<h4>Chapter 20: Chapter20-A Fisherman''s Gain</h4>


    Seeing the space rift appear, Howard remained calm, feigning a look of astonishment as he eximed, "Mr. Sterling, what are you intending to do?"


    "Heh heh heh heh! What am I going to do?"


    "Obviously, to send a piece of trash like you to your death!"


    "Considering you are about to die, I''ll allow you to be a ghost with rity."


    With a nefarious smile, Sterling spoke, "The headmaster has promised me, as long as I can kill you, I will be promoted to the position of guidance director! By then, heh heh heh heh..."


    "My God, wasn''t Headmaster Jay asking you to help me level up? It''s impossible for him to want to harm me!"


    Howard continued to y his part, his gaze, however, was fixated intently on the emerging space rift.


    Once a space rift sessfully formed, alien beings akin to BOSS-level monsters were certain to descend...


    Even for a LV 50 awakened like Sterling, it would be a challenging adversary to face.


    "What a foolish young man!"


    "It''s time for me to send you on your way!"


    Twisting his neck, Sterling was about to rush towards Howard with a fist ready to strike when suddenly, a green Dual des Mantis leapt out from the rift behind him.


    "Hiss—"


    A crisp sound echoed as the Dual des Mantis appeared, its fierce gaze instantly fixed on Sterling''s back.


    The next moment, it pped its wings violently, flying towards Sterling at a furious speed, its mantis des swinging as if ready to tear the very space asunder.


    Sensing the tumultuous gust behind him, the battle-hardened Sterling reacted instantly. Setting aside Howard, he spun around with a forceful punch.


    "Splurch!"


    "Ahh!"


    A scream resonated. Sterling, caught off guard by the ambush, was hardly a match for the lightning-fast mantis.


    Just as he turned, the de of the mantis struck his shoulder, sending sprays of blood flying.


    "Damn it, how could a space rift appear here?!"


    Sterling''s face drastically changed, but this wasn''t the time for astonishment.


    The Dual des Mantis, its eyes cold, positioned its des across its chest, showcasing a shocking strength that seemed to gather from all directions.


    Clearly, it was preparing to unleash a skill.


    A chill ran down Sterling''s spine. Rather than retreating, he advanced with clenched right fist.


    Lunging forward, his fist shot upwards, delivering a rising punch.


    "Strong Hook Punch!"


    He unleashed a burst skill.


    In an attempt to preempt the Mantis'' impending attack, Sterling managed to strike first, despite being thetter to initiate, sending the Dual des Mantis flying away.


    But Sterling dared not take it lightly.


    With a roar, he pounced again, his fists falling like rain, furiously striking the Dual des Mantis.


    Skills were unleashed intermittently; Crushing Fist, Power Punch, Straight Rushing Burst Punch, effectively suppressing the Dual des Mantis.


    Witnessing this, Howard allowed a slow smile to curve upon his lips as he leisurely cast a Divination spell to inspect the creature''s attributes.


    [Dual des Mantis· Alfapa]


    [Level: lv50]


    [Tier: Gold]


    [Description: An extranar spell beast hailing from another dimension. Its forelimbs are as sharp as des, possessing both exceptional speed and agility.]


    [HP: 51000/51000]


    [Attack power: 4175-5688]


    [Defense value: 2200]


    [Skills: Cross sh, Death Hunt, Leap Attack]


    A level 50 Gold Extranar being, with notably remarkable attributes, at least thrice as formidable as the previous Red Phosphorus Serpent King!


    Even Howard would find it a challenge to face it easily.


    Fortunately, Sterling was here.


    Extranar beings wouldn''t care about the rtionship between Howard and Sterling.


    In their eyes, all inhabitants of the Azure Sphere were targets to be eliminated.


    Thus, the Dual des Mantis had ambushed Sterling the moment it descended.


    That was precisely why, upon spotting the space rift, Howard opted not to engage, but to y a role instead.


    The aim was to divert Sterling''s attention, allowing the extranar creature to ambush him, ideally resulting in both parties being seriously injured and providing Howard with an opportunity to reap the benefits of their duel.


    Things were proceeding just as Howard had anticipated.


    Following the ambush, Sterling became increasingly weak as blood flowed incessantly from his wounds.


    Consequently, the strength behind his punches thrown at the Dual des Mantis diminished significantly.


    "Roar!"


    As Sterling weakened, the Dual des Mantis seized the opportunity to counterattack.


    With a roar, it vibrated its mantis de fiercely, forcing Sterling to retreat and stumble to the ground.


    "Roar!"


    The Dual des Mantis roared towards the heavens, its des crossing again as a powerful gust of wind swept out.


    "Damn it, it''s a high-tier extranar being!"


    "Howard,e and help me quickly!"


    Seeing the ferocious assault of the Dual des Mantis, Sterling began to panic.


    But why would Howard help him?


    Whirr—


    The whistling gust heralded the appearance of silver-white wind des congregating before the Dual des Mantis.


    "Fack, Howard, you bastard, wait until I deal with this damned Dual des Mantis, you''ll see!"


    Gritting his teeth, Sterling hastily retrieved a potion from his pocket and swallowed it down.


    Gurgle—


    The sound of liquid traversing his throat echoed as Sterling''s body began to swell, his limbs bing enormously robust.


    A terrifying surge of strength emanated from within him, a force so fierce that even the extranar entity, the Dual des Mantis, couldn''t help but shudder.


    Swoosh—


    With the skill fully charged, the silver-white wind des howled out, tearing through space tond a direct hit on Sterling.


    "Dang!"


    But the wind de striking Sterling was like hitting a steel te, resulting in a resonant ng of metal.


    Astonishingly, Sterling''s skin remained unbroken!


    "To hell with you!"


    "Power Punch!"


    As his body erged, Sterling''s attributes skyrocketed.


    He leapt forward, delivering a mighty punch to the head of the Dual des Mantis, leaving it dazed and unable to maintain its footing.


    "-2217!"


    The damage number surfaced above its head.


    "Heiya, take this punch!"


    As if venting all his pent-up anger, Sterling''s fists swung in relentless session, battering the Dual des Mantis continuously as pale red damage numbers emerged one after another from its head.


    Witnessing the rapid depletion of the Dual des Mantis'' HP, Howard couldn''t help but narrow his eyes slightly.


    "Hahaha!"


    "Just a mere extranar creature! If not for your sneak attack, I would have torn you apart with my bare hands!" Sterlingughed.


    Just as the Dual des Mantis had but a sliver of HP left, a searing heat abruptly swept over, giving Sterling the sensation of being plunged into a furnace as his body involuntarily shuddered.


    In that fleeting moment of distraction, a crimson entity materialized — a dragon formed entirely of mes emerged, unleashing a ball of fire that engulfed the Dual des Mantis in its consuming maw.


    Boom—


    Already on itsst legs, how could the Mantis stand against the S-level skill of the Dragonfire spell?


    Whoosh—


    Golden coins rained down, glittering in the fiery glow.


    Next to Howard, the crisp chime of a system notification rang out.


    [Ding Dong! Congrattions Awakened Howard, you have sessfully defeated the LV50 Gold Extranar creature, Dual des Mantis Alfapa, gaining 50,000 experience points!]


    The substantial experience reward caused golden lights to blink at Howard''s feet, signaling his ascent to level 9.


    "You… Ah!"


    At that moment, Sterling finally realized what had transpired — the Dual des Mantis, which he had painstakingly whittled down, had been snatched away by Howard!


    Enraged beyond measure, Sterling shrieked, "Damn you, Howard, you dare steal my spoils of war... I''ll tear you to pieces!"


    "Kill me?"


    A smirk curled at the corners of Howard''s mouth.


    With a slight mentalmand, the fire dragon descended, spiraling beside him.


    "You consumed the Bloodburn Potion earlier to forcibly enhance your attributes. The effects should have worn off by now. In your current weakened state, do you still think you can kill me?"


    Howard advanced slowly towards Sterling, the fire dragon following suit.


    "Roar!"


    A resonant dragon''s roar echoed, the blistering heat resembling that of a furnace, grilling Sterling and striking fear into his heart.


    "You... how can a F-level trash awakened summon a fire dragon?"


    "What exactly is your identity?"


    Fear-stricken, Sterling raised his voice to question, his right hand discreetly moving behind him.


    "What is my identity?"


    "I am an existence you will never reach!"


    Howard had no intention to waste time with such a minor character.


    Detecting Sterling''s subtle movement, he didn''t afford him any opportunity, swiftlymanding the fire dragon to unleash the Scorching Firelines skill.


    A jet of me erupted,pletely engulfing the weakened Sterling.


    As the mes dissipated, Sterling''s figure was nowhere to be found within the field, leaving behind only a pile of ashes.