Fierce Battle

"Keeek Kek Keeeeek"

A Ratman who was currently sitting on top of a chest raises its head looking towards the intruder who had suddenly opened the door to this room.

The eyes of the ratman were crimson as the glossiness of it gave the ratman a strange look. There was a slight hint of intelligence in them as it looked towards Niko almost as if it was looking down towards someone beneath it.

Niko in full alert as this kind of Ratman was something that he had never really seen before. The monster was a head taller than himself with bulging muscles that would make Candreva look like a wimp.

The fur on this ratman was also darker than the ordinary ones he had faced before, and towards the neck area the fur was longer and more puffed out. There were scars all over the Ratman's body as well as golden piercing on its ears and lips. There were broken chains on his muscular limbs, as well as some which were still attached to the nearby wall.

Niko immediately took notice of that as he accessed the situation carefully.

The most striking part about the ratman was the long sword that the ratman had on his hand. Although the longsword was rusty, there was a strange shape to the sword as the point wasn't a point at all and instead round. The sword was also slightly thicker and looked heavier.

Niko was quick to react as he wanted to be the first to make a move. Without holding back he released all of his spirits. To Niko's surprise, the change in expression of the ratman was strange, as it seemed like the ratman was taken aback but relentless and fearless.

"Swoosh!"

Ratman and Boars rushed towards the sword-wielding ratman as they were following Niko's order to shred him into pieces. As Niko gave this order he took a few steps forward, taking advantage of the slight chaos.

[Celestial Probe]

…

[Name: Rat Swordsman of Rust]

Rank: F+

[Skills]

[Rusty Slash]

[Shriek of Terror]

After quickly getting his info, he took another step back. He didn't have much time to react as the battle had commenced.

The Rat Swordsman was simply too strong and smarter. He slashed each of the spirits killing a good amount. However, he was simply alone Rat Swordsman and there was only so much he could do.

A few ratmen were able to slash and bite the legs of the Rat Swordsman, causing him to do a large slash, jump back and raise his head.

"SHRIIIIIIIiiiiiiiieeeeeeekkkkkkkkkk!!!!!!"

The sound was so loud and the frequency so low that there was a ringing sound in Niko's air causing him to feel slightly disoriented. To Niko's luck, because these were spirits rather than actual living organisms, they were completely unaffected by the shriek. Therefore instead of causing these meddling spirits to be disoriented and unable to attack, he simply wasted his efforts and time as the spirits wasted no time in attacking.

Slashes and bites came in fury as the many agile spirits were overwhelming.

"Swoosh!"

Suddenly a projectile flew from behind the spirits and struck the Rat Swordsman right on the belly.

"Shrieekk!!"

This time there was another shriek that echoed through this room, however, this shriek was of pain and hatred and not a skill. Turning its crimson eyes towards Niko and the Steampunk Bee right next to him, the ratman's hateful eyes showed that it was on a mission.

Niko was a little annoyed as the steampunk bee always seemed to bring aggro whenever it shot towards them, however, the bee was too useful. In fact, Niko even had plans in returning to the forest and getting some more spirits like the bee.

Suddenly, the Rat Swordsman raised the longsword with both hands as it took a long breath. The longsword began to change color that of a light brown which turned slightly darker as it spread throughout the blade of the longsword. This had to be the [Rusty Slash] skill that Niko had seen earlier.

"Bang!" The sword swung downwards and then sideways as some spirits were late to react, as they received a sharp cut through their bodies completely destroying them. The boars were the least agile and were the fastest to go.

Instead of continuing its assault after successfully killing a number of spirits, the swordsman continued the slashing motion towards the chains that were behind him keeping him in place.

This happened quite quickly, as Niko raised his staff and used the [Green Blob] skill of the staff he currently wielded. He could feel the killing intent of the swordsman and the danger.

All of these events happened rather quickly as right after the rat swordsman was able to slash the chain behind him, he bent slightly and jumped sideways.

"Bang!"

The blob hit the wall behind him, causing it to corrode rather quickly. The rat swordsman was extremely quick as right after jumping sideways to dodge the blob it strategically jumped over the spirits towards Niko,

There was a slight look of panic on Niko's face for a slight moment. For the first time in a while, he felt like he could possibly die here.

The rat swordsman approached extremely quickly, as in a matter of seconds he was a few meters in front of Niko ready to slash. Niko had to act quickly and on his feet, otherwise, his head would be on the floor in the next few seconds. As Niko still stood there with the bee next to him, the rat swordsman swung its longsword.

"Swoosh!"

"Clang!"

A loud sound of metal on metal could be heard as sparks could be seen flying from the interaction of two figures. The sword that the rat swordsman wielded had not slashed Niko apart and instead, it was blocked completely by the mantis spirit, who stood behind Niko with its claws around him.

This was Niko's last trump card at the moment, and to his luck, it worked. As the ratman was completely shocked by the appearance of this mantis spirit, the spirits behind him who were still following the order to shred him into pieces were right on his tail.

With scratches and bites, blood that was falling from the hole on the ratman's chest was no longer the only source of this crimson waterfall, as there were more deep scratches on the rat swordsman's back.

The eyes of this monster were completely different now compared to previously when they had first encountered one another. Although there was still a tenacity there and an unwillingness to give up, the fatigue was different. Spirits didn't feel tired, therefore, these spirits were still slashing and biting with the same form of viciousness.

The rat swordsman who was slightly overwhelmed wanted to react but the mantis which protected Niko was also extremely quick and agile and there was no way that the tired rat swordsman could do anything against him in this state.

"Swoosh!"

The mantis spirit slashed towards the rat swordsman who was quick to lose its head as its big muscular body fell to the ground lifelessly.

With a huge sigh of relief, there was a tired expression on Niko. His brain was pounding with pain as he had used so much to defeat that monster. He also had lost a lot of them too.

"Hopefully it was worth it…" Niko spoke slowly as he looked towards the headless rat swordsman on the ground with the same strange look the rat swordsman had previously, "... Rise."