Chapter 206: Square Stone Tablet

Chapter 206: Chapter 206: Square Stone Tablet

Ten minutes passed in a flash.

[The second wave of attacks has begun!]

The moment the notification appeared, the fog outside seemed to come alive. As it roiled and surged, the heavy thud of footsteps—completely different from the first wave—echoed through the air, accompanied by a low hum, like the whispers of a thousand voices.

"They’re here!" Victor Warner gripped his dagger, his Adam’s apple bobbing nervously.

The first things to break through the fog were not the small, skinny monsters from before, but several hulking, bloated "ogres" that looked as if they were coated in thick mud.

They moved slowly, but each step made the ground tremble as they charged straight for the wooden fence.

"BANG!"

With a tremendous crash, the gap in the already damaged fence instantly widened, and a connecting post splintered with a cringe-inducing crack.

Even more troubling, countless points of eerie green light flickered in the fog behind the ogres. They belonged to more monsters of all shapes and sizes, which seemed to have grown smarter. They were no longer charging blindly but waiting for the ogres to clear a path.

Seraphina Sinclair’s eyes narrowed. This time, she didn’t immediately use a Fire Drawing Rune.

’The ogres are too tough; ordinary flames probably won’t work quickly,’ she thought. ’Rather than waste runes, I should go straight for a showstopper!’

She first tore a Heavenly Light Rune, and a platinum-gold fireball immediately materialized in front of her.

To the astonishment of the other two, the fireball slowly ascended, rising until all the monsters were within its radiance before suddenly erupting in a blaze of brilliant light.

In an instant, the fog-shrouded outpost was bathed in light as bright as day. The monsters, which had been advancing hesitantly, shrieked in agony as if seared by an invisible force.

This was especially true for the ogres at the forefront. The "mud" covering their bodies dried, cracked, and peeled away as if baked by a scorching sun, revealing dark red flesh beneath. Their movements became noticeably slower and more pained.

"It’s working!" Victor Warner’s spirits soared.

"Don’t just stand there! We have to finish these monsters off ourselves!" Seraphina Sinclair barked. With a flick of her wrist, her longsword reappeared in her hand.

Moving like a flash of lightning, she charged directly at an ogre whose movements were twisted in agony.

Without the protection of its mud armor, the longsword easily pierced the monster’s neck.

At the same time, she held several Fire Drawing Runes in her other hand. With a flick of her wrist, the runes transformed into streaks of fire, shooting precisely toward the smaller monsters that were agitated by the bright light and trying to flank them.

She took the lead, and naturally, the other two didn’t dare to slack off.

The ogres had created two breaches in the fence. Seraphina Sinclair defended one, while the other two defended the second.

Weakened by the Heavenly Light Rune and with occasional support from Seraphina’s other runes, they dealt with this wave of monsters with relative ease, despite their initial panic.

Seraphina Sinclair flicked her blade, splattering thick, dark green blood onto the damp ground.

She was panting slightly, her gaze sweeping over the monster corpses outside the outpost, which were gradually dissolving.

The effect of the Heavenly Light Rune was fading. The platinum-gold light receded like an ebbing tide, and the thick fog slowly closed in from all sides, swallowing the brief moment of brightness.

[The second wave of attacks has ended.]

[The third wave of attacks will begin in 10 minutes.]

The notification panel appeared right on cue.

"Whew... that second wave was intense."

Victor Warner collapsed onto the ground. His cloth shirt was torn in several places and seeping blood, but thankfully the wounds weren’t deep. He grimaced as he looked at Seraphina Sinclair. "Boss Sinclair, that move was insane! It was like a miniature sun! Just hanging up there, wounding all the monsters at once! That was just too powerful!"

Selene Lawson was in slightly better shape, but her face was also pale. She walked over to the fireplace, staring at the dancing flames with a furrowed brow. "We’re burning through the wood faster than I expected. At this rate, even with Boss Sinclair’s runes suppressing them, this wood probably won’t last past the fifth wave."

Seraphina Sinclair said nothing, walking over to the breach to observe the outside.

The fog seemed even thicker than before. The humming hadn’t completely vanished; instead, it felt as if it were lying in wait, brewing something more terrifying deep within the dense mist.

"Don’t worry." Seraphina Sinclair’s voice was the same as always, and because her tone hadn’t changed in the slightest, it was all the more reassuring.

’She’s the number one ranked survivor, a total boss, a Rune Master!’

’If even she can’t clear this instance, then no one can.’

Those two simple words were like a calming pill for the other two. Not only did their expressions relax, but the tension in their bodies visibly eased.

Seraphina Sinclair glanced at them and added, "Just focus on your own tasks."

Was that meant to be comforting, too?

Selene Lawson nodded and went back to staring at the flickering flames.

The outpost fell silent for a moment before Selene Lawson suddenly asked, "The log said that Will heard whispers and kept repeating ’door’ and ’key’?"

Victor Warner nodded. "Yeah, the log’s still here. Should we take another look?"

’What’s the point?’ Seraphina remembered everything written inside.

Perhaps because of her increased Intelligence, she now seemed to have a photographic memory, especially for important information like this.

She focused, thinking for a moment, but still felt that crucial clues were missing.

The log’s most important purpose was clearly to inform survivors that the monsters feared fire, not to convey any other message.

As for the ’key’ and ’door,’ it was probably just a passing mention.

’If it were truly important, it would have been on those torn-out pages.’

At this thought, Seraphina Sinclair found she couldn’t sit still. She stood up, her sharp gaze sweeping over every corner of the outpost.

"Search," she said concisely. "The torn pages from the log might still be in here."

Victor Warner was taken aback. "Huh? If they were torn out, where could they possibly be?"

But Selene Lawson immediately understood Seraphina’s intent. "You’re saying the torn pages might have been hidden somewhere?"

Seraphina Sinclair nodded, already checking the loose stones near the fireplace and the gaps between the floorboards.

Her movements were swift and meticulous, leaving no potential hiding spot unchecked. The other two immediately sprang into action as well.

The seconds ticked by. There were less than five minutes left before the third wave.

"Nothing..." Victor Warner straightened up, discouraged. "This dump is nothing but ash and dirt. Where would any paper be...?"

Selene Lawson had also found nothing. She lowered her gaze in thought for a moment when an idea suddenly struck. She turned her head and found herself looking at the exact same spot as Seraphina Sinclair.

It was the square Stone Tablet!

"That Stone Tablet!" Selene Lawson blurted out. "The square Stone Tablet in front of the fireplace that triggered the mechanism! We only stood on it to activate the trap, but we never inspected the tablet itself!"

Seraphina Sinclair was already in front of the Stone Tablet in a few strides.

She crouched down, her fingers carefully tracing the edge of the Stone Tablet.

This Stone Tablet fit quite snugly with the surrounding floor, but it was still raised by a small amount.

After Victor Warner had stood on it to trigger the mechanism, it had returned to its original position.