Chapter 36: Instance Dungeon
The Sun slowly rose from the eastern horizon, its golden rays bathing the vast forest that stretched for tens of kilometres. But in a part of the forest covered by broad-leafed trees that towered overhead, allowing only thin, fragmented rays to pierce the dense canopy.
Below, the forest floor remained steeped in cool, heavy shadows as the sunlight struggled to reach the earth.
Vlad stood motionless in the darkness, his clawed gauntlets dripping with fresh blood, his dark armor painted crimson from his battle against the Duskstalkers, dark panthers whose bodies littered his surroundings.
The battle seemed to be over as there were no more beasts left standing, but Vlad calmly scanned his surroundings, a cold, emotionless look frozen on his face.
Seconds slowly passed, and then an entire minute was gone, yet not even a sound from a bird disturbed the heavy silence.
Then, without warning or sound, the shadow of the nearest tree moved, no not a shadow but a pitch-dark beast nearly two meters in length with its slim yet mighty body pressed low against the ground like a coiled spring.
It moved with astonishing speed, and when only a mere meter separated the two, the beast lunged at Vlad, its jaw stretched wide, lined with fangs as dark as his obsidian fur coat.
A second later, the beast snapped his jaw closed at the back of Vlad’s neck, giving no time for the human to evade its perfect ambush, or so the beast thought.
But all that its fangs found was thin, cold air, and before the beast could even register its failure, pain bloomed in its throat, sharp, wet, and terrible.
Its breath hitched, twisting into a choking gargle as blood and air spilled from its torn-open neck.
The beast collapsed to the ground, a pool of blood quickly forming beneath him, while Vlad coldly stared as its life slipped away.