The Retired Hero is an Extra

As soon as Jash regained his vision, his head involuntarily turned to take a peek at the entrance.

Behind him was a huge gate that was sealed shut.

'So I can't leave anymore,' he thought seriously and focused back to his front, finally taking note of the boss monster.

The lupine boss could easily pass off as a D-Rank, much more powerful than Jash, who was currently at early E-Rank.

Generally, someone around his rank would have a hard time even defeating (E-)-Rank monsters, but he was an anomaly, having already dealt with E-Rank monsters as an F-Rank.

Alas, the difference between ranks wasn't so simple.

'What the heck!?' Jash cursed his bad luck for encountering such a boss monster.

Not only were boss monsters easily 5 times more powerful than monsters of the same rank, they were incredibly hard to deal with.

Boss monsters simply had other abilities that differed from their normal counterparts.

Analogically speaking, they were basically the caretaker—guard—of the Dungeon, preventing entry to the Reward Room behind it.

The Reward Room was where the first clear reward of the dungeon was present.

It could be anything—items, artifacts, materials, potions, techniques, sacrificial methods.

Of course, low rank dungeons did not usually give worthwhile items, but they remained better than crafted ones of the same rank.

It was strange, so many tried uncovering the secrets, but none had succeeded.

'Well, it's indeed enticing for commoners to try their luck,' Jash mused, believing he didn't need anything like that.

Yet here he was, trying to kill the boss monster and take the reward from here.

Unfortunately, he couldn't take it without killing the boss, or else the runes around the door or portal wouldn't activate.

'At least it makes stealing the treasures impossible before someone retrieves them,' he jeered at the fools who attempted it nonetheless.

Naturally, the results were much worse as the runic formations simply destroyed each other, sealing it forever.

Looking behind the monster, Jash only saw a similar gate to the one he entered from which could only be accessed if Jash could somehow manage to kill this boss.

'Damn! If not for the difference in ranks!' He lamented his weakness, but didn't have an option.

The difference between ranks was much more steep as one reached higher and higher since the difficulty to rank up increased exponentially.

As if to prove his point, the wolf-like monster woke up and its piercing red eyes met his gray eyes.

In the next second, the air was filled with a deafening growl as it rose to its full height.

—RRRRAAAAAGGGHHHHHHHHH

The walls vibrated as the beast roared and the temperature in the isolated cavern increased quite a bit.

This heat was unbearable for a normal human, but Jash remained steadfast, determined to bring an end to it one way or another.

Although it increased his mana consumption, he didn't care. 'It can't be helped.'

Silence took over the cavern as the two stared into each other's eyes, but the standoff didn't last long.

As the monster moved from the center of the cavern, where its massive form dominated the space, Jash could finally see its true form.

It was a four-legged beast two times the size of the wolves outside, but its fur had distinct red, lava-like vein patterns that radiated intense heat.

A single jagged horn with reddish hues on it jutting out from between its ears glinted menacingly in the dim light.

It was like nothing Jash had ever seen before.

It looked similar to any other wolf, but they were nothing compared to this monstrosity.

'No... Something's not right here!' Jash thought as he entered into a hyper focused state.

Despite his suspicion, he didn't want to end up getting caught by surprise and die without knowing how.

The lupine monster was definitely a D-Rank yet it hadn't pounced on Jash already, confusing the latter.

No monster carcasses could be seen around the beast, which glared menacingly at Jash with saliva dripping from its mouth.

It growled, its muzzle twitching as it sniffed the air.

'Can I take it down?' Jash wondered in self-doubt.

Normally, large monsters like this one required long-range hunters to hunt them efficiently in a team with strong defenders.

Sadly, he didn't get the time to mull over it as the black-red wolf dashed at him, swiping its claws to tear him apart.

Jash sidestepped in the blink of an eye and slashed his sword at the wolf's paw, leaving a small abrasion.

The boss monster seemed so crazed for hunger that it didn't even care and swung its claws once more.

"Argh," Jash grunted as he parried with his sword and got pushed back due to his unstable footing.

It didn't wait for him to recover and opened its mouth, revealing its massive jaw, and emitted a stream of fire.

All Jash could feel was an intense heat approaching him as he kicked off the ground to dodge the attack instinctively.

'Dangerous,' he judged the attack and marked it as a must-dodge.

Even if he wore A-Rank armor, he didn't want to test if he would end up like cooked meat inside or not.

However, the boss was no pushover as it was a D-Rank monster.

It had already charged at Jash the moment he dodged its attack, surprising him.

But all it did was surprise him as he used a small burst of mana to kick off the floor and land farther via air.

This time, Jash had prepared a surprise for the monster.

As soon as it reached his previous position and found no one, it turned around to locate its prey, but all it received was a sudden pain in its flank.

Due to the height difference, Jash had an easier time evading and attacking, but one attack was nowhere near enough to stagger the boss.

'Now!' he shouted internally and used his sword as a foothold to climb upon the surprised wolf.

He did not give any time to his foe and attacked again, focusing on causing as much damage as possible before jumping off.

—Rrraaagghhh!

The wolf grunted in pain due to the numerous slashes and flesh wounds, not used to the sensation itself.

Jash also realized that he failed to give any substantial damage as he complained, "What the heck are you made of?"

His question was valid since his sword was a B-Rank artifact he had been using for quite some time.

Of course, his limited rank didn't allow him to use any effects of both his armor and sword, making them nothing more than cold weapons.

However, he did succeed in enraging the boss monster.

It rushed towards him, using the dungeon wall as its foothold, making a few stones fall from the ceiling.

Jash's eyes widened at the sight of the ominously glowing orangish-red claws as they grew bigger.

The wolf didn't give him a chance to retaliate as it dashed and slashed its claws angrily.

It could sense that Jash was by far one of its weakest prey yet it could take it down, making it go crazy.

It stopped caring for using its long-range attacks and tried tearing its prey to shreds.

Jash didn't mind the challenge and circulated most of his mana into his arms, shoulders, and chest to handle the attack.

The last of his mana was channeled to his legs to dampen the impact as he lowered himself further.

'A chance!' His eyes lit up as he changed tactics midway and pounced on the other limb of the wolf monster.

'Worse comes to worst, my armor is strong,' he told himself and went on with his decision.

Luckily, it didn't come down to it as the monster was quick enough to dodge, changing its path.

It instinctively felt the strike would've cost it a limb.