Risen World

Chapter 410: Centipede Graveyard Dungeon Part 2

After the doors slammed shut behind them they were now on another path that looked similar to the one they first came down. The only difference was the fact that it was narrower with only one row of pillars going down the center of the path instead of two rows going down the sides. The walls around the space still looked like those out of a cave, but instead of just seeing rocks laying all over the place they also saw bones that were thrown across the sides of the path. When Joshua looked at the bones a bit more carefully he noticed that many of them looked like the remains of the lizards they had seen outside of the dungeon.

'Well looks like lizard is on the menu in this dungeon.' Henry said through the party chat as he picked up one of the smaller bones to inspect it. 'If I had to guess there are probably a ton of centipedes roaming around this place that eat the lizards. Judging from how the acid seemed to only leave the bones behind when it came to the guardian we had to fight coming into this place, it's likely that the other centipedes eat in the same way.'

'That's going to be a pain in the ass then.' Adrian said as he kept an eye out while the group inspected the closest pile of bones. 'If the bones are all the way up here than those creatures could be nearby.'

'Look at this.' Aito said bringing everyone's attention to a couple of things. The first thing he pointed out was the fact that one of the larger bones was snapped in two unlike the rest of the bones they had found. Looking at how clean the cut was it was clear that it wasn't broken by blunt force. This showed that some creature in this dungeon had the capability to cut clean through the sturdy bones of the large lizards. The other thing that Aito pointed out was a large piece of exoskeleton nearby. This showed that although the centipedes reign supreme in this dungeon the lizards didn't just go down without a fight.

'Well we've got a good idea what creatures we'll come across when we dive further into the dungeon. Keep your guard up and be as quiet as possible so we can try to get the jump on any beast we come across.' Joshua explained before the group started moving further down the path. As they moved along the path they weren't surprised when they saw several different piles of bones and pieces of exoskeleton strewn across the sides of the path. It didn't take very long for the group to reach a point in the path where things started to change.

The path started opening up the further along they went and eventually it got to the point where they could no longer see the walls with the torch light alone. At this point Joshua spread out his aura sense once again since he was getting the feeling that they could be ambushed at any moment. After searching for only a little bit he could already feel signs of life up ahead that seemed to be sneaking around in the distance, but they weren't attempting to sneak up on Joshua's group through the darkness. Instead the two groups seemed to be going after each other.

'Be careful there are two groups of beast up ahead that seemed to be on the verge of fighting each other, but there in the way so it will be impossible to avoid them.' Joshua said. With those words everyone got prepared for the upcoming battle as they slowly made their way forward. The torch light made it possible for them to see far off in the distance and when they got close enough they could see the start of a battle.

Three fairly large centipedes were trying to surround a group of ten of the lizards that they had faced in the canyon. The centipedes were nowhere near as big as the guardian centipede they had faced to get in the dungeon, but they had a similar body structure to it. The only glaring difference were the large metallic mandibles that seemed designed for piercing into and tearing apart prey. Those seemed more lethal than the ones that the guardian had. Looking at the way the saliva dripping from the centipedes' mouths melted the rocks on the floor it was clear that they were able to use acid as well.

Although the lizards had more numbers it didn't look like a fight that was in their favor in the slightest. They were the group that was on their back foot as they hissed and reared up with their claws trying to do their best to get the centipedes to back away to no avail. One of the lizards seemed to be panicking a bit to much as it backed up a little too far from the rest of the group and the centipedes took this as a chance to go on the attack. Two of the giant centipedes singled out that lizard in particular as they charged over while a new centipede burrowed out of the ground behind the lizards taking them by surprise.

Once the fighting started it was clear that the lizards didn't stand much of a chance in a fight. Their claws were powerful, but they only slightly damaged the exoskeletons of the centipedes with each swipe. It took several lizards attacking one centipede at the same time to do any true damage to them and that seemed to be their tactic as five of the lizards jumped onto one of the centipedes at the same time. The centipedes didn't have to restrict themselves to such tactics. One centipede was able to easily stab its sharpened mandibles into the side of one of the lizards and tear it apart before it could get any help. Another centipede blasted one of the lizards in the face with acid causing all of its skin and muscle to melt off.

Watching the fight from a distance Joshua's group was certain that the centipedes would come out with a quick win with only a few injuries to show for it. They probably wouldn't use too many acid attacks to kill the lizards since they were a food source, but they still had no trouble tearing the creatures apart.

'Looks like we won't even have to join in on this fight boss.' Jayce said as he held his shield ready to block any attacks that might come in their direction. 'Maybe the centipedes will just clear the lizards out and take them away to eat for later.'

'I would agree with you if there was anywhere for them to go. They either have to come in our direction or go further down the path that we're trying to go down our selves.' Joshua said as he lifted his scale blade. He was preparing to get the jump on the centipedes while they were distracted. 'Besides I wouldn't say the lizards have given up on fighting yet.' He said as he pointed to the ceiling area just behind the centipedes.

When everyone looked in that direction at first they couldn't really see anything out of the ordinary, but as the figures Joshua was pointing got closer to the torches it was easier to see them. There were about a dozen more lizards crawling along the ceiling preparing to attack the centipedes from behind. When the first lizard lunged down from the ceiling all of the other followed suit as they landed on the backs of three of the centipedes and started attacking any exposed injuries that they could. The fight seemed like it was going to be a bit more evened out until two more centipedes burst out of the grown to help out their partners in crime.

'Well let's not waste this opportunity. The more of them that die without us doing anything the less experience we gain. It's time for us to go on the attack.' Joshua said with a smile before turning to Julia and Robin. 'You two can kick things off with a powerful large area attack. Do as much damage to them as possible. Everyone else try to support them then go in afterwards.' Joshua said laying out the plan.

Julia quickly started channeling her mana for a spell that would hit a wide area right away. Robing followed suit and when they were both done the fireworks were able to start. Julia's spell let out a huge torrent of flames that surrounded the entire area of the battle. The flames gave off tones of heat and lit up the entire room. The torches in the vicinity of the fire attack were consumed and Joshua could already hear the screams of pain from the creatures that were trapped in the large wave of flames.

Robin then followed up with a lightning blast that slammed into one of the centipedes burning it to a crisp before bouncing around to all of the other creatures caught up in Julia's spell. The combo of powerful spells cleared out all of the lizards right away which came as no surprise to anyone in the group. The lizards didn't stand a chance against their group when they were climbing the side of a cliff let alone in a situation where they were able to take the lizards by surprise. What was surprising was the fact that several of the centipedes died as well. The guardian centipede's exoskeleton would have been able to withstand such an attack, but that didn't seem to be the case when it came to these smaller centipedes.

When the flames cleared up the entire group felt a surge of experience while there were only three centipedes left alive. All of them were in horrible condition with pieces of their exoskeleton falling off and pus and innards falling out in some highly damaged areas that had already been broken open by the lizards. Joshua took this chance as an opportunity to observe the centipedes and found out that they were level seventy-eight creatures with three stars by their names. They were more powerful than the lizards, but nowhere near as strong as the guardian had been. A few well-placed bullets and arrows from Aito and Katsumi were able to put the last centipedes down for good.

For the most part Joshua left the burnt corpses alone except for the bones of the lizards which could be used as materials later along with the mandibles of the centipedes that were still undamaged even after being put in such high heat. They then moved on to the back of the area that had a path that continued on along with a treasure chest to the side of it. Joshua was mildly surprised by the fact that there were treasure chest so early on in the dungeon.

Marcus checked the chest for any traps and then Joshua opened it to find a pair of short swords that seemed similar to the mandibles of the centipedes. Although they weren't weapons any of them planned to use at the time it would be nice to see what Nathan and Naomi could do with them. With the room cleared out and checked, they all headed down the path once more to see what else the dungeon had in store for them.