My Skills Can Evolve Infinitely in a Game-Like World

Chapter 37: Underground & Captives

Intruders!

The cultist wanted to shout that single word and alert everyone underground.

But just halfway through it, his voice was abruptly cut off.

A silver light whistled through the air. It passed straight through the small gap of the door and arrived right in front of him.

Then, it struck directly at his temple.

"Blurgh!"

A funnel of blood shot out, and the man had no time to speak any further.

He collapsed almost instantly.

His body twitched a couple of times before remaining motionless. Forever.

Only a split second later, Selene’s invisible figure appeared above him.

She leaned down and retrieved the dropped dagger, brushing it against the man’s clothes to clean the blood off of it.

"Being a spellcaster is indeed quite fun. How about it?"

"Do you want to turn into a tank next while I stand protected behind you and throw daggers as if they were spells?" Selene glanced at Aurelius and smiled while playfully placing the dagger back in its sheath.

"We can try it if you want. However, I’m afraid that we won’t have much success. You have a history of losing your daggers, after all."

Faced with her teasing, Aurelius did not scold her, but instead struck back.

A smile appeared on his face while his hand adjusted his clothes to showcase the sheath on his waist, where a similar silver dagger was placed.

No! It was not merely similar.

The dagger at Aurelius’ waist and the one Selene was holding were exactly the same.

It was the one he had "picked up" during her "kidnapping". Since then, he had shown no intention of returning it and had kept it as his own.

Hearing these words, and seeing her weapon on his waist, Selene immediately shut her mouth.

A trace of crimson flashed across her cheeks. For an Assassin, losing their weapon at the hands of their enemies was a matter of humiliation.

Had it not been for the circumstances, she would have rushed forward to fight him and claim it back.

Aurelius smiled inwardly upon seeing her flustered expression.

He didn’t tease her any further.

After destroying the corpse before him, he ensured there were no other hidden enemies and glanced down at the staircase.

The steps stretched endlessly. The ones near were relatively clear, while the rest vanished into the darkness, as though swallowed by an invisible monster.

Aurelius did not recklessly walk down.

He reached into his waist and took another Invisibility Potion, drinking it in one gulp.

In the meantime, he tossed the last one to Selene.

"These are the last Invisibility Potions. Once their effects run out, we will have to face the cultists head-on."

"It would be best if we could wipe out the entire Sect before the potion wears off. At least, killing a few more cultists should be possible."

After saying this, Aurelius did not give Selene any time to respond. Without any hesitation, he took a step down and began descending the staircase.

Selene chased after him.

Although it was dark, their vision was still enhanced by the Eagle Eyesight Potion.

As such, they were able to quickly walk the staircase.

One. Ten. One hundred.

Before long, Aurelius had lost track of the number of steps they had gone through. The silence and surrounding darkness made the scene eerie, as though they were walking into the depths of Hell.

Were it not for the Invisibility Potion’s effects showing up on the Player Panel, telling him that only half a minute had actually passed, Aurelius would have thought they had walked for hours.

Fortunately, just when he was starting to believe that this would go on forever, a loud cry echoed in his ears.

Aurelius exchanged a quick glance with Selene before their footsteps quickened. As they got closer to its source, the cry grew increasingly clear.

It belonged to a woman.

Whimpers and cries intertwined to create a desperate chorus.

Selene clutched the dagger in her hand, already fearing the worst.

Yet it was only when they walked several steps down that they finally came face to face with its source.

Three cultists. Nine women.

The hands and feet of the latter were tightly bound as they were forced to walk ahead, while the three cultists walked behind them with black whips in their hands.

Slash! Slash! Slash!

"Don’t stop! Keep walking! You should be grateful to have survived!

"You can finally return to your cells!"

One of the cultists yelled while waving the whip to slash at two of the women.

The captives let out agonizing yelps as the whip’s edge slashed across their backs and left behind deep, bloody scratches.

However, they forced themselves to remain silent, afraid to speak a single word.

With tears in their eyes, their movements only stopped for half a second before they continued walking according to the cultists’ orders.

"Haha! Hel! You really know how to discipline these untouchables!"

"It’s no wonder that you have managed to win the Priest’s favor." One of his companions praised the man, clearly delighted.

He slashed at the women at the front too, as though he wanted to mimic his actions, though he missed a couple of times.

Despite this, his laughter only grew even louder as he slashed again and again.

His chuckles were sinister and cold, as though what he was whipping was not another human, but simply livestock.

This scene, coupled with the nine women’s conditions, infuriated Selene.

The knuckles of the hand gripping the dagger grew white, and she looked ready to rush forward to let these men meet their creator.

But just then, Aurelius suddenly placed his hand on her shoulder. His grip was firm, not allowing Selene to jump forward.

This only served to make Selene even more furious. She turned to look at him with a flushed face, and her lips parted as she was about to question what he was doing.

But before she could say a word, Aurelius placed his finger on her lips. With his other hand, he pointed toward an iron door not far away.

It was the place where the three cultists seemed to be taking the women.

The room’s door was tightly shut, with no gap along its surface at all.

Yet despite this, when Selene focused on it, she seemed to see a bloody red mist emerge from inside, taking the form of an incomprehensible creature.

At the same time, more wails echoed in her ears.

They didn’t belong to the nine women in front of her, but came from inside the room.

Despite this, they were no less painful.