"This is too ......" Smelling this strong smell of blood, Anis couldn't help frowning and subconsciously took two steps back.

The constant smell of blood emanating from the cave was as if the entire cave had been soaked in blood.

"But it's amazing." Instead of retreating, Liel took a step closer to the cave, and each time she got closer, the smell of blood intensified, "It's such a strong smell, you have to see this cave to smell it. According to the concentration of this smell, it can be emitted at least a few tens of meters away."

"Probably because of the trees." Guise poked off a branch with his spear, broke off a leaf, and sniffed it in front of his nose, "The sap of the leaves of this tree has the effect of stopping bleeding, and it also has the effect of diluting and even absorbing the smell of blood. Besides, there are trees like this everywhere, and it's normal that the smell of blood can't be sent outside.'"

"Instead of discussing this, let's get down to business. Do you want to go in?' Pallas took his bow and arrow in his hand and aimed it at the hole.

Pallas was going to shoot an arrow inside to find out, as the smell of blood from the cave was ominous. And assuming that this is the nest of the Blood Shadow Worm, it is very dangerous to rush into the cave without knowing much about the Blood Shadow Worm.

Besides, even if this isn't the Blood Shadow Worm's nest, I don't know what's inside. It seems that the light never shines into the cave, and it is impossible to see the inside from the outside. Pallas shoots an arrow first, and if there is a creature inside, he can lure the creature out of it.

"Angis, light a fire for me." Pallas filled the bowstring and said to Angis.

Sensing what Pallas was trying to do, Angis raised her staff to the tip of Pallas's arrow, chanting a spell.

In a few moments, the tip of the arrow burst into flames.

Normally, each living organism can only possess the magic of one natural element, but it is possible to use the magic of other elements by relying on a staff that can store magic and learning spells that can cast magic from other elements.

Angis possesses the magic of the water element, but because of some special needs, her short staff stores the magic of the fire element and the wind element, and she can naturally use the most basic magic of these two elements.

"Then you're ready! Lil, keep an eye on the cave at all times, and say anything as soon as something happens.' As he spoke, Pallas shot the arrow into the hole.

……

"Seemingly, there's no response."

The flaming arrow had been in the hole for a few minutes, and if there was a creature inside, it should have been able to force it out. Now there was no movement at all, which made Pallas very curious.

"Lil, do you see anything?" Keith asked, turning his head to Lil, who had been staring at the cave with his abilities turned on.

"For a moment, I seemed to see some tiny afterimage, but it quickly disappeared. This cave seems to be able to shield some of the senses.'" Lil shook her head in response.

The moment the arrow went in, the firelight lit up the cave slightly, but soon the light disappeared. Although Lil could see something through the light of the moment, she couldn't be sure if it was the Blood Shadow Worm they were looking for.

"Would you like to go in and have a look?" I still think this is the most likely place.' Pallas put away his bow and arrows and drew his dagger. In a confined space like a cave, a shorter weapon can be more useful.

"That's all there is to it. Anges, you walk beside me.'" As he spoke, Gise walked into the cave first.

Angis nodded, mobilized the magic in the staff, and made a fireball hovering on the top of the staff as illumination, and walked to Keith's side and entered the cave. The other two nodded to each other and followed.

The boys kept an eye out for what was going to happen around them as they made their way to the depths of the cavern.

Judging from the faint light of the fireball, the cave seems to be gradually narrowing.

"This is, my arrow!" As the group of four walked some way deeper into the cavern, Pallas suddenly noticed the arrow he had just shot when it fell to the ground.

When he saw that he didn't find anything strange all the way in, and there seemed to be some road ahead, Pallas also understood. Their arrows didn't even go into the deepest part of the cave, and even if there were really any creatures in the deepest depths, they wouldn't be able to detect it, and naturally they wouldn't be lured out by the arrows.

"There seems to be a little light up ahead!" Aegis's voice suddenly caught the attention of the other three companions.

Looking along Angis's line of sight, he could indeed faintly see a faint light not far ahead. The great curiosity of what was in the depths of the cavern attracted the boys to move slowly.

When you get to the place where the light is emitting, the cave can only accommodate one person at a time, and it seems that you have to walk a few steps and turn a corner to reach the place where the light is emitted. As the captain of the team, Guise, who is also the one who involved his companions in this work, naturally has to be at the forefront.

"I'll go in first, and if it's all right, you can follow at once." If anything, I'll tell you right away, and you'll turn around and walk away.'" Gise explained the matter and walked on.

"This is!?" When Guise turned the corner, a surprised voice suddenly came.

"What do you see?" Pallas asked curiously.

"If that's right, it's true that these creatures are Blood Shadow Worms, and there are quite a few of them here." As if to keep the Blood Shadow Worm's attention from it, Gist lowered his voice.

"What are your plans?" Lil already had the dagger in her hand.

"A little further down from my position, you'll come to a very open space where the ceiling is full of Blood Shadow Worms, and if we're going to catch one alive, we'll have to get their attention. But then we're likely to be attacked.'

Guise's tone showed that he was very cautious at the moment, "I'll rush in as fast as I can, and then you guys will follow and fight as before. Once you get it, don't stay and run away the same way. Are you ready?'

"Yes." The three companions responded immediately.

"Okay, three...... Two...... One, action!' As he spoke, Guise's figure disappeared in front of the three of them. The other three didn't dare to slack off, and immediately followed, following Jisi into the nest where the Blood Shadow Worm inhabited as fast as they could.

The cave inhabited by the Blood Shadow Worm could be considered to give the foursome enough space to use their fists, but they were very concerned about the pool of blood in the center of the cavern's floor. Judging from the current situation, this pool of blood should be the source of this strong smell of blood. The hedron that was glowing around the pool of blood was also the source of this light.

The boy's sudden intrusion was soon discovered by the Blood Shadow Bug. Some of the Blood Shadow Worms flew down, revealing the sharp spike in their abdomen.

The overall appearance of the Blood Shadow Worm is very similar to that of a bee, but it is much larger and has a different color. In addition, the Blood Shadow Worm has twelve legs as sharp as a blade that ordinary insects do not have.

"These are male Blood Shadow Worms." Through her abilities, Lil relied on the light of the hedron to see the situation on the ceiling clearly.

She noticed that the Blood Shadow Worms had two different appearances, the ones that flew towards her and her companions were smaller, and the spikes and feet were sharper. The Blood Shadow Worms that were still lying on the ceiling were obviously two circles larger, especially the abdomen, and those Blood Shadow Worms didn't seem to have too developed wings.

According to common sense, female insects are larger than male insects, and although the blood shadow insect is not an ordinary insect, it seems that the ecological situation is not far from that of ordinary insects.

However, Lil was sure that the males were flying over, because she saw many animal carcasses glued to the ceiling, and the larger ones were just lying motionless on their stomachs, stabbing their belly spikes into the carcass as if to lay eggs.

In Lil's mind, most insect-like monsters need the bodies of large creatures to be used as a base for the growth of eggs and larvae.

"These are male blood shadow insects flying down, and they are very aggressive, so pay attention, everyone!" Lil shared what she had found with her companions.

"Understood! However, it is indeed a bit difficult to catch a live one." The insect-type monsters were still far behind humans with a certain strength, and in the face of the flying Blood Shadow Worms, Pallas easily killed a few.

"The female doesn't seem to be very aggressive, Angis, is there any magic that can capture the Blood Shadow Worm on the ceiling?" Guise knew very well that these aggressive males were difficult to capture alive, and the strength of the Blood Shadow Worm was in numbers, and if a male was forcibly captured, he would probably be stabbed as well.

"Yes, yes, but it will take some time." By the time Keith told him what he had thought, Agnis had already targeted a female who was injecting eggs.

"Pallas, work with me to protect Aegis, Lil, and get rid of the ones we can't notice!" With that, Keith leaned over to Angis.

Pallas and Gies sandwiched Aegis in the middle, dealing with the flying Blood Shadow Worm, and Aegis held aalof, aiming her staff at the female she was about to capture, chanting a spell in her mouth.

At the same time, Lil also used her dexterity to walk on the stone walls of the cave, slaying the Blood Shadow Worm.

But because of this, Lil "succeeded" in attracting the attention of most of the Blood Shadow Worms, and dozens of Blood Shadow Worms flew towards Lil.

Seeing this, Lil immediately fell to the ground, after all, being on a vertical stone wall was not a suitable battlefield for herself. Looking at the Blood Shadow Worm flying from all directions, Lil smiled and juggled the dagger in her hand.

"Dance of Death......

The dagger was thrown into the air, where it was caught by Lil. The moment Liel caught the dagger, her body became soft and flexible, and she was even able to make movements that ordinary people could not do at great speed.

Like a dance, Lil flew the dagger in her hand, slashing the flying Blood Shadow Worms in half. Dozens of Blood Shadow Worms were slashed by Lil in an instant.

"Is it okay?" Liel also knew that if she continued like this, she would only face more and more blood shadow worms, so she looked at Agnis who was condensing magic and asked.

"Ready!" Agnis shouted, and a water ball was launched from the tip of the staff, encasing a female on the ceiling. The water balloon then returned to Angis with the Blood Shadow Worm.

"Succeed, retreat!" After getting the Blood Shadow Worm, Angis didn't hesitate and ran towards the entrance of the cave.

Because at this time, all the male Blood Shadow Worms instantly shifted their attention to Angis and fired poisonous needles from their abdomen......

(End of chapter)