Night had finally fallen.
After the sun set, the air in the forest grew heavier and heavier.
Many of the monsters here seemed to be nocturnal creatures. As soon as darkness fell, they emerged from every corner of the forest and began to stir.
Under such circumstances, the night here was undoubtedly far more dangerous than the daytime.
Fortunately, after the sun set, Shien finally found a hiding place that suited his needs.
It was a cave at the base of a cliff.
"If it's there, I should be able to get through the night, right?"
Hidden in the bushes beside the cave, Shien watched the scene before him, but there was no joy on his face.
Because—
"No matter how I look at it, that thing doesn't seem like it'll agree to let me go inside."
Looking closely, a monster was lying in front of the cave.
It was a Demon Dog as powerfully built as a leopard, covered in spots, with pitch-black fur and flames flickering across its back.
The Demon Dog appeared to be asleep. It lay before the cave with its eyes shut, its back rising and falling gently, its breathing remarkably steady. Yet every breath carried intense heat, and flames spewed from its mouth, nose, and even the slits of its closed eyes. It looked just like a Hellfire hound guarding the gates of hell, enough to make anyone tremble.
Shien felt somewhat helpless.
"Though I did prepare myself for this..."
After all, he had followed the monster responses detected by Enemy Perception to get here. Encountering monsters was only natural.
Still, seeing such a ferocious creature before him made Shien uneasy.
Even if the response from Enemy Perception suggested that this Demon Dog was weaker than the Fierce Bird from the day, and thus produced a weaker reaction, this time was different from before.
This time, Shien was not the one being attacked. He had to attack first.
Only then could he claim that cave and turn it into his hiding place.
"Hoo..."
Shien slowly adjusted his breathing.
"It'll be fine. With the Holy Sword in hand, there's no way I can fail."
Shien tightened his grip on the Holy Sword and encouraged himself.
"It's weaker than that bird from the day. I could kill that bird in one hit, so there's no reason I can't kill this dog in one hit too."
That was what Shien told himself.
However, this time, Shien had no intention of fighting it head-on.
In theory, with the Holy Sword's protection and two max-level skills—Physical Resistance and Magic Resistance—to reduce the damage he took, Shien should have been able to defeat a Demon Dog weaker than the daytime Fierce Bird even in a direct confrontation.
But forgive Shien. He was, after all, someone from Another World with little combat experience. Asking him to charge head-on at such a vicious monster was simply too much.
Besides, if he could win without taking any risks, why would he recklessly fight it head-on?
So, Shien lowered the sound of his breathing and footsteps as much as possible, moving through the bushes and tall grass, concealing himself while quietly creeping closer.
"Skill acquired—Stealth. Learn it?"
At that very moment, such a message surfaced in Shien's mind.
Shien froze for a moment, then hurriedly checked it.
========== Stealth · Passive skill. · When entering concealed, lurking, ambush, or similar states, it reduces one's scent, breathing, footsteps, and even presence to a certain extent depending on the skill level. If the skill level is high enough, it can also affect the surrounding environment and other nearby individuals. ==========
The appearance of this skill was perfectly timed.
Originally, Shien had been worried that the Demon Dog would discover him.
After all, it was a dog. Shien had even prepared himself to be exposed by his scent.
But the appearance of Stealth completely erased Shien's worries.
Without any hesitation, Shien learned the skill and raised it to max level.
After being further amplified by the Holy Sword, max-level Stealth became absurdly effective.
By the time Shien came to his senses, he had somehow arrived silently behind the Demon Dog.
The sleeping Demon Dog had completely exposed its defenseless body before Shien's eyes.
Shien immediately struck.
"Squelch!"
As the Holy Sword fell, its radiant, razor-sharp blade pierced straight through the Demon Dog's body.
"Awooo!"
The Demon Dog let out a miserable howl and finally woke from its sleep. It opened a pair of red eyes that seemed to be burning, while terrifyingly hot flames erupted from its entire body.
Shien, standing right beside it, was struck head-on by the flames. He instantly became a human torch and was engulfed in fire.
However, Shien's Magic Resistance seemed to have activated, as had the Holy Sword's protection. Even while bathed in blazing flames, he suffered no damage at all and did not even feel the slightest warmth.
Before long, the flames vanished.
The Demon Dog, its body pierced by the Holy Sword, collapsed onto the scorched ground. Every flame on its body had gone out, while the earth beneath it was gradually dyed red with blood. Only some of the surrounding weeds had caught fire and continued to burn slowly.
"Skill acquired—Assassination. Learn it?"
After successfully killing the Demon Dog, Shien acquired another new skill.
========== Assassination · Passive skill. · When attacking from concealed, lurking, ambush, or similar states, increases the chance of a one-hit kill. · While in concealed, lurking, ambush, or similar states, allows the user to identify an enemy's weaknesses with a high probability. ==========
Without question, this was another extremely useful skill. With his heart still racing, Shien immediately raised it to max level.
"Thanks to these skills, things have gone far more smoothly than I expected."
Shien pulled the Holy Sword from the dead Demon Dog, then instinctively moved away from it.
Having killed a monster for the second time, Shien had finally grown somewhat accustomed to it. Only the smell of blood still seemed to awaken some kind of psychological trauma, making him reluctant to approach.
"But I can't just leave the corpse here. Otherwise, monsters attracted by the scent of blood will definitely come calling."
With that in mind, Shien forced down his discomfort. He first buried the blood with soil from the surroundings, then dragged the Demon Dog's corpse into the cave.
The cave was filled with a beastly stench that was utterly foul. It was also littered with bones and rotting flesh, seemingly the remains of those that had died beneath the Demon Dog's jaws.
"No wonder you went outside to sleep. This place reeks."
Shien felt like crying.
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