Barred Paths

[…

You have killed 1 Common Changeling

ExPs obtained: 230

You have leveled up

Warning: Attributed Points not applicable

Warning: Skill Points not applicable

…]

Aldrich saw the continuous notifications and remembered the Crawler's Stats. The monster wasn't quite strong per se, but it's Skills were deadly and unavoidable. The thing was a walking Mana tank.

[…

Record of Common Changeling

Status: Healthy

Level: 5

HP: 193/193

SP: 154/154

MP: 626/626

Rank: Common

Attributes -->

Strength: 7

Defense: 9

Agility: 9

Vitality: 10

Perception: 25

Correspondence: 32

Active Skills -->

1. Blessed Call

2. Identity Duplication

Passive Skills -->

1. Fog of Thousand Illusions

…]

As Aldrich killed both the Crawlers, the fog around their bodies vanished. The fog took away the nearby trees and vibrant green grass along with it. And it left behind rotten and deserted earth, full of cracks. The patch of lifeless earth looked as being painted over a background of tropic scenery. The whole second floor was nothing but a breeding den of these Changelings.

After using the 3 Miles Shot, Aldrich realized that the second floor wasn't nearly as big as that of the 1st floor. It had taken them an entire day to cross that tunnel. He looked at two more Changelings approaching Tomiko and Seong. They were already in a deep state of illusion from the Blessed Call. A shield was rotating around the pair, meaning that the Korean Tanker had yet to lose his bearing.

Aldrich checked on Sonu's condition and put him over his shoulders. The dead Crawler couldn't get the time to steal Sonu's identity. Otherwise, his end wouldn't have differed from that of Mantis. Aldrich dashed in Seong's direction. It was a great opportunity to get back to his original Level. And there was one more thing that he could take care of along with it.

[…

Title Quest (optional): Kill 100 Common Ranked Crawlers (50/100)

Title Reward: Enemy of Crawlers

…]

There weren't enough Crawlers on this level to complete his pending Title Quest. But their numbers still approached a significant mark. Aldrich took care of the two Crawlers while heading over to his destination. By the time he reached there, Seong had already lost consciousness. And Tomiko, incapable of motion, had miniscule traces of intelligence in her half-opened eyes. Aldrich dropped Sonu off, gave a brief look to Tomiko, and vanished.

The slaughter that ensued needn't be mentioned. Aside from their illusions, the Changelings were quite weak. The greenery of the second floor was getting erased at the rate of seconds. A dagger in the Crawler's mouth cut short its last call to the warriors of the ocean. The barren ground with spider-web cracks here and there had an ominous red tinge to it. In the distance, Aldrich could see an arch-like gateway followed by stairs leading up.

By the time the group got back control over their senses, Aldrich had already cleared out the sources of their terrible state. Aldrich approached the group of four, who were looking at him like watching a monster. Tun Bo Ag still looked groggy from all the screams and songs even after consuming his Strength Potion.

"Who are you?" asked Tomiko, clenching hard on her Naginata.

It didn't matter if they thought it was Aldrich or another Crawler. They had already labeled both as inhuman. The group had shared their Levels at the entrance of the Dungeon. There was no way one could have leveled up fast enough to survive such illusions and kill all the Crawlers on top of it. But Aldrich didn't feel like explaining himself. He threw a Strength Potion at Tun Bo Ag and walked towards the Arched gateway. He had a feeling that the Elite would be right behind it.

"Thank you for saving my life," Sonu said, just as Aldrich passed by him.

Aldrich nodded.

"Can we trust him?" Seong said, directing the group's gaze towards the mummified body of Mantis. It seemed like the only thing keeping him alive was the Crawler's belly.

"It doesn't matter. If he wanted to kill us, who among us could have stopped him," Sonu said, taking a deep breath.

The four of them headed over towards the stairs, maintaining a considerable distance from Aldrich. All things were silent around them. The bellows of dust, the creaking of earth's layer under footsteps, and their racing hearts did nothing but enhance this silence's gravity. But the most silent among them was Tomiko.

"What are you thinking?" asked Sonu, worrying if the horrifying events had traumatized her.

"Nothing, I am alright," replied Tomiko, staring at Aldrich's back.

She hadn't remembered how someone saved her or who saved her. When she woke up, both Seong and Sonu were still unconscious. But she had a vague memory that he had seen someone. But that wasn't the reason for her silence. It was the feeling that had come with memory. Tomiko didn't know if any of the other three by her side had seen or felt a truly strong Dreamer's presence, but she had. And the feeling that she had undergone was enormous even compared to her master's standards.

"How can that even be possible?" Tomiko asked herself in complete bewilderment.

The group climbed up the stairs, and through a small opening in the roof, entered the third floor. Unlike the previous 2 floors, it felt like a dome building rather than a natural setting. The wall of the dome was made of mud, and the dry grass had covered the entire floor. The round walls converged on to a 50 ft tall archaic door. But the most eye-catching was the person or Crawler seated in front of it.

The black-armored Crawler in the meditation posture was headless, and one didn't need to go far to look for its head. As one could see it clearly on its lap. The head was even more rotten and porous than the mummified head of Mr. Mantis they had seen. Just as the group had entered the floor, it also opened its eyes.

Aldrich saw as the Crawler's hand took hold of its head's hair and stood up. It raised its hand and the head alongside it. The air fluctuated around its body with black flashes. And the members looked in horror as an ear-to-ear grin crept up on its face. The whole dome livened up with the echoes of its demonic laugh. The left empty hand of the Crawler reached towards its neck and with a jerk pulled out its spine. Aldrich's eyes shook as the normal sized spine shuddered and elongated to 15 ft. The whip's bones shone with an ominous glow.

The headless knight barred the road to outside. And the Party members behind Aldrich get to know that it was going to be a bitter fight. But Aldrich wasn't thinking of fighting at all, his eyes were already glued to the Stats over the Crawler.

[…

Record of Common Dullahan

Status: Healthy

Level: 10

HP: 546/546

SP: 448/448

MP: 860/860

Rank: Common

Attributes -->

Strength: 30

Defense: 26

Agility: 30

Vitality: 30

Perception: 25

Correspondence: 60

Active Skills -->

1. Will of ?#?#?#

2. Demonic breath

3. Banishment

4. Summon

Passive Skills -->

1. Pain Manipulation

…]

Aldrich got a disastrous feeling reading the Skill of Crawler, which he couldn't see. This was the second time he had come across such a situation. The first being with his own. He still couldn't see the name written in the description of his Metacreativity Skill. But now he knew to whom that name must have belonged. And if there was some connection between these two Skills, then none of them might leave this place alive. Aldrich took out his Daggers, seeing the Crawler walking towards them like taking an evening stroll.

"Let me out of the Party. It is beyond your capabilities," Aldrich said, without taking his eye off the Crawler.

"Are you out of your mind? No matter how much stronger you have become, you can't take on that thing alone," Sonu outrightly refused.

"Or maybe he just wants to hog up all the ExPs," said Seong, berating Aldrich for his selfish demand.

"Do it."

Neither Sonu nor Seong thought Tomiko would assent to it. Her gaze towards Aldrich wasn't of submission or trust, but it looked more aligned towards respect.

PAH!

A whip-cracking resounded in the dome. And all could see the heinous thing's smile becoming even more hideous, with its rotten tongue hanging out.

"Hurry!" Aldrich urged.

"Damn it! Okay," Sonu said through the clenched teeth.

[…

You have left the Party

Updating Quests…

Quest 1: Hunt Elite Crawler

Quest 2: Break at least one of the Boss Crawler's Items

…]

The rest of the members got a notification from the System too. And the drastic change in the Quest's difficulty had left the current Party-members totally flabbergasted

[…

Aldrich has left the Party

Updating Quests…

Quest 1 (Party): Bring down the Elite's HP to 40% of its Max HP

…]

From facing the Boss's Skill to bring down Elite's HP meant only one thing.

That the whole reason they were being forced to face the Boss Crawler in the first place had lied with Aldrich and Aldrich only.