Chapter 424 False Gorgon
'A mere (B) ranked creature is the root of all of this?' Shye pondered as he sprinted towards his next destination—the hunting grounds of one of Messedin Advanced Adventurer Zone's apex creatures.
However, although a (B) ranked monstrous creature was dangerous, it was quite hard to believe that a single one would cause so much trouble.
No matter how smart or strong that darned False Gorgon was, just dispatch an entire party of emerald-ranked adventurers and kill it nice and easy, no?
Little did Shye know, Nookbury City already did so, and shockingly, not a single emerald-ranked adventurer out of the entire party of seven made it back.
This news was the reason why this specific False Gorgon was so feared.
Still…
'That doesn't explain the disappearances of thirty-eight adventurers, no?'
After all, people had actual brains, and upon learning of such news, they would avoid the False Gorgon's hunting grounds as if it were a plague.
Thus, it would be impossible for a single monstrous creature to be responsible for the disappearances and deaths of so many adventurers.
At most, it might be responsible for a third of the total number.
'Then what happened to the other adventurers?' Shye pondered with a grim look. 'Could those party leaders be lying to me? Were they hiding stuff from me that would be beneficial to solve this problem? Why did they only mention the False Gorgon?'
The whole thing reeked of a scheme; however, it was also highly unlikely that those two parties were staying at the safe zones just to mislead other adventurers.
Or…could they?
It seemed like a stupid guess, but Shye was willing to bet on it.
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'For starters, let's see what that damned False Gorgon is up to.'
Arriving at his targeted creature's hunting grounds, Shye deliberately walked loudly, willingly allowing the False Gorgon to strike first.
Sure enough, although it took around twenty minutes of intentionally stepping heavily, a huge mana arrow finally shot toward him.
With his keen sense of danger honed through numerous solo adventures, Shye easily detected the attack, allowing him to pinpoint the general direction of the attacker.
'There you are. Let's see how strong this so-called danger is!'
Dashing towards the area where the arrow came from, Shye activated his mana pulse, successfully detecting the creature a minute later.
Astonishingly, it was…running away.
'Hoh? Did it determine that I was stronger? Or is this a trap?' Shye pondered while chasing after the fleeing creature.
It was fast.
However, Shye was faster.
He could easily catch up to it but he decided to see what it was up to first, hence, he carefully managed the distance while making it seem like he was chasing after it with all his might.
Realizing that the adventurer was right on its tail, a chilling smile emerged on the corners of the False Gorgon's huge mouth, thinking that Shye had fallen right into its trap.
Now, all it needed to do was lure the adventurer to its lair, where it could kill its victim without worrying about Shye escaping its grasp.
How was the False Gorgon so sure that Shye would follow?
First, it had an unusually high intelligence for its species, allowing it to recognize that there would be no more free meals coming its way and that all adventurers coming its way would now be somewhat capable.
Still, it believed that although skilled, it could still manage to kill the adventurers using a trick or two.
It still had some time to "store" more food before the truly strong ones came.
When they finally do, it plans to temporarily hide and allow things to cool down a bit, then, once danger has passed, it could resume hunting and consuming more adventurers to enhance its strength and…morph even more.
That was the plan its chillingly high intelligence could formulate.
As for Shye, he currently belongs to those in the "manageable" category, and that was why he was currently being lured.
Unfortunately for the False Gorgon, as smart as it believed it was, it miscalculated Shye's abilities.
With its current strength, he should've been categorized as a dangerous individual instead.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om
…Carefully managing the distance as he pursued the monstrous creature, Shye finally arrived at the lair, causing his eyes to widen upon gazing at the harrowing sight.
Inside, there were more than ten stone statues of…adventurers.
Frozen on their face was the expression of sheer terror.
Naturally, this sight made Shye's heart skip a beat. He quickly scanned the petrified adventurers, praying that Shirley wasn't among them.
Moments later, his expression slightly eased upon realizing that none of the statues resembled his dearest lover.
'Sigh…where could she be?'
Breathing a temporary sigh of relief, Shye shifted his attention towards the False Gorgon once more, vigilantly advancing towards it shortly after.
He wanted to see its full capabilities.
The False Gorgon, contrary to the expected beautiful facial features of the Gorgon race, looked extremely ugly as its face still had traces of its serpentine blood.
Unlike True Gorgons who were fair and beautiful.
Still, both had bodies featuring a human torso and a slithery, snake-like lower body.
'Anyway, according to the adventurer encyclopedia, as long as I avoid direct eye contact, I won't be turned to stone...'
Feigning a horrified expression on his face, Shye pretended to flee.
This sight naturally triggered the monstrous creature's instincts to hunt its prey.
And of course, the main reason it even lured Shye into its lair was because of the traps it prepared.
Pulling the strings of its enormous bow, a huge mana arrow flew past Shye, directly flying toward some sort of mana-powered contraption at the entrance.
As the sharp projectile made contact with the contraption, a mana barrier sealed the entrance, causing Shye's eyes to widen.
'Humans are helping this dastardly creature!' He inwardly exclaimed in realization.
Who would've thought that his absurd guess proved to be correct? After all, how could a mere monstrous creature obtain such an expensive, high-level mana-powered contraption?
It also couldn't have obtained it from the adventurers it killed because these adventurers wouldn't be hunting in adventurer zones if they had the money required to purchase such an expensive contraption from Manasoft Corporation.
Shye inwardly seethed in anger.
He didn't know what the humans behind this dastardly monster were aiming for, but he would definitely find out—or he wasn't Shye Crowley!