Lewis sighed.

Unlike the other four islands, there were no escape portals on this one. If there had been he would have backed off and escaped through that portal. Winning was indeed important but not more than his life.

'I don't think I can defeat him but… I have no other choice than to face him.'

Lewis had not learnt from his previous mistake at all! Once again he was making assumptions about Klautz's goals. But he couldn't be held responsible for it. With an island teeming with ruthless man hunters killing for a prize, it wasn't too unimaginable for someone to assume that Klautz would be thursty for his blood too!

In fact Klautz couldn't care less. He was aiming to be the last survivor rather than the best man hunter. There was no point in stepping on two boats in the same time. What's more? The man hunting prize could be considered a great treasure but for Klautz it was useless.

"It's now or never,

" Lewis who was still hell bent on killing Klautz put up a serious expression. He only had a slim chance but he didn't want to give up without trying.

'As soon as the last beast falls, do a pincer attack on the man,' that was what he had told his team.

"The last one,

" Klautz whispered.

*Slash*

"Screech!

"

The last beast fell. Simultaneously all the men in hiding brandished their swords and ran towards Klautz. Lewis too took a run.

"Haa!

"

But the next series of messages made him stop in his tracks while his men continued to fight Klautz.

All beasts have been killed.

First Wave cleared

Escape Portal is now Accessible at the Center of the island.

The Escape Portal were probably the only reason this stage could be called the 'Bonus stage'. All participants are allowed to quit whenever they want. But the real Hell wasn't so magnanimous.

A green light flickered at the center of the island as it rose to the sky above. Lewis's eyes also followed the same. Yes, he wanted to kill. Yes, he wanted to win but seeing the strength of his enemy he was quick to lose hope.

'No need to attack, let's go back!' he finally concluded as he got out of his dazed state.

But what greeted him was Klautz's face. He looked around only to find all of his men dead. Their corpses were all around him, one was even being kicked by Selena at its crotch.

Kill 1

Kill 1

..

"No… I don't want to die,

" he whispered under his breath. Death was looming on his head making his voice lose all force. He had changed his mind… he didn't want to take anymore kills. He just wanted to live. The portal was online. If he can escape from here he can live!

But it was far too late for him now!

*Slash*

With a slash of his black spirit blade, Klautz separated his head from his torso. His bleeding neck was a farce that was put on display for everyone as it shot out like a fountain. His head was in no better state as it rolled on the ground eating dust.

Even his head had its eyes popped out and bulged wide as if it had seen the reaper at the time of its death… no it had considered Klautz to be the reaper himself.

The Second Wave has begun

With the death of Lewis, the system message made its arrival.

***

Escape Portal is now accessible at the Center of the island.

Steve's eyes shook as he checked the last system message that he had got. It is because of this system message that the hope in his eyes had come back. As soon as he had got this message he had stormed to the center of the island.

"So this is the portal

"

There was one major difference between Klautz and Steve. While both are great fighters but unlike Klautz he had no information on hell. Therefore the introduction of a new element in the game like an escape portal indeed affected him in major ways.

But that advantage was slowly slipping away from Klautz's hands earlier than Klautz had expected. Steve had proved it so by defeating the marble golem. He had changed the future!

But Steve was in no good situation. When the bonus stage began Steve had thought that it would be just a manhunt. He had never thought that he would have to fight monsters as well. His body had only minor injuries but from the repeated subsequent fights he had so much exhaustion piled up that he was no longer in a position to even move a muscle.

"If I face a powerful foe at this point, I will surely die.

"

The green escape portal was in front of him but he was still refraining from entering it. He had come so far? Should he turn back now?

He shook his head.

"I will stay,

" he decided. He decided that he would be staying close to the portal so that he can escape whenever he wants. He just had to make sure that he doesn't roam about too far away.

He took out a vial and gulped down the monster blood it had in it.

Devil's Aura 1

"Oh yes! Feeling lucky!

"

But in every misfortune, there is always a silver lining. Fighting monsters gave Steve access to monster blood which he could use to gain more points in Devil's Aura stat. It was a great stat that boosted his strength but after he used it last time it had hit '0', which means that it was an exhaustible stat.

It was then...

The second Wave has begun

"Ha ha ha ha,

" Steve laughed like a mad man. The word 'Wave' alone caused a weird reaction in his body.

***

Author:

Creation is hard for authors. Cheer me up with your power stones.

Let me know your thoughts about the chapter in the comments sections.