Infinite Realm

"Haha. I haven't dealt this much damage since I began playing IR." Fudo had a silly grin on his face as he tossed fireballs after fireballs into the fray of monsters.

"Tch. Shut your mouth up, you frigging bully." Yato cursed. It seemed that Yato would always try to aggravate Fudo whenever he saw a smile on the young man's face. It was as if his entire goal of living was to make sure that Fudo could never smile peacefully in his presence.

"Whad'ya say?" Fudo glanced at Yato with a fuming face.

"Taking joy in dealing with monsters 3 levels below you. If you aren't a bully then what are you?" Yato smirked, looking pleased with Fudo's reaction.

If the players from the outside could see this scene, they would be astonished. Despite facing a mob of monsters that could bury almost every player team in IR, Fudo and Yato not only handled them with ease but they also had some free energy on their hand to squabble with each other.

"Focus. Let's eliminate these guys as quickly as possible." Seiichi frowned.

"I don't think we need to overly worry about that." Katsuo spoke up despite holding back 4 monsters at once.

"Look."

The trio then turned towards the spot Katsuo signalled and then, they were astonished.

It should be known that of every man in the team of 6, the lowest level was level 8, which was 2 levels above the monsters before them. They were at the peak of strength when considering the entirety of IR's circle of gamers. Even though they were outnumbered 6 to 50, the group was able to hold on with such ease that other gamers would envy them for their strength. Yet, there was one individual out of the gang of 7 men, who performed far better than his 5 peers. 

"Damn. He's such a fierce monster." Seiichi's lips twisted unstably. He was barely able to hold himself from screaming curse words and cursing the game developer for being so unfair.

"Hey Yato, do you still think I'm a bully?" Fudo asked with a faint voice. It seemed as if the pride he had gotten from ruling over the monsters with ease had just shattered.

"Bullsh*t. If I call you a bully then what will I call him? Tyrant, a menace to society? Either way, your bullying ways look like the tantrums of a little kid compared to that." Yato furiously replied.

Fudo drooped his head, seemingly disappointed at himself.

The sight before the 5 men was nothing more than Sato battling the monsters. Rather than calling it a battle, a warm-up would be bette-, no, it should be as Yato had said; this was the highest level of bullying ever.

Sato had originally planned on staying out of the battle and even if he were to interfere, he would only do so a bit. However, seeing the others engaged in what seemed to be a wanton slaughter ignited his fighting intent. 

Ever since he had reached level 15, Sato had not engaged in any battle with any opponent, be they weak or strong. This was simply because there was no worthy opponent for him to face. The targets he previously had in mind, apart from the Kobold king, were either too strong or too weak. Facing either of them wouldn't help him to estimate his true strength as a battle with an overpowered opponent would end before he knew it, while one with an overly weak opponent would be over in one attack. 

Seeing as his friends were having fun, Sato's hands began to itch for combat so he decided to engage in a little slaughter-fest. While it was true that the level 6 monsters were all too weak, their numbers were quite big and could barely do for a warm-up. With that in mind, Sato decided to join the battle but he attacked from another direction so as not to affect the others. However, Sato had underestimated his strength. Even with the distance between them, the commotion he caused was enough to attract the attention of the others.

The monsters stood no chance against Sato. Even if they were 3 times the number they currently were, they still stood no chance. This was because Sato was strong; too strong, absurdly strong.

Every single slash of his would send a monster flying back by at least 7 metres. For the lucky ones, they would be sent flying with over half of their HP gone and a terrible injury on their body, ranging from a wide, deep bloody gash, to a severed body part. For the unlucky ones, they would be sliced into half with their HP -whether full or not- brought down to zero. But that wasn't all.

The soaring bodies of the monsters, whether dead or alive, would collide with their companions behind, injuring them and sending them flying back too. Like a bunch of dominoes, they would collide with other monsters and finally crash to the floor. This resulted in a situation where the surrounding space of 5 metres around Sato was devoid of monsters.

Despite this, Sato would just abandon his "safe zone" and dash towards another gathering of these monsters and the same would occur again.

Every slash of his was vicious, seeking to take down the opponent in one hit. Even though he knew that having a gap of 9 levels assured him of at least a 99% kill rate with each monster, Sato still intended to make that a hundred percent by aiming at their weak points. This resulted in a scene where heads and upper bodies were flying all about. Sometimes, the other 5 would see the complete left side of a monster tossed into the air and sprinkling blood as if it were a fountain, before crashing down with a thud and staining the floor in a pool of red viscous blood. Since everyone in the group left their vision uncensored through the game's settings, they were able to see the entirety of this.

"Damn. At this rate, Sato should be called a butcher and not a swordsman."

"I bet that even if the number of the monsters was doubled, no tripled, they would still not stand a chance at touching the helm of his cloak much less injuring him." Seiichi sighed as he shot out two arrows at a Mud Bear that came dashing towards the crew.

In Seiichi's opinion, the reason why this was possible wasn't simply because of Sato's level gap but also his abilities. This wasn't just because he was at least 6 levels ahead of these monsters but because Sato was highly skilled in martial arts and VR game fights. Even if someone else were in his footsteps, with the same level, same equipment, and the same sword, they might not be able to pull it off.

Every one of Sato's attacks was aimed at a weak point of the monsters and he could react in time and dodge an attack from the monsters even if it was the lunge of an Earth Snake from behind. Even when Sato would end up surrounded by the monsters, he relied on his battle experience as well as his superior bodily reactions to dodge the attacks of the monsters and retaliate when a weak spot is exposed. His sword flitted in and out like the strokes of a master painter but with much greater speed.

Like a Black Marlin speeding through the deep oceans, Sato moved through the horde of monsters and slaughtered his way around. Not even 2 minutes had passed since his participation and the monsters in one-quarter of the outer circle had already been eliminated.

Realising this, Sato finally came to a stop, and as he retreated away from the monsters' active range before glancing over to the side, right where his teammates were.

"What's taking you guys so long?" Sato asked.

"...f**k you. You freaking bug!!! You slaughtered those monsters with ease and you still question us?! Did you forget your level?!" Fudo fumed as he spat out saliva into the air.

"Tch. Leave that absurd creature. We have to hurry up and not be left behind by him." For the first time since the trip, Yato didn't argue with Fudo as he recollected himself and focused on the fight in front of him.

As if the team had renewed their vigor and energy, the strength of their attacks increased by one level.

Seiichi's fingers constantly operated his bow as arrow after arrow departed from it, striking various monsters at their weak spots. Yato and Katsuo pushed forward even more and held the front line to the best of their abilities. Because of this, the corpses in front of them began to pile up and if not for the automatic disintegration of these corpses, a wall of corpses would have formed in front of them.

Fudo assisted the duo and would sometimes attack the monsters that were far out. Lu Zhen moved through the monsters like a snake and each slash from his Upper Tier Mortal rank blade would end up taking at least reducing the victim's HP by 30%. 3 attacks later and the monsters would fall to the ground.

The increased intensity of the team's attacks made it such that in every second that went by, at least 2 monsters would fall to the ground in cold blood.

'Damn. What the heck is up with them?'

Sato was astonished at this and couldn't help but wonder who offended these guys.