The Porter is Secretly an SS-Level Hunter - Chapter 26: Trickster

Almost two hours had passed, and everything was smooth running. Even though Neban had been watching Ari the whole time, there have been no problems.

The hunters effectively dealt with the monsters while encountering zero problems. And the porters began to calm down after seeing that the M-levels were doing a good job keeping them safe.

They began to loosen up and talk with each other. The porters did try to speak with Neban, but he barely responded, so they gave up on holding a conversation with him.

Right now, the hunters finished killing the boss, and Neban and some other porter picked up the loot (he finally played a porter for the first time since he started), so they were resting before leaving the dungeon.

Neban was sitting with his back on the dungeon’s wall, steering clear of the old dead bodies on the ground. He was drumming his fingers on the floor while continuing to watch Ari, who was chatting with everyone. She resembled a social butterfly.

‘Why still watch the human? I am getting bored.’ Siren asked, almost sounding like it let out a yawn.

‘Even though nothing has happened yet, I still feel that something is going to happen.’ Neban answered.

‘I sense nothing special with that human. I am ready to go, and maybe you can sneak into a dungeon later on. I am starving.’ Siren replied.

‘You are always hungry, and even though I fed you a few times, you still haven’t kept your end of the promise. Also, I tried to use [Almighty Mind] on the girl and got nothing. But I could be overthinking.’

‘Be patient, human.’ Then Siren stopped speaking to him.

Neban sighed, finally looking away from Ari as he searched for his phone; maybe he should check on his son.

He pulled out his phone as he stood up, causing the group to turn towards him. Neban looked back at them, “I will be back; I am going to make a call.”

“There should not be any monsters left, but shout if you need help.” The leader responded.

Neban nodded before walking off; he needed to be closer to the dungeon’s entrance for his phone to get a clear call.

Not once did Neban notice Ari finally looking at him with a smirk and eyes ready to do something terrible.

Neban made his way near the entrance, stopping when he was close enough. He picked up his phone, dialing his home phone number.

It rang a few times before there was an answer.

“Hello,” the voice sounded like Xan.

“We finished. The group is hanging back before leaving. Can I speak to Theo?”

“That is good. Since your joining was last minute, the paperwork has not yet gone through, meaning the company will delay your payment. And let me get Theo.” Xan responded.

Neban hummed as he heard Xan calling for Theo. He could hear his son running over as the boy grabbed the phone.

“Hi, papa! Are you coming home?” Theo greeted.

“Yes. Since I am out, I wanted to know if you needed me to pick up something before I come back.”

“Umm, ice-cream and a movie that you picked without looking!” Theo excitedly shouted while giggling.

Neban could not help but chuckle. Ever since Theo watched videos of people picking out things while blindfolded, he kept wanting them to try it out.

Neban was getting ready to reply if his son wanted him to pick the ice-cream the same way when the screaming began to reach his ears.

He moved his phone away as he turned his head, his ears pinpointed that the screaming was happening from where the group rested.

Neban heard a soft, uncertain voice say, “Papa?”

He put his phone back to his ear and replied, “I have to go, Theo; I will be back.” Neban hung up the phone without waiting for a response as he pocketed it and ran towards the screaming.

When Neban made his way back to where the group was, the scene he saw had him abruptly stopping.

Blood and dead bodies were everywhere as Ari had a crazed grin on her face while blood covered her body.

The girl picked up the leader, who was the last one alive, with inhuman strength as she ripped the leader’s body apart. Then, Ari proceeded to pull an arm off and began to eat it.

‘What the hell?’ Neban thought as he watched what was going on in front of him.

He stepped forward, pulling out Siren, which the sword was oddly quiet, and not making any comments about the scene.

Hearing the movement, Ari turned towards the human, dropping the arm she was eating. The girl smiled as she showed her sharp teeth that were not there earlier.

Ari took one glance at Siren, her eyes glistening as she walked closer to Neban. Neban did not back down and stayed rooted to his spot.

With each step, Ari’s skin and appearance began to change. Her once fleshed-tone skin became grey colored as her eyes and lips were purple. Her hair became longer, reaching her waist as it was greyish-white.

Even her clothes changed as she was in a black, flowy robe. Ari’s hair and the robe were moving all over the place. It was like a fan was on her, creating wind.

‘Trickster.’ Siren finally spoke, even though it only said one word.

‘What?’ Neban confusedly asked Siren, but the weapon would not reply.

He was confused because he did not know what Siren meant by “Trickster,” and Ari, who was human, turned into a monster.

What was going on here?

“Human, your confused expression makes me want to eat you even more. But, first, that sword in your hand, hand it over.” Ari spoke, her voice, that once sounded sweet, resembled poison. And not the tempting kind of poison.

Neban gripped the sword closer to him, “Why does everyone want this weapon? It is mine, fair and square.”

Ari laughed like he said something amusing, “You do not know what it is in your hand. What that demon could do is worlds apart. You will never use the weapon to its true potential. Isn’t that right, perditor?”

Neban did not know who perditor was, but when Siren began to vibrate as a dark aura built around it, he figured that the woman was talking about the weapon. ‘Is that its real name?’ Neban thought.

Even though it did not matter what the sword’s name was, he would keep calling the weapon Siren.

‘Let’s kill the bitch already.’ Siren viciously spoke, sounding furious. This was the first time that Neban experienced the sword getting mad.

Sensing the weapon’s mood, Ari gave another cruel laugh, “Have you decided to side with the humans, perditor? You are a disgrace. I can use you so much better; we can take over this sorry world. After twelve years, we, the top of the pyramid, can finally cross over.”

Siren did not answer, but it did get angrier. ‘What are you waiting for human, kill the fucking thing!’

Neban narrowed his eyes as he pointed the sword at Ari. “Who are you exactly? Were you a human, or was Ari a ruse?”

A vast grin stretched across the monster’s face, showing off her sharp teeth that had blood stained on them; there were even pieces of flesh stuck between the teeth.

“I am Trickster.”

After the monster spoke those words, a weapon materialized in her hand as she shot forward. Neban blocked her hit as their weapons clashed with each other.

The monster put more force behind her hit, causing Neban to stumble back with his block. As he tried to keep his balance while holding the woman back, a hand popped out from the ground, grabbing his leg.

Neban reacted with [Shadow Fire] when he felt something touching his leg. Due to the move, he became a bit distracted as the monster smirked and swung again, causing an extended cut to appear on Neban’s chest.

The wound would have been deep if it was not for Siren yelling his name and his quick reflexes to move back and blocking the hit as much as he could.

The monster put her weapon towards her face, looking at the thin line of blood flowing down it before bringing it to her lips and licking it. Her tongue was black and freakishly long.

She moaned when the taste hit her tongue; her eyes were glistening once more. “You taste divine, human.”

Neban grimaced before sticking up his hand and using [Shadow Beam] to create a hole in the monster’s stomach.

The woman slapped her hand down, causing the beam to die down before moving towards Neban.

The monster was fast as she swung her weapon at Neban once again. Neban blocked it, his arms shaking as it felt like the hit was more robust than the last one.

He made sure to steer clear of the hand that was still poking out from the ground as he pushed back. The monster let up before swinging her weapon down a few times, trying to hit Neban.

Neban would block each hit as bruises began to appear around his hands; even his arms were getting sore as each swing from the monster was more robust than the last.

Neban was close to causing Siren to slip from his grip when the woman fully stepped back, giving them space.

“It seems my babies want to play too.”

After she spoke those words, the ground began to shake and break apart, causing Neban almost to lose balance as bodies started to crawl out.

Her undead army was more advanced than the King of Nrachs.