Chapter 805 Worse Than Monsters
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The first 'floor' of the dungeon gave players just ten percent completion, while the second gave them thirty, and it wasn't without reason.
Not only were the monsters on this floor much stronger than the previous one, but the terrain was also very much in their favor.
The cavern passages that everyone was forced to go through weren't even big enough for the taller players to stand straight, and not to mention fighting at their full efficiency, rangers were almost completely unable to use their bows for the fear of hurting their allies.
Only mages who could use targeted skills were slightly better off, but even their situation wasn't too optimistic.
After all, while they could redirect their skills, it was still possible for monsters to evade them if they were fast enough.
"I missed again?!"
"Fuck! Why are these things so annoyingly fast?!"
Just as the agitated mage was about to cast another spell, however, the sturdy tank in front of their group cursed, and a green blur flashed by her side at such a terrifying speed that, for a moment, she couldn't help but wonder if it was just her imagination.
"…!"
The four deep and painful lacerations from her waist to chest made Risa almost instantly pass out on the spot, but the mocking laughter of the monster in front of her enraged her just enough to remain sane.
A large patch of her top had been ripped off, and the hideous green humanoid in front of her seemed to be having the time of its life waving the fabric in its hand while pointing at her exposed skin.
"You son of a bitch…! I'll kill you!"
As a national-level athlete and proud daughter of a general, no one had ever dared to even think about humiliating her like this before.
Even Darryl was a little more polite while speaking to her.
Unfortunately, her planned 'revenge' was bound to remain unfulfilled, as the offending monster was impaled to death by a glowing spear the very next second.
"Focus, Risa!" Darryl reminded her patiently. "It's just a game. Take a potion and heal your wounds."
It was only then that the blue-haired mage came back to her senses and realized that they were still surrounded by multiple [Goblin Elites].
"I got it…" She admitted her mistakes with a pout, then took out the healing potion from her inventory before focusing on the fight again.
Of course, had it been anyone other than Darryl who dared to scold her like that, Risa would definitely have flipped them off.
The dark-haired hero turned his focus back to the front.
After he'd figured out a way to the second floor, nothing seemed to be going his way. But Darryl wasn't particularly upset.
The announcement before confirmed that his team was in the lead, after all. And he didn't mind them getting a 'wake-up call' through these monsters.
Risa and the others never took Arcadia seriously before, and even after realizing its 'importance', that stance hadn't changed much.
Darryl knew that without tasting failure at least once, it was impossible for certain people to let go of their pride.
"Oak, focus on advancing to the center of the enemy group and ignore the others! Take down the one with the feathered crown!"
The giant of a man at the very front of their formation grunted in acknowledgment, though it wasn't easy for him to follow Darryl's orders, even with the giant hammer in his hands being able to easily pulverize any monster in front of him.
After all, the annoying little beasts were extremely agile, and he hadn't been able to land a single clean hit so far even after using all his buffs and skills.
Not to mention, the more aggressive he tried to be, the higher the chances of one of the goblins slipping past him and into the vulnerable backline.
The rogues might be able to stop a few, but as their team's only tank, Oak felt personally ashamed every time it happened.
The [Goblin Elites] seemed to focus almost exclusively on certain females in their group, and their attacks also seemed more intent to humiliate than to kill, but that didn't make him feel any better.
With all his flawless records and boasting before, even if no one spoke out against him at the moment, Oak felt like he'd been slapped across the face.
Fortunately, there were some very suitable targets in front of him to vent his anger.
"You bastards, let me turn you into a stain on the ground!"
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
While the hero and his team were struggling desperately, the Crimson Witches were leisurely walking through the long and dark caverns of the second floor.
"This second floor… it's a little boring, isn't it?" Nico mumbled.
Robin couldn't help but agree. "That [Goblin Elite] seemed a little tough at first, but it died way too quick under all our arrows and spells. In fact, I almost feel like we wasted too much mana."
To be fair, taking the [Goblin Elite] down really wasn't as easy as she made it sound. But after all their preparations and anticipation, the fight just became far more anticlimactic than it should have been.
Danielle coughed. "Don't get too complacent just yet, we're probably still in the third place. If you have the time to talk, you might as well help Emilia out by scouting further."
Of course, Robin didn't dare to refute the drill-haired girl's orders.
Despite everything, they were still trying their best to remain vigilant. After all, the first floor had given them enough trouble to make even Danielle almost give up. How could the second floor be so simple?
And as if to prove their thoughts, vague echoes of what seemed like an extremely fierce battle rang through the passage shortly after, making them all pause momentarily.
"Could it be the monsters fighting among themselves…?" Robin wondered, being mindful of keeping her voice hushed.
Danielle frowned. "That… or something much worse."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Follow current novels on freewe(b)novel.c(o)m