Chapter 355: Mosquitoes?

“Lucien—I found the passage to the next floor.”

Frots, who had gone ahead to scout the way, returned to the party at that moment.

“Oh, already? Perfect!”

Lucien turned to the others, who had finished gathering the monster materials.

“Eileen, Arthur—ready to move out.”

“Coming right up!”

After a quick rest, the six of them headed for the lower level.

A few hours later,

with Hulim taking things just a little more seriously, the entire party cut through the dungeon like a hot knife through butter, reaching the lower floors in record time.

At that moment, they were under attack by a swarm of Swamp Venom Salamanders......

Clang!

Arthur swung his sword, slicing a venom salamander clean in two. Its body split apart and crumpled to the ground.

Having dispatched his opponent, Arthur was about to go help the others when he spotted another salamander creeping up on Russell’s left side, its cheeks puffing out menacingly. He shouted a warning at the top of his lungs: “Left side! Russell, watch out for the venom attack!”

“Huh?”

Russell had just skewered a salamander into the muck. At Arthur’s cry, he spun around—and his eyes went wide with horror.

“Crap!”

Pfft——!

The venom salamander’s toxic spray was already hurtling toward him.

“I’ve got you! Rock Barrier!”

Almost the instant the salamander spat its venom, Eileen waved her wand. A wall of solid earth erupted from the ground to Russell’s left, blocking the incoming poison attack.

Sizzle! Sizzle!

The venom corroded a gaping hole in the earthen wall—but it had done its job, stopping the toxic spray in its tracks.

“Phew, that was a close call!”

Russell let out a sigh of relief, then scowled in anger.

“How dare you sneak attack me, you little pest! Eat my spear!”

BOOM——!

He raised his spear and thrust it forward with all his might, his body surging forward like a cyclone.

Bang!

The salamander that had ambushed him was pierced clean through, leaving a gaping hole in its body. It thrashed a few times, then went limp on the ground, motionless.

“Hmph~! Is that all you’ve got?”

Russell twirled his spear with a cocky flourish, sneering disdainfully.

No sooner had the words left his mouth than—

Gurgle, gurgle......

Bubbles began to churn in the surrounding muck, and dozens more swamp venom salamanders crawled out of the slime, surrounding them on all sides.

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Russell’s face froze.

“What are you standing there for?! Get back here—defensive formation!”

Eileen shouted urgently.

“......O-Oh! Right!”

Russell scrambled back to join Eileen, Frots, and Arthur, the four of them standing back-to-back in a tight defensive circle.

In the blink of an eye, the newly emerged salamanders had them completely surrounded, leaving no room to escape.

“Hey, hey—are you kidding me?! There are way too many of them!” Russell yelled in panic.

“No choice—we have to fight our way out!”

Arthur gripped his sword tightly, his jaw set with determination.

The other three tightened their grips on their weapons, their faces tense with apprehension.

A full-scale battle seemed imminent—when suddenly,

BOOM——!

On the other side of the battlefield, the fight had already reached its conclusion......

As the last massive swamp venom salamander collapsed to the ground, the smaller salamanders, sensing that the tide had turned, scattered in a panic, scrambling to flee back into the muck.

But their escape was far too slow.

Whoosh——!

A frigid Frost Tempest descended upon the swamp, freezing the surrounding muck solid in an instant—and turning all the fleeing salamanders into ice sculptures.

Crack, crack......

The ice sculptures then shattered into fine powder under the howling gale, leaving nothing but a pile of magic stones scattered across the frozen ground.

“Are you all right?”

Hulim and Lucien, who had taken down the alpha salamander, walked over to the group.

“Ah, we’re fine—no injuries—”

Eileen began to reply, but before she could finish, Russell, whose face had turned an unhealthy shade of green, cut in weakly:

“Uh... I think I’m poisoned......”

“???”

Eileen stared at Russell up and down, her eyes falling on the bloodstains on his spear and the splatters on his clothes. She sighed heavily, utterly exasperated.

“Russell—are you new to being an adventurer or something? How could you be stupid enough to make that mistake? Ugh, come here—I’ll cure you.”

“I-I just wasn’t paying attention......”

Russell muttered, shuffling over to Eileen obediently.

Seeing this, Lucien turned to the others. “Leave this to Eileen. Let’s go collect the loot first.”

The group dispersed at once, picking up the scattered magic stones. Since Hulim had destroyed the salamanders’ bodies completely, gathering the loot was far easier this time around......

As soft white light emanated from Eileen’s wand, Russell’s greenish complexion gradually returned to normal.

“There—you’re good as new. Go help with the loot now.”

Eileen put her wand away, preparing to join the others in collecting the magic stones.

“Got it. Uh... wait a second—I suddenly need to use the bathroom.”

“Why do you always have so many problems—oh right! This venom causes extreme dehydration, doesn’t it? Even though I cured you, you were poisoned for a while......”

“Hmm...... Hurry up then, and don’t go too far. There might still be monsters lurking underground.”

“I know, I know—stop nagging.”

Russell waved her off impatiently, then jogged away from the group, disappearing into the distance.

Eileen glared daggers at his retreating back, snorting in annoyance.

“Hmph! You idiot—hope you fall into a mud pit!”

With that, she turned around and joined the others in gathering the loot......

A short while later, Russell reached a cluster of swamp trees. He peeked around cautiously, confirming that there were no dangers nearby.

“This spot should be fine.”

Just as he was in the middle of relieving himself,

Buzz~!

A mosquito landed on his face.

Slap——!

A crisp clap echoed through the trees.

Russell, now sporting a bright red handprint on his cheek, held up his palm, staring at the flattened mosquito in his hand—it was bigger than his thumb.

“Hmph~! Where’d you come from, you oversized mosquito? Thinking you can suck the blood of Russell the Great? You’ve got some nerve.”

“Wait a minute......”

Russell squinted at the creature in his palm, a sudden realization dawning on him.

“......Mosquitoes?”

......

Whoosh~!

A gust of wind swept across the frozen swamp ground, lifting the scattered magic stones and sending them flying straight into the party’s magic stone pouch.

Hulim’s effortless use of magic left Eileen gaping in shock, her eyes wide with disbelief.

“Magic...... can be used like that too?”

She muttered to herself, deep in thought.

“If Russell could learn this trick, we’d make money so much faster......”

“Hulim—have you noticed it too?”

As Hulim continued to use magic to gather the loot, Lucien spoke up suddenly, his voice grave.

Hulim nodded slowly, her expression serious. “Something’s definitely not right.”

“On the first floor, I thought it was just a coincidence—but now it’s clear that it’s not.”

“Yeah......” Lucien frowned deeply, his brow furrowed with concern. “Logically speaking, even a Rank B Dungeon shouldn’t have this many high-tier monsters.”

“Is this dungeon unpopular among adventurers?”

“It certainly is. As you know, this kind of environment makes camping a nightmare—never mind the constant hidden dangers lurking around every corner.”

“I chose this place precisely because so few people come here. That means the monster population has had time to grow far larger than in most dungeons—so the potential loot is much bigger. But I never imagined it would be this bad. If this keeps up, it feels like a dungeon outbreak is just around the corner......”

“Normally, the guild sends people to inspect every dungeon regularly. It shouldn’t have gotten to this point without anyone stepping in to deal with it.”