Thus, travelling through the underground area, it wouldn’t be too hard to return to that exit. Even if they were off, they wouldn’t be off by more than a thousand meters or so.
“Everyone, hold on for a bit longer. We’re almost at the exit,” the Blackscale Scorpion’s voice rang out in their minds.
All the experts felt a surge of energy, and they all strenuously resisted the constantly charging Abyssal Blade Demons. All of the experts put their strength on full display, and any who was heavily injured would immediately retreat to Desri’s side to be healed, allowing other experts to replace them momentarily.
Linley also had the feeling…
That the density of attacks from the Abyssal Blade Demons had reached a stable level. In addition, everyone’s teamwork had reached an extremely high level as well.
“Slash.” The three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions were once more sent retreating by the wild attacks of the Abyssal Blade Demons. Fain, Tulily, and Bebe immediately filled the gap, while Desri immediately began to heal the wounds of those three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions. Fortunately, this sort of healing spell was of the ninth level, and thus to someone like Desri who could instacast them, it was not too troublesome.
“We’ve arrived at the exit to the tenth floor,” Desri’s excited voice rang out in everyone’s mind.
The Blackscale Scorpion’s tunneling direction suddenly shifted upwards as well, and the Abyssal Blade Demons attacking them suddenly dropped in number as well.
“Most likely, many Abyssal Blade Demons are still moving to block us off in the direction we were previously heading.” Tulily also noticed that only two or three Abyssal Blade Demons would occasionally appear and attack.
“Everyone, don’t let down your guard,” Linley immediately instructed.
“The three of us, plus Linley and Fain, will charge up first. The other experts will follow from behind,” the voice of one of the Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions rang out in everyone’s mind as well. In terms of defense, the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions were extremely powerful, while Linley and Fain both had Pearls of Life.
Nobody disagreed.
“Swoosh.” Charging upwards at high speed, Linley and the others spread out their spiritual energy.
“There are no Abyssal Blade Demons in the twenty to thirty meters above us,” Desri’s voice rang out. They were already very close to ground level. Underground, spiritual energy penetrated a much lower distance than above ground.
“Heads up.” Nobody hesitated at all at a time like this.
Linley and Fain led the upwards charge, with the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions behind them. The other experts formed the third unit and the fourth unit.
“Boom.” “Boom.” …
Linley’s group of five erupted from the ground. Based on their current surroundings, they could immediately tell that they were only two hundred meters away from the exit. However, although Linley, Fain, and the other experts were able to locate the exit…
Everyone felt misery in their hearts.
The path to the exit was blocked off by multiple layers of Abyssal Blade Demons; ten inner layers, and ten outer layers. Nearly ten thousand Abyssal Blade Demons were clustered there. With all those Abyssal Blade Demons there, how was Linley’s group going to break through their guard and flee into the exit?
The worst part of it was…
In the air above them, hovering like a storm of locusts, there were countless Abyssal Blade Demons, covering the skies like an endless horde.
“How many Abyssal Blade Demons? A hundred thousand? Even more?”
Linley, Fain, the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions… everyone felt their hearts clench tightly.
“Rumble…”
The countless Abyssal Blade Demons, upon seeing Linley’s group, were like mosquitoes that had seen blood. They all charged over wildly at the same time. The sudden attack of nearly a million Abyssal Blade Demons was simply a terrifying, apocalyptic scene. Even nearby space itself seemed to rumble.
They were only a hundred meters away.
Instantly, those countless Abyssal Blade Demons arrived in front of Linley’s group.
“Back down, quick, quick, quick!!!” Fain’s terrified voice rang out in the minds of the other ten experts. Even Bebe, Rosarie, and Tulily, who had just left the underground, were scared silly by this sight. Almost in unison…
They scurried back underground!
“Bang!”
The rumbling sound of nearly a million Abyssal Blade Demons running across the ground shook the world. Some ran in a straight line, while some charged downwards, but all of them simultaneously delivered vicious blows towards Linley’s group!
“Bang!” A terrifying explosive force, and the area for several square kilometers around them exploded, with countless pieces of metal blasting everywhere. In the blink of an eye, a giant crater hundreds of meters deep was born, and in the center of the metallic crater, a large number of tunnels could now be seen.
Linley, Fain, and the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions had been the first to go above ground, and so they were the last to flee back underground. How far could they have gotten? In addition, this combined attack from countless Abyssal Blade Demons, which had all struck out at virtually the same time, had caused the energy of their blows to strike downwards like a single mighty ripple that smashed against the ground.
The ‘rearguard’ of Linley, Fain, and the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions had to welcome this powerful attack.
Linley just barely managed to raised his adamantine heavy sword and Bloodviolet to block.
“Bang!”
Linley almost instantly felt a large number of saber flashes chop against his body. His ‘Pulseguard Defense’ and his draconic scales almost instantly exploded, and even Linley’s adamantine heavy sword and Bloodviolet sword were struck so hard that they flew backwards and struck against Linley.
“Ah!!!”
His entire body suddenly seemed shorter… because as Linley looked down, he saw that his legs had been smashed into bits.
“Flee, flee!” Linley only knew that they had to flee.
The terrifying scene of those countless Abyssal Blade Demons charging towards them had already caused Linley’s group’s willpower to collapse. Linley noticed that next to him, beneath his chest Fain’s entire body was gone, including both arms. Even his longsword was gone.
“Second brother!” a desolate howl rang out.
Flee!
Flee!
They fled wildly through the tunnels. After a long time had passed, they finally came to a halt, because there no longer were any Abyssal Blade Demons in pursuit of them.
Fain’s body was quickly repairing itself, but it had only repaired up to his legs thus far. Fain’s entire body was wracked in pain. And wasn’t Linley in much the same situation? However, compared to the others, the two of them were already very lucky.
Of the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions, only two were left, and both of them were heavily injured, their bodies matted with blood.
“Second brother did it to save us,” the eldest Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion, Cleo, growled. The three siblings weren’t like Linley and Fain, who had ‘Pearls of Life’. At the critical moment, the second of those three siblings had suddenly expanded his body to protect his two brothers.
The remaining ten experts looked at each other, and within their eyes, there was a hint of bitterness, pain, and… despair!
What should they do now?
34
Death?
Everyone’s minds were still filled with that earlier scene of ‘annihilation’. Those countless Abyssal Blade Demons charging down towards them… Linley’s group had been completely stunned. Their minds were completely blank. Terror, disbelief… they had the feeling that they were about to go crazy.
“How could there be so many Abyssal Blade Demons here?” Linley shook his head, unable to accept it.
Tulily shook his head and sighed as well. “Most likely, even if the departed Flame Ty
rant or Queen Mother were present, in the face of the joint attacks of those countless Abyssal Blade Demons, they would also be chopped into mincemeat. Simply frightening… truly too frightening.”
“With so many Abyssal Blade Demons on the eleventh floor, who can possibly acquire a divine spark?” Olivier had an ugly look on his face.
“Perhaps the Sovereign who created this Necropolis of the Gods is just playing a trick on people.” The Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion, Cleo, was filled with rage and grief. Of the five brothers, two had died in the Gebados Planar Prison, and now yet another had died, leaving only two of them behind.
“No. There’s still a chance of success.” Desri shook his head and sighed. “The Elemental Laws contain boundless profound mysteries. The aspects of the Laws that we have gained insight into are fairly low level ones. However, the aspect that Linley, for example, used to attack and kill the Flame Tyrant is one of the higher level ones. If someone, for example, reached an extremely high level of understanding in the ‘Lightspeed’ aspect of the Elemental Laws of the Light, he would be far faster than all of those Abyssal Blade Demons. In that case… most likely, he would have a chance of acquiring a divine spark.”
Although both Olivier and Desri were very fast, they didn’t have very deep understandings with regards to ‘Lightspeed’.
“Let’s not discuss this for now. More importantly, we need to figure out what exactly we are going to do. Does anyone have any ideas?” Desri swept the experts with his gaze.
“What can we do? It’d be wonderful if we could even return to the tenth floor.” Rosarie sighed. “This is the most dangerous of the Necropolis of the Gods. Three thousand years a cycle, right? There’s two other giant Necropolis of the Gods. Those two won’t be as dangerous as this one.”
Desri, Fain, and Tulily all nodded.
Three major tunnels, all headed to different Necropolis of the Gods. This one was the most dangerous of them all.
“The more danger, the more treasure.” Tulily sighed. “In those other two Necropolis of the Gods, we didn’t get a single true divine artifact at all. But here… we even procured two Pearls of Life. I trust there is definitely more than just one divine spark on this eleventh floor as well.”
The other experts all secretly nodded.
The greater the danger, the greater the rewards would generally be.
But…
If the danger was so great that they didn’t have any hope at all, no matter how many divine sparks this place had, what good would it be?
“How about let’s just hide here. We’ll hide for a few months and wait for the ten years to be up?” the Blackscale Scorpion spoke.
Linley’s eyes lit up as well.
A person had to know their own limits. When Linley had seen those countless Abyssal Blade Demons, he had already given up on procuring a divine spark on this eleventh floor. After all… there were simply too many Abyssal Blade Demons.
“It probably wouldn’t work.” Olivier shook his head. “Place your ears against the metal walls and listen.”
Linley immediately pressed his ear against the metallic wall, and a very faint vibration could be sensed coming over constantly.
Everyone’s hearts sank.
“There should be an extremely high number of Abyssal Blade Demons coming our way from the underground,” the third of the Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions, Clervaux, said. “Although they aren’t moving very fast, they are moving very methodically. When those Abyssal Blade Demons surround us…”
“We can’t stay here much longer,” Tulily said.
Linley looked at Bebe, coiling in his arms, and his eyes hardened. Staring at the others, he said, “We have no other choices. We probably won’t even be able to spend another day down here before the countless Abyssal Blade Demons surround us.”
“The only option we have is to return to the tenth floor,” Linley said firmly.
“But how? Linley, you saw yourself just now how those countless Abyssal Blade Demons fully surrounded that exit.”
Linley took a deep breath. “There is one way.”
All of the experts looked at Linley.
“We’ll take a roundabout underground path, and then move towards the exit. When the time comes, all of you help hold them off while I prepare the ‘Dimensional Edge’ spell, and kill all of the Abyssal Blade Demons barring our way to the exit.
The experts all looked at Linley. They didn’t think that this idea of Linley’s had a high chance of success.
How many Abyssal Blade Demons could a single Dimensional Edge spell kill?
“The Dimensional Edge spell will cut out a clear path from me to the exit. This path will soon be blocked by other Abyssal Blade Demons, so what we need to do is to pass through the pathway and rush to the tenth floor before the other Abyssal Blade Demons block us again!” Linley said.
All the experts were silent.
To use the Dimensional Edge to cut a pathway, and then instantly charge to the tenth floor.
If they were even slightly too slow, they would be surrounded and killed by the enormous numbers of Abyssal Blade Demons around them!
They had to seize that moment!
“We have no other options.” Linley stared at the other experts.
Right now, the vibrations coming from the metallic tunnel walls were growing stronger. Clearly, the many Abyssal Blade Demons were drawing closer and closer to them.
“I agree. Let’s give it a shot. At least we have a chance.” Tulily was the first to speak.
Rosarie, Desri, and Fain exchanged a glance, then nodded slightly. The two remaining Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions, the Blackscale Scorpion, and Olivier all nodded in agreement. As for Bebe… he didn’t voice any objections either.
“The most important thing right now is, when we return to the surface, we can’t let those Abyssal Blade Demons discover us. When we get near the surface, I will begin to chant the words to the spell, at which point, I won’t be able to spare any attention to dealing with those Abyssal Blade Demons,” Linley said.
“Don’t worry. You focus on your ‘Dimensional Edge’ spell. If Abyssal Blade Demons come, even if we have to die, we’ll make sure we block them,” Desri said.
The eyes of the experts were all filled with firm resolve.
They had to seize their last shot at survival!
“Let’s head out,” Linley said.
The Blackscale Scorpion immediately led the way. This time, the experts didn’t dare to travel in a straight line, and instead made a winding path as they slowly drew near. Whether it was due to good luck or something else, they didn’t encounter their first Abyssal Blade Demon until they were over halfway there.”
“Slash.” With a single swipe of his claw, Bebe tore the head of the Abyssal Blade Demon asunder, not even giving it a chance to cry out in alarm.
“Everyone, be careful. Right now, we are only five hundred meters or so from the exit. The closer we get, the greater the density of Abyssal Blade Demons will be,” Desri reminded everyone. Right now everyone was surrounding Linley, who was already beginning to chant the words to the spell.
“Not good.” Roughly three hundred meters away from their target, the Blackscale Scorpion suddenly halted.
“These Abyssal Blade Demons have dug out an enormous hole around the exit,” the Blackscale Scorpion’s voice rang out in the experts’ minds. All of the experts felt their hearts tremble. Linley’s face changed as well, and he immediately stopped chanting the spell.
“Such a huge pit. If we were to charge past it, we would need to travel hundreds of meters before reaching the exit. Most likely, we would be killed before making it to the exit.”
The ten experts all felt stunned.
In the air above the ground, countless Abyssal Blade Demons lay waiting, with those two red Abyssal Blade Demons also waiting. Only three hundred thousand Abyssal Blade Demons were underground searching for Linley, with the greater half of the Abyssal Blade Demons aboveground.
Naturally, th
ey would be surrounding the area of the enormous hole around the exit.
The exit to the tenth floor was originally on ground level, but because of the giant hole dug by the creatures in the metallic ground, the exit was now like a window that was suspended in mid-air. That faint black aura surrounded those steps.
Not a single one of the Abyssal Blade Demons dared to pass through that exit.
Roughly ten thousand of the Abyssal Blade Demons were currently surrounding the tunnel, forming a watertight seal around it. It seemed as though Linley’s group shouldn’t be able to charge to the exit at all.
“Swish!” “Swish!” “Swish!” …
But suddenly, ten blurs in a row suddenly streaked out into the hole, each of them moving extremely fast and agilely. Linley’s group had no other choice. They had to risk everything and go all out, and hope that they would be able to seize that faint hope at life and charge back to the tenth floor!
The large numbers of Abyssal Blade Demons simultaneously discovered Linley’s group of experts.
“Kill!” The Abyssal Blade Demons reacted very fast.
But they still needed a bit of time before reacting, and in that bit of time, Linley’s group had flown two or three hundred meters. They were only a few dozen meters away from the exit now, but those few dozen meters were clogged with countless Abyssal Blade Demons.
Finished with the words to his spell, Linley pointed out with one hand.
Tempestuous wind elemental essence coalesced around Linley, and the wind for several kilometers around came to a sudden halt. Linley had a vicious look on his face. Through the ‘Coiling Dragon’ ring, Linley forcefully summoned a large amount of the surrounding wind elemental essence and utilized all of the mageforce in his body, creating a terrifying, faint-azure colored Dimensional Edge that was twenty meters wide!
This was ten times the width of an ordinary Dimensional Edge spell.
“Chiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.”
Gods of Yulan: Book 4 of the Coiling Dragon Saga Page 27