The five-member team slowly walked into the cave. The cave wasn’t straight to the end; they encountered a bend after only walking ten meters or so, but the space around the cave became increasingly spacious.
After walking for a while, the brightness around them decreased, and they began using glowing crystals to find their way.
At this moment, except for Theo, the remaining four sensed something was amiss.
"These bats... they should be bats, right..."
The Elf Maiden pointed to several creatures hanging upside down in the upper corner of the cave, watching them.
They looked very much like bats, hanging upside down on the rocks, with bright red eyes. But unlike ordinary bats, these creatures had no fur at all on their bodies and four pairs of wings growing from their backs, resembling spiders with eight legs. In their head, half the size of a fist, were embedded two scarlet eyeballs completely out of proportion with the head, which, upon closer inspection, seemed like human eyes.
So the Elf Maiden didn’t dare to casually identify their species.
But everyone felt nauseated, losing quite a bit of their San Value.
"They’re probably bats from Fukushima..." Shami swallowed, adding, "a place that can cause creatures to mutate."
"They’re likely mutated. But this is just too disgusting."
The black-haired girl spoke frankly, voicing the thoughts of the group. She simply chanted a phrase, bringing forth several balls of flame from her palm, giving these creatures no chance and burning them directly.
The bat engulfed in flames flapped around the cave for a few moments before collapsing to the ground.
They continued to walk forward.
Shortly after, as they walked, vines appeared on both sides of the cave, with clusters of colorful small flowers growing on them.
"Can flowers even grow in such a place? When there’s not even sunlight."
The Elf Maiden slowly walked over, maintaining caution, taking a look.
She froze for three seconds, blinked, screamed, and quickly retreated, hugging the nearest Lina.
The Elf Maiden trembled, pointing over.
"Don’t go close. You guys better have a careful look."
The group looked over.
What was thought to be vines were actually dozens of weirdly colored long snakes covering the rocks, hideous in appearance, constantly flicking their tongues, with a row of mucus-laden branches under the side of their bellies, and the small flowers were plants emerging from the tops of the long snakes’ heads.
In a flash, the wall of colorful long snakes wriggled swiftly, lunging towards the group.
"Shield: Physical Protection."
The black-haired girl’s face turned a bit pale, muttering a soft incantation, instantly releasing a light that expanded into a spherical shield, enveloping the five of them, followed by the sound of long snakes hitting the shield.
This seemingly impenetrable shield made Shami glance at the black-haired girl with admiration.
"It’s like suddenly finding a snake in the toilet while using it! What bastard created this snake-flower combination? It’d definitely be too scary to even get approval for display at a school cultural festival!"
The Elf Maiden shivered, gripping her soft sword, instinctively glancing at Shami.
Shami was also silent for a long time before speaking.
"Sorry, I just got goosebumps."
On the other side of the cave.
"Unexpected, right? The genius who cleverly combined flowers and snakes is none other than me, haha! One is the universally acclaimed beauty [Flower], and the other is the [Subtle Beauty] I admire. Combined, they indeed create art that refreshes any adventure team, haha! Did that Elf avert her eyes after one glance, feeling ashamed, haha?"
Watching the muted screen of the squad through the eyes of a bat puppet, Aguli laughed proudly.
"Indeed. Being overly shocked is normal. After all, beauty isn’t something everyone can easily accept."
Disgusting, utterly disgusting!
The girls showed extremely disgusted expressions.
"Lina, you can attack directly within the shield and cut them all down."
Lina nodded, picked up her long sword.
"Enchantment: Pure Flame," chanted the Magical Girl.
In the next moment, a faintly crystalline flame appeared on Lina’s long sword.
The white-haired girl quickly slashed all around, cutting the long snakes into segments that still rolled briefly on the ground before falling silent under the flame.
The group exchanged glances.
Including Saili, the group was all startled. After a while, the nauseating low pressure gradually dissipated.
The Elf Maiden’s silky white skin turned much colder. From the moment they entered the cave, the Elf Maiden’s sanity value had been under constant challenge.
"Seems we have to be cautious of this Fifth Corps Commander of the demon race. If he created these things, he’s definitely a pervert."
The black-haired girl didn’t let the shield disappear but kept it active.
"If nothing’s wrong, let’s continue."
The black-haired girl turned to look behind. The blonde girl and the white-haired girl also looked back.
The three girls froze again.
"Don’t draw your sword! It’s Theo!!"
The still-stunned Shami quickly pulled Theo out from the semi-dark shadows.
"So I’m the monster now? How could anyone see it that way!" Theo shouted.
His protest was in vain.
The five of them continued to explore forward.
The white-haired girl spoke softly.