Isekaied Into An Eroge, Time To Have Fun!-Chapter 187: Barai Island

"Well isn’t this quaint?"

Stepping out onto an obsidian beach, we all were immediately hit with a wave of sickly sweet decay that came from the dreary forest in front of us, each piece of vegetation being a purplish black color that looked like it was ready to crumble at any second.

The Gate being located at the edge of the island was interesting since it allowed for us adventurers to spread out and head inland wherever we thought that there were no others currently battling the hordes of undead that were wandering around.

Currently we could see another three parties slowly walking around the beach, with one coming back towards us and the other two heading off in either direction to find their starting point; stepping away from the Gate and nodding at our fellow Academy students, we gathered together and looked at the forest as we discussed what we were going to do.

"Eh... I already dislike this place, but I do enjoy fighting against the idiotic undead. So, we should get to that as soon as possible~! What’s special about this place, Sera? Anything we need to know or are we just ready to go right away?"

"Nothing special, no. Normal undead, the deeper you go the crazier they get. We’re not going deep into the Dungeon because of that, so instead we should stick around the edge zone that has a large amount of undead for us to pick apart however we please."

Anwen nodded at Sera’s explanation before turning towards the three larger melee fighters, letting her gaze roam across the three of them for a moment as she let her ever present lust trickle through before turning towards me, her lips curling into a smile as she took a step closer.

"Welp, since we need to focus ourselves around our stud loving archer to be, how about you pick where we enter the Dungeon from~? I suggest a more wooded area since we could probably use those trees to have some good sex when everything is said and done, but that’s just me~!"

"I... does it matter where we enter from? It all looks the same from here, and if we aren’t going that deep then..?"

"It doesn’t matter, no. So let’s get going."

The buxom blonde gestured for us to follow her only for Kha’Miero to immediately step in front of the mage, her shield and large blade held in idle positions yet still radiating a sharp readiness that was so hot to me...

Then there was Lu’Shaki’s relaxed posture that oozed confidence as she rested a heavy double bladed axe on her shoulder, embracing that Orc stereotype and making me wonder even more if I was actually an Orc simp more than anything else.

And finally we had Ishtarnii who had a giant sword strapped to her back, the Bullkin walking with her arms crossed and that ever stoic expression on her face as she took up a spot towards the front as well, creating a buffer between Anwen, Sera and I and the rest of the Dungeon in front of us.

Having three large bodied melee fighters taking point was an interesting dynamic, and just because she could Anwen went ahead and took up the spot at the rear, her short swords dangling on her hips as she acted like a rearguard and definitely wasn’t spending most of her time staring at our asses.

Stepping into the forest, the sickly sweet stench of death and decay only got heavier as we got closer to its embrace, and now we were able to see the various things that were the cause of that stench that was draped around the island like a blanket.

All of the plants weeped this purple nectar that reeked of decay, and sometimes we would come across the rotting corpse of some poor animal that was slowly being ’eaten’ by the Dungeon, its flesh sloughing off and seeping into the dirt whilst its bones grew brittle to the point of snapping beneath their own weight.

Everything seemed to get darker the moment we were in the forest, and not just because of the canopy catching most of the suns rays; the world seemed to switch to a gray filter as we walked deeper into the Dungeon, and for a moment I thought I was going crazy when I noticed that my hands were graying as well.

Yet when I looked at them they were the same pale skin tone as before, and looking at everyone else they all looked the exact same... until I focused on walking forwards, which was when I noticed that out of the corner of my eye, Ishtarnii’s rich complexion lost its luster, only to regain it when I focused on her.

Noticing that, Sera leaned closer and murmured "It is something that the Island is known for, specifically for those unaccustomed to mana dense atmospheres. The necromancer’s work is deeply engrained into every stone, root and plant that is inside of this Dungeon, so it all radiates that sort of dark ’energy’.", easing some of my concerns with an otherwise rather worrying fact.

The lack of undead was suddenly ’solved’ as a horde groaned nearby, and after having all three of our front liners turn back to look at me I just nodded and pulled tentatively on the bowstring, wondering if I was going to be able to do this.

Making our way towards the groaning, we found around two and a half dozen undead milling about around a tall, purple leafed tree, standing beneath its canopy and basking in the nectar that dripped down onto their heads.

Silently gesturing at them, the three front liners just took up a defensive stance and hunkered down, opening lanes for Sera and I to attack from and waiting for us to make the first move; the buxom mage beside me just gestured at me as well, so I took a deep breath and laid the first arrow onto the string.

It had a broad triangular arrowhead that was sharpened to perfection, and its weight guaranteed that upon hitting its target it would pack one hell of a punch, but that was where I began to doubt myself as I slowly drew the bowstring back.

Touching my thumb to my cheek, I took another breath before holding it as I aimed at one of the stationary undead, ignoring its rotting flesh and patchy hair and just focusing on trying to hit it with this single arrow.

Holding the arrow there for a full second, I felt my back muscles strain thanks to the weight required to pull the bowstring back, and when it became apparent I tightened my grip a little on the bow itself whilst letting go of the bowstring.

A deep, hearty thrum filled the air as the bowstring snapped forwards, sending that arrow loose and propelling it straight towards its target, which had no time to react before this broad tipped arrow collided with its skull.

Punching straight through and only stopping about three quarters up the shaft, the arrow killed the undead cleanly and let it drop to the ground for yet another rest, signaling its ’death’ and filling me with relief and pride.

I didn’t have time to care too much about my emotions though since all of the undead swung their heads around towards the noise of their ’friend’ dropping to the ground, before they looked towards us and let out a long, heartier groan.

Shambling forwards, they began to make their way towards us, prompting me to nock another arrow and take aim on the right side of this horde while Sera began to send out a flurry of flaming bolts towards the left.

I opted for normal archery for right now as I shot another undead ’dead’, striking the next in the throat and dropping it to the ground as its spine was severed at the neck, ending the little brain activity it had.

The third arrow found itself on the string a little more fluidly than the first two, and when I pulled it back the burning in my muscles felt a little more purposeful, filling me with determination as I took aim and let the arrow loose.

Three were dead on my side by the time they got halfway to us, which meant I had time for two more before I would need to rely on my front liners to keep me safe; part of me wanted to rush and see if I could get another three arrows out, but that part was quieted down as I opted for the guaranteed approach of taking my time and not rushing things out.

If I didn’t make any mistakes I could feel a little more confident in myself, and the more confidence I had the more likely I was to potentially hit the next shots, which could lead to me getting more proficient in archery and figuring out how to make this far more fluid and seamless.

Then I could maybe get more shots down range without missing them, which was definitely the goal I should strive for no matter what... especially since these undead were horrid creatures that I definitely didn’t want to be close to.