CHAPTER 43: PERFECT TRAP

Before Destructive Fist Eddie and his crew could react, the monster seemed to spot them and suddenly sped up, charging straight at them.

At the same time, a thin green mist started spreading around the area.

"It’s poison gas! Everyone take your antidote potions!" Destructive Fist Eddie was the first to catch on. "This was set up ahead of time—something’s wrong with this mission!"

As he spoke, the muscles on his body began bulging up, like his whole body had been instantly activated, giving off an incredibly fierce vibe. "You guys support me from the sides—I’ll take it head-on!"

Just then, the mist enveloped them.

Buzz!

He felt his head spin, like something was slamming into his brain.

Luckily he’d noticed early and already downed an antidote potion, so it wouldn’t affect them too badly. But even slight dizziness would mess with the fight ahead.

Destructive Fist Eddie stared at the monster getting closer and closer, his face full of wariness.

No clue which church had cooked up this thing.

No clue what they were really after either.

"Roaaaar!!!"

The monster suddenly burst forward, appearing right in front of Destructive Fist Eddie and throwing a vicious heavy punch.

The massive force actually tore through the air around it—at least as strong as a mid-tier knight’s strike, coming straight at him.

Destructive Fist Eddie didn’t even flinch, throwing his own punch right back.

The air surged, blowing several nearby team members away and clearing some of the mist, making their vision a lot clearer.

But it only lasted a few seconds before Destructive Fist Eddie was forced back over ten steps.

"Man, this thing’s strong!" Destructive Fist Eddie’s eyes were full of ferocity. Seeing the monster getting ready to attack again, he quickly moved to meet it.

Boom—

Destructive Fist Eddie threw a fierce punch at the monster’s belly, but it got blocked again, sending shockwaves rolling.

Meanwhile, the other supernatural beings around them started unleashing slashes, magic fireballs, or drawing their bows for ranged attacks.

Especially that fireball—the moment it hit the monster, it expanded several times over. Even Destructive Fist Eddie could feel the scorching heat.

"Roar!"

The monster didn’t seem seriously hurt at all. If anything, it got pissed off, and with another terrifying shriek, it attacked again.

Whether from all the punches they’d traded or that poison mist from before, blood was starting to trickle from the corner of Destructive Fist Eddie’s mouth.

"Wait! Those guys’ attacks are leaving marks on this thing too—we can definitely take it down!" Destructive Fist Eddie’s mind raced, and suddenly he spotted the bracer on his wrist.

That’s right!

The ray gun!

The ray gun he’d just bought today—he hadn’t even used it yet.

Looking at the monster trading blows with him, Destructive Fist Eddie’s mouth twisted into a nasty grin.

He channeled magic power into the bracer.

Boom!!!

"Times have changed, freak!"

A searing ray shot out from his bracer.

In a normal fight, trying to aim at an enemy wouldn’t be easy.

But right now they were going punch-for-punch, flesh against flesh—how could he possibly miss?!

Besides, this thing’s fist was way bigger than Destructive Fist Eddie’s!

A pained shriek rang out as a huge hole appeared in the monster’s fist, but not a drop of blood came out.

Destructive Fist Eddie looked a bit stunned, but his body kept moving. As a mage apprentice, channeling magic power wasn’t easy for him.

But just activating the ray gun? That wasn’t hard at all.

One searing ray after another kept firing. He could even feel his bracer getting hotter and hotter.

Searing rays really lived up to their reputation as top-tier low-level magic.

Soon they’d blown a hole right through the monster’s belly.

In an instant, tons of spirits poured out of the monster’s stomach.

Men, women, old, young—all kinds.

But every single one looked burly and powerful.

Giant bloodline!

The others might not have caught on, but Destructive Fist Eddie had giant bloodline himself. He understood immediately—this was a conspiracy aimed right at him!!!

They were probably trying to use his bloodline or body to perfect this monster.

"Use magic bombs—throw them into this thing’s belly! I’ll keep it busy!"

The team members snapped out of their shock. Those with magic power quickly pulled out magic bombs.

With all their outdoor adventuring experience, they were plenty strong and didn’t need a dedicated thrower to get those magic bombs where they needed to go.

Meanwhile, Destructive Fist Eddie quickly switched spell models. As the explosions rang out, he fired off a corrosive ray.

Corrosive rays could attack spirits too.

With the screams of spirit after spirit, the monster’s body finally seemed unable to hold up and collapsed.

The team members immediately stopped their bombardment. Even Destructive Fist Eddie, after firing one last ray, swapped out his power module and stopped shooting!

That stuff was all money!

From here on out, pure physical strength should be enough to finish it off.

If push came to shove, they could always keep using these things.

"Damn! Destructive Fist Eddie, I never thought you’d be this strong!" Just as they started cleaning up and getting ready to attack, a black-robed figure’s face turned cold. "In that case, even better—I’m definitely going to use you to make the perfect corpse puppet!"

"Hah hah hah, so the real boss finally shows up?! I’m gonna take you down, cultist, to make up for today’s losses!" Destructive Fist Eddie’s maniacal laughter rang out as he charged at the black-robed figure.

"Hmph! You’ve already exhausted all your magic power—what can you possibly do to me!" The black-robed figure was building up power. Just as his magic was about to unleash, a corrosive ray shot straight at him.

"Magic power exhausted? Who told you that! If that was all it took, my 300 gold shields would’ve gone down the drain!"

Destructive Fist Eddie sneered while firing another corrosive ray in a different direction.

Unlimited ammo, perfect aim—this was way too sweet!

Just burned through cash like crazy though!

The fight was both much harder and much easier than they’d expected.

Looking at the two black-robed figures lying on the ground, already corroded beyond recognition, plus the monster, Destructive Fist Eddie muttered under his breath: "We took down cultists and this monster near the capital of the Kingdom of Dawn—wonder if there’ll be any reward? If not, we’re gonna lose big on this trip..."