Dylan’s defenders crept through the lush foliage, completely concealed within the plants due to their short and low-laying stature. The weird bat-like humanoids didn’t even notice them. It had been about 10 minutes since they had entered Dylan’s dungeon, and they hadn’t pressed more than 500 feet from the entrance, since the bigger one carrying the branch stopped them every few seconds to sniff at the air.

Steady now. I hope you are all in position. Dylan sent orders to the troops he had sent out. Four of you attack the big one. Two each to the smaller ones. Ants, just swarm.

These orders were of course to the 10 giant centipedes, 10 leaping bombardier beetles, and 100 swarm ants Dylan had mobilized to meet this group of intruders. Frankly, four giant centipedes and four leaping bombardier beetles attacking a single, unarmored creature wielding a stick seemed like overkill. However, Dylan wasn’t willing to take any chances. The swarm ants were to help in the battle against the three smaller creatures, and Dylan wanted to see if he could get the ability to summon these weird bat-faced creatures. If not, he could possibly get skills to imbue his creatures with, which could really come in handy later down the line.

As the group of four creatures stopped to sniff around again, Dylan gave an order for his monsters to take action. All of a sudden, the bat-faced humanoids were pelted by acid from his leaping bombardier beetles, one of the small ones shrieking as a burst struck its eye, causing it to roll on the ground. The big one managed to dodge all but one of the shots aimed at it, surprisingly, but all of them seemed agitated and irritated because of the acid, rather than actually injured.

Maybe for their next evolution, I’ll upgrade their acid further, and maybe their size. Dylan noted. As of now, the bombardier beetles probably aren’t good for anything other than a distraction.

The centipedes clattered out of the underbrush and started to engage the bat-faced humanoids in close combat. The bombardier beetles were flying around while spraying acid, and the swarm ants approached in waves. The bat-faced humanoid who was struck by acid on the face unfortunately rolled into his aggressors, crushing a few swarm ants but ending with the majority of the group crawling over it. The swarm ants used their sizable mandibles to pierce and tug at the creature’s flesh as it cried out in pain. Several swarm ants crawled up to its big bat-like ears and attempted to burrow into its ears, causing it to howl in pain, allowing swarm ants to enter through the creature’s mouth. The centipedes coiled around its limbs, entangling them, while the bombardier beetles sprayed it with acid. Within minutes, the creature stopped moving, as swarm ants began erupting out of its torso.

How vicious! Dylan was stunned at the surprising teamwork by his insects. Even I wouldn’t have imagined such a vicious scenario as a result of some giant bugs!

Dylan was quickly pulled from his thoughts by a screen which popped up in front of him.

Ding!

You can now [Summon]: Goblin (F+)

You have learned [Goblin Language]

Your organisms can be granted [Goblin Language] due to the death of the skill’s user within the dungeon

Huh? Dylan was startled as he suddenly could understand the strange shrieks and grunts of the so-called goblins due to his consumption of the skill owner. These creatures are called goblins in Thunnberg..?

“Help me!” Cried one of the two remaining smaller goblins as he was forced back by two centipedes. He lashed out with his claws, causing a small scratch to appear on the carapace of one of them, but only succeeded in angering it. The centipede rushed the poor creature, knocking it off balance while the other pierced the goblin with its mandibles. The centipedes began to tear this goblin apart, eating it even as it struggled to cry out for help. Its screams only served to attract more insects to it, and they excitedly rushed over to devour the goblin.

The last two goblins, however, had stuck together. The big one was a mess, between trying to dodge the attacks of four centipedes and four bombardier beetles at once and fighting back, it looked to be tiring out quickly, sweat dotted its forehead. The smaller one was struggling to dodge the attacks of two centipedes, failing to notice that some swarm ants were already climbing up its back. They made their way up to its ears and began forcing their way in, causing it to scream in shock, giving the centipedes an opening, one of them crunching down on its face with its mandibles, piercing right into its eyes and crunching closed, causing the goblin to fall limp immediately.

Hurry up and kill the big one! You can eat it later! Dylan sent out a [Dungeon Order], and all of the insects he had sent reacted immediately, charging the larger goblin with reckless abandon.

“Nuu?!” The goblin yelped as a horde of monsters charged it. “Gah, this is bad!”

Dylan was pleased hearing this, however, the next cry from the goblin caused Dylan to push up his alertness again.

“GROOOAHHHHHH,” The goblin bellowed as a centipede’s mandible scraped a small cut on its shoulder “[Club Proficiency]! Don’t underestimate me!” The goblin’s tree branch swung with reckless abandon, striking the centipede’s head, shattering the carapace. The centipede’s head cracked open and burst like a watermelon before it slumped to the ground. The goblin’s sturdy tree branch also shattered into several pieces from the force of the impact, leaving the goblin with a short stump of its club left.

How powerful! Dylan’s vision jumped upwards in shock. That must be a skill! Maybe this goblin has another skill that I can acquire after killing it! Get him while he’s tired! Indeed, the goblin looked tired. Sides heaving, the goblin gasped for air, sweat trickling down its body. The goblin wiped its face quickly as it saw the insects stepping closer, ignoring the corpse of their comrade which it hoped would have served a warning to them. Something seemed wrong to the goblin. Thinking back, never before had he seen monsters working together so well. He grit his teeth in anger and roared a challenge.

“GROAHHHHH, COME AND KILL ME IF YOU CAN! EVEN IF I DIE, THE CHIEF WILL AVENGE MEEEEEEEE!” The goblin cried out in rage as he charged the incoming tide of bugs. He managed to use [Club Proficiency] twice more, killing two giant centipedes with the stump of his club before it shattered into splinters. His aggressive attacks also managed to kill off a larger number of swarm ants, but after no more than 5 minutes caught in the swarm of insects, the goblin fell.

Ding!

You can now [Summon]: Goblin Warrior(E-)

Your organisms can now be granted [Club Proficiency](F) due to the death of the skill’s user within the dungeon

(E-) Rank? What a surprise…It’s not like it was that strong, although he did kill several of my centipedes…Dylan decided to take the ratings with a grain of salt, as even though the goblin warrior was definitely strong enough to kill the centipedes, its not as if it was strong enough to completely dominate a horde of Dylan’s F-ranked monsters. It appears that in this world, quantity might just be a massive quality of its own. Unless someone showed up in his dungeon with a powerful area-of-effect attack, Dylan was confident in his sheer number strategy for now. [Absorb Bodies]…now, we should probably summon some of the new monsters…and evolve all of the old ones…that goblin warrior said something about a ‘chief’ coming here to avenge him…and if this ‘chief’ is more powerful than the goblin, I would probably require a large amount of centipedes to kill him. I also need to know how many goblins there are coming with this ‘chief’. If their numbers are high, we might just have a war.