The moment every of the Red Wings members stepped into the shimmering portal, their surroundings changed.
Instead of the desolate streets of Night Veil City, they were in a ruin with dark green walls and barely lit torches hung on these walls. The ceiling was so high it was practically lost in darkness. The air was damp and nauseating, making the girls cringe. Even Anna was no exception.
"Get used to it."
Leon's calm voice bounced off the walls. He was at the forefront, being the only one with experience with dungeons—this one in particular. As mentioned before, he had once entered this dungeon while being a Solaris soldier.
Without a single word, he advanced. The others quickly followed him deeper into the caves. Finally, Leon stopped just before a red line ahead. Without turning back, he addressed his people.
"Once we cross this line, we're going to be attacked by monsters so get ready."
They nodded, gripping their unsheathed weapons tightly. Seeing their readiness, he crossed the line, the others following.
Immediately they crossed the line, it felt like a pressure had descended on them. It wasn't suffocating or agonizing, but just palpable enough to be felt and noticed. Here, the air itself was heavier than before.
Leon's voice broke them from their stupor.
"Form a tight circle formation. Demon Bats approaching from above."
They immediately moved, forming a circle with Leon at the center. His arms remained folded and his weapons sheathed. This was just the beginning and he wasn't going to interfere yet.
Scree!
From the darkness above, large bats the size of kids descended, their shrill cries stinging to the ears. The evolved reacted immediately. In the face of danger, instincts prevail. And their instincts had been honed through several battles against zombies or mutated beasts.
Clang! Clang! Slice! Clang!
Their weapons clashed with the talons of the Demon Bats, sending the monsters reeling. One even got caught by Anna's upgraded whipsword. Dark green blood spilled from the wound as the whip constricted around its leg, then pulled.
Scrraahh!
As soon as it came down, its fate was sealed. The other bats came again, repeatedly harassing the group of evolved while they struggled to vanquish their aerial foes. Unexpectedly, Daddy Ye decided to change tactics. The military man took out a rifle from his backpack and aimed at the bats.
Bang! Bang!
Normally, this would have been a foolish decision since mundane firearms had little to no effects on mutated beasts or zombies with strong defense. However, Ye Ming was naturally a smart man. He didn't try to kill these creatures with the bullets. Instead, he aimed at their eyes. Being an evolved and an excellent marksman, his shots didn't miss.
Two bats each had one eye destroyed, then fell, disoriented. Their blood became grease on Scarface's greatsword.
Seeing two more die, the group's morale increased as they fended off the bats while subtly protecting Ye Ming.
Seeing this, Leon couldn't help but feel impressed. 'Nice improvisation there, big man.'
With Daddy Ye's targeted shots, they were able to finally kill every one of those bats.
"Dad! You're so cool!"
Little Tiger gave a thumbs-up for his father with a grin.
Of course, Ye Ming naturally accepted it.
"Haha, of course. I'm the universe's most impressive daddy after all!"
Ice snorted. "No wonder you remained adamant about adding it to your alias."
Daddy Ye continued to grin while rubbing his beard. Finally, the others understood the origin of the 'Daddy' in his alias. Cassie rolled her eyes, finding it quite funny.
Now, Old Pipe was the only mystery remaining. Naturally sensing that, Ice took this moment to expose him.
"When the apocalypse began, he'd insist on killing zombies with a pipe. Took some time to convince him otherwise."
A shade of red appeared on the old man's face but he turned away.
Leon's clap silenced their laughter. "Enough jokes. We're moving."
They all nodded. Still, he couldn't help but cast a glance at the old man. So that's your secret, eh...?
As they advanced, Little Tiger finally asked a question everyone else overlooked.
"Those bats didn't have essence crystals?"
Leon nodded. "Dungeon monsters are different from mutated beasts and zombies. They're artificially created until they leave the dungeon."
"Wait. Leave the dungeon?!"
Ice immediately noticed the implication behind his words.
"You might want to forget that and concentrate."
Growl~
Indeed, barring their path forward were a pack of horned lizards. Well, they looked like lizards but were the size of adult alligators. Among them, one was twice as big as the others, its horn also longer.
"Target their underbellies. Breaking through their scales wouldn't work well."
The lizards' large jaws snapped open and close repeatedly, displaying their set of jagged teeth. Under their leader's commanding growl, the lizards scrambled forward, dashing towards the evolved before them.
From the side, Scarface stepped forward, then raised his hands.
Puchi!
From the ground, hardened spikes struck the underbelly of the lizards, skewering them in one blow. The others didn't waste their chances. They quickly attacked the injured lizards and killed them, reducing the monsters by half their numbers.
Standing before the rest of the advancing pack, Old Pipe slammed his hammer to the ground. Thick arcs of blue lightning spread outwards from the impact, stunning the lizards and halting their movements.
With Old Pipe's and Scarface's help, they eventually got rid of every lizard except their giant leader. Before anyone could move, Cassie appeared on its back and struck the sides of its neck with her axes.
Blood spurted from the injury as the lizard growled. Before it could retaliate, Scarface's spike pierced its belly, hooking it in place.
Cassie took that opportunity and fully beheaded it.
Smiling proudly, she stood atop its corpse with a grin while casting a glance at Anna as if to say, 'see? I killed it.'
Unfortunately, Anna didn't pay her any attention.
"It's good you're all improving, let's continue."
Under Leon's urging, the group moved deeper into the dungeon. For the next half an hour, they didn't encounter any monster whatsoever. This made them nervous because Leon also didn't speak, making the silence tense.
Finally, Leon stopped, then gazed into the thick darkness ahead of them. "This is where things get truly dangerous. I'd advise you not to take any chances."
Hearing his solemn tone, the evolved behind him naturally got serious, their expressions hardened.
A few seconds later, tens of ominous red eyes opened in the darkness, announcing the presence of a pack of dreadful foes ahead.