NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 23: Chapter 0023 - Exposed
******
Deep within the dark, suffocatingly quiet forest, a vast stretch of land had been completely flattened. Towering trees lay shattered on the ground, the once-thriving landscape reduced to utter ruin.
At the heart of this devastation, two monstrous creatures were currently clashing with relentless fury, knocking against each other as though their very lives depended on it.
One was a shadowy fox-like beast, its thorny tendrils writhing like serpents and its glowing emerald eyes, brimming with rage and hatred completely locked onto its opponent.
At the opposite side was the opponent, a creature less of an animal and more of an entity… a rotting, moss-covered behemoth, whose bark was presently pulsating as though alive, blood-red mushrooms sprouting across its decaying form. Toxic green also spores drifted from its body, polluting the air around it.
It was clear from the intensity of their battle that these two creatures bore a deep-bone hatred toward each other, as though one had slain the other's sole descendant.
Both were covered in various sizes and types of ghastly wounds, yet neither showed any intention of backing down.
It was clear that they were going to fight until one of them fell… something Xylen had originally prayed for.
….
BANG!
The Springfox, a high-speed demonic beast suddenly launched itself at the Mossling with an explosive force and speed.
However, despite the impact, the Mossling barely flinched, standing its ground like an immovable fortress.
It only trembled slightly.
In the following second;
SKRRLCH!!!
A deafening, infuriating, and otherworldly screech erupted from the Mossling, the blood-red mushrooms across its body twitching violently.
In the very next instant, the greenish spores drifting from across its form condensed into a solid shape—an arrow of poison. Then without any pause, the arrow shot forward at a terrifying speed, a blur too fast for the naked eye to follow.
Immediately sensing the lethal threat, the Springfox's fur bristled, its emerald eyes locking onto the incoming projectile, its muscles tensing.
For a brief moment, it seemed inevitable that the arrow would strike true and probably take its life.
But just as it was about to pierce its flesh, however, something unexpected happened.
Whoosh!
The Springfox flickered and vanished from where it was originally standing, reappearing a few feet away.
No sooner had this happened, however, than the poison arrow aimed for it struck the ground where it had stood, sizzling as it melted through the earth.
In the blink of an eye, the fox lunged once more at the Mossling. But this time, instead of ramming into its opponent's thick, bark-like hide, it twisted at the very last second it was going to collide against it, sidestepping the creature's natural defenses, and then;
SWISH!
Its thorn-covered tail lashed out, slicing through the Mossling's body.
In the next second, the Mossling's natural defense was breached. Bark and mushrooms instantly tore apart, and immediately following this, a thick greenish liquid… the Mossling's blood spurted from the wound.
SRLRKSH!!
The Mossling let out a guttural cry of pain, its bloodshot eyes flashing with venomous rage.
Without waiting for its pain to subside, it turned toward the Springfox, seething with hatred.
Then, without warning—
CRACK!
A massive, rotting vine erupted from the ground under the Springfox and coiled around its body, the sharp beaches stabbing at it before whipping it violently across the battlefield.
RAHHH!!
The Springfox yelped in agony as it crashed into the ground, another deep wound slashing across its already battered form.
Like the Mossling, it also did not pause for its pain to subside and once again used its insane speed against the Mossling.
Like this, the battle raged on, each side hellbent on destroying the other.
*****
Meanwhile, fifty meters away from this battle, behind the cover of a massive fallen tree…
"Damn! That was so intense!"
Xylen, whose eyes were presently gleaming with excitement as he watched the monstrous clash unfold gasped quietly, his heart still pounding in his chest.
To be honest, although he had anticipated a fierce fight judging from the thunderous noises he had heard on his way here, he had never expected anything of this scale.
"What the hell could have caused these two to fight?" he muttered, deep in thought.
Based on his knowledge of the game, these two creatures shouldn't even be in the same territory, considering that they were most likely bosses of this forest.
Each of them should have had their own domain to rule over. Yet here they were, tearing each other apart as though their very life and soul depended on it.
Xylen continued mulling over this for a moment and when he failed to find the answer, he simply shook his head.
"Whatever. Why should I even care about their grudge?" He muttered to himself and suddenly grinned devilishly, his eyes gleaming as he continued watching them tear into each other.
"Just fight to the death already and let this father reap the rewards!" He urged quietly, his fists pumping.
Behind him, however, Lilith was far less enthusiastic.
"My Lord… my lord. Please this is a very terrible idea," she whispered urgently, her face pale with anxiety.
"These two are far too powerful. If they sense us, they may not attack right away, but the moment one of them dies…" She gulped. "They won't hesitate to eliminate anything that felt like a threat."
Lilith had been desperately trying to convince Xavier to leave ever since they arrived, but he remained fixated on the fight, turning a deaf ear to her as though he couldn't hear her.
Truthfully, he had no idea what level these two creatures were.
The game was designed in such a way that if any creature, whether a gamer or NPC's level was three or more above your own, their stats would remain hidden unless they either intentionally revealed it themselves or a battle commenced.
Normally, Xylen could have used Royal Scan to analyze them, but there was a catch… he had to be within arm's length of the target. And right now, that was nothing more than a death sentence which he couldn't bear at this moment.
Losing his life simply means losing the mission and it isn't even a question what he wants.
Still, the fact that the two monsters' levels were unreadable told him all he needed to know: they were at least three levels stronger than him.
Although Xylen knew well how dangerous it was to even be here? What's a reward in this life without a risk?
As long as he didn't have to fight any of the two himself, the stronger they were, the better it would be for him in the end.
Thinking this, Xylen was so lost in his thoughts to the extent that failed to notice…
"My Lord!!"
Lilith's voice suddenly echoed beside him with terror, snapping him out of his trance.
But before he could react, his arm was yanked and he was tackled backward by Lilith, causing his eyes to widen in shock.
Still, before he could react;
Bang!
A sudden, unexpected powerful shockwave struck them, sending both of them flying in the air before knocking against a wood.
Xylen barely had time to register what had just happened before his vision flashed red, a series of mechanical warnings ringing in his ears.
-5 HP
-5 STAM
.
.
.
-5 HP
-5 STAM
.
.
-5 HP
-5 STAM
"This…"
His breath hitched.
'What… what the hell just happened?!'
He wondered anxiously, then with his pounding frantically in his chest, he whipped his head around…
And his blood ran icy-cold.
Not far from them, the Springfox, which was most likely responsible for the recent events was struggling to rise from the ground after being knocked away once again by the Mossling, its body trembling, seemingly in pain.
What truly terrified Xylen the most wasn't because he was near the Springfox, but the fact that the creature had already seen them.
That's right.
Presently, its blood-red eyes were locked onto the two weak creatures before it, its aura suffocating, its killing intent like a physical weight pressing down on them.
Xylen froze, his body refusing to move.
Beside him, Lilith, who had also seemed to turn into a statue let out a weak, trembling whisper.
"We… we are dead, my Lord."