After killing some [chimera snakes] and walking for another 15 minutes, we arrived at the centre of the cave, where a massive monster guarded the large rock, behind which was the entrance to the cave's innermost area.

The monster was a hideous green scaled snake with a white goat head that stood about 6 metres tall and towered over us all.

It was most likely the final and most powerful creature in this nest, but I knew for a fact that our party could certainly defeat this monster, and only once the monster was killed would the real battle begin.

The captain gave the order, and everyone took their positions to form the formation.

I was in the back, behind the healer, with the magician buffing the other team members, the two swordsmen in front, and the scout hiding and trying to attack the monster in secret.

The monster noticed the captain and swung his tail at him, but the captain gracefully jumped up and avoided it. The other swordsman used this opportunity to attack the monster, but his attack only scratched the monsters' hard scales.

~Screech!

His attack only irritated the monster, who began swinging his tail randomly, in all directions. Meanwhile, the magician and scout were attacking the monster's head from a long distance, providing the two swordsmen with cover and opportunities to inflict more damage on the monster.

I watched as everyone fought with everything they had. 

Normally, porters are used as live bait or as a distraction in front of monsters, but I was really lucky today to get such a good team...  or not, these guys probably just haven't blended in with the slayers world yet.

When one of the swordsmen was hit, the healer would immediately cast healing magic on them.

The monster also spat acid on occasion, but a timely counter from the magician and scout from a distance always forced it to close its mouth.

The fight lasted about 20 minutes before the Monster was defeated. Everyone was pretty tired, so we took a short break, and I distributed water and a small snack to everyone, pretending to be a naive and caring porter.

After a few moments of rest, the captain and scout stood up and moved towards the large rock, inviting others to join them in pushing it. The mage stood up first, followed by the rest of us.

The rock was heavier than it looked and everyone had to push very hard before we were able to successfully move it.

Glancing around, all I could see was a huge cave that I couldn't see the end of. The captain and the rest of the  team  moved first.

Smiling to myself I also followed towards the depth of the cave

  

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.

.

Letting out a long breath I dazedly stared at the scenery presented before me.

'I expected something out of the norm, but this…'

'Overwhelmed' would be the perfect word to describe the sensation I was feeling at the moment.

A huge towering tree stood in front of me. Its large roots deeply penetrated the hard rock, almost as if it was made of clay, and its lush green leaves made one wonder if there really was no sunlight here.

Right on the top of the tree was a pale red fruit that looked extremely succulent. It resembled a peach, but contrarily to a regular peach, it had a yellow glow enveloping it, making it clear that it wasn't just your regular peach that you could get from the supermarket.

Quickly coming out of my shock that came upon the sight of the fruit, I distanced myself from the team and took out a black cloth from my storage ring that would help me blend-in with the darkness.

Stopping my breath I moved very silently towards the corner and covered myself with with black cloth, leaving only space for my eyes to see. The cloth covered me very loosely so I can maneuver easily without the cloth restricting my movements.

Everyone else came out of their shock one by one after I hid myself, but they were different. This time, their eyes were filled with the greed I'd grown accustomed to.

The same look those slayers have when they find something valuable, but the greed in these people's eyes was far more intense.

They all realised the significance and true worth of the treasure in front of them, but they also realised that the people they had gathered with might not be as good as they thought.

And they didn't let me wait long, as the first to make a move was the captain who came out of the shock just  after me. 

He thrust his sword at a very fast speed and before anyone could realize what happen.

~ Thud!

The scout who was just standing on the right side of the captain had his body fell on the ground with a hole in his chest.

Everyone quickly distanced themselves from each other, although they were newbies but they were still Slayers that had experience in killing, so their movement were all very instinctive.

" Why did you kill him captain ? " 

The female healer who was also the kindest of the bunch still couldn't accept the reality even after knowing the reason herself.

"Why should I not? You no longer have to act stupid because we all know why I did. There is only one fruit, and only one person can eat it; I was simply making things easier for myself."

The captain licked his lips with an evil smile on his face, and it appeared that he was having a good time after killing the scout.

The female healer didn't say anything after that; she had realised the situation as well, and I could finally see the same greedy look appeared in her eyes as others.

The staring contest lasted a few minutes before the second swordsman lost patience and attacked the female magician with a swing of his sword, which was blocked by a barrier that the Magician quickly put up as she was constantly on high alert against everyone.

When everyone's attention was on the swordsman and the Magician, the captain took advantage of the opportunity to close the gap between himself and the healer.

.

.

Although she was the healer but she too had some combat abilities, she took a step back and casted a few fireball at the captain which he easily parried with his sword and before the healer could react with another move, 

~Shing!

he quickly beheaded her with a lightning fast swing of his blade.

The situation once again came to a deadlock as now all three of them stood at a distance from each other.

The captain had the highest chances to win in this fight, but he had to work hard, the chances of him getting injured were also very high,  and that's the time I was aiming for, the time when he drops his guard after an assured victory.

.

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' No no no, why ? why ? why ? '

I was lying on the ground with a knife stabbed in my stomach, bleeding like a dam of blood has been broken. I could feel my life fading away.

My body was becoming colder by the second and my expressions more hideous.

Everything was going as planned, all three of them were having a fight and all three of them were getting injured heavily, everything was going good when suddenly someone came in front of me out of thin air and stabbed me in the stomach with a knife.

~*blam*

Everything happened so quickly that I couldn't even   blink before my legs lost their strength and I fell on my knees.

" Looks like someone was playing hide and seek" The person who stabbed me spoke, It was a male voice. 

Everyone else also heard him and they stopped fighting and were watching the unknown intruder vigilantly.

I struggled to move my body and finally saw the face of the perpetrator. He was a handsome man with black hair, a Medium-Length Side Part with Low Fade haircut, a very fair skin tone, height around 6feet 4 inches and a compact body that was more on the leaner and agility side than the bulky and strength type.

" Who are you ? did you follow us here for the fruit! ? " The captain shouted and the other two also stood besides the captain ready to attack the newcomer.

They could feel that the intruder was strong and they stand no chance against him alone.

I struggled and moved my body in a corner to hide, but I know that it was just a futile effort. My death was imminent.

I watched as the newcomers single handedly overwhelmed the three Slayers in the fight, though it took him a couple of minutes to break through their team-work and kill them, but defeating three injured and exhausted slayers in a fight who were obviously lower rank than him was still easy for the newcomer.

He was strong, very strong, around an E+ rank and everyone in my team except me was only an F rank. This outcome was inevitable.

He was a very young man, probably the same age around me, he had an exceptional talented body and superpower. I could tell it by the looks in his eyes.

He was oozing confidence and had a very different presence from people I had ever work with.

I saw him moving towards the tree, he had an ecstatic expression on his face. He probably knew the powers of this fruit already.

My vision was getting blurry by the second and my mind was filled only with the Indignance towards fate.

I, who struggle most of my life,  worked so hard to survive, to take care for my mother, who never eaten good food, who sometimes couldn't even afford to eat a single meal in days.

I, who risked my life everyday, and even after awakening as a trash who didn't loose hope and still persevre till the end.

I, who finally got the chance that I needed to change my life,  was once again played like a toy by fate.

I was angry, angry on my fate, angry on the man who suddenly came out of nowhere, killed me and ruined everything.

I lost everything today, but I would not suffer alone.

There was still one chance.

I used my superpower on him, the superpower that I didn't used even a single time on this raid.

[ Miracle Thief ] 

My eyes were bloody, I pointed my finger at him, I only had one chance, if I failed then the backlash would instantly kill me, but was there any need to be afraid of death at this point. 

I chuckled inwardly.

I used my powers at the maximum limit and commanded in my mind to stole everything from him. 

His powers, his talent, his looks, his experience, his knowledge, his life force and anything he had that would benifit me, I commanded my power to steal everything from him and in exchange I put myself, and everything I had from my soul to my entire existence.

I bet it all.

I know how absurd it was but it was all I had in my mind, I didn't had any energy left to think what my superpower could do and what were the restrictions it had,  I just had this little hope that it would work somehow and this b*stard who was responsible for my current situation would suffer for the rest of his life after my death.