The Survival of the Third-rate Villain

Glittermaw Ape.

One of the three mini-bosses of this rift dungeon.

It had a stunning roar, explosive fruit grenades, and worst of all—

It was stupidly fast and agile in this forest terrain!

It probably avoided being detected by Zephyrus' wind magic because he was busy controlling the smoke...

And that damn gorilla was moving through the trees!

Anyway—

"Zephyrus! Pyro! Get here!!"

I yelled that the moment I locked eyes with the Glittermaw Ape.

-Hm?

-Meep?

The two both turned their heads toward me, confused by my urgent tone.

Fwish—

Their eyes followed my line of sight.

And when they saw what I was looking at—

-...!

-...!

Their eyes widened, and they instantly flinched!

In that moment—

-GRAAAAAAAWWWWWLLL!!!

FWOOOOOSH—!!!

The Glittermaw Ape roared and launched a massive horizontal swing with its left arm—

That thing was the size of my entire body!

And it was heading straight for the two!

'Shit!'

I cursed in my head, instincts kicking in.

Fwish—

[Nyx] appeared in my right hand, taking out from my spatial storage.

And without hesitation—

"[Flash]"

I muttered that.

SWISH—!!

The world blurred in my eyes.

Fwip—

And when it cleared—

"..."

I was already in front of the gorilla's incoming fist!

"[Blaze!]"

I roared.

SWAAAAHHHH—!!!

[Nyx] ignited into a roaring blaze!

And with it—

"GRAAAHHH!!!"

SWOOOOSH—!!!

I swung my black sword in a wide arc—from left to right!

Then—

B O O O M—!!!

My flaming blade clashed with the ape's gigantic fist, erupting in a blast of heat and shockwaves!

SWOOOOOSH~!!

"URGH...!"

I groaned as pain exploded in my right arm.

'It felt like something cracked.'

I thought in my head.

"Gurgh...!"

But I gritted my teeth and pushed through the pain.

And opening my mouth—

"DISTRACT HIM!!!"

I exclaimed thay as loud as I could.

And right on cue—

-On it.

-Meep!

SWAAAAAAASSSSHHH—!!!

A violent tornado made of fire was blasted from behind me!

It was a combined attack from Zephyrus and Pyro!

And that flaming tornado—

B O O M—!!!

It struck the Glittermaw Ape square in the face!

To be exact, in its eyes!

-GRAAHHHH?!!

The beast groaned in pain, smoke rising from its head.

T H U D—!!

The gorilla crashed onto the ground, landing on its butt with a loud thump!

Fwish—

I quickly turned toward Zephyrus and Pyro.

They met my eyes—

And without thinking—

"LET'S RUN!!!"

I shouted that with everything I had.

-...?!

-...?!

They were stunned by my panicked voice—

But they trusted me.

FWOOOOSH—!!

They immediately turned and took off, flying away from the stunned mini-boss!

SWOOOSH—!!

I didn't waste a second too.

I spun around and began grabbing everything I could, shoving it into my spatial ring at top speed.

My hands blurred—

Tent pegs, tools, food—

All in.

All except… the tent.

-GRAAAAAAAAWWW—!!!

The Glittermaw roared again, louder than before.

And hearing that—

"...Fuck it."

BAM!!

I kicked off the ground and sprinted away, as fast as I could.

I didn't need the damn tent. I needed to escape.

'Too early… I'm not supposed to fight the strongest mini-boss yet...!'

SWOOOOSH—!!!

I thought as my body blurred, leaving behind a trail of afterimages as I bolted through the trees.

The Glittermaw Ape—

It has three monster phases when you fight it, and all of it was difficult as fuck in the game!

We're lucky it approached us out of curiosity before.

Because if it ambushed that—

'We'd all probably be done for by now....'

I frowned we I thought of that.

...

...

*****

Zephyrus, Pyro, and I.

Tap- tap- tap—

The three of us kept running.

Putting as much distance as we could between us and that massive gorilla we just escaped from.

We didn't look back.

Not until we were sure it wasn't chasing us, and that we lost it.

And then—

TAP—

I came to a sudden stop, feet digging into the earth.

P A T—

Zephyrus and Pyro fluttered down and perched on my shoulders.

"Haaa... Haaa..."

I exhaled sharply.

"..."

I looked back.

Swoosh~

"..."

It was silent.

"Zephyrus?"

I called without looking at him.

And with a slight shake if his head—

-It's not chasing after us.

He declared that.

Zephyrus had improved his wind magic detection now, scanning even above us.

So it's safe to say—

'We got away.'

We're safe now.

"Hasaaaa..."

I let out a long sigh.

Thud—

Then I slumped down onto the ground, letting my back rest against the trunk of a nearby tree.

"We lost our tent, huh."

I muttered quietly, staring up at the leaves above.

-Meep...

-...

Pyro let out a soft sound, while Zephyrus remained silent.

He probably felt responsible.

After all, he was the one in charge of keeping an eye on our surroundings.

And seeing him like that—

"Don't worry. I already considered the possibility of losing—or having our tent destroyed."

I stated calmly.

Then, with a casual flick of my hand—

"I have extras stored in my spatial ring."

I added with a small grin.

-...!

-Meep!

Both Zephyrus and Pyro widened their eyes in surprise.

I just shrugged.

"I came prepared. No big deal."

Then I glanced around the forest, letting my body relax just a little more.

"Let's rest for now. After that, we'll search for a better spot to build our base."

I muttered.

Then, raising my left hand—

FWIIISH—

Three pieces of roasted deer meat suddenly appeared out of thin air, floating slightly before slowly descending.

I had stored them in my spatial ring earlier before we fled.

A smart move, in hindsight.

-Meep!

-Ah...!

Both Pyro and Zephyrus lit up with excitement the moment they saw the food.

And without a second of hesitation—

FWIP—

They each grabbed one piece, leaving the last one to gently fall into my hands.

Pat—

It landed perfectly in my palms.

And with a small smile—

"Let's eat."

-Meep!

-Hmnh...

We all began our quiet dinner under the trees.

...

...

As I chewed on the meat, my mind wandered back to that earlier encounter with the Glittermaw Ape.

And honestly—

'If I had gone all out… I probably could've beaten it.'

I thought to myself, taking another bite.

The Glittermaw Ape is an [A-] rank monster.

Just one rank above me.

With my enhanced skills and combat experience, I was confident I could take it down.

If I fought it alone, that is.

The reason I chose to run wasn't because I was scared.

It was because of that damn ability—

[Roar Stun].

Just like the name suggests, that monster could stun enemies by letting out a thunderous roar.

I was fairly certain I could resist it.

But that roar wasn't just for stunning…

'It's also a signal—to summon the other two mini bosses under it to help.'

If I had fought the Glittermaw Ape right then and there...

There was a high chance I'd end up facing all three mini bosses at once.

That would've been stupid.

I would probably lose and die.

Which is exactly why I said it was too early to fight that beast.

'I need to deal with the other two first. One by one.'

I declared firmly in my head.

And so, with those thoughts circling in my mind—

"Hmm..." 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Nom—

I continued eating, now calmly planning how to eliminate the other two mini bosses before taking on the Glittermaw Ape again.