Chapter 406 - 404: Nothing at All? I Don’t Believe It.

Just as they’d expected, they weren’t given much time to rest. After a break about as long as the last one, another wave arrived.

They fought five more of these repetitive waves in the village. The sun in the Dungeon rose and set on the second day, and they had gained nothing but points.

Even the group on the mountaintop seemed to have vanished without a trace.

"Faye, why don’t we look for some good stuff in the village before the sun sets completely?"

Master Veridian was feeling truly exhausted by now, but his Spirit lifted the moment he heard Lucy White’s suggestion. "Let’s go. Let’s go look."

Faye Yardley paused for a moment and asked, "You think the ’good stuff’ might be in this very house we’re in? We might as well start our search here. If it’s not, we won’t have missed anything."

Aside from their current location, which looked presentable after being cleared by fire, the neighboring houses had not only collapsed but were also overgrown with grass, their walls covered in vines.

Cole Kensington took a piece of burning wood from the Fire Pit and tossed it toward the next house, but it had little effect. In fact, it went out completely after a short while.

Just before it was extinguished, Zephyr Sterling tossed a piece of Oil onto the flame. With a WHOOSH, the fire roared to life, instantly igniting the weeds that were taller than a person.

SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK~

A nest of small, red-skinned rats was inside. They squeaked frantically as the intense heat of the flames burned them, but they moved too slowly to escape.

Faye Yardley took two torches and some Oil from her backpack and tossed them in as well.

The flames soared and smoke billowed. Amidst the squeaking, another sound could be heard.

The few remaining walls of the already ruined house began to collapse.

A wailing sound emerged from the roaring flames, and everyone felt a sharp, needle-like pain in their minds.

"Well, well. There really is something in there. We’ve been here so long, and our heads would ache occasionally when we fought those mutated farm animals. It turns out this thing was behind it all. We have to take care of it this time."

As Master Veridian spoke, he was already circling around to the other side of the house.

Cole Kensington, Lucy White, and the others also moved to cover different directions. They couldn’t let the creature inside escape.

Faye Yardley stared at the flames and tried to cast her Illusion Magic. The cries from within grew even more frantic.

’It works on brainless things? Or does the thing inside actually have a brain?’

A small, bluish-black figure shot out from the raging fire. It dodged Faye Yardley, who was standing in front of it, and darted toward an opening on the right. But with a CRACK, a whip struck out like a dragon, blocking its path.

"Trap!"

A talisman above the bluish-black figure’s head ignited without a breeze and then fell. Lucy White snapped her whip back, and the figure was trapped within a set of invisible walls.

’A little lamb?’

"Is this a sheep? Was it born from a mutated sheep?" Lucy White asked, curiously watching the bluish-black, sheep-like creature as it rammed against the barrier.

Faye Yardley had no interest in collecting strange pets. She raised Light Wound and brought it down in a single slash.

She didn’t care what it was; it definitely wasn’t anything good.

Killing it was the only way to put an end to this once and for all.

But after being sliced in two, the sheep’s flesh began to squirm, as if it could rejoin itself.

Since the creature was afraid of fire, Faye Yardley didn’t waste her energy trying to cut it again. Instead, she tossed in some Oil and a torch and simply watched as the bisected creature writhed uncontrollably, still brandishing its claws as both halves squirmed.

Zephyr Sterling couldn’t help but move closer for a better look. "If zombies had this kind of recovery speed..."

It went without saying they would be much harder to kill. It would even be a question if they could be killed at all. In that case, entering a Dungeon wouldn’t be for earning points, but for throwing your life away.

The seas weren’t calm, and the Dungeons were getting harder. It seemed the system really wasn’t running a charity.

"The ones we killed before were all relatively easy," Faye Yardley said. She wasn’t obsessed; if she could clear a Dungeon, she would. If not, she wouldn’t.

The system never said entering a Dungeon was safe.

"They’re coming again."

Meanwhile, the mutated lamb in the Trapping Talisman’s barrier hadn’t completely turned to ash yet. It was still wailing and moving. Not just the head-half, but its severed hindquarters were also thrashing about in the fire.

"Master, how about you use a Fiery Flame Talisman on it and give it a final push? It’s a bit hard to bear, hearing it scream so miserably."

Master Veridian gave Faye Yardley a strange look. He really couldn’t see a trace of pity in her.

Nevertheless, he took out a Fiery Flame Talisman and tossed it onto the lamb.

The original orange-yellow flames immediately turned white-hot.

And the lamb, which had been struggling in agony, quickly fell silent.

’So it’s true that everything has a weakness. Fire talismans are the bane of mutated lambs?’

The incoming wave of mutated farm animals attacked with even more ferocity, completely fearless of death.

The five of them could even feel the creatures’ fury.

’So this really is their nesting ground.’

’All the more reason not to let them be.’

If the previous waves hadn’t seemed that numerous, this time it felt like an endless, inexhaustible tide that could never be completely killed.

They fought from sunset to sunrise, using the light of the flames to see.

The fire had long since burned out, and the surrounding area was piled high with corpses.

Even with a Constitution stat that surpassed the 50-point mark, Faye Yardley was exhausted after such a high-intensity battle. She took out a Physical Potion and an Energy Potion and downed them, but their effects weren’t as potent as they used to be.

She had to drink three of each just to feel recovered.

Then, she stepped into the ashes.

Beneath the ash was hard ground. Strangely, there wasn’t even a single mouse hole.

Still, she searched the entire area, finally returning to the spot where the nest of charred little rats had been. Faye Yardley channeled her Energy and stomped hard on the floor. At first, there was no reaction, but soon, spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the surface.

But when she cleared away the layer of broken flooring, there was steel underneath.

"Let’s clear away the stone fragments on top first."

After they cleared a section together, Faye Yardley used Light Wound to score the steel plate. Then, she leaped into the air and landed on the circle she had marked. With one stomp, then another... the steel plate suddenly gave way and fell.

There were hoarse gasps from below, followed by a loud THUD and a pained scream.

The others, holding torches, also jumped down.

It was a safe house made of refined steel on all six sides, but the items inside looked quite ordinary.

’No way. Did someone go to all this trouble to build an underground room just to sleep in?’

Faye Yardley refused to believe it. There had to be something good in here, even if it was just Gold or Silver.

’Where is it?’

After searching the room, she turned back to the fallen steel plate. Without even using Light Wound, she stored it directly in her backpack, revealing a flattened humanoid monster underneath.

She grimaced, recalling how she’d jumped on the plate. ’It’s over, it’s over,’ she thought. ’My backpack is tainted now.’

She jumped down and angrily poked at the flattened mess of flesh a couple of times with a wooden stick, uncovering a golden key from beneath the minced meat.

Cole Kensington obediently picked it up, rinsed it with water, and then handed it to Faye Yardley.

"Thanks."

’If there’s a golden key, could there be a Golden Treasure Chest too?’

’The treasure chest couldn’t have been flattened too, could it?’

But it wasn’t on the other side of the steel plate, and it wasn’t anywhere else in here.