Professor X carefully entered the abandoned mall.
This mall used to be pretty popular about a hundred years ago but after the first S-class monster attack, it had been abandoned completely.
There had been many requests made by the public to take it down and build a park instead of it. However, without the permission of the owners, there was nothing the government could do since it was private property. The owners still hoped that one day the mall could be reopened again and due to this hope, they refused to destroy the building.
As a result, the mall looked as if it came out of a post-apocalyptic novel. The walls had cracks in them and from those cracks, all types of plants started to grow out. The plants covered the doors, windows, and every other source of light, making the insides of the mall completely dark.
The mall was built based on the city of Venice and hence, it had a huge man-made lake in the middle which had not been maintained or cleaned for the last hundred years. Rainwater had accumulated inside and half of the mall was already sinking.
Due to safety reasons, the power supply had been completely cut off.
This was a perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes and the most suitable hiding place for monsters. Hence, there were a lot of C-class monsters hiding inside.
Every year, monster hunter trainees from the academy would come and raid this place, completely killing all the C-class monsters hiding inside.
Just recently, another raid had taken place and hence, this time around, there were not that many C-class monsters. However, it wasn't completely empty either.
Professor X tightly held onto a long blade and whenever he encountered a C-class monster, he would split it in half, killing it instantly without making it suffer.
"The light ray is ready to use," Jess spoke as she informed.
"Got it," Professor X took out the light ray and turned it on as he asked, "Siviel, where is the target?"
"It's in the basement," Siviel gulped as he spoke, "But the basement is filled with water."
"That thing can swim?" Professor X questioned with a small frown.
"It seems to be a great swimmer."
"Can we lure it out of the basement?"
"I'll try to find a way but it'll be a difficult task."
"Alright. Try finding a way to lure it out. In the meantime, I'm heading to the basement."
"I have an idea," Stephen raised his hand as he spoke up.
Jess and Siviel threw a quick glance at him and one asked, "What is it?"
"Why don't we burn the entire basement?"
Jess couldn't help but sigh in frustration, "Can you stop trying to put everything on fire?!"
"Instead of fire, why don't we use electricity?" Siviel asked.
"Huh?"
"I told you, didn't I? The wires have been chewed out by rats. There are wires inside the basement. If I turn on the power supply, anything inside the water would immediately be electrocuted. Professor X, do you wanna try it out?"
Professor X stopped walking and sighed as he heard this, "Okay, let's try that. I'll be waiting at the entrance of the basement."
"Great! Give me a minute. Stay away from the water and don't let it touch you."
"Got it."
Siviel hacked into the local electricity board system and within just a few minutes, he successfully turned on the power supply to the abandoned mall. With just a click of a button, shock waves traveled through the water and many fishes and other animals living inside the water were electrocuted along with the A-class monster that was hiding inside.
Upon feeling the high voltage shock, the monster tried to save itself by running out, and at the entrance of the basement, it came face to face with Professor X who was ready and waiting with his light ray.
Spotting the scared monster that was only trying to save itself, Professor X turned on the light ray, aiming it at the monster.
The monster immediately opened its mouth which was filled with fangs and hissed at the man with hostility before running away.
For a second there, Professor X managed to notice the effect of light on the monster's skin.
"Light burns it," Alex spoke, feeling a little proud to have found the creature's weakness.
"I'll increase the intensity of the light ray," Jess spoke, immediately understanding the situation.
"The monster is headed to the second floor," Siviel spoke, informing Professor X.
"I'm going after it," Alex gave a small nod as he spoke.
"This is so exciting!" Stephen couldn't help but comment, feeling goosebumps climbing up his arms.
The monster had black scaly skin, incredibly long limbs, a thin body, and a round face with big eyes and a big mouth that covered most of its face. It had no hair and its nose was so small that it was almost hard to notice at first sight.
It crawled on all four of its limbs and was super fast. Its wings looked similar to that of bats with holes in between, making it seem as if it had injured its wings badly.
As soon as Professor X stepped on the second floor of the abandoned mall, he couldn't help but feel a shiver run down his spine.
"What the hell is this?" Stephen cringed in disgust as he took a step back.
"Looks like we found its lair," Professor X commented as he covered his nose, unable to adapt to the horrendous smell.
There were many human corpses lying here and there, passing through different stages of decomposition.
"That's way more than fourteen people," Siviel muttered unhappily.
Some of the corpses had their body sucked dry of blood and looked as if they had only skin left on their bones. Other corpses looked as if they had been killed and their remains had become animal food.
Jess immediately looked away from the screen, gagging at the sight of the place.
Even Professor X, who usually sympathized with other monsters, could not help but feel both angry and disgusted by the actions of this monster.
"Jess, put the intensity of light on full blast. Let's torch this bastard alive."
Jess pursed her lips together and gave a nod as she got working.
"Professor X, towards your right!" Siviel warned.
Professor X closed his eyes and counted to three before he turned to his right with the light ray on full blast.
The monster that jumped on him could not react fast enough and when faced with the intense light, it cried out in horror as it felt its skin melting away, revealing its weak bones.
Stephen could not help but stumble back in fear.
Professor X gritted his teeth and glared at the monster as he continued to kill it.
The monster's eyes widened as it looked at Professor X, begging for mercy. It was crying out for help but it was only natural that nobody helped it.
Its limbs stopped working, it fell to the ground, and its skin melted away, revealing its bones that had also started burning, leaving behind nothing more than black soot.
In just a few seconds, Professor X had managed to kill the A-class monster.
When the monster was completely destroyed, Professor X turned off the light ray and asked, "Stephen, did you see that?"
Stephen frantically nodded his head, for a second, forgetting that Professor X could not see him.
"Always trust yourself when you attack. As long as you believe you can win, you will win."
"And what if I don't believe I can win?" Stephen innocently asked.
Alex sighed as he heard this question, "Then you're as good as dead."
"..."
"Professor X, I don't know if you're lucky or if God just hates you," Siviel shook his head in disappointment as he spoke.
"What do you mean?"
"Your next target is currently heading towards you. It's another A-class monster," Siviel gulped as he hurriedly spoke.
"What?" Alex frowned.
"Be careful. It's fast."
"What type of monster is it?" Alex questioned as he glanced around real quick.
"It's an earth snake."
"Damn it!" Alex cursed as he immediately looked down, "Jess, is the M68 working?"
"It's ready to be used, Professor," Jess immediately responded.
"What's the M68?" Stephen questioned.
"It's a blasting gun."
"A blasting gun?"
Jess nodded her head as she confirmed it, "It shoots out explosive bullets."
"And what's an earth snake?"
"An A-class monster. Mostly lives underground. Big, powerful, and fast. Feeds on human flesh. It comes out and drags its victims into the ground, suffocating them before feeding on them."
"That doesn't sound any good," Stephen gulped as he worriedly muttered.
"Don't worry too much. Professor X can handle it," Jess smiled as she proudly spoke.
"Keep your guard up. It's within your 200-meter radius," Siviel spoke, raising his voice a little.
Alex tightened his grip around the M68 and kept his eyes on the ground.
Suddenly, he felt tremors coming from the floor and immediately understood what was happening.
"It's under me, isn't it?" Alex questioned.
Siviel nodded his head with a gulp as he confirmed it, "It's under you."