"kreeeaaa~!"
Carefully looking out for any lurking dangers in my surroundings, I slowly inched closer to the reverberating noise coming from the next junction of this bizarre dungeon.
Since I couldn't see very far in this miasma-covered dungeon, I had to remain vigilant at every step. After all, I didn't want to get mutilated by a sudden attack or get trapped in some kind of hostile environment while exploring its depths.
"Skreeee~!"
"Kreeaaa~!"
As I moved closer to the junction, the monstrous cries coming from the next tunnel junction slowly became clearer in my ears.
...*boom*...*boom–!*
The uneven rocky ground under me trembled from the devastating impacts coming from the clash of those monstrous creatures, causing dust and small pieces of gravel to fall down from the tunnel's ceiling.
Holding my breath to stop the dust particles from entering my lungs, I cautiously peeked from behind a boulder.
"KREEAAA~!"
"SKREEEE~!"
There, in the middle of the spacious junction between three tunnel paths, two monstrous demonic creatures were locked in a vicious battle.
One of them was a bigger version of the mantis I had defeated earlier, while the other one was a huge, ominous-looking hairy spider with numerous sharp blade-like legs coming out from its bloated lower body.
Thick and sticky threads previously spat out by the monstrous spider littered the entire space, tangling a hind leg of the monstrous mantis as it kept trying to decapitate the spider monster with its scythe-like front limbs.
The spider monster was also heavily injured. Numerous lacerations and stab wounds riddled its huge body, continuously leaking out its pitch-black lifeblood, while its creepy array of eyes remained sharp, hungry, and opportunistic.
Both of them screeched loudly, warily observing each other as they tried to sneak in a devastating final blow on their opponent.
"...Wow, wasn't my luck stat pretty low? What's with all this free EXP lying around in front of me?"
Seeing their severely beaten-up state, a happy smile gradually spread across my face.
I clearly remembered my luck stat being fixed at the lowest value when I opened my status screen back then.
Though it was only supposed to determine the outcome of a few rare, probability-based skills and the overall drop rate of items in a dungeon raid, I was a little worried about it being fixed at such a low value.
Hopefully, this luck stat didn't affect the actual 'luck' of a character. Otherwise, things could easily become far more troublesome, extremely fast.
"Seems like they will be done pretty soon."
Taking my mind off those difficult topics, I focused on the two monstrous, yet injured insect-type monsters.
By now, the spider had already meticulously bound the other leg of the mantis monster in its sticky web, preparing to finish the job with its sharp blade-like legs.
The mantis twisted and turned repeatedly, squirming to free itself from the devious trap set by the injured spider.
While trying to free itself, it even lashed out occasionally at the approaching spider with its scythe-like limbs, clearly warning it about the consequences of getting too close.
Taking a nice and steady stance behind the boulder in front of the tunnel I came out from, I silently prepared to swing my whip in full force.
"Hehe, that's right. What a good monster you are, little spider. Now, just a little more to the right...just a little bit more...."
The two monsters remained clueless about my existence, while I made sure to keep myself hidden from their sight behind the boulder.
"KREEAAA~!"
Finally losing its patience, the spider spat out another ball of sticky web before lunging on the mantis monster with its sharp legs aimed to pierce through every part of its body.
"SKREEEE~!"
The mantis desperately tried to free itself in vain, while the deadly attack from the spider rapidly approached it, leaving no way for it to escape.
Determining that this was my golden chance, I jumped out of my hiding spot and sent my whip cracking through the air and towards the tangled-up monsters, who were now sticking to each other like a pair of inseparable lovers!
*CRACKLE–!*
In the blink of an eye, the thorny whip reached the tangled-up monsters and wound around their bodies – digging into their flesh using the innumerable spiky protrusions on its body.
"[Bind]!"
*Whoosh–!*
I felt the whip sucking something intangible out from my body for a moment, before it started to wrap around the two monsters by itself with a ferocious momentum, shredding and wounding them even more in the process!
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"SKREEEE~!" "KREEAAA~!"
Both creatures cried out loudly, seemingly in a tremendous amount of pain from being bound by the barbed whip.
"Ugh!"
My head buzzed slightly from the shockwave from their combined death cry, letting me know just how incredibly painful it was for them.
However, I couldn't afford to be complacent now. This binding would come loose sooner or later as the two huge monsters kept up their struggle.
With the monsters now bound, I sprinted towards them with the fastest speed I could muster with this Demon King's body.
But before I could reach them, even amidst the unbearable levels of pain inflicted by the barbed whip, the spider somehow sensed my approach.
...And suddenly, I was facing a familiar white ball flying toward my face.
"Tch!"
Having no other choice, I had to slow down a little before jumping out of the white ball's trajectory.
But immediately, the spider responded with a continuous barrage of white and sticky balls of web.
"Damned insect!"
The spider completely gave up on its struggle to free itself, leaving that job to the mantis as it kept bombarding me with those sticky webs one after another!
"SKREEEE~!"
The mantis cried out in pain, struggling with all its might to get out of the sticky mess.
Its body was already pierced by the spider's sharp legs in multiple locations, leaking out copious amounts of transparent blood from those wounds.
It was definitely going to die, and the pain from both these fatal wounds and the ones caused by my whip was making it more and more agitated – something that the spider made sure to take full advantage of!
I knew that continuing like this might just cost me this incredible advantage that I had created for myself, as well as cause the mantis monster's death before I could steal that kill.
With an abrupt break, I stopped dodging the sticky webs that the spider kept spitting out at me.
Instead, I charged right at the center of the bombardment, almost as if I didn't care about the immobilizing web-balls rapidly approaching me!
I held my breath. Suddenly, time seemed to slow down in my eyes as I deftly maneuvered around the white balls streaking past me, narrowly missing them each time.
'Five meters...'
All of those balls missed my body by an extremely small margin, covering the ground and walls in a sticky white web in a futile attempt to bind me.
'Three meters...'
The spider started to panic, now choosing to spit its web on the ground all around it in an attempt to keep me from getting any closer.
But instead of stopping or taking a detour, I decided to either jump over them or avoid them just like the webs shot directly at me. The corner of my lips curved up.
'Very smart. But you were a bit too late, my friend…'
"One meter..."
I muttered in a low voice, finally releasing my breath.
Time finally resumed its normal pace in my perception, and I activated the whip's innate skill once more.
"[Bind]!"
The whip suddenly became even more vicious than it already was, once again ruthlessly constricting around the pair of monsters who were almost on the verge of freedom!
"SKREEEE~!" "KREEAAA~!"
Their pained cries resounded once again in the empty cave, but I didn't pause my feet for a single moment. The pain from the constricting whip momentarily stopped the spider from shooting out its webs, while also distracting it from focusing on me with its sharp legs.
Taking advantage of this gap in its defenses, I jumped on its head and plunged my claw straight through its hard exoskeleton, scrambling its brain matter with a merciless twist.
*CRACK–!*
The legs of the now-brainless spider started to thrash around in a frenzy, but I was spared from the carnage as I stood above its head, activating the whip's innate skill once more!
"Stop struggling already, [Bind]!"
"Skreeee~"
The heavily wounded mantis was already on death's door, and after eating the brainless spider's final carnage as well as the damage from my last [Bind], it finally stopped struggling.
*Thump–!*
The whip went back to normal, and their corpses slumped down on the ground.
*Ping~*
[Congratulations! You have defeated a lvl.6 Demon Arachnid!]
[EXP Points Earned: +110]
[Congratulations! You have defeated a lvl.7 Hunter Mantis!]
[EXP Points Earned: +90]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
The usual system notification also showed up, confirming their death.
"Huff... Damn it, what are these monsters? Their IQ is getting better and better..."
There was no doubt that a normal person wouldn't be able to beat these monsters so easily without riddling themselves with injuries.
Assuming that the guy behind my system wanted to kidnap a 'normal', 'non-combatant', and 'innocent' Earthling like me....
....just what was this person thinking?
"...Whatever. I'll cross that bridge when I get there. But for now... Status!"
-------STATUS WINDOW-------
>> Demon King Vanir |
>> Titles: King Of All Demons, Overlord, Evil Origin, Cassanova Of Corruption
>> Level: 4 (EXP – 30/100)
>> Race: Devil
>> HP: 160/160
>> MP: 1130/1600
>> ATK: 50
>> DEF: 50
>> AGI: 50
>> INT: 50
>> STA: 50
>> LUK: 1 (Fixed)
✦ Racial Skills: Aura of Evil lvl.MAX, Uncanny Form lvl.MAX ,
✦ Acquired Skills: Claw Mastery lvl.1, Whip Mastery lvl.2 (New)
✦ Free Attribute Points: 30
-------------------------------
...As expected, I needed to actually damage a monster with my whip to get the [Whip Mastery] skill.
After the last two kills, my level had gone up by two, making my HP and MP stats rise by another small margin.
I still didn't pay any attention to the racial skills listed in my status.
As long as I didn't know how to manipulate and use the magical power or mana of this world, there was no way for me to activate those skills.
Taking control of your mana took quite some time, and I was currently trapped inside a dungeon. I neither had the time nor leisure to slowly understand this power.
Not to mention, my racial skills didn't seem like combat skills by any means, making any time spent on understanding them a complete waste of time!
"Worst of all, I'm not even getting any useful item drops!"
Keeping my eyes and ears open to prevent any surprise attack like the one I sprung on the pair of monsters earlier, I slowly went deeper into this wicked dungeon.
....unaware of the growing swarm of shadows following behind in silence.