Infinite Skill Devourer
Chapter 57: A Marksman Arrow IV

Chapter 57: A Marksman Arrow IV

The three of them moved cautiously through the dungeon.

Through halls, roads, and all kinds of pathways.

The deeper they went, the thicker the air grew with the scent of damp stone and something faintly metallic—blood, perhaps something else.

Ryuen kept his hands in his pockets, his eyes closed, relying on his ears and senses to follow Yurei and Daiki.

He was still dwelling on Yuki’s words when they finally arrived before a large stone door.

One that Ryuen immediately recognized due to its similarity to the main entrance of the Redspire Gate.

A sigh escaped his lips the moment the air inside the chamber hit him. Slowly, he opened his eyes.

Without wasting time, he followed them in and watched as the door slid shut behind them.

His gaze swept through the chamber—from the spot where he had been betrayed to where he had nearly died.

The walls still bore the marks of his previous battle—the claw scratches, deep gashes, and dried blood.

His blood.

Daiki chuckled softly. "Feels like it was just yesterday that I saw you lying lifeless beside the throne." He shifted his gaze to Ryuen.

"What do you think?"

"I can only think about what I’m going to do to the royal household. Aside from that... nothing."

Yurei side-glanced at him, her eyes blank. She simply shook her head and faced forward.

Then, suddenly, she stopped. "Something is wrong."

Ryuen raised a brow and slipped his hands out of his pockets. "And that is?"

"It’s too quiet."

"Of course it is. They won’t just roam around and attack the moment an intruder walks in."

"No," Daiki corrected, and silence fell. "Do you feel that?" He pointed at the spot right above the throne.

"Listen with your mind, not your ears, Ryuen," he added and drew his sword. "That’s how you handle dungeons like this."

Ryuen nodded slowly, but the moment he closed his eyes to search for something—an energy different from theirs.

He immediately snapped them open, shifted his gaze to Yurei, and, without hesitation, summoned one of his throwing knives.

He didn’t bother to warn her before he threw it—at least, that’s what she thought as her eyes widened.

Just as she prepared to dodge, the knife zoomed past her and struck something hard, creating a sharp crack.

A low growl followed, and she vanished from her spot.

She reappeared behind Ryuen, aiming to hit him, but when her eyes landed on what he had struck, she scoffed.

"Tch." She sucked her teeth and summoned twin daggers.

"These beasts are seriously getting on my nerves."

"You’re talking like you’ve ever been attacked by one," Daiki retorted, mockery laced in his tone.

But Yurei ignored him and shifted her focus to Ryuen.

"Use the bow and arrows now. That way, you can learn to use them effectively," she stated, already preparing to attack the red-eyed bloodhound before them.

The creature had an unnaturally large, skeletal body.

With pointed ears that twitched slightly with every movement they made.

From its head down to the middle of its back was what should have been a tail.

But it lashed back and forth like a whip, poised to strike.

It was disturbingly silent when it should have let out a roar or shriek after Ryuen’s attack.

That alone was unsettling, aside from the fact that it wasn’t supposed to be in a dungeon like this.

During Ryuen’s last encounter with dungeon beasts, he had faced humanoid, ugly creatures with claws and wolf-like teeth.

Not a bloodhound.

Nevertheless, he was prepared. And, more importantly, he wasn’t hurt.

The bow appeared in his hands once again, pulsating with energy that the creature somehow sensed.

Then, five arrows materialized in his grasp, instantly coated with a thin layer of ice.

He slipped four between his lips and backed away from Yurei and Daiki, focusing while they distracted it.

Yurei made the first move, charging forward while gripping the hilt of her daggers tightly.

Daiki, however, just stood there, staring at the creature like he had no intention of doing anything.

That was his plan—until Yurei closed the distance between herself and the creature.

She vanished and reappeared above it, aiming to slash its head.

But its tail lashed out, slamming her hard into the wall.

Seeing as the creature was going to be hard to defeat, a lazy sigh escaped Daiki’s lips.

He ran a finger along the sharp blade of his sword and dropped his hands.

At that moment, a gust of wind moved through the chamber.

Ryuen managed to maintain his balance, while Yurei moved with the wind—

Nut in the form of black smoke.

Daiki, ever so casually, strode toward the bloodhound, maintaining eye contact with it, and, surprisingly, it did not move.

Until he was an arm’s length away.

He tilted his head to observe the beast and then smiled.

"Strange, pathetic being," he uttered, causing the creature to lean closer, unaware of the smirk plastered on Daiki’s lips.

Without thinking twice, he slashed upward just as the beast’s neck came into view, cutting through its collarbone and jaw.

That wasn’t the end. Daiki leaped back when its tail lashed at him, giving Yurei an opening.

She appeared above it again and aimed a dagger at the spot beneath its neck.

And that managed to draw a cry of agony from the beast.

ROARRRR

It stumbled back as purple ichor poured from the wound.

They had left deep gashes on it—enough to buy Ryuen time to attack.

Yurei landed beside Daiki and summoned another sword while the other dagger vanished.

She didn’t have to give orders or remind Ryuen—an arrow zoomed past her, carrying cold air with it.

WHOOOSH.

It struck the bloodhound deep in its shoulder.

The creature cried out again and stumbled, rubbing its aching shoulder against the chamber wall.

"Alright," Ryuen mumbled, reaching for another arrow.

WHOOSH.

It hit the other shoulder.

WHOOSH.

Its thigh.

WHOOSH.

Its abdomen.

And finally—

Ryuen released a breath as he pulled back the final arrow, aiming at its forehead.

The moment he released it, a heavy pulse of energy followed, as he had imbued a small amount of power into it—

To make the damage even greater.

The arrow hit its target perfectly, sinking deep into the creature’s skull.

Almost immediately, the other arrows glowed faintly and slowly began freezing the areas they had struck.

From the bloodhound’s skull down to its feet, ice spread, and in seconds—

it became an ice statue.

Then, finally—

it shattered into pieces.

"That’s impressive," Daiki said in an approving tone as he made his way to where the bloodhound had fallen.

He picked up a glowing red crystal and tossed it to Yurei.

She looked at it with disgust, then it vanished—just like her weapons had—before she turned to face Ryuen.

"You see how easy it is to use now?"

Ryuen shrugged, unimpressed.

He watched as the bow vanished, returning to its place, before finally speaking.

"It’s not bad, but the reload speed is actually slow."

"You can shoot three or two at once."

"Hm?" Ryuen bobbed his head side to side. "Nah...."

"...till doesn’t beat a sniper."

Daiki chuckled softly at their exchange. "I’ll see if Tsukiyama can get snipers made for you."

"I don’t think that will be necessary. I can manage well with a bow and arrow," Ryuen replied calmly, earning a glare from Yurei.

He smirked as she turned around and walked off toward the door on the other side of the chamber.

Ryuen, however, stayed back and glanced at the throne.

He had noticed it glowing faintly before but decided to ignore it.

And for an instant, he swore he saw a figure sitting there, smiling at him with a dark gleam in its eyes.

But he chose to ignore it—probably just his imagination, a result of stress...

...Or maybe the traumatic memories he had made here.

He waited until Daiki had gone a reasonable distance before hurrying over to the throne, instantly hit with the taunting aura emanating from it.

He walked to the spot he last remembered and saw the bloodstain shaped like a person.

His body, to be precise.

Yet instead of fear, a smile appeared on his face.

He remembered how he had been thrown across the chamber, slammed hard into the wall, then collapsed onto the throne.

He hadn’t even been sure he would be able to get up—it had felt like something was holding him down.

And yet, something had always whispered to him that someone was sitting there.

To clear his doubts, he stepped back and slowly closed his eyes, focusing on his ears and skin.

Immediately, he sensed movement.

Someone had shifted in the seat.

His eyes snapped open.

And there it was—an almost invisible masked figure, staring at him just as he stared at it.

Then it lifted its mask and smiled before mouthing,

"Obtain the thirtieth skill, and then I’ll show myself, Sato...."

"...And maybe you’ll get the answer to whether you’re actually human or not."