Chapter 545 The Abyssal Tide Caverns

"What’s that?!"

"Get ready!"

"Don’t let it get close!"

For a brief moment, the entire group seemed ready to attack, but their expressions changed when Violet transformed back into her humanoid form.

The players slowly lowered their weapons, and several of them sighed in relief.

They had already sensed the dragon’s terrifying strength, and even with hundreds of players working together, they weren’t confident that they could defeat her.

The leader of the group quickly stepped forward, seemingly eager to avoid any unnecessary conflict.

"Would you like to join our group?" he asked with a friendly smile. "Anyone is welcome, regardless of race, as long as they’re strong enough. This dungeon is almost impossible to conquer, but with enough powerful people working together, we might finally—"

Leon didn’t bother listening to the rest of his explanation.

Without saying anything, he walked directly toward the purple portal.

Celeste, Emilia, and Violet immediately followed him, leaving the hundreds of players staring at their backs.

"Wait, are they really going in alone?" someone asked, "Are they insane?"

"Maybe they’re confident in their strength."

The moment they four of them stepped through the portal, the surrounding scenery changed completely.

Ding!

[You have entered "Abyssal Tide Caverns"]

[Difficulty: Nightmare.]

Leon glanced at the notification before looking around.

"Can’t select the difficulty, meaning there’s only one," he remarked. "Oh well, it’s not going to be difficult anyway."

The [Abyssal Tide Caverns] were a vast network of tunnels carved into the depths of the island, with dark stone walls covered in countless glowing crystals.

Their faint light illuminated the damp ground and the uneven ceiling, while the sound of flowing water echoed throughout the cavern.

Leon immediately noticed that the crystals resembled those he had seen in the [Secret Beach Village] on the first island.

’Hm.’

The group moved forward, eventually reaching a wide chamber where several tunnels branched off in different directions.

Each passage was large enough for dozens of people to walk through at once, and their interior was illuminated by the crystals.

Leon was about to choose one when a strange rumbling sound suddenly echoed from somewhere deeper within the cavern.

Grrrrrr...

The noise grew louder, accompanied by the sound of rushing water.

Before anyone could react, enormous jets of water burst out from every tunnel, sweeping through the chamber with incredible force.

The currents rushed past them and continued deeper into the dungeon, disappearing into the distance after several seconds.

The group remained still until the water finally subsided.

"What the hell was that?!" Celeste asked, staring at the tunnels. "I guess we need to be careful..."

"Yeah," Leon nodded, although he wasn’t particularly concerned.

At that moment, they heard a commotion behind them.

Turning around, Leon and the girls noticed hundreds of players entering the cavern.

"It’s those guys who were at the entrance," Emilia remarked. "I thought they would take longer to enter..."

"Did they follow us?" Violet tilted her head.

As it turned out, she was right.

After Leon, Celeste, Emilia, and Violet had ignored their invitation and entered the dungeon, the massive group had spent some time discussing what to do.

Eventually, their desire to reach the fifth island had overcome their hesitation, and they decided to follow the four strangers inside.

The leader and several other players noticed Leon looking in their direction, and he simply sighed.

"If you want to clear this dungeon, just follow us, but don’t get in our way. Stay back."

The leader seemed ready to retort, however, after meeting Leon’s gaze, he could only nod in agreement.

Leon didn’t bother saying anything else and turned toward the tunnels.

The girls followed him without hesitation, while the hundreds of players began moving behind them, maintaining a considerable distance.

Although they didn’t know who these four strangers were, they seemed far too confident for people who had just entered the dungeon.

The players assumed that once Leon and the girls encountered the monsters inside, they would realize how dangerous the place was and eventually ask for their assistance.

Fwoosh!

Leon approached one of the tunnels, followed closely by Celeste, Emilia, and Violet.

The hundreds of players continued behind them, and for a while, nobody spoke as they walked through the damp cavern.

Eventually, Leon stopped near the entrance of the tunnel from which the previous tidal wave had emerged.

The leader immediately hurried forward.

"Be careful," he warned urgently. "Every five minutes, a tidal wave rushes through every tunnel in this dungeon. The direction is completely random, and anyone caught inside will be swept away to another location. We need to take our time and make sure we don’t get caught in one."

"The last wave happened about a minute ago," Leon replied calmly. "We’ll be fine."

"Yes, but there are monsters inside the tunnels that could waste our time. If we encounter too many, we might not make it through before the next wave arrives. We should wait until—"

"You can wait."

Leon interrupted him and casually stepped into the tunnel.

The leader’s expression stiffened as he watched the group disappear into the tunnel.

He had spent years studying the dungeon, and even went through it once, where he ended up failing.

Basically, he knew exactly how dangerous it was, yet the human seemed completely uninterested in listening to his advice.

However, the players quickly realized that staying behind would accomplish nothing.

If Leon and the girls reached the next chamber before them, they would have no choice but to explore the dungeon on their own afterward.

After exchanging a few glances, the group gritted their teeth and followed.

It didn’t take long for them to encounter their first monsters.

Around a dozen creatures were waiting further inside the tunnel.

Their bodies resembled strange aquatic beasts, covered in thick scales and adapted to the damp environment.

Every one of them was around Level 90, making them dangerous opponents for ordinary players.

The monsters immediately noticed the approaching group and began moving toward them.

Several players behind Leon panicked slightly, instinctively tightening their grips on their weapons as they prepared for battle.

"Careful! They’re Level 90!"

Before anyone could make a move, Violet stepped forward.

She raised her rapier, and a powerful wave of cold spread throughout the tunnel, freezing everything in front of her.

The monsters were instantly immobilized, their bodies covered in thick layers of ice.

Even the water surrounding them solidified, leaving the creatures completely unable to move.

The battle ended in less than a second.

"What?"

"Holy shit!"

"How is she this strong?"

The players stared at Violet in disbelief.

However, Leon and the girls didn’t bother paying attention to their reactions.

They simply continued forward, with Celeste and Violet taking the lead and eliminating every monster that appeared along the way.

The leader eventually stopped trying to explain the directions shown on his map.

The group was moving so quickly that his information had become practically useless, and he didn’t dare interrupt Leon again.

After passing through several tunnels, they eventually reached a massive chamber similar to the one near the dungeon’s entrance.

A powerful monster stood in the center.

This was precisely the kind of creature that had forced the players to gather hundreds of people together.

They had expected casualties even with their numbers.

Yet, before anyone could even begin discussing a strategy, Emilia stepped forward.

Bone Shuffle!

Dozens of bony spikes erupted from the ground, impaling the boss and killing it in an instant.

The leader stared at the boss’ corpse with a neutral expression, unable to find anything meaningful to say.

"...Damn."

The other players were equally speechless, but Leon had already moved on.

The group eventually reached another chamber, where they decided to wait for the next tidal wave before proceeding.

Since the currents could send them to random locations, the leader wanted to make sure they didn’t accidentally lose their way.

While they waited, Leon opened his [World Map].

"Oh, my [World Map] works in this dungeon," he said while examining the interface. "Almost all the areas are greyed out, but at least we’ll know which way we came from."

Then he grabbed the map that the players had made.

As expected, the two fused together, allowing Leon to see pretty much exactly where to go.

The players glanced at the human with surprise.

His group had spent years constructing their own dungeon map, yet Leon possessed an ability that could track all their movements.

Once the next tidal wave passed, they continued exploring.

With the help of his [World Map], Leon avoided revisiting areas they had already explored, allowing the group to progress far more efficiently than the other players had expected.

Eventually, he found the exit chamber, and of course, there was a boss.

A massive fish-like creature was floating in the air, its body covered in razor-sharp scales.

Its enormous frame looked incredibly durable, and the monster seemed completely unfazed by the arrival of hundreds of players.

It turned toward them and revealed a sinister smile.

"More players," it muttered. "And it seems there are hundreds of you. This feast will last me a lifetime."

But Leon simply looked at it with a blank expression, almost wanting to yawn.