Harem Reborn

Chapter 91: Close Call

We had made it down to the second floor, and there weren't any signs of monsters, but this time, we didn't enter another hall. Instead, we walked into a large room filled with broken furniture. The place didn't look much more than a mess, but I didn't want to take any chances.

"Watch yourself in here; something seems off."

"What should we do?"

"Just stay close to me, but not too close. Walk where I do and try not to touch anything."

Kyrina nodded to me, and I started to make my way through the room. There was no straight path, and I kept my eyes on the ground, looking for anything out of the ordinary, but nothing was standing out. Maybe I was getting worried up for nothing, but then a gasp from Kyrina made me stop and slowly look back.

Kyrina had put a hand to her mouth, and I followed her line of sight. She was looking down at the ground where the remains of a skeletal hand and arm were sticking out. The flesh was gone, and nothing but the white bone was left.

This must have been someone who had died during the war. Hearing it was one thing, but actually seeing the casualties of war was different. I sighed and waved for Kyrina to follow me; nothing could do for that person.

I turned back to looking at the ground for traps and continued forward. We made it through the room and headed down another flight of stairs. Both of us walked on guard and in silence, the last room still on my mind, but as we neared the bottom of the stairs, I started to hear sounds.

They weren't loud, but at least five different low growls and sniffs came from the room ahead. I put up my fist to stop Kyrina, and she came up beside me. I turned my head to look at her, and she nodded to me to say she was ready.

We both crept to the door and inside was another room with more broken furniture, but leopard-like things were stalking around the room. Whenever one would get near another, their heads would open up in a gross display of webbed skin surrounding a circular mouth of teeth. I shivered at the sight, but I brought my katana up; I was wanted to get stronger and eat those delicious skewers; we would have to do this.

I rushed into the room and dashed to the closet's Catsect, cutting its head off before it could flair it. The head looked like a hairless cat head without ears, and I kicked it to the side, turning to meet the rush. Kyrina caught the first one with a bone-shattering left hook that sent the body flying.

Two down, and I rushed forward, dodging the debris to meet the last three head-ons. The first jumped at me, but I ducked and slid under as Kyrina connect with it while it was still airborne. I came up and slipped between the last two, expertly talking both heads by spinning in a fast side way three-sixty with my katana.

Both heads fell, but then all the bodies broke apart into black particles. Kyrina cried as the bodies disappeared, running to one and trying to grab at them as they disintegrated. That was right. She didn't know that we would get the loot at the end.

"Hey, don't worry!" I consoled, walking over to where she was waiting.

"But we needed those!" Kyrina complied while picking up sand and letting it drain through her fingers.

"In a dungeon at the corpses disappear after the room is cleared, and we will get our loot when we complete the dungeon."

Her mood brightened, and Kyrina got back up and dusted her suit off. Even in the patchy suit, she looked amazing. I wish I could just spend more time standing here, but we still had 10 more to kill before we were done and not to mention the monster that would be at the end. I smiled at her and started for the next door.

The fourth floor was the same as the last, but there were seven Catsect this time. We cut through them with no problem, and we started to head to the next floor when I noticed something. Kyrina was walking ahead of me, and I saw the was a slightly different stone tile.

I reacted without thinking and dove for her as Kyrina's foot pressed down on the plate. I connected with her and took both of us tumbling to the ground, rolling. Above us, a hail of arrows passed by, just barely missing us.

I panted with Kyrina in my arms, and she had a surprised look on her face, but I could also see fear. That was way too close, and she knew it. If I hadn't reacted, both of is would have been arrow pin cushions.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that; I wasn't thinking."

I kissed her; I didn't care, we were fine, but we would have to be warier of traps in the future. I knew something seemed too easy about this place after only seeing 2 more of the beasts. I kissed her again and smiled; maybe we could stay like this for a while longer?

A deep and low growl reverberated up the stairwell ahead of us, interrupting any thoughts of relaxing. I guess there would be time to relax after the race was done, you know, the trip between going to save another planet. Well, what was the other option?

This place was a game, but the people were still here living, and from what I had found out about this Greg, the games don't end after we leave. This meant that what I did in each match was lasting; if I failed, it was real for the people of this reality. This was just another reason to keep fighting, but maybe after we finished on Xeno, we could take a vacation?

We both pulled apart, and I stood up and gave my hand to help Kryina up. I looked over and seen the pile of broken arrows against the far wall and shivered. To close, but if that growl was from what I thought it was, then traps wouldn't bother us anymore.

This dungeon must only have 5 floors and below us was the boss of this place.

"Are you ready for this?"

"Yeah, as much as I can be."

"Okay, let's go down and finish this so we can get back and eat!"