You promised to wreak havoc on the dungeon, but instead you've got Dragon Slime!

Taking advantage of the situation, the Ironback Beast thrust its shield down, slamming it down and pinning the two who were still trying to charge forward to the ground.

The weight of the bone shield slammed down, causing the ground to tremble, and the person was crushed into a mangled mess of flesh.

The remaining stalkers panicked completely, their breathing became erratic, and their previously trained teamwork crumbled.

They frantically dodged to either side of the passage, unaware that every path was riddled with rune arrays. The grotto, like a living creature, swallowed them deeper and deeper.

Claudia, accompanied by his personal guards, cut in from the other side, the tip of his spear gleaming coldly as he flicked and pressed through the smoke.

The first stalker was sent flying, and with a flick of the gun barrel, he was pinned to the stone wall.

Blood flowed down the cracks in the rock and stuck to the rock's texture.

"Clean your mouth," Ron said curtly.

The control panel array trembled violently, and scalding steam billowed from both sides of the stone wall, turning the entire entrance into a giant cauldron.

The rogue screamed and tried to escape, but was blocked by the Ironback's bone shield as soon as it took a step.

In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the entire infiltration team was wiped out.

All that remained in the passage were bloodstains and steaming slime.

Ron pulled his hand off the console, his knuckles white from the force.

Looking at the now quiet passageway, he already knew what was going on—the Dark Swamp Poison Shadow's probing was over.

The next wave will definitely be even more ruthless.

A rumbling sound came from deep within the cave; a new horde of monsters was spawning, and the first phase of the night battle had just begun.

The shouts of battle outside gradually faded into the distance. The mercenary vanguard was forced back by the monster horde and temporarily regrouped in the camp.

The fire burned high, casting shadows on the tents, making people's figures flicker.

Ron tapped his fingers twice on the control panel, and the data in the rune array kept fluctuating. He knew what he was doing—he had suppressed them head-on, but to completely throw them into chaos, he would have to cut off their supplies.

"Claudia, come with me."

Without saying much, Claudia simply nodded and hoisted the spear onto her shoulder.

The Ironback Beast and the Armored Beast also let out a low growl and followed behind.

Ron opened the talismanic gate to the underground river passage, and several talismanic lights lit up, accompanied by a thunderous roar of water.

The group walked down the stone bridge, the river water lapping against the rock face, splashing up cold waves that felt like countless slaps on their faces.

In the underground river, the slime barrels that had been waiting were pushed out one by one, their bodies trembling slightly, and the slimes inside were restless.

Ron raised his hand, the chain of runes flashed, and the bucket lid popped open automatically.

Dozens of slimes crawled out from inside, fell into the underground river, and were pushed and floated by the current.

Their bodies spread out in the water, like puddles of shadows, drifting downstream towards the mercenary camp.

At the end of the river, a hidden outlet leads directly to the vicinity of the enemy camp's grain and fodder piles.

In the camp, rows of grain carts were parked, and sacks were piled up like small mountains, while the guards were yawning.

No one expected that groundwater would seep into this area.

The slimes climbed up the drain, first sticking to the wheels, then slowly climbing onto the grain sacks.

The mucus seeped in little by little, and the cloth bag quickly corroded and developed large holes.

The grain inside was stuck together before it could react, instantly turning into a sticky mess.

A guard smelled a strange odor and came over with a knife to investigate.

He had just lifted a bag when half his face was immediately splattered with green slime.

The screams tore through the night sky, waking half the camp.

"Monster—!" The shout had barely been uttered when the entire grain and forage area erupted in chaos.

Hundreds and thousands of slimes poured out of the darkness, stuck to the wheels, climbed onto grain sacks, and slid into the barn.

When grain supplies encounter this monster, they burn faster than fire, turning into black, rotten pulp bag by bag.

Ron watched as the runes on the control panel gradually brightened, and a cold smile appeared on his lips.

He pressed his palm down, and the talisman chain transmitted the signal. The waves from the depths of the dark river surged up, carrying even more slimes into the enemy camp.

Claudia had already led his personal guards into the fray.

With a sweeping motion of the spear, figures fell one after another in the firelight.

The guards remained silent, heads down, charging forward like knives into the crowd.

The enemy camp was thrown into complete chaos. Guards rushed forward, only to be tripped up by the slime's slickness, falling flat on their faces and struggling in the mud. Crossbow bolts flew wildly, inadvertently shooting down their own men.

The provisions were set ablaze, and black smoke billowed straight into the sky. The firelight illuminated the night sky like daytime, making the entire mercenary camp clearly visible.

People and horses were thrown into chaos, carts crashed sideways, and shouts and screams mingled together.

Ron didn't intend to stay long. He withdrew his fingers, and the rune chain returned to the control panel. The slime retreated in the same direction, like the receding tide.

Half of the grain supplies have been destroyed, and the rest were consumed by the fire; they won't last more than a few days.

Claudia returned carrying her spear, her armor stained with blood. She took a breath and simply said, "We can retreat now."

Ron nodded and led his men back to the underground river.

Behind them, the mercenary camp was ablaze with flames, filled with shouts of battle and furious roars.

The moment their supplies were destroyed, it meant they had already lost most of their night battle.

The wind howled outside the grotto, and the smell of blood was even stronger.

The night fire burned half the sky red, and the mercenaries' roars drowned out the flames.

The leader of the Skullcrusher Axe Corps raised his giant axe above his head, roared, and led his heavy shield soldiers to charge forward.

The firelight illuminated their armor, turning it blood red, as they pressed forward step by step toward the cave entrance.

The siege engine was pushed to the front, and its metal-clad front end crashed into the entrance of the cave with a loud bang.

The cave trembled twice, and rubble fell in a shower. Ron stared coldly at the control panel and pressed his hand down.

"Activate the trap formation."

The rune array suddenly lit up, and the ground seemed to be torn open, with large areas of soil collapsing.

The entire row of heavy shield soldiers suddenly lost their footing, and more than a dozen of them fell into the pit, armor and all.

The sand snakes surged out from the bottom of the pit, biting through the gaps in the armor, and the smell of blood instantly filled the air.

The front ranks of soldiers were thrown into chaos. The front wheel of the siege engine got stuck on the edge of the pit, causing the entire vehicle to tilt and smash into a row of soldiers behind it.

Shouts and screams filled the air, and the ranks were in complete chaos.

The leader of the Skullcrusher Axe Gang did not retreat. He pushed off with both legs, leaped over the pit, and slammed his giant axe down.

Ron raised his hand, and Ironback raised its shield to meet the attack.

With a loud crash, the shield bent and the beast's hooves sank deep into the mud, but it managed to prevent the giant axe from smashing into the cave.

"on!"

The leader roared, and the heavy shield soldiers in the back row desperately pushed forward to fill the gap in the pit.

Ron swiped his finger across the console, activating the second layer of rune array.

The top of the cave collapsed, and a large number of rocks fell, crashing into the ranks of the heavy shield soldiers.

Some people didn't even have time to scream before their armor and bones were crushed into a pile.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the Ironscale Hunters deployed their crossbows, and bolts flew in droves.

Claudia let out a fierce shout, swept his spear horizontally, and pulled his personal guards forward.

The stone-winged beasts swooped down from the cave ceiling, grabbed the ballista with their claws, and overturned the entire vehicle.

The sounds of breaking wood and screams of people mingled together, and arrows flew wildly, hitting everything in the sky and on the ground.

Ron didn't stop; he pressed another button on the other side of the console.

The water from the underground river was drawn up, mixed with the slime's slime, and formed a muddy torrent that rushed out of the cave entrance.

The heavy shield soldiers had barely stood their ground when they were hit by a swarm of mud, and the entire row of them fell down, stuck fast by the slimes.

Enraged, the leader of the Skullcrusher Gang swung his axe and cleaved through the mud.

He stood firmly on his feet, but the people behind him had already been swept away.

The entire vanguard collapsed, and the shouts of battle gradually turned into cries of agony.

“Rune Cannon,” Ron whispered.

Lilith stood behind the control panel and poured all the energy fed back by the system into the cannon barrel.

The rune cannon roared, bursting forth with flames that slammed directly into the enemy's attack vehicle.

A deafening roar shook the night sky, and the metal assault vehicle was instantly blown to pieces, its wreckage rolling down the slope ablaze.

The entire battlefield fell silent for a moment, with only the crackling of fire remaining.

Immediately, shouts of retreat came from the forwards.

The leader of the Skullcrusher Gang gritted his teeth and retreated, followed by the Ironscale Hunters and the Dark Swamp Poison Shadows.

The originally aggressive all-out attack was abruptly cut short.

Ron stared at the control panel, then loosened his grip.

The runes in the cave were still in operation, sand snakes swam at the bottom of the pit, slimes swallowed mud, and stone-winged beasts circled in the air.

The vanguard retreated in disarray, and the leader of the Skullcrusher Axe Gang led his remaining troops back to the camp, blood still flowing from the cracks in his armor.

The fire in the grain and fodder area was still raging, and the entire camp was shrouded in smoke.

The pack animals were ramming around wildly, and the guards couldn't control them even as they yelled and pulled on the reins. Dozens of horses ran wildly in terror, knocking over tents one after another.

Bacchus stood on the high platform, slamming his scepter down, his voice drowning out the clamor: "Steady! Any more chaos and you'll all be fed to the sand snakes!"

He managed to keep his voice down, but the people below were still unsettled.

The siege engines were destroyed, the supplies were gone, and the vanguard suffered heavy casualties. Everyone knew that this battle would be difficult.