Zenith was only at +E-Rank, however, this minotaur was actually at +D-Rank. It was standing at one whole rank above him! Suffice to say, it was definitely a lot stronger than him. It wasn't something that he could afford to take lightly.
He slowly took out his arm from one of his backpack's shoulder straps while taking a few steps backward. His actions didn't go unnoticed by the minotaur as it growled and walked toward him with small but heavy steps. This gave Zenith some insight into how much power was stored in that monstrous body.
Judging from the minotaur's size, muscles, and strength in its legs, it would turn out badly for him if he got hit even once.
The minotaur stopped walking. It firmly dug its hooves to the ground, and then suddenly, it ran towards him with a frightening speed! Within a few seconds, the minotaur reached his side as it swung its ax overhead towards him.
Zenith quickly stepped to the side. The ax went past him and was lodged deeply into the ground. He took advantage of this and made a counterattack with a kick to the minotaur's face. The force in his kick was powerful enough to break a man's neck, but unfortunately, it didn't have much effect on the minotaur other than angering it.
"How tough. It's like hitting steel," Zenith analyzed calmly.
The minotaur pulled out its ax and angrily slashed to the side. Zenith jumped up and landed on the ax's head before piercing the minotaur's exposed eye with his fingers. The minotaur roared out in pain as it blindly swung its ax around, trying to hit Zenith. At this point, Zenith was already behind it with his right hand pulled back.
"Let's see if you can survive this."
Zenith let some of his Nu cover his right hand before driving it straight to the minotaur's back to the area where its heart was supposed to be. His hand pierced through its flesh and bones before he grabbed its heart. With one swift pull, he removed the minotaur's beating heart from its back and crushed it in his hand.
The minotaur screamed as it turned around and swung its ax towards him. However, Zenith had already retreated a dozen steps away so its ax hit nothing but thin air.
Even after its heart was pulled out, the minotaur still kept swinging its ax randomly with great force. But after a minute, it gradually lost its strength before it finally fell to the ground with a loud thud.
You killed one of the guardians of the labyrinth
+100 Exp
"One of the guardians..."
This meant there were more guardians in this labyrinth other than this minotaur.
Zenith went towards the minotaur's corpse and turned it over to check if it had any valuables on it. He searched for a while but didn't see anything of value aside from its ax. The ax was sturdy enough to withstand such abuse from the minotaur's reckless attacks so it definitely would sell for quite a high price if he sold it to the right person.
The only problem was it was too heavy. Although he could carry if he used his Nu, he would also use up his Nu quickly. He wanted to avoid that as he would be vulnerable to the attacks of the other guardians in this labyrinth. He had to conserve his energy wisely.
He left the minotaur's corpse behind as he continued on.
For a while, Zenith didn't encounter anything. But an hour later, he found himself in a huge space filled with countless skeletons.
There were skeletons of men and minotaurs everywhere, and there were even some corpses of minotaurs that hadn't completely decomposed yet.
This place was like a huge graveyard in the labyrinth. And in that graveyard, there were two minotaurs feasting on the leftover flesh of a few deceased minotaurs. They ate with gusto and didn't even spare the bones. One of the minotaurs stopped eating as it looked towards him followed right after by the other one.
There was a look of hunger in their eyes as they watched him.
The minotaurs roared out as they charged toward him while stomping all of the bones in their paths. It was like they had lost their minds upon seeing him and the only thing they wanted to do was to catch him.
Zenith kicked the bones in front of him to the minotaurs' faces before running past them to go to the center of this huge graveyard-like place. He didn't want to remain in his position just to be cornered by the minotaurs as that would've only left him a small space to maneuver.
The minotaurs turned back and slowly walked in a circle around him. Zenith only stood still while he waited for either of the two to make a move. Eventually, the minotaur behind lunged at him with its mouth wide open. Zenith manipulated his Nu towards his right foot and met the lunging minotaur with a spinning hook kick.
The momentum from the minotaur's lunge and his kick dislocated the minotaur's jaw before it was sent flying to the side dozens of meters away. At the same time, the other minotaur smashed both of its hands toward him.
Zenith threw his backpack to the side and made a back handspring, dodging just in time for the minotaur's hands to smash onto the ground which caused some chunks of the ground to fly up. When Zenith recovered from his handspring, he dashed to the minotaur and extended his index and middle finger intending to blind it.
However, he stopped midway when he saw a skull flying straight at him from the corner of his eyes. It was thrown by none other than the minotaur he kicked earlier. The other minotaur then launched a fist straight at him. Zenith slightly ducked his head to the side, avoiding the minotaur's huge fist by a hair's breadth.
He planted his feet firmly on the ground, his rear foot driving backward as his energy traveled from his legs through his hips, then into his back muscles, chest, shoulder, and then finally—!
A powerful right hook hit the minotaur straight at its chin, and like a puppet that had lost its strings, the minotaur went limp as it fell on its back. Upon seeing this, the other minotaur rushed to its aid and drove Zenith away.
Zenith wanted to finish the minotaur off, but the other minotaur didn't give him that leeway. He had no choice but to back off with the minotaur standing defensively against him.
The reason why he could come out on top fighting the minotaurs all this time despite the number advantage and them having a higher rank was that he was good at finding their weaknesses.
Every time a person attacked, they would unintentionally expose a weakness in the process. These minotaurs were the same. However, most people wouldn't be able to exploit this as they would be busy trying to block or avoid the other party's attacks.
Zenith was different. Even in the most dangerous of situations, he could find the best moves and execute them. That was why these minotaurs could only take a beating although they were much stronger and faster than him.
He stood still and waited for the minotaur to make a move, but the minotaur just watched him and didn't take a single step. It had finally recognized Zenith as a worthy opponent so it was on guard and was waiting for its companion to regain its consciousness.
"Not moving?" Zenith thought as he took the lead this time.
Like what they were doing earlier, Zenith walked in a circle around the minotaurs. He was trying to get the minotaur off guard so he could take the life of the unconscious minotaur.
The minotaur observed his moves carefully and didn't dare take its eyes off him. It had first thought that Zenith was easy picking, but he turned out to be a real threat. It no longer dared to underestimate him.
Zenith kicked a few bones towards the minotaur as he tried to find an opening. The latter only swatted it off and remained vigilant the whole time. He continued doing this a few more times but the minotaur didn't once let down its guard.
"Too bad."
Giving the minotaur a deep look, Zenith walked away and picked up his backpack. Since the minotaur was extremely cautious against him, he couldn't kill it easily. If he wanted to forcefully take them down, he would have to expend a lot of effort doing it. He wanted to conserve his Nu as much as possible so he couldn't take the initiative.
Only...
If was able to kill them, he could've earned 200 Experience Points.
As he was about to leave the area, Zenith heard several heavy footsteps ahead. He stopped in his tracks when he saw a dozen minotaurs blocking his way.
He dropped his backpack down, and simultaneously, the minotaur that he had left behind had finally gained its courage and started moving towards him.
With enemies in front and behind, Zenith had nowhere to run.