The Abyssal Frost Eagle instantly lunged towards me, its eyes never breaking contact with my own. I could only fall back on my rear, just in time for the Eagle’s claws to brush past my face and into the froststone walls of the tunnels. An explosion of rocks fell near me, but I wasted no time going deeper into the tunnels. Seeing that it was too large to enter the tunnel, it screeched in fury, and its eyes and wings glowed a light blue!
Seeing the deadly threat behind me, I lunged past the first corner before me. This time, I wasn’t lucky enough to escape unscathed, and my left foot and half of my tail were simply erased as if they were chopped off cleanly and burned at the ends.
Skill Obtained: [Frost Resistance Lv. 1]
Skill Obtained: [Soul Resistance Lv. 1]
“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!”
We both screamed, one in anger and another in pain. I curled my knees up to my chest, water droplets falling from my eyes down my cheeks, as I heard distant wings flapping away from me. The fear that gripped my heart made my agony a hundred times worse, and I remained in this state until sleep took me.
***
I woke up, feeling groggy and afraid. My eyes immediately went to my missing limbs, finding them grown once more.
“Thank goodness my tail and foot have grown once more.” I sighed in relief, shuddering at the memory of the agony.
Why did that attack hurt me so much? I suffered greater injuries before, but the pain I felt was orders of magnitude stronger than anything else I had felt before. It likely had something to do with that soul resistance skill I obtained. Regardless, one thing was clear.
“I need to get out of here. I can’t take any more of these attacks. I am far out of my league.”
Determined, I carried on through the tunnels, wandering aimlessly in search of an exit to the second layer. Before I left, I held one of the froststone rocks from the pieces of the wall scattered on the snow. I wanted to take it with me, its rough edges a constant warning to the might of the creatures before me. The wall that I could not even scratch was smashed into smithereens by a mere stray attack, a reminder against overconfidence.
***
I began to feel hungry and cold, and yet I have not encountered anything to eat within the tunnels for a long time. Regenerating my tail and foot certainly didn’t help matters.
“Are all the monsters on this layer gigantic monstrosities like the ones in the great cavern?” I grumbled, until I eventually stumbled on something unexpected.
The tunnels ended, and the great cavern of this layer once again awaited me. Hundreds of meters ahead of me, I found another tunnel entrance that seemed to incline upwards. Between us, right in the middle of the great cavern, a large, black circle with four shining drawings on them. They were emitting indigo, azure, golden, and white lights respectively. The snow simply would not approach the circle, and any that fell onto it simply sizzled and turned to vapor.
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“What is this thing? I’ve never seen anything like it before…”
Thankfully, a quick use of appraisal was always there to help me out.
[The Gate to the Underworld]
The Four Chief Gods have created this alloy of unknown metals and reinforced it with magic to seal away the layers beneath it and the horrors that lurk about within. All passage through this gate will require either its destruction or the approval of the Four Chief Gods.
The Four Chief Gods? Lower Layers? Horrors within?!
“Nope. I am out of here, right now. Not the time to deal with this!” I rushed forward, making my way towards the lifeline that is the entrance to the second layer.
As I approached the Gate to the Underworld, I noticed a large silhouette approaching in the distance. My grip on the froststone rock hardened. I jumped into a pile of snow and tried my best to cover it, and prayed as hard as I could for the Goddess of Fortune to lend me her aid once more. The monster slowly approached, its footsteps thundering near me.
[Sneak Lv. 2] upgraded to [Sneak Lv. 3]!
Soon, the footsteps began to move distantly, and I did not dare take a sigh of relief for fear of the monster hearing me. Just as I felt hope welling up within me, it was extinguished in the same moment. A familiar and horrifying screech invaded my ears, and the sounds of battle began! I remained where I am, hoping that my trembling did not move the snow. Impacts and magic were drowning out the snowstorm, and some of them were getting louder. Before I knew it, my vision went white, and I found myself flying in the air perpendicular to the tunnel I exited and away from the two fighting beasts!
The Eagle laid its eyes on me and screeched with rage, charging the same magic attack it to target me. I was still in the middle of the air, with no where to run or hide. My life was about to come to an end. The other beast roared in challenge and prepared to capitalize on the distraction of the Eagle. It instantly prepared a quicker magic attack and launched it at its foe! The Eagle was forced to dodge, redirecting its own attack on me until it missed me by quite a margin! I fell on another pile of snow, but I did not dare remain there.
“This is my only opportunity to escape! I need to rush to the exit while these two monsters keep each other busy!”
I dashed, running towards the exit, and looked to my left to keep an eye on the belligerent monsters.
[Abyssal Frost Eagle]
[Abyssal Frost Yeti]
The battle between them seemed to favor the Eagle, and I ran, my heart leaping from my chest to my throat, begging to reach the safety of the exit. When the exit was a few dozen meters within reach, I fell face first into the snow.
“…Huh?”
I tried to get up, but I couldn’t do it. My left arm was gone, and so was a chunk of my shoulder with it. I heard the flap of wings behind me approaching, and the sound of snow being stepped on. The Eagle was behind me, and my end has come. The exit ahead of me seemed so close and yet so far away. I felt the icy grip of eternal sleep slowly digging into my chest, my eyelids in a battle with me to remain open. A vicious screech bellowed in my ears behind me, and I resigned myself to my fate.
“And to think I almost got away too…” I thought, my grip on the froststone loosening in my remaining hand.
Suddenly, I heard a sharp sound in the air, and blood splattered onto me. Blood that was not my own.
“SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!” the Eagle wailed, impaled through the chest by a large, ornate, spear of translucent ice that was stained with blood.
A moment later, it was encased in ice. The Eagle’s moment of agony was frozen in time, seemingly forever. Another set of wings flapped near me, landing on the snow ahead of me. I saw a scaled, clawed white foot, the rest of the figure too massive to enter my vision.
[Azoth, The Azure Dragon]
Rank S creature.
Further Appraisal Denied.
That was the last thing I saw before my vision faded, and the world mercifully quieted.