A nauseating splatter rang out. When everyone looked over, they saw that the corpse worm had been smashed into a pool of gore.

Before anyone could recover from the sudden turn of events, obscure incantations spilled from Sophia’s lips. The dragon scales on her wand flared brilliantly.

Whoosh—

A curtain of water appeared from thin air, blocking the entrance to the first floor. A terrifying wave surged straight through the entrance.

“Ahh—what is that?!”

“A tide! It’s that high-ranking mage! Everyone, retreat!”

Chaotic shouts came from the entrance. Once everything finally fell silent, Sophia let out a relieved breath.

“W-why?”

An adventurer stared at Sophia as she leaned on her wand and panted. He asked weakly, still astonished.

Sophia only shot him a glance and didn’t answer.

The moment that Necromancer had said, “One won’t do,” she’d understood.

He only wanted to trick her into the entrance and assassinate her with a hidden killer.

After all, the only way a powerful mage could be made safe was to kill her.

Bribes and temptations?

They didn’t work in this dark, ruthless world of adventurers.

“Water Spirit’s Blessing!”

Sophia began chanting again. Her melodious voice rang out.

Countless tiny blue lights appeared in the dim dungeon, then melted into the fallen adventurers’ bodies.

“Whew… I feel quite a bit better.”

“Indeed. We owe all of this to the mage lady!”

Sophia remained silent as she listened to the adventurers’ praise.

Just moments ago, they’d been glaring at her with venomous, resentful eyes. Now, they treated her like a blessing sent from heaven.

She didn’t blame them. In an environment like this, staying alive meant they couldn’t afford to hold themselves to lofty moral standards.

“Get up, quickly! My water barrier won’t hold them for long. Once you’ve recovered, we have to break out and meet them head-on. Otherwise, they’ll wear us down and kill us here!”

Sophia spoke at lightning speed.

The adventurers scrambled to their feet, picked up their weapons, and forced themselves to shake off their weakness.

Sophia watched them coldly without saying a word.

She knew that if the Brown Bear Group dared to come here, they must’ve made thorough preparations.

With this battered, beaten-down group in front of her, breaking out would only lead to one outcome…

But Sophia had never said she would take them with her.

As long as they could draw the enemy’s attention, that was enough.

That was what Sophia told herself.

She desperately tried to console her conscience.

I have no choice.

Without her, these people would die anyway. If they followed her out, they might at least have the slightest chance of survival.

Just then, a strange sound suddenly came from the entrance to the first floor.

Everyone turned toward it at once.

They saw fireballs flying through the water curtain toward them.

The fireballs came in a dense barrage, but Sophia’s water barrier had reduced their power to almost nothing.

One warrior easily swept his sword through the air and scattered a fireball.

Sophia frowned.

She didn’t believe the Brown Bear Group’s members were all idiots. They wouldn’t make such a foolish move and waste their strength for nothing.

As sparks covered the ground and more weak fireballs continued to fly in, a flash of insight crossed Sophia’s mind.

Before she could grasp it, however, it vanished.

The rain of fire was dense. Though it didn’t injure anyone, it still set fire to several adventurers’ robes.

“Tch, what a pain! This is my favorite cloak!”

A warrior complained as he removed his tattered, burning cloak. Then, looking heartbroken, he threw it aside.

By sheer coincidence, the cloak landed on the corpse of the warrior who had already died.

Flames crawled along the scraps of cloth. By the time everyone noticed, a sizable fire had already risen from the corpse.

No one cared.

In this cold, gloomy place, the flames even gave them a little warmth.

Even though they were burning their companion’s corpse.

But when Sophia saw those flames, every alarm bell in her mind began to ring.

“Water Orbs!”

Her wand flashed, and water orbs smashed into the fire one after another. The flames were quickly extinguished.

The others stared at Sophia, baffled by her actions.

Then, a strange fragrance slowly drifted over.

“Oh no!”

Sophia’s expression turned grim.

She knew that smell. It was the scent of sleep herb burning.

The smell no longer affected humans or elves. The only ones it could affect were certain dungeon creatures.

Bzzzz—

A strange buzzing rang out.

The entire cavern shook violently. Everyone looked up and saw two enormous points of light glowing on the dark stone wall.

“It’s a Stone Giant! Two of them! There are two Stone Giants!”

An archer identified the owners of those “points of light” with remarkable sharpness. He cried out in terror.

The others panicked.

All they could do was helplessly watch as those lights drew closer and closer.

At last, the creatures emerged beneath the faint light of the cavern.

Those weren’t “points of light.”

They were the eyes of Stone Giants!

Their massive heads alone stood taller than a warrior. Their dull, yellowish eyes stared blankly at the group.

Bzz—

The Stone Giants released another strange buzz.

A chunk of stone crumbled away as one enormous arm swung down and smashed into the charred corpse.

Fragments of stone flew everywhere. One nearly sliced through Sophia’s black robe.

Sophia bit her lip.

She had miscalculated.

That Necromancer had guessed from the start that she wouldn’t submit. With nothing more than a single stalk of sleep herb, he had laid two traps for them.

Sophia remembered sensing something faintly wrong in the area when they’d been returning along the same route.

Now that she thought about it, the Brown Bear Group must have lured the two Stone Giants here while they were gone.

She didn’t know what method they’d used to make the giants fall asleep.

In the end, they had awakened them with the scent of burning sleep herb.

“Hummm—”

The two Stone Giants looked at each other.

Amid their buzzing, they seemed to reach some kind of decision.

The next second, their originally yellow eyes turned blood-red.

“Watch out!”

Sophia shouted.

One Stone Giant’s arm was already crashing down.

A warrior was caught completely off guard and was smashed into minced flesh.

That finally snapped the other adventurers out of their panic. They frantically searched for cover.

Sophia continuously recited incantations, raising layer after layer of water barriers before the group.

But under the Stone Giants’ savage assault, her mana was draining at an alarming rate.

Boom—

Boom—

Boom—

Every strike from the Stone Giants felt as though it were pounding directly on the adventurers’ hearts.

They stared at the giants in terror and helplessness.

Several mages hurriedly squeezed out what little mana they had left, frantically constructing defensive spells.