Curse Frog, Curse Frog, Curse Frog!

It changed again.

In just one night, Zane Dungeon had undergone another mutation!

Such a rate of change was unheard of!

A bad feeling rose in Si Telan's heart. She wanted to turn around and leave immediately, to get as far away from this cursed dungeon as possible and never set foot here again for the rest of her life!

But she couldn't.

They had accepted the City Lord's commission. Walking away now would deal a devastating blow to their team's reputation.

At the very least, half the team would have to die before the City Lord understood how serious the situation was.

Si Telan gave Xiu En a look. He immediately understood and nodded in agreement.

"Why aren't we moving yet? This place stinks to high heaven!"

A flamboyantly dressed young man stepped forward, covering his nose with a handkerchief as he complained nonstop.

"By all means, Mr. Vierde. If you wish to leave, you may do so."

Vierde, Earl of Bede's second son, was practically helpless in a fight. His only redeeming quality was his remarkable talent for appraising ores, rivaling that of veteran experts.

"That won't do. This young master promised to bring trophies back for my ladies."

Vierde put on a brave and fearless appearance, but when he saw his exquisite boots soaking in the Swamp, his expression became rather spectacular.

"Enough, Vierde. Stop complaining. You were the one who insisted on coming along."

A tall, sturdy man whose build rivaled Xiu En's placed a hand on Vierde's shoulder. Vierde immediately lost his nerve and awkwardly muttered, "Big Brother Ka Rong."

Ka Rong clapped his hands and said to Si Telan with a bright smile, "We'll be relying on you for this journey, beautiful lady. If danger arises, please prioritize protecting the experts at the rear. I possess Upper Rank strength and can protect myself well enough."

Ka Rong, Earl of Bede's eldest son, was practically the future head of the Bede Family. Unlike his family's traditional pursuit of commerce, he preferred martial strength. Rumor had it that he had once joined a Gold-Rank Adventurer team, only to be kicked out because his strength failed to measure up.

Aside from Si Telan's four-person team and the two young masters of the Bede Family, the rest of the group consisted of people from all walks of life: an Ore Expert, a Map Expert, a Medicine Expert, and more. Their purpose was to quickly determine the value of Zane Dungeon after its mutation.

"I still hope you'll be careful," Si Telan muttered before saying to Ai Li, the team's mage, "Cast Middle Rank Poison Resistance on us. This Swamp is highly toxic."

"Mm." Having done this before, Ai Li cast the spell with practiced ease. Still, applying buffs to ten people at once was a severe test of her stamina.

Si Telan pointed into the distance, where a pitch-black Fortress stood deep in the Swamp. "Let's head toward that building."

Thus, the strongest among them, Xiu En, led the way. Dan Ya, who could briefly slip into the shadows, scouted ahead. Ai Li and Si Telan guarded the rear, forming a formation that protected the experts in the middle.

The muddy Swamp made movement extremely inconvenient. Everyone's speed had been reduced by at least half, and they had to constantly watch out for deep pits.

With every step, they could hear the squelching sound of shoes pressing into the slick, thick muck. When they pulled their feet free, they brought up not only splashing mud but all sorts of disgusting, unidentified things.

And filthy, writhing maggots!

Every step was a harsh trial for everyone's nerves. In this short time alone, several people in the group had already thrown up.

This, too, was Gong Qiying's handiwork. He used utterly revolting scenes to assault the adventurers' senses, causing intense psychological fluctuations and increasing the total amount of Spirit Power they released!

Even with poison resistance magic, toxins in the Swamp continued to accumulate slowly. They had to take antidotes every so often. It was the ultimate torment.

But the greatest reason their progress had slowed was not the Swamp, but Si Telan's team.

"There are no monster ambushes within fifty meters ahead. Move forward without worry."

"There are no hidden Goblins in the trees."

"Who wants to check that boulder? Huh, such a perfect spot, yet there aren't any Skeleton Monsters waiting to ambush us. Strange."

Si Telan and the others perfectly embodied the saying, "Once bitten by a snake, twice shy of a rope."

They checked both sides with every step, terrified that monsters might suddenly leap out. Whenever they saw rocks, trees, or anything else that could block their view, they treated it like a deadly threat and insisted on inspecting it carefully.

They had no choice. Their last exploration had been far too painful.

Yet events stubbornly went against their approach. All along the way, the monsters charged at them openly and were easily killed. Not a single one attempted an ambush. Their behavior was completely different from before.

Naturally, some of the experts became dissatisfied with their overly cautious actions.

"At this turtle's pace, we probably won't even explore half of this place today. Can't you move faster?" Vierde said darkly. "Today, I need to see Bloodstone at the very least. If not, any kind of ore will do. Don't tell me you can't even meet such a simple request."

"This place really is dangerous. When we came last time—" Ai Li tried to explain.

"That's why we hired you. Your job is to eliminate danger, isn't it? What's wrong with asking you to work more efficiently? You spent all that time being jumpy, only for the monsters to charge at us like idiots. If that wasn't a waste of time, what was?"

Here it came—the classic case of an amateur lecturing professionals.

Si Telan shot him a glance. "Mr. Vierde, you can take the lead. Walk as fast as you want."

She had no need to be overly respectful toward this spoiled noble brat, since Earl of Bede was the one paying for the commission.

"Heh, do you take me for an idiot? I'm not going up front."

Vierde chuckled and walked straight to the rear, standing beside Si Telan and looking at her smugly.

"This is the safest place."

Whoosh!

The next second, mud erupted as a Skeleton Monster covered in filth suddenly leaped from the Swamp and wrapped Vierde in its arms!

Not only did its toxic grime smear all over him, quite a bit even got into his mouth!

Maggots danced wildly through his carefully groomed brown hair, wriggling and burrowing through it with delight.

"Ah! Save me!"

Vierde screamed.

Whoosh—

An arrow pierced through the Skeleton Monster's skull. Xiu En followed with a swing of his heavy blade, smashing the skeleton to pieces.

"Damn, damn!" Vierde panted heavily, glaring at the adventurers. "You did that on purpose!?"

"My apologies. It was my oversight."

Honest-faced Xiu En apologized sincerely. "I didn't expect a monster to be hiding in there."

"Don't think I'll believe you just because you look as honest as a potato!"

Vierde was so furious his hair nearly stood on end, but Ka Rong patted him on the head.

"Stop making trouble, little brother. You're the one holding up the journey now."

"But—"

"Keep it up, and don't blame me for telling Father when we get back."

Vierde froze instantly. A moment later, he spat in resentment and silently returned to the middle of the group.

"Please forgive him. He was spoiled rotten from childhood," Ka Rong said with a helpless shrug.

Si Telan nodded and said nothing.

Ka Rong seemed to think that the Skeleton Monster that had launched the ambush had been deliberately left behind by them to make Vierde shut up.

In truth...

I actually failed to notice a monster hiding there. How embarrassing! Si Telan's face secretly reddened, but fortunately, it was so dark here that no one noticed.

"I found this in the skeleton's skull." Suddenly, the chubby Map Expert took out a filthy strip of cloth. "It says, 'To enter the Fortress, three beacon fires must be lit.'"

"Let me see." Si Telan took it and examined it. "There's a map on it too. This drawing is way too abstract. Who can understand it?"

"I can," the Map Expert said, raising his hand.

"Really?" Si Telan was stunned.

The Map Expert pointed at the abstract map on the cloth. "Look, this place is the path we took to enter. These uneven boulders are very conspicuous. This irregular pattern should refer to that small hill nearby. The dark area is probably the Fortress."

He went on and on without stopping.

"As expected of an expert," Ai Li said, dumbfounded.

"Heh, this is the caliber of people my family hired," Vierde said, once again putting on an arrogant air.

After some discussion, the group followed the Map Expert's guidance through the muddy Swamp and arrived at a raised patch of land.

A pitch-black beacon tower stood at its summit, reached by a winding path that circled the high ground.

"I'll go first." Xiu En raised his shield. The path was narrow, so they could only climb in single file.

Sure enough, after he had taken only a few steps, a spear struck his shield with a bang, sending sparks flying.

Xiu En grabbed the spear and yanked it hard. While the ambusher was thrown off balance, he swung his sword, and a scream tore through the sky.

Taking a closer look, they found it was a Large Goblin. This monster was larger than an ordinary Goblin, and its limbs were closer to those of a human, making it stronger in every respect.

Large Goblin (Spear)

Spirit Power Required per Unit: 10

Life: E, Strength: E+, Intelligence: F+, Endurance: D, Speed: E, Overall Combat Power: E

The instant the Large Goblin was slain, two more spears thrust at Xiu En from directly ahead and above. Several clumps of grass clinging to the rock wall trembled faintly, and in the blink of an eye, four short monsters made of vines sprang out!

Straw Man

Spirit Power Required per Unit: 6

Life: F, Strength: F+, Intelligence: F+, Endurance: F, Speed: E, Overall Combat Power: F+

Low Rank Fireball!

The blazing fireball blasted the monsters apart just in time. Arrows that followed pierced through the Goblins' skulls, and Xiu En charged up onto the high ground. Dan Ya appeared from nowhere and leaped onto his shoulder.

After a burst of fighting, the high ground fell silent.

Then orange flames rose into the air, and thick smoke drifted skyward.

"Nicely done!"

Si Telan could not help but smile.

But suddenly, she felt something strange, as though some evil presence was watching her.

She whirled around and found the source.

Not far away, a pair of enormous eyeballs emerged from the Swamp, staring at her sinisterly.

This was a monster she had never seen before, so she had no way of understanding its terror.

Curse Frog

Spirit Power Required per Unit: 25

Life: E, Strength: E, Intelligence: E, Endurance: E, Speed: D, Overall Combat Power: E

Low overall combat power did not mean that a Curse Frog was weak.