Under the Veil of Night

Climbing up the stairs, they could sense that the upcoming battle was going to be very intense. Every person gripped onto their weapons tightly, ready to attack anytime.

"Is it alright to go up with only four people?" Kanae asked as they stepped cautiously.

Dean nodded. "I don't want to bring baggage with me. Hunter Group is already ahead of us, and their strength is much greater than ours at the moment."

Jason frowned slightly. Lore Group and Hunter Group were the two strongest groups in this city. Even though Hunter Group has only begun to gain their fame in the past few years, their strength was not to be taken lightly. It was unknown where this group popped out from, but this group could easily flatten many other groups.

Finally, they reached the door. Pushing open the door slowly, Dean observed the situation inside. Upon seeing the ghastly sight, his brows furrowed.

There were several people fighting large monsters at the end of the room. It was unclear whether the scattered lumps around them were items, bodies, or blood anymore. Everything was a complete mess.

"Randy, you're pretty quick!" bellowing, Dean stomped on the ground as he dashed towards the group of men.

Randy, the leader of Hunter Group, sensed Dean's incoming presence right away. He nearly cursed when he saw the middle-aged man coming at him. Without thinking too much, he cut down the monster before him, shifting his balance as he kicked the other monster towards Dean.

Facing the incoming monster, Dean swung his own blade, cutting it into two.

"Is that all you got?"

"Damn you, Dean! Don't you dare stop me!" Randy growled and ran towards the door at his end of the room, which was located not far from him. "Those who are free, follow after me, the others, stop that man!"

CLANG!

Clashing with the other men of Hunter Group, Dean snorted. He kicked them away and examined the incoming monsters. The size of the monsters was far bigger compared to the ones on the lower floors. Did their larger size signify greater strength? He was not sure, but this batch of monsters was not letting him go too quickly.

"We should help," Kanae instructed before dashing towards the monsters. Without stopping, she easily slashed their side as deeply as her small swords allowed her to.

Jason and the other Lore Group member also dashed over, but when Jason faced the monster head on, he was nearly toppled back. The strength of one monster was already more than enough to send him back several meters.

"They're very strong, Captain!"

"Hold on, I'll help you."

Switching her direction, Kanae returned back to Jason's side. Her agile movements allowed her to arrive behind the monster and slash a deep horizontal wound on its back. Blood spurted out at her, which she narrowly avoided.

Kanae sighed. "I must be very smelly right now."

"I don't think this is the time to worry about that, Captain," Jason smiled wryly.

"These monsters are stronger, but they're slower," Kanae pointed to the group of monsters that Dean had killed. "I'm not sure why, but they can't move as fast as the ones on the lower floors."

"If you can't dodge, it's useless to know that."

"I know."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All of them froze for a moment when they heard that ear-piercing scream from the 24th floor. The 24th floor could be considered the highest floor because the 25th floor was a mezzanine that overlooked the floor below and the 26th floor was the rooftop.

The next second, the floor above them shook and cracks started to appear on the ceiling. They watched with horror as the room shook once more, which caused more cracks to branch out.

"Captain, what's on the next floor?"

"Let's go?" instead of answering, Kanae dashed towards the stairs. She was not the only one; several others also ran in the same direction. They no longer paid attention to the large monsters around them as they knew that there was something more terrifying on the next floor.

The moment they arrived on the 24th floor, they could see a large monster, nearly 3 meters in height, thrashing a man into the air. Its muscles bulged out, showing the fact that its enormous strength far exceeded that of than ordinary people.

The man it pummeled flew in their direction, slamming into several men. The force was enough to send them backwards into the wall, making a deep crater and killing them instantly.

"Monster…" Jason whispered as his eyes widened from immense fear. It was completely inhuman. How in the world could it have the strength to kill several of the city's best fighters just like that?

Slash!

At the very front, Randy was doing all he could to wound the monster. However, the monster's thick skin didn't make it possible as his attack barely grazed the monster's body. It would take hours of causing such insignificant wounds to kill this monster.

"Move back!" Dean yelled as he lunged towards the monster, attacking from its side.

Slash!

Feeling the resistance from the tough skin, his expression darkened. It was too hard to cut through, but if they didn't kill it, it wouldn't stop its rampage. The monster felt annoyed and slammed its large hand at Dean, who skillfully evaded to the side. The monster's fist smashed the floor, shaking the floor badly once more.

Kanae's eyes didn't leave the monster as she watched how Dean and Randy were trying to wound it. Her strength was less than theirs, but she wanted to help. She didn't really understand, but she wanted to fight alongside them.

"Shin, what's the weakest part of a human body?" Kanae asked.

Shiro frowned when he heard what Kanae was asking. "It's obviously the eyes. You can't possibly strengthen your eyes unless you have a special talent for that."

Kanae eyed the height of the monster. They would need more than luck to make sure that they hit its eyes. After all, the monster wouldn't stay in one place and it far surpassed an average human's height.

"Are there no other areas?"

Shiro scratched his head. "I think, you can also try to aim for the third leg."

Jason felt a chill in his lower body when he heard what Shiro said. That was quite ruthless.

Kanae studied the monster for a moment. "I'll be right back."

"You're truly going to aim for that?" Jason was shocked.

"I think."

Instantly, Jason felt extremely glad that he was not the one fighting with Kanae. He couldn't imagine what his condition would be like if Kanae was seriously aiming for that part of his body.

Dashing off from where she stood, Kanae pushed her speed to the limit as she reached the monster quickly. In that split second, she stopped right below the monster's crotch and crouched down so that her hands were on the ground. After that, she kicked up, straight at her target.

"...She hit it," Jason murmured.

"Please, you don't have to report that to us," Shiro coughed lightly.

Tommy instinctively moved his hand to shield a specific body part. "Shin, please don't you ever suggest something like that to her again. Even only hearing the sound, I already feel terrified."

The monster roared as it dropped to its knees, nearly crushing Kanae below him. Luckily, she already rebounded from the kick and rolled to the side on the cold ground.

Seeing that the monster's height dropped, Randy and Dean moved to attack its neck at the same time. However, their attacks barely grazed the monster as it already swung its hands at the two of them, nearly sending them flying dozens of meters away if not for their fast reflexes.

Kanae propped herself up and scrutinized the monster with a frown. "Shin, it's not working."

This time, the monster targeted Kanae.. It jumped towards Kanae with its two fists ready, slamming the ground hard as the room shook once more.