Chapter 36: Cave Creature

On the first day, I quickly realized that hunting in Decium was going to be far more difficult than I had originally expected, because there were barely any monsters anywhere near the area where I had established my camp.

It was almost as if something surrounding me was keeping them away, as though the creatures could somehow sense the presence of the Daggers of Divinity and instinctively avoided approaching me.

I spent more than half a day wandering through the forest before I finally encountered my first monster, which made me realize that staying in the shallow regions of Decium would never be enough if I wanted to gather a fortune.

By the second day, I decided to venture deeper into the mountain and climb toward its higher regions, believing that the more dangerous areas would naturally contain creatures with more valuable materials. Fortunately, my assumption was correct, because it did not take long after reaching the higher parts of Decium before something finally emerged from the forest and charged toward me.

It was a massive horned creature with brilliant green eyes, thick white fur covering most of its body, and a black belly that contrasted sharply against its pale coat. Its enormous claws were particularly intimidating, with each one nearly half the size of my entire body, making this the largest creature I had ever encountered.

Despite its appearance, however, it didn’t even survive a single proper strike from the Daggers of Divinity. One slash was enough to bring the enormous creature down, leaving its corpse sprawled across the forest floor as I stood there almost disappointed by how quickly the battle had ended.

Harvesting the creature, however, was an entirely different matter. Removing its enormous fur and separating the valuable materials from its body took considerably longer than the actual fight, and by the time I finished, I couldn’t help but think that I should have considered bringing someone with me in exchange for a portion of the gold.

Still, I gathered everything valuable that I could carry and returned to my camp, where another thought began forming in my mind. If the materials from this creature were worth a considerable amount of gold, then there was probably something even more valuable waiting deeper within Decium.

On the third day, I ventured even farther into the mountain than before, eventually discovering a large cave hidden among the surrounding rocks. The moment I approached its entrance, I could feel an unusual aura emanating from the darkness within, something that instinctively warned me that danger was waiting somewhere inside.

Yet fear wasn’t really something occupying my mind at the time. I was blessed by God, and with the Daggers of Divinity in my possession, I couldn’t imagine a creature existing within this mountain that could actually harm me.

With that confidence, I entered the cave and continued deeper into its darkness, gradually leaving the sunlight behind until the only illumination came from the tiny insects crawling along the walls and ceiling, their faint bodies producing just enough light to reveal fragments of the path ahead.

Eventually, even those small insects were no longer enough to illuminate my surroundings, forcing me to activate the Daggers of Divinity so that their divine radiance could serve as my source of vision. As I continued forward, I began noticing strange signs scattered throughout the cave, including broken pieces of stone and damaged sections of the walls, as though something had violently fought its way through the tunnels.

I didn’t think much of it at first, assuming that perhaps some powerful monster had passed through the area before me, but that assumption disappeared the moment I noticed something standing farther ahead.

The creature was roughly the same size as me and stood upright like a human, yet everything about its body suggested that it was anything but human. Dark crimson scales covered its body, although many of them were unusually thin and skeletal in appearance, almost resembling exposed bones.

Strange horns curved over its head, several limbs extended from its body despite its humanoid posture, and a large circular structure was attached to its back. At first glance, it almost looked like a humanoid insect, but there was something about its appearance that made it feel completely unfamiliar.

The creature suddenly moved its mouth and produced a strange scratching sound, almost as though it was attempting to communicate with me. I couldn’t understand a single word it said, so I simply stared directly into its eyes while it stared back at me. For several moments, neither of us moved, creating an uncomfortable silence that made the entire cave feel even more oppressive.

Then the creature suddenly took a single step forward, and before I could properly react, its body vanished from my sight. The next thing I knew, a powerful punch had already struck my face and sent me flying backward through the cave.

I crashed against the stone wall, blood immediately beginning to trickle from my nose as I touched it in disbelief.

"How fast is this guy?" I muttered while trying to regain my balance, but before I could even locate the creature again, another attack came from my left and struck me with enough force to send me flying once more.

"This guy is crazy," I muttered as I tightened my grip around the Daggers of Divinity and searched the surrounding darkness.

I couldn’t find him anywhere, and the strange creature seemed to disappear completely whenever I tried to locate it, leaving me with no choice but to rely on instinct rather than sight. I slowly turned my head from one direction to another until I finally caught a brief movement from my right side.

I didn’t have time to think, so I immediately raised the Daggers of Divinity toward the incoming attack. The creature appeared directly beside me at that exact moment, and its body collided with the divine blades before an enormous burst of energy erupted from the point of impact.

The resulting explosion shook the entire cave system, blasting rocks from the walls and sending a tremendous shockwave through the surrounding tunnels as dust and debris filled the air.

When the smoke finally began to clear, I cautiously looked toward the center of the destruction and found the creature lying motionless on the ground. I stared at its body for several seconds before slowly lowering my weapons, disbelief spreading through my mind as I examined the damage.

"What insane durability..." I muttered, unable to hide my surprise. Even with the power of the Daggers of Divinity, the creature had somehow endured the attack without being completely destroyed.

Its body remained mostly intact, with only a massive hole running through the area where the blades had struck. I continued staring at the strange corpse, realizing that this was the first creature I had encountered that could withstand even a direct attack from the divine weapons I had been relying upon since the beginning of my journey.