After a long, arduous journey, Viktor and his squad arrived in front of a 100-meter tall gate. The gate was full of cracks, and it looked like it could collapse at any moment.
They all knew that they have arrived in front of the gate to the Abyss Pit.
This monster nest is located around 20 miles from where the first pillar stood, and it is not too far from where they built the camp before. They needed around one full day's worth of journey to reach their destination, but this time, Albert's squad didn't come with them.
Right after they arrived, they all proceeded to build the camp and take a rest.
Before the sun even has a chance to peek out from the eastern horizon, everyone has woken up, gotten dressed, and gathered in front of the gate to listen to Viktor's orders.
"Everyone, we have all arrived in the Abyss Pit. In here, there are many strong monsters, and I wouldn't lie, there is a possibility that you might die. But, I will not waste your time now, you have trained for the last two months, right?! Use what you learned and get as many spirit stones as you could!"
"Yeah!"
Viez and Jessie glanced and narrowed their eyes when they heard what Viktor said. Despite their skepticism, however, everyone else was full of joy and hope, as the words came from the fabled Metal Guardian.
Then, the group all entered the gate.
Sunlight has just started to warm up the place, but the moment they entered the hole, everything turned dark and quiet. However, nary a complaint was heard, for everyone was busy either lighting their way with torches or keeping their footing on the uneven ground. As they walked further in, they could feel a heat wave coming from deeper.
Afterwards, they saw a flowing river of molten lava.
"We have arrived in the first layer of Abyss Pit."
Everyone took it as a cue to grip their weapons even harder. They were all alert, staring at everything just in case an enemy was nearby. After all, this was their first time entering the Abyss Pit.
Viktor exuded a calm face, but still he was a bit anxious. Back when he entered the Abyss Pit for the first time, most of the monsters have already been slaughtered by the Templars.
"Djinn, how many monsters are here?"
<Too many, there are even more than 100 thousands.>
Viktor's eyes widened upon hearing the answer. That was way more monsters than he had expected.
<and that is only for the first layer.>
Half an hour passed while everyone explored the twisting, cave-like structures. It was then they heard an ear-splitting screech, a cue that the monsters have arrived. Everyone was ready, however, and immediately pointed their weapons at the enemies.
"Everyone, get ready! This will be the first wave. Do not worry, concentrate and maintain our formation!"
From behind the cover of darkness, various small critters and hellhounds have already gathered. Considering the loud growls and hisses, there has to be at least thousands of them.
In other words, they have to fight hundreds of hellhounds with fiery breath at the enemy front lines, while keeping an eye on the critters crawling on the ceiling to keep them from overwhelming the team from behind.
After she saw how the monsters attacked, Anna split the group into two. The first group would be in charge of keeping the hellhounds in check, while the second group has to fight the critters and keep them from overwhelming both groups.
Right in front of the group, Liza was ready to fight. Her claws tore all the hellhounds with ease.
Of course, she was not alone. Next to her, Viez and Jessie helped her to fight as supports. If any hellhounds attempted to target Liza from the back, they would protect her.
Meanwhile, Viktor stood guard next to Anna. He may seem to get the easiest duty, but it was the most important, as he was in charge of protecting their tactician and the heart of their entire strategy. Not only that, he would also occasionally kill the critters on the ceiling with the aid of his [Metal Bullet].
Thanks to their superior coordination, both hellhounds and critters were. Corpses littered the ground they stood on, and every single fighter was soaked head to toe with blood.
Before they realized it, they have fought for almost 4 hours without stopping. It was easy for the recruits to kill the monsters, but the real challenge lies in the fact that they felt endless. Every time one was killed, two would take their place.
Not only that, as the seconds went on, more and more monsters emerged from deep within. If they could withstand the first wave, the second wave would be much bigger than the first one.
Hellhounds and critters were dime a dozen in the abyss, and they are considered as small, weak monsters without much value. However, their sheer numbers made this battle a battle of attrition.
Only after the critter corpses were piled up high in the tower, the waves of reinforcements finally stopped. Now they have some time to rest.
Viktor couldn't help but worry. There are still so many more monsters in here, and the recruits seem to be already tired. Stronger monsters in the Abyss Pit could emerge at any moment.
He decided to approach Anna and find a way to solve this problem.
"Captain Anna, there are still a lot of monsters here, and I don't know when the next wave will emerge. If we keep this up, everyone will be eaten by the monsters due to their exhaustion."
Anna glanced at him for a moment, seemingly thinking about it. Then, she realized that his words has merit, "Alright, that seems to be the case, but I have a plan."
She then explained the overall plan to Viktor.
Then, Viktor called for the recruits and gave them an announcement.
He split the recruits into two groups. The first would have to both hold the critters and the hellhounds back, while the second group would be allowed to rest and vice versa. With the current strength of the recruits, they could easily handle weak monsters such as the small critters and the hellhounds.
Viktor seems to be right on the money about the next monster attacks as well.
Just after he finished the explanation, the next wave arrived. The first group immediately made a circular formation, where they could protect the second group and let them rest. After the current wave was done, they would switch places, so they could get rested up for their turn later.
They kept on fighting with that strategy for four days, but afterwards there were no attacks at all be it either from critters or the hellhounds.
However, the Djinn scan confirmed that there are still thousands of monsters here.
Viktor decided to just hunt all the remaining monsters and split the group into four. The groups were led by Anna, Vies, Viktor, and the last by Jessie and Liza.
Then, the four groups separated and searched every nook and cranny of the Abyss Pit. They promised to come back to a designated place after two days.
At the seventh day, the Djinn informed Viktor that there was no more monsters in this place.
New novel chapt𝒆rs are published on free(w)ebnovel(.)com