The Quest Is Simply To NTR All The Heroes

Chapter 137: Hope

'What the fuck now?'

Kaisen thought as he dangled in the air, a flaming tentacle wrapped around his ankle.

This game was getting more ridiculous by the second.

This was the third boss monster he'd fought today, and it felt like the game was designed to make sure players never had a chance to win.

"Level 121? Are you kidding me?"

He remembered hearing about game mechanics back in his world where the difficulty adjusted based on the player's level and skill.

It wasn't a new concept, but he had no idea it applied to this game as well.

'I don't have time for this.'

He didn't want to spend another minute in this cursed place. He needed to end this quickly and get out.

'And I especially do not want to see what this monster's second or third phase is like.'

That was ture. If he stalled for too long, the monster would eventually unleash attacks he couldn't dodge or evade. He needed to wrap this fight up as fast as possible.

After all, this was a creature that even the Night Shades and their king feared.

He summoned his claws again and slashed at the tentacle.

Shank~

But being a level 121 creature, it obviously didn't budge at all.

The claws stopped as soon as they made contact with the tentacle, barely even making a scratch.

"Damn. I guess I'll use that, then."

This was his only way to defeat this monster.

If the monster was level 121, then he would become level 240, even if just for a moment.

The surge of power would be enough to turn the tide.

...

On the other side of the desert, four people struggled to capture and contain their friend who was on the verge of turning into a Night Shade.

It was none other than Alice herself.

"She's not completely turned into one of those creatures, that's good. She's still part human and part... that creature."

Said Lloyd, her ex-boyfriend, as he grabbed one of her hands.

"And that's the only reason we can do this."

Maximus added, grabbing her other hand.

Alice was on the ground, growling, panting, and drooling from her mouth. Her eyes were crimson, and parts of her body were covered in a dark, shadowy substance.

To their relief, she wasn't fully transformed yet.

Perhaps the process of turning a person into a Night Shade took time, and since Alice had only been kidnapped recently, she was spared the full transformation—for now.

She was lucky because time was still on her side.

"What do we do? How can we turn her back?"

Sable asked, her voice strained as she pinned Alice's leg to the ground, leaning into the woman's side to keep her down.

She had woken up after a hard slap from Maximus—a slap she suspected was more intentional than desperate, despite what her fiancé claimed.

"That thing. That tentacle monster must be defeated to end this madness."

Maximus said, wiping a wad of sweat from his forehead. His face was etched with fear and doubt, betraying his uncertainty about their actions.

And it was true—he was confused and frightened.

The man who was single-handedly fighting the Hand of the Night knew who he was, and that terrified him more than anything.

"And how do you know that?"

Sable asked, arching her eyebrows. She didn't remember anything about getting kidnapped or being replaced by shapeshifters.

All she recalled was going to the pool with her fiancé, and the next thing she knew, they were in an eerie desert with crosses and black monsters running around.

And now there was a fiery tentacle monster too.

"Uh? What?"

"How do you know that defeating this monster would put an end to all of this?"

Maximus took an audible deep breath and turned his head to look at his fiancée.

"Would you rather want all this circus to end here with that monster, or do you want to believe there's another monster waiting in line to take its place once it's defeated, huh?"

"..."

Sable didn't say anything. Those were true words. She would rather have hope that defeating this monster could put an end to this madness.

"How are you holding up, Elfie-san?"

Llyod asked, not wanting to participate in the verbal battle between the fiancés. Instead, he turned his attention to Elfie, his girl frie—well, his perfectly normal friend.

After all, Elfie had also been kidnapped, long before Alice was taken.

Yet, for some reason, she hadn't transformed at all. It was puzzling at first.

His thoughts wandered to someone else who had been kidnapped even earlier than Elfie and had turned out to be okay.

Not just okay, but still had a mouth as ugly as ever.

Maximus had suggested it might be because they were elves, while Alice was a human.

Perhaps elves had a higher tolerance for mind attacks and whatever else was at play.

"I'm fine, Lloyd-san. Just a little weak."

Elfie replied softly. In truth, she was far from fine. She felt utterly drained, as if all her strength had been sapped away.

Despite feeling powerless, she didn't want to burden her companions.

"...Alright. If you feel anything, just say, alright?"

"Mhmm."

Elfie nodded weakly in response.

"Should we jump in and help him?"

Sable asked, her eyes fixed on the battlefield, her expression a mix of concern and uncertainty as she observed Kaisen's struggle.

Lloyd turned to her, raising an eyebrow as if questioning her sanity.

"The only thing jumping in would do is mess things up. We'd just be a hindrance to him, getting in the way. Right now, all we can do is hope for the best and trust our friend."

Lloyd was also feeling a whirlwind of emotions watching Kaisen—the guy he once called the weakest link—taking on a boss monster that was way stronger than Lloyd himself.

It was like poetic justice playing out right before his eyes.

Boom~

Out of nowhere, sparks flew like fireworks around Kaisen, and there he was, holding one of the monster's flaming tentacles that he had just cut off.