Born in apocalypse

Dhruv watched as the five attacked the boss with pretty good coordination.

The tank was doing its best to aggro the boss, while the archer and mage were effective at long-range casting, and both warriors seemed to be doing well too.

But that was the thing... they were doing just fine... nothing more than that.

Nodding his head, Dhruv observed the core of the boss, trying to gain information about it.

’Tier IV nature type... but this one doesn’t look like a unique one...’ Smiling, he wrapped himself with the Invisible spell.

As with any Tier IV monster, it was towering and menacing. Its body was covered in thick, dark green bark that was rough and gnarled. The monster had a vaguely humanoid shape, with a broad, trunk-like torso and numerous long, flexible limbs.

From its back and shoulders sprouted numerous thorn-covered tentacles, each about a meter in length. These tentacles writhed and moved with a life of their own, ready to shred anyone on the spot.

’Hmmm! Trying to be sneaky... not bad...’ Using his senses, Dhruv noticed something peculiar about the monster.

No matter how much it tried to appear mobile, the monster was, in fact, rooted to the ground. The root wasn’t something ordinary either.

’What should I do... should I steal it... or not...’ Smirking, he thought contemplating between two options.

Although Dhruv wanted nothing more than to dive in and kill the boss... for some reason he stopped. He wanted to see what the humans in front of him were able to achieve.

He wanted to see the combat power of those outside of the island...

’I guess... I can wait a few minutes...’ Humming, Dhruv watched as the group moved in coordination, slashing, piercing, and burning each of the monster’s vines one by one.

If anyone else were watching, they might think that although the group would take some time, ultimately, they would win.

But Dhruv... he was on a different page.

’They’ll lose it...’ A smirk appeared as he continued to observe their bout.

"Not like that... aim for its core!" the mage of the group shouted at the swordsman.

Heeding the words, the swordsman first slashed the incoming wave of tentacles and then dashed, aiming directly at the core of the monster... he was about to activate the skill but stopped, realizing something.

It was a trap.

’Are they dumb or what... Of course, it’s a trap... a core is the most valuable part of the monster, and the monster is showing it like that... which means there’s something wrong with it...’

’Hmmm! Why didn’t they consider this... Are they amateurs or what? No, that can’t be the case; their coordination clearly suggests otherwise...’ Dhruv thought, disappointed by them.

’Well, I can’t let them die like this...’ Sighing, he moved his fingers, manipulating the mana around them.

Using external air manipulation, Dhruv bound the monster for a few moments while simultaneously using his telekinesis to give the man enough time to get on his feet and out of the monster’s range.

"You bastard..." the swordsman cursed at the monster but was smart enough to take a few steps backward.

The group moved quickly and counterattacked the monster, not giving it time to attack the swordsman again.

"Shit... that was too close... what should we do now? Getting too close to the monster doesn’t seem to be an option..." the group’s tank muttered, deflecting numerous attacks from the monster.

"Hmmm! I wanted to charge my spell, but it won’t give us that much time," the mage gritted his teeth, knowing the limits of his manipulation.

"Let’s wear the monster down as much as possible... then we can gang up on it," the second warrior said, sending a slash of airstrike at the boss.

"Let’s do that..."

"Yeah."

Yawning, Dhruv watched as the group continually made one mistake after another. After a minute of watching, it became obvious they didn’t have any experience fighting Tier IV monsters.

All of them were doing exactly what the boss wanted them to do.

It was trying to keep some distance to protect its roots. While keeping its weakness covered, it was attacking with what it was best at... long-range attacks.

And that wasn’t all either.

They hadn’t realized it yet, but the monster possessed an extremely effective regeneration gland, and only a powerful combined attack at their level could kill it.

They would have to put everything into a single attack if they wanted a shot at getting out of this alive.

But regrettably, that was too much to ask for.

"No, Laura... move!" the tank shouted.

Hearing the shout, the archer quickly moved out of the way... but soon another wave of spells rained upon her.

’Hmmm! It can use acid as well... why was it keeping that a secret then?’ Dhruv thought, noticing how the archer of the team was being continuously targeted by a highly acidic spell.

The tank was moving to save her while everyone else was attacking the monster... but the monster paid no heed to them.

It was hell-bent on attacking the archer.

’Forgetting defense to kill the most dangerous of them... intelligent enough.’

Dhruv wanted to ponder some more, but he soon realized the situation had turned for the worse. If he didn’t intervene in the fight soon, someone would surely return to the gods’ embrace.

Sighing, he summoned his staff from the inventory, activating its [Pierce] enchantment. He began to charge it with fire mana.

’This should be enough...’ Gauging the strength of his spell, Dhruv activated his mana sense and aimed the staff toward the monster’s root... its real core.

Whoosh!

The acid raining upon the archer stopped abruptly as the tentacles lost their luster.

’What happened...’ the mage thought, trying to understand things.

But before he could do anything, the fire spread outwards, burning the boss until nothing but ashes were left.

The group watched as a man wearing a crown appeared out of nowhere.

Still shocked by the whole thing, they didn’t know what to do as the man picked up the monster core and the item from the ground.

The man turned around as the mage saw his eyes returning to their original color.

Gulping a mouthful of saliva, the mage asked, "Who are you..."

"Who? Me?... Dhruv... I guess."