Chapter 23: Mirage

The white mist surged higher and higher, forming leaping white spirits at ground level, swaying white bats in the air, and towering palaces high above.

The sky was filled with white, hundreds of noisy white bats swooping in, attacking the swordsmen with their flapping wings, landing on their faces and bodies. 

The spirits' attacks weren't very strong; often, three or four hits would cause no substantial damage. The white bats also lacked power, merely obscuring vision at best. The white palaces posed no threat either. However, this was enough to inflict tremendous harm on a team without mages or priests, and those unprepared with enough floating scrolls—any slight movement could lead them into a swamp that was indistinguishable to the naked eye.

"Mirage?!" The elven archmage hesitated slightly but was more certain than ever—everyone around heard his voice.

"Mirage?" the old dwarf exclaimed.

"Really?" Afeng, who had remained calm, also grew serious.

"Mirage? A dragon?"

"The breath of a high-level dragon?"

"Is this dragon territory?"

"A mirage created by a dragon?!" 

More and more terrifying descriptions filled people's minds, with many voicing their greatest fears. 

Dragons, without a doubt, were an extremely fearsome topic. Regardless of whether this dragon had any intention to harm, it would not relinquish its right to attack anyone who dared intrude upon its territory. Mirage gas, it was said, was a capability only possessed by the highest-level dragons. Dragons loved to sleep, often for days or even months at a time. To protect themselves, high-level dragons would automatically exhale mirage gas during their slumber, creating a vast world of mirages around them. As the dragon's thoughts changed in dreams, the mirage would morph infinitely and could autonomously attack those within its domain.

Depending on the dragon's age, the range and attack power of the mirage varied. It was rumored that in the swampy Fanos continent, the largest dragon's mirage domain covered the habitat of an orc tribe with a population exceeding 50,000.

"Everyone should be prepared. If there are no dragons, how could this be a double S task?" No wonder Afeng was among the top 100 heroes on the mercenary leaderboard; he was the first to regain his composure.

"We hit the jackpot! The presence of mirage gas means the dragon is sleeping, likely for an extended period," the old dwarf also calmed down. The elven mage whispered a few words in the old dwarf's ear, and then he pulled out an old, dark brown scroll, depicting a golden deity. The elven mage opened the scroll—a golden flame surged in his hand. "Everyone gather close and enter the range of the flame's light," the old dwarf called out to all the adventurers. "This is holy fire, which can repel the mirage's attacks."

The flame spread wide; even a large land dragon could easily take shelter within.

The spirits and white bats fluttered anxiously outside the fire, exposing their white teeth as they layered around but dared not enter the golden light.

"Mages and priests, remember to keep casting Floating spells on everyone. Before the Floating magic wears off, we must find the dragon," Afeng instructed, assigning Amy and Daqingshan, who were most attuned to the forest, to scout ahead for the team.

Following the sensation of the warm breeze, Amy and Daqingshan quickly located the exit of the mirage. Here, the mirage formed a vast palace entrance. Upon entering the palace gates, they were greeted by a—massive cave, the pitch-black entrance towering about ten meters high, resembling an open mouth, devoid of any vegetation, and exceptionally smooth, clearly indicating frequent animal passage.

Amy instructed Daqingshan to stay behind to assist everyone into the cave while she summoned a flickering blue flame from her palm, illuminating her surroundings brightly.

Next, she cast, "Mô Léi Hēi Lóng," summoning a gigantic silver-gray magic wolf, which led the way into the cave, with Amy closely following behind.

The cave was dark; the swamp outside had no effect on it, and the cave was exceptionally dry, feeling a cool breeze brushing past her ears.

Step by step, Amy explored, keeping an eye on any changes underfoot, with the silver-gray wolf at her side.

"Amy—" the old dwarf's anxious call echoed from the cave entrance.

"There's no danger here yet; I haven't encountered any monsters," she replied.

Upon hearing her response, the old dwarf hurriedly approached Amy, taking quick steps in the pitch-black cave, sometimes stumbling.

"Bang!" Before Amy could react, the old dwarf jumped up and slapped her hard. "Are you trying to get yourself killed? Why did you come in alone? Trying to be a hero at such a young age?! Are you familiar with caves? Do you have any experience?!"

"Yeah, Amy, you shouldn't go in alone. Senior Locke, you're a dwarf; your familiarity with caves is second only to gnomes. You should lead the way," Afeng and the other mercenaries also arrived.

Amy had her first setback since debuting, muttering under her breath, "No good deed goes unpunished." Qianli Xue pulled her back into the group.

With the mirage gone, the golden flames had vanished as well. Several mages cast Wizard's Fire, while the priests simultaneously invoked Glimmer (Glimmer: a basic spell in the priest's repertoire that calls upon the light god to envelop oneself in a layer of luminescence to illuminate the surroundings. In the absence of other light sources, Glimmer can be useful when torches run out).

Everyone followed closely behind the old dwarf, three to four meters back, ready to support him— the allure of the dragon heightened everyone's combat readiness to its peak.

As they turned a sharp corner in the underground cave, a vast clearing suddenly appeared, revealing over a dozen sarcophagi dimly illuminated by the light of the Wizard's Fire.

Just as the light shone upon the coffins, a dramatic change occurred!

"Creeeak—creeeak—" A sudden, enormous transformation swept through the entire cave. The lids of the coffins soared into the air, spinning wildly before crashing toward the mages who had summoned the Wizard's Fire.

"Guard!" Afeng sprang into action at the first moment, his sword flashing like lightning as he struck three of the coffin lids. The other five swordsmen of the Purple Heart Sword rushed to intercept, leaping high to block the lids. In this moment of rapid change, only the agile swordsmen could react swiftly. Amy and Daqingshan also jumped high, intercepting two of the coffin lids each.

"Hee hee—ha ha—ha ha—hey hey—" A bizarre laughter echoed from the coffins, resonating through the empty cave. A few massive wolves leaped out, their jaws burying into the ground as they let out the unique howl of snow wolves. More than ten humanoid figures staggered out of the coffins, their limbs moving like rusty machinery, each movement radiating an indescribable discomfort. The humanoid monsters wielded the rusted battle knives most commonly used by the Hami people.

A foul stench filled the air, and they were all zombies!

It seemed these were the deceased Hami people and their accompanying snow wolves. Could it be that some dark, malevolent force had unleashed an unknown spell to use these soulless bodies?

"Kill them!" There was no reasoning with the undead. The old dwarf charged forward, swinging his massive battle axe, instantly obliterating the first snow wolf zombie that jumped at him.

Four more axes joined the fray, and the berserker, having lost his brother, lunged forward with all his might. Apart from Afeng, the other swordsmen of the Purple Heart Sword charged in as well.

The soulless bodies were far inferior in agility to the living. Under the physical attacks, the zombies crumbled to dust almost instantly.

"Was it really that simple?" Old Locke brushed the dust off his hands, then blew the remnants of the zombie bodies off his axe.

"Ah—something's grabbing my foot!" A swordsman from the Purple Heart Sword suddenly screamed in terror, desperately trying to jump.

Everyone saw two black hands clutching the swordsman's feet—undoubtedly the hands of the recently destroyed zombies, their dark fingers tightly grasping his ankles.

"Ah—bang—" With a piercing scream, two severed hands flew through the air, and the swordsman was entirely torn apart. Blood sprayed down like rain, and the severed hands and torn feet fell to the ground, then released the severed feet, and the black fingers clawed at the ground again, lunging for the next target.

"Quick! Hack them all to bits!" the old dwarf cried out.

Four or five enormous battle axes relentlessly chopped at the crawling severed hands and writhing feet on the ground.

"Oh holy deity, grant me your sacred holy water!" The level two mage and junior priest Nuo began to chant loudly. Blue holy water descended from the heavens, splashed around everyone, causing the black and gray limbs to rapidly vaporize and disappear into thin air. (Holy Water Spell: The caster condenses sacred power into holy water, spraying it at enemies, dealing holy damage to all present foes. This basic dispelling spell has enhanced damage effects against evil creatures.)

Once again, the cave fell silent. The mercenaries carefully surveyed the area, confirming that no other zombies remained.

"Rest easy, my good brother. Don't worry; I'll take care of your family." To prevent more zombies from appearing, Afeng, Qianli Xue, and other mercenaries from the Purple Heart Sword looked solemn as they gathered the remains of their fallen comrade. They sprinkled yellow self-igniting powder over the body, which ignited upon contact with air. Minutes later, the mercenary's body was incinerated in the flames, and Afeng carefully collected the ashes, tears streaming down his face.

The vast, open cave quickly narrowed ahead, forming a smaller opening—small, only in comparison to the previous cavern, this new cave had a diameter of over three meters.

Old Locke signaled everyone to follow closely and led the way into the next level of the underground city.