Chapter 31 Don’t Lose Focus

Rust monsters were also known as “underground scavengers” and “underground wanderers.”

Like many insect-type monsters, they usually lived deep within the countless winding caverns of the Underdark.

Life in absolute darkness had gradually degraded their eyesight, and their vulnerable eyes were tucked safely beneath layers of hard carapace.

Instead, they relied on the feather-like antennae growing from either side of their heads and the long, fin-shaped tails behind them, both covered in dense bristles. Together, those appendages worked almost like a blind man’s cane, allowing the creatures to move freely through the deepest caverns.

In some respects, rust monsters were actually rather docile.

They did not primarily eat meat, and with enough food and proper care, they could even be domesticated into obedient pets, much like cats or dogs.

But there was a reason they were called monsters.

When provoked, rust monsters could become frighteningly aggressive.

And rust monsters ate metal.

Iron, adamantine, mithril… They were not picky. Almost every kind of metal belonged on their menu.

Their highly developed senses could detect the presence of delicious metal from several miles away.

Naturally, an adventurer’s weapons and armor counted as “delicious metal” too.

According to statistics from the Adventurers’ Association, large numbers of adventurers died to rust monster attacks while exploring the Underdark every year.

And that was despite knowing full well that, in many cases, they could survive simply by throwing away their weapons and equipment.

Much like camels crossing the desert or herds migrating across grasslands in the dry season, rust monsters’ unusual feeding habits had given them an instinctive ability to seek out mineral veins.

Their highly corrosive saliva also let them soften and eat through hard metal with ease.

As fellow “neighbors” who moved from one mineral vein to another, dwarves naturally hated them with a passion.

Dwarves were famous for forging and mining. To them, rust monsters were little more than oversized pests chewing through their livelihood.

Some clans even organized professional extermination teams every year to hunt down the creatures infesting their mines.

Xia Nan came from another world, and the only dwarf he had met since arriving here was Barn, the enormous bearded man at Rockhammer Smithy who stood several heads taller than he did.

But now, staring at the hideous creature crouched not far ahead, Xia Nan suddenly understood the dwarves perfectly.

From the corner of his eye, he glanced at the one-handed hammer lying in the grass.

Dark-green saliva had eaten so deeply into it that the weapon was barely recognizable.

His mouth went dry.

His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed.

The hand gripping his sword hilt was already slick with sweat.

For a moment, Xia Nan seriously considered whether fighting with the two daggers at his waist might be the smarter choice.

“This pressure… is seriously crushing me!”

His hesitation lasted only an instant.

No matter how conflicted he felt, Xia Nan still gripped his longsword and rushed forward on instinct.

He had been resting in a corner of the camp, so Larry and Doris were almost an entire campsite away.

Even with a quick reaction, there was no way he could be faster than the Rogue who had been sitting beside the central campfire.

Xia Nan had barely taken a few steps when that almost invisible figure appeared beside the first rust monster like a shadow.

Schick!

Two streaks of silver crossed through the air.

For an instant, the space in front of Wood seemed to blur.

Then Xia Nan saw yellow-green insect blood coating both daggers in Wood’s hands.

“Skree!”

A shrill, agonized screech tore through the forest.

The rust monster’s thick carapace had only cracked slightly beneath Larry’s iron hammer.

Yet beneath Wood’s palm-length daggers, it split apart as easily as thin paper.

Insect blood sprayed everywhere.

The creature’s fin-shaped tail whipped through the air, but struck nothing except soft grass.

Wood was already gone.

His body rose with eerie lightness, and he landed atop the rust monster’s back.

His brows drew together.

That first strike had badly wounded the creature, but it had not killed it.

Apparently, Wood was not satisfied.

The Rogue combat technique [Gutting Strike] was designed to tear through organs and internal cavities, but the anatomy of a rust monster differed too much from a human’s.

The attack had not produced the result he wanted.

A lifetime of combat experience and monster knowledge immediately told Wood where to aim next.

Swish!

His short dagger darted out like a venomous snake.

The blade slipped through a narrow gap between the plates around the rust monster’s neck and stabbed down at a vicious angle.

Like a wasp delivering a single sting.

The screech stopped.

The heavy creature beneath the carapace seemed to lose all power at once.

Thud!

It collapsed to the ground.

One down.

Three to go.

Wood had barely pulled his dagger free when something caught his attention.

His head snapped up.

His pupils contracted.

At some point during the chaos, one of the rust monsters had circled around the fighting and crept toward the opposite side of the camp.

Toward Hai’an.

“Young master, watch out!”

Wood shouted with all his strength.

At the same instant, his body blurred into an afterimage and vanished from atop the corpse.

Silver-white strands of hair clung to Hai’an’s cheeks with sweat.

From the beginning of the fight, he had stayed in the rear with his bow fully drawn, ready to support whichever part of the battlefield needed him.

[Wood already killed one. Larry and Doris are holding another. One hasn’t reached the camp yet, so I need to…]

[Wait.]

[Where’s the last one!?]

Hai’an’s thoughts raced.

Then Wood’s warning reached him.

He had no time to think.

A piercing screech erupted behind him, accompanied by a sour, rotten stench.

Hai’an spun around.

A rust monster had already reared up over him.

Its bone-white mouthparts opened and closed.

Dark-green corrosive fluid gathered between them, enough to kill him if it struck the wrong place.

For one frozen instant, Hai’an felt as though the entire world had stopped.

Then an iron-gray arc of light burst from the darkness beside him.

[Spinning Slash]

The sword flashed like a waning crescent.

Gone almost as soon as it appeared.

Once again, the blade slipped through a gap in the monster’s carapace.

The cut was clean.

Half of the rust monster’s head spun away through the air.

Plop.

Its heavy body crashed to the ground under its own momentum, foul-smelling insect blood spraying from the wound like a fountain.

Xia Nan followed through and drew his sword back.

His first glance went straight to the blade.

Only insect blood.

No corrosive saliva.

He breathed out.

Then he looked at Hai’an.

The half-elf seemed completely dazed by the sudden attack. Dark-green insect blood spattered his pale face, and his eyes were still unfocused.

Xia Nan frowned.

“Be careful. Don’t lose focus.”