Chapter 165: 165 Confidence

"Since the mission was posted three days ago, only 25 Silver-rank participants have confirmed, along with 2 Gold-rank members; no Diamond-rank personnel have signed up."

Hearing Mirabel's report, Fal frowned.

The absence of Diamond-rank adventurers was hardly surprising; recently, major cities had all posted missions to capture Demon Race spies, with generous rewards.

For a Diamond-rank adventurer, dealing with spies who could at most be Gold-rank carried no risk whatsoever; the only consideration was how to locate them.

It was normal that no Diamond-rank members had registered; even Edin had been brought in by him through a special commission.

However, 25 Silver-rank and 2 Gold-rank members were far fewer than he had expected, considering the mission offered such a high bounty.

"So few people, what is the reason?" Fal's voice betrayed no emotion.

"Based on indirect inquiries and casual conversations with some registrants," Mirabel hesitated, "the general feedback is that the heavy historical casualties are intimidating. Furthermore, many adventurers doubt the actual threat posed by the target currently, and even... even some feel that Pugi's existence is beneficial, disagreeing with the expedition."

"Understood," Fal nodded. "That will do. Assemble the team according to plan and prepare to depart."

Although the number of participating adventurers was surprisingly low, it did not affect Fal's plan.

In fact, even without any adventurers, he would still proceed with the action.

The essence of posting this mission was to inform the adventurers that the Guild was about to make a move; those who did not wish to be affected could choose to avoid the area recently.

In reality, if Edin's illusion insects had not been discovered, Fal would certainly have chosen to rush forward immediately to search for the Pugi King.

But since they were discovered, and it was known that Pugi possessed considerable intelligence.

Descending to the fifth floor would take at least half a day; if the Pugi King wanted to flee, he would have done so long ago.

Therefore, this matter was not urgent after all.

Fal had even mentally prepared himself for the possibility of failing to find the Pugi King this time.

At the main entrance of the dungeon.

Behind the formation composed of forty Church warriors followed the adventurers holding bows, crossbows, and staves.

Edin and Fifteen trailed at the very rear of the formation.

Besides the mission-executing team, quite a few adventurers had gathered nearby to watch the spectacle.

Priest Noah even waved to the ranger Amel in the team.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Sorlin commanded, "Depart!"

As the Guild Master, Fal naturally would not enter the dungeon.

Since he was not going, his shadow-like personal maid, Lillian, naturally would not leave his side for a single step.

As a result, the true high-end combat power available for this deep dive into the dungeon was reduced to just Fifteen and Edin, with Edin being a support-type illusionist.

However, Fal felt little worry in his heart.

On one hand, the Temple Warriors dispatched by the Church were well-trained and particularly skilled in fighting in formation.

When their holy emblem shield wall closed, the power they could unleash was far beyond that of ordinary adventurer squads.

On the other hand, in Fal's view, for this journey, having just Fifteen as the high-end combat power serving as the spearhead was sufficient.

After all, he was one who had truly emerged from the bloody storms of the borderlands, an existence worthy of being titled "Hero."

The entering team was noticed by Lin Jun immediately.

He had thought one or two Diamond-rank groups might come, but the result was—

A bunch of Church Gold and Silver ranks?

Not worth a second glance.

As for the adventurers following behind, there was no need to mention them.

Lin Jun hadn't expected that the illusionist had actually descended in person this time; he carefully checked the status panel, and judging by the skills, he was indeed a sneaky fellow.

What Lin Jun was considering now was not whether they could win, but to what extent they should fight to avoid provoking the elders after defeating the juniors. After all, this was an official team, and they could not be dealt with as casually as ordinary adventurers.

This relaxed and cheerful mood lasted until he pulled up the status panel of the last person.

【Name: Fifteen】

【Race: Human】

【Level: 61】

【Skills: Swordsmanship Mastery Lv10, Dual-Wielding Mastery Lv10, Shadow Step Lv9, Parry Lv8, Trample Lv8, Wind Pressure Slash Lv8, Ground Shortening Lv7, Qi Sensing Lv7...】

【Titles: Demon Slayer, Army Breaker (Attributes increase during charge)】

Hiss—!

So this was the confidence of the new Guild Master?

Level 61, higher than Seeing Xiao Hei!

Moreover, this row of skills looked entirely synergistic, far superior to Seeing Xiao Hei's wild fighting style.

Compared to him, Seeing Xiao Hei only had slightly higher attributes.

No wonder he dared to come down like this!

After thinking for a moment, Lin Jun sent Seeing Xiao Hei to the deep zone as well; Little Pig and Norris and the others were not called up.

He felt that in this situation, whether a Dragonkin or a Vampire appeared would only make things more complicated.

And if Seeing Xiao Hei lost, that would be even worse.

The attack targeting Pugi should be left for Pugi to resolve; if they couldn't win, they could simply play hide-and-seek. Could they burn down the entire dungeon?

A攻略 team of dozens of people was a bit too large for the size of the dungeon corridors, so the team was stretched out into a long line.

Since they had come to cause trouble, Lin Jun naturally would not let them descend to the fifth floor so easily.

At a corner on the first floor, two Pugi charged toward the center of the team.

From far away, adventurers spotted them, drew their bows and nocked arrows, having no intention of letting the Pujis get close.

However, just as the arrows were loosed, the two Pujis simultaneously bounced up, dodging the projectiles and charging straight at the party.

【Holy Barrier Lv5】

In their desperation, two Church Warriors stepped forward with shields raised and cast this skill simultaneously.

Possessing a defensive capability similar to a magical curtain, the two simultaneously cast skills not only failed to interfere with each other but instead merged into a sturdier illusory shield wall, successfully blocking the aftermath of the two Pujis' self-detonations outside the party's formation.

However, this small-scale harassment did not end after a single instance; at every corner and along every stretch of road, Pujis would appear.

Some rushed forward intending to self-detonate, while others fired mana cannons from a distance; though not highly threatening, they were extremely annoying, and could not be ignored, for if left alive, they would follow and attack relentlessly...

Three turret-type Pujis appeared behind the party, their mushroom cannons aiming forward.

Fifteen drew a straight sword and, without even turning his head, swept it backward; the three Pujis, over ten meters away, were instantly sliced cleanly in half.

After slicing through the Pujis, the sword qi left a deep gash upon the ground.

The convenience of 【Wind Pressure Slash】 opened Aiding's eyes wide, yet he still frowned.

Most of these Puji harassments were quickly resolved by the raid party, yet the party's progress was nevertheless severely delayed.

The first floor, which originally could be traversed in two hours, this time dragged on for a full half-day.

Although no casualties occurred, stamina was obviously consumed in large amounts.

Was this situation also the Pujis' intentional doing?

This situation only improved once the party descended to the second floor.

The environment of the second floor was a forest; although Pujis continued to pop up incessantly, the party was no longer constrained by narrow corridors as they had been on the first floor.

The group could take turns defending the perimeter, yet their speed remained slow.

The reason was that the front line needed to sweep for landmine Pujis...

Considering that such monsters had already appeared on the fifth floor, and given that the second floor's environment of soil piled with rotting leaves was extremely conducive to concealment, Aiding, despite landmine Pujis never having been discovered on the second floor before, still advised the party to proceed with caution.

Fortunately, the journey proceeded with scares but no danger.

Just as Aiding thought he had been overly cautious, three fat Otaku Pujis, who had been hanging unnoticed in the tree canopy over fifty meters high for who knew how long, leaped down, plunging fiercely toward the party below!

(End of Chapter)