Chapter 69: Mutual Exploitation

The atmosphere inside the cave remained tense.

Players fought with all their might to break through, while the leader maintained that loathsome, grotesque grin, commanding his subordinates as they hunted within the cave.

With the addition of the warriors, beasts, and fighters, the six players who hadn't been trapped by the swamp were suddenly overwhelmed; after a few skills, their MP was nearly depleted, and their HP couldn't recover fast enough—they were gradually losing ground.

Under the leader's direction, the beasts focused their fire and coordinated with the mages, using sheer numbers to pick off the players one by one.

Although first-tier monsters inflicted little damage on second-tier players, the relentless attacks caused the players to falter, unable even to replenish their health with potions.

Finally, two players were bitten to death by the beasts, unable to recover their HP in time.

The four survivors felt their pressure multiply, their HP dropping sharply at alarming speed. When only four remained standing, a turn of events occurred—the first swamp spell's duration ended.

Nine freed players wasted no time, charging into the battlefield at full speed.

Revitalized by the fresh reinforcements, the players regained the initiative. In peak condition, they easily withstood the firepower of the mages and fighters, swiftly splitting into four groups to eliminate the harassing warriors and beasts one by one.

With the warriors and beasts slain, only two nearly spent mages and three fighters, whose close-combat ability paled next to the players, remained.

At last, the leader, seeing the situation slipping from his grasp, could no longer sit still.

As soon as the first fighter fell, the massive leader sprang into action—shooting forth like a cannonball, his greatsword following with an incredible speed, slashing through the air.

Three players, who had been focused on the fighters, were caught off guard by the sudden rear attack and were sent flying, landing far away like broken sacks, their equipment dropping as all movement ceased.

This unexpected turn once again shattered the balance of the scene.

Yet it also ignited the determination of the remaining players; two immediately unleashed their skills, pouring all their strength into defeating the mages and breaking the swamp spell, freeing the last trapped players.

Then, a dozen players circled around the leader from several directions, charging for the passage behind him.

---

Unfortunately, the leader reacted swiftly, retreating with remarkable speed and blocking the passage ahead of time.

"Damn!"

"Don't force it! Finish off the fighters first! Watch out for the leader!"

Seeing their path blocked again, the players learned from experience. One quickly spoke up, and the group withdrew together, not giving the leader another chance to dwindle their numbers.

In the face of desperation, they finally understood the meaning of teamwork.

After regrouping, they quickly killed the two level-18 fighters, eliminating threats to their rear.

Twice the leader tried to move in, but both times his plans were foiled by players on either side, ready to break out. Ultimately, he was forced to watch as only four fighters remained, blocking the opposite passage.

Players who had hoped to break through during the leader's charge suddenly felt a chilling fear.

Too human-like!

The leader was cunning enough to abandon the fighters to achieve total annihilation—his thinking was almost indistinguishable from real humans.

Fortunately, it was only his thought process that resembled theirs, not true intelligence. Otherwise, with precise calculation of his speed and attack path, he could have wiped out all the players here single-handedly.

Despite their fear, the dozen surviving players realized the leader wouldn't leave the passage for now, feeling somewhat relieved.

They had deduced that the leader intended to wear them down with summoning magic or other means, but it wouldn't happen quickly.

This brief respite gave them hope. After discussing, they decided to deal with the remaining fighters before devising a way to distract the leader.

Before fighting, they needed to restore their depleted MP; only then could they handle any unexpected situations with confidence.

With the plan settled, thirteen players split into two groups, keeping their distance from the leader and settling down to rest.

---

Only now did their attention finally turn to the scavenger qilin, who had been killing warriors nearby, oblivious to the turmoil.

For these close-combat specialists, having someone capable of ranged attacks would greatly increase their chances of breaking out, even though he was only a first-tier class.

But as they glanced over, some sharp-eyed players noticed that the scavenger qilin, previously level 14, had now reached level 15! In just a short while, he had gained a level.

"No wonder..."

Thinking back to how he had ignored their battle to focus on killing monsters, a few players realized: he had been close to leveling up, which explained his absence.

Relieved, one immediately called out to the scavenger qilin, who had stopped fighting:

"Hey, brother over there, come lend us a hand!"

Receiving their invitation, I finally turned my gaze away from the leader, smiling inwardly: "I happen to need some allies myself."

Just now, I had observed closely—the fighter defense line at the passage was clearly weak, likely to collapse at any moment, yet the leader showed no reaction. It was highly unusual.

This uncertain, unsettling factor convinced me to cooperate with them—or perhaps, more bluntly, to use each other.

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Nine days left on the new book rankings. To maintain three chapters a day, there won't be extra updates this weekend.

Still, I hope everyone will shower Little Black with votes!

Because Little Black hasn't dared relax for a single day, writing more than ten hours daily, working hard to stock up...

So—summoning recommendation votes!