100 seconds!
Liam suddenly felt that this was extremely doable! He can get through this! He can pass this test and get out of this weird place, that is if the damned naga keeps his word.
He had a feeling that the snake was not to be trusted.
And before he could even finish this thought, as if the other party could read his mind, a loud voice reverberated in the cave.
"Too easy! Let's make things a bit more interesting!"
HISSSSSS
The next second the number of nagas battling Liam doubled and there were now a total of six nagas.
More importantly, Liam was no longer able to use even mana, essentially cutting him off of both nether and mana.
"What the hell…" His eyes widened in realization when he couldn't feel either of the two energies but he couldn't afford to think about it right now.
Without giving him even a chance to breathe, the six sets of tridents locked him in place, all of them coming at him with the clear intention of skewering him.
Liam could only retaliate so much. If he was not overwhelmed before, he was now completely under the water.
He madly fought with the six nagas, at this point only the opponents in front of him visible.
After a certain limit, even that disappeared from his vision, only the tridents now occupying all of his mind.
It was as if there was a rhythm and all he had to do was follow that rhythm and meet the weapon every single time.
Being completely pushed to the extreme, Liam slowly even forgot about the number of seconds he had still hold on or the fact that he was trapped in some sort of weird illusion.
The six tridents were the only things in his mind.
CLANG. CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.
The weapons contiuned ceaselessly clashing and eventually he managed to push back one attack completely.
HISSS! The naga skidded back and the image disappeared.
"I can see it now!" Liam gripped his sword tighter. He could see their movements and he could see how they were able to achiever this sort of effect.
It was just a hunch but he decided to test it. When the naga on his right side pointed its trident towards him, Liam instead attacked the one on his left side.
At all times, there was only one naga around him! The rest were all images! Illusions! This was he was sure of it! It was as if the thing that was clouding his mind was now completely lifted.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The nagas continued to relentlessly assault Liam but he no longer fought back mindlessly.
He could vaguely grasp some concept using which he could see through their movements and the difference between truth and lies.
So he only attacked two nagas amidst the six. His technique was not perfect but it was enough to push them back and break the encirclement.
Liam then moved several paces back. He did not realize it but when he did, he left several after images in his path.
If someone else had seen him right now, they would have been extremely shocked. This was the same technique the nagas had used as well!
Just as Liam was about to dive back in and finally take out the damn naga who had been torturing him for so long now, suddenly the world around him started turning dark.
"I knew you had it in you. HISSSSSS! Congratulations on passing my test, boy. I will see you again when the time comes. HISSSSSS!"
Liam felt a splitting headache ripple across his brain and when he opened his eyes or rather when he was able to see, he was once again back outside, in front of the dungeon portal.
He was on the ground, from top to bottom fully drenched in sweat.
"What the hell just happened?" He shook his head, trying to think clearly.
Kyuuuu.
A small fox walked over to him, looking worriedly.
"Oh, you are also here?" Liam sighed in relief and turned around to see the rest of the group arrive one by one as well.
However, not everyone was as stable as him. Derek swung his axe around as if he was still fighting the nagas.
Shin Soo screamed, "Damned snakes! Get away from me!"
A lot of people were in different different poses. From the looks of it, none of them had figured out the illusion part and were still fighting thinking that the nagas were real.
Only when they realized that they were somehow outside again, they calmed down.
"What the hell was that?"
"Oh my god. Everyone is here again."
"Brother, there were so many nagas! The more I killed more nagas started coming at me." Mei Mei ran forward and hugged Liam.
Everyone looked extremely pleased to get out of the hell hole. They were not getting any drops, any experience points and the number of nagas coming at them were never ending.
They were also restless being caught alone and fighting the waves of beasts alone. Now that they were finally outside, everyone was able to breathe.
"What dungeon was that?"
"Boss, could it be some special secret place? Maybe it had some treasure? It definitely did not look ordinary."
Everyone was of the same opinion and nodded in agreement.
They wanted to attempt this godforsaken dungeon again though they already knew that it was going to be just as terrible as the first time.
They needed to do it. Otherwise, they would miss this treasure.
In reality, Liam was also of the same opinion.
There was something in this place and the fact that they had all returned outside without dying meant that whatever was inside was not trying to harm them.
It might even be a place for training. He could still feel his nerves tingling from having fought continuously for so long, pushing himself to the limits all throughout.
He did not obtain anything this time, perhaps if they go in for the second time, they could get something?
Liam turned to the dungeon portal to investigate if they had to deal with the six elites at the gate again, only to find out that the entire place had completely vanished.
There was no sign of the dungeon or any landmark indicating that the dungeon was ever here. "It disappeared?"
Liam no longer knew what to think about it. The whole damn place had actually disappeared! Was anything even real or did he just dream about the entire thing?
"Alright." He quickly shook it off and clapped his hands loudly. "Let's get moving. Too many people know our location. It is not good to stay too long here."
Immediately, Luna ballooned up and Liam dashed forward to hop onto her in a rush. However, when he moved, behind him there were two after images...
[Ding. You have learned a new skill]
