Chương 109: Chapter : 109

"Good," Laxmi grinned, cracking her knuckles.

"Because this cave is super boring. We haven't seen a monster in at least ten minutes. I need to punch something before my arms get cold."

"Please don't jinx it, Laxmi," Luna yawned loudly from the back, leaning heavily on Zinia's shoulder as she walked.

"If we can just grab the shiny rock and go home without fighting anything else, I would be so happy. I really want to take a nap."

"You just woke up two hours ago," Zinia chuckled, easily supporting Luna's weight.

"But I agree. A clean grab-and-go would be great." The 13th Unit carefully turned the corner of the dark tunnel. Suddenly, the damp, gloomy shadows of the cave completely vanished. They stepped into a massive, wide-open cavern. Unlike the rest of the dungeon, this room was not dark at all. The walls were covered in strange, beautiful crystals that pulsed with a soft, cooling white light. The air in the room felt incredibly fresh, completely free of the dirty, toxic smell that filled the rest of the cave system.

But the most important thing was sitting right in the very center of the room. Resting on top of a natural stone pedestal was a large, perfectly round, glowing white stone. It looked like a piece of a fallen star. A freezing, pure mist rolled off the stone, rolling gently across the floor.

"Look!" Princess Iris gasped softly, her violet eyes widening with pure hope. She took a step forward.

"That is it. That is the Core of Luminus." Naomi let out a massive, relieved breath and pumped her fist in the air.

"Yes! We found it! And there is nobody else here! Princess Hestia and her spotless little team didn't beat us! We are the first ones!"

"We actually won the race," Sayma smiled, closing her notebook. She looked incredibly proud of her team.

"All we have to do is secure the Core, put it in a containment bag, and head straight back to the Upper Council. We are going to get those ten points." Ken shuffled into the glowing cavern, slouching his shoulders and shoving his hands deep into his pockets. He looked at the glowing rock on the pedestal and gave a lazy nod of approval.

"Well, that was easy," Ken said happily.

"I love it when missions end quickly. Let's just grab the giant ice cube and get out of here before someone else shows up. Does anyone have a grocery bag we can put it in?" Laxmi jogged forward, pulling a heavy, magical cloth bag from her belt.

"I got it! Let's pack this thing up!" But just as Laxmi took three steps toward the pedestal, the entire cavern suddenly shook. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. It wasn't a normal earthquake. The sound came from directly above them. A loud, terrifying hissing noise echoed off the crystal walls. It sounded like a massive snake, but it was easily a hundred times louder than any normal animal.

"Get back!" Zinia yelled, her survival instincts kicking in instantly. She lunged forward and grabbed Laxmi by the back of her shirt, violently yanking her away from the center of the room. A split second later, a massive shadow dropped from the high ceiling. CRASH! The monster landed directly in front of the pedestal, completely blocking the Core of Luminus. The impact cracked the solid stone floor, kicking up a huge cloud of dust and glowing mist.

When the dust finally cleared, the 13th Unit found themselves staring up at a complete nightmare. It was a Lamia. It was a giant, terrifying monster that was half-snake and half-woman. Its lower body was a massive, thick tail covered in dark, metallic green scales that looked as hard as steel. The tail was easily forty feet long, coiling tightly around the base of the pedestal. Its upper body looked somewhat human, but heavily mutated.

It had pale, sickly skin, long wild hair that moved like living vines, and glowing yellow eyes with slit pupils. It didn't just have two arms; it had six long, muscular arms, and each hand ended in razor-sharp, jagged claws. The Lamia reared back, towering over the girls, and let out a deafening, ear-piercing screech.

"Okay, I take it back!" Ken yelled immediately, taking ten very fast steps backward until his back hit the cave wall.

"This is not easy! That is a giant snake lady! I hate snakes! They don't even have legs! How do they move so fast without legs?! It makes no sense!" Naomi didn't even yell at Ken to shut up. She was too busy pulling out her daggers.

"Sayma! What is that thing?!"

"It is the dungeon boss!" Sayma shouted, quickly raising her hands to prepare her golden barriers.

"It must have been sleeping on the ceiling! The Core of Luminus is its food source! It is not going to let us take it!"

"Then we have to put it back to sleep!" Laxmi roared. She didn't hesitate for a second. She threw both of her hands forward, launching a massive, roaring ball of orange fire directly at the Lamia's face. But the Lamia was incredibly fast. The giant snake-woman didn't even try to block the fire. She just flicked her massive tail against the floor. The sheer power of her muscles launched her entire body to the side in a total blur. The fireball missed her completely and exploded harmlessly against the back wall.

Before Laxmi could even blink, the Lamia was right in front of her. The monster swung two of its six arms, slashing its jagged claws directly at Laxmi.

"Absolute Hexagon!" Sayma screamed. A glowing golden honeycomb shield snapped into place right in front of Laxmi just in time. CLANG! The Lamia's claws hit the golden shield with the force of a speeding train. The sound was deafening. Sayma actually screamed in pain, her boots sliding backward across the stone floor. Massive, jagged cracks instantly appeared all over her golden barrier.

"She is too strong!" Sayma panicked, struggling to hold her hands up.

"Her physical power is ridiculous!"

"I got her!" Naomi yelled. Naomi used her green wind magic to dash right behind the Lamia. She jumped into the air, aiming her sharp daggers directly at the back of the monster's neck. It was a perfect sneak attack. But the Lamia didn't even need to turn around. She just whipped her massive, heavy tail backward. The thick, scaly tail hit Naomi right in the stomach while she was still in mid-air.

"Gah!" Naomi choked as the air was knocked completely out of her lungs. She was sent flying backward, skipping across the hard stone floor until Zinia managed to catch her.

"Are you okay?!" Zinia asked, quickly throwing up a thick wall of rock to block another incoming claw swipe from the boss.

"She is... way too fast," Naomi gasped, clutching her stomach and struggling to stand up.

"I couldn't even see the tail move."