Chapter 11 Puppet Creature
While everyone was still shocked by Su Nan’s thunderous methods, the man himself wasn’t satisfied yet.
“If my spiritual power was a bit higher, I could have killed that Iron-Eating Beast with that acidic splash,” he grumbled.
With a flick of his wrist, Su Nan fired another acidic splash, which zipped through the air like an arrow and struck an Iron-Eating Beast.
Sizzle sizzle!
Although the beast dodged in time, it was still hit on its flank, instantly having half of its waist and abdomen corroded away. Its movements were inevitably hindered.
Seizing this opportunity, Kei dashed forward, cleaving the Iron-Eating Beast in two with a single swing of his sword.
The two brothers worked in perfect harmony, taking down four Iron-Eating Beasts in a short time.
Seeing this, the morale of the group soared.
Noticing this, Kei hurriedly shouted, “Don’t let them escape, stop them!”
The knights charged forward to intercept the beasts.
Su Nan narrowed his eyes, aiming a Sleep Curse at the last Iron-Eating Beast lagging behind.
However, to his surprise, the beast remained completely unaffected.
“The spell didn’t work?”
Su Nan was stunned.
At that moment, one of the Iron-Eating Beasts suddenly leaped, colliding with the rock wall like it was diving into water, disappearing without a trace. The whole process was so smooth that everyone was caught off guard.
The other Iron-Eating Beasts followed suit, all vanishing into the rock walls.
Seeing the last beast leaping towards the wall, Su Nan, still in a daze, finally reacted, his eyes flashing with a faint, green light.
In an instant, the Iron-Eating Beast’s graceful leap came to an abrupt halt, its entire body frozen in mid-air, as if caught by an invisible giant hand, unable to touch either the ground or the wall. ȑ
No matter how it struggled, it couldn’t break free from the invisible constraint.
“Take it down!” Su Nan ordered in a low voice.
The group, still staring at the bizarre sight in front of them, finally came to their senses and all launched their attacks.
Clack!
The Iron-Eating Beast in mid-air instantly shattered into pieces.
“Su Nan, you just…”
Kei looked at Su Nan, a mixture of surprise and curiosity evident in his expression.
If the Lower-Grade Dragon Blood Potion was still within his realm of understanding, then the incredible feats Su Nan had just displayed were far beyond his comprehension.
Su Nan knew what he wanted to ask, and calmly explained, “That was sorcery.”
Sorcery!
The group silently chewed on the word, feeling as if a whole new world was slowly unfolding before their eyes.
Su Nan didn’t bother with the others and quickly went to the Iron-Eating Beast that had been cut in two, kneeling down to examine it.
After a while, a strange expression appeared on his face.
“Is something wrong?”
Seeing Su Nan’s expression, Kei quickly asked.
Su Nan shook his head and stood up, saying, “I think I know where these Iron-Eating Beasts came from.”
When the Sleep Curse had failed to take effect, he had already sensed something was wrong.
There were generally two reasons why spells wouldn’t work.
One was high spell resistance, like with dragons.
Dragons were known for their innate high magic resistance. Adult dragons could even be immune to all spells below the third rank.
The other was if the creature’s life form naturally resisted a particular spell.
Taking the Sleep Curse as an example, elemental creatures, undead, and puppet creatures were all immune to Sleep Curses.
And the Iron-Eating Beasts could only belong to the latter category.
“I thought this was a metal-based life form, but it turned out to be a puppet creature.”
While examining the creature, Su Nan had discovered enchanted runes within the remains of the Iron-Eating Beast.
Naturally born creatures shouldn’t have enchanted runes within them.
The only explanation was that the Iron-Eating Beasts were artificially made!
And the only ones capable of crafting puppets were Wizards (or apprentices)!
“There’s most likely a Wizard’s inheritance deep within this mine!”
Excitement surged through Su Nan.
He had originally planned to search for a Wizard’s inheritance after he advanced to a Second-Rank Wizard Apprentice, but here he was, right next to Black Stone City, with one right in front of him.
This was undoubtedly a huge surprise!
After Su Nan’s explanation, Kei and the others all looked at each other in disbelief.
Who would have thought that these Iron-Eating Beasts, with their knight-level combat power and the ability to burrow into walls, were actually puppets created by a Wizard!
Magical potions, terrifying sorcery, powerful puppet creatures, these things that seemed unimaginable to ordinary people, all came from Wizards!
What kind of group was this?
The more they learned, the more they felt the mystery and power of Wizards.
Legend had it that Wizards had once ruled the entire continent thousands of years ago, creating an unprecedented golden age.
Before, they had only considered it a far-fetched myth, but now it seemed like it could have actually happened!
Everyone was lost in thought, and the tunnel fell silent for a while.
Su Nan didn’t care, saying something to Kei before sitting down and entering a meditative state to restore his spiritual power.
He had cast quite a few spells during the battle, almost depleting his spiritual power.
Considering that there were still battles to be fought, it would be more prudent to continue exploring after his spiritual power had recovered.
About two hours later, Su Nan ended his meditation.
The group continued their journey.
Fear stems from the unknown.
After learning the origins of the Iron-Eating Beasts, their fear of these monsters had significantly diminished.
Especially after having just slain five of them, the team’s morale had reached its peak.
However, what puzzled them was that the Iron-Eating Beasts had disappeared as if they had vanished into thin air. They hadn’t encountered a single one since.
“Where did those monsters go?” Joaton grumbled, smacking his lips.
Kei also frowned.
If the remaining Iron-Eating Beasts were hiding, they wouldn’t have any way to deal with them.
Trying to find a group of wall-burrowing Iron-Eating Beasts in a dark, labyrinthine underground tunnel was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
Su Nan pondered.
High-level puppets possessed independent consciousness and artificial intelligence that was comparable to humans, but the Iron-Eating Beasts were clearly not in this category.
They were obviously low-level puppets, typically operating on specific programmed instructions.
For example, when encountering an enemy they couldn’t defeat, they would prioritize their own safety.
This also explained why previous lords had been unable to wipe out the Iron-Eating Beasts.
Facing a group of ‘bullies’, who were adept at playing hide-and-seek, even a Great Knight would be powerless.
However, while past lords had been helpless, it didn’t mean Su Nan was powerless.
He closed his eyes and focused his mind, sensing the energy particles in the air.
As expected, these Iron-Eating Beasts were likely guarding the unknown Wizard’s inheritance deep within the mine.
As long as they found the location of that inheritance, the Iron-Eating Beasts would inevitably appear to stop them, allowing for their complete annihilation.
And wherever the Wizard’s inheritance was, the concentration of energy particles would surely be far greater than in other areas.
As long as they followed the direction of higher energy particle concentration, they would most likely find their target.
After a while, Su Nan opened his eyes and pointed to the right tunnel entrance, saying, “Go that way.”
Kei paused for a moment before realizing what he meant and immediately took the lead, heading right.
Everyone else came to their senses and followed suit.
Along the way, the team moved forward in fits and starts.
Whenever they encountered a fork in the road, Su Nan would stop to sense the area for a while before deciding which way to go.
They walked for what seemed like an eternity until they suddenly came to a halt.
This time, it wasn’t because they had encountered any monsters or found a fork in the road, but because the road had ended.
To be precise, a large, dark door had appeared in the middle of the tunnel, blocking the entire passage.
The tightly shut door completely sealed off the tunnel.
(End of Chapter)