Where was the remaining monster?

Sweat began to bead on Toronto's forehead. He was under immense pressure, especially when Alice's mother positioned herself in front of Alice, trying to protect her. Toronto felt like an evil villain, standing there helpless.

But he had no solution, no way out, and he felt utterly hopeless.

Fidel's monster had been just one, and Toronto wasn't even sure he could handle that alone, let alone the more powerful monster before him now, which was formed from several creatures combined together.

Was he really going to die here on his first mission?

In his despair, Toronto heard Alice's mother's pleading and the mocking words from the monster, and he was on the verge of breaking down.

The monster slowly spoke, "Listen, there's no sound of fighting outside. Your companions are surely dead by now. Now, it's just you. How about this: I'll let you go, as long as you don't harm..."

Before the monster could finish, Toronto's furious voice cut through the air, "Shut up! The reason I became a Hunter is to kill creatures like you—monsters!"

When faced with a life-and-death crisis, a person either becomes like soft mud, completely losing their will to fight, or they explode, fearless of death.

Toronto, in that moment, was clearly in the latter state.

The monster paused for a moment, then scoffed disdainfully, "Foolish human."

At that moment, the sound of something rolling interrupted the tense silence.

Toronto and the monster both immediately turned toward the source of the noise. To their surprise, a round monster's head was slowly rolling toward them.

The head rolling on the ground was exactly the same as the two-meter-tall creature standing before Toronto!

In an instant, the monster's eyes widened, its pupils dilating to their limit as it stared at the head rolling toward it.

Ed, holding his longsword, was slowly walking over. He spoke coolly, "I must admit, there aren't many creatures like you with any intelligence. You even went so far as to set an ambush at the village entrance to make sure I wouldn't come back."

"Besides you, there should be one more, right? Where is it? Hiding because it's scared?"

Scared?

Scared of a low-tier Black Iron Hunter?

How could that be?

The monster in front of Toronto suddenly let out a deafening roar, its voice no longer low and menacing. It stopped looking at the head of its fallen comrade on the ground and instead fixed its gaze squarely on Ed, speaking coldly:

"You didn't go to save your comrades? You really are a clever one, but unfortunately for you, you're about to die here. We've given you a chance, and now your intelligence will be the very thing that leads to your death!"

Ed knew exactly what the monster was referring to. If he hadn't sensed the thing that terrified Alice among the villagers, he might have been thinking the ghouls in the forest were the ones responsible for killing the villagers.

The reason these monsters were acting this way was likely to avoid drawing too much attention. After all, if a few Hunters died here, the Hunter Association would definitely send someone to investigate.

Right now, though, they had no choice. Ed had locked onto the most critical target—Alice—and they were forced to act decisively.

The monster that had been at the village entrance earlier was indeed strong, probably a mid-tier Black Iron creature. It seemed like the one before him now was the strongest of them all—likely a high-tier Black Iron creature, on the verge of breaking through to Silver-tier.

The monster stopped paying attention to Toronto and slowly started walking toward Ed, speaking as it moved, "Don't worry, I'll make your deaths look like an accident and leave your bodies for the ghouls."

"That way, you'll be able to meet your companion from the forest in the Underworld!"

At that moment, Ford, his leg still injured, finally arrived. Without observing his surroundings, he shouted at Ed, "Ed, I found the body of a headless monster at the village entrance. It looks just like the unknown creature that ambushed me in the forest!"

"Ed..."

Only then did Ford notice the monster's head on the ground. Realization hit him, and he suddenly turned back to look at Ed.

It had only been a short time since he had left the site where the ghouls had died, so was it possible that Ed had killed another monster in such a short time? He hadn't heard a sound while following behind. Was it a one-hit kill?

Ford wasn't the only one shocked. The monster, which had just been planning to kill Ed, was now staring at Ford with wide eyes, unable to speak.

This Hunter, injured in the leg, was the one from the forest?

Hadn't he already died under the attack of over thirty ghouls? How was he still alive?

Could it be that the silence earlier didn't mean the Hunter had died, but that all the ghouls had been killed instead?

Impossible, it's simply impossible. Even for it, facing so many ghouls would take a considerable amount of time to clear them out. Could it be that the Hunter who threw the head of its comrade earlier is a Silver-tier Hunter?

At this thought, the monster that had been slowly advancing toward Ed suddenly stopped. It was about to speak, but then paused and, without saying a word, rushed directly toward Ed.

At the same time, another monster appeared on the village square. Ford immediately shouted, "That's it! That's the one that ambushed me in the forest!"

The two monsters rushed toward Ed without hesitation. Toronto, who had been standing next to the cage, gripping his steel sword, immediately moved to support Ed.

Faced with the encirclement of two monsters, Ed took a deep breath and activated his Hunter's senses to their maximum. His mind felt a little strange at this moment.

Earlier, when Fidel's monster-formed ambush occurred under the tree near the warehouse, his Killer Intent Perception had sensed Fidel's murderous intent.

But now, neither the monster standing before Toronto nor the one that had just appeared behind him could trigger his Killer Intent Perception.

Maybe it was because Fidel was still alive when the creature inside him attacked, wanting to kill him? And now, these two monsters were different from Fidel?

Ed didn't have time to think carefully about it, because by this point, the two monsters had reached him, charging at him with their nearly two-meter-tall frames, resembling rhinos as they came at him with brute force.

Ed slightly bent his legs and jumped high, flipping in the air while precisely striking one of the monsters in the neck with his steel sword.

As Ed's body fell from the air, his steel sword was pulled out of the monster's body, and bright red blood immediately gushed out, staining the ground.

Normally, a monster would show some kind of reaction at this point, such as pain or anger. However, the monster that Ed had struck seemed unaffected by pain. It simply turned around and, together with its companion, continued charging toward Ed.

While dodging, Ed used his steel sword to continue making deep cuts on the monster's body.

Meanwhile, Toronto joined the battle. Although his strength was only at the low-tier Black Iron level, the two monsters' focus was entirely on Ed, and they paid little attention to his attacks.

Unfortunately, Toronto's sword was just an ordinary steel sword. Even when he found an opportunity to strike the monster, the creature's rocky-like armor covering its body prevented any real damage.

Ed continued to use his steel sword to inflict blow after blow on the two monsters.

His mastery of swordsmanship allowed Ed to effectively counterattack while dodging the monsters' strikes. His body remained untouched, and throughout the entire battle, the monsters were unable to even graze the hem of his clothes.

Soon, two piercing howls rang out, and the two monsters, both around two meters tall and covered in black armor-like substance, finally fell to the ground.

Toronto and Ford quickly rushed over, shouting in excitement, "They're dead! They're dead! Ed, you're amazing!"

Ford, still shaken, looked down at the wound on his leg. He then glanced at Ed, who was standing still, seemingly lost in thought. With a complicated expression, he said to Ed, "Thank you. If it weren't for you, I would've died from the ghouls' attack just now."

Toronto looked at Ford curiously and asked the question he had been wanting to ask all along, "Ford, what happened in the forest? Why were you there for so long? And how did you get ambushed by a monster?"

Ford awkwardly scratched the back of his head, closed his mouth, and didn't answer.

He couldn't exactly admit he'd been slacking off, roasting rabbit meat.

At that moment, the villagers, who had been hiding, slowly began to emerge from their hiding spots after seeing that the monsters on the ground were completely motionless.

Some villagers had hidden behind trees, others among piles of random debris. The limping old village chief's voice suddenly came from a well in the village, shouting, "Someone, help! The rope broke, and I can't get out!"

When the villagers hurriedly rescued the old village chief from the well, Alice's mother had already managed to pull Alice out of the iron cage.

She held Alice tightly, gently patting her back while comforting her, "It's okay, darling. The monsters are dead now. Look, it was the Hunter who killed them all. No more monsters will ever come to the village again."

Upon hearing her mother's words, Alice slowly peeked her head out. She didn't look at the dead monsters on the ground but instead turned her gaze to Ed.

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