Chapter 7 Deep in the Tunnel

Facing the sudden attack, the entire adventure team immediately descended into chaos. The Dreadclaw beasts are considered high on the food chain underground, their bodies covered in a shell as hard as rock, like armor. Their massive claws, sharp as scissors, could easily slice a man in half. They are fierce, battle-hardened, and tireless.

For any adventuring team, the Dreadclaw beast is a formidable foe.

A monster nearly three meters tall leaped out from beside Jane, opening its sharp beak and emitting a harsh, unpleasant cry. Its sharp claws, cutting through the air with a whoosh, lunged at the mage in front of it.

But Jane's reaction was much faster than the Dreadclaw beast had anticipated.

He didn't panic at the ambush like the mercenaries did. Although as a mage, he should have kept his distance and looked for an opportunity to counterattack. But Jane didn't do that. In fact, facing the Dreadclaw beast, he didn't even move, simply extending a hand forward and pointing.

In the next moment, roaring flames mercilessly spewed from Jane's fingertips, completely enveloping the Dreadclaw beast. It wasn't just ordinary fire; it twisted and turned like a collection of serpents with a will of their own, swiftly extending through the cracks of the Dreadclaw beast's rocky shell.

Before its massive claw could smash Jane's skull, the Dreadclaw beast stopped moving. It writhed in agony, retreating backwards. The shell that was meant to protect it had now become its deadliest threat. The raging flames mercilessly devoured its flesh, burning even more fiercely.

The Dreadclaw beast now resembled a walking stone oven, with flames burning inside but unable to escape. The sturdy stone skin prevented the flames from escaping, causing the Dreadclaw beast unprecedented pain.

"Swish...!!"

As the Dreadclaw beast tried to escape the flames, Enora had already stepped in front of Jane, her right hand forming a grip and then forcefully swinging forward— a whip condensed from thunder and lightning appeared in the undead girl's hand, creating a series of dazzling illusions in the air as it heavily struck the massive body of the Dreadclaw beast.

"Boom!!"

The sound of the lightning whip striking the Dreadclaw beast echoed through the tunnel, causing dust to pour down continuously. The echoing boom even made it hard for others to stand. The unfortunate Dreadclaw beast was directly flung away, crashing into a corner of the tunnel. Broken stones fell, burying its massive body—no one could see anything there anymore.

This loud noise also attracted the attention of the other combatants. Such thunderous sounds, typically only heard on the surface, were quite a novel experience for any subterranean dweller, especially when it exploded right beside your ear.

At the same time, the banshees also began to move.

They emerged from the void, emitting piercing screams and lunging at the Dreadclaw beasts. To the eye, these banshees appeared so delicate and fragile that a single slap from a Dreadclaw beast could completely shatter them.

But in reality, this was not the case. The angry attacks passed through the banshees' bodies without harming them in the slightest. Instead, the banshees extended their arms, easily penetrating the Dreadclaw beasts' impenetrable armor, and firmly grasped their insides.

Soul and life.

Feeling the approach of death, the Dreadclaw beast started to retaliate. It abandoned the goblin it had mangled in its hands, screaming and trembling as it retreated. But the banshee held on tightly, as if an invisible chain linked them. Her dark eye sockets widened, her mouth opened, and soon, streams of white light emerged from the Dreadclaw beast's features, condensed into a stream absorbed by the banshee.

Following that, the lifeless body of the massive creature collapsed.

The ambush was swift and ended just as quickly. In the blink of an eye, five Dreadclaw beasts were completely eliminated. To those adventurers, these monsters were terrifying beasts. But to the undead, all living beings were nothing more than fragile toys.

Even so, Vilna's adventure team still suffered some damage. A total of five goblins and three half-orc warriors died in the ambush. They were all killed in the initial attack. Additionally, many others were injured to varying degrees.

"Damn it!!"

While directing her mercenaries to "recycle" the belongings of the dead, Vilna paced angrily. This was indeed a bad start, encountering five Dreadclaw beasts all at once, a rare occurrence underground. Even Vilna wasn't sure if this was good luck or bad.

Thinking this, she glanced again at Jane and Enora standing not far away. This time, hesitation flickered in Vilna's eyes.

Although Jane hadn't shown much in the fight, Vilna had noticed he was a very powerful mage. On the surface, what Jane did seemed ordinary, something any mage could do. But Vilna knew well how powerful Jane's magic was.

Even for a mage, the Dreadclaw beast is a fearsome enemy. Its hard armor can not only withstand weapons but also resist magical blasts. Yet, Jane was able to easily manipulate magical flames to penetrate the skin's gaps, a feat of elemental manipulation that Vilna had only seen among the most powerful archmages in the city of dark elves.

Not to mention, this was a necromancer, for whom elemental spells are not a specialty. If Jane had killed a Dreadclaw beast with a necromantic spell, Vilna wouldn't have been surprised, but him using an elemental spell, which necromancers are not proficient in, to kill a Dreadclaw beast was truly shocking to her.

If it weren't for the dark elf's heat-sensing vision clearly telling Vilna that beneath that black cloak was a living being, she might even suspect it was a lich that had lived for hundreds of years.

Jane noticed Vilna's probing but didn't care. At the moment, he was standing in front of a Dreadclaw beast's corpse, whispering something to his lieutenant.

"This doesn't make sense... Why would the Dreadclaw beasts come here? This isn't their hunting ground, and there's nothing here that should interest them."

Looking at the dead body in front of him, Jane shook his head. Since his dungeon was near a gathering place of Dreadclaw beasts, Jane was very familiar with their habits.

"I think something's off about them."

Enora shared her master's suspicions. Although Dreadclaw beasts are foolish, they're not idiots. But their way of fighting just now was like that of a bunch of fools. If these creatures were really so easy to deal with, then Jane, along with Enora, would have already cleaned up the group of trash around the dungeon long ago.

"They are indeed not right."

Jane didn't doubt Enora's judgment, for a simple reason. Because at that moment, the system panel in front of Jane displayed the combat information from just now.

[Banshee Guard attacks a "Manipulated Dreadclaw Beast", dealing 20X3 damage]

[Banshee Guard attacks a "Manipulated Dreadclaw Beast", dealing 30X3 damage, critical hit +5]

[Banshee Guard kills a "Manipulated Dreadclaw Beast", gaining 130 experience points]