Chapter 657: At the Edge of the Soul Lantern’s Light

Thoren remained seated on his undead Greater Dune Scorpion, his expression gradually becoming colder as he listened.

The Soul Lantern of Eternal Crypt floated above his head, releasing a pale, ghostly light that spread across the surrounding stone walls.

However, even with the lantern illuminating his surroundings, Thoren could not see the creatures responsible for those voices.

That alone was enough to make him cautious.

He had encountered countless dangerous beasts since entering the Abyss, and he had learned that the most terrifying enemies were not necessarily those with the greatest physical strength.

It was those that relied on intelligence, deception, and patience to overcome their opponents. And the creatures hiding in this cavern appeared to belong to the latter category.

Thoren slowly narrowed his eyes and pushed his Perception to its limit, carefully examining every corner within the lantern’s illumination.

Nothing.

There was no visible movement, no unusual fluctuation in the surrounding air, and no obvious indication of where the voices originated.

It was as though the creatures were deliberately keeping themselves beyond his perception.

’Interesting.’

Rather than allowing the strange situation to unsettle him, Thoren immediately instructed the two undead Echo Scarabs to spread out and search.

One continued forward along the main passage, moving close to the ground as it passed between scattered bones and jagged rocks.

The other moved toward a narrower passage on the right, carefully examining the shadows concealed behind the stone formations.

Through their mental connection, Thoren received a constant stream of fragmented information about their surroundings.

For several moments, nothing unusual happened.

Then one of the undead Echo Scarabs detected movement.

It was faint, almost imperceptible, occurring somewhere deep within the cavern.

A shadow had shifted behind a distant stone pillar, moving so quickly that even the Echo Scarab could not obtain a clear image.

Thoren’s gaze snapped toward the direction indicated by the undead Echo Scarab, his eyes narrowing as he examined the distant stone pillar.

He waited for several seconds.

Still nothing.

The movement seemed to have vanished completely, leaving no trace of its presence.

If not for his absolute trust in his undead servants, Thoren might have wondered whether he had mistaken a shifting shadow for a living creature.

However, the undead Echo Scarab had transmitted the information directly to him.

Something had moved there, that was the absolute truth.

Thoren clenched his fist slightly as he increased his vigilance.

He did not immediately order his undead servants to attack, nor did he recklessly advance toward the location where the movement had occurred.

Instead, he carefully expanded his Perception and continued monitoring the surroundings, determined not to overlook the slightest abnormality.

Just then, the second undead Echo Scarab detected another movement. This time, the disturbance occurred in the opposite direction.

A faint shadow slipped between two enormous stone pillars before disappearing behind a cluster of jagged rocks.

Unlike the first movement, the undead second Echo Scarab managed to transmit a clearer impression of what it had witnessed.

Thoren caught it through their mental connection.

For an instant, he sensed the movement of something long and sinuous, its body gliding across the rocky ground with astonishing smoothness.

It had moved without producing the slightest sound, and the speed with which it disappeared suggested that it was something swift.

Thoren’s brow furrowed tightly.

’What are they?’

He had initially assumed that a single creature was responsible for the strange voices.

However, the two movements had occurred in different directions, and the creatures responsible had reacted with remarkable coordination.

From what he had observed, he came to one glaring conclusion.

They were intelligent.

More importantly, they were deliberately positioning themselves around him.

One creature had appeared on one side, while another had revealed itself on the opposite side.

Neither had attempted to attack immediately.

They were not merely hiding.

They were pinning him to the center.

The realization caused Thoren’s expression to turn serious and he took a slow, measured breath.

He decided to no longer search for the creatures.

If they intended to surround him, then he would allow them to complete their little performance.

Continuing to chase their movements would only waste time, and there was no guarantee that his efforts would reveal anything useful.

Instead, he settled himself on his mount and waited.

The cavern gradually fell silent.

The strange voices disappeared, leaving behind only the occasional dripping sound from the ceiling.

A drop of liquid struck a shallow pool somewhere in the distance, producing a faint plink that echoed through the surrounding passages.

Second passed by.

The silence stretched until it became almost unbearable, pressing against his nerves with the weight of something unseen.

Thoren remained motionless, but his perception continued probing the darkness.

He monitored every shift in the air, every faint vibration beneath the ground, and every sound that might reveal the position of his enemies.

Then he heard it.

Scritch.

A faint scratching sound came from somewhere to his left. Instantly, Thoren’s eyes shifted toward the source.

Scritch. Scritch.

Another sound followed, this time from behind him.

Then another came from the right.

Soon, the scratching echoed from every direction, irregular and unsettling, as though dozens of sharp claws were slowly dragging themselves across the rocky walls.

Some sounds came from the ceiling, while others emerged from the narrow passages surrounding the main route.

The creatures were approaching.

They were no longer attempting to conceal the fact that they were there.

Instead, they seemed intent on making him listen as they slowly closed the distance, allowing every scrape to announce their presence.

Thoren’s expression became increasingly ugly.

He had already noticed their arrival through the mental connection with his undead servants, but hearing those sounds emerge from so many different directions made the situation far more disturbing.

How many were there?

Two?

Four?

Or perhaps even more?

He could not determine the exact number.

Suddenly, a faint movement appeared at the very edge of the Soul Lantern’s illumination.

Quickly, Thoren turned his gaze toward it.

Beside a jagged stone pillar stood a massive creature, its body partially concealed by the surrounding darkness.