“Ugh, disgusting!” Lisa grimaced as she incinerated a cluster of spiders clinging to the ceiling. The creatures curled and shriveled in the fmes as their webs disappeared into nothingness. “This dungeon is way creepier than I thought it would be. I hate spiders!”

  The party reached the dungeon’s location yesterday evening. Alicia expertly guided them through the Bckwood Forest. Their journey was mostly uneventful, with only a few encounters with mana beasts. However, the team members handled these challenges pretty well and arrived at the dungeon gate without any major incidents. After a full night’s rest this morning, they finally began the raid.

  Upon entering the dungeon, they found themselves in a long, narrow corridor dimly lit by flickering torches mounted on the walls. That's when Lisa's worst fear came true: a hallway littered with spiders and their webs. Ranging in size from a penny to as big as her face, they were nearly everywhere—hanging from the ceiling, crawling on the ground, and some just chilling on the wall.

  “Seriously, if I had known it would be like this, I wouldn't have come here,” Lisa compined, incinerating spiders on sight as their party moved slowly down the corridor.

  “This is the first floor of the dungeon. Due to the warm and humid weather, many spiders live around here. You’ll hardly find any once we move…” Alicia tried to console her, but her words faltered as she saw three zombie-like monsters approaching from the darkness of the hallway. Their limbs and heads were stitched with their torso, giving them a humanoid form. Their sharp, scale-like teeth glistened even in the dim light of the torches.

  “We’ve got company!” Throne informed everyone as he unsheathed his twin daggers. “Get ready!”

  The monsters charged at the party, intent on killing and dismantling them. But Dale stood his ground, holding them at bay with his massive shield. Throne dashed forward and decapitated one of the zombies with inhuman speed. Lisa sidestepped and cast the [Fireball] spell. A crimson sphere of fire shot toward the zombies as they piled on each other to climb over Dale's massive shield. The fireball erupted, engulfing them in fmes. Both zombies shrieked in pain.

  “So they can feel pain as well. Let’s see how they like this one, [Brusting Arrow].” Raul spoke as he fired an arrow enchanted with his weapon skill. Upon impact with one of the zombies, the arrow exploded violently and blew them into pieces.

  “That was easy,” Dale smirked. “I didn’t have to do anything.”

  “Don’t worry. You will have plenty of opportunities to show your skills off.” Alicia also smirked in return, “We are just getting started.”

  Within a short amount of time, they made decent progress through the hallway by clearing hordes of zombies. Along with the zombies, Lisa made sure to burn any creepy crawlers she encountered.

  “Are we close to the first boss, Alicia?” Thorne asked.

  Alicia nodded with a serious expression. She pointed toward the darkened hallway stretching in front of them. “Yeah, about a hundred meters from here, the hallway turns right and ends in an open chamber. The dungeon’s first boss, Citron the Cyclops, should be there. We defeated him st time, but since we failed to clear the dungeon, he must have respawned by now. He guards the staircase to the next floor, so we must defeat him to move on to the second floor.”

  “Alright.” Thorne looked over the group. “We’ve cleared the hallway of any roaming monsters. Let’s take a moment to finalize our strategy before facing the boss. Alex, please gather everyone here.”

  Alex signaled for the party to gather around, and they formed a circle in the middle of the hallway. Once everyone was settled, Thorne turned to Alicia. “Please run us through the boss’s abilities and phases once again, Alicia.”

  Alicia took a deep breath before expining. “The first boss, Citron, is a massive Cyclops standing over twelve feet tall. He has four muscur arms and a single golden eye. You should avoid staring directly at it. Otherwise, there’s a chance Citron will switch targets and redirect his attack at you. Citron can strike with the club he’s wielding or punch with one of his free hands. Be aware that his attacks pack a serious punch. Defenders must rotate and switch before their health drops too low.” She gnced at Dale, who returned a confident nod.

  Alicia continued, “The real danger lies in his [Energy Beam] skill. As the fight progresses, Citron builds up rage when he takes damage. The more damage he endures, the higher his rage intensifies. When this accumution hits a certain threshold, he unleashes a high-intensity beam of pure energy from his eye. It’s a devastating attack. The beam is locked onto the nearest enemy, which is usually one of the defenders. Although the attack is target-locked, its area of effect is quite broad. Anyone caught in the bst radius would certainly be dead.”

  She hesitated momentarily before adding, “Last time, we lost two members because they couldn’t escape the bst zone in time. The skill takes a few seconds to charge up. So, as soon as Citron targets one of the defenders, the defender must move Citron’s face away from the group. Ideally, we should position Citron to face the back wall to minimize casualties. This way, the defender would be the only one taking the hit. The other party members must use their strongest defensive abilities on the targeted defender to keep him alive.”

  “Sounds like a job for me.” Dale cracked his knuckles. “With my magic resistance, I should be able to take the hit without too much trouble.”

  Alicia nodded. “Yes, you are the right person to take the hit. I have no doubt about your abilities, Dale, but once Citron finishes releasing its [Energy Beam], we need to take him down quickly. A second hit from the [Energy Beam] will be too much for even you to handle. After Citron stops shooting the beam, it will be vulnerable for a few moments.”

  Alicia paused momentarily to catch her breath and continued, “That would be our chance. Damage dealers should use their high-damage spells to burn him down during that phase.”

  Dale grinned. “Rex, guys. I have brought my brand new Gaxy Obliterator five thousand. It can handle four or five of those beams, no problem.” He raised his shiny new shield for everyone to see.

  Lisa rolled her eyes. “Great, another weirdly named shield.”

  “Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” Dale protested, feigning offense.

  Lisa replied. “Overconfidence gets people killed, Dale. So don't be so full of yourself. No matter how strong you and your new shield are.”

  Thorne cpped his hands, refocusing the team. “Ok. Looks like we have a pn. Let's go then.”

  Lisa noticed Olivia lingering at the back as the group began moving forward. Usually, Olivia was the most focused during team meetings, brimming with energy and questions. But today, she seemed disconnected, as if something was bothering her greatly. Lisa slowed her pace until she was walking beside her.

  “Hey, Olivia,” Lisa said softly. “Are you alright?”

  Olivia blinked as if pulled from deep thought. “Huh? Oh… yeah. I’m good.”

  Lisa narrowed her eyes. “You sure? You seem distracted.”

  “It’s nothing. Don’t worry.” Olivia forced a smile, but Lisa wasn’t convinced.

  “You know you can tell me anything, right? I can see something is bothering you. Keeping it to yourself won't help anyone.”

  Olivia hesitated before finally exhaling. “It’s just that… I have this strange feeling. From the moment we entered this dungeon, it felt like something or someone was watching us.”

  Lisa frowned. “You think we missed some of the monsters back there?”

  “I… I don't think it’s a monster. It's nothing like what we have faced so far in this dungeon. It feels much more sinister in nature.”

  Lisa nervously looked around the darkened hallway that stretched behind them. The thought of something lurking in the darkness suddenly sent a chill down her spine. “Well… we’re already in too deep. We can’t turn back now. Let’s focus on what’s in front of us first. One step at a time.”

  Olivia nodded and started moving forward with the party, but the uneasiness lingered on her facial expression. After walking for a few minutes, the group reached the end of the hallway. The passage turned sharply to the right, opening into a vast chamber. As they made the right turn, the air suddenly felt heavy, thick with the scent of damp stone and something metallic, like blood.

  Then they saw him.

  The Cyclops stood alone in the center of the rge, empty chamber. Citron was an imposing embodiment of muscle and brutality. He towered far above the heads of the adventurers, his four thick arms bulging with raw power. Citron’s skin was hardened and rough, resembling cracked brown leather, while scars crisscrossed his chest. A testimony to countless battles. His lone, gleaming eye was at the center of his broad, squared face. It was like an orb of molten gold with a vertical slit that dited as it focused on the approaching adventurers. Citron’s jaw resembled a strong, chiseled anvil of bone and muscle. His jaw was lined with tusk-like teeth that jutted slightly from his lower lip. He exuded pure menace, akin to a predator savoring the moment before the hunt.

  Thorne let out a low whistle. “That’s bigger than I expected.”

  Lisa swallowed hard. “We’re actually fighting that thing?”

  “Hell yeah, we are!” Dale cracked his neck. “Get ready, everyone. Let’s see what it can do.”

  The Cyclops let out a low, rumbling growl. Then, with terrifying speed, he reached for a massive wooden club at his side and lifted it effortlessly. The chamber trembled as Citron the Cyclops stepped forward, his enormous frame brimming with raw power. His singur golden eye gleamed with cold malice as he squared off against the adventurers standing before him.