On the way.
Luo Youyou did her best to recall the route leading to that hidden mining tunnel.
Meanwhile, she quickly explained the known distribution of demons and the potential dangers they might encounter along the way.
At the same time, her catlike eyes darted around in curiosity, filled with wonder.
After all, this was her first time riding on a floating wooden raft.
“We're flying, meow... Is this what flying feels like?”
At the moment, she was bound tightly with sturdy ropes and placed at the very front of the raft to serve as a guide.
Although Lin Gui had accepted her commission, his trust in her was practically zero.
This was to prevent this catgirl assassin from stabbing them in the back along the way.
Theia and Elvia had “politely” asked for her cooperation beforehand and tied her up securely.
Luo Youyou was surprisingly cooperative, even offering a professional tip while being bound.
“When you tie my wrists, cross them back-to-back like this. Yes, tie the knot right here so it'll be harder for me to break free, meow.”
Beneath the Withered Rift, the raft glided swiftly and silently through a labyrinth of ancient mining tunnels.
It was said that this dense, bottomless network of tunnels was incredibly vast.
It had originally been constructed by the legendary “burrowing dwarves” of the deep underground, or perhaps an even more ancient race.
Later, during the Dark Age, the gnolls had expanded and occupied them.
During the Golden Age, countless adventurers had come to the rift to explore and hunt for treasure.
Even the Royal Capital had sent military forces several times to survey the area.
Although the legendary underground royal city was never found,
ancient ruins were discovered one after another.
Magical equipment, magic-conducting artifacts, rare materials, ancient scrolls, lost training methods... Every discovery ignited a new wave of exploration frenzy.
Although most of the known ruins had long been picked clean by the pioneers of that era,
there were always deeper, more hidden ruins waiting to be uncovered.
And the place Rona had gone to was precisely one such unmarked ruin.
“Those exposed magic crystals are of extremely high purity. If they had been discovered during the Golden Age, there's no way they would have been left untouched until now,” Luo Youyou added.
“Watch out! We're about to exit the tunnel and enter the open space above the chasm!” Luo Youyou suddenly warned, her ears perking up alertly.
“There are swarms of Bloodthirsty Bat Demons gathered on the cliff walls of the rift!”
Just as she finished speaking, the raft shot out of the dark mining tunnel with a swoosh, and their vision suddenly opened up.
The bright sun shone overhead, and below them lay the bottomless abyss of the rift.
On the opposite cliff face hung countless massive, black, sac-like nests.
Swarms of Bloodthirsty Bat Demons crawled and writhed over them, letting out skin-crawling screeches.
There were at least a hundred thousand of them, practically forming a small-scale “Black Nest”!
The appearance of the raft instantly drew the attention of the bat demons!
“Watch out, meow!!!”
Like a disturbed swarm of wasps, countless bat demons took flight in an instant.
They merged into a dark, oppressive cloud, howling toward the raft!
Lin Gui's eyes narrowed as he waved his staff.
The raft was about to plunge into the opposite tunnel entrance.
At that exact moment, Lin Gui used 【Levitation】 to grab a massive boulder at the entrance, pulling it down violently once they passed through!
“Boom!”
The boulder crashed down, temporarily blocking the entrance.
However, a mere rock could never hope to stop these bat demons.
After all, they were at least of Mid-tier strength and came in such terrifying numbers.
Just a few breaths later,
accompanied by a deafening roar and flying stone fragments,
the swarm of bat demons broke through the barrier and flooded into the tunnel.
They chased after the raft like a black tide!
Luo Youyou screamed in terror as she looked back at the horrific tide of demons.
A wooden staff tapped her head with moderate force.
“Watch the road! We've reached a fork. Which way do we go?” Lin Gui's voice remained calm.
“Left! To the left!! By the way, Master Mage, hurry up and cast some concealment magic, meow!!” Luo Youyou's tail shook with anxiety.
“No need.”
Behind them, Elvia stood up.
Even on the floating raft, she stood as steady as a rock.
She drew her sword, and the battle qi of a High-tier High Rank Knight gathered frantically upon the blade, radiating a blinding white-gold light.
“In the name of the Knights, dispel the darkness!”
She gave a soft shout, and a highly condensed golden sword qi slashed out like a crescent moon!
It wasn't aimed at the bat demons, but instead struck heavily against the tunnel's rocky walls behind them!
“Rumble—!!!”
A thunderous roar, ten times louder than the previous boulder's crash, echoed through the passage!
The devastating sword qi instantly shattered the structural support points of the tunnel, triggering a chain reaction.
Massive sections of the mining tunnel collapsed, rocks raining down like a torrent and completely burying the pursuers, sealing them off!
Luo Youyou watched this scene in shock, then burst into a stream of curses:
“You collapsed the only tunnel back! How are we supposed to get out, meow!!”
“Don't worry,” Theia said with a grin, patting her head.
“We'll just have Elvia clear it for you when the time comes. As a Knight, she's incredibly strong.”
Elvia sheathed her sword and retorted dryly,
“I don't have the time to play miner. If anyone's clearing it, let that Leader Rona do it herself.”
Under Luo Youyou's guidance, the raft continued deeper into the dense network of mining tunnels.
For safety reasons, the Dreamweaver group's temporary camp was hidden extremely deep.
As they descended, the surrounding temperature began to rise noticeably.
The air was filled with a faint scent of sulfur and an indescribable, ancient aura from deeper below.
Lin Gui frowned slightly.
It was too deep...
If a major battle occurred here and caused a large-scale collapse of the tunnel network, it would be highly troublesome.
On their way down, they occasionally spotted some low-tier Crypt Spiders and scattered gnolls.
However, these cave-dwelling demons didn't seem particularly aggressive.
Most of them merely watched warily, making no move to attack.
About ten minutes later, they finally arrived at the temporary camp Luo Youyou had mentioned.
The camp was in disarray.
There were scattered rations and discarded clutter.
These were clearly signs of a hasty evacuation.
According to Luo Youyou, the entrance to the hidden ruins was at the end of a fork not far from here.
“In that case,” Lin Gui controlled the raft to a halt.
“We'll rest for an hour.”
“We can't wait any longer, meow!!” Luo Youyou cried anxiously.
“Sister Rona is still waiting for me to save her!”
She squirmed in her bonds and looked toward Theia.
“Besides, the half... cough, cough, doesn't this Transcendent Ranger lady have plenty of energy left?”
Theia giggled as she lifted the bound catgirl, teasing her.
“I'm not the main powerhouse of this team~ The real powerhouse is...”
“Cough, cough, cough!”
A few deliberate coughs came simultaneously from Elvia and Lin Gui.
Theia immediately stuck out her tongue and fell silent.
Lin Gui's special ability was one of the team's greatest secrets.
Until he possessed absolute power to protect himself, it could not be easily revealed to outsiders.
This was also the reason why Lin Gui had not used the 【Shroud of the Gloomy Night】 along the way.
“Rest for a bit,” Lin Gui said in an unquestionable tone.
He downed a mana potion, then sat cross-legged and entered a state of meditation.
Only when he felt the mana in his body fully replenished did he stand up, brushing the dust off his mage robe.
“Let's go.”
Rate on N.U.
