A huge blue-striped cat dashed swiftly between the buildings.
A second cat emerged followed by a third, and then a fourth.
A dozen enormous cats ran at full speed, eager to distance themselves as far as possible from those red eyes demons.
They were far from weak. Most were beginner war beast, but that was probably the only reason for being still alive.
A few hundred meters away, the nagas wiped the blood off their spears as they looked at the fifty or so corpses around them.
It was the second group of beasts they encountered since they began traversing the city.
These cats weren't really stupid enough to attack a group with rank 3 beings. It's just that the nagas were holding back their aura to avoid alerting their targets.
This led to such situations.
The difference in strength was such that the battle ended quickly, without causing much commotion.
Liam's forces didn't lose a single man and were at worst a bit tired.
Fortunately, they weren't far from the lair of the cave spiders.
Perhaps because they were approaching the predators' nest, they weren't attacked in the last stretch of the journey.
They left the city and arrived at their target.
The entrance to the cave network was quite large, and three or four nagas could pass side by side without hindering each other in the midst of battle.
Liam wasted no time and led his troops forward.
A few hundred meters further, they reached a junction. Liam chose a random direction, leaving marks on the walls for the return.
The nagas were almost completely silent as they moved. Their long ears stood up, and they waited for every sound in the caves.
As they continued advancing, the nagas' ears twitched, and they stopped, raising their shields in front of them and pointing their spears into the darkness.
Tap tap tap tap tap
The sounds of sharp limbs scraping against the rock grew louder and louder.
Several nagas joined the front line and formed a shield wall bristling with spears.
At the same time, they crouched down while the nagas behind them seemed to gain height. (This was possible thanks to their snake-like bodies).
The nagas behind them set down their shields and slung their spears over their shoulders, grabbing the stakes that always accompanied them and aiming where the sound was coming from.
It was one of the many formations they had learned through battles.
On the other hand, although nagas could see in the dark and this ability improved with evolution, it was still relative.
They were plunged into total darkness and could only see about fifty meters ahead.
At least, spiders weren't known for their visual acuity either, and cave spiders were no exception.
Even though they had twelve eyes that gave them almost no blind spots, their vision was focused on detecting movement.
To navigate in the dark, they relied on the vibration sensors in their legs and their eyes to spot prey.
Eventually, the nagas saw a dozen large spiders moving quickly. Some walked on the walls, others on the ceiling... in any case, their eight legs propelled them forward at great speed.
They were all rank 1 spiders, while the one leading them was a rank 2 spider.
In terms of size, a mortal spider measured between twenty and thirty centimeters wide; a rank 1 spider measured about a meter wide by fifty to sixty centimeters tall, while the rank 2 spider measured 2.5 meters wide by 1.5 meters tall.
As for rank 3, we'll talk about that later.
Seeing them approach, Sylvera waved his hand, and the nagas in the second line threw their stakes.
At less than forty meters away, nagas warriors had nearly 100% accuracy.
The spiders saw the movement but didn't have time to react before being impaled.
The cave shook slightly under the impact, and dust fell from the ceiling.
Fortunately, it seemed sturdy enough to withstand the onslaught of rank 2 life forms.
Liam looked at the corpses and plunged into his thoughts.
According to the quest information, there were several thousand spiders.
This number was huge, but in fact, it shouldn't be such a big problem.
There were two spider queens: one was an advanced rank 3 and the other was a confirmed rank 3.
Besides that, there were about thirty ranks 2, around 300 ranks 1, and thousands of rank 0 spiders.
However, there was a peculiarity with the cave spiders. The rank 0 spiders were all in growth period.
Either they reached rank 1, or they died within a year without being able to reproduce.
In addition to that, they were really weak; even novarians could take on two or three of them at the same time.
Of course, even ants could devour an elephant if they were numerous enough. However, nagas weren't elephants.
Even if they stayed there doing nothing, the mortals spiders could never penetrate the scales of the naga warriors. For the apprentices, there was a risk, but if managed correctly, there would be no problems.
Meanwhile, the nagas had retrieved their stakes, and a rank 1 naga took charge of carrying the corpse of the rank 2 spider.
The corpses of rank 1 monsters had almost no value, but those of rank 2 beasts were precious.
Whether it was the carapace or the legs, they could be used to make weapons for the army.
Over time, some nagas had learned to make weapons from the remains of monsters. Slowly but surely, the nagas were developing in all aspects.
They continued to advance and branched off several times; climbing, descending, turning... Each time, they left a mark on the wall to be able to backtrack.
At the same time, they eliminated two other spider patrols.
At one point, they arrived in a large cave with about ten entrances and exits.
As usual, they thought they would choose a random direction, but their ears twitched as they heard many footsteps.
"Everyone, defensive formation!"
Sylvera reacted quickly, and the nagas formed a circle. Those on the edge of the circle waved their shields and spears, while those in the center held stakes, preparing to bombard what was coming.
At that moment, a swarming mass emerged from all the openings of the cave and spread out on the walls, floor, and ceiling.
"Shit, we're fucked!" roared Sylvera.
Everyone knew the spiders discovered them and decided to go all out.
"Prepare for impact!"
Sylvera leaped with all his might into the air. He spun in the air and coiled his tail like a spring. He bounced off the ceiling and raised his shield in front of his head as he crashed into the midst of the deadly spiders.
BOOM
The entire cave shook, and a huge crater over forty meters wide and half a dozen meters deep appeared as cracks spread across half of the cave.
All the spiders in the surroundings were reduced to pulp and the shockwave sent the others flying around the cave.
Meanwhile, Sylvera felt his arms go numb from the force of the impact.
Several spiders fell from the ceiling and walls.
"Stop that, the cave will never withstand such impacts!" shouted Liam.
At the same time, the rank 2 nagas encircled the rank 1 nagas and began a head-on fight with the beasts.
For nearly a minute, the nagas were like a harvester, continuously crushing the swarm of spiders and killing nearly six hundred.
No matter how they tried, the mortal spiders absolutely couldn't breach the rank 2 nagas' wall. Tail swipe, bite, shield bash, lance sweep... the nagas literally massacred them.
Even if they bit with all their might and spewed silk, they couldn't slow them down or penetrate their scales.
There was also the threat of spiders coming from the ceiling, but the nagas only had to randomly throw their stakes to collapse part of the ceiling, crushing the spiders below.
Liam couldn't help but sigh. If only they could embark on the path of cultivation or become experts, they wouldn't have so much trouble dealing with these little fries.
The battle soon reached a stalemate. On the ground, the spiders couldn't penetrate, while the nagas didn't have an endless supply of stakes to shoot at threats from above.
Several minutes passed, and the spider losses were already in the thousands. The cave floor was littered with blood, rubble, and spider corpses.
They had already eliminated nearly half of the spiders.
However, the nagas had used up most of their stakes.
The bloodbath continued, and finally, they ran out of throwing weapons. The spiders kept pouring in, and once above the nagas, directly jumped.
"In the center, drop your weapons and switch to hand-to-hand combat!" shouted Liam.
In a tight formation, it was impossible to use weapons like spears without injuring their companions.
The nagas obeyed and planted their spears in the ground, beginning a slaughter with fists, tails, and bites.
However, wounds began to appear on apprentices. They weren't like warriors and their scales weren't strong enough.
Even so, they were still far from serious injuries, but injuries would eventually add up.
This continued for some times and the nagas finally saw the end of the swarm.
However, Liam and Sylvera couldn't help but frown.
Even though they killed thousands of spiders, they were just rank 0 cannon fodder. They didn't saw a single evolved beast yet.
Moreover, several apprentices were covered with blood and showed signs of obvious fatigue, although none had died.
Apparently, the spiders were venomous.
At that time, several huge silhouettes rushed into the cave, crushing the small spiders in their path.
Sylvera and the rank 3 nagas roared and left the formation as they rushed towards the spider queens.
They couldn't have a fight at this level near their pears.
At the same time, the nagas widened the defensive circle and put some distance between them.
There were less than a hundred mortals spiders left, and there was no need to go all out to defend against them; those that got through would be killed by the nagas behind them.
Instead, they preferred to have space to deal with the big guys coming in fast.
"Shit, they all came." Liam cursed, but he couldn't do anything.
He turned to Sylvera, who was facing the main queen, and the three great naga warriors who teamed up to deal with the weaker queen.
"Move into the galleries, the cave won't withstand your fighting!"
It was a fact. Even though the cave was more than 1km², they weren't outdoors.
Several huge cracks had already spread across the ceiling and some parts of the cave had collapsed.
With his reminder, the rank 3 nagas quickly led their enemies into the other passages of the cave.
Even if the tunnels wouldn't appreciate the impact, their structure was much more stable than the cave.
As long as they didn't stay at one place, it wouldn't collapse.
The rest of the army can't do such thing. Rank 3 nagas were fast enough to flee if they encounter a dead-end, bud other won't.
They didn't know the galleries, and spiders may just lure them to another trap if they decided to enter the tunnels.
On the main battlefield, fifty nagas warriors formed a security perimeter, striving to protect the apprentices inside who were struggling to stay on their tail.
The other rank 2 nagas shuttled back and forth inside the circle to eliminate the spiders that slipped through the net and support the other nagas in difficulty.
However, the nagas were at a serious disadvantage. They had twice as many ranks 2s, but the opponents were five times as numerous and were all rank 1s.
Not everything could go as planned.
A rank 2 spider spat a silk ball at a warrior and took the opportunity to drive its leg into his body, pinning him to the ground.
It opened its huge mouth and bit his head, making it explode into pieces.
The spiders took advantage to enter the breach and kill several apprentice nagas before the others came to secure the area.
Eventually, the breach closed, and another rank 2 naga took the place of the dead, finally killing the spider that had devoured his comrade.
Rank 1 spiders kept dying, but the ranks 2 ones were a real problem.
They used other spiders as distractions and didn't hesitate to team up to attack the naga warriors.
On their side, the nagas became more vigilant and watched them, avoiding most incidents.
One by one, the spiders were slaughtered, but they sometimes still managed to break the blockade and kill a few nagas.
Liam gritted his teeth, but he couldn't do anything.
At one point, Sylvera returned from one of the galleries and began a real massacre. Regardless of their rank, the spiders died under a single blow from him.
Under his influence, the battle ended quickly, and all the spiders were massacred.
Soon after, the three great warriors returned, supporting one of their comrades who had a deep wound on the chest.
Liam could only sigh as he saw his progress bar move to 2/3.
Out of the 77 nagas who had come with him, only 59 remained. He lost 5 naga warriors and 13 apprentices.
Even though they won, it was still stuck in his throat.
It was by far the worst losses he ever suffered.