After eliminating the remaining reapers, web weavers, and the sentinels that finally joined the party, the rest of the battle more or less went smoothly for the group. The infants weren't much of a threat aside from their numbers, and even then, Hazel and the other players were able to easily dispatch them without a problem.

The problem lay with the unique spider types. Especially the Reapers. Much like in the first wave, the reapers in the second wave were just as formidable. Not only that, but they were apparently quite adaptable as well.

Unlike the reapers from the first swarm, the ones during the second swarm changed tactics when facing Hazel's group. Instead of simply guarding the web-weavers, the reapers actually charged as a group and assaulted the players instead.

This was a problem for Hazel since not only was she facing off against more than one, but she couldn't use her curse bomb spell without getting the other players, including Astrid, into the crossfire. Because of that, she had to use a different tactic to deal with them.

And that was using Telekinesis. Using this spell, Hazel restricted one or two of the reapers' movements, keeping them in place for Astrid, Chegyaeyi, and John to finish them off. Keeping them in place proved a bit difficult because when she invoked Telekinesis on the reapers, they desperately fought against the spell, forcing Hazel to apply more of her telekinetic force on it, thus rapidly draining her mana.

Thankfully, Hazel had some mana potions to spare and used them to replenish her energy. While she felt it was a waste to use them when she was saving those potions for the spider queen, desperate times called for desperate measures. In the end, they were able to kill the reapers before moving on to the web weavers and sentinels, thus making the second wave a lot easier to deal with.

Of course, they still suffered some casualties during the ordeal. When the reapers from the second wave decided to attack the players personally, several of Hazel's members were killed in an instant before anyone could even react. The number of deaths would've been higher if Hazel and the others hadn't dealt with the reapers a moment after they appeared.

With the second wave done, all of the players moved on to the third wave. And of course, the third wave wasn't exactly easy either. The reapers followed the tactics of their brethren from the second wave and assaulted the players instead of staying on the sidelines.

Thankfully, Hazel and the other players were prepared for them this time. As soon as Hazel spotted the reapers with her Astral Eye among the swarm, she, along with Astrid and John, attempted to eliminate them before the monsters got the chance to get close to the players like before.

Hazel made sure not to make the same mistake and simply launched her explosive spears at the reapers, getting rid of them as soon as possible. Sadly, she wasn't able to kill all of them, and the reapers that survived caught up to the players once more.

However, the reapers weren't so lucky because Hazel, Chegyaeyi, Astrid, and John were there to take them down before they could cause any problems. Once all of the reapers were taken care of, they then moved on to the web weavers and then the sentinels, like the previous waves. Any web bridges that were made were destroyed with Hazel's entropy sickle, and the sentinels were killed with either a curse spear or a curse bomb barrage attack.

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The third was soon completed, and Hazel's group managed to survive once again. No way could be triggered after the third was finished. No one was sure why that was the case, but after enduring three waves, no one really cared either.

With the third wave completed, Hazel marveled at her stats.

Status Window Name: Hazel Thatcher Race: Human Level: 30 Class: Witch Free Points: 0

Attributes: Strength: 7 Agility: 16 Endurance: 20 Intelligence: 90 (+33) Wisdom: 89 (+18) Willpower: 22 (+10)

"Only ten more points for both stats, and I'll be at a hundred," She grinned.

After finishing the third wave, Hazel finally made it to level 30. She didn't seem to have reached the third threshold where she could obtain another skill yet. Hopefully, she'd reach it soon. Then again, she was capable of making new spells, like with her curse bomb, so she probably shouldn't rely on the thresholds.

If her math was right, she should be able to have both of her stats reach 100 points on their own once she reached level thirty-five or so. Considering how she leveled up three times from this swarm alone, Hazel knew that this goal was very possible to achieve within her current time frame.

Once Hazel and the other players were done with the swarm, everyone began to pack their things and started heading back to the cargo truck so they could return to the Jetport base. While walking back, Hazel moved over to John to talk to him.

"So, how did everything go with Zoe and the other two?" She asked.

"Zoe didn't face much difficulty with the reapers, though Kane and Anais did. In fact, according to Kane, his group was forced to abandon their checkpoint and regroup with Anais's group to deal with the remaining spiders of the third wave."

So, it got so bad that the brawler had to retreat, then. It was a good thing that Zoe positioned Kane and Anais so close then, so one could regroup with the other if things got too dangerous to handle alone.

"I'm assuming that they dealt with some losses as well?"

"I'm afraid so," John said grimly. "The reapers were the most difficult and dangerous to deal with."

"And unpredictable at times."

"Especially unpredictable. We assume they would act as bodyguards for the weavers, only for them to change tactics and attack us instead. They're far more intelligent than their brethren at the moment."

"Which makes them all the more dangerous to handle."

John nodded. "Knowing what these reapers were like, I'm afraid to find out what the next stage will be before the spider queen appears. We lost some of our people because of how those reapers changed their tactics in such a way, so I'm hesitant to face what will come next during the fourth stage."

John's fear was reasonable. For the most part, the spider queen's children acted like drones with a single command, showing no other signs of higher intellect. But their encounter with the reapers changed their viewpoint on them.

It wasn't just their intelligence but also their speed and ferocity. Those things were determined to slaughter every player they had their sights on, including Hazel. But it was because of how dangerous they were that Hazel realized just as true the description was when it stated that they were killing machines. The only thing on their mind was slaughtering their enemies in the name of their queen. Anything else was either an afterthought or nonexistent.

It was to the point where Hazel shuddered at the thought of fighting them again. And the fact that she planned to fight them tonight did not soothe her anxiety or dread. Honestly, she hadn't felt this way since she nearly died to the Cyclops back in the Fractured Dungeon.

"Well, let's regroup back at the jetport and go over what our plans for tomorrow will be," Hazel declared. "Since we're certain that the fourth stage will be even more dangerous, we should come up with some plans to counter any troubles we encounter during the waves."

"My thoughts exactly," John said with a neutral tone.

Coming to an agreement, the two players joined with the rest of their group. All of them entered the cargo truck and drove off back to the base. Once they returned, their next goal was to make preparations for tomorrow and learn from their mistakes from today. They couldn't afford to let what happened during this stage happen when they endured the next one.

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