The viper moved towards the cave, not taking its eyes out of the group. All the while, Hera was trying her best to stay completely still. The last thing she wanted was to be devoured by something like that.

  The creature should be thirty meters long, and its head alone was the height of a tree. If that wasn't a enough of an issue, the Explorer had seen the monster's mouth wide open. The beast could easily swallow multiple party members in one bite.

  Yet, the giant monster seemed just to be watching the group as it went back to the front of the cave. It felt like the creature was protecting the smaller snakes. After a few moments, the beast stopped moving. It curled up in the entrance of the apparent nest.

  The viper was mostly green with red eyes, but a few of its scales formed a golden spiral coursing through its body and reaching its tail. There were also a few cuts on its skin where the lizard had attacked. Those were already purple, and the poison seemed to be spreading.

  "I have a bad idea," Blue said.

  "What?" Hera asked.

  "Can I use one of the pearls on the snake?" Blue scratched her neck and looked at the group.

  "What?" Alex was staring at her with wide eyes.

  "I mean. I feel bad. The mommy was just trying to protect her babies. If we leave her like that, she will die," Blue said.

  "Ok, first of all. How do you know it is a she? It could be a male. Secondly, why would you do that? You are going to waste a pearl on something that is not technically here," Leo said.

  "I feel bad, and I want to help, that's all. Besides, how can you say for sure it's not really here. No one knows how the MAZE makes dungeons. We could be in the past, in an alternate timeline, or even in another dimension," Blue scoffed, crossing her arms.

  "Not really. There has been some extensive research on dungeons. Even if we still don't know what they are, we know that they share our reality, and there is no time travel involved. We also ruled out simulations because we can take things from here to the outside," Bonnie explained.

  "Wasn't there a thing about a lady getting pregnant inside a dungeon? And the father was one of the people who were part of the dungeon?" Mark asked.

  "You are reading too many tabloids. There is no story like that. None that is real, at least," Bonnie rolled her eyes.

  "Ok, fine. I just want to help it because I feel bad. I don't want to think about the snake when I go to sleep and feel guilty for not helping," Blue grabbed one of the pearls.

  Hera understood that. As much as she tried to play it off as everything being normal, the Emperor was in her mind all the time. Sure, it wouldn't be as bad, but she didn't want her friend to feel that way.

  "I'm fine with that. Just be careful," the Explorer nodded.

  "You know, dungeons are weird. We might get nothing, but we might get something out of it. I say go for it," Alex had her arms crossed as she stared the monster. Even if it wasn't being clearly hostile, the Assassin wasn't going to drop her guard.

  "I'm kind of curious about the snake's reaction. So yeah, I'm fine with that too," Bonnie nodded.

  "Seriously?" Leo looked around, but even if he and Mark voted together, the girls had the numbers. He let out a sigh and stopped complaining.

  Having enough people supporting her, Blue took one of the pearls and carefully walked towards the viper. She made sure to keep both hands up and seem as unthreatening as possible.

  "Do you think there is a snake charmer skill?" Mark asked as they watched Blue get closer to the viper.

  "Really? Now?" Bonnie stared at Mark, who just shrugged.

  As Blue approached, the viper didn't take its eyes off her. Following the woman with its head.

  "Easy, easy. I don't want to hurt you. I just want to clear that poison in your back. Ok?" Blue showed it the pearl and approached the side of its body.

  The viper shifted, making a barrier in front of the cave with its tail. Aside from that, its eyes didn't seem to be angry. Instead, they were curiously watching what this small human was doing. Blue raised the pearl towards one of the gashes in the beast's midsection and placed it gingerly in the purple area.

  In response, a pearlescent glow covered both the creature and the controller. Hera, who was watching about 10 meters away, couldn't help but take a step forward and focused on her hearing. If any weird noise appeared, she would rush towards the light. While the glow was still spreading, she could swear she started to hear Blue's heartbeat. In less than ten seconds, the light vanished, both the viper and the controller were still in the same position.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  [All In] effects deactivated, the cooldown will now start

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Hera waved off the notification, too worried to be bothered by it at the moment. Blue nodded to the viper, who nodded back. The monster moved its head towards a part of its body that still had some wounds, even if they were no longer poisoned.

  The beast seemed to bite down on its own flesh and carry part of its skin towards Blue, dropping it on the floor in front of her. To everyone's surprise, there was no blood there. It was clear that the viper just removed some of the shed skin.

  "For me?" Blue asked before picking the skin up, "Thanks!"

  She turned around and headed back to the group without a care in the world, while the others freaked out about her turning her back on the monster.

  "What the hell?" Leo gasped as she approached.

  "What?" Blue looked back," Oh relax. If it was going to kill me, it would have done it before, not after it gave me a gift. And check it out."

  Blue held the skin in front of the group. It had both green and golden scales on it, but its size wasn't as big as it seemed. Everyone activated their [Inspect], curious about what was the viper's gift.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Chu'a's skin

  The skin of the elder snake, Chu’a.

  Hardened by years of combat, the skin is not only light but incredibly resistant to cuts. However, Chu'a's way of life, the skin only boasts elemental resistance to acid.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Mark stared at the skin for a moment, "It's a shame it's such a small piece. With that, you could at most make some boots or a hood, but nothing else. Honestly, I would love to try to work with that."

  "Really? Have any good ideas?" Blue asked.

  "Maybe, but it's yours. Next time I'll get mine," Mark said.

  "You could have this one. I want to check the price first, but it's all yours if it's not a fortune," Blue said.

  The group agreed to leave the skin with Mark as long as it wasn't too expensive. After befriending the snake, they headed towards the other side of the valley. Now they were finally able to see the wall on the other side. The problem was that between them and the limit of the area was a sea of poison mist covering almost everything.

  Bonnie wanted to test how badly the fog would affect them, but no one liked the idea of jumping in the mist just for a test. They agreed to test if they found a large group of enemies, but aside from that, no one wanted to waste the pearls.

  Walking along the path, they saw more and more poison monsters. A few would try to attack the group but were quickly dealt with. Lesser poison lizards also started to appear. They looked like gray iguanas with the same skin issues as the frogs. Strange purple spots of flesh seemed to be bursting from their forms. The first group was just a bit bigger than Tiger, but they began to grow bigger as Hera and her friends got closer to the back wall of the valley.

  Fighting those creatures was different. They moved quicker than the frogs or snakes., and they didn't drool poison or seemed to be hurt by it like the others. Instead, the poison mana seemed to empower the creatures, making them stronger and faster.

  Alone, the lizard took advantage of its surroundings, hiding in the bushes, climbing the trees, and attacking in unpredictable ways. When in a group, they employed guerrilla tactics, hitting the adventures and rushing back to the safety of the poison mist where the humans dared not to venture.

  Hera's party was struggling to the point where just four lizards were able to keep them on the defensive. The creatures would swap between attacking in groups and sending one of them as a distraction. Those lizards seemed to communicate in a way that Hera couldn't perceive.

  Trying something different, she triggered her Pulse spell a few times, trying to find the beasts. Not only did she manage to feel their poisonous mana, but there was also a small trail of mana connecting all of them.

  Maybe that was how they talked to each other to move so well in a group. A hive mind, or a mental link of sorts. While that was an interesting discovery, it did nothing to help locate the monsters.

  Luckily, Yarnball vibrated every time one of the lizards came out of cover. Thanks to that, Hera was able to warn her friends when something was coming. When the first regular Poison Lizard appeared, they saw something different. Instead of the loose skin or bloated form, the lizard's gray skin had patches of purple.

  It wasn't as if they were shedding their skin, but more like the poison was starting to properly mix with their bodies. Its claws also had a deep purple color and would spread the poison on any place they touched.

  The creatures were still smaller than a large dog, but they looked menacing. At least, their different coloration and increase in size made them easier to spot and hit. The lesser version of the creature was much more annoying, albeit less dangerous.

  At one point, most of the Hera's group had some cuts and bruises on their bodies, and they were all poisoned. Before using the pearl, Bonnie walked into the mist and took a deep breath with Hera following right behind the Researcher. She already had a couple of poison spells. Getting a resistance could be useful. After a few moments, they checked their status.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Poisoned by the Mist

  The surrounding fog has entered your body. You are more susceptible to poisons, and any damage you take from poison mana will be amplified.

  Duration: 10:00

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  The duration would increase with each breath they took, however that was the only difference. Which made sense, this was a very low level dungeon. It wouldn't make people be poisoned just by letting them walk into the mist. That fog also gave Hera an idea. Maybe the Explorer could create some spells that wouldn't just damage her targets, but increase the damage they took from certain elements.

  With the two still in the mist, the group gathered and spent one of their pearls to cleanse the area. Soon all the poison had vanished, and the valley had a new safe place, even if it was a small one. Thankfully, the fog seemed to respect that new area. It wasn't trying to take over the empty space again.

  Looking at the path, Hera noticed that soon they would find a place where the poison pools would become a problem. Thankfully, on the way here, they had found another block of clay. It was finally time to put them to use.

  "Finally, this thing was weighing on me," Blue said, taking the brick of clay out of her pouch.

  In a few moments, they were all covered with a thin layer of clay up to their waists. Tiger, however, was covered entirely Only its eyes and nose were left without any of the substance. Leo was the one who did that. He was worried that putting it on the sensitive areas of the rain frog could cause more damage than the poison itself.

  They moved towards the pools, soon reaching an open area, much like the one the massive frog was in. Several pools of poison were spreading, creating a ring-like structure around them. After the pools, they would reach the end wall of the valley.

  Before reaching the larger one in the middle, a giant purple snake with black stripes on its side, and a giant purple frog with the same black stripes rose from the front pools that were just five meters away. They were taller than the other poison monsters they fought, but luckily not as tall as the greater poison lizard.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Greater Poison Frog

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Greater Poison Snake

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  The bodies of the creatures were glistening with poison from the pools, like a slimy barrier protecting them.

  "What are the chances they are going to let us pass?" Mark asked.

  "I would say zero," Leo replied.

  "I'll take the snake, you take the frog," Blue said to the hunter.

  Hera and Alex looked at each other and, with a nod, agreed to do the same. It would be easier to split the fight than to throw everyone into the same melee.

  Blue dashed towards the Greater Poison Snake, hitting it a couple of times before rushing to the side. The creature started chasing the controller, and the frog turned around to do the same. Leo was a bit slower than the Controller however, he wasn't going to let her enemy go.

  Stepping closer to the Greater Poison Frog, he stabbed the beast several times in a quick flurry. Following that up, he started moving in the opposite direction that Blue was moving. Enraged, the frog jumped after Leo, who was followed by Alex and Mark, while Bonnie and Hera went after the snake.

  Blue kept running through the pools of poison, splashing the liquid as her feet hit the ground. The warm, poison mist moving past her. Everything happened so fast that they didn't have a chance to talk strategy. Because of that, Blue wasn't sure how far she needed to be.

  Her best estimate was at least five pools away. She could hear the snake approaching, and beyond it, other splashes on the water that she hoped came from her friends. She could be the tank, but this creature was too much for her to deal on her own.

  "Watch out!" Bonnie yelled just when the snake recoiled for a lunge.

  Blue looked back and dove to the side, tumbling over the poison. The snake's attack sent its body forward, landing beside the blue-haired woman. Quickly turning around, the monster raised its head, ready to strike again. Below, Blue got up, flaring up her electric buff once more. She could recast the spell in order to increase its potency.

  At the same time, Bonnie sent an Air Fist spell towards the Greater Poison Snake, hoping it would be enough to hinder it. Yet, the creature barely budged once the compressed air slammed into its face.

  Hera moved to the side, activating her [Hide] when she was out of the snake's line of sight. She walked along the edge of the poison pools, being careful not to splash the liquid and make any noise.

  While she moved, Bonnie sent out another Air Fist towards the giant snake, which was lunging at Blue. This allowed the Controller to jump to the side and evade the attack. The spell was just strong enough to shift the direction of the snake and allow Blue to come out unscathed.

  She quickly punched the monster twice, aiming for the creature's eye.

  "I'm here!" Blue yelled. A strange wave of energy coming out of her.

  The monster, who was about to charge Bonnie, suddenly shifted, its eyes glowing red before rushing at Blue again. Hera jumped through the incoming snake's tail and rolled in the poison on the other side as the creature hit the ground, getting a mouthful of poison.

  As the Explorer got up and moved closer to the creature's neck, Blue jumped to the side, evading another attack. She once again followed that up with a couple of punches aimed at the snake. This time, however, lightning crackled around her fists, sending pulses of electricity through the entire body of the monster.

  Even Hera felt a small shock through the water, not enough to hurt her, but it showed how strong the controller's buff was. Yet, the snake didn't seem to be bothered by it. It continued to try to bite Blue, who didn't stop moving for a second. Each step only increasing the power of her buff. Still, it was obvious she wouldn't be able to keep that up for a very long time, as the constant dodging was clearly taking its toll.

  Hera kept slashing at the creature's body with her handaxe. To her surprise, the attacks weren't even able to draw blood. She was expecting to deal some damage, but the debuff for being seen while hidden was taking a lot of the power away from her blows.

  Even so, the Explorer continued her barrage of attacks. Slashing with both weapons in a frenzy. Hera was starting to worry, and she noticed that Blue also seemed to be having some trouble dealing damage.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Looking at the face of the snake, it was no longer trying to attack. Instead, it had its face deep in the pool of poison and seemed to be drinking from it.

  As the snake kept gulping, its scales became harder, and its wounds started to close. When it was finally done, it raised its head in a deafening roar. The creature was already fast, but now the adventurers barely could keep up with its movement. Blue and Hera were giving their all just to avoid the attacks by a hair.

  Suddenly, the snake made one sideways motion with its mouth open, getting Blue stuck between its jaws. The controller was still able to hold on and avoid getting hit by the fangs, but all that she could do at the moment was hold the snake's mouth open as the creature thrashed about.

  Seeing that, Bonnie quickly grabbed one of the pearls and tossed it towards the creature. When the projectile made contact with the snake's skin, the pearlescent glow covered a small area, cleaning the pool of poison they were in as well as Hera, Blue, and the creature.

  Before the light faded, there was a large splash in the now clear water. The snake had fallen into the pool and was spasming uncontrollably. It lost the grip on Blue, dropping the Controller to the side.

  Part of the snake's skin was turning gray, and the black stripes were thinner. Hera and Blue looked at each other for a moment and started to wail on the creature, their attacks doing considerably more damage.

  Bonnie aimed her Frost Bomb directly into the snake's mouth, waiting for the perfect shot. What she really wanted was for its fangs turn brittle. Once the spell struck, the monster recoiled from the attack, seeming to be more bothered by the cold than by Hera and Blue's assault. The snake turned towards Bonnie, spitting some poison at the Researcher.

  In response, she rushed to the side to avoid the spray and sent two air fists at the monster. One of the spells slamming against the incoming poison. The collision sending some of the venom all over the place.

  At the same time, Hera managed to cut off the tip of the snake's tail, making it stop focusing on Bonnie and turning towards the explorer.

  Before it could do anything, Blue climbed onto the creature's body and started punching it, "I said, I'm here. Come get me, you asshole."

  There was another strange wave of mana coming out of the Controller that forced the monster to shift its attention. Hera wasn't sure of what Blue was doing, but she didn't have the time to figure it out. Instead, she dashed forward, swinging her handaxe towards the black stripes of the snake, trying to damage the creature.

  "Use a pearl to make it weaker!" Bonnie yelled to the other group while moving away from the snake, trying to get into a better position.

  As the beast opened its mouth once more and went straight for Blue, she ducked down and used the snake's body to push herself away from the attack. The monster stopped before biting its own flesh and swung its head at Blue like a club, sending her flying back to the edge of the pool.

  Not wanting to give the Controller a break, the snake followed it with a bite. It didn't seem like Blue was going to be able to evade the attack. The initial impact had taken away her breath. Hera raised her hand and sent a Poison Spray towards the snake's face. She changed the spell, trying to make it deal more damage with the impact than with the poison. The orange spray hit the creature in the left eye, diverting its course enough to miss Blue. The snake's skin sizzled with the spell, making the creature turns angrily towards Hera.

  She wasn't expecting poison to be effective. Then again, the description of the mist suddenly crossed her mind. It made those affected by it more susceptible to poison itself.

  "Oh crap," the explorer thought before running to the side, trying to make some distance between her and the snake.

  Blue managed to get back into the fight and held onto the beast before starting to punch it with all her might. As the snake moved, the Controller noticed one of the larger cuts made by Hera. Jumping towards the wound, Blue dug deep with both her hands, trying to open the gash even more.

  Despite her best efforts, the snake didn't change targets. The orange poison still sizzled in the eyes of the beast. Hera was running toward the area with the smaller poisonous pools, hoping that it would be enough to mess with the snake's movement.

  Bonnie noticed the idea and sent a cold bomb towards the pool. The moment the spell hit, part of the water froze, but the monster moved too fast. Its body rammed into the ice, making large shards fly in various directions.

  Hera had to avoid a couple of them, but the last one hit her arm. She tumbled to the side and felt something near her waist. It was the spring cane she had bought on the day of her graduation.

  That small moment of distraction was enough for the snake. Before Hera realized, the creature had gotten so close that she could feel the saliva hitting her face. Hera grabbed the cane and put her hand forward, activating it. Hoping it would be sturdy enough to block the monster's advance.

  Yet, what happened was a surprise to her. The two-meter long cane stabbed the inside of the snake's mouth, which recoiled with the pain. Now, it was lodged in its maw, making it unable to use one of its main attacks.

  "Keep it up. We can do this!" Bonnie yelled as she sent an air fist towards a wound near the tail of the snake.

  Blue kept working on the wound she was ripping, now she could grab the flesh with both hands. That left Hera with the job of avoiding the attacks. Thanks to the cane, things had become somewhat easier. The monster was disoriented and would still try to bite her instinctively, only to be stopped by the pain of the iron rod digging even deeper into its mouth.

  Little by little, the explorer understood the creature's rhythm and became able to attack as she evaded. In just a small amount of time, the snake’s maw became mangled and bloody. The monster was getting more and more sluggish. It stopped charging at Hera and looked around, searching for something.

  Bonnie saw the creature rush towards one of the poison pools that were still poisoned. It dove towards the purple liquid, trying to drink it to recover. The Researcher quickly threw one of the pearls onto the pool, activating it before the snake could reach it. The glow covered a large area, even reaching part of the central pool. Bonnie cursed under her breath, realizing she threw one of the big pearls.

  The snake started to spasm while Blue and Hera worked on the open wound Blue was ripping open. Together, the two of them managed to get halfway through the creature before it stopped spasming, a strong smell of rot and bile flooding their noses. Blue rushed to the creature's head and attempted to hold it down. Hera was doing a much better job at cutting the beast open with her weapons than the Controller did with her fists.

  Understanding the idea, Bonnie worked to keep the monster's attention away from Hera as best she could. Unfortunately, that only lasted a moment. The snake quickly turned around and jerked its body, making the Explorer jump away. The movement was enough to make the wound open up even more, almost doubling its size.

  The beast gave a pained roar, making its body move even slower. Hera took advantage of that and put all her weight into a slash. The attack went through part of the snake and ended on the ground. Even if it was just a small cut to the side, it was already a significant amount of progress. Hera added another Poison Spray to burn at the exposed skin, followed by a Poison Needle, being the last spell she wanted to use against this monster.

  After all that, the snake was in bad shape. It was bleeding from several places, and it seemed to be stuck in the same spot, unable to move too much. With the monster on the defensive, it became harder to deal any damage to it. The snake would only move when it was sure that it would hit someone, and the party only wanted to attack when the creature was distracted.

  Looking at the blood covering the pool, Hera considered the snake to be at a disadvantage. It was still bleeding, and if given enough time, that would kill it. However, as time went by, the blood stopped flowing. The purple sludge was forming a thick layer around the snake's wounds.

  Seeing that the situation wouldn't change, Bonnie approached the monster and threw another purifying pearl at it. As soon as the glow started, the snake began to spasm. The movements made the wound in the middle of its body worsen until its skin couldn't hold on due to its massive weight. Before the pearlescent glow vanished, a ripping sound echoed through the area, followed by a spray of blood as the snake's tail flew to the side.

  As the light vanished, Hera could see that the snake kept bashing its head against the floor in agony. After a few moments, the snake was lying on the ground, motionless.

  Hera, Bonnie, and Blue took a moment to breathe. They still had to go help the rest of the group deal with the giant frog. However, Leo and Alex were already rushing toward them.

  "Oh, you got it. Good." Leo stopped running as he saw the snake's corpse.

  "Yeah, you got yours?" Blue looked beyond the group and saw the frog's corpse slowly dissolving into the ground. .

  "We did. But those poison clouds were annoying. Mostly to make the thing get away from it," Alex stretched her arm.

  "Why didn't you use the pearls to clear that?" Bonnie frowned, looking at her pouch which still had about five of the items.

  "We were saving them, right?" Mark tilted his head.

  "For when we need it. I say this is when part of it. We used like four here," Blue said.

  "What? Why did you waste it?" Leo started badgering the two for the use of the pearls.

  While the hunter was complaining about the items, Hera looked towards the bodies of the beasts they just fought. They were already dissolving into the odd sand that all the creatures seemed to turn to inside the dungeon. Hera started walking towards the place where the snake was, but something caught her attention in the larger pond of poison.

  Raising from the 150-meter wide pool, the poison water itself was pushing up.

  "Guys," Hera called the group to no avail.

  The rising figure broke through the water, showing glowing purple spikes on its deep violet back.

  "Guys!" Hera called once more.

  The creature revealed itself, showing its large face with a mouth big enough to swallow trees whole, the black eyes with purple irises locked with Hera's.

  "GUYS!" Hera yelled, finally getting the group's attention.

  "What the hell is that?" Mark gasped.

  The gigantic lizard roared, the sound echoing through the entire valley. Hera quickly activated her [Observe].

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Tanika - Bringer of Poison

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  "Holy crap! How big is that thing?" Blue asked, staring at the lizard.

  "Can we use the pearls now, oh great leader?" Bonnie stared at Leo with an angry expression.

  "Scold me later, toss the things. Clear that pool," Leo yelled, grabbing one of the pearls with him.

  The group threw a couple of pearls, cleansing about a third of the pool. The glows were unable to cover the creature completely, much less the pond. They would need to go around it to reach the areas that still had poison. The lizard still had its eyes locked with Hera's. Even as she moved around, the glowing purple eyes kept following her, ignoring all other movement in the surrounding area. The Explorer took a step back, staying within the monster's sight.

  Despite using the pearls, the water was slowly being contaminated once again. Not only the poison from the areas where the glow didn't reach come towards the clean areas, but the giant lizard appeared to make more poison out of its body.

  Without breaking eye contact, Tanika, the giant lizard, opened its mouth and regurgitated a set of two poison frogs and a poison snake. Hera wasn't sure what was the most upsetting part. Seeing three creatures leaving the giant's mouth and start moving around, or the fact that the giant lizard didn't even blink while vomiting the creatures.

  Through her [Observe], Hera identified the monsters' name. They were a mix of the lesser and regular version of the creatures they were fighting, even if their size was on the smaller size.

  "Blue! I'm going to need some help here," Hera yelled, seeing the three smaller creatures heading towards her.

  Seeing what was going on, the Controller dashed towards her friend and sent out another wave of energy, "Come get me!"

  The power behind that ability seemed to be weaker now, but it was still enough to get the attention of the smaller creatures. Mark, who was still behind Hera, started to send arrow after arrow towards the poison frogs. Just the three creatures wouldn't be much of a problem. The issue was the looming threat of the behemoth behind them.

  After throwing up the creatures, Tanika was back to just staring at Hera. Almost as if it were refusing to move. The trio quickly finished off the frogs and moved towards the bloated snake. At that moment, another glow appeared behind the frog. Leo, Bonnie, or Alex had managed to activate another pearl.

  While trying not to get distracted, Blue quickly got the monster into a chokehold. With the Controller holding down the snake, Hera was able to chop its head off.

  Mark held his bow aimed towards the giant lizard, "Should I shoot it?"

  "It's not actually attacking. Just standing there," Hera said.

  Tanika started convulsing, and the poison in the water crawled up its skin, being absorbed by the lizard. The liquid was seeping into the cracks between its scales. Slowly at first, but faster and faster its spikes glowed with a vivid purple, and the behemoth threw up three poison frogs and a poison lizard.

  "Aw, c'mon," Blue groaned, seeing the smaller creatures moving towards her.

  "We need to clear all the poison!" Bonnie yelled from the side of the large pool.

  In response, another glow appeared on the opposite side of the first one. By Hera's guess, there was only the area in the back missing now.

  Mark was already flinging a barrage of arrows towards the incoming frogs. They were the ones he had to make on the spot. The lack of a proper finish made the projectiles fly in odd trajectories, making it harder for the Crafter to hit the creatures.

  Hera and Blue had less trouble. The frogs that were coming could be stronger than the lesser version, but they were hardly as sturdy. It only took the two a few moves to kill each one of them. The lizard was a bit more complicated, not because of its strength but for its speed. It kept dashing and dodging. Hitting it was like trying to swat a fly.

  Another glow appeared behind the creature, cleansing most of the pool, followed by Bonnie's voice, "There is still poison around. I'm going to use a big pearl!"

  The researcher was moving back towards Blue and Hera. She grabbed the largest pearl they found and aimed at the giant lizard's mouth.

  When the poison lizard died, Tanika opened its mouth while the spikes on its back flared up once more. At that moment, Bonnie tossed the pearl, hoping to cleanse the creature's poison from the inside.

  The glow this time was barely enough to cover the entire creature. Bonnie yelled to everyone to throw a couple of pearls, cleaning the remaining poison from the pool. When the light vanished, Tanika was still in the same position. It started to shiver, and the water raised once more towards it, seeping between its scales.

  It kept pulling more and more water while the spikes grew brighter until the last spike on its back exploded, causing a large scorch mark on the creature's body. Tanika appeared to lose its front legs' strength and made an odd high-pitched sound that seemed almost like a wail.

  In response to that, several lesser poison creatures emerged from the smaller poison pools in the area. They started marching towards Tanika, ignoring the humans altogether.

  "What the hell is this?" Blue asked, looking around.

  "I have no idea. Should we just kill them?" Mark already aimed another arrow at the incoming monsters.

  "No clue. Bonnie, what do you think?" Hera called the researcher, who was still a bit far from them.

  "Part of me says to see what is going to happen. But the other part says it's a bad idea to let whatever they are doing happen," she replied, looking at the creatures.

  "Soo... let's wait for Alex and Leo, at least we can regroup," Blue suggested.

  No one was confident that waiting was a good idea, but Hera had to admit that she was curious about what the creatures were doing.

  They watched as the lesser snakes, frogs, and lizards walked towards Tanika and climbed into its mouth. The beast didn't stop its wail, even while the smaller ones were deep in its throat. The more they waited, the worst this idea felt. However, they had already waited this long. It didn't make sense to change their mind right now.

  Alex and Leo arrived just as the last few poison critters were arriving at Tanika's maw.

  "What the hell is that?" Leo asked.

  Hera quickly explained what was going on.

  "I get why you are waiting, but that is a bad idea. What if that thing uses a big skill now?" Alex said.

  Before any of them could reply, Tanika retched, and two poison snakes came out among its bile, together with three poison lizards.

  "I guess with the lack of poison around it. It uses the creatures as fuel to make more," Bonnie said.

  "Think about it later. We need to kill that thing. Blue, let's focus on the ones coming from its mouth. Alex, try to attack the big thing," Leo commanded.

  Hera joined the group against the smaller creatures. Something about the idea of approaching the reptile didn't sit well with her, especially since the beast had yet to move her eyes away from her.

  The snakes and lizards were quickly dispatched. Hera taking care of two while Leo and Blue took one each. Just as the explorer dealt the final blow on the last snake, Alex yelled.

  "Shit!" the assassin rushed back to the group while covered in a thick glowing purple sludge, "gimme a pearl, gimme a pearl," she begged.

  Bonnie tossed a pearl to her, and the glow covered the group. Alex's face was burned in a few places where the liquid splashed her.

  "That thing freaking hurts!" she gasped.

  "Ok, then. Going close range is a no go. What the hell do we do?" Leo asked.

  Tanika started shivering once again, the water crawling up her body. After a moment, the loud wail began, followed by an army of lesser poison creatures rising from the pools.

  "Oh, no, you don't!" Hera turned towards the lesser monsters and started to kill them before reaching its master, "I have no idea what is going on, but that last batch seemed bigger. We can't let them go in again."

  Bonnie nodded and started to attack the monsters. She didn't see the initial groups, but trusted enough in Hera to follow along. It would make sense for the difficulty to keep increasing, especially if this was something they were supposed to stop. The group quickly spread and started to kill all the monsters who were marching to be devoured.

  The critters weren't fighting back. This was not a fight but just a slaughter, one way or another, they would die. They were also only walking, which made it even easier to deal a killing blow. Hera kept slashing away, but she couldn't help but feel her stomach-turning.

  The situation felt wrong. She was just killing a bunch of harmless creatures, and for what? So that she wouldn't have to fight stronger creatures?

  She felt like a coward, no better than the emperor.

  Hera shook her head.

  She couldn't let herself go there. This was a fight for her life, just like any other inside the MAZE. She needed to be strong and survive, even if she had to do something like this. Hera cut another frog's head and stopped. Could this be what the emperor felt? How can she say she's better than him if she is willing to kill innocent creatures just to survive?

  An explosion broke Hera's train of thought. Looking back, she saw one of the large spikes on Tanika's back had exploded, making another large scorch mark around its body. Hera looked around and saw that the area where the spike pointed to was now completely clear of any monsters

  "This is the gimmick!" Bonnie yelled, "We need to make the rest of the spikes blow up. Don't let anything get into its mouth."

  Hera looked around, trying to see if any other creatures were coming. Everything seemed quiet, and without the lizard's noise, it could almost be seen as peaceful. A moment passed, and Tanika started its wail once more, this time in a higher pitch. The change in tone made the noise a bit annoying, but nothing that would disturb the group.

  The lesser poison creatures rose up once more and marched towards the giant. However, they were moving faster. It still wasn't an issue, but it took a bit longer to kill them all. The previous wave took less than a minute. This one almost went past two.

  When no more creatures remained, one of the spikes on Tanika's back started glowing and then exploded, showing not only a larger gash on its back but a few cuts on the sides. There were still five more spikes on its back.

  The wail began, and the group fought off the creatures once more. Each wave would move faster and be more numerous than the last. It would also last longer than the previous one. What started as something close to a minute of fighting turned into almost ten minutes of fighting nonstop. Even if the creatures weren't fighting back, just running around catching them was very tiring.

  As the spikes blew up, more wound appeared on the creature's back. One of them was large enough to show what looked like a purple stone embedded deep into Tanika's flesh.

  When only a single spike remained, the monsters that came out of the pools were a bit bigger but less numerous. The issue was that they were smarter. The creatures were now fighting back. They would try to avoid being caught and even sacrifice themselves so that the others could reach Tanika.

  The group struggled to kill the creatures as they all fought as one. Hera used her Pulse and confirmed that all the monsters had a thin mana link connecting them all. Even with all their efforts, a couple of the poison creatures managed to jump inside Tanika's mouth.

  Hera and the others rushed together, trying to get into some semblance of a combat formation.

  "Careful guys, this could be a big one," Bonnie said as she started charging a spell.

  The last spike on Tanika's back started to glow, becoming even brighter than before. The lizard closed its mouth and lowered its head, showing an odd formation of horns on its forehead. They were glowing in the same light. Suddenly, a purple glow came out of all its wounds, while sparks of energy started coming out of the horns.

  "That's not good," Mark said as he notched another arrow and sent towards the spikes.

  Bonnie joined in, sending a couple of cold bombs to the formation on Tanika's forehead. The arrows were vaporized by the condensed energy, and the spells seemed to have little to no effect. The glow grew brighter as the power charged up.

  "We need to move!" Leo yelled.

  Hera noticed that a mist that seemed to degrade the surrounding area enveloped the energy on Tanika’s forehead. It was a sight very similar to when she used one of her poison spells.

  "No, we don't!" Hera said as she grabbed the cane that she had recovered from the Greater Poison Snake's body.

  She placed a pearl in its damaged tip and held it pointing towards the giant lizard. Those pearls would always give a few seconds of poison immunity, and this should be enough.

  "Hera, are you sure?" Bonnie asked.

  "Yes, I am." the Explorer lied. Yet, her voice was confident enough to squash all doubt

  Tanika finished charging up the spell and fired a concentrated beam of poison mana towards the group. The moment the purple laser hit the cane, a pearlescent glow covered the area.

  "Are we dead? Are we dead? Are we dead?" Mark kept asking the same question while the glow covered their eyes.

  After a few moments, the light vanished and showed Tanika charging up for another attack. However, this time, before the group could even react, the monster's core, that glowing purple crystal, exploded, making the creature split like a blooming flower.

  "Holy crap, Hera. How did you know that would work?" Blue gasped.

  Before Hera was able to reply, a notification appeared in front of each member of the group.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  You have completed the Dungeon Quest inside The Frog Valley.

  By destroying the creature responsible for generating the poison, the Valley returned to a peaceful state.

  Rewards:

  5 000 gold

  Minor Mana Stone Select

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  "The mana had a poison feel to it. But to be honest, I was only like 80% sure," Hera laughed.

  "Are you serious?" Leo gasped.

  Tanika's body started to glow. Simultaneously, a small lizard, about the size of a husky, appeared on top of its head.

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