After a short journey, the two treasure seekers reached the spot marked on the map. The map had led them to a huge mountain peak surrounded by a few smaller peaks.

Ikasa saw numerous brightly colored energy spots shining on the grayish mountain range. All of them probably held a treasure worthy of his efforts. But one golden spot had aroused his greed.

“Such a large Prime Gold deposit!”

Feng Yan exclaimed following Ikasa’s vision. The entire peak of the smaller mountain shone with golden light. Even if they mined all the Prime Gold ores, Ikasa would not be able to carry it in his Spatial Storage.

Eyes glinting with greed, the two men rushed towards the smaller mountain. Their sprint did not last long.

All of a sudden, Ikasa grabbed Feng Yan and stopped him from going further. He pointed towards the green energy blob and quietly whispered,

“Old Man, careful! There is a Steel Guardian Beast.”

Feng Yan stilled at his warning. He quietly retreated backward and observed the Beast.

In the large background of golden and grayish energy lights, a green dot stood out. When his vision adjusted, he could clearly see the outline of the dreaded Steel Guardian Beast.

This was the first time Feng Yan had seen a Steel Guardian Beast. Its awe-inspiring size and the brilliant energy glow intimidated him.

“Fuck! How do you expect us to hunt that monstrosity?!”

Feng Yan asked Ikasa with agitation. Ikasa also knew that taking that beast down would be difficult; even with two of them. Hence, he had prepared a strategy after studying the battle patterns of the beast and its carcass before.

The Steel Beasts possessed wolf-like tendencies even though their bodies had grown as big as elephants. They liked agile warfare, where they could move around but their bodies limited their movements.

Ikasa realized that they only stood a chance if they could confine the beast in a narrow space, restricting its movements.

Fortunately, there was no lack of such spaces in this region.

Ikasa saw plenty of caves that suited his requirements after just a sweeping glance. If the beast entered any one of them, it would lose its mobility and become a sitting prey!

He led Feng Yan to the cave nearest to the Beast. The entrance of the cave was just wide enough for the Beast to squeeze inside. It would be best if it got stuck in the entrance but even if it didn’t, the cave was not large enough for it to move freely.

Ikasa noticed a few pointed stalactites hanging from the high ceiling. There were also stalagmites on the ground, spread like a thorny trap. These natural features would injure the Steel Beast if it was not careful.

The two men quietly reached the end of the cave and finished surveying it. They had managed to avoid the beast’s attention so far. Breathing a sigh of relief, Ikasa began to explain the weaknesses and the strengths of the Beast to Feng Yan.

“Old Man, the metal limbs are very hard and impossible to damage. No matter how hard you strike, you will not be able to leave a dent on them. So focus on the softer and natural parts that shine with green, okay? “

Ikasa implored Feng Yan.

“If you find a chance to attack its eyes, take the shot. It is probably the fastest way to end the battle.”

After relaying his instructions, Ikasa took a deep breath. It was his turn to act.

He stealthily crept to the Steel Beast’s location. The green energy dot representing the Beast was constantly moving about in the limited small area.

Ikasa realized that the beast was guarding something. He did not have the capability to approach nearer and determine what treasure it was protecting.

‘Anyways, once I take care of this Beast, whatever it is guarding will be mine.’

He smiled deviously and picked up a small rock. He was close enough to make the Steel Beast feel the threat, but far enough that the beast would not immediately catch up with him.

He flung the rock at the Green energy spot representing the Beast. The rock bounced on the ground once before colliding with the metal paws of the beast with a tungk.

The Steel Guardian Beast paused. It looked at the small pebble and then surveyed its surroundings vigilantly.

Suddenly, Ikasa felt its red eyes stop on him.

‘It has discovered me!’

Ikasa slowly moved his foot back, ready to run. A second later, he heard an angry howl and the Beast pounced in his direction. Ikasa immediately turned tail and activated his movement technique.

As he ran, he jumped over a smaller rock and sidestepped a crack almost instinctively. The top-grade technique, Wind the Way, showed its might as he skillfully weaved through the obstacles in his path.

“Awoo!”

The steel beast howled as he almost caught up with Ikasa. Had it not been for his mastery over the movement technique, Ikasa would have fallen prey to the Steel Wolf long ago.

‘Just a few more steps!’

Ikasa encouraged himself as he saw the cave and Feng Yan’s ochre yellow outline get closer and closer. Without his notice, the Beast had closed the distance. It was just a few feet away from him.

Suddenly, Ikasa felt danger. He crouched mid-sprint as the giant beast leaped over his head, missing it by just a hair’s breadth. The beast stood between him and the cave a few feet away.

‘Damn it! This was not supposed to happen.’

Ikasa had overestimated his speed and had not taken the terrain into account. The numerous obstacles had hindered Ikasa but not the beast. Still, he did not lose his composure.

He could already see Feng Yan’s figure coming out of the cave. The beast was also still for some reason and had not attacked Ikasa yet.

Ikasa took out the ax from his Spatial storage and held it with both his hands. He quietly tried to take a step backward, only to see the energy of the beast flare.

‘It was preparing an energy attack!’

The realization struck Ikasa and he dived to his left. A claw flashing with green light smacked the place where he stood a second ago.

Ikasa felt cold sweat drip down his back. At this moment, he heard a most welcome shout.

“You imbecile beast! You are courting death!”

Feng Yan’s shout attracted the Beast’s attention. He didn’t care that his shout could attract other beasts in the vicinity as well. Rather, saving Ikasa was more important than being cautious.

The Beast abandoned the fallen Ikasa and looked at its offender. Feng Yan was standing at the entrance to the cave with a tight grip on his Halberd.

The Steel Wolf bared its fangs at Feng Yan and walked toward him with a steady gait. Each time it moved its limbs, discordant sounds came from its movements.

Thump! Thunk! Thump! Thunk!

This was because of the natural and metal feet of the Steel Beast.

Ikasa could tell that it was exerting its dominance by the forceful steps it took. Because it had pursued him for so long and yet had not made any noise.

Feng Yan’s hands trembled from fear and excitement. He slowly took a step back into the cave as the beast moved closer and closer. Without giving any warning, it pounced on Feng Yan!

As Ikasa had expected, the Beast was a bit too big for the cave’s entrance. It became stuck in the entrance.

The Steel Wolf wriggled its body, trying to squeeze through. Feng Yan and Ikasa did wait for it to succeed.

Ikasa found a soft spot on his behind and swung his ax with as much force as he could muster. The steely tail of the Wolf thwarted his attempts to attack the beast’s pink asshole.

He changed his target to one of the fleshy hind legs and focused on making the beast lose his mobility.

On the other side, Feng Yan jumped and raised his Halberd high before bringing it down on the snout of the Beast.

A loud clang sounded as the full force attack with the Halberd only left a blade-sized mark on the metal side of the snout. However, the vibrations from the collision disturbed Feng Yan’s blood circulation.

He took a step back and brought his body to calm. He looked at the stuck Steel Wolf as he searched for an opening. When he looked at the beast’s face he saw the red eyes staring fiercely at him.

All of a sudden, the Steel Wolf pushed its body forward and entered the Cave! The beast had freed itself!

It immediately jumped on Feng Yan who had attacked its jaws and snout. Feng Yan reacted in time and stuck his Halberd in the open maws of the Beast, preventing them from taking a bite of his head.

“Old Man!”

Ikasa rushed into the cave to see Feng Yan backed against the wall. The Beast was right before him with its jaws wide open.

The stalagmites had already made a few scratches on the fleshy legs of the Beast but it simply ignored them. The beast was not paying any heed to its injuries as it tried to kill the human before him.

Feng Yan could endure for now but his resistance was growing weaker as the Beast adjusted itself to its new environment.

‘I have to do something. But what?’

Ikasa looked up and saw a large stalactite hanging right above the Beast’s back. Without thinking too much, he threw the ax at the ceiling and broke the structure.

It came crashing down on the back of the Beast. The stony stalactite managed to pierce through, making the beast howled in pain.

The desperate Steel Wolf jumped against the walls and turned to face the entrance. It was preparing to flee from this dangerous location but Ikasa stood in its way.

‘Uh Oh!’

Ikasa searched for anything that he could throw at the wolf and buy himself a few seconds to get out of its way. The Serrated Sun Disc appeared in his hands.

As a last resort, Ikasa launched the Disc at the Steel Beast’s face. The disc sliced through its eye as if slicing through butter and embedded itself in the Beast’s brain!

“Huh?”

Ikasa was shocked by the attack power displayed by the disc. He could not believe it sliced through the metal coatings on the wolf so easily!

Just then the giant body fell sideways and crashed into the wall. Ikasa heard a familiar buzzing sound. Hearing the sound, he retreated a few steps and went outside the cave.

He heard a boom muffled by the Beast’s head. Ikasa looked at the exploded head and sighed with dismay.

“Fucking hell! This Brain also exploded!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep