Chapter 44: Stealing Other Groups’ Opportunity (2)

The fight between the giant baboon and the twelve players got more intense.

They traded blows back and forth, with Tristan leading the charge.

"Troy, attack its right side! Mona, attack from behind! I’ll hold it off!"

"Got it!" Troy and Mona replied in unison.

Troy was a short, bald man wielding a one-meter-long axe.

The weapon looked way too big for someone his size. But surprisingly, it wasn’t a problem at all.

He held the axe with ease, as if it were nothing more than a simple wooden stick.

Meanwhile, Mona was a beautiful woman with short black hair.

Unfortunately, the slight acne on her face took away from her otherwise beautiful appearance.

Her weapon was a dagger about half the length of her forearm.

Although it didn’t look particularly deadly, she had killed countless monsters with it.

Gryaah!

The baboon let out a loud roar.

It raised its right fist and swung it toward Troy.

Before the fist could hit him, Tristan appeared in front of Troy like a gust of wind. He swung his massive sword and severed the baboon’s arm.

Slash!

The baboon was shocked and enraged. But Troy and Mona had already rushed toward it, attacking from both sides.

Slash!

The axe and dagger struck the baboon’s limbs, making it stumble backward as it roared in pain.

The entire hall shook violently, as if an earthquake had hit. The others didn’t just stand around either.

They joined in, attacking the baboon from all sides and completely overwhelming it.

After ten minutes of fierce fighting, they finally managed to subdue the baboon.

"Hahaha! We did it!"

Troy couldn’t hold back his laughter.

The others exchanged glances and smiled.

"By the way, who’s going to land the final blow?"

The moment the question was asked, the hall fell silent.

Their laughter and smiles froze before quickly disappearing.

"Ahem!" Tristan cleared his throat as he dragged his massive sword across the floor. "I’ve actually been thinking about this since we started our assault on this hall."

He looked at them one by one, a gentle smile appearing on his face.

"In my opinion, whoever contributed the most should be the one to land the final blow. What do you all think?"

His words surprised everyone except Troy and Mona. They were on the same team as Tristan, so if he landed the final blow and earned the points, they would benefit from it as well.

One of the players, a blue-haired man, glared at Tristan.

"The one who contributed the most, huh? Are you saying that’s you?"

The others also looked at Tristan warily.

Tristan simply smiled, showing no sign of anger. But anyone paying close attention could see the cold glint in his eyes.

"It’s not like that." Tristan stabbed his sword into the floor and rested both arms on the pommel. "I’m just saying that whoever contributed the most should get the final blow. Isn’t that obvious? And honestly, I did contribute the most. I was the one leading the group, coming up with the strategy, and taking the most attacks."

He pointed at Troy and Mona standing beside him.

"And they’re the ones who attacked the most, too. Isn’t this arrangement fair?"

Everyone’s expressions darkened at his words. What Tristan said made sense.

But if they simply agreed, wouldn’t all their efforts to help defeat the baboon be wasted?

As if he could read their thoughts, Tristan’s smile widened.

"Don’t worry. I’m not the type to sneak around or break my word. Since we agreed to hunt together, each group will get the same number of points. After this, we can hunt around here or check out the other parts of the ancient site. If we run into another boss, you guys can decide who gets the final blow. What do you think?"

From a distance, Raven could naturally hear their conversation. He couldn’t help but laugh.

"What a sneaky guy."

Thanks to the system, Raven already knew about Tristan’s manipulative nature.

He was one hundred percent certain that Tristan’s promise was nothing more than empty words.

Perhaps when they entered another hall and encountered a boss like the baboon, Tristan would use the same sweet words again.

The two groups following him were nothing more than tools to help his own group climb higher in the rankings.

"Raven, that guy is so sneaky," Reina whispered irritably.

Ever since she first saw Tristan, she didn’t know why, but something about him had rubbed her the wrong way.

Her instincts as a spy told her something was off.

Raven simply smiled and patted her head.

"He really is like that. Oh, right. Get ready. We’re going to beat them to the kill. I’ll hold them off while you land the final blow. Got it?"

He handed her a black mask.

Reina was surprised, but she didn’t ask any questions and simply accepted it.

Without hesitation, she put it on and replied firmly, "I understand."

Meanwhile, after securing everyone’s agreement, Tristan walked toward the baboon while drawing his sword.

"Whoa... whoa..."

He stopped in front of the five-meter-tall monster. The baboon had already run out of strength, leaving it completely helpless.

"You didn’t expect this to happen, did you?"

He reached out and patted the monster’s cheek.

GRRR!

The baboon growled furiously and was about to roar at him, but Tristan immediately thrust his massive sword into its throat.

The blade pierced straight through to its back. Fresh blood gushed from the wound as the giant baboon thrashed in pain.

Unfortunately, it was already too exhausted to fight back, leaving it with no choice but to accept its fate.

"Hehehe..." Tristan laughed mockingly. "Yeah, just like that. You’re nothing but a weak, helpless creature. It’s only natural for you to end up like this."

He pushed his sword deeper.

The baboon gathered the last of its strength and swung its fist at him.

But Troy was faster. He raised his axe and chopped off its massive arm.

The baboon writhed in agony. At last, it realized that death was right in front of it.

"Alright, I’m too lazy to stick around."

Tristan pulled out his sword and was about to slice off the monster’s head when something unexpected happened.

A black shadow flashed past at a speed faster than the blink of an eye. Before Tristan and the others could react, their bodies suddenly froze.

"W-What’s happening!?"

Tristan’s eyes widened as he realized something was wrong. He tried to move, but his body wouldn’t respond.

Suddenly, hurried footsteps echoed from behind him.

Whoosh!

A masked woman leaped forward, spun her spear, and thrust it straight into the baboon’s forehead.

"No!" Tristan screamed, his face flushing with rage.

He wanted to swing his sword at the woman, but his body still wouldn’t move, as if an invisible force were holding him in place.

The woman ignored his screams. She pulled her spear from the baboon’s head.

After confirming that the monster was dead, she leaped backward and sprinted away as fast as the wind, quickly disappearing from sight.