Ore Devourer

"Chixue! Sharpen!" Hansen swipes his palm against the Scarlet Blood's body. The action made the blade glows in red as if the shade could cuts deeper.

He charged further into the ranks of Steel Worms. With the edge now fortified by Sharpen, the sword could even cut through steel.

"Zing!" Hansen killed two frontmost Steel Worms before they could even screech in pain. But he was far from finishing his move. He pulled two flying blades from his waistbelt, throwing them on two spots with the most Steel Worms gathered.

"Explode!" Hansen screamed, but nothing happened.

"Eh?" he's stunned. If he's not mistaken, the two flying blades are imbued with Aiolos' Relic Grace of [Explosion Afar], but it is not working!

"Stupid, Aiolos' note said you'll have to inject your magic power into the blade before throwing it." Alrune gives him a smack on the head for forgetting something as simple as this.

Following behind her movement is Yesha, Pharcis, and Rochelle, who's ready to keep the Ore Devourer at where it is.

They'll have to take immediate action before it could sense the danger of underhanded. This is also why Hansen was the only one tasked with the job of killing the Steel Worms while they apprehended the Boss-Grade monster.

Unlike the Slime Lord that prefers fighting alone, the Ore Devourer is a monster with a high continuation instinct. It will choose to escape 9 out of 10 times, even if the enemies are just a mere pack of Swift Wolves. Thus, capturing an ore devourer always comes with sweet rewards.

"Stunning Bolt!" Rochelle's attack robbed its possibility of escaping. And without the need for any instructions, Yesha and Pharcis struck the Ore Devourer like a punching bag.

And with Aiolos' newly crafted gauntlets on Pharcis' hands, each of her strikes carried an immense destructive force.

Her new [Rising Dragon Strike] no longer requires any preparation steps before she could charge at her opponents. Furthermore, the upgrade grants her a shorter interval period to prepare her next blow.

Hansen and Pharcis both appeared to have their battle power explodes from their body, like an uncapped container. Such a sudden change even leave Rochelle, Alrune, and Yesha in a surprise.

"What is happening to both of them?" Alrune lost control of her tempo. With two ridiculous teammates powered up out of her expectation, she can't command them efficiently.

"Hansen! Pharcis! Free flow! Yesha and Rochelle, continue with your attack!" Alrune throws four Quick Heals at her targets before shifting to another position.

"Understood!" everyone answered Alrune's order as they continued with their attack.

"Zhenwu... Thunderclap!" Rochelle's big move came in. The shockwave stuns all available target in their vicinity as Yesha and Pharcis continue raining their blows at the Ore Devourer.

The battle continued. Five minutes, ten minutes, and as the clock is ticking closer to 15 minutes, the Boss-Grade monster made a dying screech.

A screech that attracts the monster nearby to strips its body.

"It's our chance! Hansen, attack the Ore Devourer! I'll protect all of you!" Alrune ordered. The Full Heal already in casting as she completed her sentence.

"Twin Slash!"

"Swift Blade! Sharpen! Bloodbath!"

"Rising Dragon Dance!"

"Full Heal!"

"Thunder... BOLT!!!"

Their ultimate techniques fall onto the boss-grade monster, stripping its lifeforce away from the precious body. The only unfortunate thing is Aiolos weren't here with them. If he's here, perhaps the possibility of a Zhenwu Shell falling out from this kill is plausible.

The Ore Devourer collapsed. Its body shrank until only a layer of the armored skin is left. When they pulled the corpse of a boss-grade monster out from the nest, a more pleasant surprise is waiting for them.

"Three - Three Low-Heaven Ores!" Hansen jumped inside the nest and flung the ore out. Except for the three main compensations, there's also a collection of elemental vein fragments. Colorful and visible veins of the element are defined on the surface, indirectly answering their curiosity.

"My holiness Aiolos... He's going to get crazy from looking at this piece of Holy-Elemental Stone..." Alrune struggles to hold the heavy fragment on both hands. It was a concentrated Holy Element Stone, about the size of the head of an orc.

"Hey! There's more!" Hansen used his headgear to stack some items inside before he flung the headgear up.

"Check if there are more! Quickly!" Rochelle suddenly got excited from looking at what's inside the headgear. It was a collection of Essence Rock Nut. Because a steel worm usually had difficulties digesting the nutrient from the ores they ate, they often devour it along with grains of sand to smoothen the process.

But to an Ore Devourer, grains of sand hardly works. With a body close to three meters, the only choice is to swallow a comparably hard material, such as the Essence Rock Nut.

While to this boss-grade monster, it's a grinder stone in its stomach. But for the resident on the surface, Essence Rock Nut is an essential ingredient for medicinal alchemy. And what could they make into?

The Dispeller Mist, which cost a whole piece of silver crystal, of course!

And with more than a headgear of collection, how many bottles of Dispeller Mist could they be made into? To the girls, this is the best thing that could happen to them, even more than finding three pieces of Low-Heaven Ores!

After they collected a few more drops from the nest, Hansen climbs him way out smoothly. But a sudden earthquake on the earth they stand made Hansen falls into the hole once more.

"This feeling..." the girls held their hand together, with unease feeling in their heart.

--------------------

"Aargh!" Tetros suddenly lost the strength on her legs and collapse to the ground with a thud. Six consecutive feelings of sadness, pain, and fear went through her fragile heart as if they try to warn her about something.

As for Aiolos, who stands beside her, he understands what has just occurred. Six growing stalks of wheat behind Tetros' kitchen withered to the point that even Godhood Power could do nothing. There were only twenty stalks remained healthy in the soil Tetros nourished with her power.

"Shelly... Kelvin... Hart... Vixen... Allen... Tommy..." tears fall from the side of her cheeks as she called their names. Even the workers standing at the cashier came to her.

"They're dead! Some monsters killed all of them on the second floor!" Tetros cried louder. Each of them was as precious as Aiolos to her. The pain in her heart was as deep as a cut from a blade, over and over again.

"It's - It's..." Aiolos couldn't find the correct word to say. As it has already happened, all he could is holding Tetros firmly by his side until she overcomes the heartbreaking sadness in her.

Her collapse made Tetros' Sanctuary turns gloomier, to the point dark mist appearing out of nowhere. The dark fog seems sentient, knowing where to attach and disappear as if it is a poison that slowly seems inside the sanctuary.

"Begone!" Aiolos fired his Godhood Power like arrows around, decimating the fog from continuing. It took him a while, but the circumstance was restrained swiftly.

What he did not notice is a few strands of the consciousness from the dark fog have entered Tetros' body while she's drowning in sadness. But as they continue moving up from her palm, the Moonheart glows in brilliance and decimates the consciousness.

Suddenly, earthquakes shook the land once.

Bottles, glasses, pans, and pots shifted from where they should. If it was not because of Micos' Godhood Power, perhaps his store is going to be in a mess after the earthquake.

Things hit harder on Tetros' Grocer. The baskets holding the bread and pastry were in a mess, with some of them lying on the floor.

Rain, which is a rarity on the surface of the Tianyuan Continent, came down to weep for the death of a god within the Heavenly Dungeon.

"Who had fallen?" Aiolos raised his head on the sky, where the cloud weeps for an existence named as...

Lower-Tiered Food God, Lucros.

"What? Lucros is dead?" Aiolos controlled his sight to look around his sanctuary, and indeed, Lucros' Meat Grocer has collapsed. Everything was gone, included his proudest salami and cuts of meat.

Tetros wiped her tear as she calmed herself.

"What is happening to the world?" she asked. A planned attack came first, on the second floor, before they were followed by a monster stampede. Then, the death of Tetros' six crest holders, along with a fellow friendly Food God.

"There must be something severe happened. We'll have to be careful from now on," Aiolos said. Although he's not worried about their safety on the surface, he's afraid about the safety of his party.

"Please come back safely." Aiolos placed his hand together, praying for their safety. Beside him is Tetros, who could only find her peace beside Aiolos.

Hours after hours passed, and Aiolos finally calmed after he sees the silhouettes belonged to five people. They returned cheerfully, unaware of the gloominess surrounding the Southern Tianyuan Sanctuary.

"Aiolos, we're back," Alrune said. One of her hands went to the stupid Hansen's mouth, stopping him from saying anything.

As for Yesha, Pharcis, and Rochelle, they're smart enough to notice the oddness of Aiolos and Tetros here, waiting for them. The girls stay by Tetros side, accompanying her, while Rochelle and Hansen speak with Aiolos.

"Aiolos, what happened? There was an earthquake in the Heavenly Dungeon just now." Hansen asked. But deep inside his heart, he wanted to quickly tell Aiolos about their haul today, and the Essence Rock Nut. Once they're made into Dispeller Mist, both of them will be able to sneak out of the sanctuary without getting caught.

Luckily, Rochelle's existence beside Hansen saved him from Aiolos' drilling fist. This fella still clueless after seeing the gloomy atmosphere around them. Rochelle remained quiet, patiently waiting for Aiolos to answer them.

"Lucros, the Lower-Tiered Food God that lives near our sanctuary, has fallen inside the Heavenly Dungeon," Aiolos said.

"What?" Hansen stunned. But for Rochelle, she seems to notice about something the moment they're ready to leave the Heavenly Dungeon. "Aiolos, I think something is going to happen," Rochell quickly added.

"Did you notice something in the Heavenly Dungeon?" Aiolos asked. To him now, everything that could happen inside of the Heavenly Dungeon is a clue to the recent disturbance.

"The earthquake should happen at the same time, both above and below the surface. What I notice is an Orc Half-Lord with his underlings have come to the first floor. The entrance to the second floor should be where the Food God falls." Rochelle said. Her words alarmed others, especially her party members.

That's because, except for her, nobody noticed the nearby danger, which is a top-class boss-grade monster on the second floor! If the Orc Half-Lord approaches them when they're busy looting the Ore Devourer, won't their party fall along with Tetros' crest holders?

Thinking about this, they're trembling on the spot, afraid of the possibility.