The Survival of the Third-rate Villain

"What the hell, are they avoiding us?"

Raye asked to himself, his brows furrowing.

He knows that it's not easy to find the mini bosses. But searching for a week and not finding even a trace is something.

'Are we the problem here?'

Raye asked to himself.

'Are we doing something wrong?'

He followed, looking at Zephyrus and Pyro perched on each of his shoulders.

"Hmm..."

Raye racked his brain.

He tried to remember information from the game about this place—about the mini bosses.

.

.

.

But even after doing that for a good couple of minutes—

"Fuck..."

Raye found nothing.

He played [Brave Hearts] many times before. And while he was in this part of the game—

He just encountered the mini bosses randomly without cutscenes or anything!

They weren't in order too, finding them were all totally by chance!

'Can we really do nothing but search all of the forest dungeon?'

Raye asked in his head.

"That'll take us at least another year to do so."

He grumbled.

-What are we going to do now?

-Meep?

Zephyrus and Pyro asked, looking at Raye.

"..."

Raye glanced at them for a few seconds.

Then, after a while of silence—

"We have no choice but to search everywhere and hope we find them soon."

He declared that with a frown on his face.

The thing is—

They can't get out of this dungeon unless they kill the final boss.

And the final boss of this dungeon—

It only comes out after defeating the three mini bosses.

So essentially, they're currently trapped inside this rift!

And realizing that—

Tap- tap- tap—

Fwoosh~

Raye, Zephyrus, and Pyro continued their journey for searching.

'Ugh, I hope it doesn't take us long to find them.'

Raye thought.

-...

-...

Zephyrus and Pyro were thinking the same thing as him.

*****

The three continued traveling, searching for the mini bosses. They do it like this—

They'll search for one day, camp that night, then the next day, they'll stay in camp to train.

They'll continue their travel the next day.

They do it alternately.

Raye decided to do this so they can still train and not just waste time searching.

Even if the search was long and uncertain—

At least their bodies were still improving.

Their skills were still sharpening.

Their time wasn't being thrown away.

On travel days—

They'd walk through the forest cautiously, alert, checking every unusual sound, every strange aura.

Fighting whatever monster appeared along the way.

Raye would scout from a distance with his gun.

Zephyrus stayed close, his wind magic spread out, senses sharpened.

Pyro floated above or perched on Raye's shoulder, acting as a lookout too.

And when the sun began to set— 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

They'd set up camp, eat, recover.

And on training days—

They'd go all out.

Pushing their limits.

Testing new techniques.

Meditating, sparring, channeling mana.

Trying to squeeze out every last drop of strength they could find within themselves.

Raye was taking the last remaining few enhancement pills on him.

This routine—

It worked.

It gave their days a rhythm.

A balance between searching and growing.

But still—

No mini bosses.

Not yet.

And with each passing cycle—

The hunger for progress kept growing stronger.

And so, they moved on.

Day after day.

Week after week.

Until—

A month passed...

"Haaa..."

-...

-meeeeep...

And still nothing.

...

...

...

Or so they thought—

-GRAAAAAAAWWL—!!!

They suddenly heard a loud growl from not far away!

"Huh?!"

-Wha...!

-Meep!

Raye, Zephyrus, and Pyro immediately turned their heads toward the sound.

"..."

-...

-...

They all looked at each other for a while.

And after that, without saying a word—

BAM!

FWOOSH—

They all rushed toward where they heard the growl!

*****

Raye, Zephyrus, and Pyro stealthily approached the source of the loud roar earlier. They hid their presence and carefully got close.

And upon getting near, they saw the source of the roar.

It was...

The Glittermaw Ape.

'I knew it, the growl sounded way too familiar.'

Raye thought.

The Glittermaw stood still for a moment, its heavy breathing echoing through the trees.

It was clearly agitated, restless, like it had sensed something was off.

'It knows that someone's watching it.'

Raye narrowed his eyes.

Fwish~

Zephyrus lowered his body, his wings quieting the air around him.

-...

Pyro floated silently, sparks gently flickering from his small body.

"...We finally saw a mini boss, but it's the glittermaw again."

Raye muttered under his breath. He remembered its skill to call the other mini bosses.

But despite that—

'Whatever, might as well defeat them all at once today.'

Raye just shrugged it off!

He was confident enough now with their strength. He thinks that they could face all of the mini bosses!

"..."

-...

-Meep.

The three looked at each other—no words needed.

This was what they'd been waiting for!

Months of preparation.

They've already spent half a year here!

And now—

It's time to test their strength!

*****

(Raye's POV)

Fwoosh—

I immediately transformed [Celestria] into a gun and gripped it tightly with my left hand.

"Get ready, guys."

I whispered, my eyes locked on the Glittermaw Ape.

-Got it.

-Meep.

Fwoosh~

Zephyrus and Pyro replied. I felt the mana in their bodies shift carefully.

And opening my mouth once again—

"Let's kill that one at least, before he calls the other two."

Fwish—

I declared as I took out [Nyx] from my spatial storage and held it in my right hand.

"[Blaze]"

I muttered right after.

SWAAAAAAAA—!

Flames burst to life, engulfing both my gun and sword in wild fire!

-Grrrr...?

Fwish—

The Glittermaw Ape turned around, sensing my mana.

And the moment it saw me—saw the violent blaze in my hands—

-?!!

Its eyes widened in shock.

But I didn't care.

Instead—

"Bang."

Click-

SWOOSH—

I fired my gun, aiming right at its head!

PSH—

BOOM!

-GRAAAAHHH?!!

The Glittermaw Ape was struck dead-center in the forehead, and my shot exploded on impact!

Its head snapped back violently from the force!

And without wasting that opening—

"Let's go!"

BAM!

FWOOSH—

Me, Zephyrus, and Pyro rushed toward the Glittermaw Ape.

-GRAAAAHHHH—!!!

It recovered fast, it wasn't hurt that much.

And seeing us approaching—

-GAAAAAAR!!!

SWOOOSH—

It swung its right hand into a big, heavy hook to greet us!

"Zephyrus!"

I exclaimed.

And immediately—

-[GUST!]

Zephyrus cast a spell!

FWOOSH—

A strong wind blew us upward!

SWISH—

And the Glittermaw Ape's fist missed us because of that!

I didn't waste that moment.

Now that I'm in front of the Glittermaw Ape's face—

Fwip-

I tightened my grip on my flaming sword.

And then—

SLASH—

I slashed the monster's left eye with a horizontal swing!

-GRAAAAHHHH—!!!

It roared in pain.

Though, at that moment—

"?!!"

I felt my whole body stiffened!

And immediately—

'He used the [Roar Stun]!'

I realized that.