This place seemed to be part of a building, but now the building was unrecognizable, having transformed into a monster’s nest.

The floor, ceiling, and walls were covered in fungus-like growths, seemingly nurturing ground for monsters.

Darkness dominated everything, with ominous shapes lurking in the shadows—or maybe it was just his imagination.

“Thump!”

Eric thought he heard something. He looked around but felt the sound came from behind him.

“Eric, are you okay?”

The voice brought him a sense of relief—it was Carmen and Alexander, emerging from the ventilation duct.

“Watch out! Behind you…”

Alexander suddenly shouted, sending a shock through Eric’s already tense nerves.

Slowly, Eric turned his head, and a cold gleam cut through the darkness—a steel axe swung down at an angle, deadly and decisive.

It was almost a death sentence, but just then, Eric’s shadow twisted, and a robust stag leaped forth—Carmen’s shadow beast.

“Block it…”

Carmen shouted, and the shadow beast nimbly moved, its antlers catching the axe. Sparks flew at the moment of impact.

The shadow beast was a special entity in the form of a “stag” or perhaps not even a biological creature. Its essence was shadow-like material, capable of lurking in shadows. Carmen cleverly utilized this trait, keeping the shadow beast hidden in Eric’s shadow.

“I guessed he might receive the first death flag, and I was right…”

“Besides me, the last three standing are you, Jin Jianshu, and Eric. Compared to you, the seasoned one, the first death flag was likely to befall one of them…”

Alexander gave a wry smile. It wasn't hard to guess, but Carmen’s foresight was impressive, even something he hadn’t fully considered.

“Roar!”

The attacker was a humanoid monster with the appearance of a Deep One, but larger, standing about two meters tall, wielding a massive axe.

Its muscles were knotted and its stature tall and imposing, unlike typical Deep Ones.

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It swung its axe again, but the stag held strong, its powerful antlers thrusting the creature away and even injuring it.

The antlers sliced the Deep One’s right arm, spilling greenish blood that glowed faintly in the dark.

The Deep One cried out in pain, clutching its wound as it limped away.

“Huh, why is it limping?” Alexander, ever observant, quickly noticed and started thinking rapidly.

“Let’s follow it and see.”

Spain, Jin Jianshu, and the others soon climbed up, and Pete surveyed the area.

“There’s another entrance here—who would have thought…”

“We found something new; can you come and help?” Alexander called to them.

He explained the situation and admitted, “That monster seemed like someone we knew. I plan to follow and find out.”

“With the trail still fresh, it should be easy to track…”

As a sniper, Spain was also a tracking expert. He quickly followed the blood trail, with the group close behind.

For some reason, what was once a monster-infested “nest” had emptied. Perhaps the failed ritual had caused the summoned Dagon cult monsters to vanish.

They navigated the dark labyrinth, following droplets of glowing blood that gradually faded.

“It’s healing; it has some degree of self-regenerative ability…”

Carmen muttered, assessing the opponent’s strength and realizing this was his first encounter with a creature nearing “dangerous species” status in this script.

Even the Shoggoths they faced earlier were merely ordinary monsters.

“If we defeat it, we might obtain a Spectral Ember!” he murmured.

Though the trail nearly vanished, Spain’s tracking prowess didn’t falter, leading them to the Deep One standing guard outside a room.

As they approached, it growled menacingly, raising its axe.

“Is that… Roland? Don’t you recognize me?”

Alexander advanced a few steps, speaking softly: “How did you become like this?”

This Deep One differed from the rest. From the first encounter, Alexander felt something, especially noticing its limp. These features swiftly clicked in his mind, prompting his question.

The Deep One regarded Alexander with a deep look before suddenly leaping to swing its massive axe.

“Watch out, shoot now…”

Spain and Pete ignored Alexander's “don’t shoot” plea and opened fire, filling the air with bullets.

The Deep One was incredibly strong, its skin covered in tough scales deflecting the bullets.

“As expected, only my shadow beast can bypass such defenses and injure it…”

Yet Carmen refrained from summoning his shadow beast again, having already spent a lot of survival points.

He needed to conserve his resources for the future.

Their bullets proved ineffective, and the Deep One leaped towards them.

If it reached them, they would be in grave danger, given the hand-to-hand combat capabilities of a two-meter-tall Deep One.

Just then, Jin Jianshu, who had been quietly observing, suddenly raised his riot gun and fired a gas grenade.

The grenade struck the Deep One, releasing a thick cloud of tear gas. This gas caused intense irritation, especially to sensitive areas like the eyes and nose, leading to excessive tearing, coughing, sneezing, and severe discomfort.

Though nearly invulnerable to conventional weapons, the Deep One was overwhelmed by the gas, coughing and convulsing. Realizing it couldn’t withstand it, the creature bolted, casting a significant glance at Alexander as it left.

“It really is Roland. Judging by its look, it remembers me…”

Alexander caught the sorrowful gaze of the Deep One, convinced it was Roland, likely transformed by Janet’s treachery.

“Roland, do you have something you want to tell me?” Alexander clenched his fist, unable to resist pondering.