Behind him was… nothing?
There was a black line, and beyond it nothing could be seen, almost as if the limit of the world was set.
[Welcome to 'Sierra's Death Path']
[Level 60-75 Nightmare-Level Rift]
'Sure…' he sighed as he shook his head and began walking.
In comparison to the other rifts where there was somewhat of a safe zone at the beginning where he could gather with others.
This one was different, first of all since there was nobody else, but also because he was already placed inside of an area.
[Level 65 Area: 'The Beginning of Death']
The silence was eerie, broken only by the occasional rustle of leaves in the wind.
In comparison to the forst inside of the 'Shadow Valley' though, it wasn't completely filled with trees, instead the stone path Stark was on didn't have any obstacles on it, meaning that he could advance safely, while the forest was on the edges.
But of course, it was a nightmare-level, it couldn't be this easy.
After only taking 10 steps in the direction of the exit of the first area…
~FWISH~
Behind one of the dark trees near the stone path… appeared a white figure with black eyes.
"M…Moooveeee~" it spoke in a spooky and distant voice, even though it was so close to Stark.
The figure's body was completely white, except for a pair of black wings, and its black eyes that seemed to absorb the light around them.
'…' Stark stared at the figure for a few seconds, expecting it to be a monster he would have to fight.
But it didn't move.
"Perception…" he activated his skill as he wanted to know what that was, its gaze on him making him feel uneasy for some reason.
[Name: Victim of Sierra]
[Level: 65]
[HP: 10000]
[Strength: 1]
[Stamina: 1]
[Speed: 1]
[Defense: 1]
[Skills: Soul's Suckle, Despair…]
Without delay, Stark assessed the situation.
The appearance of the 'Victim of Sierra' was perplexing, as its stats suggested it was a creature with no offensive capabilities, or any capabilities at all to be honest.
However, Stark's instincts warned him that there was more to this encounter than it seemed.
"AURA SMASH," he sent one fist toward the monster, expecting it to die instantly thanks to his high damage against its low defense.
But…
The fist passed right through the ghostly creature, not even fazing it as it kept looking at Stark, the dark vortex of despair in its eyes not stopping.
'Huh…' Stark decided to keep walking, if he can't hit it and it's not attacking there was no reason to try and fight it.
But… after taking three steps.
~FWISH~
Another 'Victim of Sierra' appeared, peeking from yet another dark tree.
'…?'
~FWISH, FWISH, FWISH~
In a matter of seconds, dozens… no… HUNDREDS of 'Victims of Sierra' appeared from behind a tree one after the other.
By the end of their sudden appearance, every single tree around Stark had one of these monsters behind it, peeking at him.
The forest was now filled with an eerie atmosphere as the 'Victims of Sierra' surrounded Stark from all sides, their black eyes fixed on him.
Despite their seemingly harmless appearance, a feeling of unease crept up Stark's spine as he realized the sheer number of these creatures that had materialized out of thin air.
Plus he was in a nightmare-level rift, who could say they wouldn't suddenly be able to attack him?
Which was why Stark increased his cautiousness by a mile while he kept advancing through the stone path, just wanting to get out of this area as soon as possible.
A few minutes passed… but nothing happened.
More 'victims' would keep appearing, yet none of them would do anything.
[Don't get hit by the arrows]
This panel suddenly appered before him again, it was the phrase that all the previous classifiers who attempted to conquer this rift said.
And the moment Stark turned his eyes toward the 'Victims of Sierra' again, making sure none of them had any weapons in hand…
~SHHH… FWISH~
In the distance, the faint sound of an arrow cutting through the air reached Stark's ears thanks to [Focus] and its new ability to detect ambushes.
[Avoid it]
He turned his gaze in the direction he felt the aura coming from, and right before his eyes was a white arrow with a white heart on its edge, a string of aura surrounding it.
'It's… an 'Arrow of Sierra'!?' his eyes widened as he saw it so close to his face.
[AVOID IT!]
Time seemed to slow down as another panel suddenly appeared, doubling down on its warning.
But what scared Stark the most… was that it was not the end of it.
[AVOID IT AVOID IT AVOID IT AVOID IT AVOID IT AVOID IT AVOID IT AVOID IT AVOID IT AVOID IT AVOID IT AVOID IT AVOID IT AVOID IT AVOID IT AVOID IT AVOID IT AVOID IT AVOID IT AVOID IT]
Hundreds of crimson panels surrounded his view as the arrow got closer.
He had understood with the first one that he needed to make sure not to be touched, but after all of this… even being close wasn't an option.
"INVINCIBLE DODGE!" he rolled to the side, avoiding the arrow which passed right through him.
'What the fuck…' he looked back at the ground where the arrow fell, and some sort of white mist was in its place as the arrow had exploded shortly after hitting the ground.
[Do not inhale the mist, do not be touched by the arrow, or else…]
'…?'
[Game over]
And suddenly, the panel disappeared as an arrow came shooting through it, appearing before Stark at an incredible speed.
~DUCK~
Stark crouched to avoid the 'Arrow of Sierra' again.
"Perception!" he tried to analyze the arrow before it fell to the ground, but it was too fast for him to discover anything.
Meaning…
'If I want to find out what these things are… I need to grab one while its in the air,' this was so risky that most people wouldn't do it.
And this time, even Stark hesitated, he had done soem crazy stuff during his stay in this world, and risking his life to do something stupid wasn't that rare of an occurence for him now, and yet… this time for some reason he had a bad feeling.
But if he wanted to survive this rift, he would need to know everything about it and its traps.
And so he took a deep breath, closing his eyes and waiting for the next arrow to come at him, wanting to sense its aura and thus sharpening his senses as it was too fast to even see it come.
~FWISH~
He heard the subtle noise of the arrow being attached to the string, and then being fired in his direction by an unknown entity.
This time, it was either success ot failure, and he didn't even wanna think about kind of fate awaited him if he got hit or inhaled that white mist.
'Come at me,' he opened his eyes suddenly as the arrow was centimeters away from his face, they were glowing with a crimson aura that indicated Stark was now more serious than ever.
He would get it, it's do or die now!