The sound of metal clashing against bones reverberated like the chime of an ancient bell.

The head of a Demon Bunny was smashed into a paste. Gooey texture exploded into fireworks before the lifeless body of the monster fell to the ground with a heavy thud.

Thud!

A heavy shield was dropped right beside the lifeless monster, creating a minor tremor in the soil beneath it.

Noah took out his phone and took a picture of the Demon Bunny he just slain.

A notification flashed on the screen. It was a message from Desther.

Knowing what it was, he clicked the message and forwarded it to Victor.

A smile surfaced on his lips. The thought of Desther having alone time with Lexie crossed his mind.

The diarrhea excuse was, of course, just a lie.

A couple would go into an adventure together. He was not dumb to follow along and be a third wheel of their relationship. He was not that bored, and he was not that desperate to tag along Desther all the time.

His points were already enough.

He had grown stronger and could now face a Demon Bunny with ease.

Even Noah himself could hardly believe what he was capable of now.

All of these were thanks to Desther’s—his boss—teaching.

Bending down, he took the heavy shield he recently bought from the main base and lifted it as though it was nothing.

"A few more and I’ll finally be level 9."

His footsteps heavy and created thunderous sounds as he moved forward, searching for his next prey.

...

A grotesque creature lay ahead with a bloody and rotting smell.

The Ravenous Lizards feasted on the corpse of what seemed like a boar, yet hugely gigantified in size compared to a normal one.

This one in particular was even bigger than the Devil Boar that Desther and Noah had encountered before.

Although it was already dead, Desther could still tell that it was a strong monster when it was still alive.

"It’s a War Boar."

Lexie simply answered when she heard Desther’s question.

This was indeed the monster she had fought toe to toe before the shadow ambushed her.

Her battle with the War Boar was one full of risk, but she was able to blitz through it using her S-Grade talent and own combat prowess.

Desther nodded in approval as he cast his Sense skill.

Right then, a hundred-meter radius of perception appeared inside his head.

He detected everything with him as the center. The swaying and falling leaves, the Ravenous Lizards feasting on the boar, and even the maggots that had clawed their way inside the boar’s carcass were not detected without fail.

His attention was focused and immaculate.

With surgical precision, his brows furrowed as he checked every nook and cranny of the place.

Ultimately, he opened his eyes in disappointment.

"It’s not here..."

At the very least, he could not detect it.

The few monsters he detected with his Sense were weak and seemed like a firefly in his Sense’s vision.

Knowing how powerful that shadow was, Desther knew that if it was here, it would appear as a raging flame in the darkness of his vision.

However, another possibility also erupts in regard to the current situation.

The skill he uses was only a B-Grade sensory skill.

If that shadow happened to have a camouflage skill above B-grade, the chance of the skill failing to detect was already high.

However, it was not as simple as it seems either.

A difference in grade might be a chasm that was hard to overcome, but it could still be overcome depending on the situation.

A skill’s grade was not the only measure of how powerful a skill was.

Mastery, and the users, must also be considered in place.

Not to mention that there were also skills that directly countered another, making it more effective even with a difference in grade.

In terms of mastery, Desther was already at Intermediate Mastery with his Sense skill.

He was not that confident in that regard; monsters, after all, were said to have their skills since the moment they came into existence. Their skills were almost second nature to them, and the application would differ depending on circumstances.

In terms of attributes, though, Desther knew that there was no one that could beat him as long as they were not peak tier 3 or above.

As for that creature, Desther assumed it to be at the peak of tier 2, or even the early stage of tier 3.

If it were any higher, Lexie would not have survived its ambush, no matter how insane and ridiculous her S-Grade Talent was. After all, talents were just mere potential and a little bit of a head start.

With that being said, Dsether might not be able to eclipse that shadow monster in terms of raw attributes, but he knew that he was definitely up there, looking down at it.

Hence, he was sure that the monster was not here.

"Let’s search deeper into the valley."

Lexie suggested upon hearing his conclusion.

As a matter of fact, the two of them had already assumed that the monster might have already left.

When it ambushed Lexie, it might have just been hiding here at that particular moment.

The two of them had discussed this on their way here.

Desther nodded his head and walked forward with ease.

His stride was flawless and clean. His Supreme Body combined with Supreme Will allowed him to conserve energy to the utmost limit by minimizing unnecessary movements as he moved. The Supreme Combat Art, on the other hand, supplemented him with the knowledge on how to apply these movements into battle.

Desther took out the two revolvers that had been neglected since a few days back.

He wanted to end the battle as swiftly as possible to complete the mission given by the title.

Now that the mission was already over, he planned to utilize them again while he was at it.

No matter how powerful he had become, he still found himself searching for the recoil of a revolver.

The silver and golden revolver twisted gracefully. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Aiming toward the distant Ravenous Lizards feasting on the boar’s carcass, Desther did not hesitate and pulled the trigger.