Chapter 1766 - 1041: Bottom of the Cave Demon, Wounded Demon_2

Leon often thought that if he hadn’t stumbled upon Lapu a few times during previous adventures, he would surely feel an overwhelming loneliness here, as if he were the last person left in the world—of course, those monsters certainly don’t count as people.

"If the world becomes like a gathering place in the future... Oh well, I won’t live to see that day anyway."

He shook his head, swallowing some sentiments back down, and focused his gaze ahead.

At the end of the Mound Tower ruins, right where the tower’s tip pointed, a massive pit plunged underground.

At first glance, it seemed like the Abyss, as if the Four Kings of Little Londo were waiting for him down there.

But upon closer approach, he felt none of the Abyss’s aura; instead, a fierce wind surged from below, carrying hot embers and the roars of demons straight to his face.

"This feels much nicer than the Abyss."

Leon raised his hand to extinguish the sparks clinging to his hair, then leaped downward.

He had already prepared on his journey here; now, all he needed was the simplest form of combat.

In the gathering place, one cannot die from falling; he had proven this countless times, mainly because the ashes on the ground seemed to have magic power, preventing death no matter how high he fell, as long as he landed on them.

This was great news for adventurers who loved extreme sports.

"Boom!"

Leon crashed onto the ground with the posture of a superhero, confirming, as he suspected, that he hadn’t died from the fall, and his body was intact.

"I’ve wanted to try that cool pose for ages."

Dusting off as he stood up, the darkness stretched as far as he could see, with only the patch of ground he stood on receiving light from the sky. Fortunately, Ring Seal City had no night; otherwise, this underground would be dark as Skyrim itself.

Where are the demons?

Leon surveyed the area with his Half-leaf Greatsword in hand, with a Wet Little Scythe at his waist, and various Fly Knife Throwing Pots and other odd tools picked up from the ground. His armor was a mix of Losric Knight pieces and miscellaneous gear, giving him a true savage look.

His Fighting Qi detected the presence of enemies now; failing to sense the unhidden killing intent lurking in the dark would be disgraceful indeed.

But... there appeared to be two sources of that killing intent?

"Roar!" "Graa—"

Two demon roars echoed in the darkness, quickly followed by a sudden burst of flames illuminating his vision.

The chaotic glow emanating from the Chaos Demons provided a true Chaos Flame!

"Old acquaintances."

Leon grinned, looking around, committing the enemies’ faces to memory.

The two burning figures were Chaos Demons.

Their postures Leon hadn’t seen before, unlike demons in the Demon Relics or the Chaos Ruins of Izalis, which at this moment appeared... to meet popular stereotypes of demons.

Gigantic yet slender, gaunt limbs, faces with horns, and expansive bat wings—a classic image even found in fairy tales.

Though fairy tale demons wouldn’t wield Chaos Flame anyway.

Even with similar appearances, Leon noticed differences.

One demon held its wings partially open, ablaze with bright Chaos Flame, exuding a stronger, more powerful aura.

The other kept its wings folded with dim and lackluster Chaos Flame in dark red, resembling severe wounds unable to exert full strength, with a broken horn.

In reality, the initially stronger-looking demon also bore hints of weakness, like it was not completely whole, as if suffering from a grave illness.

A sick one and an injured one? Where did this frail pair come from, and how did they survive and escape Lorian’s assault?

These demons looked different than Leon imagined; he thought "the last Chaos Demons in the world" would be mighty, embodying the entire race’s power, but looking now...

The demons weren’t weak, but differed from his expectations.

"Roar!" The brighter Chaos Demon let out a roar, releasing scorching fireballs rapidly at Leon.

While the dim-fire Wounded Demon clawed at the ground, charging with absurd speed at Leon, swinging sword-like claws towards him.

A warrior and a mage? A classic combination indeed.

"But why isn’t the uninjured one going melee instead?"

Leon expertly found positioning to dodge both attacks, with enough time to quip.

Fireballs brushed past his face and claws passed by his back. He spun smoothly during his dodge, smashing the blade of the Half-leaf Greatsword onto the Wounded Demon’s head.

As expected, the feeling was one of insane hardness; the Wounded Demon turned its head to deflect with its horn, successfully blocking his attack, then swung its head to lift Leon into the air.

Leon wouldn’t let it succeed, because his senses indicated the Bottom of the Cave Demon was expertly preparing new fireballs, waiting to make him a target.

Immediately abandoning the struggle, he adjusted his stance with Sliding Step, nimbly dodging. The Wounded Demon hurriedly pursued, only to have a Thunder Pot thrown right into its mouth, setting off a bright thunderous explosion.

As fireballs from the Bottom of the Cave Demon descended like a fiery rain, Leon could not escape the covered area—thus---

Now was the time for the infinite combo with the Half-leaf Greatsword!

He raised the Greatsword high, spinning rapidly, building up Fighting Qi around him as defense, striking away all incoming fireballs with a crackling fury, suffering only minor burns from fallen sparks.

The Wounded Demon had already closed the distance; Leon turned the remaining combo into a fierce attack on its claws, generating a mass of flying embers with the collision.

The impact forced him to stop the combo release, meanwhile, the Bottom of the Cave Demon finally moved in, clawing at the ground to unleash flame from below as it chased Leon relentlessly—it even tracked him.

The Wounded Demon shrieked insanely, scratching madly. Its high-frequency attacks and deadly force compelled Leon to devote most attention to it.

This meant taking some burns from the flames.

Despite dodging successfully, he was still brushed by surging flames from the Bottom of the Cave Demon’s fiery assault; his armor blackened, skin scalded.

And unexpectedly, the poison spread along the burn marks.

"They’re using poison too?"

Leon hadn’t thought Chaos Demons would resort to such tactics.

The current level of toxins wouldn’t be fatal, but amidst these demons’ coordination, he couldn’t find a chance to use any Detoxification Moss; he could only keep searching for opportunities.

Their teamwork left no gaps unless interrupted by external factors, otherwise Leon felt he would remain pressured.

As he dodged attacks around the arena, a summoning symbol appeared before him.

Upon seeing it, Leon’s eyes lit up; without even guessing, he knew the only one capable of placing a summoning symbol here was his good friend Lapu!

"Come forth, my brother!"

Leon sprinted towards the summoning symbol, and upon contact, familiar magic words appeared.

[Do you want to summon Assistant "Slave Knight Gael"?]

"...Who?"