Two-Headed Blind Snake

A group of uninvited guests arrived on the second floor of the ruins.

This was once a detachment of the large Scavenger Gang "Iron Hammer Scavenger Group," and is now a noble knight under Grand Duke Valentine "Black Wind Territory," an official Scavenger Gang.

Leading the group were one or two Third Tier experts, one heavily armored axe warrior, and one white-robed mage.

They discovered the Stone Gate at the end of the passageway and were overjoyed.

"Haha, we've found the entrance to the second floor!"

"You know what, the young master of the 'Redwood Merchant Guild' is actually quite useful. Tsk tsk, those symbols that even archaeologists couldn't figure out, this kid deciphered them with ease."

"Hehe, it was the right decision not to kill him. Without this kid, it wouldn't be easy for our team to gain the upper hand in excavating the ruins. After all, Prince Harper's team has the Archmage Borlag, a renowned polymath."

"However, the toxins here are incredibly potent. Quickly notify the logistics team outside to send over another batch of 'Antidote Potion'."

"."

The group injected themselves with the Antidote Potion and carefully entered the Stone Gate.

Gannix listened to the conversation of the men around him, his expression numb.

He Magic-Sealing Chain around his neck, unable to muster any fighting spirit. He was led through the Stone Gate like a slave.

Then they encountered a tidal wave of all kinds of insects.

"Huh, it seems like quite a few people have come."

At that moment, Rein, who was meditating amidst the swarm of insects, slowly opened his eyes upon hearing the distant, dense gunfire.

The gunshots were deafening in this enclosed underground palace.

Then, this commotion naturally attracted the attention of the poisonous creatures.

Those guys at the door sounded like a lot of people, so they didn't need to be as cautious as a lone traveler like Rein.

They seemed to have anticipated encountering poisonous insects and had prepared a large amount of targeted equipment. They used flamethrowers to burn large swathes of insects.

Judging from the noise, the advance seems to be quite rapid.

At that moment, sensing the presence of living beings, the "Insect Kings" and "Insect Emperors" who had been exhaling smoke and clouds beside the "Seven-Colored Holy Grail" began to stir.

As if startled awake from a dream, several large insects began to crawl toward the direction from which the commotion came.

"What a great opportunity!"

Seeing the insects leave in large numbers, Rein was overjoyed.

The system estimated the toxin concentration, and his current toxin resistance was barely enough to come into contact with the "Seven-Colored Holy Grail".

With a group of people drawing the attention of most of the insects, his first thought was naturally to grab the Holy Grail and slip away in the chaos.

But just then, before he could even make a move, he suddenly sensed something, looked up, and his expression changed drastically!

Just now, when the flare was at its highest point, it flashed with a bright light, illuminating the entire hall.

He suddenly saw a pair of pale, glowing vertical snake eyes that had suddenly appeared in the darkness he had thought was the ceiling, sending chills down his spine.

Upon closer inspection, the sculpture-like object coiled on the stalactite was actually a two-headed black snake over a hundred meters long. Its entire body was jet black, gleaming like black jade in the light, almost identical to the stone pillars in the palace.

Stimulated by the bright light, it opened its eyes, then closed them again.

It was this subtle movement that made Rein realize it wasn't a sculpture.

Upon seeing this, Rein swallowed hard, utterly astonished. "This is... the Two-Headed Blind Snake, Babaru? This thing actually exists?!"

He had seen the image of this two-headed serpent in the moments depicted on the walls of the Underground Palace.

This creature is a mythical pet that is said to accompany the Grim Reaper, and it is said to possess a deadly toxin that can poison even gods.

It is ranked alongside the "dog-headed monster" from the previous maze, both being among the two ambassadors of "Death".

The Divine Beast worshipped by the Ancient Monkel Kingdom is definitely a creature from mythology and legend!

Like the dragon, it has the pure bloodline of Divine Beast!

Although this world limits the highest rank of creatures to no more than the fifth rank, the venom of this two-headed snake is not potent enough to kill a god.

However, it's estimated that poisoning Fifth-tier Expert wouldn't be a problem.

"Luckily, I didn't act rashly, otherwise I would have really been tricked by this giant snake."

Rein also felt somewhat fortunate.

The good news is that this is a blind snake; it can't see and can only sense its prey by smell. I've been here for so long without disturbing it, so it seems the ointment Elder Imyu gave me really does fool this kind of creature.

"It was definitely the right choice not to use the Insect Repellent Powder. Otherwise, if we had alerted this thing, it probably would have been dead by now."

When Rein thought about this, he was also in a dilemma.

As long as this giant snake is here, how dare he touch the "Seven-Colored Holy Grail"?

Don't be fooled by the snake's lazy, hibernation-like appearance; the stone carving describes it as swift as lightning!

Then, just as this thought popped into his head, as if to demonstrate it to him, a dark shadow suddenly flashed in his eyes.

"Just now, it seemed like something flashed by?"

A flash of light appeared before Rein's eyes, and the thing had vanished.

This speed is even faster than his maximum speed; it's at least the burst speed of Fourth Tier full-agility assassin!

Upon reviewing the footage captured by the Mind Core, it was revealed to be a slightly smaller Two-Headed Blind Snake.

Sure enough, there was more than one.

At this moment, Lei realized the true threat posed by the Underground Palace.

Toxins and insects are just appetizers; these blind snakes are the real deadly threat.

Just a moment after the dark shadow flashed in his eyes, a violent battle suddenly broke out in the distance.

"Three High-tier Extraordinary?!"

Rein easily sensed the powerful aura of the Third Tier Extraordinary; when it erupted, the entire Underground Palace trembled.

In the distance, three light bulb-like clusters of battle aura appeared, revealing three Third Tier Extraordinary.

But in that instant, one of the three light bulbs suddenly went out, leaving only two.

Then I heard a loud shout.

"Go back immediately!"

"Retreat to the tunnel!"

"."

After a series of bloodcurdling screams, the Underground Palace returned to silence.

After a while, when he heard no more noise, Rein went over to check on the scene of the battle.

A burnt smell permeated the air; it was the smell of insects being burned by a flamethrower.

Several of the massive stone pillars, which would take two people to encircle, were blasted apart by something, leaving few corpses on the ground. Almost all the human corpses had been completely devoured by the insects.

Then, to his surprise, he saw a hunter lying in a pool of blood in an open space, with insects automatically avoiding him.

"Insect Repellent Powder?"

When Rein saw that the insects were avoiding him, he immediately realized that this person must have a very potent Insect Repellent Powder on him, which was why the insects dared not approach.

Filled with doubt, he walked over and turned the hunter over to look at him. To his astonishment, he saw a pretty face as white as gold paper, and it was a woman.

It's very familiar.

Rein was greatly surprised. "Mrs. Catherine?"

A few minutes ago.

The "Iron Hammer Scavenger Group," consisting of nearly five hundred people, surged into the Underground Palace. They planned to explore the Underground Palace before the main force arrived.

Then, after walking a short distance, they naturally discovered the map of the Underground Palace on the obelisk.

Within the Scavenger Gang, someone shouted, "Hey, young master Gannix, it's your turn to work again! Look around this Underground Palace, there aren't any traps or mechanisms. Which way do we go next?"

Gannix looked reluctant, but his life was in someone else's hands, leaving him no choice. He could only look at the map and analyze the layout of the palace.

However, at that moment, as they had already penetrated deep into the palace, a tidal wave of poisonous insects attacked.

The battle has begun.

Gannix, this "tool," still had value and couldn't die. So, he was placed in the logistics medical team.

The more insects they killed, the more they multiplied, and almost everyone in the Scavenger Gang joined the battle.

The two Third Tier powerhouses were fighting in the distance and couldn't pay any attention to him.

Gannix knew this was the best chance to escape.

However, the "Magic-Sealing Collar" around his neck made him abandon the idea; without the key, he couldn't go anywhere.

Just then, he suddenly noticed a bearded man quietly approaching him, taking out a key and inserting it into the keyhole.

"Mother!"

As if by telepathy, Gannix instantly understood that the stubble-faced man before him was a manifestation of the Illusionist!

Only then did he realize that his mother had been lurking in the hunting party all along, never giving up on rescuing him.

Catherine smiled slightly, glanced at her son, and gestured for him not to disturb anyone.

Previously, during the siege, Amaris was killed in battle, Gannix was captured, but Catherine disappeared.

But she didn't escape. Instead, she used her superb illusion magic to infiltrate the "Sunflower Merchant Guild's" hunting team on the spot, looking for an opportunity to rescue people.

The previous passageway was too narrow; even if they had a chance to rescue someone, they wouldn't have been able to escape. This main hall, however, is spacious enough and chaotic enough that no one is paying attention to them now—this is the best opportunity to escape.

However, an accident occurred just as she activated the "magic-suppressing ring".

A ghostly assassin suddenly appeared behind Catherine and struck her on the back of the head with a [Gouge].

It turns out the enemy was prepared.

Fia the "Sunflower Merchant Guild" was no pushover either; she had anticipated that Catherine wouldn't abandon her son. She had a backup plan, waiting for her prey to take the bait.

Presumably intending to capture him alive, the assassin did not immediately kill him.

That's why Catherine had a chance to survive after she was discovered.

As the president of the prestigious "Redwood Merchant Guild," he naturally has some ways to protect himself.

After being exposed, she acted decisively, using every means at her disposal, and charged directly into the swarm of insects.

Catherine, who was in a coma, slowly woke up and recounted what had happened.

"Then, the assassin came after me. In the chaos, I didn't know what happened, but it seemed like some long monster suddenly sprang out of the darkness, its tail swept across my abdomen, and I lost consciousness."

She looked at the man performing surgery on her, her eyes filled with surprise.

I thought I was going to die, but I never expected to run into Rein here.

After recounting her experience, Catherine asked, "Mr. Rein, what are you doing here?"

"It's a long story. I came in with a Scavenger Gang, intending to see what was inside the ruins."

As Rein spoke, his hands did not slow down at all.

Fortunately, he discovered it in time, otherwise Catherine would have certainly died.

He said, "Madam, I've treated the poison and your other injuries. But almost all the bones in your upper body are broken, so you can't engage in any strenuous activity for a while."

"Um."

Catherine knew perfectly well that her condition was terrible; she couldn't even lift her hand. Mental Extraordinary are inherently weak, and she was lucky to have survived.

She also heard from Rein that the most important reason she was able to survive the insect swarm was the "Insect Repellent Bag" she carried. The pungent smell deterred the insects from their "stinky" food, which is why she wasn't eaten.

But then I looked around and wondered what was going on with all these crawling bugs around me?

Catherine didn't feel embarrassed at all that her clothes were cut during surgery. But the fact that she wasn't left with any of them made her slightly puzzled.

I'm injured on my upper body, why did you take off my pants?

She didn't maliciously speculate that Rein had any intention of taking advantage of her; she was simply puzzled.

With her intelligence, she could naturally deduce that Rein's actions were probably related to the cool, refreshing ointment on her body.

However, the close contact with the insects made her feel very uncomfortable.

Even though Catherine is a strong woman, capable of remaining calm even when faced with a collapsing mountain, there are still some things that make her scalp tingle.

For example, these insects that crawl across your body from time to time.

Not everyone can be like Rein, able to meditate amidst a swarm of insects without being disturbed at all.

Although her body was under local anesthesia, Catherine still "felt" goosebumps when she saw the insects crawling across her body.

Although the surgery wasn't finished yet, and she didn't want to disturb Rein, as she waited, more and more insects appeared.

She couldn't hold back any longer and finally spoke up, "Mr. Rein, could you please keep those bugs away from me? I'm feeling a little uncomfortable."

"I'm afraid not."

Rein didn't even lift his eyelids, focusing intently on treating the injury.

He paused, then explained, "There are very venomous creatures in this temple, including the same kind of large snake that attacked you before. The 'Insect Repellent Powder' has a very strong smell and might irritate them. So I removed your clothes and replaced them with an 'Assimilation Ointment.' The insects will think we are their own kind and won't attack us."

"I see."

Catherine wasn't too surprised to hear this.

If the Insect Repellent Powder had worked, I wouldn't have been attacked by that giant snake.

Thinking of this, although her mind was still in turmoil, she didn't say anything more.

At this moment, Rein seemed to remember something and explained seriously, "Besides, I've already checked, and of all the insects in this hall, only these centipedes are truly 'friendly.' They won't bite you unless provoked, so they're not dangerous. As for the other worms, scorpions, and the like, even a slight touch would poison an ordinary person."

"."

Catherine's face twitched as she listened, her gaze fixed on the darkness, her expression growing increasingly grim.

If she really had to choose, even if it meant risking her life, she would still choose "Insect Repellent Powder" rather than have close contact with these insects!

However, this also made Rein realize that Catherine was afraid of insects. Occasionally, when he had a spare moment during surgery, he would thoughtfully pluck any stray insects off the field for her.

Bone heals much more slowly than other tissues in the body.

Rein saved Catherine's life, and after injecting the healing potion, all that was left was for her to heal on her own.

Although the failed rescue exposed her purpose, Catherine was not too worried about her son's life.

Gannix has any use, he will certainly not be killed.

Saving lives cannot be rushed.

Rein went to check out the third level of the ruins, but returned.

Catherine disliked insects, so he left the lady there to recover from her injuries.

There is a bronze gate there that is "the same" as the temple in the black hole of the Kolman Central Courtyard Tribe, and the familiar eight gargoyles.

Of course, there is also a layout map of the entire underground ruins.

Seeing those things, Rein knew that some guys were in for trouble.

However, the third level of the ruins was not a temple, nor did it contain any "Divine Power Crystal." Apart from the coffins of the past kings of the ancient Ancient Monkel Kingdom buried inside, there were no other special treasures.

He naturally dared not touch the coffin.

But it seems there is a fourth layer.

There appeared a magical passage that required a special method to open, inscribed with: [The Pallas Royal Family's Legacy Land].

However, the method of entry was extremely gruesome.

Rein did not dare to try it easily.

Then, he went back to the second floor.

An hour later, the Stone Gate at the entrance to the maze opened again.

This time, the Rosas Family's official Scavenger Gang brought heavy mechs and various equipment.

For hunters, dealing with magical beasts and poisonous insects is simply their livelihood.

These visible monsters, though threatening, are much easier to deal with than the ghostly "dog-headed monsters" we encountered before.

That [Two-Headed Blind Snake] that can instantly kill Third Tier Extraordinary is impressive, but the hunters have plenty of experience dealing with snake-like creatures.

Humans ultimately have the advantage in intelligence; by setting traps and working together, they can easily kill monsters of higher rank than themselves.

Rein remained hidden in the shadows, quietly watching as those guys used their equipment and traps to sweep through the poisonous insects in the Underground Palace.

He planned to wait until those guys had taken care of all the big guys near the "Seven-Colored Holy Grail" before he could act as the fisherman and get his hands on the "Seven-Colored Holy Grail."

I've been quite busy with the Lunar New Year approaching, so this is only one update today. I'll add more later.