The Smiling Death

Chapter 459: Alright...Let’s Fight

Amon continued running deeper into the Whispering Woods.

The further he went, the denser and darker the forest became. Moonlight barely managed to pass through the thick canopy above while cold wind moved between the countless trees, carrying strange noises from deeper inside the forest.

With his current speed, he had already traveled far beyond the areas normal adventurers visited.

During his movement, Amon occasionally swung his sword while running, leaving small marks across trees along the way so he could remember the direction when returning later.

His black clothes fluttered continuously as he dashed through the forest like a shadow.

Thirty minutes passed quickly.

During this time, he was able to kill a few more monsters. They were far too weak. He had no problem dealing with them.

While going deeper, at this point even the atmosphere had changed.

The air felt heavier. It was quieter.

Almost too oppressive.

Suddenly, a cold chill ran down Amon’s spine.

’What the?’ His eyes widened slightly.

His body instinctively became tense.

He immediately slowed down before stopping silently atop a large tree branch.

"...This pressure."

Since entering this forest, he had not felt such pressure.

Amon narrowed his eyes carefully.

Far ahead, he could sense something dangerous.

Something powerful.

The surrounding forest had become unnaturally silent as if even the monsters nearby avoided this area completely.

Amon slowly exhaled.

Instead of fear, excitement slowly rose inside him. He had finally found something stronger. He still remembered the words of Alistair. He grew stronger faster as he faced more dangerous situations.

A grin appeared on his face.

"So there really is something interesting here."

Without hesitation, he continued moving carefully toward that presence.

Soon, after several more minutes of going forward.

Amon finally saw it. The thing that was giving dangerous pressure even from far.

The moment his eyes landed on the creature ahead, his expression sharpened instantly.

"...It’s that thing." He muttered.

He recognized it immediately. He was familiar with it

A year ago.

Just after entering Arcadia Academy, when he had entered this forest for the first time. After killing goblins and hobgoblins, he hand ventured into forest. Then he had saw this monster eating a wolf type monster.

He had seen this same monster deep inside the Whispering Woods.

Back then, merely sensing it had terrified him.

But now things were different.

The monster stood only a short distance away amidst the dark forest.

Its body was enormous.

Easily as tall as an elephant.

Yet despite its massive size, parts of its body looked grotesquely thin and unnatural.

It stood on two incredibly long skinny legs that looked too frail to support its enormous frame.

Its arms were equally long and bony while sharp claws extended from its fingers like blades reflecting beneath the moonlight.

Its pale gray skin looked stretched tightly over its body while several black veins pulsed beneath the surface.

The creature slowly walked forward through the forest.

Amon’s eyes narrowed.

Despite the forest being just beside the huge city of Elarith, why were there monsters here? Why hadn’t the city’s authorities or the Academy cleared them out?

The answer was simple.

Many people came to hunt down these monsters, especially adventurers from the Adventurers Guild.

The thing was, most stronger monsters only came out during the night while hiding during the day. They had enough intelligence to understand what to do to survive.

Most people hunted during the day and mostly avoided the forest at night. They found no reason to spend the night here unless there were people like Amon.

Because of that, this monster must have survived until now.

THUMP.

THUMP.

Each step caused the ground to tremble lightly.

Then suddenly, the monster stopped moving.

Its massive head slowly turned slightly as if sensing something nearby.

Amon narrowed his eyes immediately.

It had noticed him.

For a moment, silence filled the forest. The cold night wind moved softly through the trees.

Amon stared directly at the creature without moving.

While the creature kept looking at Amon.

Unlike before, this time he didn’t feel like running away.

Instead, excitement slowly burned inside him. Amon stretched his left hand outward.

FLASH.

A hatchet appeared instantly from his storage ring.

He grabbed it tightly. Mana instantly wrapped around it, transforming into darkness.

The cold metal rested firmly within his grip.

At the same time, darkness mana slowly began flowing around both his sword and hatchet.

A grin appeared on his face.

"...Let’s do this."

The monster before him was definitely stronger than Rank 3.

Maybe even Rank 4. Its pressure alone proved that.

But strangely.

Amon felt confident.

After reaching Master Rank, after surviving the island, demons, and countless life-and-death situations, his mentality had completely changed.

Strong monsters no longer terrified him. Though he didn’t exactly feel excitement, he was not a battle-hungry man. But yeah... he was looking forward to seeing how strong he had become.

Amon slowly stepped down from the tree branch onto the forest ground below.

CRACK.

The sound immediately echoed through the silent forest. The monster’s enormous head slowly turned fully toward him.

Then its glowing pale eyes locked onto Amon more coldly.

For a moment, neither side moved.

The atmosphere became extremely tense.

Amon tightened his grip on his weapons while dark mana slowly spread around his body.

His heartbeat accelerated slightly.

Not from fear. But it was anticipation for battle. To saw how much strong he had become.

Meanwhile on monster’s side.

The monster suddenly opened its enormous mouth unnaturally wide. A horrifying roar echoed throughout the entire forest.

ROAAAARRRRRRRRRR!!

It was so loud that it sent a shockwave from its mouth while the trees around it trembled violently.

Amon watched it with a smile.

Soon, his body started turning dark. A shadow beneath his legs covered his whole body except for his face.

Darkness formed in the air out of nowhere and covered his shadow-cloaked body, making it stronger.

Dark smoky trails left his body continuously.

Only his face remained uncovered.

A smirk rested there.

"Alright.... let’s fight."