Eris stated that aside from its magical eyes it did not have any offensive abilities. She surmised it may have a non-attribute core, though not a hundred percent sure. That was all the motivation I needed to hear. Even if there was a slim chance I needed those cores to get stronger. Now that I knew not to focus on its eyes, there was a chance to win against it.

“I’ll need your help for this one.” I offered her my back.

“Did you even have to ask?” Eris hopped on.

We were back in the center of the field. The hoard of monsters roared as the minotaur led the charge. I waited until they got closer to avoid the artillery fire overhead. “Eris back me up!” Just like the ape from before, I felt the same type of strength from the minotaur.

The smaller more agile monsters went ahead, crossing into my path. My dark blades slid across their bodies as I nimbly avoided each attack. I noticed my daggers growing with a darker aura as if becoming full from all the kills. Other than looking cool I had no idea what it meant.

None of the other monsters bothered me once the minotaur was within range. Eris used the time to create a massive barrier to block its path. The same quality as the one I couldn't break through during our duel.

It was easily visible due to the lights that flashed through. Instead of altering its path, the minotaur swiped in one full downwards motion. A clean tear went through the barrier as if it never existed. Not a moment later did the barrier disintegrate and fall apart as the minotaur charged on.

The minotaur used its massive claws as its weapon. Each claw had the thickness and size of my dagger’s hilt. One solid slice from that and I’d be a goner. I couldn't let myself get caught by one of them. Eris had changed her strategy and created several smaller barriers in hopes of tripping up its movement. Not only did it nimbly avoid and destroy them, but it also reached its goal.

I tried my best to dodge and counter with my blades. Luckily this guy's skin wasn’t as durable as the ape’s. My daggers were able to penetrate albeit somewhat shallow. Its hooves dug deep into the ground, pushing it apart from its swift change of direction. I adjusted my body to focus on dodging while retreating backward. For now, I wanted to whittle away at his arms, doing my best to target tendon and joint locations. Was it my imagination though?

The minotaur shouted loudly in frenzied rage and no matter the amount of injuries stacking up, he moved even faster. His strikes were more precise as I narrowly avoided decapitation a couple of times. I needed to slow him down since Eris could only do so much. Having a change of plans, I targeted his goat-like hind legs.

The big issue with that plan is the fact that I’d have to be within his attack range, exactly what he wanted. I cursed at not having a weapon with a longer reach. It took several attempts to get the same results from these daggers. After my fifth attempt, the minotaur adapted to my attack pattern. I was able to get a good stab but realized my mistake too late.

Simultaneously using its hooves to counter with a back kick. The minotaur gave up protecting itself to connect a blow. His hoof struck the side of my stomach as I shot back twenty meters tumbling across the hard dirt ground. I heard and felt the intense pain of several ribs cracking from the point of contact.

“Volatis!” Eris was too far away to heal as an endless wave kept swarming her to prevent any interference in our fight.

Blood coughed up onto the ground as I grumbled in anger. I squeezed my hands along the ground, picking up dirt into a fist. I pushed off to stand up. I used my anger to distract from the endless pain. I had forgotten about its fear magic and stared straight at its crimson blood eyes, solely filled with thoughts of decapitating the minotaur.

My ki was as erratic as my breathing and wouldn’t hold out for much longer. I had to finish this in the next exchange. I put my all into dashing forward with every ounce of oomph possible. I accelerated off the ground, twisting my body around his attack and following through with the momentum, aiming directly at his neck. I swung my daggers together in a forward pincer motion aiming to have my daggers collide with each other.

The sensation felt different than every other attack so far. At the moment of contact, my blades released a massive energy blast. It held the curve of the dagger and emitted a dark purple aura. The area was covered in purple light until the energy dissipated into the air. I landed beyond what was left standing of the minotaur, noticing my blades return to their normal state without any glowing aura. I tore its head from the rest of its falling body.

The sound of a thump occurred nearby from its head hitting the ground, rolling away from my position. I couldn’t be bothered to disassemble it to save space and stored it into the ring as is. After doing so, I walked back to do the same for the body, only to be surrounded by more enemies.

Not monsters, but the inactive Monster Corp hunters that did absolutely nothing during this entire raid. Four of them spaced out with their rifles trained at me. “Stop! What’s the meaning of this?” That was my question, as a fifth person arrived on sight and questioned.

“He’s the one that killed our squad members!” They were talking about the people that died from the collapse of the cave and not directly from my hands.

“Stand down, that’s an order!” That voice sounded familiar. Mia?

They glanced at each other and ultimately lowered their weapons.

“Useless, get out of my way.” I know I should have watched my words, but I couldn’t help it. They sat back staying passive as everyone died from the monsters. One of the soldiers cursed, aiming to shoot, only to get tossed into the air from an invisible force.

“Open your line!” Eris shouted as she used a barrier to force push the surrounding four soldiers high into the air.

I was confused at what she implied, then realized she meant my communication ring. I had unknowingly ignored several repeated calls during the fight. “Volatis! Help!” Those were the two words that Alexa shouted into my mind the moment the link connected.