“What an impressive move, Seagull!”
High Mountain couldn't help but praise as he watched the falling meteors smash the spiders to death, destroying and igniting the silk that had formed into massive webs of various sizes.
Hearing High Mountain's compliment, Seagull couldn't help but proudly form hand seals and strike a cool pose.
“Of course! This is a secret technique I learned by becoming a disciple in the Black Marsh world—well, I definitely can't pull it off this well on my own, but this is the authentic version from my master in the Black Marsh world!”
The eagle-faced, tiger-clawed phantom in the sky was still unleashing its power, meteors continuously raining down, creating a small safe zone amidst this tide of spider silk and spiders.
But beside Seagull, a third person who was gasping for breath heard High Mountain's praise and Seagull's boasting and couldn't help but roll their eyes.
“Captain High Mountain, stop praising him. This kid is notorious for not knowing when to quit!”
She straightened up, flicked her blade to shake off the sticky residue left from slashing spiders, and tugged at the white-streaked bangs on her forehead: “And you, Seagull… you just got released from prison, quit your showing off here!”
Seagull looked at her, somewhat displeased: “Hey, Snowy Owl, I don't get it. What does my release have to do with anything? Didn't I just turn the tide and save you two from disaster?”
“You saved a shovel,” Snowy Owl exhaled. “Can this move of yours kill all this spider silk and these spiders? Once this sorcery ends, aren't we going to be surrounded again?”
“You can only use this once before you have to go recharge with your master—this is a strategic-level killer move, and you just wasted it. What are we supposed to do now?”
Snowy Owl said with frustration, as if disappointed in him.
Seagull also looked helpless: “What was I supposed to do? You entered this dungeon carrying a ‘curse,’ so you can't unleash your full strength. If I hadn't used my ultimate just now, both you and Captain High Mountain would have been hurt… These spiders are each weirder than the last. The NPCs we've encountered on the road all seemed controlled, which probably has something to do with these spiders and their silk.”
“What if getting injured is the condition for being ‘controlled’?”
Snowy Owl gritted her teeth: “At a time like this, you have to take a gamble, fight through it. What's the point of dragging things out like this?”
Captain High Mountain quickly tried to smooth things over: “It was still useful. At least we got a chance to catch our breath and think…”
“But now that you mention it, why did these spiders and silk suddenly appear in the first place?”
“There are supposed to be six players in this dungeon, but we can't even see the other three… And the goal is to ‘prevent Willow Town from manifesting in the world’—we don't even know what Willow Town is!”
“The only clue we have is from the letters on those bandits' bodies, pointing to some ‘Escort Team’… But where's the Escort Team? There's no trace of them at all!”
High Mountain steered the topic back to the dungeon itself, diverting Snowy Owl's frustration.
“Yeah, this dungeon is the most baffling one I've ever been through,” Snowy Owl said unhappily. “I already hate the Prison Mountain Realm. It's scorching hot, the food is the worst out of all six realms, and I can only roast demon meat out in the wild…”
“And now this—a bunch of spiders, and I can't even eat meat!”
Snowy Owl pouted angrily, and Seagull sympathized with her.
“Yeah, the Prison Mountain Realm was already harsh conditions… and this dungeon isn't the simple, brutal kind like the Prison Mountain Realm used to be,” Seagull sighed. “Can't someone drop down from the sky to save us? Aren't there three more players?”
“Don't be stupid. This dungeon is probably the Competition type,” Snowy Owl sighed. “The other side is likely with the Escort Team, watching over the goods we're supposed to steal…”
“Don't even think about them saving us. Even if they wanted to, with this mess of spiders and silk everywhere, the chances of them finding us through all this horror are almost zero.”
As Snowy Owl spoke, she raised her long blade again: “We have to prepare for the worst…”
Hearing Snowy Owl say that, Seagull and High Mountain both sighed.
At that moment, the phantom in the sky was almost dissipating, and the frequency of falling meteors was getting lower and lower.
High Mountain took out his baton again, while Seagull pulled out a “notebook” and readied himself for battle.
But then…
Snowy Owl suddenly frowned slightly.
“What's going on?”
As the meteors grew sparser, the spiders and silk that had been cleared were now creeping back toward them.
But at this moment…
Snowy Owl noticed that those spiders and silk had suddenly changed direction, ignoring them entirely!
Not only did the spiders in front of them turn and flee, but even the ones beside them ran straight past them, all heading in one direction.
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—”
They were now even more at ease than when Seagull had summoned the meteors earlier.
Though being at ease was a good thing, this sudden shift in attitude didn't make Snowy Owl happy.
“What does this mean? Why are they suddenly ignoring us?”
“And what was all that desperate effort to kill us earlier?”
Snowy Owl said, puzzled.
High Mountain fell into thought: “Could it be that they got scared by the meteors?”
“That doesn't make sense. They weren't afraid when the meteors first started falling, but now that it's almost over, they suddenly get scared?” Snowy Owl looked at Seagull. “Does this move have a fear effect?”
“No… but maybe their leader called them back?”
Seagull denied Snowy Owl's question and offered his own guess.
“That's even more ridiculous. I feel like they were lured away by something more tempting or threatening,” Snowy Owl frowned. “Could some expert from the Prison Mountain Realm have stepped in?”
High Mountain looked up: “I think Snowy Owl has a point, and we should find out the answer soon. Look.”
High Mountain pointed not far ahead, where a bulge was moving rapidly, formed by spiders and silk piling up—it looked like spiders and silk were continuously rushing toward something but being blocked from getting through.
It was like watching a hamster running inside a hamster ball under the sand, creating a raised trail on the surface.
And the target of this thing was very clear—it was heading straight for the three of them.
“Holy crap, we've got backup!”
Seagull got excited.
“Even if they're also being harassed by these spiders, it doesn't mean they're here to help us.”
As Snowy Owl spoke, she gripped her blade with both hands and held it in front of her.
And then…
“Boom!”
A few spiders that had been knocked flying flew toward Snowy Owl's direction. After she sliced three of them open in midair, she finally saw the figures behind the spiders.
Snowy Owl scanned them quickly. She didn't recognize anyone.
But she could tell from their outfits that they were definitely players.
Staying on guard, Snowy Owl spoke coldly.
“Night Watchmen, ‘Snowy Owl.’ State your names!”
The tall girl among the three, who looked like the leader, also spoke up.
“I'm from the ‘Jiang'an Hall’ in Jiangcheng—a friend of the Night Watchmen. Hello there!”
