Chapter 62: Nostalgia...?
"A dress...?"
"Is this what you’re looking for?"
Ronan asked.
"It looks interesting, but we’re looking for something else. The client never said anything about a dress."
Elena replied, already scanning the chamber for another path that might lead to their real treasure.
Alexander, however, kept his eyes fixed on Ronan, clearly wary of the way he and Sarael were staring at the floating fabric.
"You’re planning to grab it, aren’t you?"
Ronan turned and nodded. If this really was her dress, then this was one efficient way to raise both their intimacy and affinity at once.
And maybe, just maybe, it might even make her finish preparing his gift earlier than planned.
"Well, it’s your deathwish."
Alexander whistled to the others, gesturing toward Ronan. The two of them immediately moved to the farthest part of the chamber, near the spiral staircase.
If anything went wrong, they wanted the quickest escape possible.
"Anastasia, join them."
Ronan said as he replaced his sword with the chain whip. Anastasia immediately complied. Whatever the two of them saw in that dress, she knew it had something to do with Sarael.
"As promised, I’ll do the fighting first."
’Do you remember if this place had any safety precautions?’
[Unfortunately, no...]
[My memory’s a mess. I knew I was worshipped long before your family ever started believing in me. But I don’t really remember much from that time.]
’But you do want that dress, right?’
[Yes...]
[I want it...]
’Then you’ll have it.’
[Affinity: 6.4%] -> [Affinity: 7%]
Ronan tapped his foot, summoning the Forest Guardian. Its centaur-like form was already moving toward the dress. Ronan was absolutely not about to risk being obliterated on the spot.
"He’s a summoner?"
Yvraine commented, then glanced at the heavy whip in his hand.
"Then what’s the point of that?"
"Well, you’ll see soon..."
Anastasia replied. The others only looked at her with doubtful expressions. Summoners with weapons weren’t rare, but they were certainly less effective than summoners who specialized.
When the Forest Guardian reached the edge of the beam of light, it conjured a shadowy bark in its palm and prodded the dress in midair.
There was no reaction. It looked back at Ronan for further instructions, and he simply nodded.
Then the Forest Guardian reshaped its stick, forming a hook at the end, and used it to pull the dress out of the beam of light. The moment it did, the dress transferred to Ronan’s inventory almost immediately.
And not even soon after...
TWHACK!
TWHACK!
TWHACK!
TWHACK!
A flurry of arrows burst from midair, dark metal tips burying themselves deep in the Forest Guardian before it could even move. It was dead on the spot.
Ronan didn’t wait to find out what was attacking. He spun his chain whip and unleashed a sweeping arc in front of him to see where the arrows could have come from.
WHOOSH!
[Soul Absorbed: 1,000 EXP]
[Soul Absorbed: 1,000 EXP]
[Soul Absorbed: 1,000 EXP]
[Soul Absorbed: 1,000 EXP]
"Invisible enemies!?"
He summoned Sebastian immediately. A wave of fire swept across the space in front of Ronan, the flames licking at the skin of at least a hundred invisible figures.
For a moment, they all became visible.
"Sarael!"
Ronan shouted, and Sarael immediately conjured a flurry of shadow tentacles in a wide radius around him, ready to skewer anything that got too close.
He charged into the battlefield without hesitation, using Sebastian’s flames to pinpoint each enemy’s location as he moved.
Everyone else could only stare in awe at the display. Ronan wielded the massive whip as if it were nothing more than a plastic toy, and his summon was as strong as any actual hunter.
His chain whip lashed out in a wide arc, the barbed tip catching the nearest figure across what should have been its chest.
The impact sent it sprawling, its invisibility flickering as it tumbled across the stone floor. Dead before it stopped moving.
[Soul Absorbed: 1,000 EXP]
"Sebastian, keep the flames spreading. I want them visible."
"Understood, master."
The summon’s fire roared outward in a controlled wave, washing over the chamber in rhythmic pulses. Each pulse revealed another cluster of the creatures.
Humanoid, their bodies wrapped in tattered cloth that looked like ancient burial shrouds. Their faces were smooth and featureless except for the vertical slits where eyes should have been.
And there were dozens of them. More than a hundred, just as the first sweep had shown, and they were already repositioning, already drawing fresh arrows from quivers that hung at their hips.
A volley flew toward Ronan, and he didn’t bother to dodge.
TWHACK!
TWHACK!
TWHACK!
The arrows shattered against his skin like twigs, the dark metal tips snapping on impact and clattering uselessly to the floor.
His constitution, boosted by the flesh golem’s inheritance, turned what should have been deadly projectiles into minor annoyances.
"Is that all?"
He yanked the chain whip back, coiled it, and lashed out again. Three more figures dropped, their shrouded bodies crumbling into dust the moment they hit the ground.
[Soul Absorbed: 1,000 EXP]
[Soul Absorbed: 1,000 EXP]
[Soul Absorbed: 1,000 EXP]
Sarael’s shadows spread across the chamber floor like spilled ink, tendrils of darkness lashing upward to impale any creature that strayed too close.
She was still on his back, her arms hooked around his neck, but her focus was razor-sharp.
"To your left."
She murmured.
Ronan spun and cracked the whip. Another figure dropped.
"Behind you."
He ducked, letting an arrow sail over his head, and Sebastian’s fire engulfed the archer before it could nock another.
By the third minute of fighting the endlessly appearing invisible ghouls, the wave had finally ceased, and Ronan had even worked up a thin sheen of sweat on his forehead.
His whip was now covered in black ink.
He didn’t need a flashback to know what it reminded him of.
"The creatures back at Tartarus..."
He muttered, only to be snapped out of his thoughts the moment Alexander’s voice echoed behind him.
"You didn’t tell us you were an S-Rank, you bastard!"
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