Every so often I would look back at Laila to catch a glimpse of her face. I thought I would be able to accurately tell how she feels about our skills so far, but it proved to be useless. She kept up her poker face as she silently watched our battles, still sitting in front of the entryway. At this point, I think she won’t interfere with our fight, whatever the outcome may be.

“I was hoping I wouldn’t have to use this,” Iris mumbled under her breath. She reached into a small pouch that was strapped to her hip, pulling out a sheet of paper. Using her teeth, Iris split the paper in half. After it was ripped, the leftover pieces were then lit aflame by some unknown force.

“That red flame… Did you use a rune scripture!?” I shouted in amazement. Runes are a special type of magic that not many people can specialize in. The number of people who can write runes can only be counted on a single hand! Superhumans who are able to write and wield these runes are called Rune Wielders. There are a variety of runes that can be written, and they serve different purposes. They are categorized into three: Support Runes, Offensive Runes, and Defensive Runes.

Support Runes are used to assist yourself or your teammates through heals or buffs. Offensive Runes are mostly for devasting attacks to get the upper hand on your opponent. Finally, we have Defensive Runes, and they are used solely for protection purposes. Right now, we have only found one use for it, and that is to shroud yourself in a shield, allowing you to take up more punishment. If we were to rank the runes in terms of usage, it would go from Offensive Runes, Support Runes, and lastly Defensive Runes. If one were to face someone using a rune scripture, one can easily identify which type of rune they used by the color of the flame lit up. Green is for Support, red for Offensive, and blue for Defensive. So, the rune Iris just used had to be a rune in the Offensive category.

I backed away from Iris and scanned my surroundings to see the effects of the rune. I spotted it quickly as four basketball-sized fireballs were hovering over Iris’ head.

“A fireball rune? That isn’t so bad,” I thought. I expected far worse.

Iris was once again reaching into her pouch to lug out another rune. Before she could use another, I ran toward Iris with all my might, but I found myself too late as she ripped another one swiftly. This time, it was a Support Rune, her body glowing a green hue. Support runes are one of the hardest to accurately identify since the buffs could be anything such as increasing one's strength, agility, mana, or durability.

Iris has finished her preparations as she held her sword with both of her hands, waiting for me to approach. In this situation, it’d be best to attack her first than to wait for her next move. I’ll have to watch out for those fireballs of hers since they have yet to move...

"[Muscle Strengthening]."

This is a mastery that has saved me countless times. It increases both my strength and durability by five points each. While it doesn’t sound great on paper, its effects are still useful, nonetheless. It’s very noticeable the higher one's Stats are. Even a single point can make all the difference, depending on your opponent.

“Hmph!” I brought down my axe in an overhead swing at the woman’s head while keeping an eye on the flames above. Iris blocked the overhead but was struggling under the weight of my heavy attack. She groaned as she tried to push me back, but I wouldn’t budge at all. That got me thinking- the Support Rune she just used didn’t increase her strength or durability. What was it used for then?

My question was soon answered after Iris launched the fireballs my way. Since I didn’t want to get lit up by the fireballs, I backpedaled and used my axe to slice the fireballs in half, the flames sizzling upon contact. It only took me two seconds to destroy them all.

“Got you,” a voice whispered from behind. Iris was nowhere to be seen in front of me. She must’ve used that small window of opportunity while I was dealing with the fireballs and ran to my blindside. Since she had done that so quickly, that means that the Support Rune she used was one for agility! Since my agility Stat is considered to be low at my rank, I can be done in by those who are faster than me.

As quickly as I can, I turned my body at the sound of her voice. Fully facing Iris, she was already in the motion of a thrust, aiming directly for my head. I wouldn’t have enough time to block this attack so all I could do was angle my body to the point where she strikes my underarm instead.

“Geh…”

I groaned in pain as her sword punctured through an area unprotected by my armor. Using my axe with one arm, I swung up at her sword, knocking her backward to gain some space. Peering down, the wound was shallow. I was able to mitigate most of the damage just in time, and coupled that with [Muscle Strengthening], it was an expected outcome.

“I know all about you Joel. You rely heavily on your strength and durability Stats. Since your weakness would be your slow agility, it’s only natural to exploit that,” Iris so graciously informed.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Is that so,” I murmured.

“If I cannot beat you in the strength category, I’ll just have to use speed to my advantage,” she huffed in pride.

Hm… That sure is a logical approach. For them to be this informed of me… Just where did they get this piece of info from? If they know that much about my skillset, they probably have files on the rest of The Six Hunters too. Not good at all.

“Very good approach indeed, Iris. But you have overlooked one crucial detail.”

“…And that would be?” She was trying to call my bluff, but she will know soon that it was no bluff.

“Like I’ll tell you,” I scoffed. The pain from my wound is numb, so it won’t affect how I wield my axe. I’ll have one shot at this if I want to end things in one hit. I don’t want to drag things out any longer.

With that in mind, I stretched my legs far apart. I motioned for Iris to come at me, which in turn only annoyed her.

“Whatever you have planned, it won’t work!” Iris snatched another set of runes, this time using another fireball one. Runes of the same type aren’t able to stack on top of each other, so you’ll only be able to use a maximum of three different runes at the same time. Iris has the fireball and agility rune activated right now.

Just how many in stockpile does she have? Either Olympus is extremely rich, or their mission is so important that they must resort to using what little they had left. Well, then again, if she doesn’t use everything at her disposal, she will face utter defeat. Or death.

Iris was rushing at me with a furrowed brow, but her focus hasn’t wavered at my provocation. She was even more careful than before because of my comment from earlier, and that’s precisely what I was hoping for.

She went in for a feint at my right leg, hoping that I would fall for it. I happily obliged and lowered my axe, pretending to defend against a low blow. Thinking she has the upper hand, her thrust changed trajectory, aiming for my already wounded shoulder. Her sword pierced right through my [Muscle Strengthening] and stabbed my wound. At the same time, the flames above her descended down, engulfing me.

Iris had a triumphant look on her face. “Aha! I knew you were bluffing! Like hell there was one fatal flaw in my plan!”

“Is that so?”

That triumphant look soon turned into horror as I seized her sword, snapping it in two with my bare hands. “Tough luck. As you said, I’m more of a strength and durability guy. My weakness is my speed, yes, but you should’ve known to not get too close to me.”

“…!”

Iris dropped her now useless sword and tried to increase our distance.

“You’re not going anywhere,” I growled, clenching the woman’s small arm in my hands. I wasn’t bothered by the flames at all. I have a [Heat Resistance] mastery after all. My durability is also high, so I can take some punishment. Compared to Sam though, it’s nothing special at all.

Iris tried reaching for another rune in her Dimensional Pouch, but I obviously wouldn’t let her have the time of day. Pocketing my axe back into the Inventory, I swept a leg under hers, pinning her onto the ground.

“How dare yo-“ I cut her off before she could finish.

“The only reason you’re alive is that I want to extract information out of you," I snarled in her ear. "Tell me everything I know, and I might let you live.”

“If you kill me here, Olympus will not let this slide! They will do everything within their power to kill every member of The Six Hunters!”

“That’s their goal? Kill all of The Six Hunters? Let me guess, are they part of the organization Shadow Oni too?”

Iris let out a small gasp. “You know about Shadow Oni?! Impossible!”

Judging by her reaction, she knows Shadow Oni too. Are they really related to this incident? Why are they so hell-bent on killing us? When it's related to them, I always seem to draw a blank.

To our right, a large shadow was rapidly approaching, and soon enough, crashed into the sand right next to us.

“Grah! That damn bastard is too strong,” a voice wheezed. Alexander was now laying down on the ground next to Iris and I. He was bleeding all over his body as he huffed and puffed, trying his hardest to stand up using his sword as a crutch.

“If only our members were still ali-“

The man finally noticed us staring at him. He let out a small shriek unbecoming of his appearance and drew his sword toward me.

“I-Iris? You’ve been defeated already?”

Chen Ling appeared behind Alexander. He had no visible wounds on his body and was still in tip-top shape like he hadn’t exerted any energy at all.

“Done so soon, Alexander? The fun has yet to begin!” Chen Ling cackled. He then glanced in my direction and said, "Hm? Joel? Finished already?"

“I was just asking her a few questions regarding their mission.”

“Oh really now? Go ahead then. I still have some unfinished business with this man.” Chen Ling smiled at Alexander. I could see a shiver run down his spine as he thought back to his fight against his opponent. For a split moment, i detected fear in Alexanders' eyes. In his position, It's understandable. He didn’t want to die at all. He was scared of facing death head-on.

However, another feeling emerged. It was only for a moment, but that fearful look he had was gone, and instead replaced with something else.

Desperation.

“To hell with this,” he yelled with newfound conviction. With deft hands, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small vial filled with a weird purple liquid. I don’t know what it was exactly, but I knew it was bad news.

“CHEN LING! DON’T LET HIM DRINK IT!” Chen Ling understood immediately and used his [Phantom Steps] to charge at the man, but it was too late. The contents were already drunken just as Chen Ling snatched the vial away. Alexanders' body was hunched over, and a small creaking noise was reverberating out of his body.

“Oh no… He drunk it…” Iris sounded frightened like her life was in even more jeopardy.

“What did he drink? Answer me!” I demanded.

“We’re all going to die…” Her voice trailed. The life in her eyes was now gone in a flash.

As I looked up at the man once again, his whole demeanor changed into an entirely new person. The person who stood before us was no longer Alexander. It let out an animalistic growl as it slowly raised its head at us. What used to be blue eyes were now a deep ruby red. His body twisted and contorted at unnatural angles as the bones within were dislocated. Its body doubled in size as its skin turned dark gray, growing fur that covered his whole body. The human nose was now a long-pointed snout, and where fingernails used to be, was replaced with sharp claws.

What in the hell just happened?!