Chapter 55: Why would they?

Mark stretched his body, and the rigid bones on his back crackled satisfyingly.

He was on the rooftop of a once-glass tower, which was now abandoned. He had been sleeping inside this tower and had even had an intimate morning with Dona before he walked up here with her following him.

The morning air had a musty smell tinged with a tinge of a sulfurous one. The sun's shade was muddled through the veil that was the Dungeon Barrier, and there was a sense of suffocation,

Now, he was back in the mood for a hunt.

He expanded his Soul Sense downwards through the cracks of the building, and as it explored everything below, his face changed slightly.

The sight was not pretty.

While he was asleep, the entire lower floors of where he had slept had been filled with Demons. They were not weak, either—they were just a huge assortment of Demonlings, but they had a Lower Demon in their midst keeping an eye on them.

They were a pack with a leader.

In fact, Mark didn't let his Soul Sense grow too close to it because he could feel its Soul Sense warning him not to go too close. He didn't dare to, either.

It could destroy his Defensive Magic Skin, and he'd die being smothered by an entire torrent of Demonlings. Their pack was absolutely massive in number.

Some demons, like the Red Flower Demonic Snakes that Mark had met at the start of being a Demon, lived and died in packs. They were among the worst kinds to try to get rid of.

This one was the same: they lived and died in packs.

Curious, he gauged the Lower Demon with his system.

The massive eyeball with limbs was no small thing. It was strong.

[Eye Imp]

[Tier 1—Lower Demon]

[Physique: 68 (medium)]

[Mind: 68 (medium)]

[Demonic Tricks: Soul Devouring. Painful Gaze (medium), Pain Transference (medium), Defensive Meat (medium), Curse of Pain (medium)]

[Resistances:

Pain Resistance (high), Physical Resistance (medium), Mental Resistance (medium).]

It seemed a bit too out of his league at the moment, especially when he was unwilling to kill it slowly after manipulating it with Heart Input for a long scheme game.

He needed quicker results.

But Mark couldn't help but feel some greed for it.

As long as he killed it, he'd get (68) soul spheres, and that'd be enough to make his Physique reach a high level. If he reached that level, murdering other Lower Demons who were of a lower level would be easy and he could grow stronger way quickly.

He'd be Pinnacle in both body and mind before he ever knew it.

It was the same principle as with money. Strong grows stronger, and weak grows weaker.

But for now, Mark wasn't greedy enough to tempt death.

He took back his Soul Sense and looked in a different direction.

From far in the distance, he could hear the sound of a battle, and with his sharp eyes, he could see someone fighting in the distance.

He shifted Dona into a princess carry and stretched his wings.

The creatures that were fighting were on top of a ship, and from here, they seemed like two ants, even to his sharp gaze. It was a Hunter and a solitary Demon.

The Hunter was a B-Rank, but he was a truly strong one at that; he was battling a Lower Demon that was even stronger than the Hunter himself in stats.

But the Hunter was winning.

Mark frowned at the sight, not because of the fight itself but due to an implication of it. Searᴄh the nôvel_Fire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Silently, he couldn't help but wonder.

Why would these Hunters risk their lives for nothing in a place like here?

It was not like they could take the demon corpses they killed into the outside world to sell. There was no real profit in entering the Dungeons and killing demons other than the fact that the world had one less demon to fear.

Were all these Hunters that altruistic?

Why would they bother entering the mega-dungeon out of all places when they earned literally nothing by risking their entire life?

They'd just be coming here to fight, and if they win, wow, they get nothing. If they lose, wow, they die.

So, why would they, despite that unreasonable risk-to-reward ratio, come here at all?

They were basically courting death.

For one, not all demons would attack Mark at sight.

He'd just be warned to stay away, but that was not the case for humans. The chance that this Hunter, who was fighting in the distance, would leave the mega-dungeon alive was low—he couldn't fly, after all.

To leave the mega-dungeon, he'd have to fight through hundreds of demons. Unless he was an A-Rank, the chance of his dying was near certain.

Even though he was so capable as to be a B-Rank Hunter, why would he come here to die?

Why did he enter the mega-dungeon for no reason?

Was this 'B-Rank Hunter,' a celebrity-like person, of all people, suicidal?

Mark's frown deepened.

And this wasn't the only Hunter doing this; many Hunters entered the mega-dungeon on a daily basis. There must be some kind of profit. They couldn't all be just suicidal.

Just as Mark was analyzing, the battle grew much more intense, and he could see electric sparks flashing from the Hunter as its source.

The Hunter was truly strong, but he wasn't A-Rank. The guy was a B-Rank.

The Hunter's ability was something related to lightning, and he kept jumping around, while the Demon had some kind of poison bomb ability, which kept missing its mark. The Demon wasn't weak, though; as long as it got one solid hit on the Hunter, the Hunter would become history.

Humans had weak Resistances, after all.

'I need a better point of view…'

Before Dona could react, Mark jumped, and he was in the skies. A second later, he was whizzing through the skies, and another second later, he had landed on a different building. Finally, he had a crisp sight of the battle.

Dona breathed out the air stuck in her chest.

Mark smirked. "Don't be so scared. It's fun, ain't it?" he chuckled, but his gaze was on the B-Rank Hunter.

[B-Rank Hunter]

[Tier 1]

[Physique: 40/40 (Low)]

[Mind: 39/49 (Low)]

[Hunter Ability: Electric Storage (Medium)]

[Resistances: Lightning Resistance (High)]

The Hunter's ability allowed him to store electricity inside himself. While the electricity was stored, the Hunter could use it to increase his speed or release it in many forms of attacks.

It was a fun ability, but the man would have to store electricity at all times. If he used up the electricity within himself, his ability wouldn't work, even if he had enough Mindpower to use it.

Mark looked at the Demon next.

It had poison abilities, and it looked somewhat like a pufferfish. Yet, it was too clumsy.

It jumped on the ground from one place to the other like a rubber ball and spat green poisonous orbs at the Hunter, and the Hunter used electricity to boost himself and dodge.

Mark looked at the sight with squinted eyes.

Killing this Hunter would be rather useful for him.

(49) Soul spheres could strengthen his physique greatly. Mark contemplated this thought for a while as he watched the battle. This Hunter had to be killed—as for the Demon since it had a Resistance to Mark's only way of murder (physical), he could only let it go to its fate.