Chapter 570 - 569: Familiar Opponent

Chapter 570: Chapter 569: Familiar Opponent

Colin looked around again. "The stone bricks here look rather new."

"But this is definitely a ruin that’s been here for a long time," Dorn said from ahead.

Kase chimed in from the side, "Did your cousin tell you that?"

"Can’t you just forget about that? I’ve never seen your head work this well before."

The group continued down the spiral staircase.

"This staircase is unexpectedly long," Dorn grumbled. "And it’s shaking. I hope this thing doesn’t collapse."

"Is it shaking?" Orelia looked down at the steps beneath her feet with curiosity. Then, she smiled and said, "So the little bricks really are whispering to Mr. Shadow Anvil!"

"Hmph. You’re turning into a little troublemaker," Dorn grumbled in annoyance.

Without turning his head, he asked, "Colin, be honest. Before we left, did you think to yourself, ’This mission will probably be easy’?"

"No..." After Colin spoke, the others suddenly all looked at him. He sighed and added, "Really, I didn’t. I swear."

"Hmph. Who knows," Dorn said.

"Come on, guys, you can’t blame our little brother Colin for this," Kase said, trying to smooth things over—though Colin found his defense rather irritating. "He’s just naturally unlucky. It has nothing to do with what he says or does. We can all see that."

The group chatted as they continued downward, which helped to ease the tense atmosphere.

The staircase was far longer than Colin had imagined, descending for about thirty meters before finally reaching the bottom.

At the bottom of the stairs was a long, narrow corridor about three meters high. Sconces for holding torches lined both sides of the hallway, but they were now just useless junk.

The group followed the pitch-black corridor into a massive hall.

Opposite the corridor’s exit was a set of double stone doors. The side walls were lined with many smaller, carved-out doorways, the wooden doors of which had been ravaged by time and reduced to splinters on the floor.

Colin raised the dagger in his hand.

By the dagger’s faint light, he could see the surrounding walls were covered in strange slash marks. There were even Javelins and Arrows embedded directly into the stone bricks. It was hard to imagine what kind of creatures could have caused such damage.

Dorn’s voice echoed in Colin’s mind: *Orelia says she can smell the stench of the Undead. I’m going to check the doorways of the rooms up ahead.*

The Dwarf tiptoed forward.

Colin glanced at the little owl on his shoulder. After a moment of thought, he decided it was best to leave this to the expert.

After peeking into each of the stone doorways, Dorn returned to the center of the group.

He spoke using Mind Communication: *Those stone rooms are all full of scattered bones. I suspect the stench Pointy-ears smelled is coming from them.*

*Then let’s try for the door on the opposite side. We should prepare for the worst, though...* Colin thought for a moment before adding, *If there’s trouble, I’ll use [Web] to seal the doors on the left, but the spell might not be big enough. Tell Ale to be ready with [Grease].*

*I’ve already told her. Here’s some Silencing Powder.*

Colin took the powder from him, and Dorn immediately gave a packet to Orelia as well.

Once the two had applied the powder, the group began to move forward cautiously.

The team walked in a single file line through the middle of the hall, keeping as far from the stone doorways on either side as possible. As they advanced, the only sound in the entire hall was their own.

However, the moment Colin’s group drew near the stone doors, the rattling CLACK CLACK of colliding bones came from all directions.

Dorn swore in Dwarvish with his thick Underground accent, "Damn it! Wasted two packets of Silencing Powder. Might as well have thrown a handful of shiny Gold Coins off a cliff!"

Colin immediately turned his head and, just as they’d planned, cast [Web] at the stone doors on the left. Ale raised her Magic Staff high and began Spellcasting.

As she chanted the Spell, a sticky white web exploded between several of the stone doorways.

The web sealed off several of the doors, while a patch of pale yellow grease materialized in front of the last doorway.

White figures writhed within the doorways, clearly the Skeletons inside trying to push their way out.

Kase charged directly to the stone door in front of the area covered by [Grease].

He gripped his absurdly large Two-Handed Battleaxe. For every Skeleton that emerged, he swung the Axe and smashed it to pieces.

The fragile Skeletons couldn’t withstand a single blow from the axe. To make matters worse, the floor was covered in slippery grease, causing them to fall if they weren’t careful. But with their low Intelligence, they couldn’t think of any solution other than to keep pushing forward. They foolishly squeezed out, looking like they were lining up to be slaughtered.

At the same time, a large group of Skeletons poured out from the unaffected stone doors on the right.

Some of these Skeletons wore tattered Bronze Breastplates, others had a few shredded scraps of cloth hanging from them, and some wore nothing at all.

The weapons in their hands were mostly things like Short Swords, Long Spears, and Catapults, and were almost all made of Bronze.

The Skeletons formed an orderly battle line.

The ones wearing Bronze Breastplates and holding Short Swords stood at the very front of the formation, while those with Long Spears stood behind them. A few Scouts carrying Javelins positioned themselves on the flanks.

A quick glance revealed there were about forty Skeletons on this side alone.

The moment he saw them, Colin was reminded of the Skeleton Legion he had helped the Barbarians fight back in Snow Deer Valley.

’It’s not surprising to find these things in the ruins of the Ancient Empire.’

Before the Skeletons could finish forming up, Colin began Casting a spell again. A silvery mist surged from the edges of his vision.

In the next instant, he appeared at the flank of the Skeleton formation.

Colin raised his right hand, his left holding up his Spellbook.

The Spell, one he had chanted thousands of times, came to his lips effortlessly. The pages of the Spellbook RUSTLED as they flipped open to the page for [Lightning Bolt]. The tip of his raised right index finger began to spark with electricity, quickly coalescing into a ball of light.

CRACK!

A roaring bolt of lightning tore through the line of Skeleton soldiers from the side. Fragile bones were ripped apart, sending countless bone fragments and pieces of Bronze Armor—scarred with red-hot molten marks and blackened spots—scattering in every direction, CLATTERING to the ground.

That one spell instantly tore through two-thirds of the formation, leaving only a dozen or so scattered Skeletons standing there in a daze.

Just as Colin was dealing with this group of Skeletons, the web blocking the other stone doorways was suddenly ripped apart. The Skeletons behind it charged through the tear.

The Skeleton leading them wore a complete Muscle Chest Armor and clutched a Bronze Short Sword in its hand.