

Well there’s more to Tero than what meets the eye after all, you’ll find out as the plot unfolds... Everyone has their own little secrets.