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Chapter 165: Riotous Spiders
Ronin also noticed that while they were busy exploring, the silhouettes of other expedition teams began appearing in the underground city.
They darted busily between the towering buildings, dodging the monsters while simultaneously investigating the interiors.
A few had already discovered the monsters' weakness to fire, causing flames to sprout up across various parts of the city.
Viewed from the upper levels of the building Ronin's group had first breached, the scattered fires looked like streetlights illuminating the dark subterranean city.
But in the unobserved heights above the city, the giant spiders clinging to the cavern ceiling grew agitated by the rising smoke from the fires.
Sensing unease, they awoke from their slumber one by one, moving restlessly toward the entrance where Ronin and the others had entered this space.
By now, there was hardly anyone left at the entrance.
Though Ronin's team wasn't the last to enter the space, few teams followed them. After all, exploring these ruins required a certain level of qualification, which filtered out many amateur groups.
However, some who had taken the other two paths and found nothing of value decided to come here to try their luck.
Yet, the moment they stepped into the tunnel, they were greeted by massive, tank-like spiders.
In the confined space of the tunnel, even Nen users could only be slowly crushed to death by the endless tide of spiders, let alone ordinary people.
For a time, screams echoed continuously through the passage. Outside the tunnel, the retreating soldiers heard the cries and immediately began massing their forces, standing ready for battle.
When the first giant spider burst out from the ruins, the war between humanity and the underground monsters ignited once more.
Deep within the city, Ronin was completely oblivious to the shifting situation outside.
After exploring several more buildings consecutively, Ronin and the team confirmed one fact: every building harboring monsters had a withered ancient tree hidden beneath it.
That tree was the source of the massive monster population.
Muhuell decided not to press any further. He planned to lead his team back and report their findings to the Hunter Association.
The Association would then deliberate with V5 to determine who should be deployed to investigate and research the underground city. The mercenary group would likely be hired for escort and protection duties, which was exactly what Muhuell and his men excelled at.
Listening to Muhuell's analysis, Ronin nodded in agreement.
However, his intuition told him this underground city wasn't as simple as it appeared on the surface. But he had no intention of diving deeper alone; his primary concern was still the clues regarding the Kurta Clan hidden in the other tunnel.
According to Muhuell, that tunnel had not yet been fully explored.
Once the Association sent people to take over the underground city, they would likely seal off the left tunnel temporarily. Then, the royal army could resume excavating the tunnel on the right.
Excavating ruins involved countless intricate details; one wrong move could easily result in a cave-in.
Therefore, professional work was best left to the professionals.
With their next steps decided, the squad began heading toward the tall building they had used to enter the city.
But before they even got close, they sensed something was wrong.
There were simply too many spider corpses scattered around the base of the building, having fallen from the heights above. And visible on these corpses were various wounds—the clear result of fighting humans.
Had battles been raging on the upper floors while we were down in the city?
Puzzled, the group quickened their pace up the building.
The shattered monster corpses from their initial breach were still there. However, as they climbed, they noticed bite marks on these remains. They were being devoured by the spiders that had fallen from above.
The spiders that survived the fall immediately turned on the monster corpses to feast. It was as if the dead monsters were a delicacy to them. Even as Ronin and the others approached, the feeding spiders merely bared their fangs like dogs guarding their food, displaying aggression and issuing warnings.
If Ronin's group took another step into their perceived threat zone, the spiders would attack.
But the group paid no mind to the spiders' reactions. Before the arachnids could even launch an assault, Golem's war hammer had already smashed into their heads.
A piercing shriek tore from the crushed spider's mandibles, but it only lasted a few seconds before fading completely.
"The monsters inside the building seem to be highly attractive to the spiders. But since we entered this space, we never saw a single spider actively enter the buildings to attack the monsters. Why?" Ronin voiced the question on his mind.
But no one could answer him. As the team continued their ascent, the number of spiders they encountered dwindled.
Instead, the dense sound of footsteps came from above, accompanied by vibrations traveling through the floor.
A bad premonition settled over everyone, and they subconsciously sped up. Reaching the barricade Ronin had created with Earth Style, they peeked through the cracks and saw the bristly underbellies of spiders swarming outside.
Golem struck first. Wielding a war hammer in one hand and a flamethrower in the other, it lifted a mechanical leg and kicked the barricade wide open.
The spider directly above noticed the disturbance instantly. Raising its razor-sharp legs, it stabbed downward toward Golem.
But Golem's flamethrower surged up to meet it, spewing blistering fire while the war hammer blocked the descending blade-like leg.
But the overwhelming advantage of the flames was gone. The intense heat only made the spider shriek in agony; it didn't ignite it like the monsters below.
Seeing Golem locked in a stalemate with the spider, Ronin stepped up from behind. His hands blurred into hand seals as he strode forward, converting chakra into wind nature and exhaling sharply.
"Wind Style: Vacuum Wave!"
The highly compressed Wind Style chakra transformed into a high-pressure blade of wind. Slicing through the gap between Golem's arms, it slammed into the spider.
In a split second, the wind blade blasted the burning spider upward. The high-pressure gale carved into its body, spraying a geyser of foul fluid as the arachnid was launched into the air.
Seizing the opening, Golem took a step forward. Its seemingly clumsy mechanical body unleashed astonishing jumping power. The moment it vaulted out of the lower room, it raised the war hammer high, bringing it down squarely onto the giant spider's head.
But as Ronin and the others leaped out of the room after Golem, they were met with the sight of a massive horde of spiders on the upper terrace, all turning their heads abruptly toward them!
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