Dungeon Mist Zone.
Outside the Little Black Room, the thick white mist still lingered, but there was no sign of any adventurers.
When Yano returned with a full haul, the little Slime lying in the corner had just finished digesting the last identity tag.
[Stealth Lv.1 → Stealth Lv.2]
The Slime's body wobbled, making soft "squish squish" sounds, then it nimbly leaped and landed steadily in Yano's open palm.
"How are things outside?"
Yano scratched his already somewhat messy hair.
"Those adventurers have all heard there's a perverted thief in the mist zone who specifically targets men, so none of them dare to come in now."
"But I overheard that Rusty Key is having a big reaction and has already sent people heading this way, though they don't seem to have any intention of negotiating a ransom at all."
"Your 'Miracle' Yano's head isn't even worth as much as the ransom, why would they be willing to pay it."
But with only Yano and his clone currently in the mist zone, they might not be able to withstand Rusty Key's retaliation.
Fortunately, he had prepared a backup plan long ago.
"Don't worry, our reinforcements have arrived too."
"Reinforcements?"
Before the words fully faded, a low, continuous buzzing sound approached from afar, piercing through the thick mist barrier.
Immediately after, like a black cloud pressing down upon a city, the menacing Poison-stinger Wasp swarm appeared first. They were densely packed, arranged in a terrifyingly neat formation, silently landing on the ground before Chen Yu.
Following closely behind were dozens of beetles clad in thick shells, flying somewhat clumsily.
All the Magical Creatures landed on the ground in silence, like soldiers awaiting inspection.
Yano looked at this astonishingly large army of Magical Creatures, feeling somewhat gleeful inside.
Those rats from Rusty Key probably never imagined there would be an army of Magical Creatures stationed here, waiting for their arrival.
"This is just the first formation. I'll come with the second formation later."
"Boss, you're going to personally intervene?"
Yano was stunned. What kind of enemy deserved such attention from the boss? Was a world-destroying battle about to happen in this dungeon?
"Not exactly. I'm just coming to test my new... uh, blessing with you."
Yano's eyes lit up. Blessings were good.
He still hadn't forgotten the wonder of that blessed leaf.
...
Assassins.
A more secretive, more deadly shadow existing within the vast and diverse group known as adventurers.
They did not wield their weapons for glory or exploration;
their skills were honed in silent corners, serving gold coins or darker contracts.
They were the cleaners in the shadows, the poisoned daggers in the hands of the powerful, the ruthless enforcers of gray rules.
Shadow Fang Team.
The elite assassin team nurtured by Rusty Key.
This was precisely such a blade tempered in the shadows.
In the dungeon passage, damp and chilly, at the moment when water droplets condensing on the stone walls dripped down, four figures wearing dark gray form-fitting leather armor emerged from the darkness.
The man at the front, Yurian, captain of the Shadow Fang Team, an Official Professional.
His build wasn't particularly burly, but he was exceptionally tough and capable, with the brown-chestnut short hair characteristic of the Anier people. He was currently holding a somewhat curled-up bounty poster.
Looking closely, the man depicted on the bounty poster was none other than Yano.
"Boss, this mark is troublesome."
A low, hoarse voice came from behind him. It was "Old Chimney" from the team, skilled in traps and poisons.
"Those fools from the guild might be useless, but they're still seasoned veterans who've walked the gray zone for years. To be able to capture them... this 'Miracle' Yano is more troublesome than he appears on the surface."
"If the intel isn't wrong, he's deep in the mist zone, not only set up a Magic Formation but also built a fortress."
"Fortress? Building a house in the mist zone? Has this guy's brain been chewed on by an ogre?"
A somewhat younger voice sneered nearby. It was the team's most agile member, "Razor Weasel."
Yurian didn't pay attention to his team members' discussion. He stopped walking and turned into the branching path leading to the mist zone.
"Unclear intel, extreme environment, target strength questionable and behavior bizarre. Primary objective: confirm and destroy the Magic Formation he relies on."
He pulled out two metal spheres the size of infant fists from a pouch at his waist, their surfaces engraved with complex alchemical patterns, and distributed them to Old Chimney behind him and another taciturn team member, "Rock Sword."
"Encounter any incomprehensible energy nodes or Formation Foundation structures, immediately use the 'Disperser Type III' to destroy them. No hesitation, no conservation."
"Disperser Type III?!"
Razor Weasel gasped in shock, and even the steadiest Rock Sword showed a slight reaction.
These alchemical bombs were quite valuable, specifically designed to disrupt energy fields and magical structures, with controllable and extremely precise power. They were one of the guild's prized possessions.
Was the captain really going to use these right from the start?
He was taking this "Miracle" Yano way too seriously.
"Understood." Old Chimney carefully accepted the cold metal sphere.
Even the most flippant Razor Weasel understood what this meant and stopped underestimating the situation.
Soon after, the four members of the Shadow Fang Team arrived at the entrance to the mist zone.
Their attire, demeanor, and that undisguised aura of lethal intent were like stones thrown into a murky pond, instantly breaking the somewhat noisy atmosphere at the channel entrance.
The adventurers who had originally gathered near the entrance, resting and observing, hesitating whether to enter the mist zone to try their luck, parted like being moved by an invisible hand, retreating to both sides to clear a path.
Looks of alarm, fear, and curiosity interwove upon them, and hushed whispers rose among the crowd.
"That key emblem... are they from 'Rusty Key'?"
"The leader... seems to be Yurian from 'Shadow Fang'!"
"Hiss... why are they here? Is that 'Miracle' Yano really that difficult to deal with?"
"Haven't you heard? There's a pervert inside."
"Yeah, yeah, that's right! A perverted thief from 'Rusty Key' who specializes in stripping people. Mike's team went in not long ago, and all four came running out naked."
"They said they encountered a masked thief who knocked him out with one punch, then stole their equipment and stripped their clothes, didn't even leave a single copper coin behind."
"Probably here to investigate that perverted thief."
Yurian's footsteps didn't pause in the slightest, but his sharp hearing caught those deliberately hushed discussions.
Stripping clothes? Pervert?
His brow furrowed even tighter.
Old Chimney behind him clearly heard it too, the corner of his mouth twitching.
Razor Weasel curiously went over to inquire, and a few seconds later, he silently returned to the team with a strange expression, leaning close to Yurian and whispering, "Boss, they say... there's a pervert from 'Rusty Key' in the mist zone who specializes in robbing adventurers, and... and stripping their clothes..."
Yurian's face instantly darkened.
He immediately thought of Yano.
It seemed this guy wasn't just kidnapping and extorting, but also playing tricks of framing others and ruining the guild's reputation.
A surge of furious anger rose in his chest, but he forcibly suppressed it.
Now wasn't the time for explanations, nor for getting entangled with these bystanders.
"Let's go."
Yurian led his team without hesitation into the churning thick white mist, their figures quickly swallowed by the white curtain.