Takatsuki noticed that in the darkness in the distance, a pair of gloomy eyes were peeking at him from the shadows.
The monsters in front of him were all crabs, and the height of those gloomy eyes was clearly not something crabs could reach.
Is it human?
No, it's too tall! And the monsters aren't attacking him!
Even with Pass Parade, it's impossible not to be attacked by monsters.
In the Dungeon, there's a tactic called Pass Parade, where one adventurer makes other adventurers bear the brunt of their monsters' attacks while the initiator escapes.
But Takatsuki hadn't seen any other adventurers along the way, nor had the monsters shown any signs of pursuit; instead, it was as if they were being driven by something.
"Dragonfire, blast!"
After a brief thought, seeing the surging monsters, Takatsuki raised his fist without a word, Fire Demon energy swirling around it.
A massive flame shot towards the location of the gloomy eyes he had just seen, pulverizing all the monsters in its path.
No matter what the other party was, even if it was an adventurer, they didn't seem like good people, so Takatsuki attacked them along with the monsters without hesitation.
What if he killed them, you ask?
If he killed them, he'd destroy the evidence!
Takatsuki wasn't someone who overthought things when dealing with enemies; since he didn't know them and their behavior was suspicious, he'd just kill them.
Moreover, after activating his Eagle Eye, Takatsuki discovered that the other party harbored hostility towards him, and since there was hostility, he didn't care who they were—he'd just kill them!
Upon seeing the fire punch Takatsuki unleashed, the other party immediately turned and fled without a word.
Something's off!
Seeing the other party evade his attack, Takatsuki immediately gave chase. The surrounding crabs were cleared out by the flames, creating a clear path, and they couldn't catch up to Takatsuki for a while.
Ignoring the ordinary monsters, Takatsuki relentlessly pursued the suspicious figure ahead, and soon he realized that thing was definitely not human!
Its size was enormous, and the other party was clearly terrified by his attack, fleeing in a hurry, and the ground trembled as it ran.
A monster!?
An intelligent monster!?
An Irregular?
Takatsuki quickly considered this but then dismissed it. Combining it with Marie's intuition, Takatsuki understood the true identity of the thing ahead.
An Irregular monster!
The monster was huge but ran very fast, and it was clearly very familiar with this Dungeon, constantly turning and twisting in an attempt to shake off Takatsuki.
Even with the power of the Ox Talisman, Takatsuki couldn't catch up, despite constantly stomping the ground to accelerate with the recoil.
"If only I had the Rabbit Talisman."
In terms of speed, no matter how strong the power, it couldn't compare to the Rabbit Talisman.
However, Takatsuki wasn't without other means.
The Fire Demon was indeed powerful, but its strength lay in its destructive power; in terms of abilities, even A-class characters might surpass it, as it was a demon that could be forcibly turned into a statue by an archaeologist.
Five seconds later, Koby's character card replaced the Fire Demon's character card.
Soru!
The Rokushiki of the Marines displayed its power for the first time in the Dungeon.
Although Soru wasn't a long-distance running ability, Takatsuki wasn't using it for a marathon; he just needed to catch up to the guy in front of him.
Soon, the distance between them continuously closed. Although the other party kept darting into various winding paths, they were still relentlessly pursued.
Watching the other party enter another dark cave, Takatsuki pushed off the ground again, disappearing from his spot.
Two or three more times and he'd catch up.
As Takatsuki calculated this in his mind, a sound of rushing air suddenly came.
His Observation Haki made him instinctively dodge, followed by a barrage of dense rushing air sounds.
Although his Observation Haki worked again, allowing him to dodge most of the attacks, some bullet-like objects still hit him.
Even with a character card, Takatsuki's combat experience was still too lacking; he could have immune this sneak attack by using either Armament Haki or Iron Body.
Takatsuki's face darkened as he watched the monster, which had revealed a smile after its successful sneak attack and then retreated a distance.
"Just a minor injury and you..."
Takatsuki had just pulled out the branch-like things from his wound, and before he could finish speaking, he felt his stamina rapidly draining.
And the wound quickly grew vine-like plants.
Parasitic!?
Plants that grow by absorbing the host's stamina?
Takatsuki quickly made a judgment, and looking at the monster's smile across from him, Takatsuki realized that he had actually been ambushed by a monster.
And the other party clearly knew Takatsuki's situation at this time, so they just waited in the distance for Takatsuki to lose the strength to resist.
Takatsuki wasn't hit by many "bullets," but they were distributed in various locations, and the strength in the hit areas was rapidly draining. Soon, Takatsuki fell to the ground, unable to stand due to the bullet in his leg.
Watching Takatsuki try to get up several times but fail, the monster's smile grew wider. After waiting a while longer to confirm Takatsuki was immobile, the monster walked over step by step.
Then it raised the large club in its hand and smashed it down heavily towards Takatsuki.
Bang!
A violent explosion erupted from the monster's giant club. The giant club, which originated from the Dungeon's natural armory, was completely pulverized in the explosion.
Before the monster could stabilize itself from the explosion's shockwave, Soaring flames instantly filled its vision.
Amidst the raging flames, Takatsuki slowly stood up from the ground.
The vines and his clothes on him were all burned to ashes by the intense Fire Demon energy.
Fire Demon energy would not harm its wielder, but these external things would not fare so well.
Although the vines had even pierced into his internal organs, the internal organs were completely purified under the envelopment of the Fire Demon energy.
"You have enough to be proud of."
Looking at the monster in front of him, whose face showed fear, Takatsuki coldly raised his hand.
Then he clenched his fist heavily.
Blast!!!!
A violent explosion filled the Dungeon, countless rubble buried the cave, and the moss giant monster was completely pulverized by the flames and explosion.
"Cough, cough..."
A hand reached out from the rubble, then propped itself on the rubble to pull its body out.
"I didn't expect to be forced into such a state."
Takatsuki recalled what had just happened. Fortunately, he had many tricks up his sleeve. By lying on the ground to lure the other party closer, he had Heaven's Stairway use Killer Queen's ability to sneak attack the opponent.
Then he switched to the Fire Demon, using Fire Demon energy to perform a purification from the inside out.
That last blow was actually completely unnecessary, but Takatsuki was very angry.
Not angry at the other party, but at himself.
He had always been a bit too overconfident, due to the reason that he couldn't die.
This led him to fight with a nonchalant attitude, as long as the opponent didn't have mental attacks or unreasonable control abilities.
And now that he had a Fenghuang Down in his Sea of Consciousness, he didn't care much about mental attacks either, which led him to be very lax.
This also led to him suffering a great loss this time.
After this battle, he finally reflected deeply and understood where his problems lay.
"Sigh..."
Standing up from the rubble, Takatsuki slowly took out his clothes and changed. Just as he was about to leave, a strange sound suddenly came from all directions.
"This is..."
The sound was like a wail.
But it wasn't from someone or a monster in the distance; it originated from all directions, as if the Dungeon itself was wailing.
Takatsuki silently switched the Fire Demon character card to Koby, then fully activated his Observation Haki.
The instant he activated his Observation Haki, a black shadow flashed, piercing through his skull.