Chapter 340: The Burrow XIV
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Five days later.
After traversing the Wolfspider Burrow for over sixty hourglasses, and even passing through a passageway that was not recorded in the crystal by chance, the group of people stopped in the darkness as they were startled by what laid ahead.
Tens of thousands of Soul Slaves, under the guidance of hundreds of Bright Demon-Hunter Sorcerers, were flying in a huge formation.
The large parade of Demon Hunters was quick to spot the Thousand-eyed Carcinus and the group of Dark Demon-Hunters.
Bish…bish…
Behind them was a large legion of Soul Slaves. The sound from their roaring, wailing, and even the flapping of their wings merged together to form a loud noise. In front of them stood a formation of organized, disciplined, and largely intelligent bright demon hunter legion.
The leader of the Bright Demon Hunters was a Level-3 Bright Demon-hunting Sorceress. She stood valiantly at the forefront of the whole legion.
The elemental lights emitted from the large numbers of Bright Sorcerer legions converged together and shined across the sky, turning darkness into day.
The middle-aged leader of the Bright Sorcerers wore a white-colored sorceress’s robe and had a tall hat on top. She had a gentle-looking face. Other than that, there wasn’t anything remarkable about her. There was a faint-yellow elemental glow on top of her straight magic staff. It seemed to be channeling a strain of elemental light.
No!
She wasn’t unremarkable at all…
Grimm was awe-struck. The sorceress had strong control over the forces of nature. She was actually suppressing her own power in a very subtle manner. It wasn’t the kind of total suppression that a real sorcerer had over an apprentice, but if they were to be put into a fight, he would surely be toyed around in her palm!
Grimm and Alxa proceeded to fly ahead of the rest. They greeted the Level-3 Bright Demon-hunting Sorceress with the sorcerer’s etiquette and slightly bowed their heads.
“Yes.”
The middle-aged mild-mannered sorceress nodded in a firm manner. She took a few more glances at the Thousand-eyed Carcinus that was at a distant as she calmly said, “Be careful on the road. The Wolfspider Burrow’s Thought Echo severely restrains the elemental sorcerer’s powers. Although there are three teams of Bright Sorcerers clearing out the remaining Wolfspiders as we speak, this area is too big and there are bound to be escapees.”
Alxa and Grimm nodded. They did not tell the powerful Level-3 Demon-hunting Sorceress that they’ve just cleared out a small Wolfspider Burrow.
Rather abruptly, Alxa asked the sorceress, “Venerable Demon-hunting Sorceress, did the Battle Command make any arrangements for this Wolfspider Burrow?”
The mild-mannered but stern-looking Demon-hunting Sorceress lightly glanced at the frail face of old witch Alxa.
“You were the first batch of Dark Demon-hunting Sorcerers sent by the battle command alone to the Snowthread Burrow. Indeed, the arrangement was not properly handled. They have arranged Soul Slaves to guard the Wolfspider Burrow before sending in Dark Demon-hunting Sorcerers, so do not worry.”
“I see.”
Alxa nodded her head.
Grimm, with his elemental eyes, observed quietly through the hole from the pale-gray spiral of his Mask of Truth.
As a Level 1 sorcerer, Grimm could only stand silently without a word.
After the brief respite, the great Level-3 sorceress marched her grand army to execute their demon-hunting missions. Alxa and Grimm continued to fly toward their destination along with their team members.
Two days later.
“Caw! Caw! We’ve finally left the terrible place.”
The Myna seemed to have had enough rest in the dimensional gap. It came back out looking refreshed to enjoy the breeze as it cheerfully perched itself on top of Grimm’s shoulder.
There was a giant valley in the distant grounds. There were some high-powered magical lamps shining above the huge valley, guarded by hundreds of Soul Slaves and a small team of Bright Demon-hunting Sorcerers.
Other than Myna, the two groups of Demon-hunting Sorcerers too collectively breathed a sigh of relief in their hearts.
They’ve endured huge pressures over the past few days. Although Saris was able to reduce the threat of the Thought Echo temporarily with an alarm rooster, it was only effective against low-leveled Wolfspiders.
If a Level-2 Wolfspider were to suddenly appear, or even a Level-3 Wolfspider that brought along hundreds of mature Wolfspiders with it…
Luckily, the group did not encounter such a terrifying situation.
“Huh? That’s…”
Above the valley that leads to the Wolfspider Burrow was the sweet fragrance of death familiar to Grimm. He was in shock.
Among the fourteen Dark Demon-hunting Sorcerers, only Grimm had an honor badge and was sent out by Black Isotta on special missions.
The rest of the Demon-hunting Sorcerers too noticed the unnerving sweet fragrance of death and set up their sorcerer’s barriers as well to isolate the scent.
The group couldn’t help but look at Grimm.
Above the Thousand-eyed Carcinus, he had a grim look under his Mask of Truth. But he didn’t say anything much. He stopped using his ultrasonic spatial spell to sense his surroundings. Instead, he held his Sabbatic Goat Staff high. An elemental light soon lit up.
Slowly, as the Thousand-eyed Carcinus approached the bottom of the valley, the scene that made Grimm felt utterly heavy finally appeared.
The innumerable skeletal remains…
The densely-packed six-petal grey flowers…
The skeletal remains were exactly the same skeletal remains found in the mass graves when Grimm was doing special missions for Black Isotta in the Surficial Tundras.
The humanoid creature stood at an average height of one point five-meter. It had a head-to-body ratio of one to thirteen. There was a pair of wings on its back. There was a death energy crystal core in its body. Grimm named the herbivorous creatures ‘Acraepoids’.
Grimm did not think that he would find the unfathomable skeletal remains on the surface of the Burrow World. The same remains even appeared in the depths of the burrows.
This…
Black Isotta had walked through the passages of the Burrow World and must have discovered the situation over here, yet he said nothing about this.
Why was that?
From the point of view of a Level-1 Demon-hunting Sorcerer, Grimm could not comprehend at all. Why wasn’t there any information about these unusual relics from the Battle Command?
If the demon-hunting sorcerers were to be ambushed by the Acraepoids in the Burrow World, the consequences would be unthinkable.
After being stunned by the scene of densely-packed skeletal remains, a few of the sorcerers started to study the remains and the death-fragrance energy crystal cores out of curiosity.
As the Demon-hunting Sorcerers closed in, the gray death-fragrance flowers shriveled automatically into the crystal core without a trace.
In the distance, a stone building that was about thirty meters in height attracted the attention of the others.
Although the stone structure looked simple, it was damaged to the point where only two stone columns remained. The symbols that were laid across the stone columns aroused the attention of the group. They started to observe the columns solemnly.
This time, the group of people could no longer call it a coincidence.
Beneath the Mask of Truth, Grimm stared at the strange yet familiar runic symbols of the stone column. He took out a leather scroll from the dimensional gap in disbelief.
The scroll was the Devil’s Pact that Grimm had obtained by deceiving the Devil Lord from the foreign world during his apprenticeship.
There’s no mistaking it, they’re from the same civilization!
After verifying, Grimm drew a cold breath. He quietly contemplated: what relations did the Devil Lord have with this Burrow World?
What was the great Black Isotta planning?
“Caw?”
The Myna was curiously circling the two pieces of tall stone column at first. It suddenly cried out and landed on the ground which was covered with skeletal remains.
“Caw, caw, caw! Master, master, over here! We’re rich! Caw…”
The myna’s small body was trying to dig up the layers of bones like a puppy. Grimm, who was still in deep contemplation walked toward Myna. At the same time, he noticed something that was reflecting the elemental lights brightly underneath the skeletal remains.
“What’s this?”
Grimm was surprised as well as he placed Little Myna on his shoulder. He cleared away the pile of skeletal remains by manipulating the gravitational forces to show a huge piece of mirror.
“This, this is!?”
Grimm picked up the piece of mirror, his eyes were lit up. Even a slow person could figure it out.
The Burrow World must have had a tight link with the Dark Lord. The reason for Black Isotta to conquer this world must have been the same as the Dark Lord!
Going with this deduction, and how nice the Black Isotta had treated him, the mission that was passed to him before the demon-hunting expedition ends must be…
As Grimm thought about this, he took a deep breath. Beneath the pale Mask of Truth, his eyes turned calm and tranquil.