"That's 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 didn't 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, let's go!"
"Souta! Why didn't you leave some for me!? I want to fight too!! Don't 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.
"We're 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."
"What's this blank space?" Ginvi asked as he pointed at the blank space on the map.
"I said that I scouted this dungeon before. I didn't have the power to explore this dungeon so I only drew what I saw." Souta explained to them. The map that he drew wasn't complete. It was to avoid suspicion.
"Okay, we're going to discuss which path we will take," Lumilia said as she slowly looked at the face of the people around her.
"According to captain's 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 monster's room.
They were going to clear it because there's 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 didn't 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.
"Don't tell me, that we're going to fight all four third evolution monsters," Jagret said with a serious expression.
"Yes, that's 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 couldn't understand why this man asked such an obvious question.
"That's the reason why captain said that we're going to stay here for a few days. We wouldn't be able to kill four third evolution monsters in a single day. We don't 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, "Let's 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, "Let's follow those two. We're lucky that we have someone like them in our party. Their attitude and personality could easily dissipate the nervousness in our body."
"Y-You're right… They're 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 I'm 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 Souta's 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 don't need to hold back, just do what Bryan is doing. We have a lot of time. We could rest anytime if you want so don't you dare to hold back or else it will backfire on us." Souta said to them. "You too Lumilia, don't be considerate to them. You can order them to use their most powerful skill or spell."
"I'm sorry… I'm quite nervous because this is the first time we're going to fight a third evolution monster at its peak." Lumilia apologized to him. She still couldn't 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 we've gone through I thought you would get used to it. Well, it's natural to be nervous when you're going to fight a strong opponent but don't let the nervousness distract you."
Clap!
"We'll rest here for one hour. After that, we'll 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.
