My Computer Leads to an Instance Dungeon-Chapter 137 - 112: Monster? Boss Battle
At the end of the left-hand cavern within the Underground Cave was the Ghost-faced Spiders' nest.
Fang Zhen, Gwendolyn, and Mark walked to the end of the cavern. It was filled with cobwebs and cocoons of various sizes.
Inside them were large animals and humans, almost all of them reduced to empty husks. The Ghost-faced Spiders had injected venom into their bodies, dissolving their internal tissues into a liquid that the spiders then consumed.
Seeing the miserable sight, Fang Zhen shook his head slightly.
'It's not easy to survive in a dungeon world,' he thought. 'Ordinary people without any power become food for aberrations in a matter of minutes.'
"Let's go. It seems the real path is in the other direction," Gwendolyn said from the side.
Fang Zhen turned and headed back the way they came.
The three of them returned to the cavern space where they had ambushed the Abnormal Ghosts, then changed direction and headed for the cavern on the right.
The trip hadn't been for nothing. At least they had killed most of the Abnormal Ghosts and wiped out the swarm of Ghost-faced Spiders, so they no longer had to worry about being attacked from behind.
They walked quickly for more than ten minutes, eventually arriving in a cavernous space about the same size as the Ghost-faced Spider nest.
As soon as he entered, Fang Zhen suddenly felt a sense of alarm.
It wasn't a sudden attack, but a feeling of pressure.
His hand instinctively tightened on the grip of his Hunting Crossbow.
He pulled down the thermal imaging lens over his left eye, allowing him to see any warm-blooded creatures in the cavern.
Fang Zhen saw four creatures, roughly sixty to seventy meters away, that looked very much like Abnormal Ghosts through the thermal lens. They were spread out, crawling slowly, all facing his direction.
The thermal outlines of these four crawling aberrations resembled Abnormal Ghosts, but they were larger and their body structures were different.
One of the aberrations had a large protrusion on its back, like it was carrying a turret. It somewhat resembled a humanoid tank.
Two others were huge, about one and a half times the size of an Abnormal Ghost, with exceptionally large claws that looked deadly.
The last one had no other distinguishing features except for its sheer size. It was as large as two to two-and-a-half ordinary Abnormal Ghosts, and if it stood up, it would likely be over three meters tall.
"Fierce Ghosts."
Fang Zhen recognized the name of these four aberrations.
Fierce Ghosts were a species that resulted from further mutation of Abnormal Ghosts, essentially an upgraded version.
Just then, a low roar echoed from deep within the cavern.
The sound caught Fang Zhen's attention.
Looking toward the source of the sound, he saw a behemoth on his thermal imager.
A monster was emerging from the depths of the cavern.
Its form was enormous, even larger than the biggest Fierce Ghost. It was over 3.5 meters tall, with a humanoid upper body connected to a lower body that resembled a scorpion or a spider.
That body had eight arthropod-like legs.
The monster was holding what looked like a long-handled weapon. Because he was viewing it through a thermal imager, he could only guess that it was a weapon; he couldn't make out the specifics.
"Maticvia?"
Fang Zhen guessed the monster's identity.
At that moment, Gwendolyn switched on her high-powered flashlight, its beam striking the four Fierce Ghosts and the massive monster.
The intense light irritated the Fierce Ghosts, and they immediately let out roars like bears.
Fang Zhen could now clearly see what these aberrations looked like.
Sure enough, the four crawling monsters resembled Abnormal Ghosts, but they looked much larger and more terrifying.
The aberration with the protrusion on its back had a lower body almost identical to an Abnormal Ghost, but its skin was green, and a huge fleshy tumor grew from its back.
The tumor's shape was strange, somewhat like a large air sac with a cannon-like barrel in the front. That 'barrel' was black and had the same texture as an Abnormal Ghost's black Bone Saber.
The green Fierce Ghost carried this thing on its back.
It was quite alarming; one got the feeling that 'barrel' could shoot something out.
The other two Fierce Ghosts were one and a half times the size of a normal Abnormal Ghost, and their entire bodies were black.
Their bodies were covered in something that looked like a black exoskeleton, as if they were wearing black armor. It looked exceptionally tough and covered their entire frames.
The claws of these two Fierce Ghosts were especially large, clearly different from those of Abnormal Ghosts. Each of their two front claws had three long, sharp black bone sabers, three times longer than those of an Abnormal Ghost. They could even retract them, and the blades constantly quivered back and forth within their flesh.
The last Fierce Ghost had no other special features. It was just big.
Extremely big.
This Fierce Ghost looked larger than a giant black bear. Its body was red, and its skin seemed to be stripped away, revealing knotted muscle tissue brimming with explosive power.
The four Fierce Ghosts alone were oppressive enough, but the monster walking behind them was even larger and more terrifying.
Fang Zhen got a clear look at the giant monster.
The monster's body looked like a human torso attached to the body of a giant scorpion, but it had eight arthropod-like legs, and the ends of its legs, where the feet would be, looked like goat hooves.
The monster was over three and a half meters tall, higher than a single story of a building. Its upper body was bare, and its human torso was abnormally large, two to three times the size of a normal person.
Its head still resembled a human's. It had long hair tied back with something unknown. The face was human, but it was covered with a layer of what looked like black skin sewn on. This black skin formed a diamond shape above and below its eyes, like war paint.
In its hands, it held a long-handled weapon that resembled a grim reaper's scythe, but with blades on both sides. Both blades were double-edged, capable of slicing, chopping, and parrying.
This bizarre weapon was nearly 2.7 meters long, even longer than Fang Zhen's spear.
"Maticvia!"
Gwendolyn blurted out the name as soon as she saw the monster's face.
Hearing this, Fang Zhen immediately confirmed the monster's identity.
Maticvia, the boss of the Ancient Castle Caverns, a former Curse Sealer, and the lover of Gwendolyn's adopted daughter, Huna.
He had to admit, the moment he saw Maticvia, Fang Zhen felt an intense sense of pressure.
In terms of size alone, Maticvia had an absolute advantage.
On top of that, the guy knew martial arts and how to use a weapon.
And he could use curse seals!
Just looking at Maticvia was enough to make Fang Zhen feel stressed.
'It's one thing for a monster to be huge, but this one has intelligence and knows martial arts.'
'How am I supposed to fight this thing?'
Not to mention the four dangerous-looking Fierce Ghosts.
"Let's clear out the Fierce Ghosts around Maticvia first!" Fang Zhen shouted.
He raised his Hunting Crossbow and aimed at the green, turret-like Fierce Ghost.
That turret Fierce Ghost didn't look like it had much defense, nor would it be very fast.
Fang Zhen's usual strategy was to first eliminate the targets that looked weak but posed a great threat.
He pulled the trigger of the Hunting Crossbow, and a Hunting Arrow shot out.
Given the turret Fierce Ghost's current state, it was unlikely to dodge the arrow.
However, a black shadow suddenly flashed by.
It was a Black Armored Fierce Ghost.
The Black Armored Fierce Ghost leaped out, using its body to block the path of the incoming Hunting Arrow.
"CLANG!"
With a sharp sound, the Hunting Arrow struck the Black Armored Fierce Ghost, creating a shower of sparks.
But it failed to pierce its defense.
The Black Armored Fierce Ghost winced in pain, landed, and took several steps back. Then it opened its mouth toward Fang Zhen, bared its sharp white teeth, and roared. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎
Fang Zhen's mind raced.
'The Black Armored Fierce Ghost is too fast,' he thought. 'Its reaction time is incredible.'
This was the first time his Hunting Crossbow had failed to pierce a target's defense and had been intercepted.
The other Black Armored Fierce Ghost charged in his direction.
The 'air sac' on the back of the turret Fierce Ghost suddenly swelled, expanding to its limit before letting out a POP and firing a ball of green pus.
The pus was encased in a transparent membrane and shot out like a cannonball, aimed straight at Fang Zhen.
A warning flared in Fang Zhen's mind, and he leaped to the side.
The ball of green pus landed on the rock next to where Fang Zhen had been standing.
"SIZZLE!"
A harsh, corrosive sound rang out as white smoke rose from the rock, which melted away as quickly as snow on a hot iron.
"That corrosive?"
Fang Zhen instantly determined they couldn't win this fight.
His Hunting Crossbow couldn't seem to break through the Black Armored Fierce Ghost's defense, and he would be at a disadvantage in close combat, outnumbered as he was.
Gwendolyn could use her curse seals to hold off one Black Armored Fierce Ghost.
But they were facing four Fierce Ghosts.
And then there was Maticvia, who was calmly observing, conserving his energy.
Even if they found a way to break the ghosts' defenses, their own combat strength and stamina would be mostly depleted by the time they finished them off.
"Retreat!"
Fang Zhen made a decisive call.
Gwendolyn roared, "Mark, the Blood Burst Alchemy Smoke Elixir!"
Mark acknowledged and pulled two apple-sized Alchemy Bottles from the leather pouch he was carrying.
The Alchemy Bottles contained Secret Medicine Blood Burst, but Gwendolyn had added a special Alchemy Powder to it.
As Gwendolyn and Fang Zhen fell back, Mark took the two Alchemy Bottles and smashed them hard on the ground.
The Alchemy Bottles shattered.
Instead of spilling everywhere, the Secret Medicine Blood Burst exploded, forming a cloud of blood-red smoke.
The smoke spread out, completely blocking the entrance to the cavern.
The Black Armored Fierce Ghost that had already charged to the mouth of the cavern screeched to a halt, its sharp claws carving three deep grooves into the ground.
The Black Armored Fierce Ghost roared in frustration but didn't dare enter the bloody mist.
Fang Zhen, Gwendolyn, and Mark took the opportunity to withdraw.
The blood-red mist lingered for an unusually long time, and the aberrations, seeming to sense that something was wrong, dared not cross the line to pass through it.
The three of them managed to retreat in a relatively calm manner.
Their journey was tense but uneventful. After more than ten minutes, the three of them escaped the Underground Cave and jogged to the spot where they had left their motorcycles.
Fang Zhen felt alright, though he had broken out in a sweat. Gwendolyn's face was flushed, and she was sweating as well.
Mark, who carried most of their gear, was exhausted. He bent over, panting heavily.
After resting for half a minute, Gwendolyn looked up at Fang Zhen and said, "I recognize him. That monster in the Underground Cave is Maticvia."
"I don't know what happened to him, but he's turned into a monster."
"Hmph. No matter what he's become, I will not forgive him!"
Fang Zhen nodded.
"Four Fierce Ghosts, plus Maticvia. Do you think we have a chance of winning?" Fang Zhen asked.
Although Gwendolyn was still angry, she hadn't lost her reason.
After thinking for a moment, Gwendolyn shook her head.
"No," Gwendolyn answered honestly. "If we could fight these monsters one by one, we'd have a chance of winning together."
"But if they all come at us at once, we don't stand much of a chance."
"A lone monster and a group of them are two completely different things."
She paused, then added, "To win, we'd need at least one more Warrior with strength comparable to yours and mine. Only then would we have a sliver of a chance."
"One more person?" Fang Zhen's eyebrow twitched.
He actually had someone in mind.
