Chapter 339: Battleroach King (1/2)

Zac stared at the mouth of the entrance with confusion, not understanding who could have placed an array there. He couldn’t imagine anyone managing to sneak all the way down to the bottom of this roach-infested cave system in one piece and not leave a single trace behind.

The effect of the array wasn’t limited to simply blocking out the light from the crystals, but it was also hindering most of the green gas from escaping. Judging by the density of the green mist in the tunnel Zac guessed that only 10% of the gasses escaped through the array, if even that.

He carefully looked around the entrance for any array flags, hoping that the design would give a hint of the origins of whoever had placed it there. However, no matter where he looked he couldn’t find a hint of the source of the array, making him wonder if this thing might actually be one of the natural formations he had read about.

But a clattering from further inside the tunnel quickly caught Zac’s attention, and he slowly moved forward with his axe and shield at the ready. The radiant tunnel turned out to be less than 50 meters long, and he immediately reached another large cave after turning around a bend.

The whole cavern was filled with a green mist, reaching all the way to the ceiling tens of meters in the air. But even with the thick haze he had no trouble seeing what was going on inside. The cave was blasted by the emerald light of the large crystals, and the light pierced through the mist without any trouble.

His eyes only lingered on the surroundings for a fraction of a second as there was something that immediately commanded his attention. A huge hulking battleroach lay unmoving close to the center of the cave, seemingly asleep. The layered carapace along its back slowly moved up and down as though they were fans, but Zac noticed that green mist was continuously being sucked into the gaps beneath the shells.

It was the Battleroach King that commanded the center of the cave, and there were quite a few differences between the king and its subjects. The Battleroach King was completely emerald for instance, rather than the brownish-black of the normal battleroaches. It was also huge, spanning over five meters in length.

Its long legs looked a lot sturdier compared to its brethren, and short serrated blades ran along their length. A casual swipe would likely bisect most people without effort. Its mandibles were enormous, spanning over a meter as well. Finally it even had a large horn, reminding Zac of some beetles.

The presence of the huge battleroach was so intense that Zac didn’t notice the other object in the cave for a few seconds. But soon enough he spotted the large stubby mushroom that grew just a few meters away from the large beast.

It was almost a meter tall and had a fat bulbous stalk and a spherical cap. All in all, it looked a lot like a supersized fly agaric, apart from its colors. The stalk was a deep purple while the cap was emerald and studded with black spots. It looked extremely toxic, though Zac had a feeling that actually wasn't the case.

It was the first plant that Zac had seen inside the cave system since entering. More interestingly it looked like the mushroom was the source of the massive clouds of green mist. After putting two and two together he quickly realized that the mushroom was the [Primordial Breath Amanita].

Zac frowned when he saw that the treasure was out in the open. A battle at his level would cause pretty massive shockwaves if he went all out, and he was afraid that the precious mushroom would get ruined.

Then again, the cave was quite massive, a few times larger than the outer caves where thousands of battleroaches had been crammed together. He would simply have to move the battle away from the Amanita. Seeing how close the beast was to the mushroom it should be quite important to it, so it would hopefully comply immediately.

There was nothing else for Zac to do at this moment apart from getting on with it, so he stepped out into the cave and immediately used [Inquisitive Eye]. Zac breathed out in relief when he saw that the beast was level 94, just 2 levels above the minimum required to complete the quest.

Luckily he had only cleared out the last floor to avoid any reinforcements during the battle. If he had slowly made his way down while killing the roaches on each floor there was no way he would have been able to finish the quest for [Profane Seal].

A piercing screech suddenly echoed through the cave as the roach king woke up. It had noticed the prying and it was enraged that someone had encroached upon its domain. Zac wasn’t surprised that he had been exposed because his observation skill was truly basic. He immediately ran into the cave, wanting to move as far away from the mushroom as possible.

Zac only had time to take a few steps along the edge of the cave when his danger sense screamed at him. He quickly summoned [Immutable Bulwark] to protect his front, but the next second a huge force lifted the bulwark with lightning speed. The battleroach king used its horn to wedge beneath the shield, and had yanked it up with superior power.

It was the first time his skill had been so effortlessly circumvented by a beast, and Zac barely had time to move his real shield as well before the beast slammed into him with tremendous force. Zac was thrown into the wall with enough momentum to make his head spin, and a few of the crystals embedded in the wall painfully dug into his back.

The attack wasn’t over though as the enormous mandibles closed in around him, aiming to split him in two. Zac’s brows rose in alarm as he quickly pushed his large shield upward to use it as a wedge, and he immediately infused it with the Dao of Hardness.