C21 Devil Beast Nether Cat Demon!
"As expected of a level 5 wild monster! Just one of them is worth 25 experience points! That's nearly the same as taking down three hyenas!"
Rinn watched as the notifications of his increasing experience points flooded the screen, his excitement painting his cheeks a bright red.
"No way, as the protagonist, I can't just stand by during such a cool moment! Didn't Dorothy just hint for me to cheer her on? Hmm!"
A spark of inspiration hit Rinn, and he belted out a tune at the top of his lungs, "Let's all learn to meow, meow, meow, meow, meow!"
Dorothy: "???"
Dorothy had been fervently grinding wild monsters.
The bizarre song made her hesitate, and in that brief pause, a Nether Cat lunged, its claws striking her armor with a ding.
A white scratch marred her armor, causing a bit of pain, but Dorothy was otherwise unscathed.
Rinn, witnessing the scene, cringed inwardly.
Was my singing too distracting?
Even Dorothy was thrown off?
"Meow!"
A feline cry echoed before him.
Rinn snapped back to reality, his face tensing up.
Without him noticing, a Nether Cat had stealthily approached!
Its blood-red eyes fixed on Rinn, oozing murderous intent.
"Holy crap! Did my singing lure this wild cat here?"
Panic flickered through Rinn. Since entering Beast Valley, this was his first solo encounter with a wild beast.
Damn it.
Looks like I can't just burst into song anymore!
That's just asking for trouble!
Mentally grumbling, Rinn gripped the Chaos Hammer with both hands, poised for battle.
"Bring it on, little one! Show me what you've got!"
A glint of combativeness shone in Rinn's eyes.
He had been a spectator for too long, and after watching Dorothy fight with such gusto, he was itching for action.
"Meow!"
The wild cat issued a deceptively adorable meow before it blurred into a swift shadow, charging at him.
"That's fast!"
Rinn steeled himself and swung the Chaos Hammer at the oncoming Nether Cat.
In a bizarre twist, the cat agilely evaded the blow mid-air.
Clang!
The hammer struck the ground, leaving a deep crater.
The Chaos Hammer truly was a formidable weapon.
After swinging the hammer, the Nether Cat was still alive, while Rinn's hand throbbed with pain.
"Damn, every swing brings more pain to my hand! This doesn't seem worth it!"
As Rinn was weighing his options, a sharp pain shot through his leg, and he noticed his trousers were shredded!
Looking down, he realized that while he'd been distracted, the Nether Cat had managed to claw at his leg!
For a protagonist.
To be wounded by a mere wild creature?
Even if it wasn't painful, it was a humiliation!
"That does it! Die!"
Rinn, fuming with rage, swung the Chaos Hammer relentlessly.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
It was as though he was at the anvil, forging metal.
The heavy thuds of the hammer striking the earth echoed around him.
The ground was pockmarked with craters, evidence of Rinn's formidable power.
But there was a clear problem.
His hammer strikes were too slow; each time he swung, the Nether Cat narrowly escaped.
So, despite Rinn's fierce and intimidating offense, it was effectively pointless!
The Nether Cat was still unscathed!
But there was a silver lining.
Busy dodging the hammer, the Nether Cat had no chance to launch another sneak attack on Rinn.
"Damn it! At this rate, I won't be able to kill it before my strength runs out!"
Rinn was no fool.
He recognized the severity of his dwindling strength.
His hammer strikes were now significantly slower.
Yet the Nether Cat's speed remained unchanged.
Continuing like this, he would surely be drained and eventually outplayed by the Nether Cat!
"Unbelievable! As the protagonist, to be kited to death by a wild monster upon my arrival? How can I allow that to happen?"
Rinn clenched his teeth and mentally commanded, "Add some Agility!"
"Do you wish to use 1 attribute point to increase Agility?"
"Yes, yes, yes! System, make it quick! I'm nearly exhausted!"
"Whoosh!"
The next second, Rinn saw his Agility in the Stats Window jump from 2.3 to 3.3.
He hadn't noticed any specific changes, but he could feel his body was somehow lighter. That must be the advantage of his increased agility. So, his attack speed should be quicker now, right? As this thought crossed his mind, a "meow" broke the silence. The Nether Cat had stopped dodging and was now lunging straight for Rinn's face.
It was actually going on the offensive!
"Hmph! I was hoping you'd do just that!" Rinn clenched his teeth and summoned all his strength. With a strength level of 3.8 and agility at 3.3, his hammer swung with exceptional speed.
"Meow!" The Nether Cat, caught mid-pounce, was clearly taken aback. How had this human suddenly become so formidable? He was supposed to be weak! It defied all logic!
As the Nether Cat was pulverized, its last thoughts were filled with confusion. Then, without even a chance to yowl in pain, it was struck by the Chaos Hammer, transforming into a mere shadow as it crashed to the ground. Half of its body vanished upon impact, leaving behind a mangled corpse.
"Defeat the Nether Cat, gain 25 experience points..."
"Ding! Congratulations to the host for slaying a higher-level wild beast. You've earned the 'Over-level Kill' achievement. Reward: 300 experience points..."
"What!" Rinn was indifferent to the first notification, but the second one sent a tremor of excitement through him. An Over-level Kill worth 300 experience points? Damn! That's equivalent to how many Nether Cats?
Damn it! So the game had this feature all along. Why hadn't the System Boss mentioned it sooner? Rinn recalled that even when he was at level 1, he had attempted to take down some level 2 creatures, but there had been no mention of an "Over-level Kill" then. He figured that maybe killing monsters one level higher wasn't significant enough; perhaps the achievement only triggered for two or three levels higher.
His excitement subsiding, Rinn suddenly remembered something and casually tossed aside his hammer.
Clang!
The hammer hit the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. Dust coated Rinn's face, but he wasn't bothered. He just kept wiping his forehead, undisturbed.
Damn!
I'm exhausted from just killing one wild cat.
If there were more, I'd be done for, right?
How on earth did Dorothy handle them?
Is she really that tough?
Rinn glanced over at Dorothy, and his mind went blank.
Bodies!
Nether Cat corpses littered the ground!
The once lively Nether Cats had been wiped out!
"No, wait!"
Upon closer inspection, there was still one Nether Cat left.
It seemed to be hiding in the woods.
Forced by the death of its peers, it crept forward.
As it approached, Rinn's face paled, and even Dorothy's expression turned serious.
"Nether Cat Demon, Devil Beast, level 8, Strength 8, Agility 8, Intelligence—its ability to release fog increases its speed by 30% within it..."
Reading this information, Rinn took a deep breath.
He had thought there were no Devil Beasts around.
And yet, here they were.
Though both were level 8, like Dorothy, this Devil Beast's attributes were clearly more monstrous!
Not only did it boast straight eights, but it also possessed the Mist Domain skill.
Thanks to that, it could move even faster.
Absolutely terrifying!
Rinn remembered.
That explains the white mist rising in the forest earlier.
It was the work of this cat demon!
