The Mist Vol 1 Chapter 30

Vol 1 Chapter 30

After encountering a few more groups of monsters, they were able to stand in front of the crude stairs leading down to the 3rd floor. Even the occasional users they had seen in the distance were nowhere to be found in this area.

"Good job everyone for making it this far."

The party leader Coolt said with a friendly smile.

"The boss will be right there as soon as we go down, so please check your status one more time."

At those words, Kapros briefly checked his own status. Most of his magical power was still left, and his health was OK. Even the hood pulled down over his head was free of any body fluids. Thinking this was good enough, he looked forward again to see that the others had also finished their checks and were quietly silent. There was a tense atmosphere as they faced the 3rd floor where the boss was. Of course, it was true that this party had swept through the 2nd floor smoothly, but it was an unchanging rule that one boss was as strong as dozens of other monsters anywhere.

"If you've all finished checking, now is not the time to let your guard down. I'll go down first."

As Coolt started descending into the pitch-black darkness below, the others began to follow him in a group. Yu-wan, who seemed as uninterested in other people as Kapros, was still standing next to him. Just as they reached the end of the darkness, suddenly screams erupted from the people who had gone ahead, accompanied by a splashing sound.

"Kyaaah!"

Rushing forward with an urgent feeling, Kapros saw the priest Rona covered in some kind of liquid, her upper body melting away, and Alsina screaming beside her.

"This, this can't be!"

Since it was an adult service, such scenes were probably visible. Soon, light leaked from Rona's corpse as she died and logged out, fading away dimly. Wondering what had happened to Coolt and Ashul who had gone ahead of her, Kapros looked around, but they were standing unharmed, having apparently escaped quickly and stuck to the wall. In short, those who had quickly come out and stuck to the wall were safe, while the priest who had just appeared at the entrance following them had been hit.

However, the most important thing, the appearance of the enemy, was nowhere to be seen.

"What on earth..."

As Ashul muttered in surprise, Coolt also gripped his sword hilt with a shocked expression.

"This, this is strange. The boss that should be here, the Lord Skeleton, isn't the type to attack like this. It overwhelms opponents with its height of over 3 meters. There wasn't any news of other updates..."

At that moment, Alsina, seeming to have come to her senses, pointed at her own clothes which had holes where the liquid had splashed.

"Look at this. This is acid. ...Doesn't it seem similar to the attacks of those zombies from above?"

"But it's too strong for that... and above all, the range of the liquid..."

While they were engaged in useless arguments, having fallen into a mild panic, Kapros saw Yu-wan slowly walking towards the inside. Unlike until now when he had acted as if trying not to stand out from behind, his large strides clearly revealing his presence suddenly drew everyone's attention to Yu-wan.

"Wouldn't it be better to advance for now rather than staying here?"

"Let's go." As he spoke in a stiff voice, Alsina and Coolt, stung by the atmosphere, closed their mouths and began to follow him as he went ahead. There was no point in arguing uselessly; the priest was dead anyway. Now that she, who had supported the entire party, could not come back alive, it was time to think about the battle with the remaining members. However, Kapros quietly followed, staring intently at Yu-wan's back as he walked straight ahead with his back perfectly straight.

Because of his too natural behavior and overwhelming atmosphere, everyone seemed to have forgotten, but this party definitely had a leader named Coolt, and he had been leading them until now.

The party member called Yu-wan had not seemed like someone willing to participate cooperatively in the party until now. He had been holding back as much as possible, minimizing his words as if he didn't want to reveal his presence more than necessary, but that situation had completely reversed in just a moment with a single word. Could this situation really be a coincidence?

'Well, I might be overthinking things.'

They quietly followed behind Yu-wan. The moment they entered the wide hall beyond the long path, that liquid flew at them again from inside.

"Whoa!"

Yu-wan, who was at the front, dodged as if he had expected it, and the rest behind him also managed to avoid it safely. The liquid that fell to the floor, making a hissing sound as it melted, was large enough to look like a small puddle. It made sense that the priest's entire upper body had melted away as soon as she was hit earlier.

"So it's attacking by shooting this liquid like a water gun."

Ashul said in a tense voice.

"But its form still hasn't appeared..."

At that moment, Yu-wan turned to look at Kapros and spoke briefly.

"Mage-nim, I've heard there's a magic that can detect invisible enemies. Is it possible?"

Magic detection...! A look of vague understanding flashed across the companions' eyes.

"It seems impossible for us to detect the enemy in this darkness unless we search with magic."

Seeing the others' eyes light up with expectation only after hearing those words, Kapros frowned. It was an action he could make because it wouldn't be visible under his hood anyway. He knew immediately what magic Yu-wan was talking about. It was Detect Magic.

"Yes, it's possible. I'll cast it right away, so please step aside."

Detect Magic was a 3rd circle spell, and although Kapros had learned it, he hadn't thought the ability to find hidden things using magical power would be useful in combat. He looked over the party members who had stepped aside and moved forward.

As always, the start was naturally extending his right hand in front of his body and drawing a circle. As light flowed from the trajectory of the circle following his fingertips, the party members' eyes widened round, as if it was their first time seeing magic being cast. Even Yu-wan was staring intently with his eyes wide open. To someone seeing it for the first time, this sight would look incredibly fascinating. Kapros had felt the same way.

'But this is just the beginning.'