The Surprise Attack

The greatshield youth was instantly sent flying.

The greatsword youth and rapier girl, lacking the protection of a defender, couldn’t even withstand one blow from the Bata Bear and were also knocked away.

Meanwhile, the elven girl was frantically casting healing magic, not even noticing that the Bata Bear had targeted her as its first prey.

“Roar!” With a突击冲刺 (sprint attack), the massive black shadow had already reached the elven girl. With just a single slap of its huge paw, the low-defense elven girl would surely perish.

“No, stay away!!” Noticing the sudden crisis before her, the elven girl was momentarily stunned.

In her panic, she could only wildly wave her magic staff, unclear whether it was an attack or simply a reflexive action.

Witnessing the little girl’s frantic actions, the Bata Bear revealed a very human-like sneer, then spread its large paw and slammed it down hard on the elven girl’s head.

The elven girl watched the giant claw that would surely smash her head like a rotten watermelon in the next second, and tears of despair flowed.

“Don’t give up so easily!” How could I let such a cute young girl die right before my eyes!

I exerted every ounce of strength I had, bursting forth with unprecedented speed.

In a hair’s breadth between life and death, I scooped her up and carried her away. The Bata Bear’s strike completely missed, its terrifying attack directly splitting the ground.

It seems I still underestimated its power. If that attack had really landed on the elven girl, it would have truly pulverized her.

“…” The elven girl was first stunned. When she realized that I had saved her, she suddenly burst into tears. She held my waist tightly with both hands. I didn’t feel any soft chest muscles; instead, I felt a pain like being clamped by tiger pliers.

“Are you trying to kill me?!” I didn’t expect her tiny body to conceal such great strength. You should use that strength on the enemy!

“Wuwu… I’m sorry, I was too excited. Thank you for saving me!” The elven girl’s eyes were filled with tears, her pitiful expression truly endearing.

But those tiger pliers still hadn’t loosened an inch, so not only did I not find her endearing, I even wanted to slap her to death.

“Roar, roar, roar!” Its prey snatched away, the Bata Bear looked furious, its bloodshot eyes showing a fierce desire to tear me limb from limb.

As soon as it thought it, it acted. The Bata Bear took a huge leap, again delivering an overhead shock attack. Its massive butt slammed directly towards us.

The same trick won’t work on me! I really wanted to say a line like that, but unfortunately, I was currently burdened with dead weight.

I wasn’t sure if I could completely dodge it, so I could only jump aside with all my might. Whether I’d be affected was up to fate.

Boom!

The immense impact sent shattered rocks flying everywhere.

One of them shot with extreme speed towards the head of the elven girl clinging to my waist. I extended my left hand and blocked it squarely.

“…” A stinging pain shot through the back of my hand, making me grit my teeth. This elven girl is simply a jinx. I’ve only just met her, and I’ve already gotten hurt twice because of her.

“Still not letting go? Do you want to die with me?”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! It’s all my fault!” Seeing her slightly pained, tearful face, I really couldn’t get angry.

“Heal me.” While the Bata Bear was in a rigid state after its attack, I needed to quickly restore my health.

“Okay, okay!” This time, she wasn’t flustered. The elven girl quickly cast a healing spell, and my injuries recovered at a visible rate.

This little girl’s healing magic is surprisingly skillful. No wonder such a terrible team hadn’t suffered any casualties despite being brutalized by the Bata Bear.

My body quickly recovered to its original state. The three who had been knocked away had also gathered around by now.

“I have a suggestion.”

“What suggestion?” The elven girl was the first to react to my words.

“I’ll command the rest of the battle.”

“Okay!” Without waiting for anyone else to answer, the elven girl agreed. The others saw this and said nothing, merely nodding in agreement.

To entrust their lives to a stranger so easily, I don’t know if they are simply unthinking or if they trust my abilities.

If I had to guess which possibility was more likely, I would lean towards the latter.

After all, I could appear here, and the other Bata Bear was undoubtedly killed by me alone; they could figure that out with their toes.

Besides, saving the elven girl at that critical moment must have earned me quite a few impression points.

“Alright, we’re counterattacking immediately! Defender, draw aggro. Two attackers, split to both sides and attack from the flanks. As for you, hide behind us and heal…” Before I could finish, a giant claw slammed towards my face.

While talking to them, I had been watching the Bata Bear’s movements and easily dodged the attack.

I seized the opportunity to sweep with the last Shadow Spear in my hand, and a splash of blood flew. The Bata Bear’s right eye was completely destroyed.

“Now!”

Before the Bata Bear could even roar in anger, a small knife plunged into its waist. The excruciating pain shifted its attention to the greatshield youth. A claw infused with furious rage struck the greatshield directly.

Without even time to react, the greatshield youth was sent flying again, but this time, he flew even further than before, showing just how terrifying that blow was.

At the same time, I also realized that the shield user was a complete waste.

As the backbone of the team, unable to even block a single hit, a total wipeout was only a matter of time.

I retreated a few steps.

At this moment, the greatsword youth also reached the Bata Bear’s side. With a single slash, a ghastly wound appeared on the Bata Bear, causing ten points of damage with just one hit. In terms of output, he was competent.

On the other side, the rapier girl’s attack precisely pierced the wound the shield man had made with his small knife. This strike caused the Bata Bear to howl in agony.

Now the Bata Bear only had 20 HP left.

Excellent! Continue attacking, and it will be dead in less than two rounds.

Just as I was optimistically predicting the final outcome, an unexpected change caused me to feel an inexplicable malice.

“Roar!”

The Bata Bear’s status showed that it had actually leveled up!

Even more absurdly, it had fully recovered its health on the spot. No, its HP had even increased. Only I noticed this very sudden change.

This time, it’s probably over. Although there’s only one level difference between level 5 and 6, its HP, attack power, and defense have all increased significantly. It’s far from something us battered level 3 novices can deal with.

If I were at full strength and fighting it with them, we might be able to barely kill it.

The problem is, my magic is completely empty, and the team isn’t coordinated. In this situation, besides despair, I can’t imagine any hope.

“So noisy.” Suddenly, a voice entered my ears. It was a slightly hoarse voice; I couldn’t tell if it was male or female.

As I searched for the source of the voice, the Bata Bear’s head fell off, and a column of blood shot into the sky.

Thud!

It stopped moving like a toy whose battery had run out, its body falling to the ground from inertia. Behind it appeared a figure entirely clad in black robes.

Only two eyes were visible on its dark head. These eyes were not looking at the Bata Bear on the ground but were sweeping back and forth over us.

Those inexplicably chilling gray eyes finally landed on me.

“Have you seen these people?” After speaking, the figure extended a gray palm from beneath its black robe. A ring on its middle finger emitted a faint light, and then, with a few thuds, several items appeared on the ground. They were several bloodied and mangled corpses.

One of the corpses looked like it had been dismembered and then forcibly pieced back together, making it terrifying and nauseating to behold.

“…” The elven girl covered her mouth, seemingly trying to suppress the urge to vomit. Those extremely disturbing human corpses indeed made one’s stomach churn.

“No,” I replied calmly, my heart pounding fiercely. These corpses were none other than Villagers A, B, C, and D, whom I had been too lazy to dispose of!

“We haven’t seen them either.” The members of the party were somewhat wary of this suddenly appearing entity that had instantly killed the Bata Bear. Although this person saved our lives, the eerie aura emanating from them made one’s skin crawl.

“Is that so. Then so be it.” The black-robed person’s tone remained emotionless. They collected the corpses, looked at us again, and then several black lights suddenly shot from their gray right hand.

Fast! Unbelievably fast. The moment we saw the black lights, we were hit. We had no time to react at all.

“If you dare to lie to me, even if you escape anywhere, I will follow this mark and cut you down.” After saying this, without waiting for us to react, the black-robed person dissipated into the air like mist, leaving no trace.

Only the five of us, looking bewildered, remained on the spot.