Chapter 28 - Monke In Bad Spot (Understatement)

A/N: This fic's still alive! Not much to say though...

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I reactively raised my armored right hand to block the incoming strike from the Dwarf. The ax met metal and the common sound of metal bashing against metal echoed around the forest. I pushed the Dwarf off with my strength and countered with a strong, but not lethal punch to the gut. It connected and sent him careening to the ground, breathless.

"What is the meaning of this?" I narrowed my eyes at the Hunter party, who all of them – sans the struggling Dwarf – were shocked at the turn of events.

"Grurnuir!? What the hell!?" Lennon glares at the Dwarf for a moment before approaching the Dwarf and sending his teammates a look. Their shock now gone, all of them moved to restrain the Dwarf, who was obviously still vying for my head.

My mind still reeling from the sudden betrayal, I took a step back and readied my Dungeon Return Stone.

'I know the Dwarf hated me, but to this extent? It's counter-productive in our current goal!' I stopped myself from screaming that aloud. My plans for fostering an amicable friendship with the town near my dungeon, which can curb stomp me to oblivion, were slowly crumbling to pieces.

It was at that moment I noticed a missing person from the group. I spotted the twin Elves, the Dwarf, and the Human couple, but the Demon was missing. Instantly, my senses flared and I tried to take a step forward, only to have a halberd meeting my right arm, piercing through my skin and flesh.

HP: 4321 / 5890

Red blood seeped out of the wound as I held back a scream. The pain too much for my senses for me to make a rational decision other than grabbing the sword I looted from the Goblin Leader in my inventory and slashed at the being who wounded me.

The Demon dodged by reeling his head backward, the sword nicking his nose, causing it to bleed. Sogtharoch then used my moment of weakness to push some kind of orb in his left hand to my skin.

With my subpar Agility, I wasn't able to react in time towards the attack. The orb touched my skin, then sunk into it, before my body glowed an ethereal light.

[Warning! Warning! Orb of Transference power output detected! Attempting protocol 1-C-5-5-B-1!]

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!"

My mind went blank, incredible pain searing through my entire being as I screamed out to the heavens. It was like having boiling oil poured onto your entire body, having it seep into your muscles, then liquefy your innards.

In short, it hurt like HELL.

[System compromised! Initializing Safety Mode!]

The pain then vanished like the pain wasn't even there to begin with. I slumped to the ground, unminding of the halberd still stuck to my arm. It was then I made the split-second decision, while I was still conscious, to get the hell out of dodge.

I grabbed the Dungeon Return Stone from my inventory and glared one last time at the Demon, who I now placed at the top of my kill list for the future, to see a victorious grin plastered on his face.

"Thanks for the power-up, big guy!" The Demon's grin infuriating me to no end, before my vision was replaced by the familiar sight of my hammock in the Dungeon Core Room.

It is official, relationships are burned down, it's time for war.

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~ Third Person POV ~

"Sogtharoch!? What the hell!?" Lennon shrieked as he readied his weapon against the traitorous Demon. The same could be said for the twin Elves, and his lover, all of their weapons pointed at the smirking Demon.

"Ah, finally, after all these years," Sogtharoch grinned like a madman. He then turned towards the rest of the Hunters. "Ah, I'm afraid this is where we part ways. Damn shame too, you lot were a lot of fun."

"Don't fuck with us Sogtharoch! What the hell did you do!?" Lennon snarled at the bastard, Kayla readying to shoot her gun in case something happens.

"As if I would spill out my secrets to you," Sogtharoch waved his hands mockingly towards the group of Hunters. "I was never a part of your group, but I will admit, teasing you two Elves were a blast."

"…" Mariona and Merethyl glared at the Demon who probably ruined their chances at escaping the incoming war. The same could be said for Lennon and Kayla. Grurnuir though, was still out of it after getting punched in the gut by the, as he called it, 'Black-furred abomination.'

"Anyways, I'll see you all in the future," Sogtharoch grinned at the Hunters, a ball hidden within his hands away from their sights. "If you're all still alive, that is."

A sudden flash blinded the group who were too focused on the traitorous demon's face. Once the effect subsided, they realized that Sogtharoch was nowhere in sight.

"Motherfucker!" Lennon smashed his fist against a tree trunk to get rid of some stress. Once Lennon saw Grurnuir already aware of his surroundings, he grabbed the Dwarf by the scruff of his neck and raised him high. "What in the nine hell's possessed you to attack Jionni, huh!?"

"I… Wha…?" Grurnuir was feeling woozy, and no, it was not from booze. "Attack the… Black Beast?"

Lennon, already out of patience, punched the Dwarf on the face, knocking some sense into the dazed Dwarf.

"Gah!? Now what the hell was that fer!?" Grurnuir snapped, then noticed the looks he got from his teammates. "Uhm, wut happened?"

"What happened? What happened!? YOU AND SOGTHAROCH ATTACKED JIONNI IS WHAT HAPPENED!" no longer concealing his anger and frustration, Lennon let go of the confused Dwarf, causing the short, bearded male to fall on his ass. "AND IF THAT WASN'T ENOUGH, THAT DAMNED HORNED TRAITOR JUST UP AND RAN!"

"Wait, ye and I know that I hate the black beast, but I ain't attackin' it while on a job," Grurnuir protested with his hands in front of him. In response to that, Lennon glared at him even more and was about to yell again, but was stopped when a scream pierced their eardrums.

One look at the cave and they saw a few stragglers coming out, ready to end their lives. Noting that life is more important, they shoved their anger, frustration, and confusion to the back of their heads and focused on killing the Kobolds.

And if it did relieve some stress, then good.

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~ First Person POV (Jionni) ~

I grabbed the halberd stuck in my arm and pulled it out in one go, a hiss of pain escaping from my lips. Blood pooled at the ground below but stopped growing any further from my wound closing up thanks to my [Tank Body] perk.

I knew something was wrong with the Demon. He was too friendly, but I couldn't push him away because I knew if that I pushed him away, his team members would be hostile the moment I did so… And that Dwarf attacking, why did he do it? From what I saw, he was not hiding his anger, but he was controlling it perfectly, so there was a low chance that he would've attacked me out of the blue like that.

So why the hell did that Dwarf attack me out of nowhere like that?

If I could garner a guess, the Demon had a hand in it. I have no idea what magic he uses, but he was able to deduce what I was going on about back when we met in the Hunter's Association.

I'm going out on a limb here and assume that he has magic associated with the mind. That, or the Dwarf really hated me.

I stop that for a second before reading why the hell my system went into safe mode.

[System compromised! Safe Mode Initiated! Unable to gain EXP until problems are fixed… Estimated time until completion… 239:58:43]

… Are you fucking kidding me?