Their journey was almost tranquil, and Suna would have drifted to sleep again if not for a couple of boats carrying Undead Flesh Archers that stumbled upon them. Each boat held three of the creatures, and Suna easily dispatched all with silent arrows to their heads.

  He watched as the boat full of Undead corpses swayed, rippling the lake weakly. They slowly became a blur of shadows in his vision as Jack rowed farther.

  The Tiefling opened the pocketwatch they got from Delia, and the flame pointed straight ahead.

  “Are you sure about this, Suna? Letting me offer at the altar? Not to mention you gave me Uzu’s corpse.” Jack said, eyeing the two Undead sisters' corpses that rested peacefully on the boat’s deck. The Tiefling eyes size them, not trusting they were dead.

  “Each person can only do it once, right?” Suna murmured. He played with a sand bit on his fingertip. Before they left, they had buried Dua. Suna wished to bury all three sisters in the same place. But it did not make sense to bring Dua's corpse along with them.

  “Ah, it grows stronger,” Jack warmed. The Tiefling jumped back from the sudden blare of dark flame. Delia Flame was quite literally featured in their children's bedtime story about how terrifying it was, and used to scare youngsters to sleep.

  “I can see land,” Suna said, standing. It was much larger than the beach where they had fought the sisters. The shore held patches of brown earth curling in a circle around the land, leading into a descending slope that rose into a tall hill. The island brimmed with life. Leaves, ferns, and brambles of grass filled it, like entering a completely different atmosphere from the serene calm of the river to one full of life.

  Jack reached up, gripping a strong branch of a tree that grew by the shore, its thick trunk almost bulging like a bloated vein. The boat stopped, and Suna carried Delia’s corpse down with him. Jack slung Uzu’s corpse over his shoulder and opened the pocketwatch.

  The dark flame pointed deeper into the forest, and high slopes greeted them.

  “Let me carry her, Suna. You should be the one freed to fight,” Jack said. And Suna agreed with him.

  Handing Delia to him, the Tiefling slung both of them across his shoulder and tied his spear across his back.

  Suna proceeded to enter the forest, staying close to Jack. In a way, this forest was worse than the darkness of caves. At least there, he could make out blurs of movement, but inside dense foliage like this, who knew what each bush hid?

  His Gale Bow and Sootroot Arrow were ready to release. They moved through the forest for maybe ten minutes or so. While climbing the high slope, Suna ascended to the top first before giving Jack an all clear. He looked farther up the hill and had to stifle his sigh.

  This would be a long climb.

  –

  Suna finally spotted an undead, and it came in the form of a hound.

  [Undead Hound. Lvl 5]

  It was a very low level, and just one of them peeked down at him. Aiming up, he released his arrow, piercing the hound’s neck swiftly. A vine shot up and choked it, sending it rolling down with a whine.

  Suna caught the rolling body by its vine collar, confirming it was dead.

  [You Have Slain Undead Hound. Lvl 5]

  He laid down the corpses, so as not to make any more noise, and eyed their destination. So far, no chimera was blocking them. But it would surely come soon enough.

  “I think this is close enough,” Suna called back to Jack. “I will scout ahead, you should take a rest, lay them by a tree.”

  Jack huffed. The Tiefling gave a nod. He was still tired from the fight, as proven by his heavy breathing—not to mention the entire rowing was done by Jack alone, as Suna was tasked with guard duty.

  “That tree then,” Jack pointed at one that was much taller than the others, almost reaching the top of the hill by itself.

  “Alright,” Suna waved. “I will be quick.”

  It was much better for him to find out what awaited them than to risk finding it with Jack, who would be encumbered with both bodies.

  Suna glanced at Delia's body once more, wondering what was happening to her now. The oath was still there, in his system. So he assumed it worked.

  He shook his head, intending to focus on his current situation rather than the distant future.

  Suna began to climb up. The trees were thinning as he approached the top of the hill.

  It was strange how he only encountered one hound.

  He managed to climb to the top and proceeded to nock an Emberwind Arrow almost immediately as he approached the ledge, which revealed a deep abyss.

  Looking over, Suna could see patches of earth leading deep down, like someone had gouged an entire mountain for a mining project. All the patches of earth led to small openings on the hill wall, but the biggest one was at the very end. A humongous opening that revealed only a void.

  Suna leaned in closer. He could hear something, a deep rumbling that reminded him of a chain thunder. So violent, yet it was clear it came from a creature.

  He poked his head into the gorge, and with his Eagle Eye, he made out a figure. A huge lion with a rich red mane around its neck, sleeping on the largest opening.

  The lion was not the only one; he could make out perhaps a dozen Undead pushing around something, a cart. On top of it was a steel square prison containing Undead Hounds; they barked and slammed their bodies against the cage.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  But the Undead Flesh Soldier went on, uncaring.

  “What's happening here?” Suna muttered as he followed a Flesh Soldier carting the hounds across a weak, makeshift bridge, built for convenience to reach a deeper opening.

  He chewed his lip, unsure what to do.

  [Undead Obelisk. Lvl 50]

  It was very far down, making that thing a mouth-watering target.

  Deciding there was really no point in thinking any longer, Suna stood, looking back at where Jack was.

  He should be fine.

  Suna pulled the Emberwind Arrow to his cheek and strained his Eagle Eyes to focus on the Obelisk.

  He poured more Mana into it and added Flint Draw. A trail of tail-flame burst across his shoulder, sizzling flame bristling with excitement, and Suna ignored the heat creeping along his cheek.

  The Undead Flesh Soldier by now had noticed him, but he did not care.

  Suna loosed his arrow, and the air hummed with sweltering flame. Fire burst as his arrow slammed into the Obelisk's head, briefly lighting up the deep, dark abyss.

  But the kill notification did not come.

  Suna tried to figure out what was going on, ignoring the Undead that charged at him.

  The lion woke up, and his arrow shifted with it—it turned out the shot hadn’t connected after all. Instead, the arrow was caught by a snake that seemed to be attached to the lion’s rear.

  The Obelisk looked up, growling with a loud rumble.

  Suna massaged his neck and shrugged. “Jack! I fu–messed up!”.

  The Obelisk leaped through the tiers of the ledges, climbing higher with its huge body. Suna did not intend to allow it. He weaved another Emberwind Arrow and fired it, this time not charging it far. He just wanted to see what its reaction was first.

  The Obelisk’s muscles rippled, and it burst forth, jumping over a chasm and outspeeding Suna’s arrow.

  “Hmm,” Suna mumbled. It would still take some time for the Obelisk to climb up, surely he would hit at least one—

  Two Undead Flesh Soldiers charged at him, finally making their way to the top of the hill with swords. But those swords were clean ones, not the rusted blades Suna had expected.

  He stepped back, letting a sword swoosh through the air. The other one skipped over its brethren and lunged at Suna. He pivoted, tripping the Undead's legs as he spun and pushed it down the deep gorge with one hand.

  The remaining one growled and tried to swing, but Suna smashed it with his Gale Bow, cutting off its head and letting the body collapse down.

  [You Have Slain Undead Flesh Soldier. Lvl 10]

  [You Have Slain Undead Flesh Soldier. Lvl 10]

  Another ten were coming; this time, they were smarter and gathered in one group first before charging at Suna.

  Annoyance rose inside Suna. He gazed at the Obelisk that still jumped between ledges and was quickly gaining on him.

  The Undead Flesh Soldiers were quite quick; they had gathered into a shield-wall formation before marching on him. Maybe about three groups of them?

  He was impressed. But too bad for them. Their level was way too low. Emberwind Arrow flared on his fingertip—a mirage blared the surrounding air in hazy heat—and he released it the moment the Undead Flesh Soldier ascended the slope leading to his position.

  Fire blazed through, sweeping over the Undead's useless defense, scorching their bodies into smoldering ash.

  He quickly released two more; each burned the Undead to ashes, casting a flickering light into the dark cavern.

  [You Have Slain Undead Flesh Soldier. Lvl 10]

  [You Have Slain Undead Flesh Soldier. Lvl 10]

  [You Have Slain Undead Flesh Soldier. Lvl 10]

  [You Have Slain Undead Flesh Soldier. Lvl 10]

  [You Have Slain Undead Flesh Soldier. Lvl 10]

  [You Have Slain Undead Flesh Soldier. Lvl 10]

  [You Have Slain Undead Flesh Soldier. Lvl 10]

  [You Have Slain Undead Flesh Soldier. Lvl 10]

  [You Have Slain Undead Flesh Soldier. Lvl 10]

  [You Have Slain Undead Flesh Soldier. Lvl 10]

  A whisk of embers danced around Suna's fingertips, swaying along the arrow’s flight path. That was oddly satisfying.

  He quickly turned his attention to the Obelisk, about three tiers away. It roared and leaped toward him with great exertion of strength.

  This time, Suna let loose a Sootroot Arrow. Shooting into darkness like this should work much better. However, the snake tail whipped across, destroying three of his arrows as though with a lash.

  A claw flashed under the Obelisk’s paw, threatening to shear him. But Suna did not intend to stay still. He tapped his foot lightly and propelled himself upward in low hover, dodging the Obelisk’s swipe.

  Then he kicked the Obelisk’s face, causing a wet crunch and blowing it back down.

  Suna landed, his mouth curved into a visceral grin.

  Go ahead and climb again.

  The Obelisk roared as it steadied itself on all four of its legs.

  Suna prepared another Emberwind Arrow to finish it. This time, he intended to charge longer and pour more mana. The Obelisk began leaping again, and Suna couldn't help but admire its tenacity.

  Emberwind ignited into a bright star of red, causing a heat wave burning through the sky. His Archer instinct wailed in jubilation, and with Flint Draw, Suna created a flaring flame tail behind him, similar to the one that had injured that bystander Tiefling.

  So much destruction in his fingertips. A brief pang of sympathy went through him for the Obelisk itself. But the creature did not give up. In a sudden burst of darkness, wings sprouted from the Obelisk’s back. The snake part bit the lion’s neck, and dark veins pulsed through it.

  Suna had thought it was a Drowfication at first, but it was different. Its veins now bulged with a purplish glow, and wings of flame burst from its back.

  The monster howled and, in a coiling stance, launched upward toward Suna with fierce momentum.

  Suna focused his gaze, not letting himself panic.

  The purple Obelisk flapped its wings and, in a burst of sudden speed, soared forward.

  Suna discharged the Emberwind Arrow, searing apart the air between them in a whisk of embers.

  The Obelisk brought down its claw as its body was seared apart in whizzing flame. In the last second, however, its claw managed to connect with his arrow and caused a clash of magic. A plume of white smoke rose like an explosion.

  Suna lowered his bow, but no kill notification came. What's happening? He was certain its body was separated—then a snake lunged at him, catching him off guard. Lashing forward like a whip, it bit his shoulder, and Suna winced at the small pain.

  [Undead Snake. Lvl 10]

  Did it split apart?

  Suna brought down his Gale Bow, slicing apart the snake, killing it. But, something was inside him, an unpleasant surge of thrumming that beat like an echo originating from his neck…

  He turned as the smoke moved, and a shadow with a rich mane rushed past him.

  [Undead Lion. Lvl 10]

  The lion ran down, ignoring him.

  Suna cursed under his breath. He tried to draw, but a sudden flare of pain caused him to let go of his Gale Bow.

  Did he get poisoned?

  He watched the lion descend, unable to do anything about it, and the world turned blurry. But Suna refused to give up; he drew his Umbralline and began to limp down after it. The Moon Altar has to wait a bit longer…

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