The Porter is Secretly an SS-Level Hunter

Chapter 38: Monsters in the Face of Humans (2)

The general came into view as the other monsters ran away after bowing. As the general walked into the room, the ground would shake a bit with each stomp. 

The monster had four legs and was vast as it looked like armor wholly covered their body. The general had a mask that covered their face and head (there were eye holes); it even had six-inch horns added to it. 

The general stomped their foot on the ground, causing it to crack and shake. Neban stumbled, almost falling from the move as To started to beg him to let him free. 

Neban continued to ignore To as he watched the general bend forward, moving their hind legs back like a bull getting ready to charge. The monster was staring at Neban, growling at him. 

Neban moved away from To, so the boy would not get caught in the hit as he used [Warrior Shield] to absorb most of the monster's force when it charges towards him. 

And Neban did not have to wait long because once he moved, the general charged forward while letting out a noise that sounded like a war cry. 

The monster's head was face forward; the horns pointed towards him like the general would use it to stab Neban in the chest. Neban positioned Ice Queen (his sword) in front of him as the monster slammed against him. 

The shield's glow absorbed most of the force while Ice Queen stopped the general's horns from connecting with Neban. But, since his Warrior shield was a copy, Neban was still thrown a few feet back.

He hit into one of the building's broken pieces as he landed on the ground. Neban winced from the fall before looking towards the general that was shaking their head. Ice Queen can freeze what it touches due to the illusion of ice, so the monster's face had ice covering it. 

But due to the monster's mask, the ice was gone after the general shook their head a few times. Neban was already picking himself back up when the general turned towards him. 

Neban used [Shadow Web] to slow it down and capture it as the monster rushed over. It was probably due to the general's armor, but they ran across the web like it was nothing; the web broke apart. 

Internally cursing, Neban used [Shadow Travel] to move behind the monster since he began to grow familiar with the area. 

The monster almost ran into one of the half intact buildings that surrounded them before abruptly stopping and quickly turning around. 

They were on the move again, towards Neban. 

As the general was coming closer, Neban quickly switched the Ice Queen out for Telum (his fire bow and arrows). Before using the weapon, Neban switched to a Mage to access earth magic as he used [Earth Erosion x3]. 

The surrounding ground near the monster began to break apart before caving in, causing the general to stop as they almost fell inside the cracks. 

Neban did not give the monster time to think nor move (since the action only covered a small area) as he loaded three fire arrows into the bow, swiftly letting them go. 

The fire arrows soared in the sky before they struck the monster. One of them landed in their eye, another tried to land in its back, but the armor blocked it, and the last one landed through their chin. 

The general let out cries of pain as they started hitting their burning face on the ground, trying to stop the fire. Due to them slamming their face, the floor would shake, cracking some more. 

Neban almost trips as he used [Shadow Travel] to make his way back to To while the monster was distracted. He switched back to Ice Queen and hit the weapon against the wall piece holding To down.

The piece froze over as Neban kicked it, causing the thing to break entirely apart. "Finally!" To happily yells as he used his upper body strength to move back. 

Neban saw that his legs were positioned weird while the pants were torn, showing off To's bruises. The boy seemed to be ignoring his injuries as he tried to stand up, only to fall back down. 

Neban grabbed To, who tried to struggle out of his hold. "Stop, I do not need your help." To stubbornly complain. 

The monster let out a loud 'roar,' indicating that it got the fire out. Neban looked over and saw the general looking for him with its only good eye left. 

"I do not have time for you to act like a child," Neban answered as he picked the struggling boy up and threw him over his shoulder. 

To hit his back like a petulant child before pouting, "I am not a child!" 

Neban ignored him, trying to remember that this was Xan's younger brother, so he would not knock the boy out with a punch. But then again, To was Angel's little brother too, so maybe punching him wouldn't be wrong. 

But he did not go any further with his thoughts when the general found his location, quickly rushing towards him. 

Neban used [Earth Erosion x5] to cause the ground to crack under the monster before it caved in, taking the general with it. Due to Neban using a big blast, cracks formed everywhere around the area as the ground continued to cave in. 

[Shadow Travel]. 

Standing outside the area he was initially in, Neban noticed no monsters were around even though he was pretty sure they ran out when the general came. 

As he wondered why it was eerily silent now, Neban felt To trembling in his hold. 

"Hurry and get us out of her! She is coming!" To screamed as he hit Neban's back like he was some horse. 

Turning around, Neban was face to face with a woman who appeared in front of him out of nowhere. 

The woman's scaly skin was a jade color as her dull-colored yellow eyes' pupils were vertical shaped. Her nose was flat on her face while her ears were pointy. She looked down at his weapon, only to loudly sigh with a disappointed expression, half showing her sharp fangs. 

"How boring. I only came becaussse I heard Mother'sss weapon wasss here. Come back when the weapon isss in your hand, and I promissse not to let any of my babiesss leave thisss area." The woman spoke as she followed each 's' sound with a hiss. 

Then she walked away without waiting for Neban to respond as she made her way back to her throne positioned in front of the portal. 

Neban watched the woman, a bit lost at what happened, and it was a bit surprising that To was not saying anything. But when he turned his head to check on the boy, To seemed to have passed out. 

'For an S-level hunter, the boy is pathetic.' Neban sighed as he rolled his eyes. He walked away from the area, sticking to the shadows since it was the afternoon, and made his way to Xan's house with To over his shoulder. 

****

When Neban reached Xan's house, he knocked on the door, waiting for the man to open it. His shoulder was starting to grow sore from the weight of the boy on it. 

After a few seconds of waiting, Xan opened the door and looked relieved when he saw Neban holding his brother. But it quickly turned into concern when he saw how injured To was, especially his legs. 

"I didn't know if you wanted me to take him to the hospital. I should have asked." Neban spoke as Xan moved out of the way and let him inside. 

Neban softly dropped the boy on the couch,

although he would not have minded being rough because To did annoy him. 

Xan closed the door, "That is fine. Hospital would have been smart, but he would have got in trouble for hunting alone, and I do have healing potions on me." 

After Xan spoke those words, he walked out of the living area and went to his bathroom to get three healing potions for his little brother. 

Neban awkwardly stood there, not knowing what to do as he wondered if he should take off his mask since To was unconscious and Xan already knew how he looked. 

But he thought against it because the boy might wake up any time soon. 

Xan came back into the room with three healing potions in his hand. He moved towards his brother, setting the bottles on the table near them as he opened the first one and poured the contents on the boy's legs. He did not care about messing up his couch. 

Then he took the second one and poured them on To's upper body and face. And lastly, he opened the third one, forcing his brother's mouth open as he poured the liquid down the boy's throat. 

Xan rubbed To's throat, making sure he swallowed it. 

The effects were instantaneous as the bruises started to disappear, and the legs were beginning to straighten themselves out. 

"You have high-grade healing potions?" Neban asked, a bit surprised. Only S-level and SS-level hunters are allowed to have high-grade healing potions (Neban did not care for the bottles). 

Xan nodded, "To gave them to me since I am like a second parent to my siblings. Well, except for Angel, I half believe he left six years ago because he was tired of me babying him." 

Neban tried to hold back his hands from forming a fist from hearing Angel's name. "Oh," Neban said before adding, "If you do not need anything else, I am going to go back home." 

Xan was sitting on the ground near his brother, watching him as he hummed, waving Neban goodbye. 

Neban walked out, closing the door behind him as he went back home.