Azaroth saw exactly what the monster was doing. The defensive mechanism that was moving is sometimes simple, but what made him hesitate was the wide-range ability that the monster used when it was hunting.

’Can’t it use the wide-range attack because we are fighting it in close combat, or there’s another reason?’ That’s why Azaroth was waiting to see if it was going to pull a new trick out, but the monster did no such thing. And so Azaroth smiled. "I don’t like tricks unless I’m the one doing it!"

From what he observed, the slimes that surrounded it made it able to kind of slide around space. To ordinary eyes, it’ll look as if it was there now and wasn’t the next second.

The only way to defeat this is to block all the places it could slide to and finish it off. He has to do this and forget about its wide range of abilities.

"Begin to close the circle," Azaroth said.

They heard him and began to act; Alex drove in, sending his lightning arrow around the monster, not targeting it directly but moving it backward while Stallus and Catena did so as well, sending their attacks faster and sharper, confusing it while they moved in.

Azaroth did a rough calculation, the weakest place in their formation is Catena’s side since he couldn’t use any powerful skills in this Crypt, but only his weapon. Besides, Catena is a close combat type. He’s not suited for a monster like this.

"Stallus, you’ll have to cover for Catena as well. But the three of you should drive that monster towards me!" Azaroth said, his red eyes shining.

The team obeyed. They began to move seamlessly and attack in a way that drove the monster forward. Azaroth also stopped the attack so the monster could think of his side as the only way to escape.

But while the monster might not have intelligence, it had something – instincts. It knew that the Azaroth area was a no-go. It knew he was the most powerful, and it avoided him like a plague.

Azaroth was very patient and he waited without making any move while the others bombarded it with attacks. Finally, it couldn’t handle it anymore, and the monster turned towards him and then shot forward.

He let it get close, and then Azaroth flung himself forward, his essence-forged legs carrying him up toward the monster’s head. It attacked him with claws, but he slapped it away with his sword.

Then Azaroth used a single trap, he left an opening in his left side and attacked with his sword on the right. As predicted, the monster slid into the left area straight into his left hand. It was a brief touch but Azaroth made the most of it as he sent essence to the formation in his mind. "Ember strike."

A concentrated beam of fire blasted out of his right hand, a shockwave of scorching fire that hit like a fiery punch. The monster let out a loud yowl and flinched back, staggering, and that was when Azaroth finished it with a single slash to the chest.

But the monster didn’t die immediately; just before it died, it finally used its wide-range ability. Fortunately for Azaroth, its horned head was facing him when it did.

The air shuddered, and then Alex, who was jumping and punching the air with his fist, wasn’t there again. He was now far away.

Azaroth nodded with satisfaction to himself. ’The monster isn’t powerful but it’s canny and a good hunter. Too bad I’m part of those it met’

"Ah! I’m drained! If you don’t come up with that plan, we’ll have to just use our skills until our cores are dry, and then it’ll finish us off. Not a bad plan for a monster." Stallus said.

Azaroth agreed, but he didn’t say anything; he walked towards the body of the monster to study it, and that was when he saw it, a faint silver glow that surrounded something black.

"Shouldn’t we look for Alex?" Catena asked.

"He’ll find his way here; we just have to wait for him, right? He was sent that way. We’ll just wait."

Azaroth ignored them and used his sword to inspect the black material. It turns out to be a black cloak; he crouched and lifted it spreading it to see. It’s a black cloak with a hood; it’s made from the same materials as the monster’s skin and slime.

"Is that a loot? Like Catena’s sword?" Stallus asked excitedly.

Azaroth doubted that, but instead of saying anything, he simply stretched out his hand and gave it to her to check.

She and Catena exclaimed over it and they discovered that they could inject their essence into it. But because they were low on it they returned it to him.

"I don’t want to activate it without knowing what it does." She shrugged, her blue eyes sharp as she studied the material. "But I think it’ll have something to do with the monster’s power."

Azaroth took the cloak and stored it in his ring. "We wait for Alex." He said then he sat down beside the wall and began to absorb the essence.

Stallus sighed and followed suit while Catena first munched on roasted monster meat before doing anything. It took at least an hour for Alex to make it back to them and he was scowling all the way.

"I’m not the one that killed you, so why did you target me!" He said angrily and kicked the monster’s body with his leg. "I have to absorb my essence as fast as I can, and I even lose some!"

No one replied to his ranting, and once they finished, they stood up and started walking until Azaroth stopped suddenly. "It’s going to take at least two hours to make it out of here. Since we’ve recovered then let’s run."

They covered their feet in essence, and then boom! They began to speed in the darkness, each step taking them several feet forward.