“Yee-yah-yah!”
With shrill, strange cries, several Goblins charged at Xia De, brandishing crude weapons.
But before they could even take two steps, they turned into nourishment for his shadow.
Their bones and flesh were dragged into the darkness by black lines, leaving behind not a single trace.
Currently, only sixty-four floors had been discovered in the Toka Dungeon labyrinth. The deepest floor remained unknown, and each floor was guarded by an overlord-class magical beast.
An overlord-class magical beast was the strongest monster of its respective floor. Only by successfully slaying it could one proceed to the next floor.
Xia De walked along, deep in thought, completely ignoring his surroundings.
They were merely low-level monsters!
“Hmm, at the same level of strength, the monsters inside the labyrinth seem slightly stronger than those outside.”
“Is it because the mana inside the labyrinth is even denser than outside?”
“No.”
Xia De shook his head, dismissing his own hypothesis.
“Pure mana alone doesn't boost strength like that. There must be a deeper reason.”
Having said that, a trace of frustration appeared on his face, and he began harshly criticizing himself.
“No, I need to find a way to upgrade my Perception Domain and appraisal magic.”
“Even when used together, they can't achieve omniscience!”
“How useless!”
“Ee-wah-uh!”
“Kachi-kuata!”
“Ji-gu-sa-ni-chi!”
Amidst the dim environment of the labyrinth, with monsters constantly lunging at him from all directions, Xia De ruthlessly critiqued his own magic.
Yet no matter how these monsters charged, they could never get within five meters of him.
He didn't pay them any attention. Spikes formed from shadows constantly erupted from the darkness around him, harvesting nourishment.
The environment inside the dungeon labyrinth was quite peculiar. Although one could clearly see the surroundings—even the smallest details—everything seemed draped in a layer of shadow, cast in muted, somber tones.
And darkness was Xia De's home turf!
Thanks to the bloodline of that giant lizard back in Riri Village, combined with his own mastery of space...
...and topped off with his immense monstrous talent...
...his current spatial achievements had reached the absolute pinnacle.
Combined with shadow magic, he could make anything travel through shadows.
There were currently some distance limitations, but he believed these would disappear as his strength grew.
Anytime!
Anywhere!
The way he had sent his shadow to harvest that middle-aged bearded man earlier was a prime example. After finishing the harvest, the shadow had slipped into the nearby darkness and returned to his own shadow.
Right now, a mysterious layer of shadow enveloped the entire labyrinth, meaning he could travel freely throughout the dungeon.
“Furthermore, the teleportation magic between different floors of the labyrinth is essentially spatial manipulation. Even without using shadows, I can directly travel freely through the entire labyrinth.”
“But there's no need. After all, my goal is to properly investigate this place first.”
Xia De nodded with a serious expression, a faint smile gracing his lips.
He definitely wasn't trying to achieve a speedrun record!
Thus, shadows erupted from all directions like venomous serpents hidden in the dark. Every time they appeared, it signified the end of a life.
As time passed, Xia De cleared floor after floor, and the strength of the monsters rose accordingly.
Tier One, Tier Two, Tier Three?
They weren't even worthy of making him slow down.
Tier Four, Tier Five, Tier Six?
Sorry, but please excuse him.
“Wait, I think I had a quest.”
Xia De, who was busy speedrunning, suddenly smacked his own forehead and stopped.
He spread his arms and leaned backward.
Like falling into water, he sank into the shadow without causing a single ripple. In the next second, he emerged from the shadows near his quest objective.
“Not bad. Traveling through the shadow teleported me directly from the fifty-fourth floor to the forty-third floor. That was pretty fast.”
He arrived inside a tree hollow, where several heavily muscled gorillas possessing immense power turned their heads to look at him.
Ugly!
That was Xia De's first impression.
The gorillas were covered in white fur, though the color was tinged with a murky hue.
They had no eyeballs, only hollow black voids. Their decaying faces were lined with deep grooves, and rotting wood grew from their shoulders.
They looked like walking corpses.
Looking at these quest targets, Xia De first voiced his criticism.
“So ugly.”
Then, his gaze locked onto the rotting wood on their shoulders, and a peculiar smile appeared on his lips.
He had an idea!
He raised his right hand and gently waved it forward. Several thick black lines rose from the shadows of these Decaywood Gorillas.
The shadow lines first pinned them in place, then crawled up their bodies to their shoulders, wrapping tightly around the rotting wood before pulling hard.
Snap!
The wood snapped cleanly, causing the gorillas to howl in agony as the black lines dragged the wood back into the shadows.
Suppressing his laughter, Xia De released them and asked:
“Where is your decaywood?”
Hearing his words, the Decaywood Gorillas stopped their howling, as if they actually understood him.
They looked at one another with their hollow eyes, gesturing wildly as if to say:
“Where's your decaywood?”
“Why is your decaywood gone?!”
“And yours, yours, and yours! Why is everyone's decaywood gone?!”
“Why is mine gone too?!”
“Hahaha!”
Watching them flail about in confusion, Xia De could no longer hold it in and burst into roaring laughter.
But this joyful laughter felt like a supreme humiliation to the Decaywood Gorillas.
It also made them realize that the handsome youth standing before them was the culprit behind the sudden disappearance of their decaywood.
They collectively let out earth-shattering roars, beating their thick chests wildly with their massive fists, producing heavy, drum-like thuds.
The sound echoed throughout the entire floor, and the fury contained within sent shivers down the spines of the other adventurers on the forty-third floor!
Some of the more cowardly adventurers even crouched down, clutching their heads and trembling.
Most people looked toward the source of the noise with terrified, uncertain gazes, confusion filling their minds.
What could have possibly made the Decaywood Gorillas this angry?
The Decaywood Gorilla was the overlord-class magical beast of this floor. Even facing just one required an A-rank party to go all out.
This was because, despite being blind, their perception was incredibly sharp. Combined with their agile movements and extreme defensive capabilities...
...it meant that during combat, many attacks would fail to land. Even if an attack did hit, if it lacked sufficient power, it would feel like nothing more than an itch to them.
In the end, they could easily turn anyone with weak defense into meat paste with a single punch from their muscular arms.
Monsters with high perception, extreme agility, and immense strength like this were always detested by adventurers, who prayed they would never run into them.
But judging by the sound, there was clearly more than one Decaywood Gorilla raging right now. Many adventurers gritted their teeth and spat.
“Damn it! What kind of fit are they throwing?!”
Some were already getting cold feet, preparing to head back to the surface.
Xia De clutched his stomach as he laughed, wiping away a tear from the corner of his eye.
“Alright, playtime is over!”
“I still have a speedrun to complete, so I'll send you on your way now. If there's a next life, you'll get new decaywood!”
“Hahaha!”
Still laughing, he waved his hand, and black flames ignited on their bodies.
Before they could even register the pain, they had already turned to ashes.
Rate on N.U.
