[CH399+ Continued] Dungeon Diver: Stealing A Monster's Power

Chapter 565

We approach the dark treeline, and it's not only the lingering gaze of the golden lizard that makes me shiver.

The trees themselves give off an aura of danger that I can't quite figure out.

All I know is it's best if I don't touch their trunks. Every time my gaze falls on them at this close distance, I get the instant reflexive feedback to stay away.

Even so, we enter the dark forest.

I activate my stealth skill along with my greater form.

The orange threads that flow from my core wrap around my large form while I pull out my sword, intertwining and amplifying my stealth skill as well, making me completely vanish.

The only thing left behind are the heavy orange footsteps that bend space behind me. Once they've made it far enough from my core, the stealth skill deactivates and the threads are visible to the naked eye.

Even so, I still have a window of time where I'm invisible and can catch it off guard.

This small time-lag and a bit of misdirection are what I'm counting on.

I've witnessed its raw power. I'm making no assumptions that I can outclass this shifty creature in a one-on-one fight of pure strength or speed.

We creep through the forest further, splitting up and wrapping around the creature on two opposite sides.

I can still make out the faint outline of its presence, and Ember can too.

Its gaze switches back and forth to Ember as he's not using stealth, and back to my footsteps as they trail behind me.

Using telepathy, I relay the plan I thought of when we were going to face this creature before the island rose into the sky.

He nods and his body grows even larger, shifting from his hybrid form into a full-fledged dragon.

Ember's black scales shimmer with an even darker glossy shine than the leaves on these trees. Orange light permeates from his core and covers his entire being as he flaps his wings and I dart forward while charging my greater form's blade with as much Soul Energy as possible.

Instead of moving straight, I take a sharp left and airstep to spin around a large trunk of an obsidian tree.

The path of least resistance would be to charge right toward the lizard, and the footsteps that slowly appear in my prior path make this the predictable logical maneuver.

I'm counting on it to be aware of this while I take the unnecessarily long path around a trunk in full stealth while aiming my gaze right toward the creature's back. I've positioned myself on the completely opposite side from where I approached, putting it between the golden fruit and myself.

As the gap closes, another factor is added to the scene as Ember bursts through the trees on the opposite side, glowing with flames and leaving a trail of his corroding Soul Energy behind in his wake.

It covers the black leaves of the trees and lights up the dark forest as he nosedives downward to be the obvious distraction.

The lizard lunges forward toward Ember while I rocket toward it down the backside of the branch it's perched on.

At my high speeds, it takes less than a tenth of a second to swing my blade, but the tension and dangerous aura coming off both the invisible chameleon and the black tree beside me make my mind scream to run away the closer I get.

Regardless, I've made a plan and I'll follow through. My blade makes contact with the bottom of the lizard's neck while it lunges forward, keeping its full attention on Ember.