Stepping down onto the 6th floor, the environment abruptly shifted from the artificial forest of the Oasis to a damp, claustrophobic stalactite cavern. The air was thick with the suffocating stench of sulfur and rust, accompanied by the unsettling sound of hundreds of claws skittering across the stone walls in the dark.

  The new monsters revealed themselves: Venomous Arachnids, grotesque cave spiders the size of large hounds. They swarmed the ceiling and squeezed into the crevices, waiting for the perfect moment to drop onto their prey.

  "Formation Beta. Watch out for poison," Mosin ordered. His voice was flat and icy, completely devoid of the madness that had consumed him in the Oasis just an hour ago.

  "Understood!" Michael and Uncle slammed their massive shields into the ground, forming a solid, semi-circular iron fortress to block attacks from above. Dozens of massive spiders plummeted down, crashing against the metal with heavy thuds, but they couldn't even leave a scratch on the top-tier vanguards.

  Meijin darted out like a shadow. His daggers sliced with surgical precision, severing the monsters' joints and vital organs. Dark green venom splattered across the cavern floor, but the young Assassin was always one step ahead, completely untouched.

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  Behind the defensive line, Sarah finally regained her bearings. She cast an Anti-Venom Aura, enveloping the entire party in a protective glow. Though the spiders were disgusting to look at, their attack patterns were far more predictable than the mutated High Lone Wolves. Her suffocating anxiety eased slightly.

  "So annoying," Mythy mumbled through a yawn. The thirteen-year-old boy didn't even bother dodging the thick webs shot his way. He simply snapped his fingers.

  FWOOSH!

  A sphere of intensely hot blue flame materialized in mid-air. It detonated instantly, the fire traveling along the overlapping spider webs like a lit fuse. In the blink of an eye, hundreds of Venomous Arachnids were incinerated into ash. Their agonizing screeches echoed through the cave before abruptly falling dead silent.

  "Is that it?" Mythy shoved his hand back into his pocket. "I told you, this floor is just trash too."

  "Cut the chatter. Gather the mana stones and let's move down to Floor 7," Mosin interrupted, his face a flawless mask of apathy.

  Everything was easy and smooth again. The S-Class party executed their roles perfectly, moving forward as if the chaos and paranoia of the previous floors had been nothing but a mere coincidence...

  None of them realized that this temporary ease was simply the dungeon's anesthetic, injected right before the real slaughter began.