Chapter 69: The trap

On the other side of the battlefield, the black Snake Man watched the action unfold, carefully studying the situation. The net was tightening and closing in on the group of intruders, he felt a deep sense of satisfaction.

​just a few days ago without warning, he was summoned by the tribe leader to an urgent meeting. Although his standing among the Chosen was not as high as some of the others, he was still a chosen one. he was displeased by the sudden summon without any prior notice but he didn’t dare defy the Chief’s orders.

​after arriving at the tribal hall, the Chief informed him that trouble had broken out on the other side of one of their Gateways. The team in charge was encountering massive problems, and he was ordered to investigate and resolve the issue immediately.

​He was dispatched directly into this slaughterhouse. Upon arrival, he wasted no time and inquired about the situation. Given his status, the commander on-site immediately reported everything.

​Until recently, the humans on the other side had always stayed in hiding, fleeing whenever they were spotted. The Snake Men had been actively searching for the dungeon core and were close to locating the human hideout. But then, everything changed. A new, unknown group of humans appeared out of nowhere, completely shifting the dynamic of the place.

​Every patrol group sent out by the Snake Men began to vanish. Investigations confirmed the worst: entire patrols were being systematically slaughtered. It was a total massacre.

​In response, the local command decided to increase the size of each patrol unit. However it didn’t solve the situation,and it only deteriorated further. Their casualty numbers spiked exponentially, yet they couldn’t find a single human body in return. Realizing the situation was completely out of control, they sent an emergency distress signal to the tribe leader, warning that if help didn’t arrive soon, they would be wiped out and lose control of the Gateway entirely.

​and anter listening to the commander’s report, the black Snake Man realized how grim the situation really was. The Gateway was vital, and even though their tribe was large, they couldn’t afford to remain passive. Given enough time, this new threat would butcher them all. Pumping more manpower into the Gateway without a strategy would only drain the tribe’s resources and manpower with high casualties and no results so they needed a plan to minimize losses while keeping pressure on the enemy.

​He spent the next few days carefully analyzing the enemy’s attack patterns, consulting back and forth with the tribal Elders, and examining the corpses of fallen Snake Men. Together, the Elders devised a meticulous trap. Everything playing out right now was deliberate—from selecting the ideal cavern battlefield to assembling the formation. He himself served as the main coordinator of the battle.

​So far, the plan was working smoothly. He firmly believed the enemy couldn’t breach this counter-formation.

​First, the layout restricted any possibility of a flanking maneuver. Second, intense light sources illuminated the entire cave, completely exposing any sneaky assassins. Third, heavy tower shields provided a solid wall of defense it was a foolproof plan than any enemy will have a very hard time.

​The strategy specifically targeted the intruders’ preferred tactics. Small groups typically avoided head-on clashes, relying instead on high mobility and kiting tactics to wear down larger forces. Because the Snake Men were naturally slower, speed was their greatest weakness.so by forcing the intruders into a tight space, he stripped away their mobility advantage completely.

​Now, he was simply waiting for the formation to contract fully. He knew his side would still suffer heavy casualties, but it would all be worth it if they eliminated the enemy. he wanted to watch the intruders struggle, he felt victory was already within his grasp. The merit from this victory would surely elevate his status back home as the black snakeman was in his wild fantasies of returning to his tribe in glory.

​Meanwhile to Smith’s side of the battlefield, Velvet, and Brenda didn’t charge straight in. Instead, they let Magenta lead the initial assault.

​This time, they didn’t summon their pawns to charge head-on with them. After activating their titles, Magenta—acting as the vanguard of the group—braced to collide with the wall of tower shields. Facing a forest of spears, she fearlessly drew a massive double-headed axe and executed a heavy horizontal sweep.

​The powerful swing deflected the outward-pointing spears. Without losing momentum, she reversed her grip and slammed the flat side of her axe forward, activating her second skill Heavy Strike.

​The impact slammed directly into the nearest shield bearer. The force sent the Snake Man and his shield flying backward into the soldier behind him. Because the ranks were had a scape between the ranks so there was no room to absorb the impact; both Snake Men were instantly knocked down. The direct target died instantly from the sheer shockwave, while the one behind him was left critically injured.

​While this was a far cry from her usual display—where a single swing could kill more than five Snake Men—it was more than enough.

​Magenta charged directly into the newly created opening, with Brenda and Velvet right on her heels.

​Once inside the enemy line, they summoned their pawns. Brenda drew her longsword and activated Armament Reinforcement, boosting the sharpness and durability of her equipment. Since the heavy shield bearers were slow to turn, Brenda began slaughtering them from their exposed flanks. On the other side, Velvet wielded a single katana,together with her pawns she systematically cutting down the defenders to widen the gap. Their summoned pawns joined the fray, pinning down the flanks of the slow-moving shield wall.

​On Valeria’s side, they took a different approach. They didn’t punch through with brute force like Magenta. Leading their charge wasn’t Fiona with her shield and flanged mace, but Valeria herself.

​After activating their titles, Valeria’s team also held off on summoning their pawns. As she closed in on the row of spears protruding between the heavy shields, she leveraged the gaps between the weapons.she activated her elastic body skill and with a twisting of her body she dodged a thrust, she slipped through the narrow space and thrust her own spear into the opening.

​Her spear passed between the gap of a shields, and by activating her other skill Elastic Armament the spear bent inward and piercing directly into the chest of the Snake Man holding it and without missing a beat, Valeria kicked the shield, bringing down both the dead Snake Man and his heavy shield.

​With the wall breached, she summoned her pawns, forming a tight spear formation that pushed hard into the enemy’s flanks.

​Vesper arrived shortly after. Recognizing she lacked a direct path, she seamlessly filled the gaps, using her superior speed to attack the Snake Men from behind. Though the bright light sources stripped away the shadows, her high agility easily outmatched the lumbering shield bearers.

​Meanwhile, Fiona was leveraging momentum. Building on the kinetic force from her earlier landing with Smith, she held her shield in her left hand, raised it to her shoulder, and triggered a sudden burst of speed. The sudden acceleration doubled her momentum, sending her crashing directly into the shield bearer ahead of her.

​The collision launched the Snake Man backward. Fiona plowed through the gap, swung her mace, and smashed the head of another Snake Man to her side. Once the opening was wide enough, she summoned her pawns to hold the line and prevent the Snake Men from closing the breach, working alongside Valeria and Vesper to widen the gap further.

​Observing the sudden counterattack, the black Snake Man remained calm. He knew things wouldn’t go entirely without a hitch; an intense fight back was to be expected. In fact, if the intruders hadn’t put up any kind of resistance when he would have been worried it was a trap.and the group infront of him was not the real ones he was waiting for but seeing their ferocity and sheer combat power confirmed they were indeed the group responsible for wiping out his patrols.

​When he also discovered that when the intruders first entered the cavern, their aura levels to be merely at the mid Novice rank. But suddenly, their power jumped to the mid Intermediate rank. He was shocked—even in his own tribe, normal Intermediate-ranked warriors possessed physical enhancements, but none were this drastic.even if some chosen could as achive this kind of increase in power but they had to meet some conditions , but he put the mystery aside for now; they were enemies, and he wasn’t going to get answers mid-battle.

​Scanning the battlefield once more, he noticed something crucial: two people were left behind at the rear.

​One of them seemed unable to walk properly and had been carried in by the other earlier. He concluded that the standing warrior was left behind solely to protect the injured one.

​Seeing them completely isolated from the main fight, the black Snake Man decided to seize the opportunity to eliminate them both.