Chapter 216: Ahead of Schedule

Just as before, a pool of soft green light. Just as before, a party of ten advancing down the corridor. Through the darkness of the corridor, they were like a bright green signal light, drawing ever closer to the crossroads.

Slayer’s Heart, who had been leading the way forward, stopped suddenly and signaled for a halt. He listened intently for awhile, and then broke the silence when he said, “I hear a wind blowing.”

“Violetwing Venomspiders.” Violet Orchid named the source of this breeze, while quickly checking their current location in the Underground Chambers. “We’re almost there, just another hundred fifty meters to the crossroads.”

“Oh, we’ve made it that far already?”

Violetmoon Devilite couldn’t help butting in to ask, “Wasn’t there another party who came in ahead of us? Where’ve they gone?”

On the way here, Violet Orchid had explained in detail the first wave of monsters that would attack, and they also knew that the spiders they would encounter right after that should have been three times the number of the horde they had just faced.

They shouldn’t have made it this far, this easily. It was suspicious.

“Seems like they’ve all been wiped out,” Qin Ruo said this callously, as though making a remark about a bunch of ants that had been crushed underfoot by a passing elephant.

Exchanging a glance with Slayer’s Heart, Qin Ruo paused and began to gather his mana. There would still be a good ten minutes’ travel down the corridor, with scant few monsters to drain mana from. Obviously, he should also avoid using mana potions too extravagantly just to maintain Frost Barrier and Darkfrost Shield.

For the battle that was soon to come, Qin Ruo ought to prepare in advance. Although the party that had gone in ahead of them probably hadn’t been much of a big deal, it could not be ignored that they had all been members of the same league, and they could not have been totally worthless.

Besides that, this was the first time anyone had ever heard of two parties entering the Underground Ruins dungeon at the same time—no one could say whether the difficulty would increase as a result. Had that party fallen to an attack by spiders at 75% difficulty, or 175%?

Therefore, they had to get ready right now!

Burning Rose was not slacking off either, simultaneously activating Verdantflame Barrier and Fire Shield.

As one of the senior members here, she had a much clearer idea of the situation than Violetmoon Devilite and the others. There was an important battlefield just ahead of them, and if there was neither sight nor sound of the party that had been ahead of them, it probably meant that they had already been defeated—but the monsters that took them out might still be around.

There! Not a hundred meters ahead!

***

Both Elementalists at the ready, Slayer’s Heart turned back and called, “Little Arrow!”

Little Arrow nodded and walked up to the fore, raising a Gold longbow she had acquired just today. She drew back and released, and as the twang of the bowstring echoed around them, a fully charged Illuminating Crystal shot down the corridor, sending light through the shadows.

*Ting!*

There came the sound of something clattering to the ground. Before there was even time to see what the light had found, the terrifying stench of rotting flesh carried across the distance to everyone present.

“Gah!”

“It stinks!”

“Deathvenom Spider!”

For Violetmoon Devilite and Gold Digger Babe, their first encounter with this reeking stench brought tears to their eyes, their delicate features scrunched up in disgust. The others behind them shook their heads, pinching their noses in agony, covering their mouths and moaning non-stop over the unbearable smell.

It was a good thing Gold Digger Babe would not be needed for this kind of combat, but Violetmoon Devilite was not so lucky. Trying with all her might to ignore the nauseating odor, she had to be able to focus on the battle.

It was an inhuman kind of torture!

But soon, hearing the startled cries from Slayer’s Heart and Qin Ruo, everyone turned and saw, standing within the light from the Illuminating Crystal, it wasn’t just a Deathvenom Spider—there was the shadowy form of a gigantic humanoid creature!

“Damn!”

“Two of them!”

When Qin Ruo’s gaze found those two ominous shapes, he instinctively cursed their luck.

Damned Gorefiend Spider Demon and damned Deathvenom Spider!

Two deadly beasts encountered together… there was absolutely no doubt now that the first party had been slaughtered to a man, and no wonder—running into a single boss under such conditions, at best they might have been lucky enough to walk away with severe injuries; two bosses at once, that meant certain death!

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“Fall back!” Slayer’s Heart roared, realizing their doom was upon them, and ordering a retreat before more spiders swarmed to join the attack.

A Tier 4 Elite Miniboss, was not individually as powerful as a Darkshadow Archdemon. However, two of them attacking together could produce a combined threat that could equal that of a Mutated Darkshadow Archdemon. If they could not keep both under control at the same time, they would fare no better than the group that went before them!

At that moment, Slayer’s Heart did not retreat. Instead, as swiftly as he could move, he charged towards the more formidable Deathvenom Spider, and went into Berserk mode!

Qin Ruo did not retreat either, nor did he regard the retreat order from Slayer’s Heart as meant for him.

With a sweep of his piercing gaze, he confirmed that the Gorefiend Spider Demon and Deathvenom Spider were not accompanied by any Chameleon Spiders or Violetwing Venomspiders. Without a word, he stood right where he was and began to cast a spell, gathering his mana to form a Compressed Frost Bullet.

His gaze locked onto the two rapidly approaching Elite Minibosses in the distance, the spell that would normally have taken him nearly three seconds to cast was instead completed within two. At the moment, Qin Ruo was still enjoying the benefits of the Darkfrost Potion: the increased affinity with and effectiveness of water elemental magic. Even the cooler temperature down here was aiding his spellcasting.

Reaching out with one hand, Qin Ruo grasped the Compressed Frost Bullet, thirty centimeters long. His heart as cold as the ice he held in his grip, he followed behind Slayer’s Heart as they advanced to face the Gorefiend Spider Demon and the Deathvenom Spider.

Around Qin Ruo’s hand there raged a storm, a bitter chill that seemed to have a hunger of its own. Slayer’s Heart considered how at his side there walked a person who wielded the power of champions—were these two tiny Minibosses even any challenge to him?

“We’ll take one each,” Slayer’s Heart said.

“Right!”

With that, Slayer’s Heart and Qin Ruo moved in to strike.

Dashing in, Slayer’s Heart ducked under a barrage of poison needles from the Deathvenom Spider. The monster could move with startling speed, but the Berserker was even faster.

Qin Ruo’s Compressed Frost Bullet struck next!

Before it even reached its target, the freezing winter winds howling around it were already slowing down the Gorefiend Spider Demon, dampening its power somewhat.

*Bang!*

As the Compressed Frost Bullet struck the Gorefiend Spider Demon in the chest, its hideous eyes glowed, and then six sickly green Death Rays burst out and slammed into Qin Ruo’s Frost Barrier.

The Barrier shuddered slightly, but remained intact.

The Gorefiend Spider Demon’s three-meter-tall body, on the other hand, stiffened for a moment, and then the Frost Bullet exploded, throwing out millions of Ice Blades which left countless gashes across its skin, each one shallow and edged with frost as the wounds froze instantly.

Compressed Frost Bullet has dealt 452 damage to Gorefiend Spider Demon.

Gorefiend Spider Demon suffering Chilled: Slowed by 60% for 5 seconds.

Sudden Explosion has dealt 574 damage to Gorefiend Spider Demon.

Gorefiend Spider Demon suffering Laceration: 60 damage per second for 15 seconds.

Gorefiend Spider Demon suffering Additional Effects: Chilled for an additional 5 seconds.

Looking through the stream of combat feedback messages, Qin Ruo knew he had done well. These five seconds were enough time for the rest of their companions to steel their resolve and prepare to provide support.

Slayer’s Heart was not doing too badly, either. With Violet Orchid and Violetmoon Devilite providing buffs and healing, as well as removing negative conditions from him, the Deathvenom Spider was helpless in the face of his relentless onslaught.

Violet Orchid watched how Slayer’s Heart, faced with a Tier 4 Elite Miniboss, could still get into fighting form instantaneously, locking down the Deathvenom Spider’s movement completely. She quietly released a sigh she had been holding in, a rare light dancing in her eyes as she glanced over at the other duel, wherein Qin Ruo had completely seized the initiative.

She smiled to herself, thinking, ‘ Now this is the old Slayer’s Heart I remember.’

***

In those five seconds while the Gorefiend Spider Demon remained Chilled, Little Apple and Wang Da eagerly rushed in to help. Under Qin Ruo’s guidance, a stray bolt of lightning struck the frost-covered Demon in its side, knocking it askew.

Taking advantage of this chance, Qin Ruo cast Mana Drain, replenishing his own MP while at the same time bringing up five Aquaramparts with astonishing speed.

Ultimately, a Tier 4 Elite Miniboss could not simply be brought down in mere moments. Calculating how the battle would play out, perhaps it would be a good idea to use the Twelve Frostramparts Formation to help further hamper the enemy.

As Qin Ruo began to cast the Twelve Frostramparts Formation, Burning Rose meanwhile was unleashing her fire magic—however, due to its reduced effectiveness against Chilled enemies, she could only aid Slayer’s Heart in his battle. Little Arrow’s target was also the Deathvenom Spider. Gold Digger Babe, due to low HP and the inability to hide from spiders, was assigned by Violet Orchid to watch their backs.

Gold Digger Babe was no fool: knowing she could be of little help in combat this time, she pulled out a high-grade Illuminating Crystal she happened to have and ran out about a hundred meters away to plant it in the empty corridor, where it could light up a great length of the corridor. Then she ran back to the party, which had a light source of their own. With the way behind them fully lit up, there was absolutely no need to worry that a sneak attack might make it past her sharp eyes.

With the rear approach under watch, and the battles up front under control, Gold Digger Babe’s gaze swept across everyone, finally settling upon the shadow-wreathed form of Dinosaurcerer, who had just reached the final point of his Beastform Fusion.