Surviving by Luck

Challenge Difficulty: A+. This meant the marilith was the strongest and most difficult monster among all creatures with a Challenge Rating of 6 that a team could face!

Its 2.4-meter-tall body gave it a height advantage over many enemies. The force of its slashes was even more devastating, and its weight of over 600 pounds gave it strength far beyond ordinary creatures. A conservative estimate placed its Strength Value near 20, enough to inflict crushing damage on Soren. In other words, even if he successfully parried one of the marilith's slashing attacks, the damage would still be enough to seriously injure his internal organs.

The Two-Weapon Fighting talent made the marilith the most dangerous melee monster with the highest explosive potential. If its Dexterity and perception were just a little higher, it could even handle multiple enemies at once without falling behind. Multiattack was an extremely powerful combat Feat, meaning the marilith could unleash a continuous chain of attacks in a short period. Combined with sufficiently high Strength Value, it might not even leave an opportunity to Parry.

Mariliths were Demons of the lower-middle ranks in the Infinite Abyss.

All Demons shared one trait: they possessed a layer of Demonic Skin, equivalent to naturally enchanted Leather Armor. If their bodies were also covered in scales, their protection was comparable to ordinary chainmail. To Soren, that meant ten slashes landed on the marilith would deal damage equivalent to no more than three, while Soren, dressed in nothing but a scrap of cloth, would be disemboweled by a single attack. It was almost impossible to defeat it head-on!

20 points of Superhuman Dexterity gave Soren reflexes unlike anything he had ever possessed before. He twisted, kicked off the wall, and rushed into the passage outside. The 18 points of Constitution granted by the Ascetic card gave him far greater endurance than before. Though his mental exhaustion remained, it was enough to support his desperate flight.

The marilith roared and chased after him!

Its upper body was Humanoid, with exceptionally thick arms. Its face resembled that of a lizard or Snake, scales clearly covering both sides, while its lower body was a snake tail roughly five meters long.

This meant it was a male marilith, a powerful Warrior among mariliths!

For Soren, that should have been the best possible news. Mariliths lived in a matriarchal society, where females held higher status, possessed greater combat power, and also had certain Spell-like Abilities.

The marilith moved quickly. In a burst of speed, it could perform the diving pounce of a hunting snake!

This was also an important reason why mariliths were rated at Challenge Difficulty A+.

Relying on its massive size, it could easily break through a defensive line, close in on spellcasting classes within an Adventurer party, then use the combat Feats of Two-Weapon Fighting and Multiattack to chop a spellcaster below level 8 into chunks of flesh in an instant. Its serpentine body made it immune to most low-level Control Spells. Grease had no effect on it, Web could not restrain its nearly 20 points of Strength Value, and a Demon's Chaotic Evil will was immune to most low-level Mind Control. This was a monster that had to be killed through a direct clash!

"I can't get away!"

Soren ran at full speed, easily using the complex passages to widen the distance between them.

But he soon realized something crucial. If he wanted to escape, he would have to reopen the hidden door outside, and that would take at least three minutes. Three minutes was enough for the marilith to catch up and chop him into more than thirty pieces, then pick out the tastiest ones to fill its stomach.

"I have to fight!"

As Soren passed the place where he had first discovered the corpses, he swiftly picked up a Longsword. Too much time had passed, and the blade had rusted somewhat. That meant it was not sharp enough and could not withstand heavy impacts. But he could not worry about that now. It was almost impossible to defeat the marilith in a frontal battle. If he wanted to beat it, Soren could only gamble on his luck.

Without the slightest hesitation!

Soren ran toward another passage that had not been explored at all.

He had to gamble now. Demon creatures possessed stamina far beyond that of mortals, and their Hit Points could exceed a hundred, meaning they remained extremely dangerous even after being wounded. The only method Soren could think of was to use the traps here to kill it—though the one killed by the traps might also be himself.

20 points of Dexterity!

This was the realm of superhuman beings. It meant Soren's footsteps were lighter than a Halfling's, his reflexes sharper than an Elf's, and his bodily Toughness greater than that of most ordinary life forms.

He had to gamble!

He had to gamble that this unexplored passage contained a powerful and deadly trap—and that it would not be triggered when he passed through it.

Soren was human.

The surface area of his feet was small. With 20 points of Dexterity, he had a good chance of avoiding the trap's trigger.

But the marilith was a serpentine Demon creature. Its lower body covered a large area against the ground, and its weight of over 600 pounds meant it would trigger most traps as it moved. Any trap laid according to human standards and activated by weight would strike it without fail. Because of its size, it could not even Dodge.

A broad passage appeared ahead.

Soren did not even have time to inspect the surroundings for traces of artificial trap placement. He immediately made a deep leap, then relied on his powerful bodily Toughness and balance to run three steps sideways along the wall. He twisted, flipped, and seized a hanging stalactite, forcibly keeping his body pressed to the wall as he moved forward five meters. Based on his experience, this was the spot most likely to contain a trap. A trap mechanism needed sufficient space to be set up, especially a well-concealed one.

Without stopping for even a moment!

Soren began to slow down, but he still moved forward cautiously.

The marilith appeared behind him. This monster from the Abyss had been thoroughly enraged by the initial volley from the Heavy Crossbow. The moment it saw Soren, it charged over without hesitation.

Its massive body did not affect its movement speed at all!

Most serpentine creatures possessed a speed bonus more than twice that of an ordinary person running at full force.

But just as it was about to charge in front of Soren, the ground suddenly shook. Its long snake tail directly triggered a trap buried underground, and a barrage of crossbow bolts shot out from both sides.

"Roar!"

A pained howl rang out.

Six crossbow bolts pierced the marilith's ribs, blood dripping continuously. Its scarlet pupils filled with Slaughter and Rage, and when it saw Soren so close by, it let out an enraged roar.

Twelve Heavy Crossbows!

They could deal over 120 points of damage to a human.

Enough to instantly kill most Warriors below level 10, yet when they struck the marilith, they were not enough to seriously injure it.

This meant its bodily Toughness was already close to that of a low-level Draconic creature, while its own Hit Points very likely exceeded 150—five or six times Soren's.

"There should be another trap!"

Soren's pupils contracted slightly. Without hesitation, he quickened his pace, even though that meant he might trigger a trap himself.

The layout of this underground passage felt somewhat familiar to him.

The place where he had first found the corpses had a similar terrain. In other words, there was a chance that another Acid Trap lay ahead.

That would be fatal to Soren,

But it was also something that could threaten the marilith's life!

A winding passage appeared ahead.

Soren's expression shifted. He took a deep breath and began accelerating into a running start. The terrain before him was somewhat similar to the place where he had found the Rogue's corpse. Most Acid Traps were placed near walls, which meant he could not use his Superhuman Dexterity to run sideways along the walls and pass through. He could only try to leap across in a single bound.

It was a distance of more than ten meters!

He had no Spell-like Abilities, and Dexterity was his only attribute that had entered the Transcendent Realm.

For Soren, this was an extreme challenge.

"I can do it!"

"This little problem won't stop me!"

Soren took another deep breath. The human running long-jump record in his previous life had reached 10.6 meters. With his current physical condition, he was not far behind the best athletes. Even if his Strength Value was lacking, the coordination granted by Dexterity was enough for him to unleash his explosive power perfectly. Clearing the distance ahead was not impossible.

Bang!

Soren's body launched into the air.

He crossed the distance of more than ten meters in an instant, barely clearing the area in a rather awkward posture.

Soren did not dare hesitate in the slightest.

He could not be certain there was truly an Acid Trap here, so after catching his breath, he continued fleeing forward.

"Swish!"

Soren's body suddenly stiffened.

Just as he rounded a bend, an iron spear suddenly shot up from the ground. It stabbed past the edge of his foot and pierced through his thigh in an instant. If he had not reflexively shifted his body at the final moment, the iron spear might have pierced from his crotch all the way into his intestines.

Blood burst forth!

Soren gritted his teeth, rolled his clothes into a ball, and bit down on them. Then he seized his thigh with both hands and slowly pulled himself free from the iron spear.

Blood sprayed everywhere.

The barbs tore away a chunk of flesh, making the wound even worse.

Soren's entire body trembled. After the trembling came stiffness. In less than one or two seconds, sweat had soaked him from head to toe.

"Hah!"

When he finally pulled his thigh free from the iron spear, Soren was nearly collapsing.

He hastily wrapped the wound with a rag, tightened it directly over the muscle, and tied a dead knot. Then, with stumbling steps, he moved toward the edge of the stone wall.

He could no longer escape.

If he kept running with a wound like this, he would bleed to death before the marilith even had to deal with him.

As the blood drained from him, his stamina also fell rapidly!

The only possibility left for him to survive was for there to truly be an Acid Trap around the bend ahead.

If it was merely a Heavy Crossbow trap, it probably would not be enough to kill the marilith.

Time passed with unbearable slowness!

When the marilith appeared, Soren felt as though he were facing his final Destiny.

Fortunately, Destiny stood on his side.

Soren's judgment had not been wrong. A trap had indeed been laid at the entrance to that passage, but it was not an Acid Trap. The moment the marilith passed through, a violent explosion erupted.

Explosive Trap!

That passage had been rigged with explosives, or perhaps a Spell Trigger mechanism for Fireball.

"Thud!"

A faint sound came from ahead.

The faint smile of survival that had just appeared on Soren's face instantly froze. Almost exasperated, he said, "It didn't die even after that?!"

He tightened his grip on the Longsword in his hand, and a trace of brutality gradually appeared in his expression.

He was going to risk his life!

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