Standing on the roof of a two-storey building, Desper was looking around for more monsters after clearing the area behind him. Just now, he realized how vast the village was, maybe three or four times the size of his old village.
From afar, he could see many silhouettes of monsters, but he didn't need to go there, since his team was already handling them.
He suddenly frowned when he saw a middle-aged man holding a sword leaving his house.
It was an unwritten rule that when there was a Distress Signal, everyone had to stay inside their homes and remain silent. Even if someone was far from home, they had to hide in someone else's house.
Desper got down to scold him, but all of a sudden, he activated his bloodline and rushed toward the man, pulling him away just in time to save him from a monster's claws.
"Wha—?!"
The man was stunned and didn't understand what had happened. Desper ignored him and examined the monster. There were two main differences between it and the others he had killed: it had four pairs of long ears instead of two, and its claws were extremely long, about half a meter.
"M-7 stalker" Desper muttered.
He threw the man aside and charged at the monster, fully activating his Svikari power and striking with his swords. Although the monster was a bit slower, its long claws were still able to block his attacks.
Desper's eyes widened. 'This is…'
The stalker was unfazed as it swept its arms and pushed him back, then swung its long claws at him from both sides. Desper quickly raised his swords to meet the strikes.
"Arghhhh…!"
The impact spread through his arms, numbing them.
'Too strong!!'
Desper was being forced backward, so he ducked away. The stalker followed and attacked again. This time, Desper chose not to block and instead dodged, then he tried to strike back. Although the monster was slower than normal, its long claws were able to prevent him from landing his attack.
He had to retreat and raise his swords to block another heavy blow.
'Is this really just an M-7 monster?!' He couldn't believe its strength.
Groooooooo…..
The monster growled and brought its claws down at him again. Desper intentionally dropped to one knee and blocked. The monster overpowered him, pushing the swords back. When the claws came dangerously close to his neck, he suddenly rolled aside, causing the monster to lose its balance and nearly fall.
Desper seized the chance and launched himself at it, swinging his swords. The monster somehow managed to recover, but Desper followed up with a barrage of strikes, forcing it down to its knees.
Flicking his right leg, he kicked the monster's head, then slammed one sword down to pin its arm and slashed at it with the other.
Graaaaaaaaaa…!
The monster screamed in pain.
Desper didn't stop. He suddenly released his swords, and two daggers slid from his sleeves into his hands. He used one to block the monster's remaining arm and thrust the other into its neck.
He pulled it out and stabbed again and again until the monster stopped moving and collapsed to the ground.
"Haaa… hoo… haaa… hoo…"
His breathing was heavy, not from exhaustion, but from nerves. Extreme nerves. The monster should have been weaker than him, since he had the strength of an Eighth Stage Muscle Cultivator while activating his bloodline. But it wasn't. It was strangely stronger.
That shocked him. For a moment, he had thought he would die.
Luckily, the monster was much slower than expected for its rank which gave him a chance to recover.
Desper finally fully understood why new disciples needed six months before becoming official team members. Experience mattered a lot in the fights. A chill ran down his spine when he realized that if there had been two of those monsters, he wouldn't have made it.
"I must be careful," he murmured as he picked up his swords.
He returned to the man, who looked terrified, and grabbed him by the collar.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Desper shouted in a low voice. "Do you want to kill yourself?!!"
He was furious as he had nearly died because of this man.
"M-… my daughter! I need to save her!" the man stuttered, tears streaming down his face.
"Your daughter?" His anger subsided a little. "Where is she?"
"At sch—school," the man cried, fumbling his words.
"School? Where is it?"
"It is in…"
After the man told him the location, Desper instructed, "Stay in your house. I'll get your daughter."
He didn't wait any longer and rushed away. He felt a slight resistance on his clothes.
The man couldn't hold onto him and fell to the ground, still crying, "Pleeeeeease! She's the only one left in my life. I don't want to lose her too!"
Desper didn't look back. His heart tightened as he remembered something.
"Tch…"
He forced those thoughts away and kept running.
Three B-Rank stalkers blocked his path. He didn't stop and lashed out with his swords, slicing all of them in half.
Luckily, the school was nearby. After taking a few turns and killing two more B-Rank monsters, he saw a large white building with the word "School" above its door.
Desper felt relieved to see the door closed and the walls intact, but then he frowned as he heard noise coming from inside.
Quickly, he broke down the door and entered.
He followed the sound, passing several empty rooms. One of them, however, had a large hole in its wall.
Soon, he reached the room where the noise was coming from. In front of the door lay the lifeless body of a woman with a terrified expression.
Biting his lip, Desper stepped into the room. It was a classroom.
Inside, he saw over a hundred children huddled at the back. All of them were terrified. Some clung to each other, some covered their eyes, and others cried silently. In front of them stood the teachers.
Six teachers were fending off five stalkers with two pairs of ears. Seeing this, Desper didn't hesitate. He rushed forward and killed all five instantly.
"Huh?!"
"What?!"
Both the teachers and the children were stunned, but soon, relief and joy spread across their faces.
"It's the sect forces!"
"We're saved!"
the children burst out, totally forgetting about the current situation.
"Shiiiiiish…"
The teachers quickly silenced them. There were still monsters outside; they couldn't afford to make noise.
One of the teachers wanted to thank him, even if only with a nod, but Desper completely ignored him. His brows furrowed as he stared at the opposite wall near the corner.
The teacher grew confused when he saw Desper grab some green paint from a desk and smear it across his face.
The teacher's confusion turned to fear when he heard growls coming from behind the wall, but he calmed himself, remembering there was a cultivator with them.
In the next second—
Boom…!
The wall exploded inward.
Desper's eyes widened as he saw three stalkers, each with four pairs of ears.
'No!'
As fast as he could, he launched himself at them. He wanted to eliminate at least one before they could enter the classroom. He had almost died against just one of them, let alone three!
The green paint masked the veins in his eyes, allowing him to use his Svikari Bloodline without exposing himself.
He struck the first monster with all his strength, but it deflected his swords effortlessly with its claws. His attack only pushed it back slightly.
The children panicked again. The teachers tried to push them further back, but there was nowhere to go; they were already packed tightly together.
On the other side, Desper wanted to attack again, but he had to block strikes coming from the others.
His face twisted as realization hit him.
He had failed.
All three monsters had stepped into the classroom.