—–

Dismembered bodies flew into the air, sliced heads fell into the ground, a bloodbath unfolded.

Noah and his party quickly got to work, and the group of Lizardmen that attacked them was sliced into pieces after less than a minute.

Arthur used his powerful Erosion to make the Lizardmen literally melt away, Jon used his powerful Evil Eye to drain the life out of these creatures, Timassa wielded her black thunder, electrifying her targets, Adamantine used her Black Claws and Dark Aura to become a beast, tearing apart her enemies, and Iris used her slashing claws and her Demonic Phantom Fox to enhance her capabilities.

“That was relatively easy…” said Arthur.

“Well, we are a big party already, this is to be expected,” said Noah, as he accumulated the blood of the Lizardmen he killed before their corpses were to disappear into black smoke inside of his Blood Sphere.

“Our strength has increased a lot… I usually needed to rest every time I used Bolt Arrow… but now, I can use it several times without getting tired, is this because my Mana regenerates fast due to having eaten corpses?” asked Timassa.

“Indeed, all of us can enhance our Mana regeneration and even regenerate it completely whenever we are fully satiated. This way, we can unleash our Skills without worrying so much about spending all our fuel, something that low ranked Hunters don’t have the privilege of unless they are very talented,” said Noah.

“My eye… is strong…” said Jon.

“Oh yeah, Jon, you just drained the life of those monsters! Well done,” said Iris, petting Jon’s head, he was rather small, the smallest of the group, and seemed to like to be given attention by Noah and Iris, who he called his masters or lords.

“I’ve wondered, do your eyes grant you the ability to drain life and recover it?” asked Noah.

“Yes, Master… My Health has recovered… although I did not lose any… So it was wasted… And my Mana… has also filled a bit,” said Jon.

“Interesting, perhaps we should try to get you a more offensive long-ranged attack for a more immediate effect, this way, you can both kill and recover without even needing to drink blood,” said Noah.

“I would… be glad…” said Jon while blushing a bit, talking with his Master could not bring him more happiness, he was truly fascinated with Noah.

“Master… Hungry…” muttered Adamantine.

Although Jon was rather shy, he was not near as strange as Adamantine, whose mind seemed to have regressed to a dependent toddler.

“Didn’t you ate some of the flesh of the Lizardmen? Well, have this leg,” said Noah, taking out a leg off Arthur’s Dimensional Storage Ring, one of such legs were from the corpses of the two nameless F-Rank Hunters they casually hunted.

“Graarr…”

Adamantine quickly began to eat the leg, tearing apart the flesh and drinking the blood voraciously.

“Adamantine-chan is such a voracious little girl now~,” said Iris, caressing her silky blonde hair as Adamantine seemed to feel relaxed whenever she received affection from her mistress.

The party continued their exploration around the jungle, as they came across smaller monsters unrelated to the Lizardmen, such as Giant Dragonflies, Roaring Jungle Birds, and Fire Breathing Monkeys, which were disposed of rather easily by Noah’s Blood Projectiles, Arthur’s Erosion Wave, Jon’s Evil Eye, and Timassa’s Black Thunder, while Iris and Adamantine were more close combat fighters, so they could only watch.

“Noah-sama, I think I have been managing to create my own Blood Projectiles! Are these okay?” asked Iris, as she shaped the blood inside of her Blood Sphere and showed a thin and long blood needle.

“Oh? Have you been practicing diligently? Well done, this one seems sharp and rather strong as well, it would easily penetrate through flesh, although the Lizardman has scales, so you should try to aim towards their eyes or mouths,” said Noah.

“I see!” said Iris as she blushed, Noah’s advice was like precious treasures for her.

“Hm?” said Jon, as he stopped walking.

“What is it?” asked Noah.

“…There is… a big group of Lizardmen coming… Over… 50…” said Jon, detecting the lizardmen marching towards them from several meters away thanks to his Clairvoyance Skill.

“So many?!” asked Iris.

“That’s… a lot… Should we retreat?” asked Arthur.

“What are you talking about? This is the perfect opportunity to grind more Cores, let’s wipe them all out! Arthur, take out the War Machine and Sakura,” said Noah.

“Eh? R-Really?” asked Arthur.

“Do as I said,” said Noah.

“Y-Yes!” said Arthur, as he opened the portal to his Dimensional Storage Ring, and the giant Big Sis and Sakura emerged out of it.

“W-What is happening? Is this… a jungle?” asked Big Sis.

“Eeeh?! Why are we in such a place?!” asked Sakura.

“This is a dungeon, give us a hand defeating an army of Lizardmen, will you?” asked Noah, as he gave Sakura a sword and a shield made of a cheap magical ore that Arthur carried on his Dimensional Storage Ring.

“E-Eh? Fight?! Me?! I used to be a servant to my former master… n-not a fighter!” said Sakura.

“I don’t care what you used to be before, I want you to do as I say,” said Noah.

“O-Okaaay! D-Don’t look at me like that, master…” said Sakura, as she braced herself.

“Don’t worry, I will protect you, Sakura. Taking care of a Lizardmen is not a problem, my bullets shall tear through their flesh without a problem,” said Big Sis, she was a strong War Machine, brimming with confidence.

“Grakakh! Gragaaaakkhh!”

A large Lizardman of over two meters led the rest of its group, wearing an armor made of several scales of many different lizardmen, which was painted crimson red by blood.

Its face was filled with scars, and it wielded a large spear and shield, leading the rest of the army to charge!

The Lizardmen roared fiercely, charging against their enemies!

“You go first!” said Noah, as Big Sis nodded, pointing her shotguns against the Lizardman Leader!

“GRAKH?!”

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Light Bullets fell over the Lizardman Leader in seconds, tearing apart its body into pieces in front of its army!

“G-Graakakh…!”

“GRAKH!”

“GRAAAKHAKH…!”

The Lizardmen quickly lost their confidence, as they glanced at the imposing War Machine in front of them!

“Extermination in process,” said Big Sis, raining the entire army of Lizardmen with Light Bullets while impaling other Lizardmen with her giant blade-like legs!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!

“A-Amazing… such destructive power…” said Iris.

“So this is the true power of a War Machine when fighting against many monsters is when it truly shines,” said Arthur.

“Well, don’t act all surprised, we also have to harvest some lives ourselves, get moving!” said Noah, leaping into action as she sliced the heads and limbs of two Lizardmen in a second, absorbing their blood and then jumping towards his next prey, grabbing its head and tearing it out of its neck with a loud ‘Crack’ sound!

“Let’s go then, Adamantine!” said Iris, rushing with Adamantine at her side as the two girls slashed through the Lizardmen, breaking their shields and spears with their strong claws, as Iris blinded the lizardmen with her Blood Needles and then finished them off with a rain of slashing attacks that seeped poison into them!

The entire party joined against the army of monsters, quickly diminishing their numbers!

The Lizardmen despaired, as those that tried to escape were greeted by the shy Sakura, whose strength was rather admirable, despite her not realizing it!

Slash! Slash!

With two slashes of her sword, she ended dismembering two Lizardmen, as she glanced at the corpses with surprise before they disappeared into black smoke.

“E-Ehh…? Am I that strong?” she wondered.

—–