Suddenly, the fight that had started stopped as both sides retreated. Haize noticed them looking around cautiously as if they feared an unknown predator, 'They can't have noticed me after I just looked over, right?'

But this wasn't without benefits. He noticed that both sides had around thirty members each, the Horned Lizards had a bit more though. Most likely due to him killing three White-furred Bears, one of them being a Leader-level monster.

'Hm... If a fight was about to break out, this can only mean that most of the humans if not all humans on this place had been killed by these monsters. I think checking the other city's areas would be good.' Haize thought while noticing that Lyse's expression was similar to his. They probably had a similar idea.

Lyse looked towards his older brother before saying after a short bit of hesitation, ''I think we should go outside of this Townhouse. This area isn't too big, and we can easily get surrounded, we'll have more space in the city, right?''

Agreeing with this idea, Haize nodded as the siblings stealthily came to the Townhouse's gate. Just as they thought they were about to leave, an invisible barrier stopped them. A blue-colored screen appeared in front of their eyes.

[=- You can't leave this area till one commander-level Monster is killed. Hidden rewards may be obtained through specific actions -=]

''Oh sh*t! We can't leave this place till these *ssholes are killed?'' Lyse cursed in a low tone, not forgetting that if he shouts, the monsters will be attracted. In this world, adaptability is a necessary requirement.

Barely an hour passed since the start of the apocalypse, but they had already explored a lot. Their survival was a result of their extremely quick adaptability, of course, this didn't mean that survival is a guaranteed thing just because you can accept reality.

As if attracted by something, as much as seven White-furred Bears slowly surrounded the two of them. When they turned back, they saw the seven huge, enormous bodies all around him.

''Sh*t!'' Lyse looked all around with a slightly pale face. Even Haize's face was slightly pale, these were all Leader-level monsters, at the Peak 0-Star stage! He knew that even if they managed to get through the blockage, it wouldn't assure their survival.

These monsters were attracted by a mysterious force after the two of them touched the invisible barrier. They were everywhere!

Haize's face slowly hardened as he looked towards Lyse who was behind him. If escaping by making a gap wouldn't work, he would just need to deal with all of them. Though a bit hard, it wasn't as if it is impossible.

''Lyse, give me support, will you?'' As a reply, Lyse nodded with a heavy face.

The seven Leader-level monsters smiled sadistically after seeing the small humans who were only at the initial phase of the 0-Star level. Different from ordinary monsters, even if weak, they had enough intelligence. This is the major difference between ordinary 0-Star beings and leader-level 0-Star beings!

''Roar!'' A White-furred Bear roared as the Bears around laughed in their own beastly way. It was as if the one who roared made a joke, and this made Haize feel a bit cold, while also feeling a bit of anger.

Looking over the White-furred Bears around with cold eyes, their fur slowly straightened up as if a predator was staring at them. Without hesitation, Haize moved as a golden-colored Flame oozed out of the edges of his eyes, leaving a fiery trail behind.

Channeling Mana to his feet, Haize appeared in front of a White-furred Bear in a single instant. Each bear was around five meters from each other, but their body size made up for the gap in distance. Haize crossed five meters in what seemed to be teleport, as the other White-furred Bears reacted.

While slower than other leader-level beings at the same level, they are still comparable to ordinary Peak 0-Star beings in terms of speed. This meant that they could cross more than 12 meters per second. Haize's Katana cut the neck of a leader-level White-furred Bear through his sneak attack.

However, the other six White-furred Bears had already caught up, as visible veins popped up on their snow-like fur. Haize felt a sense of crisis, as he increased his speed to the limit, dodging five of the attacks incoming.

Alas, the sixth attack was still going to hit him. Knowing that there was no possible way of dodging, Haize decided to exchange a wound for a wound. The White-furred Bear would lose an arm, at the cost of harming him.

Its arm hit the side of his body, but the Katana reinforced by his Abyssal Wind smoothly cut its other arm. At the same time, Lyse wasn't idle, as his dagger was covered by a golden, fiery radiance. He moved, aiming for its neck.

Blood splattered on the ground, dying it red as another White-furred Bear fell to the ground lifelessly. But everything comes with costs, as the remaining five Bears focused on Haize, who they deemed as the strongest.

Crack!

There was no way for him to avoid or attack back, so Haize prepared himself for the impact as five huge paws hit his front arms. Despite that, he felt a huge force hitting him, as he coughed up blood while being sent flying a few meters away. Haize also felt a few bones cracked, but endured the pain.

His Mana Defense was instantly broken by the impact and Haize hit a wall. Ignoring the pain, a faint black-colored breeze surrounded the golden-eyed man as he disappeared from place. All of sudden, a crescent moon-shaped golden-colored Flame was sent towards a White-furred Bear, cutting and burning it to death in mere seconds.

''Good job, Ly.''

''Ez, man.''

Slightly speechless by his younger brother's smug face, Haize held the hilt of his Katana with his left hand as it wasn't injured, 'Time to get extra serious, I guess.'

Abssal Wind mixed with the Infinite Sun Flames slowly covered the blade, giving it a black-colored aura. A golden brilliance showed itself albeit at a small pace. The remaining White-furred Bears' fur straightened up, feeling an immense threat.

''Your worst mistake was to think of me as a prey. I feel bad for saying this, but you son of bitch*s, go visit Lucifer for me in hell, will ya?'' Haize even changed his speech when he said this.

The ever-serious Haize was gone for a moment as a playful Haize took over, staring at the White-furred Bears. His gaze was playfully cold, as if a playful demon of hell descended, overlooking the sinners. [1]

''Abyssal Sun Slash.''

An horizontal arc of black-colored lights mixed with golden-colored light about 15 meters long from an edge to the other edge left his sword. They went forward at an impossibly high speed, and the houses it passed after cutting the bears were cut in half before being burned to nothing but ashes. That was an overwhelming power that only those beings at 1-Star could use!

[=- A total of seven Leader-level Peak 0-Star White-furred Bears were killed. Special rewards will be issued later, as you are the first being to accomplish such achievements on Earth -=]

Ignoring it, Haize fell to his knees. He had consumed nearly all of his Mana, leaving only 1% of his Mana capacity, and this meant things were going to turn bad. It wouldn't be much to say he nearly died after suffering such injuries and exhausting 99% of his Mana. As an internal energy, if it was too low, the body would feel as if it was starving.

''Ly, you'll need to carry me. Concel our Mana fluctuations, or we will have two even stronger monsters chasing us. Now run, Lyse, run!'' [2]

====

Note 1: No, Haize doesn't have more than one personality. It's just that there are rare occasions where he doesn't need to be the ever-serious him. An example is when he's alone with his younger brother, he can be relaxed as he wants.

Note 2: Reference to cough Flashy boi cough.