The moment Stella locked eyes with the Basilisk, every hair on her body stood on end.
Her instincts screamed at her—stay away from that thing.
Without hesitation, she drew her bow and loosed two arrows, each burying itself deep into the monster's huge, glassy eyes. The Basilisk let out an ear-splitting screech before sinking beneath the swamp's surface. Moments later, ripples spread across the water, now stained a vivid, bloody red.
Did that kill it?
From years of hunting monsters, Stella knew—eyes were usually the weak point of anything frog or toad-like.
"What's going on down there?" Gibbs's voice rang out as his head popped into view from above.
"Just a monster," Stella called back. "Did it drop anything?"
"It dropped some stuff. Catch!"
A small leather pouch sailed down toward her. Opening it, she found several moss balls, each glowing faintly in different colors—red, purple, green, and more.
Dungeon monsters had a peculiar quirk: upon death, their bodies sometimes dissolved into motes of light, leaving behind strange items. Outside the Dungeon, no such miracle occurred.
"What are these for?" Stella rolled one in her palm, its texture soft and springy.
"Let me see."
The group's medicinal researcher stepped forward, pushing his glasses up with one gloved hand. He carefully picked up a purple moss ball, studying it with meticulous attention. Then, his eyes widened.
"What's the effect?" Vilde asked quickly. His tone was casual, but his eyes were sharp—already calculating the profit if this turned out to be something valuable.
The Bedford family treated the Dungeon like their personal resource farm.
"This has… an extraordinarily potent detoxification effect," the researcher said at last, glancing at the swamp water nearby. Then, without warning, he scooped up a handful of the foul, muddy water and shoved it into his mouth.
"What the hell?!" Several people shouted at once.
The swamp's poison was infamous. Within seconds, the man's face turned a deep purplish-red, blood spilling from his nose, ears, and mouth.
Then, with trembling hands, he shoved the moss ball into his mouth and chewed.
In moments, the change was startling—color rushed back into his skin, his breathing steadied, and within seconds he looked almost completely fine. Only the faint streaks of blood on his face proved what had just happened.
"This detox effect rivals a high-tier Healing spell!" he exclaimed. "This is… incredibly valuable. A brand-new discovery!"
Vilde's lips curled into a triumphant grin. Even Charon, usually stone-faced, allowed himself a small smile.
"Different colored moss balls likely have different effects," the researcher murmured as he began testing the other colors. "This trip was worth it already."
"What monster dropped these?" Stella asked, nudging Gibbs with her elbow.
"Those humanoid plant things—made of weeds and vines. Pretty high drop rate. One or two from each."
The team's morale soared instantly.
Charon pulled the researcher aside for a hushed conversation. Vilde was already imagining how he'd boast about this back in town. Meanwhile, the adventurers were sketching diagrams and jotting notes—new monsters meant potential rewards from the Adventurers' Guild.
"Oh, right," Stella said suddenly. "I saw a monster earlier I didn't recognize."
"I'll check it out," Dany volunteered, jogging toward the swamp.
After a few minutes of searching, he found it—Stella's kill. The toad's bloated body was about human-sized, its two large eyes glassy and unblinking.
"This thing's creepy…" he muttered, crouching down for a closer look.
Then he froze.
Beneath the two large eyes was a second pair of smaller ones, glowing faintly with a malevolent light.
The Basilisk's mouth opened wide.
"Whoosh!"
A cloud of black mist burst out, swallowing Dany whole.
"Dany!"
Stella's heart lurched. Gibbs charged into the haze, while Ellie began chanting a wind spell to clear it.
The mist scattered, revealing Dany coughing but standing—his dagger buried deep in the Basilisk's skull.
"That scared me… Good thing it was weak," he said, sheathing his weapon. "That mist just blocks your vision. What? Why are you staring at me like that?"
"You… have something… on you," Ellie said, her voice trembling.
Dany looked down.
Something black was writhing under his skin.
Squirming. Crawling.
"AAAHHH!"
His scream tore through the swamp—and then, horror bloomed.
Black thorns erupted from his abdomen, twisting together into the shape of a tree. They lifted him into the air as swarms of maggots poured from his flesh, transforming into buzzing clouds of flies.
By the time Gibbs hacked the thorns apart, Dany was already dead. His teleport crystal activated, whisking his corpse to the resurrection chamber.
"What the hell just happened?!" Vilde's voice cracked as he stumbled back.
"Gibbs—your arm!" Stella shouted.
Where Gibbs had grabbed Dany, small black thorns were beginning to push through his skin.
Without hesitation, Gibbs took his axe and severed his own left arm at the elbow. The growth stopped immediately.
Everyone's eyes shifted to the Basilisk's corpse.
No one wanted to get any closer.
But there was no time to grieve.
Dozens of huge eyes began surfacing in the swamp.
A horde of Basilisks.
Vilde's teeth chattered. Then he screamed, "RUN!!!"
The cry was the starting gun—both adventurers and monsters burst into motion.
Those at the back were the first to fall.
"Wyn!" someone shouted.
From the shadows, strange slime-like creatures with stubby limbs—Wynaut—sprang out. Two unlucky adventurers had their shadows stepped on and froze in place, helpless as the Basilisks swarmed them.
Moments later, two more thorn-trees rose from the swamp.
"Not these things again…" Stella's stomach clenched. She knew these shadow-binding pests—they were part of the nightmare that had killed her in the fight against the Crucible Knight.
She ran harder, slipping past NPC non-combatants but making sure to help Ellie when the mage fell behind.
Close-range fighters like Gibbs didn't dare approach the Basilisks anymore. One breath of that black mist could mean certain death.
"Faster! We have to lose them!" someone shouted.
But there was no escaping—the Basilisks' Argo range was massive, and they refused to break off.
The chaos drew other monsters into the chase: armed goblins, waves of skeletons, scarecrows charging from the flanks, giant crows circling overhead—
And still more Basilisks.
The entire group was now in pure, unbroken flight.
(***)
High above, Wade leaned back in his chair, watching with satisfaction.
"Turns out mob stacking is the most efficient tactic," he said, grinning.
Then another feed caught his eye.
"Well, well… look who it is. The lucky guy who took the Claymore—back already?"
On the monitor, Jack's team moved in careful and prepared, lighting the beacon with impressive speed. The fortress gate creaked open.
"Strategy pays off, huh? Let's see how they handle this."
Wade smirked and began scrolling through the monster selection interface.
(*****)
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