Chapter 20: Monsters Working Together

Chapter 20: Chapter 20: Monsters Working Together

The shield cracked beneath the impact, the hunter fell backward.

Before he could recover, sticky webs wrapped around his arms.

"Get it off me!"

He desperately struggled.

The more he moved, the tighter the webs became.

Another hunter rushed over and swung his sword.

"Hold still!"

He slashed through the webbing.

But the moment he freed the trapped man’s arm, another strand shot from the spider’s abdomen and wrapped around his leg.

"What?!"

The hunter was yanked off his feet. He crashed onto the stone floor. The spider immediately crawled toward him.

"NO!"

He raised his sword, but the spider struck first.

Its sharp legs pierced through the gaps in his leather armor, and the hunter screamed as he desperately tried to crawl backward.

Seeing it, Kyle fired an arrow, the projectile struck the spider’s body.

The creature recoiled.

Kyle shouted.

"Move now!"

The remaining hunters didn’t hesitate.

They turned and ran. The corridor had become complete chaos.

The wolves were chasing them from behind.

The spiders were descending from the walls and ceiling.

The hunters had expected to fight eleven goblins.

Instead, they had walked into an entirely different battlefield.

One hunter suddenly slipped. A layer of webbing had been spread across the floor.

His foot became trapped.

"Help!"

His companion reached for him.

"Give me your hand!"

The trapped hunter grabbed his arm. But before they could pull him free, a giant bat lunged from the side.

His face instantly turned pale.

A poisonous bat descended from the ceiling, its leathery wings spreading wide as it released a sharp screech.

"What’s that?!"

The creature dove.

The hunter barely raised his arm before the bat’s fangs sank into the exposed portion of his neck.

"AAAGH!"

He screamed and desperately swung his sword.

The blade struck the bat and sent it flying away, but two bloody puncture wounds had already appeared on his neck.

His companion stared in horror.

"Are you okay?"

The hunter pressed his hand against the wound.

"I... I think so..."

His words suddenly became slurred. His vision began to blur, it’s poison.

Kyle immediately understood.

"Don’t move!"

He rushed toward them, but before he could reach them, another poisonous bat swooped down.

Kyle raised his sword.

Clang!

The bat’s claws scraped against the blade. Kyle kicked it away and shouted,

"Get him out of the web!"

The other hunter nodded frantically. He grabbed his companion’s arm again and pulled, the web finally began to tear.

"Almost!"

A sudden squelching sound came from the darkness.

Something small crawled across the floor.

Then another, then several more, the hunters looked down, and their expressions changed.

Dozens of tiny creatures were moving through the corridor.

Forest rats.

The creatures scurried around their feet, crawling beneath their armor and between their legs.

"What are these things?!"

One hunter kicked at them, and the rats scattered.

Another hunter laughed nervously.

"Just rats!"

But Kyle’s expression remained serious.

"Don’t let your guard down!"

The rats suddenly swarmed toward the hunter trapped in the web.

"What?"

He looked down. One rat climbed onto his boot.

Then another.

Then five.

They began biting at the exposed portions of his leather armor.

"Get them off!"

He desperately kicked his legs.

The rats scattered momentarily, only to rush back again.

The distraction was enough, a giant spider descended from the ceiling. Its eight legs spread wide.

The hunter looked up.

"No..."

The spider struck, one of its legs pierced through the hunter’s shoulder.

His scream echoed through the corridor.

The hunter who had been trying to rescue him stumbled backward in terror.

"Kyle!"

Kyle immediately fired an arrow, the arrow struck the spider’s head.

The creature recoiled.

Kyle rushed forward and slashed downward. The sword cut deeply into its body.

Dark blood splattered across the stone floor. The spider collapsed.

But another creature immediately replaced it. A second spider crawled down the wall.

Then the third, Kyle’s expression became grim.

"There are too many..."

The hunters were surrounded, poisonous bats circled above them, spiders crawled across the walls, and the forest rats swarmed around their feet.

And somewhere behind them, the remaining wolf growled.

It was the only wolf left.

Its fur was stained with blood from the wounds Kyle had inflicted earlier, but the beast remained standing.

Its yellow eyes remained locked onto the humans.

The hunters slowly backed together, one of them whispered,

"What are we supposed to do?"

Kyle didn’t answer immediately, he was thinking.

They had entered expecting goblins.

Instead, the dungeon had unleashed one monster after another.

It wasn’t merely the number of monsters. It was the way they were being used.

The bats attacked from above, then the spiders controlled the ground and walls with their webs.

The rats distracted them, and the wolf waited for an opening.

It was a complete hunting formation.

Inside the throne room, Ragnar watched the scene with increasing interest.

"So this is what happens when I put different monsters together."

He rested his chin on his hand.

"Their abilities actually complement one another."

The poisonous bats suddenly attacked again. Several descended simultaneously.

"Above!"

Kyle shouted.

The hunters raised their weapons.

One bat struck a shield, and another narrowly missed a hunter’s face.

A third managed to bite into a man’s hand.

"Get off!"

The hunter desperately swung his sword, but the poisonous bat released his hand at the last moment and flapped upward, narrowly avoiding the blade. Blood dripped from the deep puncture wounds between his fingers, and within seconds, the skin around the injury began turning an unhealthy shade of purple.

"Kyle!"

The hunter raised his injured hand.

"I’ve been bitten!"

Kyle’s expression immediately became grim.

"Don’t touch the wound."

"What?"

"It’s poisonous."

The hunter’s face lost what little color remained.

"I know!"

He clenched his teeth and tried to ignore the pain, but the poison was already spreading through his body. His fingers began trembling, and a strange numbness slowly traveled from his hand toward his wrist.

Kyle glanced upward.

Several poisonous bats were circling above them, their red eyes watching the hunters from the darkness.

Then he looked around.

The spiders were blocking the sides of the corridor.