Chapter 19
Lilith was bold, attacking anything and everything that catches her eyes. But she also cautioned as she will immediately turn back if things went awry.
Dhampy was aware that Lilith was simply being cautious because she was there and as they targeted the weaker daemons, Dhampy's respect for Lilith increased once more.
[Dhampy's Loyalty +1]
'G.o.dd.a.m.n, it's increasing without reason. Alpha, do you think I can haggle with G.o.ddess?'
Haggling with the G.o.ddess, Lilith was still 3,200 SP short despite the non-stop hunting she does tonight. Given that she was hunting low-level daemons to avoid meeting any wanted trouble, it is still pretty much the same.
The Mana Core of daemons whether it is LVL 23 or 25 is the same, 200 SP. Though she doesn't like it, she appreciates the fact that she does not need to aim for higher-level preys just to earn some more SP.
That said, she is still finding it hard earning enough to buy what she wants. In the end, she resorted to haggling with the G.o.ddess through Alpha.
===
[The G.o.ddess said she will not lower the price of the items. Oh, she just sent us a letter, how about that.]
===
[] My dear apostle, please stop haggling with me. The Shop is fair and I will not lower the price. Given that you find it difficult and downright unfair, I will give you two benefits. First, I'll give you a voucher from time to time if you do something nice. Second, you can always take a loan out of me and I'll give you the item that you want. In return, that very loan will have a five-times increase every two months...
Lilith stopped reading halfway through the bulls.h.i.+t of the G.o.ddess. Having a G.o.ddess by your side is not always so good. She is too straight-laced and the leeway she gives is too harsh that Lilith did not want to take it.
If she decides to take her offer then she'll be driven to the ground by the debt she will incur. Also, she can't buy anything from the Shop unless she pays up the loan. It was a s.h.i.+tty situation. The true definition of clutching on a knife.
"Dhampy, let's move, I only need 16 more Mana Core. I can finally earn my keep." She then left as a Nightmare Dragonkin.
Money, currency, and anything that has monetary value is not something that exists in the society of low-tier daemons. For Dhampy who heard Lilith spoke of earning money, she found it weird.
As such, curiosity blossomed towards the unknown and decided to ask.
"From what I learned, a daemon has no need of—"
"Dhampy, don't ask too many questions. I never asked you about your past, if you don't wish for me to uncover your history then try to uncover mine. But I won't lie to you, the G.o.ddess favors me a lot and she asks me to do all this. Don't ask me again unless you say your piece first. Okay?"
Dhampy didn't say anything. She herself had her own secrets, and concerning words of her boss Lilith, she chose to stay silent in respect of Lilith's word.
Like what Lilith said, they went in to kill 16 more daemons before stopping. After killing everything Lilith celebrated by throwing her hands up to the air. A devious smile appeared in her face and she motioned with her chin for Dhampy to follow.
They neared the area where the dungeon was located and Lilith gave Dhampy the instructions to make sure that she will not make any sound. But then, as they entered the dungeon, Lilith's face changed.
"Someone's inside this place."
Lilith turned to look inside, turning into a Nightmare Dragonkin, Lilith tried peering through the distance to see who it was that entered. But in the end, her PER was too weak to see that far.
She failed to see. But listening closely she could hear the sounds of clas.h.i.+ng steel, it was a loud sound and she found it truly weird. It was dangerous to go forward, but, Lilith decided to take a step forth.
"Stay here, something is weird in this place, the corpses of the Lamia I found earlier is missing, You may just attract the attention of the person inside."
Lilith flew forth without waiting for Dhampy's answer. She knows that going in alone with enemies at her destination would be stupid, but, she can't help it. Lilith decided to hunt the Virulent Serpent.
'There's indeed someone here, the body of the Hunters is no longer scattered.'
The bodies of the fallen Hunters lay still on one side of the dungeon. They were lined up and was covered with white sheets, Lilith knew that it was too neat to be done by a daemon.
'Hunters is in front of us, I am sure of it. They must be a part of these people's Guild. But they were not
Lilith's conjecture was, at the end of the day a mere conjecture. There may be a team of Hunters nearby, or somewhere along those lines. A gathering of Hunters is not good for a daemon like her.
'Well, even in the past I was enemies against the Hunter's a.s.sociation so what the heck.'
Nothing had changed. Lilith turned to the deepest areas of the dungeon. The deeper she went, the clearer the sounds of the battle. It was a very heated battle, grunts and shouts were echoing all over the place.
Whilst Lilith was approached, a burst of flame exploded out of nowhere and shook the entire dungeon.
"Blaze!"
"Mina! Go and heal Reginald, Lia and I will slow this b.i.t.c.h down."
A swordsman shouted. His vigor was amazing and his muscles proved that he was no slacker. The armor that protected him from any harm exploded into brilliant red light and the red two-handed sword reacted to it igniting itself to burn!
The Sorceress that the swordsman called Lia, casted a spell known as [Fire Chains] to slow the Virulent Serpent down by a few seconds. The Serpent roared and spit out venom targeting the Sorceress.
But, as the swordsman appeared from behind and pulled her back, the venom was cut in two and evaporated soon after.
"Grand Blaze Sword!"
The swordsman dashed forward, ready to plunge his blazing sword to the Serpent. The Serpent was enraged; in an act of desperation, it thrashed around and got out of the chains that held it down.
Using its tail, it hit the swordsman pretty badly to the side and ended up spinning towards the wall, but not before the swordsman could throw his blazing sword to the jaws of the snake.
Piercing through its mouth, the force sent it flying to the dungeon's ceiling, pinning it down with a blazing sword. It flailed around, trying to break free, the injured swordsman got up and w watched the Serpent flail from a safe distance.
He laughed, watching the sight of a huge Serpent flailing around trying to break free.
"Finally, we can return."
"With this, we'll be able to take the test of C-rank Hunters! What a haul!"
"Yes, that is good, but, taking the body of our Brothers to their families is what matters most."
The swordsman Rivia said with a stoic expression. He was a large man with a large build but he had a soft heart for a long of things.
All of them breathed a sigh of relief, everything was finally over. Some of them plopped to the ground, exhausted. With their backs on the ground, the cold damp floor of the dungeon was about to become their bedding for the night.
But, as a blue spherical object flew overhead and exploded into a brilliant light. The faces of the Hunters changed—
Boom!
The dungeon shook and almost fell. The shock of the explosion was big enough to swallow the entire area where the Hunters and the Serpent were fighting.
The explosion was big and powerful enough to devour the Serpent and the other Hunters into a ball of flame. The valiant Hunters died.
But, it was not clear if they would die from just that so...
"Fire Ball."
A ball of flames, about ten inches big appeared from out of nowhere and exploded in the direction of the explosion.
It is not enough.
"Fire Ball, Fire Ball, Fire Ball...."
Five more Fire b.a.l.l.s were sent to make sure that everyone is dead and for some good measure—
"Miasmic Expulsion~"
Wait for at least ten minutes, and then finally, Lilith came out of her hiding place that is behind a rock as a Thunder Clap Leopard.
She made sure that the daemon and humans who were fighting was dead. She looked at the devastation and smiled, content at what she had done.
"There, good and safe."
[Level up x4]
[Virulent-Serpent LVL 31 Dead]
[] You killed someone 11 levels ahead of you, the G.o.ddess commends you of your endeavor thus granting you the t.i.tle [Hunter].
[] A hunter hunts beings who are stronger than them using their wits. +10 MAG and STR when in use.
The daemon she killed was 9 levels ahead of her, but one of the Hunters was at LVL 33.
She did not hesitate to bombard the area with a Magic Bomb, Spell, and Miasma in order to make sure the humans are dead. She also threw the bomb right before the Serpent so she got the EXP for it.
The hunters that averaged at LVL 32 and the single daemon that was at LVL 31 pushed her level to 26 without her doing much. She was happy and jumped for joy. She looked at the humans present and creased her brows.
"...I need to make sure."
She said and went to crush the heads of those who still had it intact. Lilith was a very thorough person, she had seen a lot of weird s.h.i.+ts and learned of heaven-defying things.
Humans have a lot of tricks up their sleeves. Although daemons are superior to them when it comes to natural prowess, the tricks of humans are enough to supplement their lack of strength.
There's a chance that someone in the human side has the ability to kill her when they die, or momentarily come back to life to slay the one who slew them.
She checked the area and tried to see if there was anything that can be used.
[] You have picked up the Iron s.h.i.+eld, do you wish to turn it to SP? Y/N?
Lilith's eyes widened and she immediately picked yes. She earned 1,000 SP for that s.h.i.+eld. The s.h.i.+eld dissolved into bubbles and disappeared but it was worth it.
"Hehehehe, it can be sold."
No explanation was needed and Lilith began going around the area scavenging the weapons and items she could sell. Other than the Pendant and sword, she sold everything.
The armor was too big for Dhampy she let it go and everything else was not something she or any of her family could use so, she also sold it off.
Overall, her earnings was 7,600 SP.
"Oh s.h.i.+t, this is not the reason why I am here."
Lilith turned to the Serpent that had already fallen to the ground after Lilith took the sword from the wall. She looked at the snake and checked if it still had blood. Thankfully, the blood did not evaporate so she went out called Dhampy, brought her inside, and presented her the Serpent.
��You hunted this Serpent, boss?"
"I had some help."
Lilith motioned with her chin and pointed at the pile of dead bodies adjacent to the wall.
Her eyes twitched for a second after seeing the dead Hunters.
Her expression was not missed by Lilith. But she didn't really care about it, as long as her loyalty is high enough, she will not care how she reacts to things. Every human is Lilith's target anyway.
"Dhampy, go and take the blood of the Serpent, we're getting out of here in a bit."
"Yes, boss."
Dhampy did what she was told and Lilith rummaged through the items of the humans and found their World Network. Sadly, all of their World Network was busted so they were useless to her.
But, she did found a bunch of Mana Cores in their bags. And without caring about it, Lilith went ahead and collected their Mana Cores to become her SP.
[+ 2,800 SP]
By the time Lilith finished she decided to head out and become their look-out. It is better safe than sorry.
"Dhampy, I'll head out first, follow me after you are done."
Dhampy let out a groan to let Lilith know she heard her.
After Lilith let, Dhampy took 15 minutes to finish all the blood. Her stomach was a little bloated but she felt satisfied, more so than she thought she would be.
She was just about to head out, however, she stopped on her tracks and approached the dead bodies. Rummaging through their bodies, she found an insignia that is in the form of a skull.
"Skull Guild...they are not a part of Penta."
Dhampy left soon after.