I Became the Demon King of Lust

"That's an Egyptian Mau, right?" I slowly said.

Long Shui Ling beside me gave a slow nod as if she was confirming this.

One thing that I had kept secret was my love for cats, so the moment that I saw this cat, I immediately recognized the breed.

However, the problem was that this cat wasn't a normal size.

Though this cat looked like an Egyptian Mau, it was the size of a tiger.

As well, it had very sharp teeth and claws, showing that it was very powerful as well.

This was the thing that had attacked us and created a gash in Blaze's flame barrier.

But just what was this thing doing here?

My brain quickly turned as I tried to remember the material that had been given to us during orientation. It had included a list of all the monsters that could be found in this raid dungeon, including all of the rare monsters that were hard to find.

After thinking for a bit, I finally realized what it was.

This was the area boss.

This was the area boss that we were supposed to kill before going to the next safe zone.

But we weren't supposed to fight this thing yet since there were too many other monsters around. That was the main point of clearing out the monsters that were in between the two points.

Of course, the other reason for that was to see if we could avoid it completely.

By clearing out the other monsters and clearing out a path, there was the chance that we would have been able to avoid it. That would have saved us quite a bit of trouble in the long run since we wouldn't need to deal with it.

However, none of us would have thought that this area boss would suddenly appear in front of us.

Both our side and the Egyptian Mau were just cautiously looking at each other, as if we were both waiting for the other side to make a move first.

Now that it had stopped, I could take a closer look at this area boss.

I found that there was a part of its fur that was singed, this was part of the area boss' foot.

It seemed that it hadn't been able to completely avoid Kaito's flame wall just now and it had been singed by the black flames.

That was why it was being cautious right now.

So did that mean that it was weak against the black flames?

Well, these were powerful flames that anything would be weak against.

It just meant that the black flames were strong enough to threaten it.

That gave us a chance to escape.

As long as we used these black flames to cover us, we should be able to run back to the safe zone. As long as we could reach the safe zone, this area boss wouldn't follow us in.

It was written in the package that we received. Even if the area bosses were powerful, it didn't seem like they went to the safe zone even if provoked.

It was as if there was something that kept them away there.

So as long as we were able to reach the safe zone, we should be safe.

After this thought came into mind, I turned to the others and explained the plan.

But when I finished explaining, almost everyone had disappointed looks on their faces.

I could naturally guess what they were thinking based on the looks on their faces, but this wasn't the time for that. This was a dangerous area boss and my priority was naturally our safety.

So I would pick the plan that was the safest.

However, I underestimated how willful they were.

"We can fight it." Blaze and Kaito said at the same time in slow voices.

The two of them were surprised to hear each other, but then they revealed smiles and nodded at each other.

Blaze said, "As long as the two of us work together, it won't be able to approach and we can pressure it."

Kaito said with a nod, "My black flames can even burn the demon kings from hell, naturally this mere cat is no match for it!"

My lip couldn't help twitching slightly when I heard him mention 'demon king', but it was a good thing that they didn't notice it.

However, I still had something to say, "None of us were even able to keep up with it. Do you really think that you'll be able to catch it if it doesn't let us catch it?"

Both of them slightly knitted their brows when they heard this, but then Kaito said, "Boss, as long as we have you, we'll be able to catch it. Weren't you able to keep up with it and tell me when to put up the wall?"

I shook my head as I said, "I can't maintain that state for long, so it's not a good idea to depend on it."

After a pause, I still said with a deep breath, "This is too dangerous. As the leader, I can't accept a plan like this."

Then to my surprise, Long Shui Ling said, "How could we go back so easily though? They clearly looked down on us, looked down on you. How can we go back and let them look at us like that?"

The others nodded in agreement, but I just didn't care.

I knew that there was nothing to gain from caring about what they thought, but it was clear that they did.

If I backed down too much…that would be bad for my image as a leader…

So I had to start weighing the pros and cons here…

If I lost my image as a leader, that would be bad for the future.

So I had to take a step back here and consider fighting this area boss.

After all, it wasn't impossible for us to defeat it if we worked together.

After another pause, I said, "Alright, but you'll have to listen to my commands. Understand?"

When they heard this, all of their faces lit up and they nodded in agreement.

With a sigh, I explained my other plan.

This was the one that I had thought of at the same time as the plan to escape, but it was supposed to be a backup plan.

I guess we are using this backup plan now.