Chapter 79: To the last Swarm Dungeon

They headed toward the Spider Nest.

Before entering, Ethan checked the leaderboard.

The current record was a little over an hour. Even the third-place team had taken more than an hour to clear the dungeon on Nightmare Difficulty.

The problem with the Spider Nest wasn’t that the spiders were strong. There were simply too many of them.

"Another nest full of bugs," Aria muttered. "Why does this challenge have so many of them?"

"You can always wait outside," Ethan replied.

"And miss another first place? Not a chance!"

Ethan smiled and selected Hell Difficulty.

A portal appeared, and they stepped through.

They found themselves inside a large cave filled with webs. Thick strands covered the walls and ceiling, and some hung across the paths ahead. Small spiders crawled over them, while others hung upside down, waiting for their prey.

Aria looked around. "I already hate this place."

Ethan summoned both his legions and sent the Shadow Wraiths ahead.

They hadn’t gone far when a spider dropped from the ceiling and landed on a Wraith. It bit down, but the Wraith grabbed it and pulled it off.

More spiders soon came crawling out of the cracks in the walls.

"Here they come," Aria said.

Hundreds of spiders rushed toward them. Some tried to bite the Wraiths, while others shot sticky webs at them. The strands wrapped around the summons and slowed them down.

A few spiders even tried to cover the path with webs, hoping to trap the Wraiths before the others attacked.

Unfortunately for them, the Wraiths soon broke free.

Ethan raised his hand and summoned Divine Flame. Using the mana stored in his Mana Reservoir, he sent the flame into the middle of the swarm.

The spiders scattered, but the fire spread too quickly. It burned through the webs and caught the spiders hiding among them.

Aria watched the flames. "That’s one way to deal with them."

They continued deeper into the nest.

The spiders didn’t make things easy. Some hid behind the webs and attacked when Ethan and Aria passed. Others dropped from the ceiling without warning.

At one point, a large spider shot a strand of silk toward Aria’s leg. She quickly jumped aside, and the web stuck to the ground.

"Why do they keep doing that?!" she complained.

"They’re trying to catch you."

"Then they should find someone else!"

Ethan laughed and continued forward.

With the Shadow Wraiths leading the way, they quickly found their way through the caves. Whenever they came across a large group of spiders, Ethan used Divine Flame to clear them out.

Soon, they reached the deepest part of the nest.

The Spider Queen waited inside a chamber covered in thick webs. It was much larger than the other spiders, with eight long legs and a body covered in dark hair. Smaller spiders crawled all around it.

The moment it spotted them, the Queen rushed forward.

Ethan sent Divine Flame into the chamber.

The smaller spiders fled in every direction, but many were caught in the fire. The flames spread across the webs, reaching the Queen before it could escape.

It struggled for a while, but the fire showed no sign of going out.

Soon, the Spider Queen was dead, and the Bug Cleanup Crew had secured another first place.

"Four down, one to go!" Aria exclaimed as she checked the leaderboard.

Ethan glanced at the screen.

"The Bat Cave is next."

Aria’s smile faded a little.

"Bats? Please tell me they aren’t as disgusting as the other monsters."

"How would I know?"

"You can’t be serious!"

Ethan chuckled and started walking.

"Come on. Let’s finish this."

They soon arrived at the Bat Cave.

Several groups had gathered outside the entrance, and a large leaderboard stood nearby. Ethan was about to check it when he heard a familiar voice.

"How is that even possible?!"

He turned his head.

A young man stood in front of the leaderboard, gripping a dark blue staff. Two other men stood beside him, one carrying a red staff and the other holding a green one.

Ethan immediately recognized, the boastful Lightning Mage he’d met earlier.

Cassian was pointing at the leaderboard with an unhappy expression.

""This is our third dungeon, and we still haven’t taken first place!" Cassian complained. "We have a Lightning Mage, a Fire Mage, and a Wind Mage. All three of us have powerful area-of-effect skills, yet those two have already beaten us twice!"

The Fire Mage sighed.

"To be fair, they’ve taken first place in all four dungeons so far. Even Ironwall and Stormbreak couldn’t overtake them."

"That’s exactly what I’m talking about!" Cassian said. "How can two people clear these dungeons faster than a team of three area-of-effect professions?"

The Wind Mage glanced at the leaderboard.

"Are you sure there are only two people in their party? Maybe they’ve found a way to hide their other members."

Cassian pointed at the screen.

"Look at it yourself! Their party has two members. It says so right there!"

"Then could both of them have area-of-effect professions?" the Fire Mage asked.

Cassian paused before shaking his head.

"I doubt it. Before we formed this team, I checked the leaderboard. They had already taken first place in the Wasp Nest and Ant Colony. Their times were so good that I thought a full team must have set them."

He tapped his staff against the ground.

"Besides, if both of them have powerful area-of-effect skills, why haven’t we heard about them before?"

The Wind Mage shrugged.

"Maybe they’re just keeping a low profile."

Cassian snorted.

"Then what about their party name? Bug Cleanup Crew? Who names their party that if they’re really that strong?"

The Fire Mage laughed.

"Maybe they don’t care about names."

Cassian ignored the remark and looked toward the Bat Cave entrance.

"Whatever the case, this is our chance. They haven’t cleared the Bat Cave yet, so they haven’t taken first place here."

The Wind Mage nodded.

"Which means this is our only chance to get ahead of them."

"Exactly!" Cassian said, raising his staff. "Bats fly, and lightning is perfect for hitting airborne enemies. My lightning can take care of large groups, while his fire covers a wide area. With wind magic to support us, clearing this dungeon should be easy!"

The Fire Mage grinned.

"Then let’s stop wasting time. If we want first place, we’d better get moving before those two show up."

The three headed into the Bat Cave, determined to claim first place.

Ethan and Aria had heard most of the conversation from nearby.

Aria watched Cassian and his companions head toward the entrance.

"So even with three area-of-effect professions, they still couldn’t beat our times?"

"Apparently," Ethan replied.

Aria’s mood improved.

"Well, that’s good to hear."

Ethan shook his head with a faint smile and entered the bat cave he’ll difficulty portal.