Chapter 680 Rendezvous, A Sudden Encounter

"Sizzle-crack—"

Pitch-black astral qi wreathed his layered, fish-scale-like silver-gray metal greaves as they pumped back and forth in the dimly lit tunnel, flashing with silver light.

A leather boot slammed down, leaving a crisp imprint in the dusty earth. A split second later, explosive muscular force pushed off that solid footing, launching his body rocketing deeper into the tunnel.

Zanfrey tucked under his left arm and Winsor scooped up in his right, the fully armed, black-haired adventurer tore through the subterranean passageways.

The twisting, maze-like environment of the Underdark forced him to constantly brake into turns or squeeze through narrow, uneven fissures, preventing him from fully unleashing the absurd linear burst speed granted by [Fang Hunt].

That was exactly why the footfalls and shrieks of the Dire Corbies could still be heard echoing behind him.

The lethal potential of these Dire Corbies had already been established; if this many of them unleashed a simultaneous "Terrifying Shriek," even someone with Xia Nan's outstanding Perception could hardly claim complete immunity.

Therefore, upon stumbling into this flock of Dire Corbies while searching for the serpent-folk tribe, the party of four humans and one wolf had no choice but to temporarily retreat and avoid a direct clash.

Just as they had planned, Xia Nan—one of the party's two Class Holders—took charge of carrying the two dead weights during their retreat. Meanwhile, the gnome Rogue, Ronda, tapped into his class's shadow powers, weaving through the darkness between the tunnels to guide them and ensure they didn't get completely lost in the depths of the Underdark in their frantic escape.

"This way!"

Cloaked in shadows so dense they seemed tangible, Ronda appeared highly adapted to the gloom. With every step, the light and shadow around him clung and swayed like leaves rustling in a breeze, his short body flickering forward in a stuttering, discontinuous dash.

He had spent years scraping by in the Underdark, after all. Most of that time was spent trailing behind Dire Corbies to pick through their garbage, but he was still familiar with the surrounding layout. Even with a horde breathing down their necks, Ronda proved exceptionally reliable at pointing out the route for the others.

He had just flared [Fang Hunt] to accelerate, but before he could build up speed, he had to brake again and follow the leading Rogue around another corner.

With the Winter Wolf Fanny keeping pace beside him, Xia Nan told Zanfrey and Winsor to hold on tight. He slammed on the brakes, planting his right boot directly onto the tunnel wall. Using [Tidal Stabilization] to lock his balance, he executed a flawless turn in an instant.

Catching a glimpse of something notable in his periphery, Xia Nan spared a sliver of attention to check the wall ahead. Faint scale-like carvings were visible on the stone.

He realized they were on the right path, steadily closing in on the serpent-folk tribe.

As the gnome Rogue led them deeper, the tunnel gradually widened. The serpent scales and fang-shaped motifs cropping up with increasing frequency along the walls only cemented Xia Nan's judgment.

An idea bloomed in his mind. Taking advantage of the deceleration at the next corner, he called out to Ronda ahead:

"Are we really going to keep pushing forward? Isn't there anywhere around here to hide?"

The Dire Corbies behind them were relentlessly running them down, clearly treating the group as fleeing prey.

If Xia Nan and the others kept advancing on the serpent-folk tribe, it was all but guaranteed that they would lead these dangerous Dire Corbies right to their doorstep.

Xia Nan had no grudge against the serpent-folk. In fact, he still needed to ask them about an exit to the Underdark.

Even if the tribe was capable of handling the Dire Corbies, dragging an unprovoked disaster down upon innocent heads simply wasn't his style.

That was why he was suggesting to their guide that they change course. Now that they knew the exact direction of the tribe and were unlikely to get lost, they could find a place to lay low and lure the Dire Corbies away.

But evidently, not all adventurers on the Aifala Continent shared his moral bottom line.

Ronda's nature was already perfectly clear: he was an absolute egoist.

He had already proven that earlier. When his two teammates—people he practically lived with—had gone missing and were highly likely still alive, he hadn't even mentioned them, only hoping to follow Xia Nan to the exit.

So right now, with Dire Corbies on their heels, he obviously had zero interest in worrying about anyone else's safety.

Serpent-folk or whatever—if they could deal with the Dire Corbies, great.

If they couldn't—well, he couldn't be blamed for that.

Remorse and reflection were luxuries reserved for the living.

Truth be told, looking at it strictly from Ronda's perspective, his choices were understandable.

To some extent, this was exactly how a bottom-feeding adventurer with no background could survive in such a high-mortality profession long enough to become a level-4 Class Holder.

But from Xia Nan's standpoint, he couldn't help but hesitate.

After all, their current predicament was far from a dead end.

If he lacked his current combat strength and array of trump cards, and getting caught by the Dire Corbies meant certain death, he wouldn't let moral baggage weigh him down either.

If dragging trouble to the serpent-folk was the only way to survive and break out of a fatal corner, he'd keep doing it—though he'd try to compensate them later.

But as it stood, retreating wasn't Xia Nan's only option.

He still had one bottle of "Deafness Potion" left in his pouch from the banshee quest. That gave him the means to ignore the Dire Corbies' shrieks and fight them solo.

He had only held off on using it thus far because of the environment and the need to protect his teammates.

Factor in his own exceptional talent for crowd combat, and their numerical advantage wasn't much of a worry either. He just needed to make sure he didn't drag the fight out long enough to attract other dangerous monsters, and mind his surroundings so he wouldn't accidentally get lost in the Underdark during the brawl.

The gnome Rogue acting as their guide just kept his head down and scurried on, pretending he hadn't heard the question.

Xia Nan knew the man had already made his decision.

Frowning slightly, Xia Nan didn't say anything more. He kept running, debating in his head whether he should stop and take on the Dire Corbies alone.

But right then, suddenly!

A familiar, spine-chilling shade of eerie dark purple caught his eye.

Thread-like tendrils of dark purple mycelium clung to the stone walls, slowly creeping outward along the carved murals of the serpent-folk.

In fact, when the sheer gale of Xia Nan's passing swept over the walls, the outermost mycelial threads seemed almost sentient. They writhed and stretched upward like maggots, even if they were shredded by the pitch-black astral winds a split second later.

Visibly, over the next few bends, as serpent-folk architecture and signs of habitation grew more frequent, the mycelial growth became denser.

He realized something was wrong.

Xia Nan slammed to a halt!

The Winter Wolf Fanny, running right beside him, braked just as hard, all four paws skidding across the stone with almost enough friction to spark.

The gnome Rogue tried to keep bolting forward, but Xia Nan seized him with a vicious yank of gravity. Losing his center of balance, Ronda tumbled back in an undignified heap, rolling a few times before landing hard on his rear.

"Mr. Xia Nan, these serpent-folk aren't exactly saints either."

Misinterpreting the sudden stop as Xia Nan refusing to drag trouble to the tribe, Ronda wore a bitter expression and tried to persuade him.

"Sure, they regularly do business with human merchants, but whenever they come across some remote, defenseless village? They act worse than mountain bandits."

'Is that so? Why didn't you say that earlier?'

Hearing that, the guilt Xia Nan felt over dragging them into this mess vanished.

But that wasn't why he had yanked Ronda to a stop.

"This has nothing to do with the serpent-folk, but we can't go any further. Something is wrong here."

Xia Nan's gaze shifted to a nearby serpent-folk outpost that had been completely swallowed by mycelium.

Eerily silent, the serpent-folk sentries who should have been standing guard were nowhere to be found, leaving behind nothing but a dark purple ruin.

Piecing together the details he had observed along the way, along with the Goblin camp and the infected hook horror from earlier...

Xia Nan could make a reasonable guess. Their destination—the subterranean serpent-folk settlement—had already been consumed by the Swamp Druids' mycelial infection.

And judging by the state of things out here, the corruption closer to the center would only be worse.

If they charged straight into the heart of it while fleeing the Dire Corbies, who knew what they'd stumble into?

Weighing the risks, Xia Nan decided that the unknown environment inside the serpent-folk tribe was far more dangerous than the known threat of the Dire Corbies behind them.

With time running out, he gave a brief explanation of why he had stopped and his theory on the tribe's current state.

Seeing the gnome Rogue still looking half-skeptical, Xia Nan didn't bother wasting any more breath on him. He turned straight to the two youths at his side.

"In a moment, I'll find a place to stash you two. Keep your heads down and don't make a sound."

"Once I've dealt with the Dire Corbies, I'll come back for you."

Ronda was a veteran adventurer, after all, and knew how to weigh priorities. Previously blinded by the imminent threat of the flock behind them, he suddenly came to his senses.

Hearing Xia Nan's plan, Ronda immediately flashed an awkward smile and scurried closer, lowering his posture.

"I know a decently hidden spot around here! I'll take them!"

Xia Nan shot him a side-glance and gave a slight nod.

Sensing the squawking of the Dire Corbies drawing dangerously near, he pulled his very last bottle of Deafness Potion from his pouch, ready to down it.

But right at that moment, another sound cut through the gloom—a series of frantic footsteps echoing from deeper inside the serpent-folk tribe's territory.

Alarmed, he whipped his head around to look.

Three figures of varying sizes burst into view.

The two on the left and right were strangers he had never seen before.

But the middle one—the middle-aged man being supported between them, limping violently as he sprinted—was a deeply familiar face to Xia Nan and the others.

"Uncle Ake!"

Beside him, Zanfrey's eyes flew wide. Practically leaping out of his skin with excitement, he waved frantically at his Uncle Ake and shouted at the top of his lungs.

Xia Nan, however, was observing very closely.

The exact second Ake laid eyes on Zanfrey, the grizzled, loyal guard's taut expression instantly collapsed in relief. His whole body sagged, and his frantic sprinting visibly slowed.

But a split second later, as if realizing something...

That brief look of relief on Ake's face was replaced by a frantic panic—an expression that had absolutely no place in a joyful reunion.

His mouth opened and closed, screaming something at Zanfrey as he waved one arm violently in the air.

Xia Nan had excellent hearing. Even though the man's intense emotions made his words rushed and slurred together, Xia Nan perfectly caught every single syllable the middle-aged man screamed:

"Young Master, run!!!"

A familiar "screech" hit Xia Nan's ears at the exact same time as Ake's warning.

Xia Nan's gaze shot past them, plunging into the deep shadows right behind the fleeing trio.

Countless tiny pinpricks of dark purple light swayed and bobbed in the gloom, like a swarm of fireflies in the dead of night.

No—they were eyes!

Pairs upon pairs of eyes radiating frantic, malicious bloodlust—the eyes of goblins entirely consumed by dark purple mycelium!

Over a hundred mycelium-enhanced goblins were stampeding right on Ake's heels.

"Gulp."

Xia Nan's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed hard.

His brain shifted into overdrive, frantically analyzing the situation.

Behind them, a massive horde of Dire Corbies.

Ahead lay a massive horde of green-skinned Goblins. Even a cursory glance confirmed their numbers had crossed into the triple digits.

And his group was caught right in the middle.

What should they do?

If they chose to stay and fight, he only had a single Deafness Potion on him. This meant everyone except him would have to face the brunt of the Dire Corbies' shrieks head-on.

If they failed their saving throws and lost their mobility, they would have only one way out against the charge of this monstrous sea—death.

Not to mention Ake and the two adventurers beside him up ahead. All of them looked heavily injured and utterly exhausted, without a weapon in their hands. It was debatable if they could exert even half of their usual combat strength.

The only two left with any real combat capability were himself and Ronda. And considering the gnome Rogue's track record, there was a real chance he would cut and run before the fighting even started.

Under these circumstances, Xia Nan was confident he could rely on his trump cards and combat techniques to emerge as the final victor of this encounter, but he had no way to guarantee the safety of anyone else.

Therefore, rather than staying to fight the monsters, the better choice was—

"Over here!"

Ronda's voice suddenly rang in his ear.

Xia Nan followed the sound and saw that the gnome Rogue had already found a rather well-hidden path through the ruined buildings.