Chapter 25: The Underground Wilderness

The black barrier storm howled past, and the world before them suddenly brightened. They found themselves in front of a massive magic array, at the center of which was a hexagon made of fine white stones, surrounded by six towering magic stone pillars, each inscribed with ancient characters.

Before them stretched a vast wilderness, impossible to imagine as being inside a cave. The sky was a murky gray, with gray mist swirling around, reducing visibility to less than fifty meters. Scattered throughout the wilderness were small clusters of low shrubs.

"Magic barrier—" the usually taciturn elven archmage exclaimed in surprise. Noticing the puzzled expressions on the others' faces, he explained, "We are currently within a magic barrier, so we cannot see the walls of the cave. We can only see what the creator of the barrier intended for us to see. We must find the exit."

At that moment, faint sounds of battle and cries could be heard from the right side among the trees.

A'feng and Old Locke directed everyone to split into two teams and flank the source of the cries.

With each step, they encountered enormous skeletal remains scattered across the ground—clearly freshly shattered, the skeletons' chests or heads completely crushed. It was evident that several berserkers had been responsible.

The group quickened their pace.

After passing through a cluster of low shrubs, the chaotic scene of battle came into view. On one side were four skeleton knights mounted on small earth-dragons, wielding long battle knives; on the other were four berserker companions. Among them, Drew bore the lightest injuries, with only a scratch on his face, while the large earth-dragon, though taller than the small ones by over a meter, was already covered in wounds from the small dragons' agile attacks.

One berserker had lost his left arm, the severed limb still clutching a massive battle axe; another's chest had been cleaved open.

A berserker's strength could be rated as one under normal circumstances, but when berserk, it could soar to three or more. Even when injured, they could continue fighting, trading their own blood for greater carnage—only a berserker could sustain such immense damage and still unleash devastating force.

The four skeletal knights were also severely injured; one of the small dragons had its tail severed, the discarded appendage writhing on the ground.

"Kill—" Old Locke swung his massive battle axe and charged forward.

The four skeleton knights noticed the new enemies, breaking off their fight as their small dragons swiftly retreated.

Just as the group breathed a sigh of relief, the battle took an unexpected turn.

The berserkers were devoid of reason; one of them grabbed the writhing dragon's tail and immediately began gnawing on it, blood streaming from his mouth. Another berserk warrior chased after the retreating skeleton knights. "Come back—" Drew shouted, but there was no stopping a berserker in their frenzy.

The four skeleton knights simultaneously issued a guttural "Hera—" and turned their earth-dragons around, charging directly at the isolated berserker. A massive scimitar blocked the wildly swinging battle axe mid-air, while one earth-dragon rammed into the berserker's chest, sending him soaring through the air before crashing to the ground. Without pause, two sharp scimitars came down on the berserker, and hot blood sprayed up like a fountain.

The skeleton knights quickly wheeled around again, hoping to lure another berserker. The downed berserker suddenly sprang back to life, his powerful body riddled with deep wounds. The largest was a gaping hole in his abdomen, from which his intestines spilled out. He grabbed one earth-dragon's tail and allowed himself to be dragged along the ground, blood staining the earth as his intestines severed in several places. "Ah—" He hurled his battle axe at a knight on horseback, knocking the rider to the ground. 

Abandoning the earth-dragon, the berserker leaped onto the skeleton knight, sinking his teeth into the knight's throat and wrestling with the knight's arms until they tore free.

The earth-dragon, sensing its master was under attack, returned to bite the bloodied berserker on the shoulder, its massive jaws clamping down, while its sharp claws carved deep grooves into the berserker's body. Finally, the dragon's claws slashed across the berserker's neck, and his massive head flew into the air, still clenching the skeleton knight's head in his jaws.

The gruesome scene shocked everyone, with the magic archers retching violently, and the skeleton knights stunned. All except for the berserkers, of course. As creators of blood-soaked scenes, the berserkers had long since become accustomed to such sights. Once again driven to rage by the loss of their kin, they charged at the skeleton knights. 

"Die!" Drew was at the forefront, bringing his four-meter-long battle axe down on a stunned skeleton knight, cleaving both the knight and its small earth-dragon in half.

Two berserkers pursued another skeleton knight, blood spraying into the air as the dragon's head and forelimbs were severed. The dragon struggled in agony as it flung the skeleton knight off. The knight rolled on the ground, narrowly evading a downward axe strike, while a shimmering long knife tumbled across the ground, cutting into one berserker's leg.

The final two skeleton knights mounted their earth-dragons again and charged together, "Hera—" The berserker couldn't evade in time, and one earth-dragon crashed into him, sending his battle axe flying dozens of meters away. The berserker retaliated with a powerful punch to the dragon's eye. Berserkers typically wore heavy gauntlets studded with iron spikes, and the dragon's eye exploded under the force. 

The earth-dragon let out a piercing cry as its sharp forelimbs slashed into the berserker's chest, while the berserker's wrist and arm cracked loudly, the white bone piercing through his swollen flesh. The tremendous force came to a sudden stop as the knight riding the dragon was thrown off by inertia, landing heavily on the ground, his weapon falling beside him as the struggling dragon trampled him into a pulp.

The first to recover, the magic archers fired three arrows at the last skeleton knight, who tumbled from the dragon, and Drew's long battle axe promptly turned the dragon into a mass of blood and flesh.

"Ah—" A wild cry erupted from the injured berserker's mouth. With a thud, both berserkers collapsed to the ground.

"Brother—" Drew jumped down from the dragon and fell to his brother's side, crying out in anguish.

Even the mercenaries, who had witnessed countless tragedies in their careers, were stunned by the sight before them. They had only traversed four levels of the underground city, yet nearly all five powerful berserkers had been wiped out, and they were all brothers. Even the old dwarf, who had often clashed with the berserkers, lowered his head in sorrow.

Was the double S-ranked mission truly this difficult? Should they consider retreating?

A'feng approached and gently patted Drew's shoulder. "Drew, I'm so sorry we couldn't protect your brother. Why don't you head back and wait for us at the cave entrance? We can spare you a portion of the rewards if we succeed. If we're not back in two days, you can report the failure of our mission to the Mercenary Guild."

"The debt of blood can only be repaid in blood…" Drew bit his lip tightly, grabbed a handful of self-igniting powder from his pack, and scattered it over the berserker's body. Flames leapt into the air—"Rest in peace, sacred souls."

The others continued searching and pushing forward, soon discovering several more lone skeleton warriors, who were swiftly dispatched.

Not long after, the mercenaries found another massive magic teleportation gate in the wilderness, its azure magical energy glowing brilliantly between the dark gate pillars. The elven archmage confirmed after a quick assessment that this magic array was a functioning teleportation gate.

Old Locke, A'feng, and the other veteran mercenaries exchanged bitter smiles. This SS-ranked mission was indeed unprecedented in its complexity. With one teleportation gate after another, how long would it go on? No wonder so many mercenary groups had failed before… was this time destined to end the same way? 

Such thoughts swirled through their minds, but no one dared to voice them…

High-magic dragons have the ability to summon low-tier elemental spirits. For instance, a green dragon can call forth ice spirits, while a red dragon can summon fire spirits. The relationship between dragons and these spirits is not merely one of guardianship over lairs; it is fundamentally one of symbiosis.

The lifespan of these spirits is nearly limitless. Even the shortest-lived humanoid spirits, such as forest and prairie spirits, typically live for over a thousand years. Non-humanoid magical spirits are virtually as old as the earth itself, easily tracing their existence back to the time of the creation gods.

Long-term cohabitation with high-magic dragons can enhance the abilities of these spirits. Some spirits that have lived alongside divine dragons for thousands of years can certainly evolve from low-tier to mid-tier spirits.

—Excerpt from "Shan Hai Jing: The Tale of Spirits"