“Favid, aim your Explosive Fireball at the Web-Spiders! Everyone else, attack at will!”
“Wolf Riders, hold the front and use your javelins. We’ll fight right here at the tunnel entrance.”
Zong Shen intended to fish in troubled waters; charging blindly into the fray at this moment would be irrational.
It was wiser to use ranged attacks to deplete and kill the enemy’s effective forces as much as possible.
Both sides had noticed the arrival of Zong Shen and his group. The Goblin side no longer had the strength to divide their forces; even escaping had become a pipe dream.
They had been lured by the thick smoke to investigate this mine. Everything had been peaceful from the entrance to the tunnel, but they had ended up running into a massive army of Web-Spiders in the main cavern just as the spiders were extinguishing the flames.
After nearly an hour of bitter, tangled fighting, they were ultimately outmatched.
Instead, this only ignited their final courage and inner ferocity. Every single Goblin’s eyes were bloodshot.
They launched a final, frantic counterattack against the Web-Spiders.
The Wolf Riders’ javelins fell wave after wave, like raindrops.
Madeline’s sharp arrows were even more formidable, each one precisely striking an enemy’s vital point.
Aishia and Tasia stood on either side, launching magical offensives simultaneously.
A bolt of holy light radiating pure white brilliance and two pitch-black necrotic arrows shot out at the same time, striking the chests of two Goblin Shamans respectively.
They instantly finished off the two wounded Goblin Shamans.
The Goblin side could no longer hold on.
Most of the low-health monsters were promptly finished off by Zong Shen and his team.
Just kidding—monsters killing each other wouldn't drop loot, only corpses. That would be a waste!
Only monsters killed by the Lord or the Lord’s subordinates would drop items, not to mention the experience points.
At this moment, Favid’s Explosive Fireball spell finished chanting.
A massive fireball the size of a washbasin flew across and exploded upon the group of Web-Spiders crowding the exit of the right-hand tunnel.
Large damage numbers erupted.
In this situation, fire-type magic was simply a butcher’s knife, reaping lives frantically.
A charred, acrid smell began to permeate the air.
Kill notifications began to pop up continuously.
【Your subordinate, Wolf Rider, has killed Small Web-Spider lv10. You will receive half the experience points.】
【Your subordinate, Aishia, has killed Goblin Shaman Witchdoctor lv20. You will receive half the experience points.】
【Your subordinate, Tasia, has killed Goblin Shaman Witchdoctor lv20. You will receive half the experience points.】
……
【Experience points gained (170×) = 85】
【Experience points gained (1860×) = 930】
【Experience points gained (130×) = 65】
……
The slaughter continued.
Aishia, Mariel, Favid, and several newly joined Wolf Riders had actually leveled up one after another.
In such a chaotic situation, the Goblins were soon wiped out entirely.
The remaining Web-Spiders in the cavern were also almost all at low health; the previous explosion had left them with nowhere to hide.
They huddled together, blocking the right-hand exit completely.
Zong Shen quickly entered the cavern and collected all the loot into his storage grid.
The two Goblin squads had been completely annihilated, and the Web-Spiders’ target shifted to Zong Shen and his group.
“Retreat, fight while retreating.”
Zong Shen gave the order while quickly backing away.
Compared to the hundreds of square meters of the cavern, the ten-meter-wide tunnel entrance was better suited for this kind of close-quarters engagement. At the very least, it wouldn't allow the Web-Spiders to form a numerical advantage.
Moreover, with a retreat path behind and no encirclement in front, as long as no one blocked his back door, everything could be handled calmly.
Zong Shen and the others had only taken two steps back.
A violent explosion erupted from the tunnel behind them.
Intense firelight suddenly illuminated the tunnel.
A scorching blast of air swept through the tunnel instantly, and the entire passage shook.
Zong Shen looked back; the explosion had originated from the Black Iron Treasure Chest he had placed earlier...
He didn't know which unlucky soul had opened it.
350 points of fixed damage—unless they were wearing heavy armor and had chosen to put all their attributes and skills into health, they would be killed instantly on the spot.
Theoretically, this chest was ownerless; whoever opened it was just unlucky. It didn't count as Zong Shen’s attack, and the victim probably didn't even know how they died.
Come to think of it, Zong Shen seemed to have discovered a pattern: whenever two treasure chests appeared at the same time, one of them was often a wicked chest containing a trap.
Now, Zong Shen and his team couldn't worry about what was behind them. They focused on blocking the tunnel and began a head-on engagement.
The six Wolf Riders and the Blood-Tooth Boar, Bajie, lined up, completely blocking the tunnel.
The mages and rangers slowly retreated, standing on a higher slope in the tunnel to attack calmly.
The front row was composed entirely of Web-Spider Warriors.
Facing the wall formed by the Wolf Riders and Bajie, they turned around, abdomen facing outward, and used their Web-Spinning skill.
Turbid white webs, like party streamers from a canister, were continuously sprayed out, covering the front line.
Although Web-Spiders were constantly being shot down by magic or arrows, it was to no avail.
Even Bajie was wrapped in a layer of webbing and was struggling, trying to tear it apart.
Damage numbers rose; the webs had 1000 points of durability and could not be easily broken.
However, because they were wrapped in webs, those Web-Spiders couldn't attack them either. All attacks were essentially helping them break free from the webs, reducing the webs' durability.
Just then, the back row of Web-Spiders began to stir. Both the Small Web-Spiders and the Web-Spider Warriors consciously moved toward the tunnel walls on both sides, clearing a path in the middle.
A much larger Web-Spider slowly walked out.
This Web-Spider stared fixedly at Zong Shen and his group with its eight dark green compound eyes.
Each compound eye flashed with hatred and malice.
Zong Shen also narrowed his eyes slightly, observing its attributes.
【Web-Spider Prophet lv25 (Blue)】
【Blue Captain-grade】
【Race: Nerubian Spider-Demon】
【Magic Damage: 68～71】
【Health: 800】
【Mana: 580】
【Armor: 28】
【Magic Resistance: 20】
【Skills: Summon Skeleton lv12 (Chant time 5 seconds, consumes 80 mana, summons 3 lv10 Skeleton Warriors that can survive on the field for 15 minutes, cooldown 20 minutes)
Necrotic Arrow lv10 (Chant 2 seconds, consumes 30 mana, fires a necrotic arrow, dealing 1.5x magic damage)
Ghost Hand lv10 (Chant 3 seconds, consumes 60 mana, summons a ghost hand to bind an enemy for 3 seconds, dealing 10 chaos damage per second, cooldown 30 minutes)
Web Shield lv10 (When health is below 50%, creates a layer of tough webbing with 800 durability and 15 armor to resist damage, can only be triggered once per hour)
Passive Skill: Call (Calls the Web-Spider Queen for rescue when in a near-death state)】
(A Web-Spider that serves as a commander in the squad, a prophet skilled in spellcasting within the tribe, possesses rich combat experience.)
(End of chapter)