Free Web NovelChapter 25: Chapter 25: Crimson Spores
The heavy iron doors groaned open, revealing the untamed horrors of the Abyssal Chasm’s 9th floor.
A thick, humid wave of stale air washed over them, smelling heavily of rot and ancient magic. Instead of the smooth obsidian of Kaelen’s Sanctuary, the sprawling cavern before them was a massive subterranean jungle. Towering bioluminescent mushrooms cast a bloody, crimson light over the uneven terrain, and the ground was covered in a thick carpet of white, web-like moss.
The oppressive atmosphere would normally drain a mercenary’s stamina within minutes. But thanks to the Abyssal Vigor buff Kaelen had acquired from the deep resonance with his generals, he felt absolutely nothing. His energy reserves were overflowing.
"Stay sharp," Kaelen commanded smoothly, his violet eyes cutting through the crimson gloom. "The Church sealed this floor because the casualty rate was too high."
"The air is saturated with poison mana, Master," Seraphina noted softly. She stood tall in her silver chainmail, her massive translucent glass greatsword resting easily on her shoulder.
’I am in position, my King,’ Lyriel’s voice echoed directly into Kaelen’s mind. Thanks to the 50% synergy increase from their Mana-Binding, he could feel her exact location hidden in the shadows of a giant mushroom stalk.
"Advance."
They moved in a flawless triangular formation. They hadn’t even walked two hundred yards when the white moss beneath their feet began to violently vibrate.
Click. Click. Hiss.
Kaelen activated his Abyssal Aura, looking up just as a dozen massive shadows dropped from the dark canopy above.
[Target Scanned: Blood-Iron Arachnid.]
[Level: 55]
[Status: Highly venomous. Exoskeleton heavily resistant to physical attacks.]
Twelve giant spiders, each the size of a horse, crashed into the dirt. Their thick, black chitin armor looked as hard as tempered steel, and venom dripped from their razor-sharp fangs.
Before the system could even finish warning him, the ground violently erupted directly in front of Seraphina. A terrifying monstrosity of spiked armor and jagged mandibles dug its way out of the earth.
[Target Scanned: Arachnid Broodmother.]
[Level: 68]
[Status: Floor Sub-Boss. Possesses High-Tier Acid Magic.]
"A Level 68 sub-boss right at the entrance," Kaelen smirked, his blood rushing with dark excitement. "Seraphina! Take the swarm!"
"By your will!" Seraphina roared.
Her submissive demeanor instantly vanished, replaced by the terrifying aura of a Level 85 High Paladin. When the three closest Arachnids lunged, she gripped the hilt of her glass greatsword and swung it in a massive horizontal arc.
CRACK!
The sheer, overwhelming physical force created a shockwave. The heavy glass blade slammed into the thick chitin, instantly shattering their armor into a million pieces and completely crushing their bodies.
[Party Kill: Blood-Iron Arachnid (Level 55). +2,000 EXP.] [Party Kill: Blood-Iron Arachnid (Level 55). +2,000 EXP.] [Party Kill: Blood-Iron Arachnid (Level 55). +2,000 EXP.]
The incredible 50% synergy buff was immediately obvious. Lyriel moved the exact millisecond Seraphina’s blade cleared the path. Activating Shadow Step, she burst out of the darkness behind the remaining swarm. Utilizing her Level 60 agility, she bypassed their heavy armor and drove her poisoned steel daggers directly into their glowing red eyes.
She was a blur of surgical strikes, executing four spiders in three seconds, using their massive bodies as stepping stones.
Seeing her brood being slaughtered, the Level 68 Broodmother let out an ear-piercing shriek. Ignoring the women, it locked its eight furious eyes directly onto Kaelen and spat a massive, pressurized stream of bubbling green acid.
Tapping into Lyriel’s stolen agility, Kaelen cleanly sidestepped the stream. The lethal liquid splashed against a stone pillar, melting it into hissing sludge.
The Broodmother charged forward, raising two massive, scythe-like front legs to impale Kaelen through the chest.
"You are nothing but EXP to me," Kaelen whispered coldly.
Channeling a massive surge of dark void mana into his newly forged iron gauntlet, Kaelen used his stolen Level 85 physical strength and punched directly into the descending chitinous scythe.
BOOM!
The impact echoed like a thunderclap. The Broodmother’s massive leg completely shattered into jagged shrapnel under Kaelen’s monstrous strength. ƒгeewebnovёl.com
The beast shrieked in agony, but Kaelen was relentless. He instantly closed the distance, grabbing the Broodmother’s remaining front leg to anchor himself. Condensing the void mana until his gauntlet glowed with terrifying purple light, he pulled his fist back.
"Die."
Kaelen drove his fist directly into the center of the Broodmother’s armored chest. The destructive void magic bypassed the physical armor, flooding into the beast’s internal organs and rotting them into ash. Kaelen’s fist punched cleanly through the beast’s thick body.
The giant Broodmother went completely stiff before collapsing heavily onto the white moss.
[Target Eliminated: Arachnid Broodmother (Level 68). +15,000 EXP.] [Level Up! Host is now Level 57.]
[Level Up! Host is now Level 58.]
Silence fell over the crimson-lit cavern.
Kaelen casually pulled his blood-soaked arm out of the dead boss. Seraphina rested her greatsword in the dirt, completely uninjured. Lyriel dropped gracefully from a giant mushroom, cleaning the gore off her blades. The entire swarm had been annihilated.
"Incredible," Lyriel breathed, looking at Kaelen with adoring silver eyes. "Your strength... it’s even more terrifying than yesterday." freēwēbnovel.com
"The Deep Resonance worked perfectly," Seraphina added. "I could feel Lyriel’s movements before she even made them. We fought as a single entity."
"And this was only the welcoming party," Kaelen smirked, feeling the addictive dopamine hit of the back-to-back level ups.
He opened his system inventory and activated the auto-harvest feature. The massive corpses dissolved into purple mist.
[Acquired: 12 Blood-Iron Chitin Plates.]
[Acquired: 1 Broodmother Venom Sac (High-Tier Alchemy Ingredient).]
[Acquired: 13 High-Density Monster Cores.]
Kaelen looked closely at the Broodmother Venom Sac in his inventory, his smirk widening. Perfect. When they finally brought Elara Valerius into the Sanctuary, this was exactly what she would need to start brewing their combat elixirs.
"Rest for exactly two minutes," Kaelen commanded, looking deeper into the sprawling, bloody-lit jungle. Terrifying roars echoed from the darkness ahead.
"Today, we clear this entire floor," Kaelen declared, his dark void mana flaring violently. "Let the Church have the surface. The Abyss belongs to me."
