brother's retry (the beginning after the end)

widows crypt III

As the larger queen began devouring the smaller one, I couldn't help but become perplexed by what was happening in this dungeon. There were more than ten floors here, with minion snarlers inhabiting all but the tenth floor, where the queen snarler dwelled. The reason this dungeon was considered a beginner dungeon was because the queen never left the tenth floor, allowing for easy training up until the very last floor.

Although the queen snarler was a B class mana beast, a large party of E class adventurers was still capable of defeating it.

Which brought another question to mind: Was it normal to have more than one queen in the dungeon? From what I had read, queen species were very territorial, and aggressive to any potential competitors that threatened their den.

Professor Glory didn't really think much of it but I couldn't help but be bothered by it. This brought me to my last inquiry. How were those two queens so much stronger than they normally should be?

I could understand Professor Glory having a hard time against two B class mana beasts that were considered dungeon bosses, but she shouldn't be losing. An A-class adventurer was supposed to easily dispose of the kind of queen snarler I had read about.

"Why is that one so much stronger?" Professor Glory got up as she groaned, cleaving a few minions out of her way.

As I fended off waves of snarlers, my attention kept on drawing back to the queen snarler eating its former ally.

"Professor, does this usually happen?" Arthur asked.

"Well, I've heard that some species of mana beasts do indulge in cannibalism but I've never really seen this particular case. Why now of all times, I have no idea." Shaking her head, she picked up her other sword and made her way towards her opponent.

As the queen snarler finished consuming her fallen comrade, a bizarre change occurred. Its once grey fur turned jet black and the small horn on its forehead that I failed to notice at first curved upwards, growing substantially. The once beady red eyes turned sharp and menacing—almost psychotic—as it began foaming from its mouth as well.

Professor Glory didn't say anything but I knew that there was a growing sense of doubt in her mind as the beast charged at her. Until now, getting back home safely was considered just a matter of time, but even I couldn't help but involuntarily grip my blades harder from the murderous intent that exuded from the queen.

"Professor! We can't... keep this up!" Tess shouted hoarsely amidst the growls and hisses of the enemy.

Her condition didn't look too good and brought to my attention a rather obvious problem we were now facing.

"Everyone! No more fire spells! The entrance of the cave is blocked so our supply of oxygen is limited!" I roared out.

From the burnt pile of corpses accumulating, the air was becoming thick as some of the weaker students began coughing uncontrollably.

The queen and Professor Glory were at a stalemate, with our professor drifting towards the losing side. As I focused on the main battle, I could see that the fighting style of the queen snarler had completely changed. There was no trace of hesitation or sense of self-preservation. Each attack it lashed out at Professor Glory was with the intent to kill without caring for its own body. Usually that should've been its downfall, but that unique queen snarler's black fur was able to absorb most of the damage from our professor's attacks.

"Arthur... I think... my mana core is beginning to... act up." I heard Tess, who was a few meters behind me and to the right, fell to her knees as she began clutching her abdomen.

Fuck.

'Dad wha-'

'We ran into a problem, I'll handle it but if anything gets worse get here asap.' I responded before focusing back on what was happening here.