Chapter 53 Rain Of The Needles
"Th-that's cheating! You fought me with a poisoned sword when I didn't have any."
Nelva screamed as her shoulders rose and fell. She hated when someone hurt her face. As a result, she began to attack with all her might. Her speed was terrifying, but Radmilo's skill allowed him to block most of her attacks.
The storm caused by the butterfly monster's flapping wings did not affect him, either. Nelva was aware of Radmilo's strength, but she did not give up and continued to attack.
Radmilo parried and blocked attacks one after the other. When the butterfly monster lost her balance, he struck her with his sword.
As soon as Nelva landed on the ground, Radmilo planned to attack using his ultimatum. The monster, on the other hand, could avoid it by jumping back.
"I won't die that easily!" Nelva said, while protecting her body with her wings.
The monster's wings had the same function as the magic shield. It could deal with the poison from Radmilo's sword.
Radmilo could immediately realize Nelva's plan. He then leaped behind the monster, aiming for the back of her neck. There was one spot that was not covered by her wings.
Unfortunately, Nelva could avoid the attack. She took advantage of the opportunity to escape from Radmilo by using her wings.
"Tch!" Radmilo swung his sword at the butterfly monster, but it grazed the ground.
He dashed towards the forest and looked around for Nelva. Suddenly, he heard a noise coming from above his head. When he turned around, the butterfly monster was flying toward him.
The monster used her wings as a weapon. Many feathers fell from her wings and instantly turned into needles. Even though it was not poisonous, it caused significant damage. Even the needles could pierce through any type of armor.
If the needle managed to pierce someone, it would open up the skin and move ahead to the heart. They would die if many needles were implanted into their skin.
Radmilo jumped up the tree to escape the rain of needles. He had encountered monsters with similar abilities to Nelva. There was no way to deal with someone who had been pierced by the needle. He had witnessed the deaths of his teammates because of that.
"I already know the effects of your needles. But you know nothing about me. Why don't you just give up now?"
However, Nelva refused to give up. She had killed ninety-nine hunters with her needles. If the number went to a hundred, the Prime Mover promised to give her one more chance to move her dungeon.
Because of that, the monster would ignore every single word that came out of Radmilo's mouth. She was determined to kill the man at any cost.
Nelva landed beside Radmilo in the tree, ready to shoot hundreds of needles from her wings. It was the opening she needed to overcome Radmilo. However, the man jumped off the tree and landed on another.
"Oh, no! So close..."
The monster was irritated that Radmilo could sidestep the needle attack. The first thing Nelva noticed was a tree trunk covered in hundreds of needles.
Many needles were fired, but none of them struck Radmilo. Nelva had been lacking in confidence for some time. Furthermore, Radmilo had defeated the other monsters. The man appeared to be as strong as he claimed.
Nonetheless, Nelva refused to give up so easily. The monster believed that if she kept attacking, one of her needles would pierce Radmilo's skin. She only needed one needle to defeat the man.
Meanwhile, Radmilo leaped into another tree to avoid the needling rain. He also jumped to the ground several times and slashed all the needles with his sword. The slash of his poisoned sword made the needles melt.
Radmilo rarely encountered monsters with abilities like Nelva, so he decided to extend the duration of the fight. He chose to put his reflexes to the test by avoiding the needling rain.
He had to concentrate on staying away from the needles. If he could not block a single needle, it meant he had become too reliant on the <Speed Up> skill. He often used the skill to avoid the attacks of monsters similar to Nelva.
The reason he did that was because the IRO asked him to clear up the raid quickly. As a result, he used more of his power than the agility he gained through years of training.
"I'm going to have some fun with you for a while. Please increase the number of needles you point at me. Your current attacks are too easy to dodge," Radmilo said, making Nelva growl in anger and change the formation of her attack.
"I'm trying to beat you too!"
The butterfly monster made her needles move in all directions to stab Radmilo. Despite that, the man could fend off all of her attacks.
Radmilo twirled his body, slashing at all the needles aimed at him. Even though Nelva had not used the new attack formation again, he remained in that position. It went on for so long that the monster became perplexed about what the man would do.
Then Radmilo suddenly stopped and lunged at Nelva from behind. Since it was too sudden, she was too late to dodge, allowing Radmilo to stab the back of her neck. She screamed in agony as the sword slash delivered poison.
"I'm sorry. I have to hurt you because my sword will return to normal mode since it's been five minutes," Radmilo said, looking at Nelva who fell to the ground while clutching the wound on her neck.
Nelva growled. Despite his apology, the man did not appear to be regretful. She quickly realized she had been tricked by him. Radmilo purposefully twirled his body for a long time, confusing her and making her wonder what he was doing.
Radmilo, on the other hand, had no extraordinary plans. He was simply spinning in a circle to confuse his opponent. When Nelva's alertness began to drop from thinking too much, he immediately moved to launch a surprise attack.
"The attack speed of an A-class monster like you really can't satisfy me. I'll go look for S-class monsters instead. Thus, I must end our fight. See you later!"
Nelva immediately crawled when she saw Radmilo about to slash her body. But still, it was useless. The back of her neck was her weakness, and she always protected her back from hunters.
She could usually dodge them. However, the human who came to her dungeon this time was too strong. She could not match Radmilo's speed and allowed him to stab her in the neck.
Nelva could only growl when Radmilo managed to stab the sword into her back. The man then slashed her neck, separating it from her body. Nonetheless, her head continued to function for a few seconds.
"Didn't I say 'see you later' earlier? I'll be here again in a few days."
That was what Radmilo told Nelva before she lost consciousness. She did not know why the man stated he would see her again in the dungeon.
Moments later, the butterfly monster's corpse completely disappeared and a black stone appeared after it. Radmilo then grabbed Nelva's core.
"There are only seven monsters left for me to defeat," he muttered as he stared at the core in his hands, which was slowly disappearing into his inventory.
The man immediately left the dungeon and continued his plan to meet Carl at the new guild building. The Tasmanian Devil bought the new building after the gate exploded in their old building.
As soon as Radmilo arrived there, Carl immediately greeted him and led him into a room. Jim was already there with a bespectacled man in a suit. It seemed the man was a lawyer.
"Please read all the clauses in the contract before you sign it," the lawyer explained as he handed Radmilo a document. "There's a fine for terminating the contract. Therefore, think carefully before deciding."
Radmilo read all the clauses in the contract as instructed by the lawyer. Actually, he could already guess what clauses would be in the contract. He often took care of the dungeon cleaners' contracts for the Phantom guild in his previous life.
The contract duration was one year and Radmilo got $5000 as a signing bonus. Basically, it was a price for his life since he was about to join Team B, which often encountered high-level dungeons.
Other people might think twice before signing the contract. However, it did not apply to Radmilo who was experienced in raids. What made the difference was that he got a dungeon-cleaning role this time.
He had to collect valuable items from monsters that did not automatically enter the hunter's inventory. If he reached a certain target, then he could get a share from the sale of the items.
"Where should I sign?" Radmilo asked after reading the contract.
The lawyer was a little surprised because Radmilo immediately decided to sign. Usually, the dungeon cleaners took some time to decide.
He had thought that he should return to the Tasmanian Devil guild in a few days to await Radmilo's decision. However, that lawyer turned out to be finishing his job today. He wasted no time in guiding Radmilo to sign the contract.