Now that they were in this situation, Ryner had to buy some time and think of a plan to kill the War Puppet without revealing his Artifacts to the heroes and the knights to avoid future trouble.

“(Crap, gotta think, gotta think.)” [Ryner]

He was separated from everyone else, his bullets were completely ineffective and if his own creation aimed at him, then he had to do his best to survive the attack since he probably wouldn’t be able to dodge it.

“RAAAAWWRRRRR!!!” [Predator]

The Predator raised its head before letting out a bestial roar that froze the blood in everyone’s veins and made them stiffen from terror.

“INCOMING!!!” [Ryner]

War Puppets weren’t alive nor did they have a soul. Their flesh and blood weren’t organic. They could adapt and respond to different situations and they acted like other living things, but essentially all of their behavior was programmed into them. Just like how the Spiked Lizards were programmed to attack from a distance like turrets, the Predator was programmed to attack the closest person right after roaring loudly to instill fear. As such, Ryner reacted instantly and did the stupidest thing to protect its next target which was Maya.

He attacked the Predator with a gun.

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

“MAYA!!! DEFEN-GAH!” [Ryner]

He pulled the trigger and fired at the creature’s feet to avoid hitting the girls behind it. Having been attacked, the Predator now turned its attention to the weak individual that couldn’t use body strengthening. In the next moment, Ryner was blown away into the corridor and the monster stood where he was a second ago with its arm stretched out. In front of everyone, the War Puppet kicked up a cloud of dust and instantly reached Ryner, hitting him away. Its movements were so fast that even the heroes’ strengthened vision that could keep up with the S rank Marauders only saw it as a blur. Even Cain who had more experience and Maya who was better trained couldn’t react to it at all.

“M-MASTEEER!!!” [Maya]

As Ryner’s body rolled on the ground with his assault rifle broken in two, the first person to snap out of it was Maya and she rushed at the opponent right away. Her fear and survival instincts were buried by anger and she charged straight at the one that attacked her beloved master.

“RAAAHHH!!!” [Maya]

She threw a right punch with all her might with the goal of sending it flying. She needed to go to her master’s side to check his condition and this creature was in her way. However, it caught her attack with its left hand. The impact caused a shockwave to spread around them, blowing away dust and rocks. Then, it sent out its own punch aimed at her chest. She blocked it with her left forearm and could feel her flesh being bruised and her bones cracking from its one attack. With another shockwave, she was sent flying backwards over the knights’ and heroes’ heads and bounced on the ground a few times before stopping. She held onto her injured arm and slowly got on her feet again. But, with her gone, the Predator turned its attention to the group that had been watching while trembling the whole time.

Having grasped its strength from the short exchange it had with Maya, Cain used his judgement as a veteran knight and came up with a course of action right away.

“KNIGHTS!! FOLLOW ME!! HEROES!! ESCAPE!!!” [Cain]

Whatever that thing was, the heroes weren’t ready to face it. They were valuable to his kingdom and he was in charge of them. He had to protect them and for that, he needed to distract it and buy time for them to make it back to the surface. As such, he dashed forward before anyone could say anything with his loyal subordinates right behind him. All three of them came here with the resolve to die… And death they received.

The moment the Knight Commander swung his sword, the monster blocked his blade with its forearm, getting a small scratch in the process, but nothing more. Then, it swung its arm and hit the side of his head, cracking his skull and sending him flying to the side. As he floated in the air with an unbearable headache assaulting him and with blood flowing from the side of his head, his hazy vision caught the Predator slaughtering his subordinates in an instant before going dark as he hit the ground.

The three knights that stopped for a second because their superior was blown away were killed where they stood. One of them received a chop to his head that cleanly blew the top off, turning his body into a fountain of blood with brain tissues splattered beside him. The next one got stomped into the ground and his upper body got turned into bloody grounded meat inside a crater. The last one, finally noticing that his friends just got killed in less than a second, was stabbed through the chest by the Predator’s claws. Blood and innards flew out as he hung in the air with an arm in his chest. The corpse then slid down and laid unmoving in a pool of blood before being stomped on, utterly crushing the head. Their armors and magic couldn’t protect these brave knights at all.

The gruesome sight shocked the heroes because this was the first time that they saw people die. A few of them managed to squeeze out words such as “No way…” or “Huh?” in a trembling voice. Just as the Predator looked at the group before him, Maya appeared in front of its eyes once again with her left arm dangling on the side. She sent out multiple punches while being cautious of its movements, making sure that it couldn’t catch her like the first time she attacked. Although its attacks were too fast for her eyes, she used the experience she gained from fighting against Ryner and relied on all of her senses to detect the incoming blows as well as analyzed the enemy to predict its next attack such as its shoulders, footwork, muscle contraction and center of gravity, thus allowing her to barely keep up with it.

“D-DAAAMMNN IIITT!!!” [Ryan]

“Ryan! Tch! Screw it!” [Jayce]

“Elena, we need to move!” [Aria]

Seeing her facing that monster alone snapped Ryan back to his senses and he charged at the enemy with fury in his eyes, forgetting that Cain wanted them to escape. Jayce chased after him, believing that he couldn’t win with just Maya helping him. At the same time, Aria dragged a pale-faced and terrified Elena back to the group.

“LIMIT BREAK!” [Ryan]

Ryan activated the unique power that he was given which allowed him to double all of his abilities for a few minutes. After which, he would be completely exhausted and would suffer muscle pain. As such, he needed to finish this fight quickly. A white aura covered his body and his speed noticeably increased. His sword made a ten meters long blade of light and he swung it at the creature with Jayce following behind him. Maya jumped back and the predator blocked the strike with its forearm just like with the Knight Commander. This time however, instead of a scratch, it got a light cut as blood flowed out and the blade kept sinking into its flesh ever so slowly. Before it sustained a considerable injury, it swung its arm and jumped back.

“I can do it… We can win this! EVERYONE, FIGHT WITH ME!!!” [Ryan]

Seeing that his sword could cut into the enemy, Ryan became more confident in his victory and urged everyone to help him. However, these heroes that had come from a peaceful society had just witnessed someone’s death for the first time. Making a small cut on the enemy wasn’t enough to raise morale.

“F-f-f-f-fight…? T-t-t-that…?” [Random hero]

They were trembling in terror and some of them couldn’t help but keep staring at the corpses of the knights that had helped them all this time with their hands covering their mouths.

“N-no! NOOOOO!!!” [Random hero]

Fear and nausea attacked them with many having tears in their eyes and falling to their knees. Some were even puking on the ground.

“W-we need to escape…We need to run… We need to run…” [Random hero]

They had killed monsters before, so they had some tolerance to killing, but bluntly speaking, it was like a game to them. Being heroes and fighting monsters was too similar to games from their world, so they didn’t pay attention to their actions. But, with three of their companions dead, they now saw the reality that they were in.

“Can’t win I can’t win I can’t win I can’t win.” [Random hero]

They were shocked into seeing it. It was different from the Marauders that they had just defeated. It was different from the time they ran away, scared and crying. It was different from fighting an opponent that was on par with them and could kill them. Right now, they were staring death in the face. Right now, they weren’t heroes before a monster. They were a flock of sheep before a wolf. They were preys before a predator, before an overwhelming force.

“G-guys! We can-!” [Ryan]

“RYAN!” [Jayce]

“BOY!” [Maya]

“Huh-GUH!” [Ryan]

That moment of carelessness when he turned his head to look at his frightened classmates caused him to get punch in the chest. Cracks ran through the chest plates of his white and golden armor that was made especially for him. He was slammed into the ground, creating a crater, and bounced back up with intense pain running through his body because of his cracked ribs. Maya jumped in to protect him, but her punch got caught and she was thrown away in an instant. Before Ryan hit the ground again, the Predator caught him by his cape and kicked him in the chest again, ripping a piece of his cape off and sending him flying while spinning around like a soccer ball. The kick shattered his chest plates to pieces and broke his ribs. Experiencing such horrible pain for the first time in his life, Ryan lost consciousness and rolled on the ground a couple of times before finally lying on his back with the precious hero’s sword that he let go next to him.

“BASTARD!” [Jayce]

“WAIT!” [Maya]

Seeing his best friend turned into a worn-out rag in one hit, Jayce gritted his teeth in anger and charged at the enemy. Maya, knowing how it would end, tried to stop him, but the Predator already set its sight on its next target. Jayce threw a right punch that could blow a man’s body to pieces, but his opponent ignored it and thrust its right arm out with its fingers straight like a chop. Using its superior reach, it stabbed into the young man’s right shoulder and tore his arm off.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!” [Jayce]

With his bloody arm next to him and blood spurting out from the wound, Jayce fell to his knees while holding onto his shoulder and screamed from intense pain. Maya jumped at the War Puppet before it could finish off its injured prey, but her flying kick was easily caught and her bones shattered from the Predator squeezing her leg too hard. The dark blue-haired beastman was thrown all the way to the wall that was eighty meters away, right next to the entrance. She got embedded in it as her crash created a hole with dust and debris flying everywhere around her. Meanwhile, Jayce’s horrible scream frightened the already terrified group even more as some covered their ears to try and escape from reality. Everyone was too afraid to make a move, like being held at gunpoint by a robber. Everyone except for one.

“Damn it! Elena, stay here!” [Aria]

“N-no! ARIA!” [Elena]

With her closest friends taken out and Maya, their best bet at survival, badly injured and unable to get up, Aria, who had prioritized the safety of her best friend that was shivering from fear, left the group and rushed at the enemy with her sword in her hands. She went to its back at blinding speed and swung her weapon downwards, planning to run around and scratch its neck over and over again until she cut it off. However, it quickly turned around and her blade was caught with ease by its large hand before shattering to pieces.

“… Eh?” [Aria]

She was the fastest in the group, so she was confident in her speed. Yet, her surprise attack was stopped so easily. She had a stupefied expression from once more realizing how powerless she was in front of this monster as a punch knocked her into the ground and formed a crater.

“Gah!” [Aria]

“ARIA!!” [Elena]

To protect her precious friend, Elena ran to the front of the group and shot fireballs at the War Puppet. She desperately tried to divert its attention away from Aria, but the Predator chose to ignore her attacks that couldn’t harm it and only left small scorch marks because it knew what she was doing after repeatedly experiencing it. As such, it chose to eliminate the wounded girl that was half-conscious and was struggling to get back up.

“(No! Don’t! Please don’t!)” [Elena]

It raised its fist and prepared itself to crush her head like a rotten tomato. The punch of death swung down on Aria and time seemed to slow down around Elena as she began to run forward while shooting fireballs from her hands.

“(No please! Someone! Help me! Aria is going to die!)” [Elena]

As she continued her fruitless attacks, her thoughts kicked into high gear and she prayed in her heart that one of her classmates would help her save her best friend. However, no one made a move to do so.

“(No! No! Stop! Don’t kill her!)” [Elena]

The fist edged closer and closer to Aria’s head, but no one stopped it. She couldn’t stop it either. She wasn’t going to make it either. Tears were already flowing from her eyes.

“(Someone help me! Anyone! Please!)” [Elena]

They were all too afraid to attack. They were too afraid to attract its attention. They were too afraid to die. And it was perfectly normal.

“NOOOOOOOO!!!” [Elena]

Just as Aria was about to lose her head, the Predator stumbled forward while roaring from pain which caused it to miss her by a few inches and punched the ground instead. The impact raised a cloud of dust and sent the black-haired girl rolling away. Right after that, it rapidly jumped to the side and put some distance between it and the group. Or rather, it got away from the thing that pushed it forward. On its back was a deep cut with blood flowing out that was similar to a stab from a knife. In front of its eyes, right where it was before, a long blade of light that was easily eighty meters long extended all the way from the entrance of the room.

As everyone turned their eyes towards the corridor, they saw a man with disheveled black hair and dark brown eyes with the right one completely white standing with his right arm stretched out in front of him.

“*Sniff* … Ryner…” [Elena]

Stopping her attacks and standing still, Elena called out his name in a relieved and sobbing voice. In his hand was a white sword that had a guard resembling a pair of wings and a diamond-shape blue gem embedded in it. The blade of light was being emitted from this holy weapon that could deeply wound the War Puppet. By his side was Maya who seemed completely healed and was quickly putting on a pair of black gloves that had steel colored plates with yellow and black lines on the back of the hands and fingers.

“Seriously… What was I thinking pulling a gun on a freaking Predator?” [Ryner]

He tried to hide his Artifacts and nearly got killed for it. The sleepy-looking man, Ryner, grumbled with a low voice in a carefree manner while releasing intense killing intent at his own creation. Feeling the chilling bloodlust that no ordinary humans could possibly possess as well as seeing the weapon that injured it, the Predator followed its programming and set Ryner as the highest priority target.

“RAAAWRRR!!!” [Predator]

With a loud and threatening roar, it got ready to kill its creator.