Chapter 75: Chapter 75- Rank-1 Monster

Talon's pupils widened as he took in the disturbing image in front of him. Never in his life did he expect to see something like this.

The monster was at least 12 meters tall with an extremely white body. So white in fact that Talon thought its skin was made out of snow with no blood running within its body. It was as hairless and as smooth as a baby with a bald head that looked like an egg. Its hand that was grabbing into the building's side was extremely thin with long, sharp fingers and no claws.

It had an extremely wide mouth with pointy sharp fangs within it that were ordered in rows from the front to the back all around the interior of its mouth. However, by far, the most disturbing detail about this monster was its eyes, it had hollow, black eyes with no pupils or even eyeballs for that matter.

Just a mere glance at it made Talon's heart beat faster. He didn't even need any indication from Acrypha to realize that this monster wasn't something he should mess around with even as an experiment. Its aura, presence, and everything about it made his instincts shudder and his heart go cold.

"Hyun-Jae... Move..." Talon murmured as he put his hand in front of her. "Just don't look back and run. Don't even hesitate for a second." He said in a low tone as if he was trying not to alert the monster.

"What..." Hyun-Jae also realized that there was something deeply wrong with that monster. Something that she didn't feel from any other monster she had seen so far.

"Don't even check if I'm behind you or not. Run as fast as you could." While Talon's voice was calm Hyun-Jae could feel the weird tone he had at that moment.

Meanwhile, the monster that was peeking at them finally moved its body as it slowly moved out of its hiding spot revealing its entire body in full glory. It had the shape of a human and stood ont wo human-looking feet which made it even more disturbing to look at. Slowly, it took one step forward and then another one.

The monsters all around them immediately scattered away the moment it made a move. They didn't even seem like they wanted to stay and witness what was about to happen.

"Move, move, move!!" Talon yelled as he snapped Hyun-Jae out of her trance and pushed her to run. When he was sure that she was ahead of him, he also dashed after her at top speed.

Meanwhile, the monster looked at them from hundreds of meters away before it opened its mouth wide and lifted its head up as it screeched loudly. Its scream sounded like a hollow yet deep inhuman noise.

Just with its voice alone, the monster broke the glass windows around it and shook the buildings. After that, it looked down and started running toward Talon and Hyun-Jae, crossing tens of meters in a matter of few seconds.

"Run!!" Talon yelled as he looked behind him. For something of that size, its speed was terrifyingly ridiculous.

It didn't even take 5 steps and it was already half the distance away from Talon and Hyun-Jae and closing it second by second.

Talon's heart was beating so loudly in his chest that he couldn't even hear anything else. Never in his life did he feel this scared before. Even when he faced his first monster, he never felt this powerless and terrified.

In dire situations, he was always the hunter and never the prey. This time, however, he was definitely the prey, a very terrified prey.

"What the fuck is that, Acrypha?!"

"A rank-1 monster." Acrypha's face looked extremely grave at that moment as she flew next to him.

"What? What's a rank 1 monster?!" Talon asked again as he looked behind him. The creature was growing closer and closer by the second as it leaped huge distances with each step.

"When a monster reaches level 25, it goes through a second evolution just like the first one back at level 5. However, this evolution doesn't simply change its appearance, it also boosts its strength to a whole new league. That's when a monster is called a 'Rank-' and the difference between them and the level 24 monsters that didn't break through yet is very vast!"

"Go from there, you can lose it between the destroyed buildings," Acrypha suggested.

Talon didn't waste time and rushed there. The entire place was just a huge maze of destroyed buildings and small hiding spots where Talon could easily vanish from the monster's eyes.

'Good idea, Acrypha!' He looked at the beautiful woman with a grateful expression as he quickly moved through the tight areas and slid under two rocks where he hid, just a few seconds before the monster reached the place.

Talon cowered inside the small hole as he held his breath and tried to calm his heartbeats. Outside, he could hear the sound of the monster running before it stopped and started looking around silently.

Then, it slowly stepped between the buildings, looking left and right. Talon's face tensed up and beads of sweat came down his face.

He had no vision of the monster and could only hear its noises and feel its presence. That made his fear skyrocket even higher.

However, more than fear, his mind was also working through an idea at that moment. An idea that even Talon knew was probably the most ridiculous thing he could ever come up with.

'What if... Hypothetically speaking, I can kill that thing. How strong will I become?' He asked himself the wildest question. Even at that moment, Talon's arms were subtly shaking from fear and yet his mind was telling him that an opportunity was slowly presenting itself to him.

'Just what if...' Slowly, Talon peeked his head a little to look outside. There, the monster was looking away as it searched for him.

Meanwhile, Acrypha was outside watching everything tensely. She noticed the subtle change in Talon's eyes. At first, his only goal was to escape. But now, she could see that he was thinking of something else.

"Oh, you aren't..." She murmured.

Talon kept looking at the monster silently as he registered every move it was making. Then, his eyes shifted to Acrypha as he gave her a signal with his eyes.

'I'm doing it.' She read from him.

"Talon, no... No. I know you're talented, the best in every dimension, even. But, this is something that isn't even possible. This is impossible." She said.

This wasn't even a matter of talent or strength. This is a fight between two creatures in two different leagues. Killing that monster was impossible for Talon.

It was something out of the realm of insanity.

However, she could see it in Talon's eyes, he wanted to do it. He wanted it.

"You're insane..." She murmured as her expression froze.

"When did I say I wasn't?"

(A//N: Thanks to everyone who supports the book with power stones and golden tickets, you guys are the best:) )