Chapter 67: The Path of an Expert

Crane had been feeling a bit strange these days.

After his last fight against Ragna, he had thought that the latter would develop some sort of enmity and would chase after him. Fortunately, that didn't seem to be the case. For some strange reason, Dreg had befriended Ragna and the former had told him that Ragna himself was unwilling to waste more of his time. The compensation was the Blue Salamander Staff he dropped.

'Strange fellow,' he muttered inwardly. He did say that but there was a hint of a smile on his face. A real expert shouldn't bother themselves with weaker opponents. They had a bigger thing to pursue, a greater goal to achieve.

'I guess being that kind of an expert isn't that bad.'

After losing the most important part of his Blue Salamander Set, Crane got fiercely reprimanded by his guild. He lost other parts of his set and his position went rock-bottom when compared to other geniuses the guild nurtured.

It didn't take him a long time to choose to leave the guild. He had no guild right now. He lost all the power, authority, and most importantly all the resources he used to have. Strangely, he didn't feel sad. Instead, he felt like he had lost all the chains that were binding him. He could once again enjoy the game like the time when he had just started the game.

"Boss! Look, that Demon is about to die!" The loud sound from his party chat woke Crane up from his stupor.

He immediately concentrated and released his fully-powered Frost Nova toward the Demon. Because of his precise timing and overwhelming magic power, the Demon instantly died. He could see the huge increase in his experience bar from killing the Demon.

"Another Demon is about to fall. Come here to location D-32 Boss!"

Crane quickly dashed toward the place it designated and found Jeanne pointing toward a tattered Demon that was about to die. Another Frost Nova was released, killing the Demon.

"Great job Boss but you can't just doze off in the middle of the battle," the same sound that woke him up from his previous daze resounded again. Naturally, he knew that voice belonged to Drom.

"Hahaha, sorry guys. Come on, let's put more effort and concentration. We need to hit at least level 30 today. Remember to keep moving and keep an eye toward dying Demon. If we could do it right, no one will notice us," Crane shouted.

After killing the Demon, Dreg instantly moved toward another position. His team also moved alongside him while forming a huge circle. This way, they could cover a huge area and Crane could immediately come to any side that needed him.

His team could gain a lot of experience just from scouting. Even if it was Crane who dealt the killing blow, a lot of experience was also distributed toward them. As long as their level difference wasn't that huge, the experience will still flow.

Of course, he could feel a lot of hateful gazes directed toward him. Dreg could only shake his head, he needed to use this opportunity when people still hadn't realized that he's already out of the guild to get stronger as fast as possible. He estimated that by the time the news spread out, he would already be at a level that normal player wouldn't dare to offend.

Ah, the road to becoming an expert is truly a perilous and hard one.

...

Back to Ragna's group.

Ragna glanced at the knight who was sent flying away by the huge Demon. There was no sign of movement from him and it seemed like he had fainted. The only knight left was the other one and he was now confronting the huge demon. By the looks of it, he couldn't last much longer either.

Ragna looked at Dreg. Noticing that the latter was also looking at him, he said, "We need to hold that Demon, there's no other choice."

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"Yeah, but there wouldn't be much chance of our survival."

"Isn't that ten times better than failing the quest?"

Dreg nodded. In this current situation, there's no point in being greedy. If Prince Artha died, the kingdom would surely punish them. In fact, they might be labeled as a fugitive.

"Hold the mobs, I'll confront the Boss," Ragna said resolutely.

...

Prince Artha was trembling in fear.

He never thought that there would be a huge Demon waiting for an ambush at this place. It was just too strange. A huge war was occurring at another place but they sent some of their troops guarding this place. One had to know that a Leader-type Demon could be considered a powerhouse in this war. On top of it, there's even Rakshani.

A Demon at that level of power should be the one in charge of commanding the war.

Strange. Too strange.

There were only two answers to this. One, there's a spy hidden inside his group. Or two, this place really held that MUCH of significance toward them.

DUAK!

The only remaining knight at his side was smashed by the Demon. The knight lay flat on the ground, unable to move. From the start, he was no match for a level 60+ Demon that specialized in raw power. Level 50 was a boundary that signified a huge leap in power and naturally, it's also applied to Monsters and NPCs.

Prince Artha immediately awakened from his daze. He was smart but his brain was just not suited for battle. In this kind of situation, he couldn't come up with any answer.

'Father... Is this the end?'

It was at this moment that suddenly a huge boulder came flying toward the charging Demon's figure. The Demon quickly blocked it with his hands, resulting in the debris flying everywhere. Using it as a cover, a figure came straight toward the Demon and attacked by using his right fist that was covered in a crimson aura.

Ragna had arrived for the rescue.

...

"I'll hold the Demon, go straight toward the Ruin!" Ragna shouted.

"Bu, But..."

"JUST GO!"

Prince Artha gritted his teeth but he didn't immediately run. He quickly cast a few of his buffs to support Ragna before starting to run. It seemed like he just couldn't bear to leave Ragna the way it is, His conscience wouldn't allow him.

'What a strange prince.'

Ragna shook his head.

'I don't dislike it, though,'

As someone who grew up in a harsh environment, Ragna saw Prince Artha as a naive person. Truthfully, he should have at least a bit of suspicion toward him. Furthermore, during the time where his life was at stake, he still cared for other people. Even while running, he still glanced at Ragna and his fainted subordinates with eyes full of regret.

"It's been a long time since I had a good fight."

Ragna readied his stance.

"ORRAAAAA!"

The Demon brandished its greatsword. A blood-colored aura enveloped the blade, the pressure was enough to suffocate normal people.

DUAR!

The attack literally destroyed everything in its path. Even the ground wasn't spared from its explosive might.

Of course, such a huge attack wouldn't be able to hit Ragna. No matter how huge an attack is, if it couldn't hit then there's no point in launching it. There's indeed a huge pressure from the attack but it didn't affect Ragna because of his Stone Blood passive skill.

He quickly circled the Demon, trying to find the best angle to attack. He found the right opportunity and immediately launch a fist.

A dull sound could be heard from the collision. The Crimson Strike only left a slight black mark on the Demon's red skin. Clearly, the attack wasn't effective.

Even though the attack didn't hurt him, the Demon was enraged. He let out a loud howl that made the black tattoo that covered his skin to brighten. Suddenly, Ragna could feel that the pressure the Demon emitted was disappearing. No, it didn't disappear, it was compressed inside the latter's body.

BAM! BAM!

Fast. The Demon became faster at a frightening rate. Before, its attack was slower than normal Demon, but now it became faster than them, losing only to the first Demon Leader that Ragna and Dreg had slain.

'Left, Right, Left, Left, Up'

However, the Demon couldn't even hit Ragna. After being baptized by the trial inside the Ancient Blood Temple, Ragna's battle sense had awakened. The numerous battles he had fought in the Astral Realm only served to polish it further.

The ground beneath his feet was already destroyed beyond recognition but it didn't affect him in the slightest. His eyes were constantly moving from the Demon's eyes, to its body, and to the ground. By doing so, he could gather a lot of information needed to dodge the attack.

Innate Battle Genius. If Mr. Romi was here, he would immediately think so. It was a title given only to someone who could fight at Ragna's level despite only training for a short time. If Ragna didn't stop practicing his martial arts during his childhood, who knows what realm he could have achieved by now.

In Mr. Romi's generation, there was only one person that was given the title.

After continuously exchanging blows, the Demon became somewhat exhausted. Ragna could notice it and found the opening he had waited for. The crimson glow in his hand was instantly replaced with a blood-colored light. Ragna planted his feet on the ground while pulling his right hand back beside his waist. His left hand slightly brushed against the Demon's hand that was holding the sword, making the sword miss its target and hit the ground. At this moment, the Demon's chest area was unguarded!

SOUL STRIKE!