177. Frenzied Performance

As we advanced deeper into the snake nest, we managed to hunt a considerable number of snakes.

However, only slightly larger snakes were emerging so far, with no proper monsters that could give us substantial experience points appearing yet.

“We’ve gathered plenty of snake skins, but honestly, besides those, there’s not much else to gain here.”

“We should go deeper.”

“It’s been about four hours since we entered. If we go further in, we’ll need to prepare to camp.”

Should we stop here and turn back? Or continue onward?

“Let’s go in.”

“Understood.”

“Should follow the leader’s decision.”

We decided to venture deeper.

Since we hadn’t gained much besides hunting snakes, we needed to go further inside for greater rewards.

“But the deeper we go, the more crude the corridors seem to become.”

“Right. The interior is gradually becoming more primitive.”

At the entrance, it clearly felt like snakes had moved into a man-made basement, but the further we went, it began to feel more like humans had left traces in a snake den.

“Changing terrain means the monsters we encounter will change too. Not bad.”

“True.”

As Ulysses said, since the surroundings were changing, it was likely that something other than ordinary snakes would soon emerge.

“There’s quite a lot at the end of the right corridor.”

“Are they approaching?”

“Seems like they’re waiting instead.”

“How big are they?”

“About human-sized.”

At Kairan’s words, Maximus snorted and laughed.

“Finally, they’re crawling out. Took them long enough.”

If they’re human-sized snakes, they’re likely either nagas or lamias.

Primitive lizardmen are definitely larger than humans, after all.

“They seem to be planning an ambush, so let’s strike first.”

Ulysses slammed his wooden staff against the floor.

Thud!

Instantly, thorn vines sprouted from the ground, rapidly growing in a straight line before attacking the monsters waiting for us at the end of the corridor.

“Feels like we’ve caught them. They’ll break free soon. Let’s go kill them quickly.”

“Let’s move.”

This is why long-range binding skills are great.

Once you detect the enemy’s position with detection-type abilities, you can immediately bind them and unleash indiscriminate violence.

“Kyaaaah!!”

“They’re nagas!”

Humanoid monsters with snake heads were thrashing, entangled in the thorn vines.

Since the vines’ durability wasn’t particularly high, some broke free quickly, but even those freed were staggering, likely debuffed from being pierced by the thorns.

Crunch!!!

As soon as we entered the room filled with nagas, Maximus smashed the head of the leading naga warrior with his mace.

One collapsed instantly with its head crushed, and immediately after, Kairan swiftly swung his dagger to sever another naga’s head.

“They have high regeneration-you have to cut off their heads to kill them!”

I relayed the information I’d read through Identification Eye to the party.

These bizarre creatures had lower strength and speed compared to lizardmen but possessed overwhelming regeneration and venom.

They wouldn’t die from just having their heads crushed. You had to completely separate the head from the body to ensure they stayed dead.

“It’s not over! More are coming!”

As Kairan shouted, lamias surged into the room.

Slightly smaller than nagas, they squeezed through every crack and crevice in the room to slither inside.

The cries of lamias drive people mad. Their shrill voices disrupt focus in battle, and like nagas, they carry venom-if bitten, you suffer from severe fever, pain, and hallucinations.

It’s better to kill them quickly.

“Whoa! The place is swarming with snakes!”

Ulysses shot thorn vines at the charging lamias, binding them instantly, while simultaneously casting spells to mute their ear-piercing shrieks.

He seemed to have blocked their voices with a curse.

“There are way more of these than expected! Nagas are coming in from the opposite entrance too!”

“You should’ve been prepared to kill dozens when messing with a snake nest!”

“They keep crawling out from the hole in the right corner! We need to block it!”

Nagas and lamias poured in endlessly.

As if starved from lack of visitors for too long, they flung themselves at us.

“These are tricky bastards!”

“Die!!”

Without responding, Maximus crushed heads to immobilize them, while Kairan, Chloe, and I decapitated the fallen nagas.

Nearby, Abraham and Ulysses were handling the lamias.

It was repetitive, but the sheer volume made it dizzying.

“There are too many corpses-they’re getting in the way!”

“Hold on! I’ll clear them!”

As I quickly stored the scattered naga corpses into my spatial pouch, Kairan, who had been pulling out naga heads, suddenly jerked his gaze up, staring into the darkness at the end of the opposite corridor.

“Oh no. More are coming. A huge swarm.”

“Huh? How many?!”

“Lots. A whole lot. A hundred? Not sure. All big ones. Probably lizardmen.”

If they’re large, they’re likely lizardmen, as Kairan said.

They hunt humans with overwhelming numbers and brute strength.

“Abraham, barrier now!”

“Already on it!”

Abraham, who had been killing lamias, hastily erected a barrier over the room’s entrance.

Besides the entrance we came from, there was another on the opposite side-lizardmen were trying to force their way through.

“Graaah!!”

Bam!!

Huge lizards stabbed their weapons into the barrier.

While we finished off the nagas and lamias and stored the corpses, Abraham held them off steadily.

Once he dropped the barrier, we’d have our second round with these oversized lizards.

Unsurprisingly, no one looked tired. If anything, they seemed exhilarated.

Everyone must have been starved for real combat. That’s when Joshua, who had been quiet until now, finally moved.

“Finally, my turn!”

“Huh? What are you planning to do?”

“This is a festival! It’s my time to have fun too!”

Just before Abraham lowered the barrier, Joshua pulled out a snake he’d kept in his pouch.

What was he planning? I could’ve stopped him, but I chose to watch.

“Now, kill each other!”

At Joshua’s command, Ulysses recoiled in horror.

“Damn it! Cover your ears! It’s that cursed melody!”

“You fucking clown! Don’t just drop an AoE out of nowhere!”

Joshua cut off the snake’s tail and blew into it like a wind instrument.

The mutilated snake spewed blood and flesh while emitting a grotesque sound, prompting Ulysses to immediately cast a deafening curse on us.

With our ears blocked, we witnessed something unbelievable.

As Joshua played the severed snake-tail like an instrument, the lizardmen outside the barrier, who had gathered to kill us, began stabbing and tearing into each other.

A fratricidal feast unfolded. Lizardmen killed, bit, and devoured one another.

The frenzy spread through the corridor like an infectious rage virus, driving every lizardman present into a mad rampage.

Joshua, now outside the barrier, danced like a clown and pulled out a second snake to sever its tail.

That’s when Maximus charged at him with his mace raised.

He wasn’t affected by the performance-he just wanted to stop it.

“Hahaha! Crazy bastard! Don’t worry! My precious audience won’t be affected by the frenzy! I’ve already accounted for everything! Don’t be mad! You’re outside the effect range! Aaah!”

As Maximus swung to crush his skull, Joshua frantically dodged and yelped.

Wait-Ulysses’ Silence spell should’ve blocked all sound, so why could we still hear Joshua? Not just his voice, but his performance too.

Even with our ears covered, Joshua’s voice pierced through. It seemed like nothing could block it. If true, did that mean there was no way to stop his songs?

Realizing this at the same time as me, Ulysses lifted the deafening curse. He’d recognized its futility.

“I’ve lifted the curse. Can everyone hear now?”

“Yes. Loud and clear.”

“I don’t get it. What kind of ability is this? Bypassing curses to transmit sound… This means no defensive measure can stop his attacks.”

Even if you cover your ears or curse your hearing, his ability ensures the sound reaches you.

In short, unless you kill Joshua, you can’t stop his performance. No wonder he’s Platinum-ranked despite having no combat skills-he pulls stunts like this.

“Damn it. Fucking clown bastard. Warn us before pulling shit like that!”

“Sorry, sorry! Got too excited!”

“Damn it. Hey! Porter!”

“Yes?”

“I can’t keep going with this reckless clown. What if he suddenly goes wild again?”

“Maximus is right. Joshua’s actions just now were unacceptable.”

Chloe nodded in agreement, prompting Ulysses to click his tongue at the dead lizardmen.

“The corpses are too damaged. Nothing salvageable.”

“…”

“Ahaha… Oops. Guess I got carried away. My bad.”

As the party’s mood turned icy, Joshua’s expression darkened. He awkwardly laughed and tossed the mutilated snake aside.

“At least we’ve seen your ability clearly now. Be more careful next time.”

“Got it. Just gets my blood pumping when I see carnage.”

“And Joshua. Please don’t go outside the barrier-it’s dangerous.”

“Sorry about that too, Inquisitor.”

“Since he apologized, let’s move on. People get excited sometimes.”

“Tch.”

“Maximus. Don’t be so harsh. You’re making everyone uncomfortable.”

“Fine. Just saying it’s dangerous.”

At Chloe’s words, Maximus finally relaxed.

That guy’s got a temper. Still, he wasn’t wrong-Joshua needed to be called out. Maximus’ rough personality makes him a great enforcer, so pairing them up might work.

“Let’s at least gather the remaining corpses. Lizardman hides sell for a decent price.”

“Pick out the intact ones.”

We collected the lizardmen corpses strewn across the corridor.

“Joshua, isn’t this basically hypnosis?”

“Nah! It’s totally different! Hypnosis breaks from external shocks, but my music amplifies and incites emotions, making them fight willingly. It won’t stop until I end the performance or they die fighting! Hahaha!”

“…Scary guy.”

“Please never use that on us.”

“Oh, of course! I can’t anyway! The chains.”

The Soul Chain I placed on Joshua prevents him from attacking us.

I hold his leash, so to speak. I could’ve stopped his performance earlier by yanking it, but I wanted to see his ability in action.

“Still, we bagged a few.”

“Let’s gather these and call it a day?”

“Good idea. Worse things will show up if we go deeper.”

“Worse things…?”

“Gorgon. Feels like it’s watching us.”

“Then… this attack too…”

“Must’ve been Gorgon’s doing.”

We already knew about Gorgon from Olivia’s intel.

If Medusa is the final boss of this snake nest, Gorgon and Serpent are mid-bosses.

And of the two, Gorgon is notably more intelligent.

While Serpent holds its position through brute strength, Gorgon has multiple special abilities.

The first is snake control-the second is likely the gaze Kairan sensed.

Gorgon’s eyes are tracking us. Tonight, snakes will probably attack us relentlessly.