Chapter 10 : Chapter 10
Chapter 10: Fight to the Death? No—We Just Cannot Escape!
Chenxi’s hand rested on the hilt of his dagger, the joints of his fingers turning pale from tension.
The sounds coming from deep within the tunnel were no longer vague rustling.
They were the dense, brittle scraping of countless arthropods against stone walls.
Judging by how quickly the noise was approaching—
there was no way to escape.
“Prepare to fight.”
Chenxi’s expression was grim.
So the system saw that he had a teammate and decided to raise the difficulty?
He drew his dagger. The blade gleamed coldly in the dim light.
“Kill! Kill! Kill!”
Hongxu looked toward the source of the noise with excitement. Her massive axe dragged along the ground, sending sparks flying before she lifted it with one hand.
She bared her teeth, fangs visible.
There was no fear in her eyes.
Only excitement.
“I do not care what it is. If it comes, I will split it!”
Footsteps and ragged breathing echoed closer, crashing chaotically through the corridor.
Several battered adventurers stumbled around the corner, scrambling desperately.
Their faces were smeared with sweat and grime, and their pupils were wide and unfocused from extreme terror.
When they saw Chenxi and Hongxu blocking the path, a flash of wild joy appeared in their eyes.
As if they had found scapegoats.
“Run! Hurry and run!”
The burly man in front shouted, clutching a leather sack leaking dark green fluid.
None of them slowed down or tried to go around.
They rushed straight toward Chenxi and Hongxu, their intentions obvious.
They shouted for them to run—
yet their hands were already reaching for their weapons.
The vicious desperation in their eyes did not escape Chenxi.
His lips curled slightly.
Seems like I guessed correctly.
Chenxi moved.
Without any unnecessary motion, his figure slipped into the group.
There was no warning.
Slash. Slash.
His dagger brushed past the tendons behind two adventurers’ knees.
Screams erupted.
Their legs collapsed instantly and they tumbled to the ground.
“You bastard! You want to die?!”
The remaining two adventurers reacted with fury and shock, instinctively drawing their swords.
Bang!
A heavy battle axe swept across with crushing force, slamming into the third man’s waist.
The dull crack of breaking bones echoed through the tunnel.
The man flew like a cannonball into the stone wall and slid down lifelessly.
At first Hongxu had not reacted, but once she saw Chenxi attack, she stopped thinking.
The human attacked—so she attacked too!
Chenxi stared at her in disbelief.
“What are you doing?”
Hongxu stopped mid-motion.
“Killing them?”
“Leave one alive.”
“You did not say that!”
“….”
The last remaining person—a thin woman—froze.
Her trousers were instantly soaked as the stench of urine spread through the air.
Her teeth chattered violently.
She looked at her companions writhing and screaming on the ground.
Then at the twisted corpse nearby.
Chenxi did not continue looking at her.
She was fairly pretty, but…
A good person turned thief.
“P-please… spare me…”
She collapsed to the ground, incoherent with fear.
Chenxi ignored her.
His foot kicked aside the leather sack the burly man had been clutching.
The sack split open.
Several fist-sized dark green egg sacs rolled out.
A sickly sweet stench spread immediately.
“You stole spider eggs?”
Chenxi’s gaze swept over the groaning men on the ground.
His eyes were cold.
He could already guess what happened.
On the seventh floor of the dungeon lived the rare Bone-Eroding Venom Spider.
Its eggs were valuable ingredients used in forbidden potions.
Extremely valuable.
The Bone-Eroding Venom Spider was a superior species above the Parasitic Spider.
On the sixth floor, even the Parasitic Spiders would be driven by it.
No wonder the system called it a “Parasitic Spider Tide.”
Most of them were probably Parasitic Spiders.
Chenxi let out a small breath of relief.
If the swarm consisted entirely of Bone-Eroding Venom Spiders…
he might as well dig his own grave now.
These adventurers had risked being hunted by the floor boss just to reach the sixth floor.
Those eggs must be incredibly valuable.
“Y-yes… yes… our leader said… they were worth a lot…”
The thin woman trembled uncontrollably.
She had truly seen death.
“We… we did not mean to… we did not know… it would attract so many…”
Her eyes flickered as she desperately tried to shift the blame.
Chenxi stopped listening.
She was not sorry.
She just knew she was going to die.
Behind him, the two injured men screamed curses and pleas.
“You bastard… you will die horribly!”
“Help us… take us with you!”
Chenxi ignored both the curses and the begging.
The scraping sounds were now extremely close.
At the end of the dark tunnel, countless faint green lights surged forward like a tide, accompanied by chilling hissing noises.
From the moment the sound had begun—
escape was impossible.
“We cannot run. We are slower than them.”
“Hah! Then we kill them all!”
Hongxu licked her lips and held her giant axe horizontally.
…
Under the dim light, countless twisted spiders emerged before them.
Twisted indeed.
Some dragged half-rotten Petrified Lizard corpses behind them.
Glowing spider legs extended from the empty eye sockets of the dead lizards.
Others wore the dried skins of goblins, their joints twisted backward, their movements stiff and unnatural.
These Parasitic Spiders that had found hosts were somewhat stronger.
But only a few had hosts.
Most were simply spiders themselves—long sharp limbs and horrifying patterns across their bodies.
Chenxi swallowed.
Even before being transported to this world, he had always hated insects with too many legs.
“Tch. Disgusting.”
Hongxu spat on the ground.
Her massive axe rested before her, and her crimson skin flickered through the gaps in her armor.
She spoke with disgust—
but her eyes burned with excitement.
Oni were born craving battle.
“Hey human! The left side is mine! Those long-legged ugly things on the right are yours!”
She did not wait for a reply.
Roaring, she charged directly into the swarm surging from the left.
Almost all the Bone-Eroding Venom Spiders and host-bearing Parasitic Spiders were there.
She had deliberately chosen the strongest group.
Her axe howled through the air and smashed into a spider parasitizing a lizard corpse.
Crack!
Bone fragments and thick green fluid splattered everywhere.
Chenxi said nothing.
His body melted into the darkness.
The faint glow of 【Silence】 covered him as he lowered his breathing to nearly nothing.
His gaze swept across the right flank.
Several Bone-Eroding Venom Spiders with dark purple shells and green markings hid behind ordinary Parasitic Spiders.
Their mouthparts opened and closed, dripping corrosive venom.
Capture the leader first.
Kill the strongest one.
Chenxi gripped two daggers in reverse hold.
Now!
…
Hongxu’s side had already become a storm of blood and flesh.
Each swing of her axe sent limbs flying.
The spiders controlling monster corpses attacked ferociously—
but they were nothing before her overwhelming strength.
“Haha! Come again!”
She laughed wildly.
Her axe split open a parasitized goblin, crushing both host and spider into pulp.
“That is all you have?! Pathetic trash!”
But there were too many spiders.
More crawled out from shadows and corners endlessly.
Acid and venomous silk sprayed constantly, sizzling against her armor.
Several smaller, faster Parasitic Spiders tried to climb onto the joints of her legs.
At last, a small opening appeared within the swarm.
Chenxi moved.
Activating 【Silence】, he dashed across the ground toward the rear.
His target was clear—
the Bone-Eroding Venom Spiders.
Two Parasitic Spiders lunged at him, their sharp limbs slicing through the air.
He ducked and spun.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two flashes of cold light pinned directly into their fragile compound eyes.
The spiders twitched and rolled aside.
They were the sharpened wooden stakes he had carved earlier.
At the same time, his left dagger reversed grip.
【Sharpen】
A flash of light.
Slash!
A cold blade cut across the base of a Bone-Eroding Venom Spider’s mouthparts.
Dark purple corrosive liquid sprayed out, narrowly missing Chenxi.
The spider shrieked hoarsely and retreated.
Chenxi’s heart sank.
Such a hard shell.
His current attack power could not kill it in one strike, even through its weak point.
“Human!”
Hongxu’s roar sounded nearby.
From the corner of his eye, Chenxi saw several spiders closing in around him.
Hongxu charged straight through like a battering ram, knocking every Parasitic Spider in her path flying.
“Thanks.”
Chenxi responded briefly, though his voice was nearly drowned out by the chaos.
“Hah? I cannot hear you! Speak louder!”
Hongxu split three spiders apart with another swing before shouting back,
“These damn things never end!”
She shook the sticky remains off her axe in disgust.
Chenxi ignored her complaints.
His focus locked onto another Bone-Eroding Venom Spider.
It hid cunningly behind smaller spiders, its abdomen swelling rapidly as it gathered venom.
This will not work.
If this continues, they will be dragged down.
Chenxi glanced toward the edge of the battlefield where the dark green egg sacs lay.
He had intentionally left that area open earlier.
He had hoped the spiders would take the eggs and retreat.
After all, even they had risked the floor boss’s pursuit to reach the sixth floor.
But now—
they showed no intention of leaving.
Sweat appeared on Chenxi’s forehead.
Even as they fought, he tried pulling the battle line backward.
It barely helped.
Soon the Parasitic Spiders would surround them from behind.
Fight to the death without retreat?
No.
Not exactly.
They simply could not escape anymore.