Chapter 39: Do You Want To Dance?

Leon recognized the monster clearly as the Tier 2 Flamebound Knight from the Second Sector. It usually lived in squads and worked under their superior, who was the mini-boss of the dungeon. With the women of their team out of commission, there was no one who stood a chance against this flaming monster. Even if Leon was also Tier 2, he had only recently advanced. He couldn’t win against such a foe, especially if it came out with its group. But for the first time, Leon felt his luck was good since the Flamebound Knight came alone. Soon, he regretted his thoughts as the black-armored knight shifted its attention towards the hiding location of Denver and the others. ’I am not letting you kill them, buddy,’ Leon thought as he ignored the Burning Skeletons and ran towards the wall to meet Denver. Soon, he arrived there and glanced at the Flamebound Knight, who was taking its time walking towards them. He quickly found Denver, who had put all the girls in a collapsed wall that hid them perfectly and also protected them from three sides. It was small, but a smaller area also meant he could protect them better. Leon stopped there and almost dropped to his knees as the adrenaline was dying down. He panted and finally gave his body a few seconds of rest and air so it would function better later on. Then, he took a deep breath and went towards Denver. He was still exhausted, but he would have to do with this much rest. Denver was instantly alerted by the footsteps and turned around. He only relaxed when he saw it was Leon, but he was still keeping up his guard. There were more monsters around them. His gaze landed on his injured arm, and he clenched his fists in frustration. If only he was a little more powerful, then he would have been able to assist him better. "Denny, I need you to handle the Burning Skeletons," Leon said. "A Tier 2 monster from the Second Sector wandered out and is coming towards us." "No way!" Denver exclaimed and found the situation even more hopeless. He turned around and looked at the girls, but none of them were having a good time. They were fighting a deadly battle within themselves to stop themselves from falling into Corruption and then turning into a Corrupted Creature who would hunt down their own. Clearly, they weren’t in any condition to fight the Tier 2 monster. Now, they were left alone to fend off against an army of undead Burning Skeletons, Lava Imps who explode upon death, and a walking Calamity for them known as the Tier 2 Flamebound Knight. "We don’t have much time to think about this," Leon said, seeing through his thoughts. "I’ll stall the Flamebound Knight until help arrives, but I want you to make sure those undead bastards don’t reach them." Denver nodded as he straightened his body and walked out of the hiding zone. They had to leave behind these girls to protect them. Leon followed him with his baseball bat in hand. He had already lost his short sword in the explosion, so the other one was now sheathed. He planned to use this indestructible baseball bat against the knight. The knight’s presence was already drawing close, so Leon ran towards the Burning Skeletons instead, which confused Denver. But he still followed him. Meanwhile, Leon gathered up momentum from running and kicked the ground, throwing himself high into the air. As he began plummeting down, he raised his bat above and put all of his strength into this attack. Before he even landed, his bat struck the jagged terrain, shattering it in just one blow. The sheer impact transformed the land, making a big gap between the two parts of land. In between was the river of lava, which sent bursts of lava and hot winds. Leon hurriedly stabilized himself, but the sudden burst of lava burned his battle suit on the left side and scalded his left arm, making it completely useless. He hissed in pain and clutched his hand tightly as he resisted the urge to roll on the ground. The pain was so terrible that he wanted to cut off his arm, but he didn’t even have time for that. "Leon! What are you doing?" Denver was horrified to see his state and couldn’t understand why he would do something like this. Leon took deep breaths and closed his eyes while he tried to form the correct words. "You... can’t defend... too strong..." "I know, but this is also practically suicide. Now you can’t even fight the knight," Denver said as he took out a healing potion that everyone had received and helped Leon drink it. The only reason Leon forgot about them was that his mind was busy thinking about other things so much. Leon felt some comfort as the warmth from the potion settled down in his body. He gave a weak smile to Denver and said, "No, I can still stall him. Don’t worry about me. Worry about yourself, because this is only a temporary solution that will keep the Burning Skeletons away. But the Lava Imps can still shoot their spells." He tried to stand up, and a jolt of pain once again made him shiver. He pursed his lips and said, "They are deadly as you’ve seen. Defend against their attacks and keep everyone safe... and that includes yourself." Leon patted his shoulder and said, "I’ll leave them to you. I trust you can accomplish this." Denver nodded and picked up the baseball bat before giving it to him. "And I trust you enough to kill that bastard." "Haha! That’s something really impossible for the current me, but thanks," Leon laughed dryly and took the bat from his hands. "Do you want the sword?" Denver shook his head. "No, I work better with my fists." "Are you going to defend against the fireball with your hands?" Leon raised an eyebrow. As if the Lava Imp had heard their conversation, a fireball came swirling towards them at an incredible speed. Denver smiled and said, "See for yourself." Leon took a step backward as he watched the big guy plant his feet on the ground, raise his joined forearms, and face the attack head-on. The fireball landed right on his forearms and pushed him slightly. It spread all around him before dispersing completely. Denver kept his stance and said, "I will protect them. You can go and do your work." "Thanks, brother!" Leon didn’t hesitate any longer because he could already see the Flamebound Knight now. The monster had finally decided to increase its speed since it noticed Leon’s power. Unlike Burning Skeletons, Flamebound Knights were semi-intelligent, so it could see that Leon was the one it should target first. It raised its armored hand and unsheathed the greatsword from its back. The fire in its eyes was burning with even more intensity as it stared dead at Leon. On the other hand, Leon looked like he was on his last breath with his torn battle suit, lifeless arm hanging at his side, and an exhausted body being forcibly dragged down by something unknown. But his eyes were clear and conscious. He stared at the giant armored knight and smirked, "Do you want to dance?"