176. Snake Nest

“Everyone ready?”

“No issues going in immediately.”

“I’m good to go too.”

“…”

“Just a bit of back pain, but otherwise fine.”

“I’m excited to perform with snakes!”

The gladiator brothers exuded strong confidence as they finished checking their equipment, the hunter Kairan remained silent as usual, and the old shaman Ulysses complained of back pain.

And among them, the only one who seemed unusually hyped was the mad bard Joshua-an added bonus.

“These people… are they reliable?”

“Yes. Despite appearances, they’ve all been Platinum Rank.”

“I see… quite the eccentric bunch.”

Abraham checked the members and stroked his chin.

This guy’s calling others eccentric when he’s one himself.

“Let’s head in first.”

We decided not to bring Helena and Fria on this expedition.

Both of them are still weak, having not fully grown yet. It’s safer to leave them behind rather than risk them getting snatched by snake hatchlings.

Squeak.

“Ugh, the stench is foul.”

“Probably the reptilian stink.”

The moment we opened the door with the key Frodo gave us, it connected to the snake nest.

Beyond the door, damp, humid, and oddly lukewarm air flowed out. The distinct stench of snakes and the fishy odor of a reptilian nest tickled our noses unpleasantly.

And all over the stone walls, thick yellow sludge dripped down in clumps. That stuff was definitely contributing to the foul air.

It was probably a mix of bodily fluids and sediment from the reptiles slithering around the nest, hardened into sludge.

Disgusting, unpleasant, and something you wouldn’t want to touch-but the entire snake nest was covered in that green sludge, so we had no choice but to come into contact with it as we moved forward.

“Doesn’t seem like the kind that causes issues on skin contact. Feels more like… hm, just clumps of congealed grease.”

“No toxicity?”

“It’s slightly acidic, but not dangerous. Anyone Gold Rank or higher won’t have any issues. Still, we should be careful with fire.”

The shaman Ulysses poked at the sludge on the wall with his finger and immediately discerned its composition.

Using the Identification Eye I got from Moira, I checked the sludge on the wall, but no dangerous information popped up.

Given that the only warnings were about ingestion, it seemed skin contact wouldn’t cause major problems-as long as you didn’t eat it.

“We’ll need light without torches. I’ll use Holy Light.”

“Ah, Abraham. It’s fine. I’ve got this.”

Keeping Holy Light active would consume a lot of divine power. It’s better to summon a hypercube and use it as a portable flashlight.

Plus, it automatically floats above and follows you, emitting light without needing to hold it-way better than a torch. And it’s plenty bright.

“No life signs detected.”

As soon as I summoned the hypercube and lit up the area, Kairan stared into the darkness beyond the corridor and reported no signs of life.

True to her hunter nature, Kairan seemed to possess various detection-type abilities, including presence sensing. She kept glancing around before finally stopping and shaking her head.

Seems like there’s really nothing.

“Guess there’s no snake heads waiting at the entrance.”

“Seems so.”

Hearing the all-clear, Maximus stepped forward, gripping his newly acquired mace.

Normally, he’s a warrior who primarily uses greatswords and blades, but since we were entering a snake nest, we got him a blunt weapon this time.

Reptilian monsters are known for their tough hides, making it hard to deal fatal wounds with edged weapons. So, it’s better to crush them with blunt force.

Of course, if that doesn’t work, he can always pull out a different weapon from his inventory.

“By the way, Shion, do you know what kind of monsters we’ll face?”

“From what I’ve heard, there are regular snakes, large pythons, water snakes, vipers, and other venomous species.”

“What about the really dangerous ones?”

“Naga, lamia, primitive lizardmen, gorgons, serpents, and at the deepest part, a special entity called Medusa.”

Olivia, who had opened her eyes, organized the intel from the strategy guide.

The deeper you go into the snake nest, the exponentially stronger the monsters become.

Given that the deepest part is said to be on par with the 6th and 7th floors, it makes sense that something like Medusa would appear.

Then again, monsters in this world are basically creatures straight out of Earth’s myths.

“Medusa… that’s a 7th-floor-level enemy, isn’t it?”

“Do you know about Medusa?”

“Of course. She’s not an easy opponent. Especially since she has a Magic Eye.”

According to Ulysses, Medusa in this world also possesses a Petrification Eye. Making eye contact turns you to stone, making her an extremely troublesome foe.

“Wish Paramel had come with us.”

“That Paramel fellow, is he good at exorcism?”

“The best I know.”

“Hah.”

Ulysses smirked at Abraham’s words. If Paramel was the best at divine prayers and exorcism among his peers, Ulysses was the best shaman in that regard.

“I’ll handle it. Don’t worry.”

“Oh? What about you? Can you do exorcism?”

“Nope. I’m curse-immune. I’ll just draw their attention.”

“Wait, what? Curse immunity? That’s possible? There’s an ability like that?”

“Not exactly an ability-more like using a curse to block a curse.”

“Ah… right. That makes sense.”

Ulysses stared at my chest for a moment before nodding.

“The Curse of Loa leaves no room for others to interfere.”

“Exactly.”

So even petrification curses are nullified. Once again, the Three Witches’ blessing protects me.

“Something’s coming.”

While we were talking, Kairan, who had been walking ahead, stopped.

“Finally, they’re showing up.”

“From the right corridor.”

Kairan pinpointed the enemy’s exact location.

Immediately, Maximus and Chloe drew their weapons and moved toward the approaching monsters.

Since we’re still at the entrance, no strong monsters should appear yet. But with venomous snakes swarming around, caution is key.

No matter how good our antidotes are, one wrong move could still be fatal.

Hssssss!

“Snakes.”

A venomous snake crawling along the ceiling lunged at Chloe’s face from the frontlines.

True to its dungeon origins, it was quite large, but Chloe effortlessly deflected it with her sword.

Of course, Platinum Rankers can handle ambushes like this without breaking a sweat. We’re not even close to a crisis yet.

Everyone here specializes in combat and has been through hell in the labyrinth. In fact, aside from me and Abraham, everyone else has died and come back to life.

Experience-wise, we’re on a whole different level from rookies.

“Snake hides sell for a good price.”

“True, it’s rare to find snakes in the labyrinth.”

The upper floors, which have been the backbone of labyrinth industry, don’t spawn many snakes.

Same goes for the underground city. There aren’t many reliable places to source snake hides, but the snake nest makes it incredibly easy.

“Even after taking a solid hit, it’s still squirming.”

“Snakes can keep moving for a while even after decapitation. Be careful-they can still bite.”

“Better to crush them thoroughly.”

Crunch.

Maximus stomped on the severed snake head, crushing it. He made sure it was dead before I could even pick it up.

And since he killed it by stomping, the hide remained intact. The bigger the wound, the lower the hide’s value, so killing it without blades was a good call.

“Since the head’s crushed, we can take it now.”

“Aw! I wanted to play it alive!”

As I picked up the snake corpse, Joshua whined beside me.

“Can you play a dying snake?”

“Oh, absolutely! You can play snakes like wind instruments. What a shame. Next time you catch one, give it to me alive! It’s best when they’re still squirming!”

“W-Won’t it bite?”

“One snake is manageable even without an instrument-just whistling or finger-snapping works. Control one, and the rest follow.”

“Wow.”

Joshua, a bard and a madman, specializes in causing chaos through bewitchment.

He can easily manipulate low-intelligence beings, almost like hypnosis. Next time we catch a snake, I’ll hand it over to him.

“More incoming. These are bigger.”

Just then, Kairan alerted us to more enemies.

Kssshaaa!

“A python?!”

“It’s huge! So big!”

A massive python raced toward us along grooves in the wall.

Wait, is that even a python? More like an anaconda!

As Kairan said, it was enormous. And despite its size, it was fast.

‘Holy shit, it’s fast!’

Now I see why the nest is covered in sludge. The grease drastically boosts the snakes’ movement speed.

True to its name, the entire place is optimized for reptilian monsters.

“Hyah!”

Of course, no matter how fast it is, it can’t outpace Platinum Rank adventurers.

BAM!

Maximus let out a battle cry and smashed the charging python’s head, killing it instantly.

He must’ve controlled his strength carefully to avoid damaging the hide.

“Was worried I’d crush the damn thing’s skull.”

“That’s one massive hide we’re getting.”

Maximus looked proud of his perfect strength control, and Chloe patted his shoulder approvingly.

“Haha. With these two around, I doubt I’ll even get a chance to act.”

“Same here.”

The vanguard duo is wiping out every monster that comes our way. Feels like there’s no real danger.

With just basic snakes so far, the frontliners are handling everything smoothly.

“Let’s keep moving.”

“By the way, what’s the exact objective?”

“There’s a chamber with eggs deeper in. Let’s make retrieving a few eggs our first goal. Once we’re near the egg chamber, snakes will swarm us-that’s when we’ll get some real fighting in.”

“Got it.”

Two main objectives:

First, get snake eggs for the Druid Society.

Second, level up by hunting as many monsters as possible.

According to Olivia, reptilian monsters here give multiplied EXP, so the more we kill, the better.