In the vast underground cavern, the group walked along a dried-up riverbed. The firelight drove back a small patch of darkness, yet the faint glow only made the surrounding depths feel all the more silent and still.
All around was eerily quiet. The only sound was the soft crunch of boots stepping on ground that had long since turned to sand.
The markings on the ground had changed in pattern—proof that the exit from the passage they’d come through was near.
Suddenly, a violent gust of wind swept toward them. The torches in everyone’s hands howled in protest. Flames quickly shrank under the onslaught, then sputtered out entirely.
Snap! A crisp finger snap rang out. A blazing fireball flared to life above the party, replacing the torches and illuminating their surroundings. A few moments later, illumination spells rose from the party as well, expanding their field of vision.
Both adventuring parties were composed of seasoned veterans. No one panicked at the sudden change; instead, weapons were drawn in practiced silence as they prepared for combat.
The wind gradually died down. Even so, the group remained on high alert, watching the darkness for any signs of approaching enemies.
They stood like that for quite some time—but nothing appeared.
One team member let out a self-deprecating laugh. “Looks like it was a false alarm. Ever since the demons showed up, we’ve all been on edge.”
Audi shook his head. “Keep moving. It’s possible the demons are trying to trick us into dropping our guard before launching a surprise attack. Don’t relax.”
Lu Qiuchen, however, had a different opinion.
As a silver dragon, a species renowned for its magic, she was especially sensitive to magical fluctuations. That gust of wind earlier had come from the direction of the passageway—and it carried faint traces of wind-based magic.
Someone must be fighting in the tunnel using wind magic.
She turned to Audi. “Someone’s using wind magic inside the tunnel. That gust just now wasn’t natural.”
Phyllis, also a magic-user, nodded in agreement. “I think so too. There’s no way a gust that strong would form naturally in a sealed underground space. And since the tunnel doesn’t have many forks, that fight might be right along our return path.”
As a warrior who didn’t rely on magic, Audi wasn’t very attuned to such nuances. But hearing two mages say the same thing, he accepted the judgment readily.
“Alright, then we’ll pick up the pace. If we find someone fighting demons, we might be able to help.”
The group quickened their steps and entered the tunnel, following the route markers back toward the surface.
Before long, Seriel—who was leading—held up a hand signal and stopped at a fork in the passage, her expression grim. “Something’s wrong! This isn’t the route we took before. The markings on the ground… they might be fake! Captain Audi!”
From the rear, Audi pulled a piece of parchment from his spatial inventory and tossed it through the air to Seriel.
It was a route map provided by the Adventurer’s Guild before departure. The map marked out areas of the ruins that had already been fully explored, as well as the tunnels leading to the objective of their current mission.
Seriel and York began comparing the map to the path they were on, while Lu Qiuchen carefully studied the wall beside them—specifically, the regular intervals of guild-issued markers.
She stepped closer and gently brushed a finger over one of the markings. When she pulled her hand back, a smear of gray pigment clung to her fingertip.
Turning to Audi, she asked, “Captain Audi, you’re a veteran adventurer. Is this pigment the kind typically used for official Guild markers?”
As a seasoned leader of an epic-ranked adventuring party, Audi had dealt with the Adventurers’ Guild many times and could naturally recognize the special dye used for official guild markings.
He came over to Lu Qiuchen, dipped his finger in the substance, rubbed it between his fingers, and his expression darkened.
“It’s definitely guild-issued dye. But it’s still damp. Judging by how wet it is, the mark couldn’t have been made more than half a day ago.”
“Markings made during a quest often determine the life or death of many adventurers. This special dye is exclusively controlled by the guild and never leaks to the outside. The current situation clearly indicates there’s a demon spy inside the guild,” Audi said grimly, his tone resolute.
“Let’s backtrack. Anyone who remembers the path, help identify where we came from. We need to carefully check the markings on the walls!”
The group retraced their steps. Verifying the markings proved to be a tedious process, which significantly slowed their pace.
But caution didn’t bring them luck. Halfway through, they encountered markings at all three forks ahead.
That was when they realized—they were lost.
Even with a map for reference, the goblin-constructed tunnels were so winding and complex that it was easy to lose one’s sense of direction. Probably only the goblins who built them could truly tell them apart.
To make matters worse, the size of each tunnel was nearly identical. In the end, they had no choice but to go old school and mark each path they passed.
The potential threats—demons and possibly a hidden traitor—meant they didn’t dare split up. With everyone staying together, their exploration efficiency dropped sharply. After several hours, they had only managed to explore a modest portion of the ruins.
Everyone felt a little frustrated and stifled, but it wasn’t enough to break their spirits. Fortunately, Audi and Trist still had plenty of food stored in their dimensional inventories—enough to last about a week—so they were able to remain relatively calm.
What puzzled them most was that this epic-ranked quest should have attracted many top-tier adventuring teams or individuals.
Several large epic-ranked parties had already entered the ruins before them.
Yet it had been over twelve hours since they entered, and so far, they had only encountered a single member of the so-called “Rod Party”—and he’d already been taken over by the Nightmare.
Did the other parties get lost like us? Or were they all killed or controlled by the demons? Or maybe they noticed something was off and already returned to the surface to report to the guild?
After taking turns to rest, the party pushed onward. Since there was no way to tell time underground, they could only rely on rough estimations.
Two days passed like this, and they had managed to map out a decent chunk of the tunnel system. But still, they encountered no other teams. The constant tension weighed on them, and the team’s overall morale gradually declined. Conversations became more subdued.
Lu Qiuchen tried a few times to crack jokes and lighten the mood, but it was clear the others weren’t in the same mindset. She had to give up.
They reached yet another fork in the road, and without much enthusiasm, picked a direction. After leaving a mark, they moved ahead.
Soon, they came to a new underground cavern. Unlike the previous ones, this space wasn’t very wide, but when Tia cast her Light Spell toward the ceiling, they couldn’t see the top at all.
The space was circular. At the center stood a raised platform paved with smooth stone—it looked like a ritual altar. Just at the edge of the altar, beyond the reach of the light spell, grew a bizarre plant that looked like an enormous mushroom.
It emitted a faint bioluminescence, illuminating a small area around it.
The group immediately snapped to attention when they saw the altar. According to the map on the parchment, this cavern containing the altar lay at the very center of the ruins. Now that they’d confirmed their location, they could use the map to work out a route back to the surface.
The discovery filled everyone with joy.
As the Light Spell faded, the surroundings dimmed once more. Only the flickering torchlight and the faint glow from the giant mushroom remained to light the cavern.
The situation underground was still unclear. Although everyone was curious about the enormous, unfamiliar plant, they decided to return to the surface first. They could come back to explore once conditions allowed.
Lu Qiuchen stared at the massive mushroom-like plant, a feeling of deep-rooted disgust rising from her bloodline. Her delicate brows furrowed as she asked the Priestess Tia to cast a [Light] spell in the direction of the giant mushroom.
The illumination spell pierced through the darkness and bloomed above the massive mushroom. The group, in the midst of discussing the route back, was startled by the sudden burst of light. They turned to look—only to be completely stunned by what they saw.
That strange plant near the altar wasn’t some gigantic mushroom at all—it was a giant octopus lying atop the body of a massive dragon! What they had mistaken for glowing mushroom caps were, in fact, the creature’s enormous, disproportionate head.
Its tentacles were tightly wrapped around the dragon’s body, and at the ends of several of them were bloody clumps of mangled flesh. When the group looked closer, they could see bits of fabric soaked in blood, snapped white bones, and fragments of twisted armor.
In that instant, everyone understood—this was why they hadn’t encountered any other adventuring teams. The horrifying creature before them had eliminated them all.
Startled by the sudden burst of [Light], the enormous octopus opened its eyes. When it locked its gaze on the group, its body began to fade and shift into an ethereal form, then slipped directly into the dragon’s body beneath it.
“ROAR!”
A deafening roar reverberated through the cavern, and the overlapping echoes hit everyone’s ears like a shockwave, temporarily deafening them.
The moment Lu Qiuchen saw the creature and the corrupted dragon beneath it, information surfaced automatically in her mind.
The creature was called a Mind Fiend—originally a species bred by demons in the Demon Realm. It had performed so exceptionally in the past that it had been granted an honorary demonic title.
The Mind Fiend resembled a massive octopus. It had little attack power on its own but could shift into a semi-ethereal form and control a host creature in battle without much loss of strength.
Its main function was to possess powerful beings corrupted by demons and use them to fight. In ancient times, it had caused serious problems for many races.
Mind Fiends were highly intelligent and extremely dangerous when paired with lower-intelligence but brainwashed creatures like corrupted dragons.
A Mind Fiend controlling this demonized drake posed a far greater threat than the Nightmare they had encountered earlier.
The inherited hatred toward Mind Fiends within dragonkin bloodlines only further solidified Lu Qiuchen’s decision to eliminate it here and now.
The controlled dragon was only a Mountain Drake, a low-tier subspecies. Even without returning to her true form, Lu Qiuchen was confident she could defeat it with magic alone—and bring peace to the enslaved drake’s soul.
Mind Fiends were rare, and Tia didn’t know much about them either. She simply stared at the creature, frozen in place.
Just as the group was considering retreating, Lu Qiuchen activated [Spatial Shift] and teleported directly to the center of the altar, launching an attack at the now-awakened Mind Fiend.
“Damn,” Audi muttered under his breath.
“That half-dragon princess always seems so quiet and elegant… How come she turns into a total berserker the moment demons show up?”
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