"Dead?!" Aster raised his voice, reeling back in shock.
Party 3, like Party 4, was composed of members quick on their feet, and skilled at escaping even when surrounded. Hearing that his other party members had died, leaving only one survivor cast a heavy silence over the group.
"... Can you tell us what happened?" Lizandrea asked gently, moving closer to the lone survivor. She understood the pain of recalling such events but knew they needed information to proceed.
"It happened so fast..." The man spoke in a detached tone as if recounting a story rather than his own experience. Aster noticed he was still in shock, unable to fully accept the reality.
From his recounting, their party was exploring the cave without much trouble, diligently marking dead ends. However, as they checked the second-to-last branching path, another dead end, disaster struck.
"A large spider, over five meters tall, with a red carapace blocked our path."
