Chapter 179: Chapter 179
Inside the bunker’s lowest level, the red-haired woman, Zhu Ron, was pulling up her body; her muscle fully showed themselves as her body rose. Zhu Rong was finishing her exercise when someone, something, entered the room. “It’s you”, the red-haired woman wiped the sweat on her body with a towel. Another humanoid creature, similar to the one that Long had fought earlier, but this one was slightly different. This humanoid creature was shorter in comparison, with bones protruding from its back and a third arm sprouting from its shoulder.
“Number 4 and number 5 had been killed”, the humanoid creature said while bowing its head. “Hmm?” the red-haired woman looked at the humanoid creature with interest, “To think that they were capable of being killed by the joint venture of the adventurers and the army.” The red-haired woman proceeded to wear her clothes, “So, who was it? Is it done by Syndra or by the adventurers?” The humanoid creature lowered its head, “It was the adventurers, ma’am. The two of them were killed by the adventurers.” The red-haired woman chuckled, “Hah, to think the adventurers guild sent an aura master or a mage of the 5th Grade and above. That means mistress Da Ji’s plan worked.”
Then, the red-haired woman put on her black cloak, “Why are you still here?” the red-haired woman furrowed her eyebrows. The humanoid creature trembled, “I-it’s that—” it stuttered in its words. “What? Quickly speak before my patience run out”, the red-haired woman threatened. The humanoid creature collected itself; the humanoid creature knew that it would no longer be in this world after relaying this information. “The party of the adventurers and the army managed to escape before we activated the trap”, the humanoid creature spoke after resigning to its fate.
As expected, the red-haired woman pointed her finger to the humanoid creature’s forehead before its entire body exploded. “What!?” the red-haired woman stomped her feet, “Someone, come in here!” she shouted with anger, shaking the entire floor. Then, another humanoid creature similar to the one before appeared in front of the red-haired woman. The humanoid creature kneeled, “Explain”, the red-haired woman barked. The humanoid creature explained as best as it could. The red-haired woman bit her lip, “Damn it! To think they quickly realized my trap”, she said with frustration.
“Now, I had to somehow lure all of them here. What a fucking mess”, Zhu Rong cursed while pursing her lips. “Y-you might not need to, my lady”, the humanoid creature said. The red-haired woman squinted her eyes, “Explain.” The humanoid creature took a deep breath, “Take a look” the humanoid creature handed a picture towards the red-haired woman. “This is—” the red-haired woman looked at the picture of Eru and Long, descending through the stairs. “Hahahaha”, Zhu Rong laughed, “It seems the heavens are helping me” she stomped her feet to the ground, “Listen to my order! Capture those two by any means necessary. I want them alive!” she barked.
The humanoid creature and tons of monstrous creatures inside the building replied in unison, “Yes, ma’am!” The humanoid creature left the red-haired woman alone after cleaning up its brethren’s corpse. Zhu Rong looked at the picture and could not help but feel curious, “These two—”
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Eru and Long finally arrived at the second underground floor of the bunker. “This is the second floor?” Eru uttered while observing his surroundings. Long frowned, “Vegetation everywhere, and there’s even an artificial sun here. Whoever designed this room must put a lot of effort.” Eru let out a smirk, “It’s not like you to praise someone.” Long shook his head, “I’m not praising them. It’s just that someone was willing to go to such trouble designing it this way. There’s something up with this floor”, Long said while raising his awareness. “No shot, genius. We’re in the enemy territory, after all”, Eru quipped.
“Which way should we go?” Long inquired while scrutinizing every possible angle. “This way”, Eru said while gesturing, pointing his finger forward. “Alright”, Long replied as he followed Eru behind, watching the rear. Eru and Long had trouble traversing the bunker’s second underground floor due to the vegetation hindering their way. “Urgh”, Eru groaned, “These vines are annoying” Eru grunted while pushing away a dangling vine in front of him. “I agree”, Long similarly frowned, “Let’s just burn all of this.” Eru extended his hand, “Wait, Long—” Eru tried to stop Long, but the latter already twirled his red staff, “Explosion”, Long chanted.
After that, Long pointed the tip of his red staff on the ground, creating a massive explosion that burned nearly all the vegetation near Eru and Long. Eru shook his head, “Why do you always do things recklessly?” he muttered in exasperation. Long looked at Eru, “What? It worked, right? No vegetation on sight”, he let out a smile. Just after Long had said that, both Eru and Long could hear a powerful roar. “See? This is because of you”, Eru grumbled while unsheathing his black sword, Buddy, from its scabbard. Then, both Eru and Long saw a huge monstrous creature emerge from the ground.
The monstrous creature stood tall and large, its head nearly touching the floor ceiling. The monstrous creature was green; its mouth was wide, with sharp teeth and a long tongue protruding from its mouth. The monstrous creature’s arms were vines, with a mouth in the tip of its four hands. The monstrous creature’s body was round, green with a yellow circle on its belly. The monstrous creature did not have legs; instead, it had roots planted firmly on the ground below it. “A massive plant monster. How nostalgic”, Eru muttered as he remembered the plant monster that he faced earlier in his life.
“Is this a monster or a monstrous creature like the rest?” Eru pondered. “It does not matter, brother Eru. We could see once we kill it”, Long said, twirling his staff on his hand; he jumped towards the giant plant-like monstrous creature. “Oh, for the love of Vaizeu, that guy is way too reckless”, Eru sighed in exasperation while scratching the back of his head, “Are all dragons like that?” Eru muttered before following Long closely behind him. “Rawr!” the giant plant-like monstrous creature let out a roar as Long was flying towards its head.
“Die, creature!” Long shouted as he brandished his red staff at the giant plant-like monstrous creature’s head. The giant plant-like monstrous creature roared; after that, vines spurted from the ground, grabbing Long before swinging him around, throwing Long away. “Tch”, Eru clicked his tongue as he watched Long get flung away, “And that’s why you don’t charge in recklessly,” Eru quipped while facing vines that were coming right at him. “Rargh!” Eru let out a battle cry while holding his black sword up high.
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While Eru and Long were facing the giant plant-like monstrous creature, the armoured woman and her party finally arrived at Sylphid Academy. Once they were there, the armoured woman and her party were greeted by the rest of the armoured woman’s army. “Welcome back, commander”, the two soldiers that guarded the gate saluted. The armoured woman nodded; she observed the academy and found that the damages were mostly gone. “At ease, men”, the armoured woman said, “Where is the headmaster?” she inquired. “She is in her office, ma’am”, replied one of the soldiers.
The armoured woman looked at the soldier, “I’m going ahead to meet the headmaster. Please provide aid to these people. They are hurt pretty bad.” The two soldiers straightened up their posture, “Yes, ma’am!” After that, the armoured woman left her party and directly headed to the principal Helga’s office. The armoured woman gently knocked on the principal Helga’s office door. “Come in”, Principal Helga’s voice behind the door resounded. The armoured woman opened the door, finding Principal Helga sitting in her office chair, looking at her with complex eyes.
“Is the operation a failure?” Principal Helga questioned after the armoured woman sat before her. The armoured woman furrowed her eyebrows, “I’m afraid so”, the armoured woman let out a sigh, “I think the bunker was a trap.” Principal Helga frowned, “Is that why the young man with raven hair and the young man with red hair did not come back with you?” The armoured woman’s expression turned ugly, “I’m afraid so. We met with two strong monstrous creatures there. Two which we were not a match for”, the armoured woman said with a sombre tone.
Principal Helga’s expression turned serious as she squinted her eyes, “I find it hard to believe. A spellsword like you, a 3rd Circle Mage, not being able to do anything is quite rare. That means the enemies possess strong monstrous creatures at the 5th Grade or more. If so, then this was deeper than I imagined. Can you tell me in detail what happened?” The armoured woman lowered her head; she explained to Principal Helga what she encountered during her expedition. After telling Principal Helga the entire story, the armoured woman spoke with a sombre tone, “What should we do?” Principal Helga closed her eyes, “Pray to Vaizeu that those two return here alive.”
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