The Devil Does Not Need to Be Defeated

Night finally descended.

After the sun had set, the atmosphere of the forest also became heavier and heavier.

A lot of the demonic beasts here seems to be nocturnal, thus the moment it went dark, a lot of demonic beasts started showing up at various corners of the forest and started becoming active.

Under that kind of situation, it's unquestionable that nighttime is definitely more dangerous than daytime.

What is fortunate though, after the sun had set, Shien finally managed to find a hiding place that meets his requirements.

That would be a cave below a cliff.

"If it's there, it should be enough for me to spend the night, right?"

Shien looked at the view while hiding the bushes near the cave, but his face showed no sign of joy.

Because…

"No matter how I look at it, there's no way that guy will let me go in."

Taking a careful look, a demonic beast is lying in front of the cave.

That would be a demonic hound with a cheetah like form, pitch black hide dotted with spots, and embers flickering on its back.

That demonic hound seems to be already asleep. It's lying in front of the cave with its eyes shut. It's back is rocking up and down, it's breathing is calm, but every breath it takes is accompanied by an unbearable heat, with flames breathing out from its mouth, nose and even the tightly shut eyelids. It looks just like a hellhound that guards the gate to hell. A terrifying view indeed.

Shien is a bit resigned.

"Even though I was already mentally prepared..."

After all, he got here by specifically following the response from [Enemy Detection], so meeting a demonic beast is only natural. Still, just looking at the savage beast before him, Shien is still a bit worried.

Based on the response from [Enemy Detection], this demonic hound should be a bit weaker than the monstrous bird from back during the day given that the skill's reaction is slightly weaker, but this isn't the same as back during the day.

This time, Shien isn't the one being attack, but rather he needs to be the one attacking.

Only this way could Shien take over that cave and use it as his hiding spot.

"Huff..."

Shien slowly regulated his breathing.

"No problem. With the Holy Sword, there's no way I can fail."

Shien tightened his grip on the Holy Sword and motivated himself.

"It's weaker than the bird from daytime, and I could one-shot that bird, so there's no reason I can't one-shot this dog."

Shien told himself so.

However, this time, Shien doesn't plan on fighting his enemy head on.

Logically speaking, with the protection of the Holy Sword, and with the two maxed out skills [Physical Resistance] and [Magic Resistance] to lower the damage Shien takes, when facing a demonic hound that's even weaker than the monstrous bird from daytime, Shien should be able to win even in a frontal confrontation.

But, please forgive Shien. He is after all someone from another world who has never really experience battle. Facing a savage demonic beast like that and charging head on really is a bit too much to ask of him.

Besides which, if you can win without taking any risk, then why charge recklessly from the front?

Thus, Shien lowered the sound of his breathing and footsteps as much as possible, using the trees and bushes as cover, slowly approached.

「Skill gained – [Hide] – Would you like to learn?」

In that moment, that message popped into Shien's head.

Shien perked up and hurriedly checked it out.

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[Hide]

Passive skill

When entering state of hiding, lurking, or ambushing, based on the skill's level, will remove scent, sound, and even sense of existence by a certain degree. If skill level is high enough, the effect can be passed on to the surrounding environment and/or other individuals nearby.

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To Shien, the appearance of this skill is definitely came just in time.

Originally, Shien was worried that he might end up discovered by his foe.

No matter how you put it, the opponent is a dog. Shien had actually already prepared himself for getting exposed due to scent.

But the appearance of [Hide] completely removed Shien's worries.

Thus, Shien raised this skill to max level without hesitation. With the addition of the boost from the Holy Sword, the effect of the skill practically exploded.

By the time Shien came back to, he had already reached right behind the demonic hound without without giving off a trace.

The demonic hound that was slumbering defenselessly was thus completely exposed before Shien.

And then, Shien acted without hesitation.

"Slice!"

Following the descent of the Holy Sword, the brilliant and sharp blade pierced right through the demonic hound's body.

"Whimper!"

The demonic hound let out a forlorn howl and finally awoke from its sleep. It opened its pair of blaze-like eyes and exploded out a blast of terrifyingly hot flames from its body.

Naturally, Shien who was right next to it receive the full blast and turned into a burning matchstick.

However, Shien's [Magic Resistance] skill seems to have activated. The Holy Sword's protective effect was also activated, so even though Shien was bathed in flames, he still didn't receive any damage. He didn't even feel a hint of heat.

Not long after, the blaze went out.

The demonic hound pierced by the Holy Sword fell onto the charred ground. The flames over its body had gone out and the ground beneath it is slowly dyed red with blood. All that's left is some foliage nearby that was ignited and slowly burning.

「Skill gained – [Assassinate] – Would you like to learn?」

Shien who successfully slew the demonic hound once more gained a new skill.

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[Assassinate]

Passive skill

When attacking while under the state of hiding, lurking, or ambushing, increase chance of instant kill.

While under the state of hiding, lurking, or ambushing, increase chance to striking enemy's weak point.

==========

Without question, this too is a very practical skill. Shien maxed it out with his heart pounding.

"It's all thanks to skills that things went more smoothly than I thought."

Shien pulled the Holy Sword out from the slain demonic hound and took some distance.

After the second time killing a demonic beast, Shien is finally a bit more used to it. It's just that pungent smell of blood seems to have still awakened some kind of trauma in him, forcing him to keep his distance.

"But I can't just leave the corpse be. Otherwise I'll definitely get visited by demonic beasts attracted by the scent of blood."

Realizing that point, Shien finally bared with his discomfort. He first used the dirt and mud around to bury the fresh blood, and then dragged the demonic hound's corpse into the cave.

The cave is filled with the rank stench of a wild breast. In addition it's filled with various bones and rotten meat, all of which seems to be the demonic hound's previous victims.

"No wonder even you went out to sleep. It really stinks in here."

Shien wanted to weep.