Everyone seemed to be very nervous and for the first time since meeting with Arath they didn't crack jokes on every opportunity, instead they held weapons in their hands and listened for any movement. Arath's job was much easier when he didn't have to carry weapons for other members of the group which allowed him to scan his surroundings with Space Element. His now awakened ears and eyes detected even the slighest change so when a small rat passed by, in a smaller corridor just next to the one they were in, Arath almost jumped from surprise. For the entire first hour they couldn't find a single soul and the first creatures they stumbled upon were humans from another team. The two groups threw few curses at each other and blamed the others for the lack of monsters but when the leaders came to an understanding and joined hands the members had no choice but to sign a truce. Elizabeth thought that so deep in the dungeon two groups have better chance to survive than just one.

"We have no idea what we might come across, monsters from a higher level often stay in areas like this after they got here when the doors open at the end of cycle." Leaders explained to their followers.

As it soon came out, it was the right call. After half an hour of wandering through the caves of the Tower Arath and otherr scout-specialised members of the unit discovered traces of a face stealer.

"See the way the stones are placed? This means that a large, mostly shapeless body moved through here, this is how we predict what we can run into." The most experienced tracker said to Arath and another young man before warning others. "Everyone, be careful a face stealer is somewhere here. Don't go alone anywhere and stick together. We can defeat it if we cooperate, it seems smaller than the one in the main cave."

Arath reluctantly nodded but deep inside he had no wish to meet this creature again, the first one was traumatising enough. He stayed in the back and held his guard up, although no one was in the mood to talk a few people laughed at him for his nervousness.

'They feel so confident now, like nothing could ever happen to them, it's certain they have never encountered this monster. One hit is all it needs to devour you, your dreams and everything that you have worked on." He thought while following the party.

The old scout led the way and in less than ten minutes they arrived at a cave with many corridors branching off in almost every direction. In the middle of it was standing the face stealer devouring a small blestol, the huge body of this monstrosity almost reached the ceiling and four people would need to stand arm by arm to just match it's width. As soon as it noticed it's visitors the face stealer turned around and almost fifty faces started screaming at the same time, the view was terryfying and even the bravest started to doubt their decisions.

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"Surround it! Shields in the front! Spellcasters attack!" The two leaders shouted at the same time.

Arath deeply glad for not having to take part in this fight supported the team from behind and made sure everyone had their weapons, at least until a certain person decided otherwise.

"Will and everyone with great dexterity, distract it while fighters prepare to attack it!" Elizabeth kept shouting orders.

'Fuck you, your family and all your friends.' Arath inwardly cursed. 'I should have kept my mouth closed and never show her my abilities, now she is just going to use me as a bait. I hate my life.' He added but followed the instructions.

A total of four man and three woman kept dodging and jumping just to focus the monster on themselves and give the rest of the team time necessary to create the formation. When fatigue started to show it's symptoms a barrage of fire-based attacks from behind saved the situation. The entire back of the moster was burning and big chunks of flesh were sent flying. Arath with a loud sigh of relief turned around and hid behind a giant boulder. The creature tried to break free but a shield wall with very long and sharp spears between the shields prevented it from moving anywhere. Enraged by the situation it crashed against one group and killed two people with no intention to stop on that.

"Freeze it!" The other leader commanded.

Three mages fired their spells using Ice Element and froze the bottom of the face stealer. Once again all faces on it's body released a defeaning scream that damaged the deepest parts of adventurers' souls.

"Shoot and surround it again!"

Over dozen archers released their arrows, each of them hit a different face causing the monster to screech even louder. The group rearranged it's position and put the creature in a disadvantageous position once again.

"Push!" Was the final command before two rows of experienced fighters charged their enemy.

No matter how hard it tried to defend itself and how quickly it's tentacles attacked it was already doomed and the it's fate sealed. Three more mercenaries exhaled their last breath before the monster was finally put down. The groups took their companions bodies and whispered their blessings for the deceased in the afterlife. Commanders congratulated the soldiers and tried their best to keep the frustration of losing five good man inside. Not only frustration but also pain and sadness, they knew some for a long time and just started their friendships with others.

"Get ready, we are moving forward in half an hour. Meanwhile take a break and burn the corpse, it's not something I want to see on our way back." Elisabeth announced and unfolded her vague map of the dungeon to plan their next steps with the other leader.