Chapter 348 - 348: First Group
The first to enter the cave, even though unwillingly was the poor thief. He had thought that he would use these guys to steal everything Eric had but was instead turned into cannon fodder.
It was at that time that he understood that actually Eric had been extremely good, and accommodating to him, making him feel a bit regretful of his actions.
But unfortunately, there was no medicine for regret, and it didn't matter if he wished for it or not, the current situation was already impossible to overturn.
So, he had no choice but to do as he was told, and jump towards the cave first, as scout and cannon fodder.
To put it in a good way, he was there just to confirm Eric's presence and send a signal to those outside to help him deal with them.
To put it in a crude way, he was just Eric's detector, and after that, he was just a useless extra. No one would care about his life and death afterward.
In fact, those partners he had found himself, might even try to kill him after, so that he wouldn't be able to spread rumors after..
After all, the best man to guard a secret is a dead man, everyone knew this, and it was the creed of thieves and killers.
Extremely unwilling the poor thief started walking deeper inside the cave, as he was slowly swallowed by the darkness inside.
When he had reached the middle of the cave, he couldn't help but try his best to scream in a low and calm voice,
"Master are you there!?"
That was the best way he had thought of being able to save himself. That was the distance that might give him a way of escape in case that that guy suddenly acted against him.
But unfortunately, there was no answer to his words, and he couldn't see if that guy was truly inside or not.
So, he could only close his eyes, curse to himself once or twice, and then once again start walking inside the cave.
This time though with every three steps ahead of that he took, he would always try to scream the same thing, in hope that that guy would answer.
"Master are you there!?"
But slowly that fake calmness that he had was dissipating, and with every step that he took he felt like he was walking towards his coffin, making his heartbeat even faster in regret.
On the other hand, the clone that Eric had left inside the cave wasn't moving at all, as he stood close to the end of the cave-like some sort of soulless corpse.
Even its breathe seemed to be frozen at that moment, as he would only breath enough to keep him alive, and no more than that.
When the poor thief was only 30-40 meters from the clone, Eric finally took control of the clone, as he screamed in anger,
"You pathetic trash! To think that you don't value your life, and decided to betray and ambush this daddy, I will make you regret it!"
With that said he immediately jumped from his place and attacked the thief, who immediately panicked and ran back.
It was like he had seen a horrifying ghost in there, as a wet mark started appearing on his pants, while a terrible stench spread with him at the center.
On the other hand, those guys waiting at the entrance seemed to have received their signal and stormed inside.
Their faces could clearly show the contempt and disgust towards the poor thief that they had used, but now wasn't the time to think about that.
They immediately erased that disgusting scene from their minds, as they jumped towards their target.
As people who had worked together for a long time, their teamwork was excellent. The weakest of them faced Eric's clone attack with all the strength it could muster, while the rest attacked him directly.
Even if Eric had the upper hand in the long-term due to the difference in levels, and strength, he couldn't rely on it, as even if he took that guy down, he would suffer injuries from the other three.
Furthermore, the person facing his attack was the weakest among them, which meant that if he suffered injuries his chapter was as good as closed.
So, no logical person would continue with the attack if he didn't want to suffer in the future. This tactic had worked almost 100% as the number of lunatics wasn't that big.
And for a level 83 like Eric, the weakest of them was more than enough to stand his attack with his full strength for 2 or 3 seconds, that was enough of a time window for others.
But the moment that Eric clashed with that weakling in front of him, his level pressure suddenly jumped from 83 to 91.
The difference between the two wasn't just 8 levels anymore, but the difference of an entire Realm and that level 53 weakling in front of him was nothing more than a chopping block.
In no time Eric's 'Silent Reaper' had appeared in the clone's right hand, as it cut through the opponent's sword, and then through his throat, and full neck.
It was a one-hit kill, or to be more exact it was a one-hit decapitation which made the poor level 53 opponent unable to even scream in pain.
The sudden eruption of Eric not only stupefied the other fighters inside the cave but also increased the weariness of those outside.
In just a single moment they understood that it was almost impossible for those inside to be able to deal with Eric, so they immediately had to select other people to enter inside.
Looking at the emergency of the situation they decided quickly upon the new team, made up of 3 fighters. Two were at level 82 while the third one was at level 87.
The remaining three stood outside with the intention of attacking Eric by surprise once he left the cave.
Just like the first team, these guys intention was the same, they needed to bait him out, and then join the rest to take him down.
In the meantime, Eric benefited from the stupefied looks of the remaining three, as the moment he landed on the ground he made a turn to the left aiming for the weakest link once again.
He wanted to take down those weaklings first, as later the disparity in numbers would be bothersome.
Furthermore, he didn't need to waste too much stamina, and strength upon these guys, as one or two attacks, were the most it took to bring them down.
Not to mention that at the moment these guys were stupefied at his counterattack, so it gave him even more of an advantage over them.
The moment that he reached the second target, he stabbed the dagger through the guy's heart, and then lightning fast, cut his throat.
This time he didn't decapitate the guy, but the dagger still let a deep cut on the guy's throat, making him unable to breathe as his respiratory duct was flooded with blood.
Two down there were two to go!
In this kind of situation, the moment he hesitated to take the life of his opponent was the same as stabbing the dagger on his own body, so he didn't even dare to think of hesitating.
Using the body of his second victim as a springboard, he suddenly changed direction mid-air and jumped to attack in the direction of the strongest guy.
That guy was still extremely shocked by the situation in front of him, but he managed to regain control of his emotions quickly, as this wasn't the first time he was fighting and losing comrades.
So, with seething rage and anger, he used the broadsword on his hands to chop towards Eric with his full strength.
'Clangg~!'
The broadsword of the guy was extremely sturdy, but unfortunately, its sturdiness was nowhere close to that Rank 2 puppet, so there was no damage to Eric's dagger.
In fact, it was the broadsword that showed a sign of chip on the clashing spot, but he didn't have time to care about that, as at that moment happened something that left the poor guy dumbfounded again.
Eric used the inertia of that clash in order to throw himself towards the remaining fighter inside the cave, surpass his defenses, and then stab his dagger through his heart.
In just one chain attack, he had managed to kill three out of four, and also damaged the main weapon of the fourth guy.
It seemed like a scene out of an action movie, but the last remaining alive fighter knew that all this was extremely real, and his comrades were lying dead on the ground.
He couldn't believe his eyes at that point, as he felt like he was watching a terrifying illusion or a nightmare, yet he wasn't able to wake up no matter how hard he tried.
As if that wasn't enough at that moment, the pungent metallic smell of his comrades' blood filled his nostrils, and he was unable to lie to himself anymore.
It was clear that Eric had managed to kill his three comrades in a single attack, which made his whole body shiver in pain, fear, anger, and rage.
Seeing the dead bodies of his three comrades he lost all hope, and confidence in this fight, as his aura turned extremely feeble. He had lost the will to fight!
Noticing that, Eric didn't hesitate in the slightest to jump towards him and give him the finishing blow, but at that moment…