Chapter 38

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"Light! There's a light ahead, Milords!"

A guard walking in the vanguard shouted.

Leylin's eyes narrowed. At the far end of the tunnel, a faint light radiated, casting eerie shadows against the jagged walls.

Saeed, the Grand Knight and Leylin's personal bodyguard, tactfully stepped forward, positioning himself before Leylin. His alchemy hand faintly shimmered with runes as he circulated his limited spiritual force, ready to activate the magical artifact embedded within. (Image)

Grand Knights also have a spiritual force, but the amount is very small, only about 2-3 units of spiritual force. Unlike Magi, they don't have the ability to harness their spiritual force, but that's where Leylin runes come into place.

Saeed needs to only circulate his spiritual force and it would activate the runes within, and activate the magical artifact in his hand.

"Enter!" Viscount Jackson, clad in black steel armor, gripped his large sword with both hands and charged forward without hesitation.

The squad followed, their footsteps echoing through the cavern. The light intensified as they emerged from the tunnel and stepped into a vast underground cavern illuminated by pale, floating jellyfish-like creatures.

Suddenly—

"Argh!"

"Monster!"

"Be careful!"

Cries of alarm echoed as shadows darted from the corners. From the ceiling, a talon the size of a palm clawed toward Leylin. With practiced reflexes, he stepped back as Saeed parried the strike.

Boom!

The impact sent Saeed skidding several steps back, leaving deep dents in the ground. But Leylin remained unfazed. He knew Saeed's strength as a Grand Knight was more than enough to handle such an attack.

Amidst the chaos, Jackson's roar could be heard as lizard-like creatures emerged from the shadows, swarming the squad.

Leylin's eyes flashed coldly as he retrieved a rune plate from his belt and crushed it between his fingers.

"Explode!"

Boom!

An explosion erupted, sending several lizards flying and splattering their blood across the cavern walls. However, their numbers were overwhelming, and the creatures used the darkness and terrain to their advantage. By the time Jackson and the others reacted, many guards had already been torn apart.

Leylin swept his gaze across the battlefield. Corpses littered the ground, some bearing marks of being gnawed on. Only Jackson, the two Knight-level squad leaders, and the ever-silent grey-robed figure who accompanied Jackson remained standing. Saeed had already rejoined the fray, his cleaver slicing through the lizards with brutal efficiency.

The acolytes were faring a bit better. One lay dead, while another clutched his abdomen, blood oozing from a large wound.

Above them, the pale, jellyfish-like creatures known as Flash Jellyfish floated in the air. The blinding light they emitted earlier had been their primary attack, similar to a flashbang grenade. Now, they drifted weakly, their light dimmed, unable to repeat the attack for another day.

Murphy, the aged scholar who accompanied them, clutched his ancient book tightly. "These creatures only have one burst of light before they must rest. But our true enemy lies ahead."

Leylin turned his gaze toward the center of the cavern. The ground trembled slightly as mutated creatures—lizards, brown bears, and twisted elks—guarded a massive yellow snake coiled upon a stone platform. (Image)

"It's the Great Withering Snake… Mankestre!" Murphy's face paled, and his book slipped from his trembling hands.

Leylin's expression darkened. Mankestre was a feared creature, known to rival an official Magus once fully matured.

'I need to run. This squad is going to be massacred,' Leylin thought, clenching his left hand. The ring on his finger, imbued with a hastening spell, glistened faintly.

Without warning, the snake lashed its tail, striking one of Jackson's knights and crushing him into bloody pulp.

Leylin's sharp eyes caught something unusual. The tail… it wasn't the black-gold color of a fully matured Mankestre. Instead, it was a dull grey.

"Murphy! The tail! It's grey!" Leylin shouted. "A fully grown Mankestre would have a black-gold tail. This one hasn't fully matured yet!"

Murphy's eyes widened as he processed the information. "You're right! An adult Mankestre would be at least 100 meters long. This one is far smaller, and its parasites are fewer."

Leylin's mind raced. In his past life, he had a fascination with snakes. Even in this world, he studied the snakes very fondly. Thankfully he also retained a unique affinity for them and could speak their tongue.

However, magical beasts of higher rank dismissed him as weak, unwilling to acknowledge his abilities.

'If only I had my Basilisk from my past life,' Leylin lamented. His pasletongue was of limited use, only weak snakes with very small growth potential showed affinity with him.

Jackson, gripping his sword tightly, asked, "If we kill it, will the forest recover?"

Murphy nodded. "The Mankestre feeds on the life force of plants and uses parasites to gather food. Kill it, and the Dark Night Woods will slowly heal with time."

Jackson's eyes burned with determination. "Then we kill it."

*Hiss! * The snake coiled in the centre of the cave hissed and let off a low, snake-like speech.

Leylin understood its wild bloodthirsty intention.

'Kill them!' Great Withering Snake Mankestre commanded its slaves.

To those who didn't understand the snake tongue, it was a kind of sound made by the friction of rubbing two pieces of rotten leather together, which was extremely unpleasant to the ears.

The creatures surrounding Leylin and the rest seemed to have received orders and howled as they charged forward!

Leylin casually took a look. Saeed started to defend against anyone that came near his vicinity. Leylin unsheathed one of his swords and took out a few runes in his other hand.

Saeed's feet moved as he dodged a brown bear's attack and attacked its hind legs, cutting it off and crippling it. Then the sword in Leylin's right hand drew a strange trajectory and directly pierced through its skull.

Saeed defended and parried the attack of the many creatures while Leylin finished the ones crippled by him. He from time to time used his runes to decrease the pressure.

*Bang! * The huge brown corpse of the bear fell to the ground, knocked away by Saeed, and even the Mankestre Snake had taken notice, looking at Saeed.

Saeed's scalp tingled as he hurriedly kept his distance.

"Be ready to use your hand," Leylin coldly said from behind. Saeed's retreating foot stopped as he clenched his left fist, ready to engage despite his fear.

"Nicely done!" Jackson shouted in admiration. His body seemed to turn into a gust of wind and continuously ravaged the mob of creatures, leaving a trail of blood behind him.

"It seems that Jackson has ignited the secret Knight technique! His technique should be enhancing his agility," Leylin noticed. Unfortunately, Saeed's life essence was injured when Leylin bought him, and he can't ignite his secret Knight technique like Jackson, but he doesn't need to.

The few acolytes also cast their rank 0 spells that they had prepared and assisted in killing these creatures. Leylin saved his spiritual force, only using runes so far. He hasn't even used a single magical artifact. Each one of them is very expensive; he wished not to use them unless absolutely necessary.

"Hmm... " Leylin noticed an anomaly.

*Sssii! * The corpse of the brown bear that Leylin had killed was rapidly decomposed. From the bones, many veins appeared, which turned into a parasite-like creature. The creature then climbed into the Mankestre's mouth.

The Mankestre Snake opened its mouth and revealed rows of razor-sharp teeth. Its tongue coiled as it swallowed the strange red-veined creature into its belly.

"Retrieving its parasite, huh?" Murphy was rather surprised.

After swallowing the parasite, the Mankestre Snake finally uncoiled and looked at Leylin and the group, who were unrestrainedly slaughtering the creatures. Its crimson eyes showed signs of rage.

*Bang! * The huge body of the snake shot out, and the entire cave trembled violently.

The huge Mankestre Snake's body moved at an alarming speed, charging towards Jackson.

"It's too quick! I can only see its afterimage," Leylin rapidly retreated, and at the same time, he used the defensive rune. A soft, translucent reddish circular barrier appeared around him. (Image)

A surge of immense force came rushing over, and everyone was thrown back, including Leylin. Fortunately, he didn't suffer any injuries.

Leylin looked at Saeed. It seems he has suffered a few internal injuries.

The Mankestre Snake opened its jaws wide, and its razor-sharp teeth snapped at Jackson, bringing about a fish-like smell. If Jackson were to be caught, he would definitely die without a corpse left.

"Sir!" The remaining Knights and the grey-robed person shouted.

"Hah! Good try!" At the brink of death, Jackson finally released all of his internal energy, and the sword pierced at the crown of the snake with a speed that was hard to track by eye.

The sword, however, only left a white spot on the scales of the snake. As for Jackson, he used the force to rebound and twisted his waist, evading the snap of the snake's jaw.

"Protect our Lord!" The Knight rushed forward. The Mankestre Snake let out a ferocious roar and directly gobbled the Knights into its belly.

"Secondary Fireball!"

"Acidic Aqua Shot"

At this moment, the other acolytes also cast their spells, striking the body of the huge snake

*Bang! * A black arrow with a yellow flame exploded from the body of the huge snake, revealing two scorched wounds. (Image)

The huge snake let off a roar, which carried a tinge of agony. Its scales shook, and it sent its tail flying towards the few acolytes.

The vitality of the snake is too high. Any normal rank 0 spells would not be able to affect its movement at all!

The huge snake swatted its tail, and a few acolytes who were unable to dodge in time were turned into meat pancakes, and blood oozed from beneath the snake's body.

"No! Decker! Lancer!" Murphy cried hoarsely in anguish.

"There's no choice, we have to retreat first!" The few remaining people huddled together when the grey-robed figure behind Jackson spoke in a deep growl.

"No! This damned worm dared to kill Decker and the rest! I will definitely not let it go!" Murphy's eyes were rather bloodshot.

"I have a spell that can temporarily restrict its movements. The rest will be up to you guys."

Murphy stepped forward, placed the monocle that he always carried in his hand, and tossed it towards the huge snake.

*Bang! * The glass shattered on the huge snake, and many dark red runes suddenly surfaced.

The dark red runes multiplied and turned into the shape of a long chain, binding the snake within it.

"Such a powerful restraining spell! The runes are most probably a weaker version of a rank 1 rune craft." Leylin's eyes flashed. It seems he really can't underestimate a Level 3 acolyte. This spell can immobilize even the Great Withering Snake Mankestre for some time.

...

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