As the saying goes, "the darkest place is under the lamp," the snake-man soldier never expected that three adventurers were right beneath its feet.

Even more surprisingly, a single, messy hair stood up on Leah's head and nearly touched the snake-man soldier's toe.

Linda stared intently at the snake-man soldier, who was two meters tall with a long neck. He wore simple brown leather armor, carried a torch in his left hand, and had a rusty longsword at his right waist.

The most basic monsters in the Snakeman camp are level 28 and are not a threat.

Ahead, in the fog, was a massive shadow over five meters tall; that was what they needed to be careful of.

Two-headed snake chieftain.

Level 31, Poison type, Epic 1-star monster!

Weaknesses: Strike, Light, Dragon.

With a health pool of up to 400,000, its attack and defense capabilities are both impressive.

In the closed state of a Greater Rift, with the Berserk attribute bonus, the health is likely to exceed 500,000.

Linda's countermeasure was to outsmart the enemy.

Obtaining the dark fruit is considered a success; there's no need to defeat the two-headed snake chieftain.

He winked at Tasia.

Operation begins!

Tasia understood, and with a surge of wind energy enveloping her entire body, her long skirt billowing, she leaped out of the bushes in a flash, her magic cannon [Shell Sand Rush] aimed at the sky and fired.

"Hiss!"

Her appearance immediately caused commotion in the snake people tribe.

The once-silent tribe was now boiling over as snake-man soldiers, carrying torches and wielding swords, rushed toward the commotion.

Waaaaah!

A scouting snake-man stood atop a stone tower, raising a large brass horn and blowing it.

The tallest figure in the mist strode heavily toward Tasia.

As they drew closer, Linda and Leah, who were lying in the bushes, could clearly see the true form of the shadow: it was over five meters tall, wore brass armor, and had a pair of snake heads that were blue and red respectively, with ferocious snake eyes and a gaping maw.

It held a scimitar in its left hand and a sapphire-inlaid staff in its right, its two snake heads fixed on Tasia, emitting a sharp, piercing laugh.

As planned, after the Tasia Cannon fired, it used the agility of wind-type battle aura to escape to the outer perimeter.

The two-headed snake chieftain hissed and laughed, his body undulating on the ground, his cold scales scraping against the bushes where Linda was hiding, sending chills down one's spine.

He also noticed a small detail: next to him, Lia, who was always bold and liked to charge at monsters, was actually trembling slightly.

Without a second to think, a few seconds later, more than 70% of the snake-men soldiers, led by their chieftain, went to pursue Tasia.

"Let's do it!"

Once they were far enough away, Linda and Leah jumped out of the bushes.

"Highly poisonous purple mist!"

"Flame Slash!"

Linda sprayed poisonous mist, enveloping the remaining dozen or so snake-men soldiers.

Lia, on the other hand, unleashed a flaming slash with her greatsword.

The three snake-man soldiers were instantly burned to a crisp, and their life barrier shattered.

This injury made Linda glance at him slightly.

Working together, the two repelled the snake-men soldiers in just a few seconds.

Linda and Lia exchanged a glance, nodded, and ran towards the dark-colored tree fruit.

The fruit tree is three meters tall, and its leaves and fruits are black.

Linda hurled the whip of darkness to harvest.

Just as they were about to reach the dark-colored tree fruit, the surrounding space suddenly rippled.

A phantom snake head, the size of a fist, appeared, biting the whip of darkness and refusing to let go.

Linda's expression changed, and she shouted to Leah, "Be careful, there's a restriction on the fruit!"

A restriction is a type of magic circle, usually used to protect treasures from being stolen.

Unexpectedly, the snake-man camp used the restriction on the dark-colored tree fruit.

'It seems that this restriction is the biggest challenge for the snake people's camp!'

Only by defeating them head-on can you obtain all the tree fruits. Although Tasia distracted the two-headed snake chieftain, she couldn't hold out for long. Once she escaped, the snakemen would return.

If we don't pick them soon, Leah and I will be surrounded!

According to the plan, Tasia will time it precisely, unleash her full wind battle aura, and three minutes later, use the remaining power to create distance and shake off the snake man.

By then, the two-headed snake chieftain who lost his target will most likely return, which is equivalent to "being out of the monster's aggro range" in the game.

In other words, Linda has three minutes to break the seal on the dark-colored fruit.

"What should we do?!"

With a single strike, Lia smashed the barrier and the tree fruit to pieces.

In this state, the magic contained in the tree fruit will instantly dissipate.

Linda said in a deep voice, "Using brute force is not advisable. Use your battle aura to break the restriction little by little!"

"I'll give it a try!"

Lia concentrated intently, stretching her palm forward.

A streak of flame coiled around the dark-colored tree fruit.

Flames and the sprang snake heads attacked each other. The pale purple void serpent coiled around the tree fruit, and with the slightest provocation, it crushed the fruit, finally looking at Leah with a mocking gaze.

"Ugh! I'm so angry!"

Leah scratched her head, looking like an ant on a hot pan.

Time was of the essence, yet they were blocked by this insidious restriction. If this continued, they might end up with nothing, not even a single fruit, and would be surrounded and killed by the returning two-headed snake chieftain!

"Don't rush, calm down, and treat your fighting spirit as your third arm."

Linda stared intently at a tree fruit, manipulating the Dark Whip and the Illusory Serpent into a fierce battle.

Soon, his forehead was covered in sweat.

But at the same time, the illusory serpent was also firmly caught by the whip and separated from the dark tree fruit.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Linda reached out and grabbed the tree fruit, tearing it off in one swift motion.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!