Chapter 12: 12 Adventurers Arrive

The dim tunnel reeked with a nauseating stench, and the giant spider's green blood dripped continuously along its own massive web.

Arachno, like its spider kin, earned only the generic label "giant spider monster" from most illiterate adventurers.

Only those who truly understood them knew it was a special giant spider capable of weaving a poisonous massive web.

The thick webs were impossible to miss, and weak monsters kept their distance.

Yet there were always such monsters that, relying on their sturdy bodies and formidable strength, never gave the webs a second thought.

Arachno's prey happened to be exactly those creatures.

But today, it had clearly met its match.

A massive axe struck the spider monster's head dead center, smashing it to pieces.

Huff—huff—

The minotaur, a beast with a bull's head and a human body, heaved a heavy breath, lifted the axe, and gave it a slight flick to shake off most of the clinging blood and foam.

On its four-and-a-half-meter tall, sturdy frame, knotted muscles rippled beneath its fur with every breath; this was an individual so exceptionally strong it stood out even among minotaurs.

Under its frenzied assault, the hunter had become the hunted.

But it was not unscathed.

Poison from the left arm that had touched the web spread along its veins; even its Level 5 poison resistance could only stop the spread from continuing.

Losing an arm in such a short time would surely make survival in the dungeon a struggle.

Fortunately, this problem would soon cease to trouble it.

A pitch-black dagger emerged from the shadows, circled the minotaur's thick neck with a gentle turn, and sliced its throat open as easily as tofu.

Watching the minotaur lying on the ground, now only able to twitch, Night Owl stepped out of the darkness and complained to the other three who had just arrived:

"A Level 40 minotaur at least; this thing could serve as a chest guardian on the eighth floor. If its condition hadn't been so poor, I'd have had to work harder."

"I have a feeling that if we keep wandering like this, we'll sooner or later run into someone truly troublesome."

"Nova, about how much farther is it?"

Nova touched the guiding crystal in his hand: "Soon. The shift in direction is growing larger, which means we're very close."

"Gale, help me cut open its abdomen."

Ivan pointed at the spider's corpse and ordered his teammates.

"Why? Giant spider monster fluids smell terrible..."

Gale looked reluctant but still drew a scalpel and sliced open the spider's belly.

Sure enough, a foul stench hit his nose, and he quickly waved his hands and stepped back two paces.

Ivan, however, lunged forward with eyes gleaming, disregarding the stench, and reached in with both hands to pull out an organ.

"It really is an Arachno; this poison sac is the perfect material for setting up a Poison Cloud Ritual!"

After watching Ivan take out an exquisite box and carefully store the foul-smelling poison sac, Nova directed the group to continue forward.

He had a premonition that after passing through at most three more caverns, they would see their target.

————

In fact, after passing through one more cavern scattered with fire mosquitoes, they arrived at their destination.

Outside the mushroom garden, the four stared at the scene before them in disbelief—a group of Pujis occupying territory even in the deep layers!?

No, rather, how could Pujis exist in the deep layer zone?

It was true that monsters of all levels existed in the deep layer zone, but that didn't include Pujis, which had no survival ability at all...

Not to mention, wouldn't those fire mosquitoes next door be treating them as an all-you-can-eat buffet all day?

Gale stood with his mouth open for a long while before murmuring, "If it's here, I think I understand why that Young Lady is still alive..."

"One is coming."

A Puji walked toward the group on its tiny short legs.

Ivan then remembered to use a detection spell to investigate.

"Sure enough, Level 1... Hmm? Skill? There is..."

But someone reacted faster than him; as the Puji approached, Night Owl's figure vanished.

【Shadow Step Level 9】

As experienced adventurers, they would not be distracted by the seemingly harmless sight before them; their first strike would be with full force.

Appearing instantly behind the Puji, the black blade slashed down—

Boom—

"Night Owl! C... areful..."

Ivan's warning arrived too late.

Fortunately, it was only a small explosion and couldn't truly injure Night Owl.

However, she emerged from the smoke covered in soot, staring fiercely at Ivan, barely holding back from asking outright.

"Heh... sorry, it was so rare, I got distracted..."

"I've never heard of walking mushrooms exploding; look, the others don't seem like ordinary walking mushrooms either."

Nova pointed at the cannon mushrooms over there, changing the subject in time.

Ivan cast another detection spell: "Those ones can fire magic cannon attacks; the power isn't great, and they don't seem very aggressive?"

Indeed, after our group had voluntarily taken out one that exploded on its own, the other Pujis showed no reaction at all, neither attacking nor fleeing.

Very strange.

"Should we clear them all out?"

Night Owl asked with her mouth, but her body was already preparing to move; having just lost face, she was still holding back her anger.

But Nova pressed her down.

"Wait, the Young Lady is still in there. If chaos breaks out, who knows what will happen."

"Anyway, the threat is low and they aren't attacking proactively. Let's just go in."

"Stay alert at all times."

The last sentence was for the half-dragon; he had to protect his companions in case of a sudden ambush.

【Substitute Injury LV7】

【Shield Domain LV8】

【Group Defense Boost LV8】

The half-dragon cast several guardian skills in succession.

"Alright, let's go in."

————

Long before the group entered the passage connecting to the fire-mosquito nest, Lin Jun had sensed them through the mushrooms in the passage.

The Archmage Ivan did not discover Lin Jun secretly monitoring the entire mushroom garden, and their conversation was heard by Lin Jun word for word.

However,

I don't understand...

As expected, people from another world surely don't speak Earth languages, right?

Communicating with Inanna via the mycelial network is actually a mental local area network; what is transmitted are thoughts, not language, so naturally there is no language barrier.

Now that I've met someone actually speaking the otherworld language, sure enough, I don't understand...

Even though I don't understand, I haven't seen humans in all these years here, and now I've met a group that clearly came for the mushroom garden.

Ninety-nine percent their target is Inanna.

I just don't know if they want to kill her or save her.

Inanna has a 【Tracking Mark】 on her; logically, it must have been placed by her father, the Duke.

So this group is most likely here to save her.

Actually, even if they aren't, Lin Jun has no good solution right now.

It's not that he is unwilling to shelter the little sidekick he picked up, but he only has 40 combat Pujis and 100 logistics Pujis on hand right now.

And he has checked the four opponents; the lowest is LV52, the highest is LV58.

Each one is higher level than the earthworms, and their panels are packed with a large number of well-combined high-level skills.

With this lineup, even if he unleashes his trump card, the strongest Pujis, there is absolutely no chance of victory.

As for fleeing?

They tracked her down with precise positioning; where could he take her to escape?

Looking at the pink Pujis still in the garden innocently practicing magic, Lin Jun felt he should remind her.

"Inanna."

"What is it, Boss?"

"Your family sent people to pick you up, probably..."

"My family? Probably?"

"Or maybe they came to slaughter you..."

"..."

(End of Chapter)