Witch Troupe and the Undead

"Ugh~" Livia clung tightly to the rope ladder, her petite body trembling, her eyes red as she looked down at the ground, which wasn't actually that high.

"Come on, just a little bit more down." Roach and Leslie encouraged her from below. The little witch stretched out her foot with difficulty and took a shaky step down. The rope ladder shook violently with her movement. "Ah!" The little witch screamed and clung tightly to the rope ladder, hanging there.

"Just one more step, try harder, you won't fall." Livia managed to take one more step down, a height that was enough for Roach to grab her calves. "Come on, I'll support you, come down slowly."

"Ah!" Livia's weak strength finally ran out, and she fell backward into Roach's arms, where he caught her.

"See, nothing will happen."

"Waaah~" The little guy's eyes were full of glistening tears, his emerald green eyes were filled with a thin layer of mist, his face was flushed, and his little fists were clenched tightly in front of him, making him look like someone you wanted to bully.

“There are no monsters inside, and there are still some supplies,” Vivi said as she emerged from the camp. The entrance to the camp was blocked by a collapsed stone beam, requiring people to bend over to enter or exit. After everyone had gone inside, Luo Qi moved the rusted metal plate at the entrance to block the cave entrance.

Because there are many air holes between the rubble blocking the road, there is no need to worry about air circulation or smoke from the campfire. The rest camp is not very large. There is a large water tank against the wall. Water dripping from the top of the cave accumulates in the tank and overflows along the edge, flowing into the ditch next to the wall and draining out.

Opposite the water tank was a makeshift adventure stove, with two Y-shaped iron frames inserted into the ground and a black metal mesh plate. It could burn charcoal or coal briquettes, since this fuel was smaller and generated more heat than firewood. It could also be used as a temporary marker, and even the ash left behind could be used as a simple exorcism powder.

Roach took some charcoal from the black horse's back and placed it on the grid plate. Then he found a metal rod on the inner side and put it on. After that, he only needed to hang the pot he was carrying on it to use it as a cooking table.

If necessary, wood can also be burned, and the mesh plate below can be used as a barbecue grill. It's not impossible to heat soup on top and grill meat below. As for whether it will get charcoal ash or something, adventurers don't need to worry about that.

“Now we have a crucial question: who will be in charge of cooking?” Back in Hearth City, when we stayed at an inn, there were cooks brought by nobles along the way. But now that we’re in the maze, there are only three people who can cook: Vivi, Roach, and the fairy Titania, who are no longer pretending. The fairy is only good at making desserts, and the rest aren’t very good at it.

How do you manage to get around outside?

“Of course we eat it raw!” Leslie said matter-of-factly. As a mermaid, how could she possibly cook on a fire underwater? They can eat raw meat. Their bodies have special mechanisms to digest raw meat and fight off various bacteria such as Clostridium botulinum. At the same time, mermaids’ stomach acid is a special strong acid that has a very powerful killing effect on parasites.

“I’ll cook, and this monster heart… is it really okay to eat it however you like?” Vivi was referring to the still bleeding heart.

"Yes, the heart of the Shadow Dragon is the simplest to eat; you can eat it however you like—roasted, boiled, or raw. The only requirement is that the interval between servings shouldn't be too long; if it's more than 3 hours, it won't be effective. It's recommended not to stew it in soup, and the serving size should not be less than 1/2 of the heart."

"Hmm, then we'll just have to grill it and eat it." Vivi ran her index finger across the surface of the heart. "By the way, this blood isn't useful, is it?"

"It can be used to make potions," but after looking at Livia wrapped in a blanket with tears in her eyes, everyone felt that this function was no longer useful.

Vivi squeezed her heart hard, letting the foul-smelling blood fall into the ditch. She then added a spoonful of water to flush away the blood and filth. The external drainage ditch plunged into the abyss to prevent the safe zone from being discovered by monsters because of the smell of blood. That would not only harm herself, but also any unlucky souls who would come to this area in the future.

The dragon heart was simply cut in half, then sliced ​​into thin pieces and placed on a baking tray. Under the heat of the charcoal fire, the thin slices of heart quickly curled up and emitted a strange aroma.

The seasoning consists only of salt and a small amount of mixed spices, which are made from a few common and inexpensive spices such as rosemary and fennel. Expensive products like pepper, which require growth in tropical and subtropical regions, are rarely found.

"Crunch..." "It tastes awful." Roach took a bite, and the taste was very subtle. It could only be described as awful, but that was all. Roach and Leslie each ate half of the heart and felt like nothing had happened. They wondered if Old Ma was just fooling them.

"What are you thinking? This isn't a magic potion. How could it take effect as soon as it enters your stomach? It will only start to work slowly after about a day of digestion." Since only one person eats half of it, the maximum improvement will only be that their skin will have the defensive power of raw cowhide, and their bone strength will increase by a maximum of about 15%, making them less likely to fall and fracture.

"By the way, what's the deal with that withering beetle?"

"Those are scarabs corrupted by the aura of the underworld. Normally, scarabs guard graveyards, but under special circumstances, they can transform into monsters that bring death."

In this world, the scarab beetle is not a dung beetle, but a carrion beetle. It is oval-shaped with a golden line around the edge of its shell. It is just an ordinary insect, but because of its ability to eat corpses and prevent them from turning into zombies, it is considered a guardian of the cemetery.

Most ancient tombs are marked with scarabs, and some scarabs are deliberately kept in the cemetery. If one's ancestors for eighteen generations lie obediently in their coffins, these scarabs will find it difficult to invade the coffins. However, if one's ancestors do not lie obediently in their coffins, they will be eaten by scarabs before they become high-level undead.

However, if the scarab beetle is contaminated by too much Netherworld power in a short period of time and eats too many corpses that have turned into a purplish-black withering beetle.

They will devour each other until only one remains, and their size will increase dramatically. Like the Shadow Dragon, they are both calamity-level monsters. The Shadow Dragon is because of its strong combat power and excellent mobility, while the Wither Beetle is because of the Wither Plague carried on their bodies.

"The symptoms of infection are black spots on the body. The body tissue around the spots will wither and die quickly, and the person will rot while still alive, eventually becoming a bloated living corpse."

After death, the corpse's abdomen will explode, releasing highly toxic plague smoke. There are no effective herbs to treat it; the best solution is to gather everyone together and burn them. Furthermore, this plan of gathering the sick and potential carriers can only be carried out by extraordinary knights with [superhuman physiques].

"In addition, the wither beetle itself is quite powerful. Its body is covered with barbs, and its carapace is extremely sturdy, providing strong defense against almost all types of attacks. It can also fly and dash short distances."

The only weakness is that this beetle dislikes light and often hides in caves to wait for prey. Since it has become a semi-dead creature, it will not die even if it does not eat for a long time, but will only become weak.

"Are there any panic-level monsters on the second floor?"

"As far as I know, no, it only appears on the third floor."

The main monsters in [Danger Zone] are Calamity-level, while Panic-level and Lord-level are relatively few. Threat-level and Ferocious-level monsters are practically nonexistent, and harmless-level monsters are everywhere, such as the sound of giant bats flapping their wings that everyone heard again outside.

When we encountered the Shadow Dragon earlier, the Kamaitachi, who had disappeared somewhere, stood on the railing, sniffing around with its little nose, seemingly trying to locate its prey. The next second, the Kamaitachi pounced down and caught another giant bat that had taken flight. Dinner was in the bag.

The bread, toasted to a fragrant crisp over charcoal, was cut into quarters by the Thorn Sword, spread with melted cheese, and then sprinkled with chopped nuts and onions rich in fat. A simple adventurer's dinner, satisfying their needs for calories, protein, and vitamins, was thus prepared.

The little witch and Titania shared a portion of bread. The little one took small bites of the bread, making sounds like a squirrel eating. Her little face was so full that you wanted to poke it.

"The taste is actually not bad..." Roach took a bite. The saltiness and milkiness of the salty cheese mixed with the wheat flavor of the white bread. It wasn't bad. With the addition of chopped nuts and onions, the texture was just a bit strange. It was much better than the monster heart that he had forced himself to eat before.

"By the way, Roach, on the way, we need to make sure to collect some edible fungi and other food. The food we brought might not be enough to get us there."

Black Horse whispered to Roach that they carried the usual travel food for adventurers, but there were two problems. First, Livia's physical condition meant that their travel speed was less than half that of normal adventurers, which meant they would have to spend twice as much time on the road.

Secondly, there's Vivi. As a Dragonborn, she doesn't need to eat much when maintaining her normal human form. However, when maintaining her Dragonborn form, her food intake is about the same as 2.5 Roach's. Even if she maintains her human form for a long time, she still needs to have a big meal regularly to replenish nutrients and energy, otherwise she will become weak.

"I understand, but I'm not very familiar with the vegetation in the dungeon, and I might collect some poisonous plants."

"It's alright. I took a look, and there are plenty of antidote materials growing around here," the black horse said nonchalantly, revealing the terrifying truth.

After resting for a night, the team left the area and continued down the stone bridges. Livia's fear of heights slowed the team down. The further down they went, the more damaged the roads became, and in many places, Roach or Vivi had to carry her across.

So, a week after entering the Black Abyss Cemetery, Roach and his companions ran out of their last rations and had to start foraging for resources on the spot. The good news was that, according to information gathered by Black Horse's senses, adventurer teams were starting to appear above.

In other words, during the week that Roach and his group were away in the Black Abyss Graveyard, the Deathwhisper Fortress had slightly increased the exploration permits for the Black Abyss Graveyard. Some adventurers re-entered the area, most of whom came with official missions, such as investigating the number of undead in the lower levels, why such a large-scale undead attack occurred, and updating information on the terrain and resource locations changed due to the undead tide.

If Roach and his group continue moving slowly, the first wave of adventurers will catch up with them in a few days. At that time, they can trade some materials and food with these adventurers. Such trade between adventure teams is very common, whether it is the trade of spoils or supplies.

They might even trade tools like shovels and torches. There are always a few unlucky guys who explore too many caves and run out of tools, while others don't even find a locked chest along the way. So they trade their extra tools for loot with those who have made a good haul.

You can probably understand it as an act where a fisherman, after failing to catch anything, uses the extra bait to trade with the guy next door who's fishing for good luck for a few fish, so he doesn't go back empty-handed. And the only fish he can get is probably a small catfish—just to make him look better. We're all adventurers, who hasn't failed to catch anything a few times?

Before encountering the adventurers who caught up with them, Roach and his companions had to make do with what they had on hand, mainly using various fungi and leftover dry bread as food. This successfully earned Roach the title of "Mushroom Warrior," and thus, Roach gained an additional talent: "Mushrooms First, Little People Later."

Its effect is to enhance intuition and premonition after eating fungi. The more poisonous the fungi, the better the effect. For Roach, who is not afraid of being poisoned, it is equivalent to having a near-permanent [Intuition UP] effect simply by carrying enough poisonous mushrooms with him.

However, this effect does not counteract the hallucinations and negative effects of poisoning, so Roach politely declined the poisonous mushrooms offered by the little witch.

After achieving the "Mushroom Warrior" achievement, a new milestone will appear: "Dead Fish Mushroom: Discover and consume at least 10 types of highly poisonous fish, and enter a near-death state. 0/10".

"..." "..." After seeing the achievement, Roach glanced at the strange purplish-red fish in the ancient fountain pool in front of him and decisively withdrew his hand.

This is already the middle of the second floor. Although everyone's movement speed is slow because of the little witch, the battles along the way end quickly because of the little witch. After mastering the combo attack, Livia would even look at Roche with eager anticipation when she saw monsters, hoping for some new cool moves.

Fortunately, the dark horse was a proper high-level nightmare demon from hell; otherwise, it really wouldn't have been able to lift such an excessively heavy trophy.

The middle area of ​​the second floor looked like some kind of royal or wealthy area. Roach and his group were standing in front of a Gothic church. The circular fountain was still working, and the fish inside had mutated into purplish-red monsters. Livia looked through a book for a while before finding the name of the fish.

"Mutant fish," yes, the name is simple and straightforward. After being treated with purification agents, it can be eaten as normal fish meat. As for the taste, don't be too picky.

Around the church, patches of Flame Tongues grow. These plants are slender with only one main stem, and are a vibrant red, resembling long, thin tongues swaying in the wind. After being dried and ground, they can be used as materials for fire-based magical items, with effects less potent than Ruby Dust but stronger than Sulfur Powder.

Roach plucked off the flames one by one, ground them into red powder in a mortar, melted them with strong liquor, evaporated and condensed them, leaving behind crystalline golden-red particles, which were used to create the [Elemental Paradigm - Explosive Arrow].

【Explosive Arrow】 can be applied to any ranged weapon ammunition. After being fired, it will explode, creating a splash effect. The specific splash effect depends on the essence and materials used.

If Roach uses the Flame Tongue, the effect is like a white phosphorus bomb. Countless tiny flame particles scatter in all directions, and any unfortunate person that gets touched will be ignited alive. However, unlike white phosphorus bombs, which cannot be extinguished by water, this flame can be extinguished by water and sand, but it can be inhaled into the lungs and burn through them completely.

For this reason, Roach deliberately ground these flame particles again to ensure that the resulting fire dust would be small enough to enter a person's eyes and lungs. Roach's assessment of this paradigm, which was strongly recommended in the Secret Source Sorcerer's Manual, was: a magical version of the Limestone Martial Saint.

It is very useful for arcane sorcerers who are scholars but lack fighting spirit, combat skills and physical strength. It is a must-learn for advanced arcane sorcerers, and even their favorite and most frequently used combat method.

Besides the fire version, there are also frost, electric arc, poison, and soul-torture versions, expanding the combat skills of the Limestone Martial Saint to a higher and broader realm.

However, since the price of Flame Tongues is not low, only cheaper than Gem Dust, Roach would not have thought of making such a thing if he hadn't discovered this place where Flame Tongues grow.

Chapter Sixty-Two: The Real Priest.jpg

The path becomes increasingly difficult as you descend from the middle level. The road is full of potholes, and even the stone bridges have many broken sections, with only a narrow section connecting the two sides of the abyss.

This caused Livia to cling tightly to the black horse's neck the entire time, keeping her eyes closed and not daring to look down. The result of the team's strongest damage dealer being sidelined was that Roach and his team had to advance very cautiously. Fortunately, they still had a second damage dealer.

"Weiwei, besides making bloodline purification potions, you must have more than one reason for studying alchemy, right?"

“Because they’re poor,” Vivi said directly, not caring at all. “Alchemy is the only skill that dragons can learn, but most dragons… are very lazy and either won’t learn it or can’t maintain the perseverance for long. Of course, Vivi is the same, but the time scale of a dragon’s “three-minute enthusiasm” is very different from the human’s perception of time.

They usually spend twenty or thirty years learning, and once they realize they can only get to the basics, they stop pushing themselves.

"Can you fly?"

"No," Vivi seemed to see through Roach's thoughts and shook her head to indicate that she couldn't fly. "I'm not a pure-blooded true dragon. The transformation can only last for a maximum of fifteen minutes. Do you think I can learn to fly?" She would be weak for eight hours after the transformation, otherwise she wouldn't be so eager for the bloodline purification potion.

As for the reason why she is poor, it is quite normal. For dragons, the most expensive part of the bloodline purification potion is the main material, which is the ancestral bone of the dragon tomb and the blood of close relatives. For human nobles, the auxiliary materials are the most expensive. Collecting these materials probably means she has used up all her accumulated wealth. She probably has to work several jobs at the Alchemy Institute to make a living.

"Sniff sniff~" "There's some danger ahead, you should be more careful." Black Horse sniffed the air and his expression became serious. "I smell the rift of hell, it's probably around the second level."

The second layer of Hell is the Swamp of Decay, a world covered by colorful, highly poisonous plants and swamps filled with poisonous miasma. It is inhabited by two demonic races, the "Insect Demons" and the "Tree Demons," who have been fighting each other since the beginning of Hell.

"Get ready for battle!" Roach drew his Thorn Sword and tossed a quiver containing 12 "Explosive Fire Arrows" to Leslie. Vivi also drew her short sword and held it in her hand. She had not systematically studied swordsmanship, but with the power of the unleashed Dragonborn, she could use her strength and power as a form of swordsmanship, though it was very dependent on the opponent.

For example, Liu Bei, who played the crybaby in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, was a genuine sword saint in real history. He was one of the six great sword masters in thousands of years, and also the one with the most difficult sword style for ordinary people to learn. To reach Liu Bei's level, you first need to be able to use a six-pound two-handed sword with one hand and be able to wield both.

Roach believed that the warriors of this world could at least learn the "Guan Ying Fa" and the swordsmanship of wielding two-handed swords from the late emperor. Generally speaking, swords and swordsmanship are not suitable for use on the battlefield, except for Liu Bei's swordsmanship, and the reason is self-evident.

"Hey!" Titania sprinkled out a ring of shimmering dust. [Fairy Trick - Smoke Screen] and [Fairy Trick - Illusion], the former, as already mentioned, would make the attacker feel like they were being squinted by sand and dust, while the latter would add a distorted rainbow-like halo to the person in the smoke screen and distort their image, as if they were in a funhouse mirror.

"Whoosh~" A shadow flew out from the rubble and bricks and pounced towards Vivi, who was at the front. The black-haired girl with braids (in human form) gripped the short sword with both hands and swung it horizontally with force. "Splat!" Green juice splashed and a black spherical object flew into the distance and fell into the purplish-black mist at the bottom of the abyss.

"Inkball Bees, gregarious." The black horse took two steps back, its four hooves burning with black demonic flames to protect itself and Livia, who dared not open her eyes on its back.

"Buzz~" A swarm of Inkball Bees flew towards Roach and his companions. These were low-level "Insect Demons," each roughly equivalent to a ferocious-level monster. Their poisonous stings were deadly, but they were small; even an adult farmer could fly them away. However, they lived in colonies. The dark swarm of bees swept in like a black whirlwind. "Leslie!"

"Whoosh!" An explosive arrow shot into the swarm of bees, and the glittering fire spirit that exploded instantly ignited the wings of the bees. Black wind and red clouds intertwined, and charred insect corpses fell one after another, crashing onto the stone bridge with a crackling sound.

"Continue! Get through here!" With the help of the firelight, Roach saw the huge oval honeycomb, which looked like a castle, in the darkness, and a thin spatial rift several meters long, protected by three other honeycombs in the middle.

Roach took out an alchemical incendiary bomb made from "Flame Tongue" from his backpack and threw it toward the hive. Instantly, the black swarm of bees changed direction and rushed toward the hive, extinguishing the flames burning on the hive with their corpses.

"Leslie!" "Whoosh!" Another fire spirit explosive arrow shot into another beehive, and the ink ball bees frantically circled in the air, constantly crashing into the flames burning on the beehive.

"This little bit of fire won't kill them, run faster!" The black horse spurred its four hooves and galloped wildly. The Inkball Bees are hellish creatures, and their hives and bodies have a high degree of fire resistance. If it weren't for the special circumstances of the Fire Essence Arrow, which is a "lime martial saint ammunition," ordinary fire arrows would not be able to disperse them, let alone ignite their hives.

The group ran at least a kilometer before stopping at a collapsed adventurer camp on the lower level. This place had once been the reception room of a noble mansion, with a Roman-style colonnade on one side, facing the abyss.

A murky wind blew through the empty windows into the room, which was suspended on the edge of a cliff, causing the campfire in the center to sway violently.

The valuables in the reception room had all been taken away. It was only used as a rest area because of its huge and sturdy door and the fact that there were no flying monsters outside at this depth.

"Squeak~" Roach pulled over a noble-style chair and plopped down. The decorative gems and gold leaf on it had all been dug out, leaving only the bare metal structure. The wood, silk, and velvet cushions had all rotted away. The metal frame was covered with metal plates that some adventurer had found, so at least it was still usable.

Livia sat carefully against the wall, holding a small ball of fire in her hands, unconcerned about the dust covering her thin white dress.

“We’re running low on supplies,” Leslie said, taking stock of the luggage and provisions on the black horse. “We still have plenty of potions, but as for food, we only have dried mushrooms, nuts, and a little dry bread.” Canned goods, sausages, cured meat, canned fruit, and dried vegetables were all gone long ago.

"I hope there are still edible monsters down there." After all, this isn't the world of Dungeon Meal. While not all monsters are inedible, not all are either. Whether they're edible or not needs to be investigated, and whether they're tasty or not needs to be listed separately.

“Then you’re in for a treat,” the black horse chuckled menacingly. “I can smell the strong scent of the second layer below. Although almost everything in the second layer of hell is poisonous—the air, water, soil, plants, and insects are all poisonous, it’s not much different from Katachon except that it doesn’t explode.”

"But what's interesting is that none of the demons in the second layer are poisonous and can be eaten." Black Horse, as a sub-lord of Hell, told a genuine Hell joke: everything in the second layer of Hell is poisonous and cannot be eaten, except for the demons. This joke is undeniably very Hellish.

"Insect Demon?"

"Yes, the larvae of the previous Inkball Bee were quite good. We will encounter many demons with medium to low combat power below us." This world does not have a detailed general combat power classification, nor does it have a clear classification down to a certain number of ranks or levels. Therefore, Black Horse can only express the combat power of those demons in a vague way.

"What's there?"

“The three most common are the Thousand-Handed Bug, the Blade Demon, and the Swamp Demon. If you’re lucky, you might also encounter the Lava Bug or the Ironclad Bug,” Black Horse thought for a moment and said. “In this place, I think the probability of encountering the Thousand-Handed Bug is relatively high.”

"Can I eat it?"

"It's edible, and the taste is alright." Black Horse had certainly eaten it before. As a poor guy, he had to eat whatever he could find as he fought his way through. He knew where he got the experience of being able to eat even the second-level demons.

"Tree demons can eat, especially the fruit, but I don't think you'd want to gnaw on wood."

"Um, are you referring to 'being able to eat' from a demon's perspective or a human's perspective?"

"Of course, that's from a mortal's perspective. From a demon's perspective, you can eat anything on the second level." Black Horse said that when he was on the second level, he ate everything, even the rotten swamp mud.

"We don't have many arrows or lamp oil left, and we don't have much spice or seasoning either. We'll have to use whatever we have on hand from now on."

"Let's collect food along the way. If it gets too tough, we can just turn back. There's no need to explore everything in one go." Roach thought that adventures don't always need to be completed in one go, right? Black Abyss Cemetery, second level, upper commercial area.

"Clang!" The sharp blade of the Kamaitachi clashed with the steel sword, sparking a burst of light. "Watch out, it's a Kamaitachi!" The young warrior gripped his shield and the one-handed sword tightly, as if malice was overflowing from the surrounding darkness.

"Light!" The arcane mage in the group raised her staff, and light burst forth from the bell at the top of the staff, illuminating the surroundings. This was a channeling arcane spell, meaning she needed to continuously channel this power.

"The Kamaitachi isn't afraid of light, be careful it attacks from the ground!" A battle priest, clad in plate armor, a heavy helmet, and wearing a white robe bearing the emblem of the Holy Lord of Light, stepped forward and slammed his long, serrated blade (similar in design to the Green Dragon Crescent Blade, but with a blade entirely composed of serrations) into the ground. "The holy ones will not be harmed by evil!"

"Bang!" The Kamaitachi's bone blade slashed at the shimmering shield. Just as it was about to break free, "Wind, Lock!" The flowing wind transformed into chains, blocking the Kamaitachi's retreat. The arcane crystal in the arcane mage's hand instantly turned grayish-white.

Arcane spells, as ritual spells, require a long induction period, but they can also be quickly activated by pre-induction (15-30 minutes) into a special crystal for storage.

However, the arcane spells that can be preserved in these crystals are not long-lasting, usually only lasting for a maximum of one day. Therefore, arcane mages only prepare some commonly used spells that can be cast quickly inside them.

"Thud!" The Rending Fang Blade pierced directly into the Kamaitachi's belly, lifting it up and slamming it to the ground. "Why is a Kamaitachi here?" The alchemist at the back of the group skillfully cleaned the Kamaitachi's fur, stripping the materials from its body and packing them into his luggage.

"I'm not sure, but in short, the environment and monster distribution in the Black Abyss Cemetery have changed quite a bit. Everyone should be more careful." As an expert-level adventure team, they were hired by Viscount Carius to explore the Black Abyss Cemetery, draw new maps and monster distribution, and investigate where the undead that attacked the city before came from.