They would plant the Ant Queen Egg later when the entire map was fully revealed.
Now, the party was down to only four, their damage output was lower but it didn’t matter, what they lacked in numbers, they would make up for with summons.
After the initial waves of monsters, Mu You roughly understood the dynamics of this dungeon, aside from irritants such as poison traps and spore explosions, there were no direct anti-summon strategies in play. Thus, he decided to go all out.
Mu You immediately activated the ’Skeletal Summoning’ skill he just obtained a few days ago and initiated various other summoning spells.
[You have killed a Slime, a Skeleton Soldier holding a sword and shield emerges from the remains of the Slime.]
[You have summoned the Troll War God, the Legendary Witch Doctor, the Zombie Beast, the Fire Giant, the Netherworld Demon Child, the Shadow War Eagle...]
Besides the fighting summons under his command, adding to it Little Ya’s collection, there were two or three dozen in total – a powerful force akin to an army.
In addition, he got Skeleton Soldiers from kills. These creatures had a brief lifespan and were easy to obtain, so they could be used as scouts without fear of losing them. Even if they were killed instantly by a slime poison trap, Mu You could easily obtain another batch in this monster-filled dungeon.
As for their endurance, there was nothing to worry about. With the Troll War God’s life-drain aura and the Witch Doctor’s healing aura, their health regeneration was extremely fast. At least in the current dungeon level, the summoned army could remain full health throughout the journey.
"Turn left up ahead..."
"Keep going straight..."
Following the monsters as the summoned beasts forged ahead, they indeed made great progress. They were able to surpass each intersection within ten seconds on average.
The path on Mu You’s navigation paper gradually became clearer. Checking the route, it was clear that they had not encountered any dead-ends. They had been walking the entire time on a valid path, all thanks to the effects of Xia Chuyu Bing’s coin.
Nevertheless, when one hour passed and the dungeon’s time expired, all the party members were kicked out of the Underground City, and they still hadn’t found the entrance to the second floor.
"Shall we... continue?"
Xia Chuyu Bing asked nervously. Originally, she had high confidence in her coin, but even with the speed at which they had explored, they still hadn’t discovered the exit, prompting her to doubt whether the path her coin pointed to was really the right one. It would be extremely embarrassing if all their efforts were in vain.
Mu You did not immediately make a decision but instead studied the map in his hands.
The path they had followed traced out a winding arc, as if something blocked the direct route between two points and forced them to take a detour.
Mu You estimated that the obstacle was likely underground ore. The dense growth of ore in that particular region had probably blocked the original path leading to the exit, forcing the coin to indicate an alternate route for them to take.
Therefore, they either had to continue following the coin’s direction and take a detour, or they would need to send a large number of workers to dig through the blocked path first.
But choosing to dig might take an unpredictable amount of time. If they were unlucky, they might not be able to clear the path in one or two days. In order to reach the second floor as quickly as possible, the only feasible option was to take the detour.
"Just a moment, I’ll invite someone else." Mu You said suddenly before he posted a private message to a friend on the forum.
A few minutes later, a notification popped up in the game.
[Foggy Vision has joined your party.]
Foggy Vision, also known as Sagittarius.
Sagittarius was a summoner, and his repertoire of summoning spells was not inferior to Mu You’s.
Now that they had proven that summoning beasts could help them clear the dungeon, they might as well go all the way and form an exclusively summoner-based party aimed at brute-forcing their way to the goal.
"This time we need to progress faster."
With everyone gathered, Mu You reminded them via the party channel: "I’ll follow the previous route to progress. Once we get to where we were last time, Xia Chuyu Bing will guide us with her coin. Also, as soon as we enter the dungeon, activate all your summoning skills."
All members nod in agreement. Without further ado, upon Mu You’s command the party entered the underground dungeon.
Once inside, the game text was clean, with only notifications about encounters with monsters and no other party communications.
Mu You silently steered the team. With Sagittarius’s summoned creatures now in their ranks, the team’s output increased to another level. Every monster they encountered in their path fell within ten seconds.
They decimated the monsters in their path, progressing at an astonishing speed. In the end, they found themselves back at their previous location in half an hour.
Partly, this was due to the increased output of their party, and partly because they had already cleared out this path once, reducing the density of the monsters. Hence, they marched forward with greater ease than before.
"Next step... go to the left!"
However, they were back to being led by Xia Chuyu Bing’s coin, returning to their initial pace of slowly paving a path ahead. Plus, the density of monsters seemed to be gradually increasing, noticeably slowing down their progress.
Honestly, Mu You was also losing confidence because he had no idea how much further the exit was. If the actual distance of this detour was more than what they could cover in one hour, then all their current efforts would be for naught.
Luckily, reality wasn’t as terrible as imagined.
Around the 54th minute mark, a new notification appeared in everyone’s game screens.
[...As you press onwards, you suddenly spot a palace ahead. The exterior is engulfed in strange, fierce flames.]