Chapter 65: The Death Trap

And surrounding the nest, Dozens of Corrosive Slime Elites crawled across the floor.

They were vastly larger than the ordinary Corrosive Slimes they had encountered outside.

Their entire bodies were an ominous dark purple, while thick clouds of acidic mist continuously radiated from their surfaces.

~Hissss~

The sound of their corrosive bodies moving across the floor sent a chill through the squad.

But that wasn’t the worst part. From the shadowy corners of the hall, several enormous figures slowly emerged.

Mutant Rat Kings.

Their movements were unnaturally swift, almost ghostlike. Their sharp claws scraped against the metal floor as their exposed teeth glinted coldly beneath the dim light.

The expressions of everyone in the squad changed instantly.

This wasn’t a hidden dungeon entrance. It was a monster nest. More precisely, The incubation nest of a Level 6 Elite Monster: the Corrosive Nest Mother!

Its strength was already comparable to that of a small-scale Raid Boss.

And surrounding it was an entire army of elite guards.

"Shit!" Steel Blade’s face changed drastically. "It’s a trap!"

He immediately raised his shield. "RETREAT! RETREAT NOW!"

But it was already too late. The instant the last member of the squad stepped into the hall,

BOOM!

The heavy metal door behind them slammed shut. The entire hall trembled from the impact.

Several sickly green emergency lights suddenly flickered to life along the dome, casting an eerie glow over the enormous chamber.

Under the ghastly green illumination, the densely packed monsters below looked like demons crawling out of hell.

"Squeeeak!"

"Gurgle...!"

"Hissssss!"

Piercing shrieks and wet, viscous squelching sounds erupted simultaneously.

Every Corrosive Slime Elite and Mutant Rat King turned toward the intruders at once.

Dozens of scarlet compound eyes and bloodshot eyeballs locked onto the Third Elite Squad.

For a moment, the entire squad fell silent.

Then,

"KILL!" Steel Blade roared. "Hold the line! Formation! Healers, keep everyone’s health topped up!"

He planted himself at the very front of the formation, raising his tower shield as the other players hurriedly formed a defensive line behind him.

But their resistance was destined to be futile.

The overwhelming difference in numbers and levels, combined with the disadvantageous terrain, left them with almost no room to maneuver.

SPLASH!

Dense sprays of corrosive acid rained down from above.

The players hurriedly raised their shields and defensive skills.

But the acid still splattered across their armor.

Hissssss!

Continuous damage numbers began appearing above their heads.

At the same time, the durability of their equipment began dropping at an alarming rate as the powerful acid rapidly corroded their armor and weapons.

"Watch out!"

A Corrosive Slime Elite suddenly lunged forward.

BOOM!

Steel Blade blocked it with his shield, but another wave of acid immediately struck his exposed flank.

"-87!"

"-92!"

"-103!"

His health began falling rapidly. And before he could stabilize the front line,

WHOOSH!

Several Mutant Rat Kings suddenly vanished from sight.

The next instant, they appeared behind the formation.

"Behind us!"

A Mage barely had time to turn around before a Rat King pounced.

SLASH!

Its claws tore through his cloth armor.

"-312!"

The Mage’s health instantly dropped by more than half.

"AHHH!"

The Rat Kings darted through the team’s flanks and rear like ghosts, relentlessly targeting the vulnerable backline.

Every pounce drained a massive chunk of health from the cloth-armored players.

The formation collapsed almost immediately.

"Squad Leader! My shield is about to break!"

"Healer is out of mana! I can’t heal anymore!"

"AH! Save me!"

"THE DOOR! The door won’t open!"

"IT’S LOCKED!"

Screams. Desperate cries. Monster roars. The explosions of skills. The clashing of weapons. The hiss of corrosive acid. All of them blended together into a horrifying symphony of death.

Steel Blade gritted his teeth and swung his sword with all his remaining strength.

CLANG!

His blade cleaved into the body of a Mutant Rat King, finally killing it.

But the victory was meaningless. His armor was already riddled with holes from acid corrosion.

His shield was covered in cracks. His health bar had fallen into the red. And there was no healer left capable of saving him.

Steel Blade staggered backward. His gaze desperately locked onto the tightly sealed metal door.

Behind that door was the only path to survival.

But it remained completely motionless. His eyes gradually filled with unwillingness and regret.

He finally understood. The intelligence wasn’t wrong. It had simply been designed to lead them here.

"Sir Damien..." His voice trembled. "We... have been schemed against..."

The next moment,

WHOOOOSH!

A massive tentacle formed entirely from viscous corrosive liquid erupted from the monster nest.

Steel Blade barely had time to raise his broken shield.

BOOM!

The tentacle slammed into him with terrifying force. His body and shattered shield were sent flying across the hall before crashing violently against the wall.

His health bar instantly emptied.

[Area Announcement: Player "Steel Blade" has died.]

The announcement appeared. Then another.

[Area Announcement: Player "Shadow Hunter" has died.]

[Area Announcement: Player "Holy Dust" has died.]

[Area Announcement: Player "Flame Burst" has died.]

[Area Announcement: Player "Iron Fist" has died.]

...

One after another.

A dense stream of death announcements rolled across the Ashford City player channel like a cold, merciless spam message.

It wasn’t a First Clear announcement. It wasn’t a world-changing event.

Yet the sheer number of consecutive deaths sent a chill through everyone who saw them.

"The Dragon Sovereign Guild’s Third Elite Squad..."

"Has the entire squad been wiped out?"

"Holy shit! What the hell is inside that eastern district chemical plant? A full-strength elite squad just got annihilated!"

"I heard they accepted a high-difficulty exploration mission directly from the guild."

"Then what exactly did they encounter?"

The discussion quickly exploded across the player channel.

And then, amidst the speculation, someone suddenly mentioned a name.

"Could it be..."

"’Reaper’?"

The chat fell strangely quiet for a moment. Everyone subconsciously thought of the mysterious powerhouse who had recently clashed with the Dragon Sovereign Guild.

A powerhouse whose identity remained unknown. A powerhouse who had already demonstrated that he had no fear of provoking one of the strongest guilds in Ashford City.

If the Third Elite Squad’s deaths were connected to him... Then this wasn’t merely an unfortunate exploration mission.

It was a warning.