Chapter 624 - Royal Garden [4]: The Original Method
"…Did that monster leave?" One of them asked.
"Looks like it did." Another observed the surroundings and gave an answer.
'So you can go back and forth between the valley and garden?' Varian raised an eyebrow and felt something click in the back of his mind.
"Phew." A woman sighed in relief before her face brightened up and she pointed to the blue vortex.
"We can sneak attack the beast, injure it significantly, then retreat to the valley. Rinse and repeat. We can kill that monster!"
"Brilliant!"
"Atta girl!"
Varian was also able to hear the 'genius strategy' using his superhuman senses. Moreover, the team didn't pay attention to the loner guy staring at the sky.
'But.' Varian's brows furrowed. 'This is a cheat, isn't it? Any modestly decent team can hunt all monsters they want with this method.'
If so, then his thought process of 'A method to win the trial without killing beasts' needed to be discarded.
Even though it might not be the original intention, if the teams started to use this strategy, then they'd hunt down fifty beasts quite quickly.
'Well, not that quickly..' Varian recalled the aura of the two beasts he encountered so far.
One chased Prince Curtis, the other chased this team.
Even though the Curtis' one was stronger, the beast that chased this beast wasn't weak either.
In fact, it'd be a pretty strong peak level 7. Just, the first one was too strong that this one looked weaker in comparison.
'Still, I can't hunt down either of them…' Varian's eyes shone with a dangerous glint and he began to consider 'other' possibilities.
Ambushing a team, kill steal…
As his thoughts spiraled down dangerously, a loud roar interrupted his train of thoughts.
"Roaar!"
Varian looked up to find the same monster as earlier rushing out of the forest. It stared at the team with enraged eyes and opened its mouth.
Shuaaa!
An ice wall formed around the surprised team.
"Fuck!"
"It can sense us!"
The team scrambled and attacked the ice wall.
Boom! Boom!
The ice wall refused to budge while the monster started to approach them in quick strides.
"Focus on one place." The team leader ordered and the team did just that.
The two Body awakeners punched the same spot in succession following which a lightning spear and fire spear struck the same spot.
Ka! Kacha!
The ice wall cracked and the team jumped into the blue vortex escaping for their lives.
"Roaa!"
Right after they left, the monster reached the area.
Frustrated, it let out a roar and stayed for a few minutes. Only then did it return to the forest.
After it left, a few other monsters also appeared. They checked the area as if searching for someone, but they only found Varian sitting in a corner.
"Raaa!"
"Kree!"
With a confused roar, they returned.
"…" Varian watched everything like a mute spectator. But his lips curled up ever so slightly.
Their strategy is invalid since the beasts they attacked can sense them.' Now, Varian was smiling brightly.
But a thought occurred and his smile vanished.
'What if team A attacks monster A once, escapes, then team B attacks monster A, and so on…sooner or later, the monster A will die if the teams take turns.'
Things seemed to turn for the worse. If teams cooperated, then things could speed up.
'Once you kill a monster, every other monster in the vicinity chases. That's why…'
Prince Curtis' words flashed in his mind.
Then there's also the fact that other monsters came to find the team after the giant monster left.
That meant the strategy of teams taking turns to kill a monster would also be impossible.
In short, if you attack a monster, kill or not, you'd be chased by that monster aggressively and by other monsters, albeit with less passion, but equal danger.
Varian pondered his next move and the ground started to shake.
Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!
Following the sounds of thunder, a team of five escaped the forest. Then a giant golden tiger followed.
The same scenario as earlier played out.
The team also escaped, the monster left, the team returned and so did the monster.
In just thirty minutes, the same thing happened to five teams, including the very first one.
Varian confirmed what he wanted. So, he decided to start.
Besides, it wasn't like he had a lot of time.
In the thirty minutes, five members left with keys.
'Even though it's only six out of fifty, I think they'll figure something out.'
A more efficient way to kill the monsters. Besides, didn't they gain a treasure or two in the ruins so far?
'I need to get it done.'
Varian kicked the ground and shot forward.
But instead of going to the forest, he reached the blue vortex.
The world went blue and the next second, Varian found himself in the valley.
The aura was heavy and it weighed on him like a log.
"Hey? You backed off too? Good for you. Even we can't win."
Near the blue vortex were around ten members. It seems they didn't leave for some reason.
Varian nodded lightly at their words and looked back at the blue vortex.
"Hey, we tried going back, but all monsters are chasing us like crazy. Give up, dude. You surviving so far is a blessing in itself." A woman kindly advised.
"…Perhaps." Varian shrugged and shot deeper into the valley.
Soon, he found a few high level 7 wolves.
'Wolves…I hate wolves and foxes too.' Clicking his tongue, Varian checked the surroundings just in case.
No one's around.
"Then…" Varian's lips curled into a dangerous smile.
Five minutes later, the last wolf was facing Varian.
As the leader of the pack, it was significantly stronger. Even among high level 7s, it would fall in the middle.
Such a monster….
"Awoooo!" The wolf shrieked in fear. It never encountered such an enemy.
The space around it tightened.
Its head hurt like someone was prickling its brain with needles.
Lightning chains bound its feet and paralyzed its movements.
Strange branches assisted the lightning chains.
With the combined power of space, lightning, mind, and Plantae, the wolf was held in place as a gigantic ice hammer, boosted by telekinetic power slammed its head.
Pop!
Varian collected the corpses of the wolves and moved on.
After forty minutes, he returned to the blue vortex.
More people seemed to be eliminated as there was a crowd of nearly twenty.