After stepping through the light, Nico expected to find the same hallway filled with holes that acted as spawning platforms for the stalagmite salamanders.
Instead, the entire group was hit by the thick smell of glue and metal while the terrain changed from a rocky cave into a cavern filled with sand and smooth sand pillars.
The air was heavy and hot, but what made it even hotter were the monsters that were staring at the ceiling.
The stalagmite salamanders here were bigger, had sharper claws that oozed green acid, dissolving the sand, and jaws wider than a child's extended arms.
Yes, there were fewer of them, but their size and stillness almost made the group think twice.
Almost.
"What the fuck is that?" Raymond asked, his voice low so as to not alert the monsters.
What the monsters were staring at was the same summoning crystal as the last one. Only this one was far larger as it covered half the cavern.
It glistened as it hung on the ceiling, its green ooze dripping slowly onto the stalagmite salamanders.
Vanessa narrowed her eyes. "Nico, that crystal... It's gonna summon more of them if we don't destroy it."
Gary raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"The last salamanders died out because Vanessa destroyed the summoning crystal that was causing them to overflow. I managed to track it down after using my sword to trace the vibrations on the wall."
"That's why they seemed endless... You're incredible, Nico," Harold smiled as he tapped Nico on the shoulder.
"How do you even figure out that you could do that? More importantly, how'd you clear those last salamanders that easily?" Alice asked suspiciously.
"Yeah, and how come you never told us about this crystal?" Gary added.
"Now's not exactly the time to be prying. Nico, if I got you up there, could you destroy it?" Raymond asked as he squinted his eyes.
'Little too early for you to be putting this much faith in me...'
"No, I'm not strong enough. Vanessa took out the last one," answered Nico.
"He did take a while to kill the stalagmite salamanders..." Alice grabbed her chin as she thought.
"I'll do it," Jasper volunteered. "Alice, give me some buffs, and I'll tear that gem with my hands."
"I'll help," Raymond jumped in. "Nico, you're with Gary. Harold sticks with Alice, and Vanessa will go with Oscar. Go!"
Alice first buffed up Jasper and Raymond, which prompted the duo to charge ahead, before she cast giant fireballs to draw attention from the monsters.
The superior stalagmite salamanders snarled as they all turned around. The smoke cleared, and out came Gary, who swung his icing sword so hard the cold froze the smoke.
Then, he decapitated 3 of them with one swing. He smirked, but that smile quickly vanished when he noticed that the salamanders still attacked him, despite being headless.
Nico joined the fray, wielding his sword with both hands before cleaving one of the superiors with one swing.
[Basic longsword Durability: 50 / 130]
He clicked his tongue. 'I don't have much time...! I've gotta get critical strikes if I want to end this quickly!'
"Gary, these seem to have separate cores powering them. Our best bet is to render them useless because they won't die otherwise."
"I didn't need you to tell me that, shit stain!"
Gary beheaded the salamanders without using his ice magic and cleaved them in half immediately afterwards.
Meanwhile, as Raymond and Jasper pushed through the superior congress, Alice and Harold continued firing.
"Pardon me, dark-skinned queen," Raymond sighed as he grabbed Jasper's waist and threw her towards the giant summoning crystal.
Jasper ignored him and clenched her fist tightly, releasing a sharp breath she didn't know she'd been holding and conjured up a spell.
"Jab, max level."
She hit that crystal with all her might, causing the shock to slightly crack the sandstone walls that held it in place.
Some slime oozed out, but the crystal was still clear.
She sucked her teeth as she plummeted towards the ground, only for her to land on one of the superiors and use them to jump again.
This time, she drew back both her fists and stacked an additional spell on top of Jab.
"Multiply...!"
Suddenly, her attacks became a blur. Within a second, she landed 6 hits, and with her floating in the air for 4 seconds before falling, she managed to land 24 hits.
That managed to crack the crystal as a part of the wall that supported it began peeling off, causing sand to fall onto the ground.
Jasper landed on the ground and backflipped towards Raymond, who was slicing up the rest of the monsters with his giant sword.
"Can I borrow that?" she asked without looking, but extended her palm. Raymond simply gave her the sword and resumed brawling with the salamanders by hand.
Jasper took a deep breath, her eyes turning into a soft glowing brown before she took off towards the summoning crystal.
Her lift off left footprints on the sand and sent a gust of dust flying.
She held the giant blade with both hands, her heart pounding as she neared the crystal.
'This bloody sword is heavy! No wonder the chud is so stopped! Or maybe he's built like that because he's been killing weaker people...!
'People like Oscar, who seem honest, people like Harold, who are genuine... People like Nico, who posed a threat to them!
'I will fight for those who can't! Father would too!'
"Multiply!"
Before she swung the massive blade, a golden light envelopedthe, tit causing it to split into two.
Raymond's eyes widened as he watched. Even the superior stalagmite salamanders stopped aimlessly attacking and watched as Jasper glowed brightly.
Then, she jammed the first sword straight into the crystal, causing green slime to ooze from the wound.
She then used the blade as a platform before swinging in a wide arc, finally cracking the summoning crystal.
The cut superior stalagmite salamanders screeched as they died out, turning into dust, while those that were uninjured simply watched their creator turn dim.
Jasper took a deep breath as the blade she multiplied disappeared in her hands. Then, she glared at Raymond.
"You're next, twat."
Raymond visibly panicked, then smiled brightly as he stared at Jasper. She lifted an eyebrow as she scanned her surroundings.
Her heart got caught in her throat as she saw Harold's neck getting snapped by Alice's chains.
He fell still as his body hit the ground. No sound escape,d nor did it need to.
She glanced over at Oscar. His body was already cleaved in half,lf and Gary's sword was awfully red for someone who was only killing salamanders.
Jasper's eyes finally landed on Nico, who had his knife out as he took a defensive stance while Gary approached him.
Jasper grit her teeth and jumped off Raymond's sword, heading towards Nico.
*SNAP*
Raymond snapped his fingers, causing jus sword to pry itself out of the dead crystal before it soared towards Jasper and cut her on the side of her stomach.
It was nothing short of a miracle.
She managed to pivot herself midair as thswotargeteded her. Unfortunately, it still managed to hit her where it hurt.
She groaned and fell on the ground as she held her side.
Blood gushed out faster than she thought it would. "A bleedin' effect...? On a sword that big...?"
"Well, we've gotta be careful. I don't like taking chances against enemies. With how nimble you are, even one hit should be able to harm you," responded Raymond.
"Still, it's unnatural how you managed to dodge that. You're five-star luck player, aren't you?" smirked Gary.
Jasper felt her heart pounding and her vision blurred with each passing second.
"Doesn't matter. You're going to die before we get to see the boss. That 'buff' I gave you should be kicking in right... about..."
Jasper coughed up blood before Alice could finish her sentence. Jasper's eyes twitched in horror as she looked at her bloodied palm.
More of her blood was being absorbed by the sand, and the longer she stayed awake, the more pain she felt.
"Ni...co..."
She fellface-firstt, and Nico clicked his tongue. "Didn't think you guys were that bold. You're bandits. I could tell from the moment those cops wanted to squabble up that fast."
"Huh? If you knew all this time, why didn't you run?" Vanessa smirked.
"Because I'd be leaving these guys with monsters like you. Plus, you wouldn't have let me leave."
"I hate how you think you know a lot even though you don't know shit," commented Gary.
"Oh, really? Wanna place a bet?" Nico clenched the knifeind his hand tighter as he took a proper stance.
"I will guess one fun fact about each of you."
"Pfft. Why bother with—"
"Alice, you can't conjure multiple spells at once, hence why you had poisoned Jasper before we got into the dungeon. Your poison works like a timed bomb.
"Vanessa, your mind-reading powers work within a 2 metre radius. Maybe 3 if you try really hard."
Gary's face stiffened. "What? You can read minds?"
Vanessa scratched the back of her neck. "Yeah... I was gonna tell you..."
"No, she wasn't. Point being, you're better off killing me here yourselves, or else I'm gonna tell you guys Gary's embarrassing trait."
"You mother—" Gary almost lunged at Nico, only for Raymond to hold him back.
"I don't think we'll need to do anything," he smirked as he jerked his head towards the ceiling.
The summoning crystal began moving, prying itself out of the hole and absorbing the slime surrounding it.
It groaned as if it were woken up from its slumber, its limbs forming from the toxic ooze.
'Shit...'