Chapter 67: A different approach

Smith, together with the girls, entered the cave slowly. They moved with caution, first needing to let their eyes adjust to the sudden darkness after fighting under the blazing sun. Beyond the light, they also feared an immediate ambush at the mouth of the cavern. Rushing in carelessly while temporarily blinded by the sudden shift in light would have given the enemy an overwhelming advantage.

​Outside, the reinforcements Velvet had expected had failed to arrive—perhaps they were delayed, or perhaps they had abandoned the fight entirely. But everyone in the squad knew one thing for sure: the enemy already knew their forces at the cave entrance had been annihilated. Velvet never treated these snakemen as mindless beasts; they were a civilization, and she took them seriously.

​Yet as they ventured deeper, they found no ambush waiting for them, nor any incoming wave of snakemen. Everything was dead silent. Still, they didn’t lower their guard. As usual, Vesper, the team’s scout, moved ahead alongside her pawns to clear the path. The remaining group stayed near the entrance, using the extra time to let their vision fully adapt to the dark.

​A few minutes later, Vesper returned. "I haven’t discovered anything abnormal," she reported. "I scouted nearly fifty meters ahead and found nothing—only marks left by the frequent movement of snakemen. Judging by the terrain, it seems this cave was discovered and occupied only recently. There isn’t much accumulation of the stone debris and the floor is still rough at the center as near the walls meaning it was not used for a very long time to make the path smooth."

​Velvet nodded. "Okay. Even if that stretch is safe,we still need to be careful."

​Breaking their tight defensive formation, the group resumed their standard moving formation and pushed forward. The path ahead was a single, straight tunnel with no complex branching passages. Its gradual elevation mirrored the cave where Lily had stayed. While Lily’s cave seemed specifically designed for hiding and delaying enemies, this one appeared to be an emergency settlement or staging area. It proved that their relentless raids over the past few days had been effective, thoroughly scaring the snakemen.

​They continued forward at their usual pace. As they went deeper, the tunnel grew narrower and swallowed all remaining light, plunging them into pitch blackness. Although all the girls were extraordinary beings whose vision adapted easily, Smith—the weakest among them—struggled in the dark.

​This was due to the fundamental rules of their world. While queens could gain aura points by slaying enough enemies, players operated under a different system, as Alex had previously explained. Players remained at their initial rank and could only advance through ranks, not within them. When a player awakened, they started at a baseline of 10 aura points, and unlike the queens, player’s aura points remained locked at 10. Only when a queen passed her promotion trial and advanced to an intermediate-ranked queen would the player be promoted to an intermediate-ranked player. Thus, while the girls sat at 15 or 16 aura points, Smith remained at 10.

​As the tunnel narrowed to its tightest point, they rounded a sharp turn and spotted a light source flickering at the exit ahead. Since there were no side passages, both sides knew what lay on the other end. It was like a game of chess: neither side could see the other yet, but both knew the enemy was preparing for impact.

​Smith realized why there had been no defensive patrols along the tunnel: the snakemen were pooling all their remaining strength into a single location for a final stand. Without hesitation, Smith and the girls covered the last stretch of the tunnel and stepped into the light.

​Instead of the blinding glare of the desert sun, they were met with a soft, vibrant glow cast by open flames. The intense heat of the tunnel spiked even further from the bonfires, though the shift in temperature was manageable.

​What Smith and the girls saw inside left them dumbfounded.

​The tunnel opened into a massive cavern—easily the size of three football fields—with bonfires mounted along the perimeter walls. The opening they stood in hovered ten meters above the cavern floor, forcing them to look down at the floor below.

​To haul enough fuel and setup materials for a space this vast by hand would have been a grueling, torturous task. The sheer scale of the setup practically confirmed the presence of a dungeon core that could function as a portal or had passed through the area recently.

​Fully illuminated at the center of the cavern sat a massive circular formation of nearly a thousand snakemen.it appeared to be novice ranks mixed with intermediate snakemen, their tactical setup differed significantly from previous encounters.

​This time, they were arranged in a massive concentric ring formation, holding large tower shields that reached up to their chests alongside their usual spears. Even from afar, the quality of their gear clearly reflected their ranks: novice snakemen held ordinary wooden tower shields wrapped in leather, while intermediate snakemen wielded heavy tower shields reinforced with iron frames, central bosses, and diagonal iron plating designed for maximum protection.

​The entire formation resembled the cross-section of an ancient tree. The rings didn’t just expand horizontally; they formed tight, layered circles that shrank as they neared the center. By rough observation, there were seven distinct rings in total. The outer two rings were massive, containing approximately three hundred snakemen each, while the innermost ring held only ten. each ring of the formation where was a gap of roughly two paces allowed enough room for troops to shift forward or step back as needed which made the formation flexible.

​and at the very center stood a truly unique snakeman. Unlike the others, whose scales were standard shades of brown, this creature was covered in pitch-black scales that absorbed the light.

​Although Smith and his group had arrived quietly but the snakemen spotted them immediately. Standing at the front of the ledge, Velvet locked her eyes with the black-scaled snakeman across the vast, open cavern. Though no words were exchanged, everyone knew this was the final battle.

​Judging by his distinctive appearance, the black snakeman clearly held a high status. Even without direct confirmation, his commanding presence left no room for doubt. He occupied the central position where snakeman leaders traditionally stood to direct the flow of battle, flanked by two large snakemen whose respectful postures marked them as personal guards.

​Furthermore, while most snakemen wore minimal gear, this commander wore heavily reinforced armor providing protection nearly equivalent to the set Vesper wore. The dark brown plate was lined with dark silver iron reinforcements, offering undeniable defensive capability.

​Smith’s team recognized him immediately for what he was: a peak intermediate-rank snakeman. Given their previous encounters, a peak intermediate was the highest rank the enemy could field in this slaughterhouse. Though Velvet and the others were curious about the extent of his physical enhancements,but there was no way to measure it until he activated it in battle.

​When Smith and his group appeared at the tunnel opening, scanning the enemy layout, the snakemen offered no violent outburst or immediate charge. They remained disciplined, holding their ground and waiting. Velvet locked eyes with the black-scaled commander across the wide gap, neither side uttering a word. They simply watched each other in heavy silence, quietly calculating the opening moves of the battle about to unfold and she knew that she had met a formidable opponent this time.