endless path, infinite cosmos

chapter 75

After leaving the 10th floor, Vahn made his way towards the 11th without stopping. The orcs of the previous floor gave decent rewards, as their cores could be exchanged for nearly 30OP, but they were sparse in number. The imps were barely the equivalent of a goblin in value while the bats would periodically assault him only awarded 13-15 OP each. At this rate it would be weeks, or even months before Vahn was able to complete the quest, so his only option was to head further down.

The 11th floor was similar in structure to the 10th, except for the fact the mist had increased in density while the atmosphere felt cold and damp. Vahn could even see his breath whenever he breathed so he channeled his [Heart of the Eternal Flame] to keep warm. Using the same method as before, he began imbuing the effect into his domain and started to clear the mist to increase his visibility. Vahn would later come to realize this was a grave oversight...

As soon as his domain pushed back the fog, several white shadows began lurching towards Vahn. He immediately dodged away from the attacks to get a better view of the creatures ambushing him. Vahn was briefly surprised to see they were the same as the monster Bell had fought in Daedalus Street in the manga. Standing around 4m tall and covered in white fur with a silver streak down their backs, Vahn came face to face with a group of four Silverbacks. They were monkey-like creatures with high agility and fearsome strength.

To make matters worse, Vahn also noticed a larger monster approaching from the distance. It was around 4-5m in height and covered in a dense leathery orange hide. It appeared similar to a small dragon, but it didn't have any wings and was unable to fly. Steam was emitted from its nostrils as it angrily charged towards the battlefield shared by Vahn and the Silverbacks.

Vahn took evasive action to avoid being surrounded by the four Silverbacks and immediately switched to his bow. Though he was confident in being able to eliminate them one at a time, there was no way he would be able to deal with the entire group with his current strength. Fortunately, even though they had fast speeds and agile bodies, they were unable to react to the spontaneous changes in direction caused by Vahn's footwork.

He was able to position himself so that there was always a Silverback between him and the rest of the group. This prevented them from attacking all at once unless they were to attack through their companions. Once Vahn had found a good angle, he knocked an explosive arrow before releasing it towards the head of the nearest Silverback. The monster opened it's mouth and tried to bit at the projectile, but the moment its teeth snapped shut the resulting explosion annihilated the foolish ape.

In the chaos caused by the blast, the other Silverbacks tried to move away from their dead companion as a fierce black light cut through the dust explosion caused by the Silverbacks death. The light continued and pierced the chest of a second silverback who immediately turned to dust as the lethal projectile vanished. In Vahn's hand, a bow reappeared and he fired an additional two explosive arrows at the remaining apes.

The moment he loosed the arrows, Vahn exchanged his bow for his tamahagane blade as he leaped towards the furthest Silverback with a fierce momentum. The arrows continued to travel and struck true on the first monster, but the second had managed to evade. The arrow exploded far behind in the mist as Vahn plunged his sword deep into the chest of the Silverback before kicking away and sprinting toward the approaching lizard Sis had identified as an Infant Dragon.

All four monsters had been dealt with in less than twenty seconds after Vahn fired the first arrow. Using the explosion of his first victim, he threw his tamahagane blade like a spear into the surprised second Silverback. Before it turned to dust, Vahn retrieved it into his inventory before engaging the remaining Silverbacks with his bow. Noticing the second arrow was going to miss, he swapped to his sword before slaying the final Silverback before it was able to recover. He didn't want to have to worry about being harassed by the monkies as he fought the Infant Dragon.