Valerian, The Legendary

Chapter 377: Blatantly Murderous.

Valerian and his team entered the dungeon and began killing the creatures. The four of them have accepted the exploration mission so that they do not have to look for a special beast and will keep moving around as they like. Prim suggested this task to them. Although floors have been explored completely already, this task will zero the risk of failure.

Prim also warned Valerian about the Avion Party, and she asked him to be careful. Valerian assured her he would be mindful, but no one expected his proclamation outside.

Valerian never liked to follow the norms, and he never tolerated anyone to pressurize him. The young man achieved everything in his life on his own. How can his pride allow him to tolerate such hindrance?

The team was inside the dungeon when they encountered a few men from the Avion Party. They did not hide from them but did not initiate any confrontation either. The two parties stood facing each other silently.

Captain wanted to ask something, but he saw Valerian signaling them to hold and stay silent. The young man walked forward, wanting to pass them, when the leader of the opposite side asked, "Where are you going? Aren’t you going to tell me what you would do if we tried to block you?"

Valerian gazed at the man coldly and asked, "Are you sure you want to see?"

The man chuckled and said, "Why no.."

Before he could say anything else, his neck was grasped by Valerian in a steel grip. The silver-haired man said, "Do you think you will be a hero by messing with me? Wrong, the most that you can be is beast shit. Are you sure you want to try even now?"

The man could see in Valerian’s eyes that he was worth nothing more than a dead body. He shivered. However, the people behind did not see this, and they reacted. Valerian saw them drawing weapons and said, "Sorry, times up."

The man wanted to stop his party members, but his neck was snapped in a blink. The next thing he could remember was his consciousness slipping into endless darkness. The rest of his party met the same end. They were all killed before they could realize what was going on.

Viney and the rest have heard Valerian say many times that humans were not a threat to him. The real meaning was realized only today. How he killed them by predicting their movements before they made any was simply too scary.

It was not that they feared him but how he could see through every move as if he was making them. After killing six men, Valerian wiped his knife clean of blood and said, "Let’s go. This place will be crawling with shadow Centipedes soon."

That said, the young man led his team away from the sight. He was not afraid for himself but for the team. These three were innocent, and he did not wish to have them implicated in this mess. After finding a secluded place, he sat down and asked, "Are you all scared?"

The trio shook their heads, and Valerian replied, "You must convince yourself before you convince me. Your fear is so strong that even the beasts can sense it. Didn’t you notice that they have attacked us more frequently than before?"

Shiba and the rest exchanged glances, and the young man said, "If it is too much for you to handle, you should leave the dungeon now. I am capable enough to handle myself. Or if you are still not satisfied, I can withdraw from the party."

Shiba replied, "You are thinking too much. It is not like that. When you said that humans were not of your concern, we did not expect you to kill them with such ease. Do you not feel any hesitation?"

Valerian shook his head and replied, "If I am to hesitate before a beast, I might have a chance of survival. However, a human will not let me go."

The people did not know what to say and were silent. This was the truth. Humans were cruel; some even killed their kin for petty gains. They were also aware of the life Valerian led. Although some part of them was unable to believe him, they could see his desperation to get away from the place.

Valerian did not justify any further and closed his eyes to rest. He said, "I do not know what it is and what it is not that you are holding in your hearts. I hope that when I wake up, you can make up your mind."

That said, he fell asleep holding his knife. However, his actions have already kicked up a storm in the dungeon.

...

While the group of people was resting, another group passed by the area where Valerian had dropped the corpses of the Avion Party, these people were shocked but decided to bring them back to the surface. It will allow them to bypass the failing task by removing the corpses of fallen dungeoneers.

They were all quick to decide, and they moved decisively. After they bought all the corpses out, the crowd was shaken. They could not understand what had happened. The guild staff also came over to investigate the situation. The guild staff told them that the deaths were decisive and all done with one blow.

They even discerned that the people were not given a chance to put up any struggle either. This news shocked the crowd and more than that, it shocked the Avion Party members.

...

Valerian woke up and found three people looking at him. He asked, "What have you decided?"

Shiba replied, "We will follow you."

Valerian nodded, stood up from the spot, stretched his body, and said, "Very well then."

Shiba nodded, and they all proceeded deeper into the dungeon as well. Valerian was placed in the back of the formation because he was wary of the threat of new dungeoneers coming to attack them from behind.

The rest of the people agreed to his arrangement because they did not know how to handle such situations. Their party had always been low-key, but they were all striving forward. They all knew the benefits of getting strong.

Maybe Captian and Viney had no motives, but Shiba was a different story. She wanted to grow stronger and bring down the monopoly of the Avion Party. Her father’s death left a deep mark on her life, and she wanted to wash it off. This was the reason she was always trying to excel in her strength.

Valerian said, "Shiba, do you sense it?"

Shiba was already looking around to check where the anomaly lay. They had entered the thirteenth floor and found that things were awkwardly silent. There wasn’t even the slightest movement or sound. She heard Valerian’s remark and nodded.

Valerian replied, "A beast in the dark. Probably a snake. The slighter is almost unnoticeable."

Shiba stopped moving, and all of them stood back to back, focusing on the sound that Valerian had detected. Viney said, "Look, there."

She raised her hand and pointed at the dark shadow moving around on the ceiling. They all raised their heads to look at the shadow, and Valerian said, "A python indeed."

They all nodded. However, the beast was moving around and showed no sign of attacking them. Viney asked, "What to do?"

Valerian thought for a bit and said, "Leave it be. It is not hungry at the moment."

The people raised their heads and understood that this beast must have eaten some human. They looked around for the traces, and Captain replied, "Over there."

The people turned to look where he was pointing and found a few bags and weapons lying on the ground. Valerian moved closer to the weapons and inspected them carefully. He sighed and said, "The guy is not alive anymore. We should leave."

The party nodded and decided to move when they heard a clamor of noises in the back, "Huh, there is movement over there. It must be them. Let’s go."

Valerian picked up the sounds and moved closer to the team. He said in a hushed tone, "Leave. I will meet you on the next turn."

Shiba and the rest trusted his vision and hurriedly left the place. Valerian did not say anything and just picked up his knives, and soon the footsteps materialized, and many people came into his sight.

The people did not waste a single second and surrounded the young man. Valerian asked, "May I ask who might you all be?"

A rough-looking man from the crowd said, "We are all members of the Avion Party. We are here to capture and bring you to the guild building."

Valerian nodded and said, "Do you know what happened to those who tried to get in my way earlier?"

Another man replied, "Mister Valerian, we all know you killed those people in an ambush."

Valerian sighed and said, "The imagination of weaklings is really strong. Well come on, let me do another ambush."

That said, he vanished from his spot in a quick blink.