The instant Leon saw those eyes, he felt his heart tighten, then pulse excitedly.

’A strong one! How come the detector didn’t sense it?’

Still keeping his eyes on the lurking beast, he brought out the device and activated it.

Instantly, the creature was caught in its range, and its information was displayed.

- Reptile

- Poison Affinity (100%)

- Level 35 - Level 39

Looking at the displayed information, Leon finally understood why the new beast hadn’t been shown on the radar earlier. When he had caught the mutated rat on the radar, it was far from where he was, at the edge of the radar’s reach.

Hence, the Lifeform Detector couldn’t reach what was a few meters behind it. Turning off the device, he slipped it into his storage ring, as he really wanted to avoid it being destroyed in the upcoming battle.

The green-eyed beast still hadn’t moved, simply observing the climax of the battle between Richard, the tamed beasts, and the mutated rat.

’What an opportunist. It’s waiting for the perfect moment to strike.’

Leon felt a chill in his heart as he realized mutated beasts were becoming deadly despite not having full human-like intelligence.

’What a hassle.’

Shifting his gaze from it, he turned his attention to the mutated rat and couldn’t help but feel a pang of pity. It was riddled with injuries, its entire body covered in blood that kept dousing the flames.

If the beast was a human, it would have surely been angered to death. After all, Richard’s strategy was a cunning one.

The mutated rat was being injured by the two beasts, but didn’t dare divert its attention to them. Else, it might lose its head in that brief moment—at least it thought so.

Unknown to the beast, Richard’s sword couldn’t really cleave its head off in a single strike. However, as a beast, it was forced to believe so when Richard was being so relentless.

It was as if the human was begging for a single chance to end the fight. Naturally, the mutated rat that feared its own death could only defend with all its might.

Meanwhile, the injuries dealt by Little West and Little East had already accumulated to the extent that the ribs of the mutated rat were beginning to show. Its long tail that dragged along the ground was shredded in several places, looking like it might fall off with a little tug.

Seeing that the battle was about to end, Leon reached for his sword, while the hidden beast rustled in the darkness.

Unaware of the looming danger, Richard slashed at the rat’s neck again. It immediately tried to block, but Little East suddenly latched onto its leg, pulling it back.

The rat was shocked but helpless. If it were before, Little West wouldn’t have been able to overpower it. Now, however, it was weakened and could only struggle weakly.

Slice!

Richard’s sword cut into its neck, barely reaching its spine before it stopped. The mutated rat immediately choked, blood pouring from the wound.

Unable to hold out any longer, Little East had to release its leg and retreat while licking its burned lips. It was surely an unpleasant experience biting a flaming leg.

Richard’s eyes sharpened, and with a vicious tug, he pulled out his sword, causing the wound to widen.

The mutated rat staggered back, but didn’t die. The vitality of a Tier One beast was strong enough for it to recover from such grievous injury if given time to rest.

Unfortunately, there was no time to rest. Little West came from the other side and bit into the uninjured side of its neck, knocking it to the ground.

Still, it didn’t bite for long. Retreating just like its partner, it stepped back and let its master deal the finishing blow.

Richard’s blade sank into its neck, quickly connecting with the injured side. Then, the rat was beheaded.

[You have slain a Level 34 Tier One Evolved Sewer Rat! +18 Agility points gained!]

[You have leveled up to Level 24! +20 Stat points gained!]

Richard panted, a relieved smile forming on his face. This fight had truly exhausted him, as he was barely forcing himself to stand. Cornering and pressuring a Tier One beast hadn’t been easy at all.

Glancing at the crystal on the rat’s forehead, he reached out to touch it when he felt a wave of terror.

’Danger? Where?!’

His head snapped up, and he saw an enormous black snake the size of a minibus lowering itself towards him from the shadowed roof of the warehouse.

Seeing the yellow crystal on its head, his heart turned cold with fear.

’Another Tier One beast?!’

Just as it seemed the serpent was going to swallow him, a large black blade shot through the air and struck it in the head.

BANG!

The mutated snake’s head exploded into chunks of flesh, blood, and a little brain matter that splattered over the ground.

"Eh?"

A surprised voice came from behind him, and he turned around to see Leon walking over, unarmed.

He had a surprised expression on his face as he looked at the corpse that had now fallen upon a couple of tractors in the warehouse.

’It died just like that?’ Leon thought, unable to believe it despite the messages flashing before his retina.

[You have slain a Level 39 Tier One Evolved Venomous Serpent!]

[You cannot level up!]

[Progress has been stored!]

When he had thrown the greatsword, he had been expecting it to knock back the snake. Little did he imagine it would actually burst its head like a watermelon.

He glanced around in search for Thyra, as he was used to her giving him an explanation of things that confused him. Unfortunately, she was nowhere to be seen.

’Oh, well. I guess it was weak...?’

Unknown to him, Thyra was floating meters above him, a stupefied expression on her beautiful face as she looked at the serpent’s corpse.

’Killing a Tier One beast in a single strike... what the hell is he?’

She understood that the sword was exceptionally heavy, and its crushing force could be devastating. However, that was only depending on who threw it.

’Has his strength risen that much? No, it shouldn’t be too high, right? After all, he’s at a threshold level and can’t gain stat points by killing. So... how is he THAT strong?’