DING!
~----~
[You have killed a Level 23 Young Basilisk!]
[You have gained +1,340,000 EXP!]
~----~
Thud!
The limp body of the Serpent finally collapsed to the ground.
The Basilisk was dead!
Silence reigned in the battlefield.
"…!"
Instantly, the Centaur became alarmed.
An enemy that he'd been fighting so intensely against for so long was killed so easily by this new guy?!
The Centaur turned almost immediately after the Basilisk's corpse hit the ground as he faced the Demon, his bow and arrow already drawn with menacing intent as he eyed the Demon solemnly.
The moment the Basilisk dropped dead, Julian ignored the system notifications as he also instantly turned to fight against the Centaur.
Julian knew that this was going to be his most dangerous fight since transmigrating to this world.
Not only was his opponent a Level 31 C Rank Archer of the Centaur Race, but the element of surprise was already gone rendering the effects of his Psychological Invisibility almost useless.
Julian's eyes narrowed into slits, his expression turning solemn as he got prepared for an intense battle.
His concentration slowly approached the state of flow.
The wind blew, the leaves danced.
Absolute silence reigned in this valley amid a gentle breeze as the Demon and Centaur solemnly maintained eye contact.
BADUMP! BADUMP!
Julian's heart was beating fast.
But unlike what he expected, his most dangerous battle since transmigrating didn't transpire next. Instead, something inconceivable happened.
As they maintained eye contact and stared at each other, the Centaur's predatory eyes suddenly constricted in shock, showing clear horror and fear. His whole body began literally shaking as he flinched in terror.
Then, this Centaur turned around and burst into a sprint.
Longstride!
Amid a violent swirl of brown qi around the Centaur's body concentrated on his powerful Horse legs, this Archer erupted in a sprint that would put elite Olympic runners to shame.
In just a few seconds, he disappeared from the valley in a brown blur!
And just like that, peace and tranquility returned to this valley.
"…"
"…"
"….."
Julian blinked. 'Just like that?'
His face turned incredulous in disbelief. 'What the hell! You escaped just like that???'
He didn't know how to react. 'C Rank Archer my ass! You're clearly an Olympic Awakened! How are you level 31 and run so easily from battle without shame?'
'Where's your pride as an honorable Centaur?'
At first, Julian was truly confused at the Centaur's sudden motivation for escaping, he struggled to believe that it was because he killed the Basilisk so easily.
But then, he had a hunch as his eyes widened. 'Wait… did he recognize me?'
'Did he recognize Zaratul?'
…
Far away from the valley…
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Akan, the Centaur that Julian encountered galloped to a great distance at peak velocity as he dared not look back.
His eyes were still bulging in shock and horror.
'ZARATUL???' He thought. 'That Zaratul???'
He was freaking out. 'He's still alive?!'
'No wonder there are still bounty posters of him even after 10 years!'
'I can't believe I met him,' he shivered in terror even as he ran. 'He's clearly weakened, but still, that's ZARATUL!'
He felt a primal terror that made all his cells tremble in fear.
As for how he managed to recognize Zaratul, why wouldn't he? Afterall, that was the no. 1 villain in the world in all Kingdom villain rankings even 10 years later after the world allied against him and ambushed him.
Every man knew the Great Zaratul, the Sovereign of Debauchery. Every woman knew him, every child above 10 years old knew him.
Bounty posters of him were in every kingdom of the world.
He was the reason why there were no more children below 10 years old in the world, his curse was holding the world in a stranglehold!
He was the reason why after 8 years of marriage, Akan's wife still couldn't conceive because he couldn't f*cking impregnate her.
Even after 10 years with the best Mages and Scientists of the world experimenting with different cure, they never managed to find the blueprint to the curse, they didn't even come close.
10 years after Zaratul's Curse, there was still no cure for it and the world suffered.
Every man remained impotent!
Akan shivered in terror as he looked back, confirming that he was not being followed. Only then did he heave a sigh of relief, but he accelerated even faster.
'I need to get to the Kingdom fast!'
'I need to report my encounter to the Kings!'
…
Julian was the last man standing in the valley, but there was no smile of joy or triumph on his face.
Instead, there was a grim look on his face. Only after the Centaur escaped did he realize why he ran.
'He recognized me'. He frowned.
This threw all his plans into disarray.
Before he leveled up and became strong enough to at least protect himself when his subordinates were not there, Julian didn't want his return to be known to the major powers of this world yet but now, the situation already spiraled out of his control.
With the speed of that Centaur, Julian guessed that he may have reached his destination already.
There was no stopping it even if Sir Alfred came right now.
Whether he liked it or not, the Centaur's survived and already returned home.
That man would reveal the news to his Kingdom, and through his Kingdom the truth will spread to the rest of the world that Zaratul was back.
Julian stayed frowning for a few seconds, then he shrugged. "There's no use crying over spilt milk". He mumbled to himself.
"Since it's already out, so be it".
"I'll just have to level up faster than the world can come for my head".
Thinking of the challenge that was coming for him in the near future, he grinned and welcomed it. "You want to come for my head?"
"Go ahead, come".
His face turned cold. "You'll find out soon enough that this head is not easy to take on a platter".
His grip tightened around the Goblin Cleaver.
And finally, he bent down and picked up the corpse of the Basilisk before lifting it on his left shoulder. After that, he kept the Goblin Cleaver in his inventory before approaching the corpse of the Cockatriss.
With his right hand, he grabbed the Cockatriss' tail and dragged it with him, flexing the physical strength of a Demon as he finally started walking back towards the Goblin Nest where the rift was.
It was time to go back home.
While he left, the Debauchery System lit up with more notification threads.
DING!
~----~
[You have completed System Mission: Apex Hunter!]
[You failed to meet bonus reward requirements.]
[You have been rewarded with +4,000,000 EXP!]
…
[EXP to Level 17: 5,590,005/6,553,600]
~----~