At his current level, Luke could confidently say he was strong enough to take on level four beasts. Humans, however, were an entirely different matter. They had experience, intelligence, and weapons, all of which made them far more dangerous than beasts of a similar level.
He knew that confronting them head-on would only leave him injured, and he could not afford that. He had no potion to fall back on and no contingency plan if things went wrong.
But abandoning Grella to them had never even crossed his mind.
He had seen the look in their eyes. The desire. The malice. And above all, he hated their laughter.
Shlink.
The man wearing that mocking grin was suddenly lying on the ground, blood spraying from his severed neck as his body crumpled beside him.
"Who is there?!"
The remaining three instantly went on full alert, drawing what appeared to be clubs and sickles as they frantically scanned their surroundings.
Yet Luke remained completely invisible to them.
