Chapter 27 - [Mangrove Swamp]

I didn't like the [Mangrove Swamp] the instant we were transferred in. We appeared in the middle of muddy ground where I could feel my feet sink in a couple of inches. All around us were huge mangrove trees that shot to the sky. The smell was horrendous

From the information the hunters gave me before we came, this land where we were transferred to was the innermost small patch of land surrounded by a muddy swamp. Our enemies would be coming all around us from the innermost ring of the swamp

The swamp was special as it had multiple rings. The first wave of enemies we would be facing would all be from the first ring, and the moment all those enemies were killed, a barrier between the innermost ring and the second wider ring would dissipate.

The moment that barrier dissipated, all the monsters from the second ring would rush towards you. There were 5 rings in the entire swamp, with the fifth ring releasing the BOSS. This really was a killer dungeon. I didn't like the sticky and hard to move in environment, but my mind couldn't help but think of the possibilities of this dungeon with my abilities

To prevent the complete wipeout of the hunting squads, the hunters designated one of the monsters they faced with the title of [Princess]. They could kill all other monsters besides this [Princess], she had to be protected at all cost. Otherwise, the moment she dies, the 2nd barrier will break and more enemies will rush in before they could catch their breath

I understood their entire system and soon began to feel the earth trembling beneath my feet. Humongous monsters were coming.

The first one entering my eyes was a 4-meter large alligator, its huge jaws wide open as it lunged at our group. I instantly cast [Flames of Torment] and flung the thick pillar of flames forward as if it were a spearheading directly into the open jaws

SSSS!

Sounds of meat being burnt rang out, with a burnt smell right after as the inside of the alligator was destroyed by the rotating pillar of flames. I was thankful that this rank D skill had reached 100 proficiency and continued to be enhanced by support skills that allowed it to take down rank B monsters

"Haha, good work newbie!" The short tank, Lana Stone, was holding the tower shield twice her size shouted as she and the rest of the group members moved to block and attack the other incoming alligators

"I'll hold on to the [Princess]!" The other tank with a flail and golden shield said as his body glowed blue and withstood the charges of other alligators. The berserker with the broadsword held his sword now enveloped with flames and swiped at the neck of another one, making a clear clean-cut as if there was no resistance from their scaly armor

The other berserker with two swords struck out and unleashed a huge cross-shaped sword light that went forward to butcher another set of alligators. The two mages weren't lagging behind as they had already cast their spells. The area in front of them quickly became icy and froze all the incoming alligators, which is when the berserkers came in and shattered them with a swing of their swords. The mages then pulled back behind Lana before continuing to cast other spells

I liked their teamwork and began moving seriously myself. 10 golden swords appeared in the air and rushed down to each of the remaining alligators besides the [Princess], piercing their hard dry scales and nailing them to the ground

I did this repeatedly a few times, taking down tens of alligators before the hunting squad looked at me in surprise after witnessing the enhanced power of [Smite] and shouted words of encouragement soon after as they went to reinforce the Knight with the golden shield on holding off the [Princess].

"Newbie, I knew I felt something special from you. Don't hold back!" Lana said as she went to help hold off the one remaining alligator, her small body powerfully moving the large tower shield as if it was weightless

The two Knights rotated on holding off the [Princess] until 10 minutes passed when everybody had regained most of their energy, a sword bathed in flames ended its life. A sound was heard as if a bubble had popped, before even more tremors could be heard as more alligators rushed in

The squad members always stayed in a tight-knit formation throughout, with the mages and I in the middle, the Knights and Berserkers on the outside. Even while being swarmed by tens of alligators, they held them off successfully

I was casting [Smite] after about every minute thereafter, cleaning off a majority of the alligators without completely overpowering everything and making the short tank throw me even more fiery gazes

The chosen [Princess] of this round was kept alive for 20 minutes before everyone was good to go once more. We repeated this process until the third and fourth barrier was released, the thrill getting to me as I watched these powerful rank B hunters throw out skills in similar power to mine

The release of the fourth barrier was only done after a [Princess] had been held down for half an hour, the hunter squad regaining their strength at their peak before all of their gazes focused on the male mage. They seemed to come to an understanding as they nodded their heads and told me to not go away from them under any circ.u.mstances while we began clearing this next wave

I nodded curiously as I waited to see what surprise they were going to pull off as I watched more than a hundred huge alligators desperately clawing their way towards us. The mage held his staff forward as he was protected in a circle and aimed it toward the incoming monsters. Thirty seconds passed with nothing happening, and then the heat began to rapidly rise all around us

I was shocked as I looked up and saw balls of thick magma raining from the sky and barreling down to the large groups of alligators making their way here.

BOOOM!!!

Sounds like bombs were constantly going off could be heard whenever the large balls of magma fell down and burned everything around it, turning any that were near into mincemeat. More than half of the alligators were wiped out with this one attack

My eyes shined as I looked at the heavily panting mage that had fallen to the ground. That type of skill...I wanted one!

My heart was pounding as I replayed the scene of the raining magma balls from before. This skill, I really did want one badly. If I could grab a skill like this, with my abilities...I was imagining how I could easily clear out large groups of monsters in seconds

I was daydreaming too much as someone had to scream to get my attention back to the monsters. "Come on newbie, don't lay there gaping and let's take care of the remaining beasts!"

The miniature tank was laughing crazily as she went forward to block the remaining wave that had reached us. I clicked my tongue while bringing back my focus and cast [Smite] once more. I shaved off a majority of the remaining crocodiles by casting the 10 golden blades every 30 seconds. With the 2 berserkers butchering with their swords, only a [Princess] soon remained. The moment this remaining alligator was killed, An unimaginably large TITAN would be coming for us

I was curious to see how they usually handled this BOSS if their mage chose to cast such a powerful skill just before to avoid being surrounded by hundreds of alligators. Which hunter would come out with another surprise now?