Somnu hadn’t directly suggested the idea to use the flames from the campfire against the slimy Dreadbeast.

  He had simply revealed the fact he could summon straws with a skill, and the others immediately saw a potential plan to defeat the Nightmare Creature.

  After all, if they had games or slimes where they came from, they should know some of the weaknesses the slime creatures are usually known to have.

  And one of them was supposed to be fire.

  However, that wasn’t the case in the Nightmare Realm. The giant blob of mayhem simply dove underground and returned with its usual blubbering and oozing figure, distorted faces still trying to break free from its gooey prison. Not even smoke was coming off of it, as if it hadn’t even been covered in flames just moments ago.

  “Shield Wall! Iron Will!” Benji resummoned his Dream Catcher and jumped forward, standing his ground and bracing for impact again. It was clear who the monster had been after.

  CLASH!

  BLOORRRGHHH!

  “Shit! It’s getting stronger!” The tank shouted, then gritted his teeth, his body pushing back against the beast clashing with him.

  No, it’s not… We’re just getting weaker by the second… Somnu realized as he began considering a way out of this.

  Benji hadn’t received the [Maximum Effort] boost from Almon this time, and he was quickly exhausting his own energy by repeatedly using his tasking skills. On top of that, his back almost burnt and wouldn’t be healed any time soon.

  Even if he wasn’t being affected by the aging restriction like Somnu and Mathros, the tank was already a demanding role on its own.

  “Mathros! What’s the plan?!” Lulu shouted as she dodged another forming whirlpool under her. She ignored the stinging pain from the freshly closed wounds and ran back to her position, south of the arena.

  “...” The lizardman furrowed his brow, unable to give an answer.

  “Mathros!”

  “I’m thinking!”

  This isn’t good. Somnu looked around and saw everyone moving around the arena, while Benji was single-handedly holding the boss monster back.

  The explorer stayed on the move, hovering across the left of the arena. On the right, towards the center, Benji was holding the Dreadbeast at bay with everything he had. Lulu waited in the south, while Somnu took his place back in the north. Almon was invisible and could have been anywhere, but he was meant to be not far from Benji.

  They had successfully reorganized themselves, but action needed to be taken fast. Somnu knew why orders were taken too long.

  Mathros is having trouble because none of the other plans are going to work anymore…

  Plan A had been to rely on the fire. And if that didn’t work, Plan B would have been to freeze it, or at least try to with very cold winds that Mathros would need time to gather with the help of his compass. Plan C would have been to lead the creature into falling in a deep hole in the ground, created by Lulu’s repeated use of [Seismic Stomp].

  However, none of those, nor any of the rest of the plans could work after the party realized all the things the Dreadbeast was able to do.

  It could jump really high, seeing as it jumped down from the higher floors above the towering pillars of dark crystallized stone.

  It was able to create whirlpools and sink underground, only to come back fully absolved of any natural effects.

  It moved slowly, but when it needed to, it could pick up speed to hunt prey.

  Fighting a Dreadbeast in its environment is truly terrifying… Somnu remarked to himself, realizing how lucky he had gotten against the Woodland Spirit.

  Summoning his sickles once more, the scarecrow quickly sent flying violet slashes at the creature, only for them to be instantly absorbed.

  “!”

  Is that…?! Somnu noticed a bunch of green scales, patches of pale skin and even leather parts inside the slime creature where his slashes hit. That’s all that attack amounted to. It’s like that thing is absorbing us slowly, stealing our lifespan and our very faces!

  He clicked his tongue and jumped back, trying to put some more distance between him and the one affecting his dying skin cells.

  Thankfully…

  [You have leveled up.]

  [You have leveled up.]

  [...]

  [Hollow Core Level: Level 78.] {With 10 more Cores to the next level up.}

  Somnu had purposely left Terror Cores in his inventory. Partly to not have the others think he was leveling too quickly, but more so to use them as quick healing potions. After all, every 10 Terror Cores gave him a level up, and with it, a slight healing boost.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  That’s what had allowed him to both resist the aging restriction, and the constant use of his [Straw Strike] up to now. If it wasn’t for that, he might’ve already turned into an old man.

  Even Grudgekeeper was being affected by the restriction, albeit at a much slower rate. That’s why Somnu fed most of his Ego Particles to Eclipsed Requiem. And yet, even at level 90, it wasn’t strong enough to deal any damage to this type of Nightmare Creature, let alone a Dreadbeast.

  Nevertheless, Somnu jumped back in and kept trying until he could think of something better.

  It was moments like these that made the scarecrow despise not having better skills to use.

  SHLLLOOOORRRRR!

  “Agh!”

  CRASH!

  After trying his best to hold on longer, the tank was finally pushed back with enough force to crash into the nearest wall.

  From a distance, Somnu winced. It had been clear Benji wouldn’t be able to hold off the Dreadbeast very long with a mere level 43 Ego Core, on top of everything else.

  “Benji!” Lulu shouted before quickly jumping after him. “!”

  GLOOOP! GLOOOOP!

  Before she could get close, however, the effects of [Taunt] made it difficult to help.

  The Nightmare Creature was still after Benji.

  “No!!”

  “Screw it!” Being closer, Mathros landed and took off running straight after the Nightmare Creature pursuing Benji. “All of you, get back!”

  “!” Somnu’s eyes widened at the sight. Mathros should have known better than to do that. Unless…

  “What are you trying to do?! Don’t come closer!” Benji shouted, being helped up by Almon, who became visible next to him. The tank was holding his side, barely standing on his two feet.

  “The cave leading to the exit should be two floors above to the north!” The lizardman kept running, stepping over whirlpools with his [Terrain Adaption] and [Light Foot] skills.

  Despite the full vigor he was confidently displaying, green scales were being ripped out of him the more his speed increased.

  “What are you…?!” Lulu swallowed her words as soon as she seemed to realize what their captain was planning to do. “No! You can’t!”

  “Go! I’ll hold it off on my own!” Mathros ordered as he kept chasing after the Nightmare Creature.

  What should I do…? Somnu asked himself with furrowed brows.

  He hadn’t known these people for long. He wasn’t that attached to them.

  Somnu could easily summon Fala and her clones, and have them carry him to the cave that led outside.

  It would be easy, he would survive.

  And it would be a cheat. A lowly, despicable, and traitorous cheat.

  He had promised himself to stop being too honest, to rely on cheats if he had to get what he wanted, to get stronger, to survive.

  However…

  “Stay back, Mathros!” Benji cried out as he saw his captain continue the reckless charge after the approaching Nightmare Creature, still after him.

  “Maximum Effort! First Aid!” Almon helped the injured defender walk faster to avoid his pursuer, activating his supporting skills to help him. “Maybe turn off your taunt skill…”

  “If I do that, it’ll go after Lulu and the others!” Benji cried out as he forced his feet to take faster steps, ignoring the pain making his eyes twitch. “Please, you damn lizard! Stop! We can’t go without you!”

  “You have to, buddy!” While running, the lizardman extended both his arms forward and called on the blessing of the wind to come forth. It wouldn’t be long before he reached his target. “Besides, I can try and follow you once you’re out of sight-?!”

  “!”

  Suddenly, Mathros found a new obstacle blocking his way from reaching the monster.

  “Somnu? Move out of there!” He cried out.

  “...”

  You think that’s what mom meant by cheat, you idiot?! Somnu reprimanded himself, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth as he stood between Mathros and the slime creature. How could I even think of leaving them?! After what this guy did for me…? Did those laughing nightmares screw with my head a little too much…? What happened to protecting everyone?!

  “Somnu, what are you doing?!” Lulu shouted, trying to follow the lizardman who crossed the center of the arena.

  “I’m definitely not going to run away and leave you here, Mathros!” Somnu shouted. “Especially not if you’re planning to die here!”

  “I’m not-”

  “You were eyeing the nearest cave on this level!” Somnu interrupted as soon as Mathros tried to defend himself. “You were planning to lead it there and collapse the cave, weren’t you?!”

  “...”

  “I won’t let that happen! There are other ways to go about this!” The scarecrow proclaimed.

  “There is nothing else to do, Somnu! Nothing else will work!”

  The Grodran stopped short of crashing into Somnu, standing slightly taller than him and looking down. He kept the wind swirling around his green muscular arms.

  “I have a plan.” Somnu clenched his fists and looked into the lizardman’s slit eyes directly.

  “What plan?! Benji is being pursued as we speak!”

  “I know, but it’ll be fine.” The scarecrow kept firm eye contact. “I need you to trust me, can you do that?”

  “...” Hearing that, Mathros narrowed his eyes.

  “Not because of your compass, or your fate. I need you to trust me.” Somnu proclaimed. “I can’t do this alone. I need your help, but we need to trust each other completely.”

  “What are you two arguing about here?!” Lulu caught up to them, seeing the monster still slithering after the other two party members. “We need to help Benji now! He’s being chased by a Dreadbeast, dammit!”

  And yet, the two kept looking at each other.

  Then, Mathros closed his eyes and let out a sigh.

  “Fine, what is this plan? Let’s hear it.”

  “It’s kinda one of those out-of-the-box ideas that I occasionally have…” Somnu turned and stood next to the lizardman.

  “Oh yeah? And how life-threatening and dangerous are those usually?” Mathros asked bluntly.

  “Very.” Somnu winced, his brow knitting unintentionally.

  I might end up knocking on death’s doors again… He resisted hunching his shoulders forward.

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