Chrysalis Chapter 1776 - A Web

Or… am I?

Maybe I got a bit overconfident boasting that I'd uncover whatever lurks below. Battling the nonstop barrage from slugs and their monstrous pets proves challenging enough, yet these cramped, winding, forking tunnels turn navigation into pure hell!

Abrupt drops lurk everywhere, infinite branches split off, some passages end without warning, while others suffer such heavy infection that I doubt the floor can bear my weight. Without my tunnel map, I'd be hopelessly lost in mere seconds, with zero chance of escape.

I've prowled these depths for hours now, exploring over a hundred twisting offshoots already!

Irritated by the endless ambushes hitting from every direction, I gamble and lunge into the right-hand tunnel, seeking some breathing room, a short break to puzzle out this madness. Naturally, it's a blunder. Any hasty action spells disaster in slug domain—they're far too cunning, and I've never encountered so many traps as in this place.

As expected, the instant my legs touch down, the ground crumbles under me, the ceiling cracks apart, unleashing a swarm of needle-snouted worms. Brilliant.

With force magic, I hurl the worms away and peer below. Sure enough, a sludge pit. Fortunately, I'd kept a Gravity Well ready for exactly this, deploying it to suspend myself mid-air.

Some worms still latch onto me, attempting to drill through my carapace. Their efficiency shocks me. Specialized nose materials prove razor-sharp, combined with devastating acid ejected from their teeth under immense pressure. Truth be told, it's remarkable how they fare against my reinforced shell, considering their small size and probable low tier.

Still, they pose no real danger. Big deal if they pierce five or ten centimeters of my dense diamond exoskeleton? I've got layers to spare!

Eager not to dawdle, I haul myself sideways, aware a flood of monsters will soon plummet after me. Indeed, they cascade down, hordes of creatures plunging into the trap and splashing straight into the slimy depths.

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I can't fathom how my guards endure this nightmarish maze, yet they're holding up. I peek at them occasionally via the Vestibule to confirm they're breathing, and they are, though details escape me. Astonishingly, they've fanned out across the zone, patrolling various tunnels nearby, with some hugging tight to my carapace's underside for minimal risk.

Beasts simply overlook them, so the terrain remains their greatest peril by far. That stealth knack is extraordinary, backed by potent Skills honed over years, no doubt.

A living haze of corruption slithers from the spongy walls, aiming to engulf me from the rear, but I'm prepared.

Flames erupt from my mandibles as I spin, setting the thing ablaze—it detonates in a blazing inferno. Whoa, didn't see that flammability coming!

Scorching waves engulf me, singeing my antennae but sparing the rest. Throbbing, slime-filled sacs on the walls wither, seared by the abrupt fierce blaze. Right then, something intriguing catches my eye.

Embedded in the chamber walls pulse thick tubes, up to a meter wide, weaving and merging like the mana veins of the first stratum.

Seizing the fleeting calm from the blazing remnants of the fallen cloud, I examine this find closely. Just as I suspected from afar… it's revolting, yet oddly, fluid courses through these conduits.

What in the world is happening here?

Defying caution, I slash the tunnel wall with a mandible's keen inner blade, greeted by a blast of high-pressure mucus. It hisses as it etches my carapace; I jerk my head to fling off the vile goo.

Yuck!

Once I've scraped away the bulk of the muck, realization strikes. If this spongy tunnel network of grime is the fifth stratum's lungs, brimming with constant mana infused into every surface… I've likely pinpointed the source of the slugs' endless sludge.

From this spot, they're hauling it away! There's no question they've devised a complete setup to extract it from these pipes; moreover, at the point where these conduits merge and carry the sludge from the region, that's undoubtedly where the highest density of Krath lurks. They crave dominion over this slime, that's certain!

That implies... by following the mucus pipes, I'll track down the slugs.

Gweheheheh. You're in my grasp now, slugs. Did you believe you could conceal yourselves from me? No one can escape me!