Chapter 160: Preparation
"This place is where I teleported the salamander," said Albert while pointing at the ground.
Without Albert pointing at it, there was no doubt this place was where the salamander was sealed. After all, she could see the huge trail on the ground.
"I see. It's quite big." Lilith nodded with a serious expression while looking around the trail to see if she could gather some more information.
"Yeah. Do you want to say something regarding this position?" Albert asked. "Such as my spectator seat…"
"To be honest, I'm going to fly around when fighting this salamander, so I don't really care about the place we're fighting, considering the salamander will be most likely bigger than the trees around here." Lilith looked down, falling into deep thought.
Her calm, serious face showed Albert a different Lilith.
'So, she can make such a face too.'
It was different from the carefree expression he had seen this whole time. Whether it was talking to him or dealing with him, she put on a carefree smile most of the time. Hence, seeing this kind of face amused Albert.
While waiting for her to finish sorting her thoughts, he checked on the horny jail. Putting the salamander inside the Horny Jail was bound to give a huge amount of EXP, so he wondered how he should deal with this amount of EXP.
On the one hand, he wanted to raise the levels of the people around him. On the other hand, he was also selfish enough to get all the EXP for himself.
Obviously, Bonkey denied how Albert thought himself selfish for getting an idea to get all those EXP Points. After all, he did everything alone. Even Shella didn't do much in capturing the salamander.
So, Bonkey suggested he take all the EXP. With that abundant EXP, he should be able to get more than 40 levels.
This level up would increase his strength as well as his qualification in learning a higher tier spell.
After some consideration, Albert agreed with Bonkey in getting all these EXP for himself.
At the same time, Lilith had finished contemplating what she would do in the upcoming fight. She pointed at the forest's exit and said, "I'll lure the salamander to the plain and beat him up there. There's an elf settlement, so I don't want to destroy it.
"And without any obstruction from the trees, you should have no problem in watching the battle. Also…" She paused and raised her vision, staring in the volcano's direction. "I'm concerned with the volcano too."
Albert turned his head around and agreed with her. The volcano had yet to calm down, so they believed the salamander didn't control the volcano. His awakening was the one that disrupted the balance of the volcano, and nothing could be done anymore.
"I see. Do you need any help? I can drain the salamander's magic power."
"Your spell? No, the rate is too slow. It's useful for the slime king, but there's nothing you can do with the salamander. I'll fight him alone."
"Okay." Albert took her suggestion. "I'll just watch from the sideline."
"Yes. If I can defeat the salamander and get some information about the past era, I need to prepare a huge reward for you." Lilith smirked, teasing him. "What do you want? I can give you everything."
"Is that so? Even though I'm planning to join the war after this." Albert added with a nonchalant expression.
The way he put it made the statement look not serious, but this was what Lilith had been waiting for.
She looked into his eyes while dropping her jaw to the ground, not believing what he had just said. "Can you repeat that for me?"
"You didn't hear it wrong." Albert shrugged, refusing to repeat himself.
"…" Lilith gulped down. If Albert had participated in the war, she would have been confident in getting many advantages. After all, other demons could be placed together with the succubus and wouldn't have any weird thoughts in their mind. With this kind of army, they could overwhelm the human army as they would be charmed by the succubus.
"I see." Lilith pinched the bridge of her nose and took a step back. She was too excited about what was to come.
"Anyway, that's all I want to say to you." Albert shrugged. "As for the participation reward, I'll tell you about it later."
"Alright. Do tell me when you're ready."
"Then, it's time for me to sleep."
"Do you want to sleep together?" Lilith had yet to give up in seducing Albert, wondering whether it was possible or not.
Albert looked at her with a weird face and ended up ignoring her. He walked a few hundred feet from their position and placed his camp.
Meanwhile, Lilith said, "I'm going to warn the elves first. I'll be back in a while."
"Okay."
Albert didn't wait for her and had some rest, preparing for a big day tomorrow. He wanted to see what kind of fight Lilith would put up against the salamander.
…
A few hours passed in the blink of an eye. The sun had risen and started illuminating the area.
Albert gradually opened his eyes and found Lilith missing.
"Hmm? Where is Lilith?" Albert frowned.
Suddenly, Shella descended to the ground and said, "She's placing a few traps for the fight. She has a fire element in her body, so it won't be that effective against the salamander."
"So, traps are needed."
"That's just my speculation."
"Depending on the situation, we might need to help." Albert frowned.
"I don't think that's necessary. The elves seem to be helping her in creating those traps. With how proficient they are in magic, I believe there's no need for us to join."
"I see." Albert stretched his body and stood up. "Alright. Let's go to her or exit this forest."
"Understood. Let me guide you to them."
Shella brought Albert to Lilith, who was working together with the elves in creating traps.
When the elven leader caught a glimpse of Albert's figure, he stopped the matter on hand and greeted him with a nod. No matter what, Albert had helped them in stopping the salamander.
Albert nodded back and landed near them.
"Do you need more sleep?" Lilith smiled while waving her hand.
"It's fine. There are still four hours before the salamander reappears. Do you mind if I tag along?"
"I don't mind. I'm just making traps to weaken the salamander since it should be pretty powerful according to you."
Albert chuckled as he couldn't say anything about levels.
After saying all those words, Lilith continued creating the traps. It seemed that they were making traps from the monster's blood.
They drew a few symbols on the ground and arranged them in a way they would connect to each other.
This kind of drawing piqued Albert's interest as he thought this was one of the ways to kill someone from far away. He might be able to use this to complete his Ranger Job Mission.
While they were busy, he couldn't help but ask, "Is this a trap? How does it work?"
"Ah. This is my Job. I'm a Rune Master, so this is something I'm adept at." Lilith smiled.
"Really? Rune Master, huh." Albert frowned and thought, 'I think I should start learning about it when I go back to Seika Town. This is going to be useful.'
"We use the monster's blood as a catalyst and activate it according to the Magic Circle. Well, we call Magic Circle that is drawn but not activated as runes, so that's the name."
"Can anyone create a rune like this?"
"I guess? But there are many requirements for becoming a runemaster, so I don't recommend you learn this." Lilith paused for a moment and corrected her words. "Well, if you want to learn it, I don't mind teaching you."
She had witnessed Albert's progress this whole time and it was easy to see how crazy Albert's learning speed was. He even taught a few new spells that he created on the spot.
So, she believed Albert could do it.
"Really? Just giving me the book to learn is fine though." Albert shrugged.
"Eh? Only books?" Lilith had a bewildered face, not believing what Albert had just said. "You sure?"
"Yeah."
'Well, if he can't, he can always go to me later.' Lilith thought and agreed. "Sure. After this ends, I'll send you the book."
"Thanks."
They then continued arranging a few more runes, even in the plain. She prepared everything she needed to fight the salamander.
After finishing their jobs, the elves returned to the forest to prepare their clansmen while Lilith stood right on the spot where the salamander would appear.
Shella carried Albert on the air, accompanying Lilith.
…
"One more minute," Albert shouted to inform Lilith.
Lilith, who was flying in the air with her wings, waved her hand to him, acknowledging what he said.
After that, Shella immediately flew away, getting some distance from them. She positioned themselves in the plain where there was no obstruction in their view.
Albert kept checking on the Horny Jail as the last few seconds' countdowns had begun.
Before the salamander came out, Albert immediately claimed the EXP and the Bonk Bites.
[EXP+140,600]
[You've leveled up.]
[You've leveled up.]
[You've leveled up.]
…
…
Albert got so many levels from this one bonk and felt satisfied because the result surpassed his expectation.
Name: Albert Gran
Level: 144
EXP: 12%
Race: Demon Dog
Title: Bonk Senior
Bonk Gauge: 12,483 Bonk Bites
"Damn. I've become OP in an instant. Fuck yeah!" Albert couldn't help but shout in joy as not only his level but his Bonk Bites also increased drastically.
However, he might be the only person who was happy in this situation. He was soon shut up by a huge roar coming from the forest that could still be heard from half a mile away.
"How dare you trap me in that cursed place for so long?! I'm going to kill you!"