"Thatâs it. They are not even enough for my warm-up." Souta said as he looked at the body of the dead monsters on his feet.
He was the only one who fought these monsters. All it took was a single strike from his sword to take down one monster. In just a few seconds, he massacred a group of second evolution monsters.
The Lanny group just looked at Souta with a blank expression. They felt that Souta was too excited to clear this dungeon. They knew that he was strong as they traveled with him for one week and saw his strength but this time he was different.
The members of the Dark Oculus could feel it too. Lumilia didnât have a time to give a command to the others as Souta annihilated all monsters in just a few seconds.
"Tsk! Weaklings." Souta clicked his tongue as he walked forward and said, "Come on, letâs go!"
"Souta! Why didnât you leave some for me!? I want to fight too!! Donât hog all the fun, Souta!!" Bryan complained as he followed Souta.
...
They went deeper inside the dungeons and fought more than a hundred second evolution monsters. They continued to move forward until they arrived at the intersection path.
They stopped here and rested for a while. One hour had passed since they entered the dungeons so they consumed some of their stamina. Plus, they had to decide which path they will take.
Lumilia placed the map of this dungeon on the ground. She received this from Souta when they talked before.
"Weâre here in this part of the dungeon," Lumilia said as she drew a small circle on the entrance of the dungeon. She then pointed at the four huge rooms of the dungeons and said, "These places where the third evolution monsters reside. I suggest that we clear the other monsters before confronting them."
"Whatâs this blank space?" Ginvi asked as he pointed at the blank space on the map.
"I said that I scouted this dungeon before. I didnât have the power to explore this dungeon so I only drew what I saw." Souta explained to them. The map that he drew wasnât complete. It was to avoid suspicion.
"Okay, weâre going to discuss which path we will take," Lumilia said as she slowly looked at the face of the people around her.
"According to captainâs report, the path on the left has countless spider monsters."
She said as she pointed at the map and they followed the path. This path leads to one of the four big rooms where a third evolution monster resides. No, in fact, all three paths lead to the four big rooms. They were all interconnected to each other. This whole dungeon was like a huge maze.
Also, there was a huge amount of room in this dungeon. And inside one of the rooms was a secret room where Souta could get the other [Soul Blood Earring].
"I think that we should clear all the spiders first and check the rooms before we subjugate the third evolution monster." Lumilia slowly explained to them why they have to clear all the monsters in the area around the third evolution monsterâs room.
They were going to clear it because thereâs a chance that these monsters will bother them once they started to fight the third evolution monster.
Actually, the path that Souta drew on the map was the safest path in this dungeon. He didnât include those paths that require solving puzzles.
"Captain said that he planned to clear this dungeon, am I right?" Jagret asked Lumilia as he took a glance at Souta.
Lumilia nodded in response to his question.
"Donât tell me, that weâre going to fight all four third evolution monsters," Jagret said with a serious expression.
"Yes, thatâs the only way to clear a dungeon, right? If you have a way to clear this dungeon without fighting those monsters then tell me." Lumilia said as she slightly tilted her head while looking at her. She couldnât understand why this man asked such an obvious question.
"Thatâs the reason why captain said that weâre going to stay here for a few days. We wouldnât be able to kill four third evolution monsters in a single day. We donât have that kind of strength." Ginvi said as he lay down on the ground and looked at the ceiling. The blue veins on the ceiling were thumping just like blood vessels.
Souta looked at everyone before he stood up. He stretched his body and said, "Letâs go. I wanted to take down one of the 4 third evolution monsters."
"Me too. I wanted to fight those strong monsters that could let me enjoy the thrill of battle." Bryan said with an excited expression. He and Yuko hurriedly followed Souta.
"Those battle maniac..." Brando said with a deep sigh. He and the others were worried about the battle but those two were looking forward to it.
Damn! The difference was large.
Brando looked at Lynn, Alice, Yujin, and Lumilia before he said, "Letâs follow those two. Weâre lucky that we have someone like them in our party. Their attitude and personality could easily dissipate the nervousness in our body."
"Y-Youâre right... Theyâre amazing." Lynn said.
...
Putchi!
Blood spurted out from the body of a huge spider as Souta sliced its body into two.
"Lynn, cast healing spell to Brando! Bryan, leave that position to captain and Yuko! They can handle that on their own!" Lumilia commanded them and they followed her words. She then turned to Lanny group and said, "Jagret and Charise, back off! Give Ginvi a space to cast a spell! It will help you annihilate the spiders!"
"Tsk! I guess Iâm really needed in this group." Ginvi said with a grin and he circulated his mana around his body. He then raised the staff he was holding and cast a spell.
[Ground Solid Shot]!
The debris of rocks in the area flew towards the group of spiders.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
After that, Jagret and Charise quickly attack the remaining spiders with the help of the other members of the Lanny group.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Alice was thrusting her orange grade spear nonstop. Her sharp spear pierced the body of dozen spiders.
"The monster is getting stronger." She muttered as she continued her killing spree.
Swoosh!
Souta jumped backward and Yuko opened her mouth widely. Then, a sea of flames burst out of her mouth heading toward the group of spiders.
Boom!
The flames disappeared and it left churned corpses and ground. Smoke was coming out of the burned body of spiders.
The [Burning Shout] trait skill of Yuko finished the battle on Soutaâs part. After eating mana fruits, her strength grew to a higher level. Her trait skill was as strong as a high-level tier 2 spell.
Souta waved his sword and the blood on it splattered on the ground. He then turned towards the others. "Everyone is trying to preserve their strength in the upcoming fight against the third evolution monster." He muttered and the ground turned black.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Several black tentacles rose and bind the spiders. Everyone took this opportunity to annihilate the spider as they used their powerful skills and spells.
"All of you donât need to hold back, just do what Bryan is doing. We have a lot of time. We could rest anytime if you want so donât you dare to hold back or else it will backfire on us." Souta said to them. "You too Lumilia, donât be considerate to them. You can order them to use their most powerful skill or spell."
"Iâm sorry... Iâm quite nervous because this is the first time weâre going to fight a third evolution monster at its peak." Lumilia apologized to him. She still couldnât forget the scene in the Desolate Woods and Fersch Dukedom.
Souta looked at her for a while before he swept his eyes across the people here in this area. He then sighed and said, "After all the things weâve gone through I thought you would get used to it. Well, itâs natural to be nervous when youâre going to fight a strong opponent but donât let the nervousness distract you."
Clap!
"Weâll rest here for one hour. After that, weâll enter the boss room and fight the third evolution monster. Prepare yourself, everyone." He clapped and said in a loud voice.
Lumilia sat down as she leaned her back on the wall and lowered her head. Lynn sat beside her and said nothing.
The Lanny group was silent as they checked their weapons and armors. All of them were serious as they knew their next opponent.
Brando looked around before he opened a bottle of water. After he drunk it he looked at Souta and asked, "Captain, can I use those potions that we got in the last room?"
"Ah, those defense enhancing potions? Yeah, you can use it." Souta nodded at his question.
"Thank you, captain." Brando smiled as Souta gave him his permission to use those potions.