Chapter 136: Battle! 1

Every time Kent’s foot struck the ground, a dull boom echoed through the cavern.

A deep footprint was left behind in the stone with each step.

His strengthened body allowed him to cover nearly ten meters in a single stride.

But no matter how fast he ran, the creatures behind him had four legs.

And as the chase continued, the thunderous footsteps at his back grew louder and louder.

Boom!

Kent suddenly sensed an intense surge of Fire-element mana behind him.

His expression darkened immediately.

The Hellhounds were casting magic.

Ahead of him stood a massive stalagmite.

Kent reacted instantly, twisting sharply to use it as cover.

A scorching wave of heat swept past him.

The enormous stalagmite exploded into fragments in an instant, sending shattered stone flying in every direction.

“Fire Dragon!”

Kent shouted in alarm.

He had clearly seen the spell that destroyed the stalagmite.

It was a Fire Dragon.

And there was more than one.

Two enormous dragons formed entirely from flame had come roaring after him.

One smashed into the stalagmite and dispersed in a burst of fire.

The second swept around the shattered stone and continued directly toward Kent.

Fire Dragon was not an ordinary projectile spell.

It could be controlled through the caster’s mental power.

As long as the caster could still see the target, the flaming dragon could be directed to change course and continue pursuing it.

And right now...

Kent was exposed beneath eight separate heads.

The farther he ran, the more frightened he became.

He could already smell the foul, nauseating stench pouring from the Hellhounds’ mouths behind him.

His irritation rose along with his fear.

He had originally planned to go looking for that damned Hellhound and settle the score himself.

Instead, the entire family had come looking for him first.

When it came to tracking prey by scent, Hellhounds probably ranked among the very best creatures in the underground world.

Kent no longer had the luxury of wondering how they had managed to find this tunnel.

Staying alive was far more important.

Boom!

Boom!

One blazing projectile after another struck the ground around him.

Kent’s face grew even darker.

Magma Bombs.

A Level Seven composite spell combining Earth and Fire elements.

Its destructive power was even greater than that of many ordinary Level Eight spells.

Worse still, the molten material carried a powerful toxin.

Anything struck by it could be burned so severely that flesh would be stripped away down to the bone.

This was also one of the Hellhounds’ innate spells.

Kent zigzagged through the cavern, constantly changing direction as he dodged the instant-cast magic launched by the two adult Hellhounds.

Most magical beasts could release their innate magic without chanting.

Only truly high-level creatures needed to use incantations for certain advanced spells.

Dragons, for example, possessed Dragon Tongue Magic.

Kent’s anxiety continued to rise.

In this underground environment, no human—no matter how strong—could hope to outrun a four-legged magical beast forever.

The distance between him and the pursuing Hellhounds steadily shrank.

His mage robe had already been riddled with small holes from droplets of blazing molten mud splashing across it.

His skin burned painfully wherever the heat brushed past him.

Fortunately, he had not suffered any serious injuries.

But his mind was becoming more and more agitated.

Finally, Kent made a decision.

“Daphne!”

He reached into his spatial ring and pulled out a crossbow, tossing it toward her.

“Take this.”

“We’re fighting them.”

His eyes hardened.

“Down here, we’ll never outrun them forever.”

“Magic Crossbow!”

Daphne took one look at the weapon in her hands and could not help whispering in shock.

Two enormous magic cores had been embedded into the crossbow.

Judging from the intensity of their magical aura, both were at least Level Eight.

And they were Wind-element cores.

The crafting method used to create weapons like this had already been lost.

A true magic crossbow required only the mental guidance of the archer.

Once activated, it could directly form arrows from condensed magical power and fire them without the need for physical ammunition.

Its destructive power was astonishing.

Unfortunately, the technology had vanished during the ancient War of Gods and Demons.

The magical bows used by archers in the present age were completely different.

They were essentially ordinary bows, with magical effects added to the arrows themselves.

In terms of power, they were several times weaker than true magic crossbows.

The difference in firing speed was even more obvious.

A magic archer using one of these ancient weapons could release a magical arrow with nearly every breath.

With the bows currently used by the Dark Elves, however, even a skilled archer normally required at least four breaths to fire a single enchanted arrow.

And that was still heavily dependent on physical stamina.

Someone with exceptional endurance could shoot more.

Someone weaker would tire much sooner.

The loss of true magical bowcraft had been one of the reasons the elves had gradually faded from prominence across the continent.

Elves had never been known for overwhelming physical strength or endurance.

What they excelled at instead were agility and perception.

Those were precisely the qualities most valuable to an archer.

That was why the elven races had always been famous for their bowmen.

Kent, however, never saw the expression on Daphne’s face.

He had already drawn out the dragon lance.

Then he simply stood there, waiting for the Hellhounds to arrive.

By now, he had thought the situation through.

There was no way he could escape while carrying Daphne.

Magical beasts naturally possessed far greater endurance than humans.

Worse still, the underground environment placed humans at a severe disadvantage.

For creatures like Hellhounds, native to this world of darkness and stone, the terrain could hardly have been more suitable.

If running was impossible, then there was no point exhausting himself trying.

Better to fight while he still had strength left.

“AWOOO!”

The three Hellhounds saw Kent stop in the middle of the cavern.

To them, his actions could only mean one thing.

Provocation.

Their fury immediately intensified.

The two larger adults accelerated first and charged straight toward him.

In their eyes, Kent was nothing more than prey.

Food.

One leap would be enough to tear apart such a fragile human.

Kent might already have reached Level Six, but to creatures standing at the peak of Level Eight, there was little practical difference between Level Six and Level One.

As for the enormous metal pole in his hands...

the Hellhounds did not take it seriously at all.

Kent listened to the pounding footsteps growing louder and forced himself to steady his breathing.

His heart was hammering violently.

His legs trembled.

But not from fear.

From excitement.

He could feel the blood surging through his body and rushing toward his head.

His mind, strangely enough, had become completely calm.

His body, however, was burning with anticipation.

The Hellhounds drew closer.

Closer.

Then, without warning—

“DIE!”

Kent roared.

He lowered the dragon lance and charged directly toward one of the adult Hellhounds.

Even Kent himself could not explain exactly why he had chosen to attack instead of waiting.

He simply felt that he had to.

Perhaps it was the pride of a mage.

Perhaps some stubborn part of him simply refused to allow an enemy to charge at him without answering in kind.

“AWOOO!”

The Hellhounds became even more enraged.

Kent’s charge was nothing less than a slap in the face.

Their family was infamous throughout this entire region.

Any creature foolish enough to challenge them had long since become a pile of bones.

And now this insignificant human was openly charging toward them as though they were the ones who should be afraid.

It was intolerable.

The two adult Hellhounds intended to tear him apart alive.

They would use his death as a warning to every magical beast nearby.

This was what happened to those who dared provoke them.

All six heads opened their jaws at once.

Rows of razor-sharp teeth gleamed in the magical light.

Then the two enormous Hellhounds surged forward, charging straight at Kent.

Kent felt as though his entire body had been filled with inexhaustible strength.

For one wild instant, he even had the illusion that he could shatter the rock ceiling above his head with his bare hands.

He drew the dragon lance slightly backward and charged straight toward the male Hellhound.

His feet moved faster and faster.

Every time he stepped down, shattered stone exploded outward beneath him, leaving a deep footprint in the cavern floor.

“Die!”

When Kent was less than ten meters away, he could already see the razor-sharp teeth inside the Hellhound’s enormous jaws.

With a roar, he twisted his body and hurled the dragon lance with all his strength.

The massive weapon transformed into a streak of silver light.

In an instant, it shot straight toward the male Hellhound.

At the same time, two black iron war hammers appeared in Kent’s hands.

“AWOOO!”

The male Hellhound saw the dragon lance racing toward it.

Instead of retreating, the middle head opened its enormous jaws.

It actually intended to bite the weapon apart.

Bang!

Unfortunately for the beast, the moment its teeth closed toward the lance, the adamantine spearhead punched straight through its hardened skull.

A brilliant silver light immediately erupted from the weapon.

The massive head exploded.

Flesh, bone, and blood burst outward in every direction.

The dragon lance continued through before crashing heavily onto the ground with a deafening clang.

“AWOOOO—!”

The Hellhound released a horrifying scream.

But even after losing one of its heads, it did not retreat.

Driven mad by pain and fury, the creature leapt forward.

Its two remaining heads opened wide and snapped toward Kent’s body from both sides.

“Die!”

Kent did not back away.

Instead, he raised both hammers and swung them directly at the two heads rushing toward him.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

The iron hammers slammed into the Hellhound’s skulls with thunderous force.

Each impact was accompanied by a burst of crackling sparks.

Dense arcs of electricity danced across the hammerheads and spread over the beast’s flesh.

“AAAGH!”

Kent’s blows landed.

But so did the Hellhound’s jaws.

The enraged creature bit down viciously on his body.

A wave of agony tore through Kent, sharp enough to make his vision blur.

He could not stop himself from screaming.

But his hands never slowed.

The hammers continued to fall.

Again.

And again.

And again.

At this point, there was no room left for hesitation.

Either the Hellhound died—

or he did.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Kent felt as though his waist was about to be crushed in half.

The pain only made his anger burn hotter.

His arms moved faster.

The two hammers became a blur.

A dense series of muffled impacts echoed through the cavern as he continued smashing them relentlessly into the Hellhound’s remaining heads.

The other adult Hellhound was clearly female.

Seeing that Kent had already been caught in her mate’s jaws, she immediately turned and lunged toward Daphne.

Daphne retreated quickly while raising the magic crossbow in her hands.

One cyan-colored magical arrow after another shot through the air.

These arrows were formed entirely from condensed magical energy.

And Daphne handled the weapon with remarkable skill.

Every shot was aimed at a vital point—the Hellhound’s eyes, nose, or other vulnerable areas.

The constant barrage forced the creature to roar in fury.

“Die!”

“Die!”

“DIE!”

Kent could barely breathe.

The male Hellhound’s jaws had clamped down too tightly around his body.

Worse still, he could no longer feel anything below his waist.

Kent had no idea what condition his body was in.

At that moment, however, he did not care.

The only thing that mattered was whether the Hellhound in front of him lived or died.

“AAAAAH!”

The pain finally became unbearable.

Kent suddenly reversed his grip on one of the hammers and drove the end of its handle violently into the Hellhound’s eye.

No matter how powerful a magical beast might be, certain parts of the body remained vulnerable.

Eyes.

Nose.

Ears.

Those were weaknesses shared by nearly every living creature.

“AWOOOO—!”

The male Hellhound had been fighting in a frenzy.

After biting onto Kent, it had tried desperately to tear him apart.

Yet somehow, its jaws had failed to sever Kent’s body.

And in that moment of carelessness, two of its eyes were stabbed blind.

Its combat ability immediately dropped even further.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Dark red fluid began pouring from the injured eyes.

The pain finally forced the Hellhound to loosen its jaws.

Kent immediately seized the opportunity.

His arms swung again and again, smashing both hammers directly into the beast’s noses.

By now, the saliva from the Hellhound’s jaws had already corroded most of Kent’s clothing.

Still, he paid no attention to his appearance.

He simply stood there and continued trading blows with the massive beast at point-blank range.

Within only a few breaths, the tide of battle had shifted.

Kent had gained the upper hand.

His hammers repeatedly crashed into the Hellhound’s most vulnerable points.

Then Kent suddenly abandoned both weapons.

He bent down, grabbed the dragon lance from the ground, and turned toward the male Hellhound.

“Rending!”

He shouted.

Silver light flashed.

The dragon lance shot forward like lightning, driving straight toward the Hellhound’s heart.

But nearby...

Daphne had already fallen into danger.