Chapter 361 – Seeing Progress.

A man’s foot was turned into minced meat from a concentrated magical explosion at ground level. While taking in the pain he started wondering about the life choices that brought him here. Was he too greedy by taking on the unreasonable request of the gnome to go here? Was it the lack of other tier 3 adventurers that made him forgo the usual safety measures? Or perhaps he did not anticipate what they were going up against well enough?

He could only cry out in pain while trying not to fall down as the horror unfolded before them. Their opponent was supposed to be some type of magical knight. The spells used against the skeletal beings were a dead giveaway. Someone like that should have to rely on others the most, gathering mana and casting spells should have not been that easy. Yet, there was no downtime or indication of something happening. The spells just took shape and exploded all over the place, just like the front of his foot.

His plan was standard, keep the mage locked down with the help of his party members. The arrows were supposed to bring the mana shield up and force the spell caster on the defensive. As long as he was focused on defending his body from taking damage, an opportunity would arise.

Even if he was using enchanted armaments, it all defied logic. Magical armor was supposed to only provide basic defense, a mantle of mana, and some buffing with perhaps a few secondary spells as a means of attacking. What they were seeing before them was not even close. The crimson armor lit up like a Christmas tree as a strange bluish field of energy exploded around them. Soon after a vast array of spells took form that they could only describe as overpowering.

“Shit, what are there… the ground is shaking!”

“D-doge it, it must be a binding vine spell of some sort!”

“No watch out, there are spikes coming out from the walls and ground!”

A scene that no one was expecting was playing out before them. Even before they could reach the magic caster and contain his spells they were already upon them. It was all as if their opponent predicted all of their actions and had lured them all into a trap. Strange dark green vines with sharp ends appeared from under them to grasp their strongest warrior in place. His larger frame and heavy armor didn’t allow him to react fast enough to this quickly cast spell.

Not all was lost as the spear user just needed to change the trajectory of his attack to blow away the vines. This however would allow the mage knight to gain some space that they worked hard to create. When freed their tanker instantly used his shield along with a defensive skill to deflect the rocky spikes from above while retreating.

“Huh?”

Everyone was ready to get hit by some more spells but instead, the man in the crimson armor didn’t move. The large shield that he was holding previously was slammed into the ground. His sword, which was also covered in some runes, just floated to the side without any indication of attacking them.

“What is that fucker doing?”

“I don’t know but be careful, he is probably trying to lure us into a trap, look at those strange things floating around his back!”

A moment of respite was given to the group as the barrage of spells stopped. Something felt strange as it didn’t make sense for him to halt his counter-offensive. After the explosion that caused an injury to the leader’s foot, the momentum shifted. Yet now, on the other hand, the five adventurers were able to assess the situation. Their opponent’s armor was glowing, runes were everywhere, and were probably the source of his power.

“Surrender.”

“What?”

“You should surrender, you can’t win this.”

“What is this fucker talking about!”

Before they could come up with a winning strategy the man spoke out. His echoed through the cavern they were in a strange fashion and were obviously backed by magic. In response, the group quickly attempted to cover their ears. Various skills and spells could travel through sound waves and affect a person’s senses, in this case however, they were just being overly cautious.

“If you surrender now, your lives can be spared. You will be given a fair trial just as the law states, this I guarantee on the name of the Valerian Household.”

“Don’t listen to him, he is just trying to confuse us.”

The group wasn’t buying it, from their perspective it was some kind of trick. This knight was probably just trying to lower their guard before using more spells. It was also possible that he wasn’t sure of his victory and was trying to buy some time.

“The bastard uses magic, he might have been able to contact that party that was in the mines, I bet he is just waiting for them to arrive!”

One of the archers quickly screamed out while pointing his bow at the unmoving knight. If what he said was true then this group had to move fast. The group in the mine could become a problem but knowing that they were rushing over here, wasn’t all that bad. In the mind of the leader, it was a blessing in disguise.

“Good try but we weren’t born yesterday, you’re just trying to buy some time for your friends to arrive. Thanks to your stupidity you just revealed your plan.”

“My plan?”

The man sipped on a healing potion while smiling as he was given enough time to recover from his foot injury. The armored man’s tone indicated some confusion but from the standpoint of the party leader, everything was already obvious. The best chance they had at getting out of there was by leaving this man’s corpse behind. While the party attempted to recover it, they would either avoid them inside the dungeon or prepare another trap.

“You think I wouldn’t realize that you contacted your friends from the mine?”

“Oh, so you figured it out? But what will you do with that information?”

“There is no point in telling that to a dead man, you should have never come here.”

“So that’s your answer… That’s disappointing, I don’t really enjoy killing people but you leave me no choice then… Agni, do it.”

The talks had died down and the second round had begun. This group of five didn’t change their tactics that much as they were ready to use arrows to halt him from casting. The most visible difference was that their leader had taken center stage and started attacking along with the two other warriors. In their minds, their opponent was just bluffing. One way or another they would overpower him and then make it out alive.

One small thing evaded their notice and that was the location of the wolven companion of this armored man. They assumed that it was guarding the gnome somewhere inside of the dungeon. More than likely it was somewhere within the tunnel from which their enemy came out. Thus it was quite surprising to see it a lot closer than they had anticipated.

The moment the armored man mentioned the wolf’s name, it appeared out of the shadows. It was followed by a strange runic glow produced by plates of metal that looked like armor covering its body. It all culminated in a mass of flames escaping its mouth that headed straight at the two archers near the dungeon level’s exit.

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“Shit, how did that thing get here… it evaded my detection skill?”

The two archers in their confusion were unable to properly react to the enemy attack. The one that was closer to the flames screamed out in pain as it engulfed his entire body. To make things worse, before the other one could make some distance something grasped his ankle. It looked like a strange red whip made of crystals and before he knew it, he was getting pulled in towards the erupting inferno.

“ARRGHhhh”

“What the…”

“You should probably focus on your opponent instead of looking behind…”

The warriors looked back before hearing the man respond in a cold voice. When glancing back they suddenly saw four floating cubes moving up into the air. They had seen them dispatch some undead so they became weary so they needed to take care of the problem instantly. Their tanker quickly charged at the man that had placed his shield down on the ground and attempted to bash him with his own.

“What the?”