Chapter 2055 - 551: Far Beyond the Demon King's Expectations

The three-minute break quickly ended.

With Erin's command, the elite squad of thirty men reorganized their gear and continued advancing into the darkness of the dense forest.

Unexpectedly, the journey that followed was surprisingly smooth.

The nearby Ratmen seemed to be scared out of their wits, and along the way, the team encountered no substantial resistance.

Even the most greedy and reckless Slave Rats seemed to have vanished into thin air, not a shadow in sight.

There were only a few wandering Suture Monsters and Alchemy Golems, which had yet to burn out their Demon Crystals, roving aimlessly through the woods.

These hulking creatures were the "loose ends" deliberately left by Alakdo.

As one of the Demon King's most loyal mounts, the giant spider thoroughly understood its master's twisted sense of humor — to clear the field without clearing it too cleanly.

After all, they had to leave a sense of participation for Campbell's Miss Brave.

Furthermore, its subordinates were far too discerning to even consider eating these grotesque beings, so they simply let them be.

However, Erin was not one to let them go.

The silvery lightning that darted across the battlefield was even swifter than Prince Colin's Magic Wand, severing the enormous head in just half a breath's time.

With a dull thud, the giant beast, capable of wreaking havoc on the battlefield, collapsed with a mighty crash, reduced to a stinking heap of rotten flesh.

At the same moment, Erin returned to Colin's side, the unsullied Light of Praise slowly sheathing itself.

"Well done."

Luo Yan gave Erin an appreciative look, her lips curling up slightly before quickly turning into a gentle cough.

"What's next? Which way should we go?"

Luo Yan smiled and said,

"This way, please."

As he spoke, the Firebird circling above let out a crisp call, diving into the dense forest ahead.

Under the Firebird's guidance, the group quickly passed through the thick underbrush, arriving in front of a massive hidden cave at the edge of a stream.

This was the place where [Yiye Zhiqu] and other players had encountered a BOSS and met their demise.

But now, the scene had changed.

Like a locust swarm, Alakdo and his spider army had wiped out the Ratmen stationed here, leaving not even a trace of lingering bones from the two Lizardman player corpses that had fallen here before.

Even the dropped equipment had long since been packed and sent back to the Great Graveyard.

However, seeing the webs dangling at the cave's entrance and the large patches of green slime on the ground left Erin with a touch of confusion in her eyes.

"Are these... traces left by the Earth Cave Spider?"

She used her sword tip to pluck a strand of resilient web, frowning slightly.

Luo Yan stepped forward, squatting to observe for a moment, and pretended to nod thoughtfully, his voice laced with careful consideration.

"It seems so."

Seeing the Demon King's serious demeanor and Erin being led on a wild goose chase, Sarah couldn't help but twitch her lips slightly, her gaze sweeping towards the surrounding, alert to any Ratman movements.

"But... why would the Ratmen and Earth Cave Spider kill each other?" Erin was even more confused, a touch of perplexity in her eyes.

"Could it be that the Ratmen's recent expansion was too aggressive, encroaching on the Earth Cave Spider's territory? Or perhaps those rats stole the spider's eggs?"

Luo Yan pulled out a glass vial from his pocket, pretending to scrape a bit of the slime sample from the ground with a silver spoon before sealing it and standing up, wiping his hands with a towel.

"Whatever the case, it's good for us."

Upon hearing Prince Colin say this, Erin didn't think much of it. She nodded and turned to softly instruct the soldiers behind her.

"Everyone, stay alert, watch out for the slime and traps underfoot! Follow me!"

"Yes!"

The group responded in unison, lighting their torches and following behind Erin and Prince Colin, who strode ahead.

The flickering torchlight dispelled the shadows at the cave entrance, and the team cautiously stepped onto the slippery ground, moving into the depths of the cave.

So far, this adventure had been nothing but a righteous march, and everyone's faces were full of eagerness.

However, as time went by and the group ventured deeper into the cave, the nauseating stench grew stronger, prompting them to furrow their brows and feel a heavy weight in their hearts.

Everyone had a bad feeling.

What infiltrated their nostrils was more than just the stench of decaying corpses.

The air was thick with the metallic reek of blood and the putrid stench of heavily decomposed waste products.

Instead of a tomb, it was as if they had entered a farm, one that bred thoroughly unsettling creatures.

The ground was solid and slippery, marked by countless claw prints, with decaying straw intertwined in the blackened soil.

As the group turned a corner, a haunting sight appeared before them — a shocking altar that arrested them in their tracks.

The altar was surrounded by heaps of mangled limbs and gory carcasses piled up like an unsightly mountain, a gruesome vision that sent every stomach into a violent churn.

"...This is."

Erin's voice carried a hint of uncontrollable tremor. Her emerald eyes widened, and the longsword in her grip creaked under the pressure.

It was a literal "mass grave" heaped on the ground!

Perhaps there weren't tens of thousands of corpses lying there, but to say there were thousands would surely be understating the situation.