CHAPTER 34: CHAPTER 34: ENCIRCLEMENT

Bottom of the staircase, four or five levels down.

The fire is quietly burning, and the flickering flames illuminate the cross-section of the surrounding circular stone steps.

Inigo and his leopard man teammate, Miro, are resting against the wall.

The plan to reach the fifth level in half a day ended up taking a full day and a half.

The reason was simple—they got lost.

They had thought they could easily navigate using memories from two years ago, so they hadn’t bought a strategy map.

Who would have thought that upon reaching the Underground City, they would find their recollections were not so clear.

After wandering for half a day, they were quite tired by now.

They could only rest for the time being.

They didn’t choose to take turns keeping watch but confidently rested at the same time.

Firstly, this was inside the staircase, a secure area where demons couldn’t enter.

Secondly, beastmen have innate senses and vigilance that allow them to wake immediately if adventurers arrive.

Just like now, Inigo’s ears perked up at the mere sound of two very faint "pupup" noises.

Instead of moving immediately, he slightly opened a slit in his tiger eyes to peer toward the source of the sound.

A mutated Puki stood at the entrance—an area where demons should never be.

Apparently, it hadn’t expected to encounter them, as Puki stood motionless at the entrance.

After a while, it quietly retreated, stretching each of its little short legs as far as possible, moving slowly, so much so that it didn’t even make the "pupup" sound.

Just as Puki was about to truly retreat to the fifth level, Inigo was yet to get up when the leopard man acted first.

Like a black lightning bolt, in the blink of an eye, Miro had returned to the fire with halves of Puki in each hand.

Tossing the two halves of Puki on the ground, Miro showed no pride but frowned instead.

"No wonder the guild personally issued this task. I’m afraid it’s not simple..."

Inigo nodded in agreement, looking at the cut section of Puki on the ground, saying:

"Ignoring the ’rules’ of the Underground City, showing clear high intelligence; looking at its structure, it’s evidently undergone significant mutation."

"Should we go back and prepare more thoroughly before coming?"

Miro actually meant to recruit one or two more Gold Level adventurers to join them.

After their team’s healer and support died in the Archipelago Mist, only the two damage dealers remained.

A rather unhealthy team structure indeed.

They had just returned to Dumb Wind Town in embarrassment and hadn’t had time to inquire about anything when they saw this task.

Originally thought that an A Level task in the relatively simple fifth level must be a loophole.

Even without support, two Gold Level adventurers should handle it easily.

But now, demons entering the secure area, violating common sense, had occurred.

Miro felt this task might be tricky.

He showed signs of wanting to back down.

Inigo thought for a moment, then stomped the Puki on the ground until it was a pulp.

"We’re already here, let’s keep moving; this walking mushroom is just a bit odd, not much of a threat."

If they went back now, those who knew him might laugh to death; just in case, he added:

"If we really find there’s danger, we can withdraw later, we two can’t fight but surely can run, right?"

Inigo’s confidence wasn’t baseless; as feline beastmen, he and Miro had speed-related skills.

Even if there were danger, it would be odd if they couldn’t escape at full speed.

After all, this is still the fifth level.

Miro, hearing this, saw no problem with it, nodded in agreement.

They had mostly rested, extinguished the fire, and entered the fifth level.

"By the way, was the fifth level ever this dark?"

Looking around, only some mushrooms emitted dim light, not a single Firefly Grass in sight.

"Doesn’t seem like it..."

Fortunately, both of them had night vision, the darkness didn’t affect them much.

According to task requirements, they needed to investigate the entire level, specifically highlighting the Swamp Area for inspection.

Inigo decided to start with the other three areas first to roughly judge the task’s difficulty, then decide whether to enter the swamp.

However, after half a day’s task, both their expressions turned strange.

They had already visited the cave and the Poisonous Fog Swamp and hadn’t seen a single Puki.

If they hadn’t seen a Slime on the way, Inigo would suspect the level had been emptied...

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What are these two beastmen doing?

Not only did they catch Puki sneaking up to the fourth level, but now they’re wandering around.

Lin Jun, as usual, had Pukis dispatched in advance to avoid encounters with these advanced adventurers.

But seeing the current situation, could it be that they’re coming for him?

Under Lin Jun’s surveillance, after leaving the cave, instead of heading toward the forest as he expected, they headed straight for the swamp.

Tsk, troublesome.

Now he had to intercept, the swamp area was his bottom line.

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A mushroom cannon shot hit two beastmen right in front, splashing dirty water all over them.

Inigo saw ten Pukis appear before him, firing once before stopping.

Does this mean... intimidation?

Are these mushrooms a bit too intelligent?

Inigo looked at Miro and found him staring back, waiting for Inigo to make a decision.

These walking mushrooms indeed had powerful attacks; if hit, even they would get injured.

But if the attacks miss, there’s no point.

Just ten walking mushrooms...

Inigo signaled his companion with his eyes, and the leopard man understood.

In the next instant, they simultaneously activated their acceleration skills, charging from left and right.

The Pukis reacted quickly, launching attacks as soon as they moved.

But the two beastmen crouched, deftly dodging several mushroom cannon shots.

Soon, Inigo and Miro charged into the Puki’s ranks.

Miro, a worshiper of raw power, relied on his leopard claws to tear through several Pukis consecutively.

Inigo drew a bloody red long knife from his back, even able to cleave through the magic power corps shot by the mushroom cannon.

The ten Pukis were quickly wiped out.

Miro instinctively wanted to lick his paws but remembered that he killed Pukis; there was no blood, only dirty water, and he quickly retracted his tongue.

"No wonder it’s an A Level task; these walking mushrooms are organized and cooperate."

"They’re still just mushrooms, though."

Inigo sheathed his blade, ready to advance further into the swamp, but he paused after taking a step.

"Miro, don’t you think it seems to be getting brighter around here?"

"Now that you mention it, indeed..."

They looked around, the edges of their vision were a patch of faint glow, getting brighter and closer...

Inigo and Miro’s expressions completely sank.

It’s Pukis, numerous fluorescing Pukis surrounded them.

Miro swallowed hard: "How... how many are there?"

"Three hundred? Five hundred? Or more?" Inigo took a deep breath and drew the bloody red long knife again, "Can’t count them, but prepare to break through..."