"That’s it." Leo said, stretching his arms. "We’ve got what we can out of this Toad."
The group gathered loosely around what remained of the corpse, having finished their harvesting.
And now that it was over, it was time for the question.
"Do we go on?" Galahad asked, looking at Leo.
Everyone turned toward the de facto leader of the group.
Leo crossed his arms. "The Acid Toad wasn’t supposed to be here. This monolith is E-rank. Something like that shouldn’t be inside. So... it’s either an anomaly, or..."
"Or this isn’t an E-rank monolith," Galahad finished, his voice flat.
That drew a frown from everyone except Noah and Arlo.
"It’s still too early to say that," Leo said quickly. "We’ve only faced two types of monsters. Bullet Spiders and the toad."
"The spiders were younglings and actual E-rank monsters, but the toad was... well, unlucky for us. But anomalies happen. Doesn’t mean we abandon the whole run."
Bronn looked uncertain. "I don’t know... I mean, it could get worse."
Leo turned to him, face hard. "And it could get better. We’ve barely gotten enough resources to justify the risk so far. You want to return empty-handed? If we go back now, it’s a waste."
Galahad nodded. "I agree. We didn’t come all this way to leave after one real fight. We keep going. As long as this is an E-rank monolith, we can even reach the boss chamber."
Arlo raised an eyebrow. "And if we find another toad? Or something worse?"
"Then we run," Leo said simply. "We play it smart. Push until we can’t."
"Alright." Noah finally spoke. "We continue. Just a little further. If it gets too bad, we leave."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Then it’s settled," Leo said. "Form up. Same positions."
And so, without another word, they turned from the body of the toad and began moving again, deeper into the dark, glowing tunnels of the monolith.
After a few more minutes of walking, they heard it again.
The sound was soft at first, barely reaching them where they stood.
It was the faint sounds of a chitter. A scrape. A skitter.
Then it rose into a chaotic clatter, like dozens of small legs dancing across stone.
"Again?" Bronn muttered, snapping up his shield.
Leo cursed under his breath, raising his sword. "It’s another swarm of Bullet Spiders."
"At least they’re E-rank." Arlo chuckled. "It should mean this is an E-rank monolith."
They nodded at that, their attention on the coming swarm.
And from the shadows of the tunnel ahead of them, gleaming eyes began to appear, flickering in the faint bioluminescent light.
The swarm of Bullet Spiders emerged, crawling along the walls and ceilings, smaller than the toad, but far more numerous.
The narrow tunnel amplified the sound of their approach, the noise rattling against the group’s nerves.
"Shields up!" Cal barked.
He and Bronn stepped forward, raising their enchanted shields just in time as a sharp hiss filled the air.
Thin strands of webbing shot from the spiders’ fangs, hard and fast as arrows, thudding against the metal with force.
The shield bearers held firm, bracing their backs against the narrow walls to create a barrier across the tunnel.
Leo and Galahad stepped up next, their swords held before them.
Noah didn’t wait to be told what to do. He stepped forward beside them, hand raised, mana crackling at his fingertips. "I’m in."
Galahad gave him a curt nod.
Leo grunted. "Good. Let’s cut them down."
Behind them, Arlo took position on a jagged part of the wall he could stand upon, bow already drawn.
He didn’t speak, but the whistle of his first arrow through the air told everyone that the fight had begun.
A spider crawling along the upper left wall twitched once before plummeting, Arlo’s arrow having pierced through its head.
"Go!" Leo shouted.
Noah fired first, launching a Fireball toward a cluster of spiders crawling across the floor.
The fire splashed across them, one screeched and caught fire, but didn’t die. The others scattered, injured but still twitching.
Three Fireballs later, and only two of the spiders lay dead, their blackened legs curled up.
More web bullets shot from the swarm. One grazed Galahad’s leg, tearing into his trousers and leaving a thin line of blood. He winced, but kept moving, cleaving his sword through a leaping spider.
Leo unleashed a flurry of ice shards, pinning two spiders to the wall. Another charged him from the ceiling, but Noah intercepted it with another blast of fire, driving it off course.
The battle was chaos.
Spiders swarmed over each other, climbing the walls, crawling across the ceiling, spitting webs at every exposed opening.
Arlo’s arrows whistled overhead, striking any that tried to flank them. His accuracy was deadly, but even he couldn’t take down more than one at a time.
A spider dropped from above, landing behind Bronn’s shield. Bronn twisted, swinging to bash it away, but not fast enough. The spider sank its fangs into his shoulder.
"Argh!"
Cal turned, crushing the spider beneath his shield with a brutal swing. "Stay up!"
Bronn staggered, his face going pale as his shoulder began to swell.
"They’re venomous!" Leo said, quickly rushing to his side. He fished in his satchel and pulled out a small vial. "Here, drink this."
Bronn took it with a grunt, gulping down the potion. A moment later, he hissed as the burning sensation began to ease.
Another Fireball exploded near a cluster trying to climb over the bodies. Noah wiped sweat from his brow, the heat and smoke in the air growing thick.
A final arrow from Arlo pierced the last spider trying to crawl away.
Silence followed, broken only by panting and the soft drip of blood on stone.
Cal lowered his shield, shoulders slumped. "That’s... all of them."
Bronn sat down heavily, breathing harder. "That one nearly got me."
"Thank the antidote," Leo muttered, corking the vial. "I only brought two."
Galahad wiped sweat from his brow. "That was way too many close calls."
Noah looked down at the spider husks, still smoldering. He said nothing.
At least, they were still alive.
But not for long.