Chapter 804 Vermin's Domain
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The further they progressed, the easier things seemed to get for Emilia and her team.
Not to mention the naturally skeptical Danielle, even the usually absent-minded Nico felt it was too strange.
"Are we going the wrong way? Shouldn't the difficulty be going up?"
Usually, she wouldn't have bothered asking such a thing. After all, despite Danielle being their 'leader' in name, the one who actually set their direction was Emilia, and Nico didn't want to hurt the girl's feelings.
But considering how eager the crimson-haired beauty seemed to conquer this dungeon, the healer believed it was better for her to voice such problems now than to wait and wipe the little girl's tears later.
Danielle coughed. "Just be prepared and cautious as we move forward. Emilia… keep up your focus, don't worry."
With Emilia's usual luck, the drill-haired girl believed that anything 'strange' or 'unexpected' could only be good. Who knows, maybe they were on the way to some hidden treasure chamber within the dungeon?
Crystal almost giggled when she realized what type of thoughts Danielle was having, but fortunately managed to school her expression in time.
Of course, in contrast to everyone around her, Emilia knew exactly what was going on.
'It probably can't control itself now, and might even have tried leaving the boss room if it could.' She chuckled. 'Even if there are others ahead of us now… there's no need to be worried.'
There were only a few absolute rules enforced by the world will in Arcadia, and one of them was that the bosses couldn't leave their assigned rooms.
Although there was no way for her to be sure, Emilia had the feeling that even if the boss couldn't completely eliminate her competitors, it would definitely delay them greatly.
'It' wouldn't want them to be 'interrupted', after all.
The number of goblins under its command may not be endless, nor could they be considered particularly strong, but the fact that Emilia and her team had been forced to retreat before was proof enough that they were far from being ineffective.
'The first level is still fine. Someone with good enough judgment and luck can probably force their way through. But the second level…' Emilia frowned.
If she recalled correctly, most people had ended up wasting many days in the first level of the dungeon in the original timeline. It was easy to kill goblins, the rewards obtained were amazing compared to those outside, and there was no way to tell which direction one should head in.
Aside from the hero's party, it was no surprise that no one was 'lucky' enough to figure out a way to the second level.
Once they got there, however, the path was more 'straightforward'. And yet, nine of out of ten teams who got there would end up being eliminated.
After all, the boss was already able to give them so much trouble using just 'Inferior Goblins' on the first level. There was no telling how terrifying it could make the 'Goblin Elites' under its command if it really wanted.
Even the hero's party had a tough time eliminating that thing, so Emilia definitely didn't dare take it lightly.
Although she was sure that the boss must have been 'tempted', Emilia wasn't stupid enough to believe that it would have them 'safely escorted' all the way.
Emilia knew they had to seize the chance quickly while they still had it. Who knows if it would calm down a little and get in the mood to watch them suffer later?
Just as she thought so…
[Team 'Radiant Light' has discovered the way out of the first floor of the Goblin's Den, and has become the first team to enter the 'Dungeon Clearing Rankings'.]
Everyone quickly opened their ranking list in a panic, though Emilia remained calm.
'Radian Light' was obviously Darryl's team, and with the hero's 'insight' and their combined strength, this achievement came as no surprise to the crimson-haired elf, and was far from making her admit defeat.
She knew that the rankings would start being 'populated' long before the first dungeon was cleared. And getting through the first floor earlier didn't necessarily mean the hero's team had left them in the dust.
They might be a few steps ahead, but with the boss itself pulling her forward, Emilia didn't believe she couldn't contend with the hero.
Her team's words soon confirmed her thoughts.
"Oh, it's just ten percent completion… we haven't lost yet." Robin sighed.
Nico also shook her head with a smile. "I got worried for nothing."
Meanwhile, Sylvia and Danielle both had grim expressions, though it was for very different reasons. Even Crystal didn't want to probe too deeply into their ever-conflicting thoughts.
The only thing they had in common was that they all wanted to 'win'.
"While we're still wondering if things are too easy, someone's already entered floor two…"
"Let's go, quickly!"
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'Is the boss 'overdoing it'… or have they just gotten really good, now?' Emilia wondered.
Fire and arrows rained down mercilessly, decimating all the goblins who had the audacity of getting in her way.
"It's both… I think." Cynthia chuckled.
Clearly, when the threat level of the goblins wasn't high enough for her team to constantly have to worry about Emilia, their efficiency of destroying the enemy was greatly increased. And when the enemy itself also got 'weaker', the effect was even more obvious.
—Killed [Inferior Goblin], +2000 Experience, +2 Silver Coins
—Killed [Inferior Goblin], +2000 Experience, +2 Silver Coins
It didn't take long for Emilia and her team to arrive at a strange tunnel that spiraled downwards.
"No way… is this it…?!"
The term 'found their way out' in the announcement had already given the team some hint on what they needed to do. So when they saw something that looked quite different from all the other caves they'd found so far, they couldn't help but be overjoyed.
Of course, Danielle still warned them to be prudent. "Be careful, though, it could be a trap. Robin…?"
"I'll check…"
It was only once the rogue had made sure as best as she could that there was no sign of traps that she could detect that Danielle gave Emilia the signal to lead the way, though her expression remained grim.
"Be careful. Even if this leads to the second floor, we don't know what kind of monsters there might be inside!"
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