Chapter 11 The Downfall

With the appearance of the banshees, the mind flayer also sensed the arrival of death. It frantically waved its tentacles, striking around like whips in an attempt to drive away these terrifying specters, which indeed worked to some extent. As a creature of the lower realms, the mind flayer's tentacles possessed magical power themselves. Although the banshees summoned by Zane were of silver-tier elite, they would still suffer considerable depletion if struck.

After all, soul-based monsters fear magical attacks the most.

However, even so, the banshees had no intention of retreating. On the contrary, they dodged the mind flayer's attacks while seizing opportunities to bite at its brain. This war of attrition was clearly in favor of the banshees, as the mind flayer, being a living creature, would inevitably weaken and ultimately die if continuously assaulted by death.

At this moment, Zane was also busy. He closely observed the mind flayer, waiting for a chance to deliver a fatal blow, while dealing with the awakened terror claw beasts under the protection of Enya. This didn't mean Zane didn't want a quick resolution, but as the saying goes, with gain comes cost. Although Zane could modify spells to some extent according to his wishes, forcibly manipulating and changing spells would triple the cooldown time, which was a minor flaw.

Previously, to ensure a hit on the mind flayer, Zane had to alter the path of the flame serpent, significantly extending his spell cooldown time. For now, it would take more than a minute before he could use this spell again.

If only a library could be established, then more spells could be studied...

While dodging the terror claw beasts' siege, Zane even had time to ponder this seemingly unrelated issue. Just then, he keenly caught the sound of rapid footsteps behind him.

Without needing to look back, Zane was certain it was Verna and her mercenaries rushing over. Indeed, after a chaos of footsteps, Verna and her mercenaries hurriedly arrived, looking disheveled from a tough battle with the controlled gray dwarfs. Even Verna, a dark elf, lost her previous spirited appearance, with bloodstains indicating she too had suffered a setback.

"By the stones, what is this monster?!"

Seeing the terrifying giant creature, many mercenaries were shocked, and Verna's face turned pale.

"Damn it, it's a mind flayer! Everyone, scatter, get your crossbows!"

As a half-dark elf, Verna had seen this dreadful creature at the dark elf matron's, knowing full well its prowess. Dark elves often threw useless slaves and those who broke taboos into the arena, watching with relaxed pleasure as the mind flayer cracked open their skulls and sucked their brains amidst the slaves' agonized screams.

However, when it became her enemy, the scene was not at all delightful.

Verna reacted quickly, but not everyone could respond as swiftly as her. The mind flayer had already seen these daring intruders. Compared to the troublesome likes of Zane and Enya, these newcomers were obviously easier to deal with. Thus, it suddenly opened its mouth and roared.

The loud sonic boom echoed in the cavern, disorienting everyone but Zane and Enya, who were prepared. The sound, like a heavy hammer, severely impacted the already battered mercenaries, with a few severely injured ones nearly fainting.

Simultaneously, the mind flayer's tentacles suddenly elongated, swiftly striking at the mercenaries. Those dazed by the sonic attack couldn't even resist before being seized. The tentacles then wrapped around their necks like snakes, piercing into the back of their heads.

Following a series of swelling and sucking sounds, the dazed mercenaries dropped their limbs like puppets with cut strings, showing no further response.

In just under a minute, four or five mercenaries fell victim, and the mind flayer, having consumed their brains, seemed to replenish the energy it had previously lost. It vigorously swung its tentacles, throwing the corpses at the still dazed people, then forcefully drove the approaching banshees away. With a shriek, its body contracted like an octopus and swiftly fled to another side of the cave.

Admittedly, the mind flayer's consumption of so many brains was indeed not in vain. It seized a very good opportunity, as the newly arrived mercenaries provided enough nourishment to compensate for the depletion and pain inflicted by Zane and the banshees. Moreover, with the sonic explosion, almost everyone was in a daze. The mind flayer knew well that if it didn't seize this chance to escape, it could forget about its next lavish meal.

Unfortunately, not everyone was fooled by the mind flayer.

With a crackle of thunderous light, a whip traced an arc through the air, tightly wrapping around one of the mind flayer's tentacles. Being an undead, Enya didn't need to use her ears to "hear" sounds and was thus unaffected by the sonic blast. Seeing the mind flayer attempting to flee, she immediately took action.

Though Enya appeared as a delicate girl, one should never judge the strength of the undead by their appearance.

In terms of size, the difference between the mind flayer and Enya was like that between an elephant and a cat, but the undead's formidable strength mercilessly pulled at the mind flayer. The moment it was entangled by the thunderous whip, the mind flayer's massive body trembled, and its speed immediately slowed.

But for Zane, this moment was enough.

He stretched out his right hand, tracing a mysterious symbol in the void. Soon, thunderous lightning burst forth from his hand, coiling and forming a prison that firmly trapped the mind flayer.

If it were any other creature, the pain from the lightning alone would be enough to kill it. However, for the mind flayer, the present lightning was merely a minor inconvenience. It forcefully collided with the lightning prison, attempting to escape.

It was precisely because of this that the mind flayer failed to notice the anomaly above its head.

The thunderous current erupted once again, and the dazzling white light spread rapidly along the ceiling like a penetrating stream, striking the hanging stalactites. Sparks flew, and the ground was littered with shattered rocks as a huge crack rapidly spread across the top of the stalactite column.

The next moment, the massive column, as tall as a four or five-story building, collapsed and fell, guided by gravity, directly onto the mind flayer.

At that moment, the mind flayer had no time to escape, perhaps not even realizing what had happened, as its massive body was impaled by the sharp column, and then buried under the rubble with the debris.

"Cough... cough cough... I should have studied a protective barrier..."

Coughing, Zane fanned the dust in front of him. He too was covered in dust, and although he wasn't directly affected, the rising dust and debris were enough to cause discomfort.

"Master, are you alright? Are you hurt?"

Enya rushed over from the other side, looking at her master with concern. Noticing Enya's gaze, Zane waved his hand.

"No, I'm not hurt, but it seems a bath after we return is inevitable. As for you..."

As he spoke, Zane looked at Enya's right hand. Blood had already stained her dark sleeve, and it was evident that Enya's right hand was longer than her left. Without needing a closer look, Zane could imagine the scene of the girl's elbow joint being torn apart by the tremendous force.

"How are your injuries?"

"Just a minor wound, it can be corrected once we return."

"That's good."

Hearing Enya's nonchalant reply, Zane nodded. Then, he reached out and gently stroked Enya's hair. Feeling Zane's touch, Enya happily squinted her eyes, but soon, her red eyes swiftly scanned the surroundings.

"Master, what about these wastes?"

Around them lay corpses. In addition to the mercenaries killed by the mind flayer, the terror claw beasts it had controlled also perished screaming after the mind flayer's death. Only Verna and a few half-orc mercenaries were still barely alive.

However, their situation was not optimistic. Except for Verna, the others were severely injured by the falling rocks, counting their remaining seconds. As for the unfortunate dark elf, she was half-buried under a large rock, looking half-dead.

Seeing this, Zane extended his hand, adjusted his glasses, and then his lips curled into a smile.

"This is my 'rightfully deserved' reward, so I'll unapologetically accept it... Perfect, let me conduct an experiment."

Saying so, Zane approached the unconscious dark elf and extended his right hand downwards.

Accompanying Zane's action, a twisted red symbol appeared out of thin air, then turned into a faint mist, slowly inhaled by the dark elf. Zane watched this scene with interest until the gas was completely absorbed by Verna, then he nodded in satisfaction and stood up, looking around.

"Next, let's see your true strength."

Muttering to himself, Zane snapped his fingers.

Soon, the banshees reappeared. They looked at the few struggling survivors, who were already one foot in the grave, with flames of excitement burning in their dark eyes. Quickly, three banshees approached the half-orc mercenaries, surrounding the unfortunate souls and emitting terrifying shrieks.

The moment the banshees' cold hands touched the half-orcs, the mercenaries' faint heartbeats ceased.