World's Last Hope

Eric was empowered by his armor, his Punching Up trait, and his Charmed trait. He had also been the furthest from the head before they started their dash through the forest.

Yet, both Aria and Olivia had overtaken him, which wasn't surprising—both of them were masters, after all—while he was probably just slightly stronger than an awakened.

The distance between them continued to increase.

He remembered how they told him they wouldn't be able to protect him if a stronger monster attacked. This was a death zone, after all.

"I won't allow myself to become a burden," Eric muttered to himself as he increased the speed of his steps.

The adrenaline was running wild in his system, improving him further. He wasn't going to lose sight of the girls no matter what.

About five minutes had passed since they started their dash. Eric's breath was uneven, and his muscles ached.

Despite being a person who was proud of his stamina, just running with everything he had for a measly five minutes began to cause him great pain.

He couldn't control his curiosity anymore and looked back. His face turned pale as a ghost when he did.

The head was following them, seemingly unbothered by their speed. From the severed part of the head, a few tentacles had come out, using them like legs to push it forward.

Seeing such a sight gave Eric the energy he needed to continue, pushing himself harder.

Trying to focus on anything else rather than the fatigue he felt as he ran, he looked at his status again, only to pale even more when he saw the Punching Up trait glowing even brighter, almost blinding him.

Was it because the monster was closer to him, or was there another monster also following them?

Soon after, they managed to exit the forest, but the head was still hot on their tail.

'This thing is persistent. It doesn't seem like it would lose interest.'

Glancing forward, Eric saw that Aria and Olivia had slowed down a bit, most likely their stamina catching up with them.

"Think, think! There has to be a way out of this mess!"

His optimism was short-lived, however, as he saw ahead of them, a few hundred meters in front, a massive, four-headed creature.

Its four heads were staring at the approaching prey, saliva dripping from their mouths. Its body resembled that of a dog, but it was dozens of times bigger.

Suddenly, a desperate plan came to mind.

*****

"Shit! Fuck! I knew that trying to traverse the death zone with just the princesses and that one insane guy was a pipe dream, but I didn't expect to encounter two Grade-5 monsters at once on the second day!" Olivia cursed herself as she ran.

'Even if we somehow escape, there's no going back now with these two powerful monsters hot on our tail!'

Not wanting to collide with the monster resembling a mutated dog ahead, Olivia changed her course, only to be stopped by a sudden shout.

"Don't stop! Go forward!"

'The insane one is still alive?' she was honestly surprised. She thought Eric would either be devoured by the flying head or fall behind.

'He's telling us to go forward. Does he have some kind of plan?'

Going towards a Grade-5 monster was the same as suicide, but it wasn't like she had much of a plan herself.

All she could do was run, and eventually, she'd run out of stamina and be devoured by one of the things chasing her.

Left with no other choice, she decided to trust Eric.

'You better have a good plan!'

"What should we do?" Aria shouted.

"Under! Go under the monster's legs! I'll do the rest!" Eric shouted with all his might, what little he had left.

"You better not be planning to sacrifice yourself!" Olivia muttered under her exhausted breath.

*****

Eric's mind was going into overdrive.

'The head behind moves with tentacles. The monster resembling a dog ahead doesn't have arms, only heads.'

His body was on the verge of giving out, but he pushed through the pain anyway.

'This is an insane plan, but it might just work!'

As Aria and Olivia reached the monster ahead, they barely managed to pass beneath it.

Now Eric was cornered between the head and the four-headed monster.

'It would be on its guard, so I will not be able to pass under it too, in that case!'

As Eric was a few dozen meters from reaching the creature, he suddenly summoned his sword and immediately buried it in the ground, stopping his momentum.

The head, not expecting this, couldn't stop in time and passed over him, as he ducked at the last second.

The next second, the head collided with the dog-like monster. The head's tentacles began wrapping around the dog-like creature, while the four heads of the dog monster began biting down on the head's tentacles.

It was a mesmerizing sight.

*****

Aria and Olivia were already far ahead and glanced back at the spectacle.

"This guy! He actually made it! Now that the two monsters are fighting each other, he could run past them." Olivia spoke, clearly impressed by what Eric had achieved.

"No, wait." Aria suddenly stopped running, staring at the fight.

"Why is he approaching them?" she asked, horrified.

"No way... I wasn't fully serious when I said he was insane, but he... he doesn't plan to fight them, does he?"

*****

Eric was a greedy person, but he was also calculating. He knew that if he ran now, he wouldn't be able to face the guarding protection in the corrupted capital. Not only that, but after one of the monsters kills the other, they would surely track their squad next.

So, he had decided to gamble it all. If he managed to inflict a small cut on both of them, they would eventually die.

Not only that, but they were as strong as guardians, so killing them should reward him with some essence…

in that case...

"System!" he shouted.

"Use as many essence as you want, calculate how to cut both of them and escape with my life."

He was going to use the system and everything he had.

[Calculating most optimal route]

[Most optimal route found: 10% success chance]

[Good luck]