Chapter 715 - Darlene's Move
Not long after, the maze began to rustle with numerous soft noises—noises not caused by the rustling of leaves but the movements of tiny footsteps, too small to guess, and too many to count.
"Silence!"
Scaly-Tailed Limopith quickly demanded silence from his group of cannon fodders with a frown before listening to the sound with rapt attention.
Alas, the Greater Demon could not guess the cause of the noises.
However, it did not take long before a Lesser Demon suddenly exclaimed, "Woah! Be careful, everyone! We've been surrounded!"
"Red-striped spiders?"
The rest of the group quickly noticed the countless insects of varying sizes crawling out of the small gaps and crevices in the walls of vines, bristles, and thorns.
"This is…"
Scaly-Tailed Limopith noticed the three red stripes on the spiders' back before his pupils shrank into slits.
"Hellbiters! And so many of them! Sure enough, the Abyssal Wood Demon King's trials will not be easy to pass!"
"Ahhh—! It hurts so much!"
An unsuspecting Lesser Demon was suddenly bitten by a Hellbiter, causing him to wail in pain immediately.
"Careful! They're coming from above!" A Greater Demon warned.
…
…
…
In another part of the underground maze, the painful screams were heard by Red-Horned Rathadas's group.
"Seems like another group has met with trouble in this accursed maze," Red-Horned Rathadas rubbed his chin and thought aloud, "Was it Balthagan's group or Limopith's group?"
"Well, either way is perfectly fine with me. I will be the one to inherit the Abyssal Wood Demon King's legacy!"
"Lord Rathadas, we are completely lost in this dark maze. Should we try to break down these walls and force our way through?" A regular Greater Demon asked.
Red-Horned Rathadas immediately gave the demon a disdainful glance.
"Where do you think we are? Do you think the Abyssal Wood Demon King's trials will be so simple that you can clear it with brute strength? Only an idiot like that Limopith would attempt something like…"
As Red-Horned Rathadas spoke, he suddenly came to a realization.
"Oh, perhaps the screams earlier were from that idiot's group. Balthagan is not level-headed, not to mention he has the Evil Eye to assist him… I mustn't fall behind!"
The Red-Horned Greater Demon shortly pressed the palm of his hand on the wall of vines and slightly exerted a bit of strength to study its defensive strength before noticing a certain level of elasticity to it.
"Sure enough, these walls are not simple. Striking any spot on these walls will cause its entirety to ripple with vibrations. This is no definitely from alarming the hornet's nest!" Red-Horned Rathadas commented.
In a dark maze like the Abyssal Wood Demon King's first trial ground where they did not understand what they were facing, such actions were akin to courting death.
"Brute strength won't work, but what if I burn it?" Red-Horned Rathadas thought dangerously as his red horns began to glow with crimson light.
Demonic energy gathered to his red horns before transforming into two scorching blazes of fiery energy!
Shish—!
Red-Horned Rathadas did not fire the two fiery blazes directly but pushed them against the walls, causing a sizzling sound as the vines burned.
Sometime later, the wall of vines was scorched black before it crumbled into black ashes and opened a new path ahead.
"Let's go."
"Yes, Lord Rathadas!"
As Red-Horned Rathadas's group was only taking the first step forward, Balthagan of the Evil Eye Clan had already reached the end of the maze.
However, standing before the gates to the second trial, Balthagan did not feel any joy at his accomplishment. Instead, only a deeper sense of solemnity filled his heart.
"Surprisingly, the first trial was not much of a challenge, thanks to my Evil Eye showing the way. However, I may not be so lucky in the following trials…" Balthagan muttered.
The Abyssal Wood Demon King's trials could not be so simple.
"Nevertheless, I've already made it this far to be getting cold feet now. There's no choice but to continue pushing onward!"
After taking a deep breath, Evil-Eye Balthagan pushed open the stone gates of the second trial and entered with his group.
…
…
…
As the demons continued to challenge the Abyssal Wood Demon King's tomb, Leon's group shortly entered a three-way battle with another demon group and the army of Hellbiters outside the tomb's entrance.
"The distraction was no use. We were still discovered in the end. There's no choice but to fight!"
"Un, let us quickly finish off this group of demons before more arrives!"
As the Crimsonfog Tribesmen lunged at the demons while staying wary of the Hellbiters, a Greater Demon pointed its sword at them and barked, "Kill the humans!"
Roar!
The clashes of battle soon echoed throughout the area.
With the great disparity in strength, Lesser Demons, with their strengths ranging between 100-thousand to 500-thousand jin, were simply no match for the Battle Masters.
At the same time, Low-rank Battle Masters and Mid-rank Battle Masters were no match for the Greater Demons, whose base strength starts at 1-million jin.
"Leave the Greater Demons to me. You brats can focus on warding off the Hellbiters," the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman said to the Crimsonfog Tribesmen.
"But…"
"Just do as the Venerable Shaman says. With the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman's strength at the Extremity-rank Battle Master level, do you think ordinary Greater Demons can give the Venerable Shaman any trouble?" Chief Baskara calmly said.
Extremity-rank Battle Masters possess the physical strength of 1.5-million jin. Therefore, low-level Greater Demons were not the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman's opponent.
However, if it were Mid-level Greater Demons and High-level Greater Demons, the situation would be entirely different.
"Darlene, stay close to me!"
"Mm!"
Leon waved his hand, summoning a wall of fire to keep the Hellbiters away before the numerous red-striped spiders retreated while making screeching noises.
Evidently, the Hellbiters were fearful of flames.
Unwilling to be passive and protected all the time, Darlene fixed her gaze on a Hellbiter behind the wall of flames before she narrowed her eyes.
Poof!
Space quickly distorted before the Hellbiter's abdomen got twisted off.
"Oh?"
Leon exclaimed with a bit of surprise as he quickly noticed her subtle action.
Although the Spatial Law's offensive capability was almost nonexistent at the lower levels, it was not exactly zero.
Still, he had to applaud Darlene for figuring out its offensive use.