They might underestimate the chef's tenacity.

  Three warriors, including Romero were forced to get their backs against the tower wall, with shields desperately covering their bodies, repeated slashes of knives grated against their steel.

  Romero, being the only one who can expose himself thanks to his armor, tried to shove off the Chef, but he cannot attack; a complete transformation of his shield into a sword would be too risky.

  Which is why Rue had to battle against decisions that flitted in his mind.

  Does he move forward along the other to free the shield bearer? Moving the Mage line might be too risky… Or he can just hope they eventually trim down enough opponents, but the problem is… they’re endless.

  Rue spun, briefly forced out of his thoughts. He tripped a chef with his cane, a move that was easy to do. But he struggled to follow through with his sword as another chef tried to sneak a jab at his shoulder. He was forced to parry and slam his leg into the chef. Before meeting another three that have run through the barrage of spells and arrows.

  In a split decision, he made his cane disappear by tapping it against his ring, and then he held the FrostBite Sword in two hands. Rue stepped upward, buying himself more space, and six knives lunged at him. They’re short, for now, not long enough to threaten him.

  He snapped his hand above his head and did a spiral sweep, decapitating one and carving through two of them in one strike. Ice sprouted up and all three fell down, knocking one in the process, sending its head cracking against the stone step.

  You have Slain Chef. Lvl 32

  Level Up General 33→34.

  Level up Frost Swordman 29→30.

  He only manages to kill one of them, but all he has to do is keep them away, and for the rest, they will take care of them.

  Two arrows blitz through near his mask, sending a sprawling wind flitting near his neck. Rue stiffened as he watched both arrows connect–killing one chef, each hitting its throat and head. Fireball and spiky earth thrown, finishing the other two, but there’s still a crowd of them running at them, and about a dozen busying themselves against the shield bearer.

  Rue briefly turned. “Damn it! Archer, are you trying to kill me!” He shouted up.

  “No, Sir!” A man and a woman yelped, almost dropping their arrow.

  “Who said to stop shooting! And talk to each other and find different targets!”

  “Yes, Sir!” Both of them snapped in unison.

  It’s strange for other people to follow his command, and it's not like he is a battle commander or something. But it sure is easy to do. He wonders if Pax or Alquin has an easy time like he does now?

  Another dozen charged at him; now they began throwing bodies to the wall. Rue fired frost shrapnel up multiple times already and helped relieve the shieldbearer's burden; the cane helped a lot. But now he decided to forgo it to strengthen their defense… It's like watching a mini zombie apocalypse happening. One chef managed to climb atop the shield, inserting itself like a snake. One warrior stabbed it with a dagger as he struggled to keep his shield in place. Romero meanwhile, jabbed with a small sword and kept his body large to cover for the other two.

  Had it not been for Romero armor and Rue’s constant Frost Shrapnel… They would have died already.

  “Archer focuses on any that climbs on top of them!” Rue ordered, and he swiftly heard their response. “And Mages, we are pushing up the line! Shot fast spell now, I will kill any that got close!”

  The Mages shouted a ‘yes, sir’. And Rue hated how pretty much half of them sounded like a scared bunny.

  He sliced at two chefs, and both managed to step back completely avoiding his strike. Rue clicked his tongue. Now they’re learning. Following the slight gap in his attack, one chef lunged, entering Rue defense. It sliced across Rue’s gut, drawing a sharp blood.

  Rue gasped at the pain. He smashed his pommel into the chef, sending it falling. His body is now overworking to counter its poison. The other Chef took advantage. They began charging uncaring to his obvious high-ground advantage.

  Curing at the pain. He stepped back. Sweeping his sword in a spiral, killing one and letting two fall. He riposted with a jab, which was a mistake. He killed another one, but his sword got stuck in the chef's gut. He let go of his ice sword, and it fell into a cold vapor.

  You have Slain Chef. Lvl 32

  You have Slain Chef. Lvl 31

  Two chefs jumped up and stabbed their four knives into Rue. Sharp jabbing pain crept on his body; he let out a scream, and the mages behind him shouted after him. But, this is what his body was built for, Will of Steel and heart of Tundra had kept him alive when the Plague Doctor should have killed him already. And now he has Poison immunity, this knife is merely just a toy sword.

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  Rue whipped his hand, crushing one Chef's nose. He whirled and summoned another FrostBite Sword. Cleaving the other in a fountain of blood.

  You have Slain Chef. Lvl 31

  Rue let out a war cry. Euphoria pulsing inside of him. “Forward!” He ordered. Taking a step down, careful of the slick blood marring the stone stair. They did crumble to ashes eventually, but blood still stayed after they’re gone. One Chef, a Man, slipped and fell rolling down, crushing its head, and died as it kept going like a bowling ball.

  Rue blocked a knife and jabbed at one, not bothering to kill it; the archer and mages will do the job. He kept warding off any attempt of the knives, parrying sense, and his sword style did wonders as his arm worked in tandem with his sword. As he approached Romero’s group, the chefs turned their heads to him; some started to change their target. Two dozen charges.

  Good.

  This will free Romero's burden and allow the man to switch into attacking mode.

  Rue spun his sword above him with both hands. Two heads went flying along their uselessly long chef’s hats.

  You have Slain Chef. Lvl 33

  You have Slain Chef. Lvl 31

  Level Up General 33→34.

  Level up Frost Swordman 29→30.

  He whirled his body and slammed his foot onto a head, sending another flying. A knife pierced through his shoulder, followed by another on his stomach.

  Rue bit his lips; the pain seeped in. He knocked his pommel onto one and rend through another. Ice sprouted, sending the lifeless body falling into two chefs.

  Just as he was about to get swarmed, a huge fireball snapped beside him—incinerating three chefs. That allowed Rue to focus on the other five rushing at him. In the left corner of his vision, he made out seven attempted to run up, but an arrow and a chunk of earth shot them down.

  Rue warded off multiple attempts of desperate slicing. He had to step up, carefully not to step on blood. One chef overcommitted, and Rue was punished with a quick pommel smash on its nose. He used the precious couple of seconds as the chef's body blocked the other Chef’s attack. Rue kicked the Chef, sending it toppling down with two others. Then he pressed to attack.

  He killed one in two exchanges of steel and tackled another down. The last one he kills with an uncaring swing as his reach is far greater.

  You have Slain Chef. Lvl 33

  You have Slain Chef. Lvl 31

  You have Slain Chef. Lvl 33

  Below, a man screamed, snapping Rue out of his battle focus. Romero bulldozes the swarm of chefs—sending bodies flying with that armor of his. His shield-blade snapped, the shield metal bent around his arm, and a blade extended like a saber brimming with red light. Romero swung down, and a gust of red energy followed through, cleaving three chefs at once. He bulldozed the rest of the chef, who was busying his two fellow shield men. A heap of bodies crashed down, with the Chef struggling to find any weakness in Romero’s armor.

  “Go! Now! Close Combat!” Rue ordered. He ran down, not bothering to watch if any followed him.

  When two of the monsters were about to stab a warrior, Rue was there. Slicing off its shoulder and pivoting to stab another in its neck.

  You have Slain Chef. Lvl 33

  You have Slain Chef. Lvl 32

  Rue extended a hand, and a fireball manifested. He fired the swarm of chefs ganging at Romero, knocking two off but not quite killing them. To his delightful surprise, the mages and archers had come. They each held a dagger, knife, or even a sword. With most of the chefs down, all that was needed was cleaning. It was a slaughter, with each chef struggling to ward off various weapons with their knives. Even at a higher level than their assailant, the disadvantage is proven to be too much.

  Rue turned toward the two shield bearers. He summoned two green vials and handed them to them. “You guys all right?”

  “Just a nick,” A middle-aged man said, breathing harshly.

  “Same here,” Said the other one, who was wearing an ancient Amain-like helmet. His eye snapped open suddenly, “Behind!”

  Rue turned, he deflected one knife with his sword, the other one coming… He headbutted the Chef, and his beak stabbed deep into the Chef's throat. Pushing the creature off, Rue stumbled backward. That was close.

  You have Slain Chef. Lvl 33

  “Thanks,” Rue said. But the two warrior eyes were gaunt, and their faces turned purple.

  “S-Sure” The old man gulped.

  “W-We will help them.” The helmeted one stood, dragging the old man by the arm.

  Talk about an exaggeration..

  The fight was almost over; there were just five chefs left, and each was stabbed mercilessly, their blood went flying with each jab.

  Rue wondered what happened to Seila. Then streaking through the air five knives flew, dodging between heads, and thundered inside the Chef's head.

  “What's this? Everyone turned into some starving dog while I’m gone?” Seila smirked atop of them. Jessica and the warrior were with her, each by her side.

  “The hell? That was mine,” A mage shouted up.

  Seila just spat on the ground in response. She was examining the field of blood and the disappearing corpses of the chef. “Everything went well, I take it?”

  “It is,” Romero exhaled. He changed back his saber shield to the shield version for some reason. “Thanks to this Plague mask holding charges after charges.”

  “Oh?” Sila smiled slyly at Rue.

  “It's nothing,” Rue said, still holding his bloodied Frost Bite Sword. The sword took in the color of dappling moonlight through the arrow slit. “Everything good up there, too? Where’s the scout?”

  “I sent him to check on the other tower. There’s no monster on top, well, none we can see,” Seila said, then she stared down the stair spiral. “Looks like we take care of everything on this side,” She hummed, almost sounding disappointed.

  “We're going down?” Romero asked as he stood, shrugging one disengaging chef.

  “Yes, same position,” Rue muttered. An uncomfortable thin feeling straddles his body, a high-level monster like this… So casually appeared. This doesn’t sound like the tutorial quest. Judging by the four special quest monsters, they need to kill… This is absolutely the work of the chef.

  “Tell me, does anyone know where the kitchen is?”

  “Downstairs, two floors down at least,” Seila said, a glint of ember flickering inside her eyes. And Rue knew it well. The only other person he saw with that kind of ember is Benedict, and himself. Well, maybe Mey also when he hit her. The expectation of fight, a yearning for it. Rue now recognizes it and doesn’t see it as an insane feeling, but rather one necessary to survive.

  “Let’s go then, Your Mana full?”

  “Doesn’t even spend a quarter,” Sila shrugged.

  “Same formation,” Romero confirmed, as he stood by Rue.

  Huh, this one is also eager. Granted, he was just a hulking hunk of metal earlier. He is probably frustrated.

  “Yes, let's go down.”