Mascher stayed behind to block the spiders that broke through the flaming bullets fired by Muherr, while Golem continued charging at the front.
The most annoying part about fighting in the narrow passage was clearing away the spider corpses.
Fortunately, Ronin still had Owl stored in his ninja tool pouch.
Whenever the number of spiders killed by Golem reached a certain point, Ronin would use Big Cloak to wrap all the corpses up and stuff them behind the group.
That allowed the team to keep advancing smoothly while also creating an obstacle for the spiders chasing from behind.
However, his action left the members of the mercenary squad extremely surprised. After all, that ability was completely different from the category Ronin had displayed so far.
This was clearly a Conjuration-type ability.
Although Transmutation was adjacent to Conjuration, training both categories to such a high level was not simple at all. Even a genius would find it difficult—unless Ronin wasn't the Transmuter they had assumed him to be, but a Specialist instead.
But even then, it still felt unbelievable.
Ronin noticed what they were thinking, so he explained, "This isn't my ability. It's an ability I obtained the right to use from someone else."
He didn't explain any further. In his view, that was enough.
After all, he couldn't exactly release Owl and show everyone.
After hearing Ronin's explanation, everyone let out a relieved breath, but then they looked at him apologetically.
Their reaction had honestly been a little rude.
Ronin looked at them with amusement, but didn't say anything.
Still, with Owl's ability, their speed through the passage did increase significantly. And when they finally left the passage and returned to the hall with the three choices, the sound of gunfire and occasional explosions reached everyone's ears.
It seemed that while they had been busy exploring the underground city, the spiders had already passed through the passage and even surged out of the ruins.
Ronin looked worriedly toward the entrance of the passage on the right.
"There isn't much danger there, at least not in the areas we've already explored. If you're worried, have Vanessa accompany you in to take a look first," Muherr said, seeing through Ronin's concern.
Besides, the mercenary corps' next task would likely be assisting the royal army in clearing out the spiders pouring out of the ruins. It wasn't something that absolutely required Ronin's participation.
"That works," Ronin said, having no objection.
Vanessa emerged from the shadows, waved at Ronin, then sank back into them again and rapidly moved toward the entrance of the passage on the right.
Ronin's figure flashed as he stopped holding back. Any spider blocking his way was easily punched or kicked aside.
Some of the spiders struck in vital areas died outright, while others were tough enough to struggle back up.
But before they could, Nen bullets pierced through their bodies.
The mercenaries were supporting him, while also preventing any spiders from developing Nen.
After all, these giant spiders had truly impressive physiques. If they actually endured Ronin's Nen-infused attacks and had their aura pores opened, there was a certain chance they might awaken Nen.
Even if they only mastered it instinctively and mindlessly, their strength would increase tremendously.
Because of that, the mercenary corps had long since established one rule: any target struck by Nen abilities had to be confirmed dead as soon as possible.
Ronin was extremely fast. In the blink of an eye, he was already about to catch up with Vanessa.
But near the passage on the right, the number of spiders actually decreased. Instead, there were more spiders around the middle passage, and some were even desperately squeezing into it.
It was as if, compared to the outside, the smell coming from the middle passage attracted them even more.
After clearing away the spiders blocking the entrance, Ronin and Vanessa entered the passage together.
They still encountered a few scattered spiders, but after walking for several minutes, the spiders disappeared. Instead, they came across people who had entered this passage ahead of them.
Those people had also dealt with quite a few spiders.
Ronin's arrival made them unable to resist asking about the situation outside. After all, not everyone could deal with spiders as easily as Ronin and Muherr's mercenary corps.
Ronin told them what was happening outside. As for what they chose to do after that, it was no longer his concern.
During this whole process, Vanessa never once emerged from the shadows.
With the Sharingan's perception, Ronin could easily track Vanessa's movements, but no one else could.
They didn't even know Vanessa had already moved through their shadows earlier.
Vanessa's Nen ability really is perfect for assassination, Ronin couldn't help thinking.
The two of them moved extremely quickly. Before those people who had received the news could say anything else, Ronin and Vanessa had already disappeared into the depths of the passage.
The people left behind looked at one another, but they had no intention of immediately leaving the passage to join the battle outside.
Since the royal army and the mercenary corps had already joined the fight, all they had to do was wait patiently.
After passing through the long passage, the place they arrived at was not as vast or prosperous as the underground city. It felt more like a tomb chamber.
Looking ahead, they could see a large number of rooms and traces of people once living there.
Vanessa emerged from Ronin's shadow.
"This was the first area we explored after arriving. There are only a small number of monsters here. Most of what remains are traces of people who used to live here. We just don't know what relationship those people had with the underground city.
"The place where we found traces related to the Kurta Clan is in a room farther ahead. I'll take you there first. But the items from that area have temporarily been collected by the captain. Once we get out of here later, he should show them to you."
Vanessa walked around to Ronin's front and continued forward at an easy pace.
Ronin quickly followed, his eyes scanning the rooms they passed along the way.
Signs of rummaging and investigation could be seen everywhere. Since the Kingdom of Aite didn't care whether the ruins were damaged, the people who entered to explore them clearly had no intention of preserving the site either.
"These traces weren't all left by our group. Some were left much earlier," Vanessa explained.
Ronin thought for a moment. "Tomb robbers?"
"Right. The first people to discover the Mahawi ruins were a team of tomb robbers. It was also their greed that released the monsters from the middle passage. After the monsters attacked the nearest town, the Kingdom of Aite's army finally started taking this seriously," Vanessa explained as she walked.
Ronin noticed that the farther in they went, the fewer chaotic traces there were.
Instead, guards began appearing outside the rooms. When those people saw Ronin and Vanessa, they immediately became cautious.
However, after realizing that the two had no hostile intent and did not plan to seize the rooms they were guarding, they relaxed slightly.
Even so, they kept watching the pair until Ronin and Vanessa had completely walked away.
Some of these people had entered the ruins with Ronin's group earlier, while others had already been working on excavating the ruins for some time.
Soon, Vanessa stopped.
The room in front of them also had people guarding it.
Only this time, the two guards were wearing mercenary combat uniforms that Ronin recognized.
~~~
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