Chapter 499 - 498: The Dungeon’s Show of Force

Chapter 499: Chapter 498: The Dungeon’s Show of Force

Durkin addressed everyone present in a loud voice, "From the moment we pass through this door, I will no longer be responsible for anyone’s life or death. For the sake of this expedition, any sacrifice is worthwhile. Every one of you must be prepared to be abandoned!"

’What a perfect opening speech,’ Colin thought sardonically.

"Is this how you treat them?" Balende, who had already been unfriendly, predictably started shouting. "These Dwarves came here because they trust you! Is this how you treat them?"

Durkin did not reply.

He turned and slowly pushed open the massive door, revealing a dark corridor behind it.

The moment Colin saw the corridor, he felt a strange sense of familiarity.

’Isn’t this just like the environment on the first two levels of the Undercity? Does that mean all these doors in the hall are teleportation gates connected to the Undercity?’

Durkin stepped through the stone door, and the others followed.

"A bunch of damned fools! He’s going to lead you all to Hell!" Balende was still complaining.

However, the Dwarves who had made it this far were clearly very loyal to the Shadow Anvil Clan. They said nothing, simply following silently behind Durkin.

After cursing a few more times, Balende silently fell in at the rear of the group.

Colin glanced around, deciding not to say anything in this situation.

He just whispered to Donkexes, "I don’t care what you all think. If anyone on my team is in danger, I absolutely will not stand by and do nothing."

"That’s your own business, then. We won’t interfere," Donkexes whispered back. "But Durkin isn’t what you think. He truly is a capable leader, just like all the past leaders of the Shadow Anvil Clan."

"I hope so," Colin said.

At that moment, the few of them had almost reached the stone door.

Colin hesitated for a moment before the door, then stepped through.

Surprisingly, he felt nothing as he passed through the teleportation gate, as if he were just walking through an ordinary door.

Kase, standing nearby, sighed. "It would be great if all the Teleport Cantrips in the world were like this door."

Colin, who was at the rear of the group, glanced back. The stone door behind them had vanished, as if it had never been there.

Dorn suddenly clapped his hands.

When everyone looked over, he shouted, "We have now arrived on the second level of the Undercity. From now on, follow my command. Everyone except for Colin’s squad, myself, Donkexes, and the others, group up."

The Dwarves obediently gathered together, including the troublemaker from before, Balende.

After all, they had now entered a perilous Underground City, and no one wanted any accidents.

The three Dwarves, Langgrin, Donkexes, and Durkin, walked over to Colin and his team.

Langgrin asked, "What’s your plan?"

"We’ve been to the Undercity before. Dorn and Kase were our scouts then, so they’ll scout now. We’ll guard the perimeter of the main group," Colin said, looking at Durkin. "Is that acceptable?"

Durkin nodded. "That was my plan as well."

"So... shall we move out?"

Donkexes then reached into his pack, pulled out a rolled-up map, and handed it to Dorn.

Colin was a little confused when he saw this.

’If we’d already agreed to set out together, why didn’t he give the map to Dorn earlier?’

Dorn didn’t seem to mind, though. He unrolled the map and began to plan their route.

A moment later, with the route planned, Dorn and Kase scouted ahead, leading the group down a long corridor built of stone bricks.

Donkexes, Langgrin, and Durkin walked at the front of the formation, while Colin and his team brought up the rear.

To get a better view, a few of the Dwarves in the squad lit the oil lamps they carried—a Dwarf’s Darkvision could only see clearly within about twenty meters.

The atmosphere inside the Undercity was as oppressive as ever.

This time, however, Colin was no longer the Dungeon-crawling rookie he had been on his first visit. He remained calm and quickly adapted to his surroundings.

Although some areas of the Undercity were fixed, the paths between these locations were constantly changing, so the group ran into several dead ends.

Dorn and Kase were quite professional, quickly finding a viable path each time they hit a dead end.

As the group proceeded down the stone-paved path, one of the Dwarves at the front began passing a message back in a low voice. The message slowly made its way to Colin’s group, and the Dwarf in front of them turned and said, "The ones up front say to watch out for Oozes."

"Understood," Colin nodded.

After walking another few dozen meters, the party arrived in a room that looked like a garbage disposal area.

The room was quite spacious, with a ceiling about ten meters high. Piles of discarded stone materials were heaped up into small hills, with paths wide enough for a person to pass through winding between them.

Colin and his team proceeded along the narrow path.

Just then, Orelia, who was walking at the back, suddenly cried out, "Sirs, something might be coming!"

Hearing this, Colin quickly drew the Giant Sword from his back. The Dwarves ahead of them also drew their weapons one by one, warily scanning their surroundings.

But after a good while, no monster appeared.

"Lass, are you sure you saw something?" a Dwarf asked loudly.

"I... I..." Orelia glanced timidly at her Shield, then shouted, "I’m sure!"

Colin looked at the surrounding rocks.

Dorn and the others had warned them to be careful of Oozes, and now Orelia’s shield had given a warning. Therefore, the approaching monster was likely an Ooze, which would be difficult to spot in this environment.

’A gel block? An ochre jelly? A black pudding?’

Colin glanced at the grayish-white stone materials around them.

He and Durkin, who was at the front, shouted at the same time, "Gray Oozes! There might be Gray Oozes around!"

The next moment, a stone block at a Dwarf’s feet suddenly twitched. Then, like a cobra, it "rose" up and lunged at the Dwarf.

’It really is a Gray Ooze!’

The instant the stone block moved, Colin placed a hand on the Spellbook at his waist and began Casting a Spell.

The Spellbook flipped open with a RUSTLE, stopping on the page that recorded the spell Shatter.

The Gray Ooze began to vibrate rapidly, spattering gray droplets of ooze everywhere, and the surrounding stone materials started to crumble into dust at a visible rate.

When the spell ended, the Gray Ooze collapsed to the ground, turning into a pile of grayish-white sludge.

At the same time, some of the other stone materials began to tremble and collapse inward, also turning into piles of grayish-white sludge. It seemed they were also Gray Oozes lying in ambush.

GLURG, GLURG...

The sound of bubbling slime echoed around them.

A large number of the "stone materials" began to surge toward the group, slithering across the ground like snakes. It was a disgusting sight.

Ale, standing next to Colin, raised her Magic Staff and loudly recited a Spell.

A biting gale swept out from the tip of her staff, instantly freezing the Oozes that were charging from the left side of the group.

GLURG, GLURG...

A few more squelching sounds of viscous liquid reached their ears.

At first, Colin thought it was the sound of the Oozes, but the noise grew louder. Looking up, he was shocked to see the ceiling to the right of the group twisting, warping, and beginning to collapse downward. At the same time, it was covered in a flowing, gray Magic Radiance.