Chapter 41: River of Blood

It seemed there were no other spawning zones between them and the edge of the River of Blood.

It was an open plain with very few patrols or packs, meaning they only had to concern themselves with moving as quickly as possible.

With his body now in... serviceable condition, it was time for a race.

By his estimate, Peace figured they had two hours maximum, an hour and a half minimum, before the Skeletal Stalker caught up to them.

Despite the deep, dull pain radiating from every pore of his body, Peace broke into a harsh jog after eating most of the bones, chewing on the last skeletal arm as he ran.

[???] — (condition to unlock: 16/100)

With bone dust in his mouth, Peace asked:

"Sho, think ith about time to asthk..." he swallowed, then continued, "How do you plan on crossing?"

Having grown accustomed to his bone-eating antics, Dita didn’t even flinch as she matched his pace, though she still kept her distance, as she replied:

"Crossing? Are you an idiot? Of course we can’t cross!"

’Wut?’

Raising an eyebrow, Peace glanced at her and asked:

"Then how the hell— aragh?!"

Once again, the Skeletal Stalker materialized in his line of sight, perfectly positioned between him and Dita as it matched their pace and bounded on all fours like a rabid dog.

Coughing, he awkwardly continued:

"...What is your plan?"

Looking back at him, Dita followed his line of sight to her upper thighs, clicked her tongue, then said:

"Could you stop staring at me, creep?"

Tears almost brimming in his eyes, and knowing damn well she understood his predicament, Peace whimpered:

"Just answer the question."

Drawing her gaze back toward the River of Blood, she replied:

"We build a raft."

"A raft?!"

"Yes, a raft..."

As they continued jogging, Dita explained her reckless plan in detail, pausing only to yelp whenever an apparition appeared.

The blood in the River of Blood was like a watered-down version of the corrosive blood rain.

Falling in it would only cause minor discomfort, becoming seriously damaging only if someone spent hours swimming through it.

Importantly, it was still corrosive, and anything exposed to it for long enough would eventually begin to deteriorate.

Since the dungeon opened, skeletal beasts and other creatures had been spawning throughout the area, scattering bones into the river. Corpses had fallen or been thrown into the current as well. Peace didn’t know the exact reason, but over time, the corrosive blood partially dissolved the outer layers of those stray bones, allowing them to settle against one another and weld themselves into fused piles.

The blood was also more saline than regular blood, giving it enough density to make floating relatively easy.

The bottom line was...

They would have to fish out a few serviceable clusters of bones, link them together tightly enough to hold, then set the makeshift raft into the current.

Of course, that only solved the issue of ’how.’ It wasn’t a foolproof solution.

But Peace had to admit...

’It’s ingenious.’

It was clear they would never escape the Skeletal Plains before the Skeletal Stalker reached them. So, Dita had devised an escape route for when it did.

Because, once combat began, the Stalker’s movement mechanics changed.

Instead of continuously matching its target’s pace plus some, it was set to remain within a certain radius. That meant it could be forced back, though only to a certain degree before it would speed up to stay within that radius.

In any case, if they could knock the bastard into the river even once, the current would buy them some distance. After that, as long as they kept the raft moving and forced it away whenever it closed in, they might actually survive long enough to reach the Convergence Zone.

’The spears will be a problem...’

It would start launching them again after it entered its ’first combat phase.’

At the end of her spiel, Peace cheered:

"You’re so much more than a pretty face, Dita!"

Dita shook her head, then looked him up and down.

"Save the backhanded praise for when you’re not eating bones... and not when you’re so... unsightly. You claimed you’d heal back to normal after eating more, correct...? Please, fix that face as soon as possible. And, don’t get confused, we aren’t friends."

Something about that last sentence seemed hard for her to say, but Peace wasn’t concerned about that. Hell, he’d barely even registered it. His main concern...

’Hey! How harsh!’

Even if it wasn’t an appearance Peace felt he could truly call his own, it was undoubtedly handsome!

’Or at least cute!’

At least, it was...

’It’s because of the blood! The blood! I’m not scarred for life... right?’

Peace suddenly had a lot of anxiety that his healing factor wouldn’t erase the scars on his face.

’M-maybe she just said that because of the undersized clothes! They’re shaping my face weird... or something!’

As if clothes had bearings on how his face looked...

Peace began to shake his head.

’Moving on... moving on!’

It took some time, but the pair finally reached the edge of the raging River of Blood.

’We’re really about to go whitewater — "red-water?" — rafting down this...?’

Honestly, it might have seemed fun, were it not for the whole blood river, murderous skeleton, and raft made of corpses and bones in the equation...

Surprisingly, or perhaps not at all, piles of fused bones littered the river, making it easy to reach out and grasp one without going too far into the current and risking being swept away.

Wasting no time on discussion, Peace quickly rolled up his pants and waded into the shallows. He pulled out a bone mass, handed it to Dita, then repeated the process.

Since they didn’t want to make the creepy skeleton move any faster, it would be her job to sit still and build the raft while Peace provided the materials. Not to mention her injuries were starting to add up; it was best for her to stay still. It was already nonsensical she’d been able to jog, it would be absurd to ask something more of her.

After the initial urgency faded and they settled into a groove, Peace asked:

"What were you doing out here all alone, anyway?"

Scoffing as she threaded bones together, joining cluster to cluster, she said:

"I wasn’t... The moment my party learned the Stalker had spawned and was after me, they kicked me and left me."

Peace smirked.

"Seriously? You’re not that insufferable."

Dita’s eyes locked onto his, causing him to wave his hands frantically.

"Ah, sorry, sorry!"

Peace turned to get another cluster.

’Hmm... who the hell would abandon her?’

If a party was still on the first floor on day five, they couldn’t have been strong. Even if she wasn’t the flashiest or physically strongest Tier 9 Diver, Dita clearly pulled her weight.

Plus, she was tough as nails. She’d barely even complained about the gash on her thigh or face.

’Losing someone like her, like that?’

It didn’t make much sense.

And beyond simply kicking her out, if they were that scared of the Skeletal Stalker...

’Then why venture into the Skeletal Plains after the fifth day at all?’

If they really had to for one reason or another...

’At least stick near the Convergence Zone.’

As for Dita herself...

Peace tossed her the next bone mass he’d retrieved.

"Why were you running toward the Temple...?"

"Shouldn’t you—! Ah." Nearly prying two melded bones apart, Dita sighed and shook her head. "Why were you out there, all alone?"

’I see... I’ll keep my curiosity to myself.’

Wading back into the river and returning with another bone cluster, all while locked in a staring contest with an apparition, Peace replied:

"It’s my first time in the dungeon. I was summoned at the Maw of Hell."

Dita hissed back while looking off to her right:

"And, in five days, you barely made it halfway through the zone?"

Peace flinched as he thought of the ’ghost girl’ who’d knocked him out and somehow kept him unconscious for multiple days.

"Correct."

Peace’s eyes drifted to the raft, which had grown to roughly his wingspan in diameter.

Dita suddenly jolted, looking to her side.

’She’s seeing another already?’

With a sad expression, Dita began to speak:

"By the way, earlier, sorry for—"

Peace followed her gaze, only to see something shimmering next to her.

"Real! It’s the real one!"

With no time to think, Dita kicked, pushing the makeshift raft into the water with all her might.

At the same time, Peace lunged toward her, latched onto her wrist, and yanked her into his arm before falling backward into the River of Blood. Wincing, he forced his left arm to move, hooking it around Dita, then threw his right arm back, searching for the edge of the bone raft.

Just before they slipped beneath the surface and the current took them, the shimmering silhouette solidified into the true Skeletal Stalker, its teeth clattering as it watched them, its bony hand around a spear buried halfway in the ground where Dita had been sitting.