CHAPTER 116: THE GIANT MONKEY

A crimson night.

A haunting moon that terrorizes the entirety of the floor.

There was a reason the 3rd floor was considered one of the toughest even for the players who needed to do nothing more than to defend against the oncoming waves of monsters and assist the city guards.

’Under the Red of the moonlight, nature mutates.’

When the Red moonlight graces the earth, it evokes the dormant genes of the native creatures of this floor.

It was a unique phenomenon that happened because of a curse cast on this floor a long time ago, or at least that was how it was perceived on the surface.

The truth wasn’t something that was discussed among the players and those of the higher floor.

On this floor, the Red moon and the night of the Red moon were something that was repeated every decade and in the process, many things happened.

’The moonlight affects the creatures, turning them into monsters. In some cases, the corrupted ones become even stronger and in many cases, some of them mutate and turn into a catastrophe.’

According to how the players knew this floor from the game, they were aware that the monster waves were going to be something easy to resolve.

What they did not know, however, was what happened right after they cleared the floor and were transferred out of the floor in normal circumstances.

’The night does not end when the red moon disappears and darkness envelopes the floor. The true end of the Red night is when the dawn greets them.’

But most players do not know the horrors that take place right after the monster ’waves’ are cleared.

"There it is."

"Finally found it, haa. Why is it so difficult to find even with that size?"

KiRA knew about the true end of this floor so he was doing his best to bring about that desired end.

For that, Izzy, the captain of their city, and he were defeating the special monsters that were going to turn into a big disaster for the natives after most of the players disappeared.

"It’s a peaceful creature. They make a home and live there unless they have to move. They are also lazy so they rarely move.

Thanks to their camouflaging nature, they are hard to find despite their big sizes."

For the past few days, the three of them were wandering the floor, taking out the threats that they knew were going to play a key role in the destruction of the cities.

They had already dealt with many of the monsters, something captain Lucas was finding pretty fascinating.

Not considering the fact that the two of them were madly strong, the things that they knew about the wildlife and the nature of this forest was also not at the level of any outsider.

They were like the scholars that had spent many years on this floor studying the wildlife, those who had dedicated their life to studying the creatures here instead of fighting against them.

The beings they were targeting were special. The captain who had fought against these beings for so long could tell there was something different about the ones that they were taking down.

The one present before them, however, was not one such being.

Instead of being different, this creature was something the Natives of this floor had always considered sacred.

"Are we... Are we really going to harm them?" Captain Lucas asked hesitatingly. He did not want to harm this being, most people on this floor would not.

"We have to." However Izzy answered him firmly, looking him straight in the eye.

Even if they don’t consider most of the other creatures they had killed until now, this one was something they had to take down.

"We must, captain Lucas. I know it is difficult for you to imagine it right now, but we have to."

What they were looking at right now, the creature, was a giant ape.

It seemed like a mixture of a gorilla and chimpanzee but had four arms.

The creature had white fur covering its entire body, there were unique golden patterns throughout this body, shimmering like gold under the sunlight passing through the canopy of the leaves above.

The creature was grand.

Standing more than fifteen metres, with the large body and four arms that almost made it seem like some kind of spider-creature, gave a ferocious look to the creature.

It was resting right now, and even as a curled up creature, it seemed to be a giant boulder that one could not move even if they tried.

"...why?" The captain could not help but question them for the first time. This being was one of its kind and all of the citizens around the thirty cities knew how it protected them from the greater dangers of the forest.

Even if he had followed them blindly until now, he could not help but question them at this moment. And his question was valid in their eyes as well.

"Captain Lucas..."

The citizens had seen the creature defeat monsters and protect the cities themselves. This being was part of their folklores and even aside from the older people who had seen this being directly at one point in their life, the kids of this floor revered it.

"The purest ones can be tainted into the worst of the monsters, Captain. That’s the nature of the Red Moon."

KiRA knew how precious this being was to this floor and the people of this floor. Yet, it was Necessary to take preventative measures against this one.

’Causal access.’

===Status===

[Silverfur Slom]

Level: 27

Strength: 33

Dexterity: 39

Stamina: 45

Natural Mana: 42

Skills: Forest protection, Enhanced strength, Purification, Mass Cleanse, Earth control, Guardian’s blessing.

============

[Ding!]

============

[Request: Temporary restriction of the being.]

Cost: Without using physical attacks, without revealing your presence to it, defeat the creature and bring it to a near-dead state, 25 Mana cores, 250,000 IX.

Additional cost: Infiltrate the 16th city on the 3rd floor and kill the Guardian Captain: Landro Pastry.

============

’Of course there’s an absurd coin requirement.’

Everything aside, he still did not understand why he needed to spend a quarter million just to restrict a single being.

He was also killing a person in return here...

’It’s still a (1-String) authority, perhaps that’s why it needs such an absurd amount of money.’

The Authority was pretty useful, but it was also something unbearable sometimes.

’It’s at least good that the three legged crow sent his payments, but... what happened to him?’

KiRA was still wondering what happened to his business partner. He needed to check what that one was up to soon as well, but for now, he focused on the being before him.

"You two should just stay here. I will take care of it." The creature was strong but the captain knew KiRA was stronger.

If he wanted to deal with it, he knew there was nothing that could stop him...

"I’ll be quick." KiRA looked at the captain’s helpless look and smiled bitterly.

He knew how Captain Lucas was saved by this creature in his younger days as well as how he owed him his life.

He knew that, yet, there was nothing he could do to help him.

They needed to do what they needed to do... for their survival and a free tomorrow, they needed to do this.