System's POV

Chapter 454: Thirteen’s Live Combat Lesson [Part 1]

The moment the Three-Horned Minotaur was blinded, it had no other choice but to become the target dummy of Thirteen's and Rianna's arrows.

Fifteen minutes later, the Monster finally succumbed to its injuries after it had been mercilessly targeted by Thirteen's ranged attacks that specifically targeted its weak points—eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.

Rianna hadn't been idle and fired arrows at its neck, drawing blood.

Although the battle took longer than Thirteen intended, in the end, the monster that gave the Hero Party a lot of trouble now lay dead on the ground.

"We did it!" Rianna laughed as she pulled Thirteen to her chest, smothering the teenage boy with her assets. "That was easier than I thought."

Derek, who was watching this scene from the TV Screen, wished that he could switch places with Thirteen.

However, unlike the Swordsman, Thirteen wanted out of it and lightly tapped Rianna's shoulder telling her to stop.

"Don't celebrate yet," Thirteen said as soon as his face was freed from Rianna's hug. "The battle is still not over."

"What do you mean it's not over?" Rianna asked as she turned around, intending to look at the Three-Horned Minotaur on the ground.

However, the Minotaur was no longer there, and in its place, two Minotaurs stood facing them with weapons at the ready.

The second thing that Rianna noticed was the countdown timer, making her face turn pale.

"You gotta be kidding me…" Rianna muttered when the countdown passed the forty-second mark.

"We will repeat the same strategy," Thirteen said calmly. "You distract one of the Minotaurs and just run away while I will handle one. Sounds easy enough?"

Rianna reluctantly nodded. "I just have to run, right?"

"You just have to run," Thirteen replied. "Once I kill the second Minotaur, you can come back to me."

"Very well. Let's do this!" Rianna pumped herself up and ran in the opposite direction of the teenage boy in order to distract one of the Minotaurs.

The members of the Hero Party, who were watching the TV Screen, paid close attention to the battle that was about to start.

When they first challenged the Three-Horned Minotaur in the Monster Hunter Mode, Zion placed two of these monsters as their challengers.

However, they pleaded to fight against only one, so he relented.

Now, he and Rianna were about to challenge two of these monsters, which was something that the Hero Party couldn't even agree to do unless they had a death wish.

When the timer finally reached zero, the two Minotaurs roared at the same time as if telling their opponents about their intention to fight.

"Over here, you dumb cow!" Rianna shouted as he pointed at one of the Minotaurs, making it shift its attention to her.

Thirteen, on the other hand, simply shot an arrow on the second Minotaur, forcing it to block the arrows with its axe.

A few seconds later, the monster charged in Thirteen's direction, making the ground tremble as it ran.

After shooting his first arrow, Thirteen returned his bow to his storage and simply stood where he was.

Seeing this scene, Roland subconsciously clenched his fists. He had a feeling that he would see something that would change his perception of how to fight stronger monsters.

After it was close enough to have the teenage boy within its strike range, the Minotaur raised its axe, intending to do an overhead slash.

When the blow finally descended, Thirteen casually took two steps to his right side, dodging the giant axe with ease.

Mildred's eyes widened in shock not because of how Thirteen evaded the attack, but what the boy did after dodging.

In the boy's hand was a crossbow, which was raised and aimed at the Minotaur's head. ????????.???

With pinpoint accuracy and timing, Thirteen pulled the trigger, making the bolt of the crossbow hit the Minotaur's right eye dead center.

A moment later, the Monster cried out in pain and made a slashing motion with its axe to target the boy who blinded one of its eyes.

Thirteen, who had already expected this to happen, had already stored away his crossbow and moved away before the Minotaur could even swing its axe, distancing himself from the Monster.

It took the Minotaur a while to regain its composure, and when it did, it once again charged at the boy like a raging bull.

It had already learned its lesson, so instead of using an overhead slash, it simply swung its axe sideway.

But before it could do that, Thirteen had already made his move and ran toward the Minotaur, sliding through the space between its legs.

Now that his opponent's back was facing him, Thirteen tossed something in the air before lowering his head.

The Minotaur hurriedly turned around to face his opponent once more.

But as it did so, it saw something small appear in front of its eyes for a second before a deafening boom, followed by a bright flash of light, erupted in front of it.

"A flashbang grenade," Erica muttered.

Just as everyone expected, the light momentarily blinded the Minotaur's remaining eye, making it randomly swing its axe as a way to defend itself from any possible attacker.

"The attack patterns of these monsters are always the same," Thirteen said loud enough for those who were watching to hear his voice. "The moment they lose their vision, they will be swinging their axe blindly from left to right as a way to defend themselves.

"Although this move of theirs is predictable, it's still enough to cause serious harm to those who are not familiar with fighting against them."

After Thirteen said those words, he ran around to circle the monster and attack it from the back.

Knowing that the time was right, he charged forward with his arms raised as if he were carrying an invisible weapon in his hands.

Thirteen then did an overhead slash without holding anything in his hands.

However, at the last second, an axe materialized out of nowhere and embedded itself in the Minotaur's calf, making the monster roar in pain and anger.

"No way!" Derek exclaimed. "Weapon Switch!"

Weapon switch was a technique used by expert fighters who wanted to catch their opponent by surprise.

They would act as if they were holding an imaginary weapon and give it a swing, or thrust.

Then, at the last second, they would summon that weapon in their hands and deal a blow to their target.

This tactic was very effective because no one knew what kind of weapon their opponent was using.

Weapon Masters, who had practiced their arts to their limits, like to use this technique in order to mess up their opponent's tempo and make their next attacks unpredictable.

"I know that Axe," Joshua commented. "That is Mikhail's axe. The Mountain King's Axe."

It was an axe that weighed nearly a ton, and Mikhail became very popular because of it. Anyone who tried to block, or deflect his blows would be sent flying due to how hard this Axe hits because of its weight.

Of course, Thirteen wasn't like Mikhail and couldn't carry the axe in a casual manner.

But summoning the axe mid-strike and simply leaving gravity to do its job was enough to deal decent damage to the enemy.

Blood spurted from the Minotaur's calf, but the teenage boy didn't stay around to admire it.

Instead, he stored the axe away and once again distanced himself from the Minotaur, whose bloodshot eyes glared at its enemy, who seemed to be toying with it from the start of their battle.