Chapter 68: the shrinking space

The air inside cavern was very cool despite the outsides blazing sun and For several long seconds, neither side moved. A tense silence gripped the space as Velvet remained locked in a brief, heavy staring contest with the black snakeman across the expanse. Her sharp eyes measured their lines, calculating distances and angles, before she deliberately broke eye contact.

​She turned back to the group"Okay now,Let’s go down and say hello to our new friend over there."

​And with that statement,Magenta stepped forward toward the edge of the exit, situated a full ten meters above the floor below. Hanging at her waist was her double-headed meteor hammer, connected by a thick, heavy iron chain, she unclipped the weapon and raised one heavy iron head and struck the ground and with a stamp of her boot, Magenta drove the hammerhead downward into the edge of the exit.

the head was embedded deep into the ground where it locked firmly.

​when she tossed the remaining length of chain and the second hammerhead straight down over the side. The chain was securely anchored and it formed a ten-meter drop rope.

​"Path’s clear!" Magenta declared with a smirk.

​One by one, the girls used the suspended chain as a improvised guide, sliding and dropping down the steep ten-meter difference with effortless agility.

​Smith watched the display with wide eyes, completely speechless. He had seen his share of battle, but to turn an offensive heavy weapon into a rapid-descent anchor was something he had never even considered.

​Once the rest of the group landed safely on the floor below, only two people remained at the top: Smith, sitting to his wheelchair, and Fiona, who stood quietly beside him.

​Smith looked around the ledge, his mind racing. How are we supposed to get down? he thought frantically. the chain anchor was hardly suitable for someone who couldn’t use his legs.

​Before he could voice his concern, Fiona moved. With smooth, practiced efficiency, she stepped beside his wheelchair, reached down, and effortlessly scooped him up into a princess carry.

​Smith’s face instantly flushed crimson. Being held like a damsel in distress in front of the girls was embarrassing, but Fiona acted like she didn’t know anything, "Fiona—wait,what are you—"

​He didn’t get to finish the sentence. Fiona didn’t reach for Magenta’s chain. Holding Smith firmly, she simply stepped over the edge and leaped directly off the ten-meter cliff.

​Smith’s stomach leaped into his throat. A ten-meter drop was equivalent to jumping off the roof of a two-story building. Factoring in Fiona’s heavy steel armor and his own weight added, the combined downward momentum was staggering. To a normal human, the kinetic impact upon landing floor would mean guaranteed death, or at the very least, shattered bones. Even for supernatural beings, surviving a direct fall of that scale with additional baggage was almost unthinkable.

​Yet, as the wind rushed past them at terrifying speed, Fiona remained completely composed.

​Just a second before landing Fiona activated her First skill Force Absorption.

​The moment her boots slammed into the floor her feet sent a shockwave through the dirt. But instead of breaking, Fiona smoothly bent her knees, allowing her body and her activated skill to absorb and nullify the brutal impact.

​After landing she walked over to where the others,she had already dragged Smith’s wheelchair down using the chain after setting him back down into his seat. Magenta gave her chain a hard jerk, unseating the embedded meteor head from the edge.

​With the entire party assembled on the lower level, the team quickly reorganized their formation, keeping their weapons drawn as they waited to see how the enemy would react to their sudden descent.

​Across the space, the enemy army of snakemen did not immediately charge. Instead the snakemen’s formation, which had previously been a tight, dense wall of shields, suddenly expanded. the gaps between individuals widened considerably, shifting their structure from a rigid wall into a fluid, loose wall and every snakeman turned in unison, their eyes locking onto Smith and his group and the vast horde began advancing forward. Their movement was not a frantic sprint, but a steady, march that carried immense pressure.

​Then, the formation shifted again.

​The two outermost concentric rings of snakemen began to fuse together, merging seamlessly into one giant, unified circle. As it moved, the circular ring distorted, pulling its edges outward until it reshaped itself into a massive, elongated oval.

​The two narrow tips of the oval stretched further and further toward the edges of the chamber until they suddenly snapped away from the main body. In an instant, two fully independent formations detached from the left and right flanks of the main force.

​A moment later, the front of the main oval split as well.

​Where there had once been a single giant ring, there were now five distinct groups: one massive central formation, flanked on the far left and far right by two smaller units, and fronted by two additional vanguard units facing Smith’s group directly. It looked like a massive central sun surrounded by four orbiting moons, all advancing in harmony.

​Velvet stood at the head of her group, watching the intricate tactical display. She didn’t order a counter-charge, choosing instead to observe the enemy’s operational intent.

​Suddenly, her brow furrowed, and her expression darkened.

​The two flanking formations of snake-men began extending further outward, stretching their lines until directly into the solid rock walls of the cavern. Simultaneously, the two front vanguard formations widened their spread, gliding smoothly into the open gaps between the flanking units and the central mass.

​Velvet’s jaw tightened. An isolation tactic.

​The snake-men were deliberately using their superior numbers to lock the perimeter,extending their wings against the cavern’s side walls to cut off any possibility of a side flank and By driving their vanguard into the middle space, they were systematically shrinking the available room on Smith’s side of the cave, forcing the girls into a tighter and tighter space.

​Velvet calculated their options in an instant. If they tried to break out now to stop the maneuver, the sheer density of the enemy lines would simply stall them out, buying time for the remaining units to circle around and complete a full 360-degree encirclement.

​Unchecked by any hasty counter-attack, the five snake-men formations closed the trap. They compressed their lines together until all five units merged back into one giant, solid horseshoe wall, trapping Smith and the girls directly against the far corner of the cavern.

​Once the perimeter was locked, the horde began organizing their ranks. Because the line they had to hold was so wide, they deployed their troops in long, parallel ranks stretching from wall to wall. In the heart of this deployment, the black snakeman had his personal guards form an impenetrable circular shield-wall, protecting him from any long-range snipe.

​Velvet scanned the surrounding wall of shields and spears.

​They were completely pinned into a corner with zero room to maneuver. They had no retreat path, no flank to exploit, and their primary objective—locating the dungeon core. Even if the core wasn’t hidden in this specific place, they had no choice but to cut a path through this army to continue searching.

​Velvet turned back to face her to the others"Okay guys," Velvet said, her eyes sweeping over each of them. "Get ready for battle. It’s going to be a tough fight, but as always, we will pass through this just like we always do."

​Brenda let out a soft laugh, resting her hand casually on the hilt of her weapon. "Don’t worry about it, Velvet. This is just a small matter. Remember that time we were surrounded by more than ten thousand men back before we even had our current abilities and strength? We managed to break out back then when we were weak. This time, we’ll get through it all together just fine."

​Magenta stretched her arms over her head, her shoulder joints popping . A confident, predatory smile spread across her face.

​"Honestly, I’m just happy they finally decided to use some brains," Magenta chuckled. "I was starting to get bored with their brainless charging. Hopefully, these tactical formations give us a bit of a real challenge. I was starting to feel rusty anyway."

​others didn’t speak, but their silent nod communicated total agreement. There was no panic, no hesitation, and no dread in their eyes. They had walked through hell together countless times before; an army of snake-men in a cave was just another Tuesday.

​Sitting in his wheelchair, Smith watched the girls converse with lighthearted confidence in the face of overwhelming odds. The tight knot of anxiety in his chest finally loosened, and he breathed a long, quiet sigh of relief.

​Before the group could exchange another word, the enemy line made its final move.

​The vast, straight line of snake-men began to contract inward at the flanks. Like a giant pair of closing pincers, the ends of their formation began bending forward along the wall of the carven, curving into an arc designed to push Smith’s group into the center and close the encirclement.

​seeing this Velvet recognizing the threat she instantly said. "We split up!"

​Without a moment’s delay, Velvet divided their force into three groups. Velvet, Magenta, and Brenda, tasked with breaking the left pincer. Fiona, Valeria, and Vesper, tasked with smashing the right pincer and Astra was assigned to stand her ground at the center to protect Smith.