Terror Descends

Clearly, it wasn't just Rein noticed the anomaly in the stone chamber.

At that moment, Bart also stopped.

The experienced hunter's expression changed drastically when he discovered the marks he had left on the wall.

He stopped everyone in their tracks, shouting, "Wait!"

"What's wrong, Commander?"

Everyone stopped, looking puzzled.

With a grave expression, Ba said, "I think we might be in trouble."

Upon hearing their leader say these words, the members became tense and glanced at him sideways.

At this moment, Bart pointed to the carvings on the wall and said, "We've been to this stone chamber before."

When they first entered the passageway, the old Scavenger Gang, out of a habit of caution, had marked every fork in the road and on the walls of some stone chambers.

Although this seems like a pointless exercise, since everyone thinks they remember the way. Especially the latter part of the road, which is a straight line with no forks, so there's no need to remember it at all.

But it was this small mark that led Bart to discover the anomaly.

Sister Pasha was the member who had been with Bart the longest, so she had naturally noticed his marking actions before.

Now, looking at the triangular sign with directional markings in front of her, her expression changed drastically. "Huh? How is this possible? We've been walking forward the whole time, how did we end up back in the same stone chamber?"

The younger members of the group hadn't yet realized the seriousness of the situation, speculating, "Is it a maze? Have we come back to where we started?"

"It's definitely a maze, but it might not be as simple as we imagine!"

Bart frowned.

He paused, then explained in more detail, "I marked this before; this should be the twenty-third stone chamber we've passed! Ever since we entered the passageway with these chambers, we haven't encountered any forks in the road. If this is a maze, then it should be a 'looping maze' with interconnected chambers. Why did we go back to the middle chamber instead of the first one we started with?"

The hunters of this world have been clearing land for years and have long accumulated a wealth of experience in exploring ruins.

They had all heard of labyrinths; many ancient ruins had such things.

It's one of those interconnected loop mazes, like a snake biting its own tail.

They use the environment to deceive people's perception, making them think they are walking in a straight line when in fact they are walking in a "loop," endlessly cycling and trapping them to death.

But the pattern of that maze is very obvious: if you mark the things you encounter in a sequence of 123456, then it will keep cycling in that sequence of 123456.

The methods to solve those mazes have long been summarized.

But clearly, this isn't it.

They bypassed the first twenty-two stone chambers and encountered the twenty-third one.

That's why Bart said it was strange earlier.

Upon hearing this, Rein raised an eyebrow and glanced at Bart. This old Scavenger Gang was much more meticulous than he had expected.

The Mind Core also made this judgment, and this is the "twenty-third" stone chamber.

However, he wasn't flustered at all.

The "Mind Core" panel showed no fluctuations in mental energy, so what was in front of me should just be a simple physical maze.

If it were just this kind of existence, it certainly wouldn't be infinitely vast.

At worst, we can make a few more trips. With the detailed comparative data from the "Mind Core," we can quickly find some patterns without even having to think about it.

Moreover, Rein had already found some clues among the ancient writings and incised symbols on the walls.

What he's worried about now isn't that, but the occasional sounds of gunfire that reach his ears.

Clearly, the hunters have already engaged in combat with the monsters in this labyrinth.

But the sounds were strange. They were intermittent and didn't seem to come from the same corridor at all.

He was pondering what might have caused this when Bart spoke up again.

"From now on, everyone should make a mark. I'll have other references in case my judgment is wrong!"

Bart's arrangement is very reasonable.

Previously, he marked it alone. If his senses were wrong, it could easily lead everyone into the wrong realm of thinking.

But if everyone makes markings, even if Bart dies, the members can still understand these symbols and compare them with each other.

"Yes, Commander."

The members of the "Mountain Antelope Squad" all took out daggers and carved marks on the wall.

After marking the chamber, Bart called to the others, "Let's go! We're going to the next stone chamber!"

Rein was also curious about the workings of this maze, so he followed it.

After walking for about a hundred meters, they discovered four more consecutively numbered stone chambers: number 24, 25, 26, and 27. Then the markings stopped, and they discovered a completely new stone chamber!

After carefully observing the wall and finding no symbols, Bart's expression turned somewhat grim. "This... this situation is a bit complicated."

Rein, resting his chin on his hand, immediately understood what kind of trouble he was referring to.

If they encountered a cyclical maze, then after the "27th stone chamber" they just saw, there should be the "28th."

But the stone chamber before them was one they had never seen before.

Then the group went through two more stone chambers, which were still completely unfamiliar.

This discovery seems quite abrupt.

It was like a complete passageway, except that one section had been replaced with a section of the passageway that had been walked through before.

While Bart and his hunters were still trying to figure it out, Rein, connecting the text carved on the wall with his eyes gleaming, had already vaguely guessed the solution to this maze.

However, the problem they face is not just the maze, but something else entirely!

Just as the "Mountain Antelope Squad" members stopped to study the maze problem.

Suddenly, the thief responsible for clearing the way ahead noticed something and exclaimed, "Captain, we've found a body in the tunnel!"

The crowd rushed over and saw several corpses on the ground, along with blood everywhere.

Two human corpses and two corpses of "Dog-headed Man" monsters.

The corpse was dressed as a typical hunter, wearing light chainmail, and appeared to be either a two-handed swordsman or a heavily armored shield warrior.

Their weapons and supplies had been taken, most likely by their own comrades.

The body was still wearing the emblem of the Scavenger Gang on its chest.

One of them recognized them and exclaimed, "Captain, these are the 'Black Bird Squad'!"

Bart nodded solemnly. "Yes."

The "Blackbird Scavenger Gang" is a medium-sized gang with two to three hundred members. Their squads are similar to the "Mountain Antelope Squad," each with a captain possessing Second Tier combat power.

This is also why Bart's expression turned serious. If they can reduce the enemy's numbers, then they can definitely threaten their "Mountain Antelope Squad"!

At this moment, Rein squatted down, put on gloves, and carefully examined the wounds on the two corpses.

The fatal wound was on the neck and was clearly a canine bite.

Strangely, the corpses' skin was shriveled, suggesting that fluid loss was the cause of their rapid death.

At this moment, after examining the two human corpses, Rein also looked at the two "monster" corpses.

Both monsters had jackal-like heads, somewhat resembling werewolves in their beastly form. However, aside from their heads, their bodies were human-like, smooth and hairless, with hind limbs somewhat like a kangaroo's, and they appeared exceptionally strong. Their skin was also shriveled and grayish-brown, like mummies in a graveyard.

I'd seen sculptures of these creatures before along the path leading to the temple entrance, Rein I wasn't surprised by their appearance. I just thought to myself, "Is this what's written on the passageway, the Emissary of Death, [Osiris]?"

The fatal wounds were from a very ordinary gun; the bullets had riddled the bodies of the two monsters with holes.

I pinched the muscle tissue, and it didn't feel particularly firm.

Rein used tweezers to pick up the bullet and examine it. It was a very ordinary lead-iron bullet, without any special enchanted runes.

He immediately judged that the monster's physical resilience was about the same as that of an ordinary First Tier Transcendent, and it could be killed with a gun at will.

However, he immediately became puzzled.

If the monsters are so easy to kill, why did two members of this Scavenger Gang still die?

Rein is the only surgeon on the team, and he is the only one who is most proficient in anatomy.

Although Bart had roughly determined the cause of death, he still asked, "Brother Nicholas, from your perspective as a professional doctor, can you tell how these two people died?"

Rein stated his assessment directly. "There's only one wound, both involving severed carotid arteries. Theoretically, injuries of this severity could be fatal with timely treatment. However, the corpses have another characteristic: significant fluid loss. I suspect that these two monsters rapidly drained their blood while biting them."

He paused, then pointed to the Dog-headed Man's corpse and continued, "Moreover, the two monsters' injuries were just ordinary gunshot wounds. Logically speaking, in such a narrow passage, it would be impossible for monsters of this level to kill two hunters in a crowd."

"That's right, that's what I'm also wondering about."

Bart listened and nodded, then frowned in thought, and said, "But since this dog-headed monster can be killed with a musket, then the threat isn't too great. However, how did they manage to succeed?"

He paused, then turned to the crowd and said, "From now on, everyone be careful of any unusual noises in the passageway. Don't ignore any strange sounds!"

"And there's one more thing."

At that moment, Rein suddenly realized something and analyzed, "These two 'Black Bird Squad' corpses didn't have any extra wounds. They must have been bitten to death without any struggle or resistance. I suspect that this monster, like a high-level assassin, has a way to approach and ambush them without being detected, biting their necks and killing them instantly."

Bart nodded. "I think that's the most likely possibility too. These monsters should have some kind of 'stealth' ability. Perhaps they're hiding right among us right now."

Upon hearing this, everyone felt their hair stand on end, and they couldn't help but glance at both ends of the passageway.

Apart from the corner illuminated by the torch, the distance in sight remained an endless darkness that seemed to stretch to the horizon.

The moment of silence only amplified the growing sense of dread.

It was as if some monster lurked in the darkness, ready to pounce out in an unexpected way and bite someone's neck off.

It seems that whatever you fear will come to pass.

At that moment, terror suddenly descended.

A slightly fearful voice sounded from behind, saying, "Dr. Nicholas, you shouldn't have said that. Now that you've mentioned it, I feel a chill down my spine."

Upon closer inspection, everyone saw a new member forcing a smile, as if trying to ease the tense atmosphere with a joking tone.

Rein remembered that the young hunter was named Donnie.

At first, everyone glanced at him casually, intending to chime in and ease the tension. But the next moment, everyone's gaze froze, their expressions turning into one of utter horror as if they'd seen a ghost.

In that instant, they saw wisps of black, veil-like smoke rising from the cracks in the brickwork of the passageway, then quickly coalescing into a snarling dog's head behind Donnie's neck!

Everyone pointed behind Donnie, but dared not speak, as if afraid of provoking something. "You..."

When Donnie saw everyone's expressions, he immediately understood what was going on, and his face turned deathly pale!

He didn't dare turn around. In that brief exchange of glances, two words were conveyed: Save me!

No wonder he felt a chill, because the Kobold Monster was crawling on his back, its claws on his shoulders.

No one dared to make a move, and no one knew how to deal with this bizarre scene.

But the black, swirling dog head didn't give anyone much time to think. Without any hesitation, as soon as it took shape, it opened its mouth and prepared to bite Donnie's neck.

"Bang!"

Just then, a gunshot rang out.

Commander Bart reacted swiftly, drawing his gun and pulling the trigger, striking the Kobold Monster between the eyebrows.

However, to everyone's surprise,

This shot had absolutely no effect!

The bullet pierced through, as if striking a reflection in water, creating a small hole between the eyebrows of the black-smoked dog's head, rippling outwards, but instantly returning to normal.

Seeing this, Rein was shocked. "Physical damage immunity?! How could this be!"

The two monster corpses on the ground clearly died from gunshot wounds, so why did Bart's gun fail to kill them even though it hit them?

After that shot, the "Dog-headed Man" had already bitten Donnie hard, and a burst of blood erupted from his body.

"Ah"

A scream rang out.

Not only Donnie, but screams also came from another direction!

Only then did everyone realize that there was more than one monster in the passageway!

Seeing that physical attacks were ineffective, Rein gave up on drawing his gun and was about to take out the "Holy Light Scroll" to tear it apart when a barrage of gunfire erupted from the tunnel.

But this time, they heard the sounds of bullets piercing flesh with a "thud," "thud," "thud."

When Rein looked again, he saw that the two Kobold Monsters had been riddled with holes and lay in a pool of blood.

Rein stared blankly at the dog-headed monster that had been easily killed by the musket. "It's not immune to physical attacks anymore?"

Looking again at the four monster corpses on the ground, all with the same cause of death, he suddenly realized that he understood some of the monster's abilities.

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