The dim tunnel was filled with a nauseating smell. The giant spider's green blood dripped continuously along its own massive web.
Arachno, like its spider relatives, was always referred to simply as "Giant Spider Monster" by most illiterate adventurers.
Only those who truly understood them knew that this was a special giant spider capable of weaving poisonous giant webs.
The thick spider webs were incredibly conspicuous, and weaker monsters would avoid them from a distance.
But there were always some monsters who, relying on their strength and power, never paid any mind to the spider webs.
Arachno's prey happened to be these very creatures.
However, today, it had clearly met its match.
A giant axe was embedded squarely in the center of the spider monster's head, smashing it to a pulp.
Huff—huff—
The bull-headed, human-bodied monster breathed heavily as it lifted the axe, giving it a slight shake to shake off most of the sticky blood and gore.
On its sturdy four-and-a-half-meter frame, knotted muscles rippled under its fur with each breath. This was an individual exceptionally strong even among Minotaurs.
Under its frenzied attack, the hunter had become the hunted.
But it wasn't completely unscathed.
The poison from the spider web it had touched on its left arm spread along its blood vessels. Even with LV5 poison resistance, it could only prevent further diffusion.
Losing an arm for a short period would undoubtedly make its survival in the dungeon extremely difficult.
Fortunately, this problem wouldn't trouble it for long.
A pure black dagger extended from the shadows, circling the Minotaur's thick neck with a light turn. Its throat was cut as easily as tofu.
Watching the Minotaur collapse to the ground, now only twitching, Night Owl emerged from the darkness and complained to the other three who had just arrived:
"At least a Level 40 Minotaur. This thing could be a treasure chest guardian on the eighth floor. If it weren't in bad shape, I would have had a harder time.
I always feel like if we keep wandering like this, we'll run into truly troublesome guys sooner or later.
Nova, how much further is it?"
Nova touched the Guiding Crystal in his hand. "Almost there. The magnitude of the directional change is getting bigger, which means it's very close."
"Gael, help me cut open its abdomen."
Ivan pointed at the spider's corpse, directing his teammate.
"Why? Giant Spider Monster's body fluids are really smelly..."
Gael looked reluctant, but still drew out his Anatomical Knife and sliced open the spider's belly.
Sure enough, a foul stench assailed his nostrils. He quickly fanned his hands and stepped back two paces.
Ivan, however, rushed forward with shining eyes, completely disregarding the stench, and reached in with both hands to retrieve an organ.
"It's Arachno, alright. Its Poison Sac is the best material for setting up a Poison Cloud Ritual!"
Watching Ivan take out an exquisite box and carefully put away the foul-smelling poison sac, Nova then directed everyone to continue forward.
He had a premonition that they would reach their target in at most three more caves.
In fact, after passing through another cave with scattered Fire Mosquitoes, they arrived at their destination.
Outside the Mushroom Garden, the four of them looked at the scene before them in disbelief—a group of Puff, able to occupy a territory even in the deep layers!?
No, rather, how could there be Puff in the deep layers?
It was true that the deep layers had monsters of all levels, but that didn't include Puff, which had no survival ability...
Putting everything else aside, wouldn't those Fire Mosquitoes next door treat them as a buffet all day long?
Gael's mouth was agape, and it took him a long time to murmur, "If it's here, I think I understand a little why that Duchess is still alive..."
"One is coming over."
A Puff walked towards the group with its short legs.
Only then did Ivan remember to use his scouting skill to investigate.
"As expected, it's LV1... Hmm? Skills? There are..."
But someone reacted faster than him. As the Puff walked over, Night Owl's figure disappeared.
Shadow Shuttle LV9
As experienced adventurers, they wouldn't be disturbed by the seemingly harmless scene before them. They went all out from the start.
Appearing behind the Puff in an instant, the black blade slashed down—
Boom—
"Night Owl! Be... careful..."
Ivan's warning came late.
Fortunately, it was just a small explosion and couldn't really hurt Night Owl.
However, she emerged from the smoke covered in dust, staring intently at Ivan, almost directly questioning him.
"Haha... Sorry, it was too strange, I got distracted..."
"I've never heard of Walking Mushrooms exploding. The other ones don't look like ordinary Walking Mushrooms either."
Nova pointed at the Cannon Mushrooms over there, timely changing the subject.
Ivan cast another scouting skill: "Those ones can fire magic cannon attacks. The power isn't great, and they don't seem very aggressive?"
Indeed, their group had already taken the initiative to kill one that self-destructed, yet the other Puff still looked unresponsive, neither attacking nor fleeing.
It was very strange.
"Should we clear them all out?"
Night Owl asked with her mouth, but her body was already preparing to move. She had just lost face and was still holding her breath.
But Nova, who was beside him, held him back.
"Wait, the Duchess is still inside. We don't know what will happen if we cause a commotion.
Anyway, the threat isn't big, and they aren't actively attacking. Let's just go straight in.
Stay alert at all times."
The last sentence was directed at the half-dragon. He had to protect his companions during any sudden attacks.
Damage Transfer LV7
Shield Domain LV8
Group Defense Boost LV8
The half-dragon cast several protective skills in succession.
"Alright, let's go in."
As early as when the few people entered the passage connecting to the Fire Mosquito nest, Linden had sensed them through the mushrooms in the passage.
Archmage Ivan did not discover Linden, who was secretly monitoring the entire Mushroom Garden, and all of their conversation was heard by Linden without missing a single word.
However,
I don't understand...
As expected, the language spoken in another world is indeed not Earth language, is it?
Communicating with Inanna using the Mycelial Network was actually a kind of mental local area network. What was transmitted were thoughts, not language, so there was naturally no language barrier.
Now that he had encountered people who truly spoke an otherworldly language, he really couldn't understand...
Although he couldn't understand, he hadn't seen humans in all the years he had been here, and now he encountered a group that clearly seemed to be heading for the Mushroom Garden.
Nine times out of ten, their target was Inanna.
He just didn't know if they were here to kill her or save her.
Inanna had a Tracking Mark on her. No matter how he thought about it, it should have been placed by her Duke father.
So, this group was likely here to save her.
In reality, even if they weren't, Linden didn't have any good ideas right now.
It wasn't that he was unwilling to protect this little follower he had picked up, but he currently only had 40 combat Puff and 100 logistics Puff.
He had also observed the four on the other side. The lowest was LV52, and the highest was LV58.
Each of them was higher level than the Earthworms, and their stats panels also had a large number of well-matched high-level skills.
With this lineup, even if he brought out his trump card, the strongest Puff, there would be no chance of winning.
As for escaping?
These people had come directly after precise positioning. Where could he take her to escape?
Seeing the pink Puff still practicing magic innocently in the garden, Linden felt he should remind her.
"Inanna."
"What is it, boss?"
"Your family sent someone to pick you up, probably..."
"My family? Probably?"
"Or maybe they're here to kill you..."
"..."