Whilst putting the Raven’s claws away, Abel jumped on top of Black Wind’s back. He didn’t want to leave Black Wind when he was fighting on the ground. Black Wind’s “instant movement” could be very important for his survival.
When Black Wind was about ten meters away from the cavern that’s been blown up, it made its landing and prepared for entrance.
Abel tried to detect any living creatures inside the valley. He then summoned Rib Bone no. 1, no. 2 and no. 3. Under no. 1’s instructions, no. 2 and no. 3 followed towards the giant pit inside the cavern. Since Abel wasn’t planning to spare anyone, he decided that it was fine to call the skeletons out in the open.
Since skeletons didn’t use eyes to see, they just needed to use their soul flames to follow Abel. They were perfect for fighting in the dark, actually. Since skeletons were naturally sensitive towards any living beings, it’s very likely that they would find the surviving deurgars.
After entering the dark pit for about several minutes, Abel did not sense his two skeletons being attacked. He couldn’t sense anything that was alive, either. While riding Black Wind towards the entrance to the cavern, he used his sword to pick away the giant boulder that was blocking his way.
Abel hung his night pearl across his neck. He had his shield in his left and his sword in his right. As soon as he entered the cavern, he started seeing several dead deurgars that were killed by the falling rocks. They were all wearing iron armors, but the impact must’ve been strong enough to kill them in an instant.
Abel took a few more steps forward. There was a giant hall room inside, which had about two hundred meters in diameter. The ground was filled with falling rubble, filled with the corpses of the deurgars.
Most of the deurgars did not have any injuries on their bodies. They did, however, had a lot of dark grey blood around their noses, mouths, ears, and eyes. They were probably killed by the sound of the explosion. It’s much better than bleeding out to death, actually.
Abel looked around the entire structure. Since the cavern was carved out of the mountain rocks, it was strong enough to endure the impact of the super exploding ball. The explosion didn’t punch out the walls. If anything, the walls were trapping the explosion and making it more concentrated in certain areas.
Even now, Rib Bone no. 2 and no. 3 hadn’t found any living beings. This didn’t remain for too long, though. Just when Abel was about to declare an end to his mission, the two skeletons started sending signals to him.
Abel rode Black Wind to where the two skeletons were. They were in front of a stone room, which was blocked by a giant stone door. It was the first time that Abel had seen a stone door here.
The door must’ve been what was keeping the remaining deurgars alive. Abel started pushing it with his hands. As he tensed up his muscles, a small gap began to open. Without even receiving their master’s orders, Rib Bone no. 2 and no. 3 started charging inside.
The two skeletons were already fighting when the stone door was completely opened. Abel could feel some very powerful spells when he was trying to make his entrance. Apparently, there was a duergar official wizard inside.
While Abel was contemplating if he should make a direct assault, a terrible scream came from inside the room. A power wave of mana appeared soon after.
Rib Bone no. 2 and no. 3 started losing contact. As far as Abel knew, the two minions died after fulfilling their roles. The duergar wizard probably underestimated how tough these skeletons were.
“If that’s the case,” a cold smile appeared from Abel’s face. He ran towards some duergar corpses that were lying outside the stone door. After casting his “summoning of skeletons” spell, two new skeletons stood up from the dying corpses. They didn’t even take their weapons when they charged inside the stone room.
“Damn orcean priest! How many of your skeletons do I have to kill?” the duergar wizard screamed.
The two new skeletons quickly lost contact. Abel didn’t feel anxious, though. For some reason that he wasn’t sure of, the duergar wizard couldn’t leave the stone room. Quickly, he found another two corpses to summon some new skeletons.
The attack was more effective this time. As the duergar wizard screamed once more, Abel could tell that one of the skeletons did deal some injury. However, the two skeletons summoned still disappeared after a few seconds.
“You are not an orc, are you? Just who are you?”
The duergar wizard figured out that something was wrong. As far as he knew, skeletons summoned by the orcs should be more aggressive than the ones he was fighting today. Strangely enough, the skeletons Abel was sending were better in their defensive abilities. This, of course, gave off some hints to the duergar wizard.
Abel didn’t reply. Instead, he instructed two skeletons to charge inside the stone room. He didn’t do any damage this time. The most that the skeletons did was to let the duergar wizard spend some more of his mana.
When Abel had sent out his tenth pair of skeletons, the duergar wizard couldn’t find a way to quickly end the fight. This time, Abel could hear the sound of runes being activated, as well as some lower-tiered spells being cast.
The duergar wizard was short on mana. Abel decided not to wait any longer. With Rib Bone no. 1 running behind him, he rode Black Wind to the stone room. As soon as he went in, Rib Bone no. 1 released ice spell into the entire area.
There it was. Abel could see the duergar wizard wearing a black robe. While his entire body was covered in frost, his mana armor was being violently knocked off by the two skeletons. While the skeletons were using their bare fists to do this, their death qi was actually very effective against mana.
Abel didn’t spare any opportunity for the duergar wizard. With his sword of Victory in hand, he thrust into the wizard’s throat. Dark grey blood poured out as he pulled back his blade. As quick as the final blow was, the wizard was, technically, exhausted to his death.
With just seconds to spare before his death, the duergar wizard took his final look at the statue behind him. Judging from his eyes, he clearly wanted to spend some more time being alive.
Before Abel was able to stab the wizard for one more time, the two skeletons were already repeatedly punching his dead body. After a few seconds, the duergar wizard started appearing as though it was dead for several days. The death qi was quite “corrosive,” if that’s the right way to express it.
Abel picked out a portal bag with the tip of his sword. As he scanned inside with his power of the Will, he did not find anything special inside. All he could find were some magic gemstones, raw materials, etc. There were a lot of them, actually, but not quite enough to make him feel surprised.
Abel walked towards the statue in front of him. Judging from the dying wizard’s expressions, he could tell how much he cared for this unsightly idol.
The idol had a snakehead and a human body, with wings growing out from its back. It might be a representation of a certain god, or an unknown mythical creature. Whatever the case was, it was not a comfortable piece to look at.
While Abel was studying the idol, a malicious aura circled around him. As immune as he became after his soul transformation, he was still quite shocked by how quickly this evil presence has surrounded him.
Abel instantly released his impose pressure. It’s the first time that he had used his strengthened impose pressure in actual combat. Oddly enough, the sound of a dragon roaring appeared from the aura that he released. It then charged straight towards the idol.
A strange sound called out in response, “No! Another one of those damn dragons! When I recover, I shall have my revenge on you!”
The idol started breaking after that. Layer by layer, the stone started shattering and falling on the ground. Soon, something fell out from where the statue’s heart was at.