"Oliver! Thank the God of Aries you’re here! Please help me!" Barid shouted desperately.

"Oliver? Who’s that? I thought my name was ’village boy.’ " Oliver mocked with a smirk.

Right now, he was in his Crimson Striker class. His entire attire had turned red, including his hair, while faint crimson sparks continuously crackled around his body.

"No! I never called you that! Waine was the one who called you that!"

"Alright, alright. Just stay still." Oliver replied casually as he prepared to unleash Crimson Slash.

However, just as he was about to activate the skill, a figure suddenly dropped toward him from above. Oliver instantly activated Quickstep and retreated backward.

He looked forward and saw a giant spider standing before him with a human head attached to its body. The man was bald, and his unusually long, sharp canines protruded from his mouth.

"No, no, no. I can’t let you take my food so easily. If you want to save him, then you’ll need to repay me with the nutrients from your own body."

Oliver merely stared at Gideon with a blank expression.

"Hehehe! What’s wrong, kid? Too scared to even open your mouth? Then be a good boy and let me eat you slowly."

"Scared, huh? I think you’ve misunderstood something." Oliver finally spoke. A faint smirk slowly appeared on his face.

"Do you want to see what real terror looks like? Then let me show you." Oliver then summoned Queen.

A gigantic seven-meter-tall insect queen appeared inside the warehouse. Her head nearly touched the ceiling above. She slowly looked around before her gaze landed on Gideon.

"W-what is this monster?!" Gideon instinctively stepped backward in fear.

"Ahhh... a tarantula. It’s been a long time since I last had one. They’re a little spicier and crunchier compared to normal spiders." Queen said while staring hungrily at him.

Gideon immediately leaped toward the nearby webs and attempted to escape. Queen, however, had no intention of letting her prey run away and instantly chased after him.

"No! Stay away from me!" Gideon screamed in terror.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Oliver slashed apart the webs using Crimson Slash. At the same time, Husk tore open the cocoon and pulled Edgar out from inside.

"Haaa! Haaa! I thought I was already dead!" Edgar breathed heavily. But his expression immediately changed when he noticed a giant wolf staring down at him.

"Kiyaaak!"

"Shut up, Edgar. You’re too noisy," Oliver said flatly.

Edgar quickly looked beside him and saw Oliver helping Barid stand back up.

"Let’s get out of here. We’ve been deceived. The monsters have already been transported away." Oliver explained.

Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!

Oliver turned toward the other side and saw Queen casually chewing on the leg of a giant tarantula. It seemed she had already finished eating Gideon. Oliver decided not to comment on it.

After all, Gideon had already become half-human and half-spider. So technically, it did not really count as eating a human.

"O-Oliver... are both of them your monsters?" Barid asked nervously while being supported by Oliver and Edgar.

"Yes. Aren’t they cute?" Oliver smiled innocently.

"WHERE THE HELL IS THE CUTENESS?!" both of them shouted at the same time.

---

Aria was currently riding on Frostrix. After dropping Oliver off earlier, she immediately flew toward the final warehouse. Frostrix landed softly on the ground before Aria quickly rushed inside.

An eerie silence filled the warehouse. She slowly scanned the surroundings, but all she could see was darkness.

"Finally, the big one has arrived." A voice heard from within the shadows.

Aria remained perfectly still as she tried to locate where the voice was coming from.

"The two that came earlier thought they could defeat me, but they were just small fries. There’s no fun fighting opponents like them."

Aria’s eyes immediately gleamed sharply before she cast Ice Shard toward one side of the darkness.

"Opps! It seems you’re really sharp." Verner suddenly jumped out from the shadows and landed on top of one of the cages.

Aria did not waste any time and immediately leaped forward, slashing toward Verner. A freezing trail followed the swing of her sword.

Pang!

Her blade clashed directly against Verner’s crescent weapon.

"Where are they?" Aria asked coldly as she pushed her sword harder against Verner’s blade.

Verner suddenly twisted his crescent blade, causing Aria’s sword to slide along its curved shape and redirecting her force to the side.

However, Aria immediately used that opening to swing her leg toward him. Verner blocked the kick and grabbed her leg tightly. But before he could react further, Aria swiftly swung her other leg and kicked him directly in the face.

Thump!

Aria landed softly on the ground before instantly returning to her stance. Meanwhile, Verner staggered backward with blood filling his mouth.

"Puii!"

He spat the blood onto the floor while glaring sharply at Aria.

Aria immediately called Frostrix, who flew in from outside and began circling above the warehouse. Each time its long tail brushed against the surroundings, layers of ice rapidly spread and froze everything nearby.

’Tch! That annoying bird is already out. This fight is completely one-sided if I battle her in a closed space like this.’ Verner thought while gritting his teeth.

"Hey, little girl! If you want to save them, come to the place written here! And if you call for reinforcements, those two will die!" He threw a letter toward Aria before tossing a smoke bomb onto the ground.

Boom!

The warehouse instantly filled with smoke. By the time the smoke cleared, Verner had already vanished.

Aria quickly scanned the surroundings. After confirming that there were no more enemies nearby, she recalled Frostrix before unfolding the letter Verner had thrown earlier.

The moment she read its contents, her expression changed in shock. The letter instructed her to come alone to a hidden dungeon beneath the city.

And until now, she had never even known such a place existed. Without wasting any more time, Aria immediately rushed back toward the city to inform the others.