The next day, I made sure all my gear was in working order before heading out. When I left the ship, Cynthia was outside waiting for me in the armor I gave her.

"You ready?" I asked Cynthia

"Yes" She nodded and followed me

I asked her yesterday if she wanted to come with me and she immediately agreed.

It has been a while since we went to a dungeon, what was the purpose of this again? If we reach the bottom can we get unlimited treasures? I seriously forgot.

We met up with General Gram at the entrance of an unknown dungeon just south of the city, He also brought another knight with him but the knight's body build seems to be that of a woman. I can't really see her face and her entire body is covered with armor

"Oh, I see you brought your own companion as well, this is my daughter, Brunhilde" Gram introduced the knight to us

She took off her helmet and revealed her face to us, she was fair with slanted eyes. The color of her eye was glacial blue which complements her cold personality, I can say this confidently because I can see that she doesn't even see us in her eyes

"Right... My daughter is a bit cold but please, bear with her" Gram apologized

"This is Cynthia" I also introduced Cynthia to them

Cynthia took off her helm and had a stare off with Brunhilde

Gram and I noticed the strained atmosphere between the two women, Gram stepped in and tried to lighten the mood but he miserably failed

"Let's just move on" I suggested

"Right..." Gram agreed

We all head into the dungeon with me and Gram as the vanguards while the other two girls were at the back.

We cautiously moved forward and descended the dungeon with ease until the 20th floor, that was when things suddenly went south

We were traversing the hallway when I noticed a small circle, 24 inches in diameter, on the floor, it was well hidden and hard to detect. I stopped the party and brought out my desert eagle, Gram and Brunhilde was a bit curious about what I brought out, it was the first time I drew out my gun since we entered the dungeon

I shot the center of the circle, the circle quickly rose and out came pincers, the pincers were coming fast

'Lilith! strength!'

'Acknowledged'

I felt strength rush through my body and quickly stopped both of the pincers from closing, I ripped the pincers off. The larvae started thrashing before retreating back to its hole, it was a Tiger beetle larvae. It burrows on the ground and patiently waits for its prey when a prey comes along, it pops out and crushes the prey with its pincers before dragging it back to the hole

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"What was that?!" Gram was on guard and was tightly gripping his sword with both hands

"One of the invaders" I replied

"But... how come it's here?" Gram asked as he studied the now burrowed beetle

"I don't know but it seems to be using the dungeon as a place to grow" This is bad, why are there tiger beetle larvae in here.

"If that is so... then..." Gram muttered

"They can grow their larvae in a dungeon with unlimited food supply" I spoke out

"You say that they are still in a larvae stage, what will happen if they mature?" Brunhilde who was quiet the entire time finally spoke out

"They will turn into a Tiger beetle, Tiger beetles are roughly the size of a grown adult and are extremely fast. If you face one, never turn your back on it" I briefly explained to them

I looked at the whole and noticed it peeking, it seems like it's about to...

"Gram!" I roared out before jumping out

The tiger beetle larvae popped out of its hole and curled its body into a circle midair, it activated its defense mechanism.

I kicked the side of its body and caused it to slam on the wall, it reverted back to its worm-like appearance and landed on the ground. Gram didn't miss this chance and kept slashing it, Brunhilde also helped and continuously stabbed it with her rapier

The Tiger beetle died just as I landed on the ground, Gram looked at me

"They do that when they're cornered" I explained

"Should've told me that earlier" He replied as he poked at the dead beetle

"My bad" I apologized

'Lilith, why didn't you warn me, is your scanner malfunctioning again?' I asked

'I apologize, however, my scanner is fully functioning, its just there's something in here that's preventing me from using it'

'What is it?'

'Something in the atmosphere, mana'

'I thought you already collected enough data?'

'The mana in this dungeon is different'

'Damn, how long until you collect enough data?'

'12 hours more'

'Is it only in this dungeon?'

'Yes, however, I am unsure about the other dungeons'

"Should we head back?" I asked I cannot risk going in blind

"No, I think we should investigate" Gram spoke out

"I agree with father, who knows how many more of these are in this dungeon. We should kill them while they're still weak" Brunhilde backed Gram up

It is true, these beetles will be a problem once they've become an adult. Looks like I'll rely on my experience and reflexes.

"Alright, we should continue on then" I spoke out

We continued on our path and encountered more and more larvae as we made our way to the stairs leading down to the 21st underground floor. When we finally saw the stairs, a fully grown tiger beetle tried to attack us from the back. Brunhilde and Cynthia managed to dodge in time but Gram got knocked into the wall, it then headed for me but I switched to speed and had a game of tag with it.

I suddenly stopped and jumped back towards the tiger beetle who was heading my way, it couldn't stop at the speed it was at and just opened its mandibles wide to bite me but Azazel's reach was longer. I split its head in half before it could even bite me, I rolled on the ground covered with dust and sand, I picked myself up and walked towards the carcass of the beetle. The tiger beetle was green in color, had large bulging eyes and had mandibles that were small but can deliver a very painful blow.

The entire party came over and studied the dead bug

"You weren't joking when you said it was fast" Gram knocked on the area around his chest where there was an obvious dent

"You okay?" I asked

"Yeah" Gram replied

"We really need to destroy the larvae inside this dungeon" Brunhilde spoke out

"Let's go down then" I suggested and they all agreed

We went down to the 21st floor but didn't find any more larvae

"Strange, I can't seem to find any" Gram spoke out

"We won't find any larvae here" I spoke out

"Why?" Brunhilde asked

"The Tiger beetle larvae prefer sand over dirt"

"Then we should head back up" Gram spoke out

"Why?" I asked

"I've been on this dungeon before, the 15th floor to the 20th floor are the only areas with sand"

"You've conquered this dungeon?" I asked

"No, I only reached up to 51st floor and even if there are sandy areas below that floor, I highly doubt these larvae have the strength to fight the beasts that stalk that floor" Gram explained

"Oh... then, we should depart"

We all left, Gram even grabbed the dead Tiger beetle and larvae, according to him, he will send the carcasses to the castle so that the researchers can study them.