Chapter 258 - 211: Purgatory Three-headed Dog (Part 2)

He had no intention of spending his life messing around in the Wilderness with a bunch of natives. Therefore, whether it was his corps or his Casting Corps, he benchmarked them against the world’s best. A Shaman like Sam wouldn’t even be qualified to carry a chamber pot in one of those renowned Casting Corps.

"But..."

"It’s not too late. As long as you turn over a new leaf and study hard, I can guarantee there will be a place for you in High Cliff Castle."

Levi glanced at Sam and personally draped the clothes over his shoulders.

Despite the harshness of his words, every Caster was still precious to the current High Cliff Castle.

The Lord’s motto was always: shame is the mother of courage.

As long as one had a Talent for Casting, although Talent might determine your ceiling, effort determined your floor.

Sam’s lips trembled, but in the end, he was speechless, staring blankly at the distant sky.

To be honest, the reason he’d always wanted to escape High Cliff Castle, aside from not receiving the respect he’d imagined, was largely because the Lord of High Cliff Castle always chose to face threats head-on, like the Giant Dragon Corps and the southward-marching Wilderness Alliance Army.

Back then, he’d seen it as an egg smashing against a rock. He thought the Lord of High Cliff Castle had to be out of his mind. But along the way, reality had proven that he was the irredeemable fool.

As Sam began to suspect he was the frog in the well, he also faintly sensed that a much wider sky was opening up before him. This filled him with both anticipation and dread, an indescribable emotion fermenting in his heart.

Levi left Sam alone to contemplate life, clapped his hands together, and walked away.

It wasn’t until after lunch that he picked up a cloth pouch and went to find Ash.

Accompanying him were the Zor Priest and several of High Cliff Castle’s chieftains, both major and minor.

As dusk fell and a light snow began to fall sporadically, a team quietly slipped into the Magic Crystal Mine.

It was Levi’s idea to bring his own men. In his opinion, except for Ash—a Divine Favored One blessed by the Gods with natural control over the Elements—the other Elves were useless in close combat. ’Every last one of them would lose to sixteen-year-old Mier.’

’They’re completely unfit for any serious task.’

Of course, the other Elves were clearly a little displeased about this. After all, this was a matter best known by as few people as possible, yet the Lord had brought a whole retinue with him.

However, Ash single-handedly suppressed their complaints.

The Elves hadn’t brought many people either. Aside from the few Elf Elders from before, there were only about ten elite Elf Warriors in Silver Armor, each armed with a Bow and Arrow and an Elf Longsword at their waist.

Their gazes were terrifyingly resolute, like a death squad that had no fear of dying.

"Is that a Purgatory Three-headed Dog?"

Leiden, who had walked to the edge of the mine shaft, was visibly astonished.

"You recognize it?" The Lord approached the Giant Goblin, his gaze searching.

Ever since arriving in the Wilderness, he had adopted the mindset of "act the part you’re given." He began to study diligently, proactively reading books to supplement his knowledge, but he hadn’t yet reached the point where he could identify every rare species.

Leiden hesitated for a moment before nodding. "I’ve only heard fragments. Rumor has it that the gate to Hell lies deep beneath our feet, and this type of Magical Beast is its dedicated guardian."

"No gate to Hell, but it’s certainly a hot potato." The Lord shook his head.

This Leiden had clearly heard some unsubstantiated folklore from somewhere; it wasn’t reliable.

"How do you plan to get down?"

Levi found Ash and asked curiously.

The distance to the Magical Beast below was at least a hundred blades. Just getting down was a problem.

"We’ll just take the cable lift down." Ash pointed to the dome of the mine shaft. Countless thick ropes hung from above, slowly descending as several Elf Warriors strained to turn the gears on the side.

Below the cables was a rectangular wooden basket, large enough to hold about twenty people.

"I’m surprised. You actually have the ability to build this kind of structure?"

Levi was astonished. By his estimates, the Wind Speech Tribe had a population of six to seven thousand at most. It was one thing to have dug such a massive mine shaft, but to have also built such sophisticated equipment was another.

"Actually, everything up here was left behind by our ancestors. We’ve only made repairs to it over the years." Ash shook her head.

’It seems the Elves have far more secrets than I thought,’ Levi mused.

"What if it attacks the moment we’re right above it?" Levi was still worried.

"As long as we don’t step onto that platform, the Magical Beast is unlikely to attack. Besides, we aren’t going all the way to the bottom. The ropes aren’t long enough."

"There’s a recessed cave not far above it, with a path leading down."

Ash explained. They had gone over these details many times.

She could guarantee they would reach the platform where the Magical Beast was safely. What came next, however, would be a fierce battle.

As it turned out, Levi’s worries were completely unnecessary. As the wooden basket, which was much like an elevator, descended down the mine shaft...

...the Magical Beast didn’t react at all. It was still sound asleep, showing no vigilance whatsoever.

When they reached the spot Ash mentioned, they were only about ten blades above the creature. The platform, which looked small from above, was actually a huge rock jutting out from the wall, about the size of a basketball court.

"Queen, we’re going down."

A resolute-faced Elf Warrior bowed to Ash, then took the lead with a few companions, spiraling further down along iron plates embedded in the rock wall.

"Let’s go, too."

Levi gave a hand signal. Behind him, the fully armed Zat and Mier, along with all of High Cliff Castle’s Casters, followed him down.

When everyone had quietly landed on the platform, the feel of solid ground under his feet made the Lord sigh in relief.

HUFF... HUFF...

"Boss, what’s the plan?" Zat asked in a low voice.

Just a dozen or so steps ahead, the Magical Beast was still sprawled on the ground, sleeping, completely unaware that a few tiny figures had crept up behind it.

The Magical Beast was, at a rough estimate, as tall as a two-story building. Its limbs were thick like marble pillars, and its body shimmered with a fiery glow, clearly indicating its control over the Fire Element.

Before they could discuss a plan, it finally sensed something was wrong. It scrambled to its feet in an instant, glared at the uninvited guests, and let out a furious roar.

A violent gale whipped everyone’s hair about, carrying with it a nauseating, foul stench.

Three pairs of eyes, startlingly red against the cavern’s blue glow, were locked onto the group.

"Damn it, prepare for battle."

The Lord quickly brought out his Steel Shield, slamming it to the ground in front of him. He pulled Ash behind him, making sure the Giant Shield covered them both. He was terrified that the three hideous dog heads would unleash a sudden torrent of flame and burn the star-like Elf to a blackened crisp.

He glanced up and saw that Sam was no longer where he’d been. A turn of his head revealed the man hiding behind Zat, an embarrassed grin on his old face.

"Protect the Queen!"

Several of the hand-picked Elf Warriors proved their valor, shouting as they loosed all the Arrows in their hands.

Unfortunately, their attack had little effect; the Magical Beast swatted the arrows away with a single paw.

One of them even roared, drew his Elf Longsword, and charged. The invincible spirit of a Hero contained in that charge would have put even the most valiant Holy Knight to shame.

THWACK!

He flew back just as fast as he had charged forward, a stark demonstration that a gap in Power couldn’t be closed by a moment of hot-headedness.

ROAR!

The Magical Beast seemed to be roaring in triumph.

"Screw your roar!"

The big lunkhead Zat, completely unafraid, raised his arm and hurled a Javelin.

He was a hulking man, nearly three blades tall and weighing over a thousand pounds. His muscles were as perfect as a marble sculpture, without an ounce of fat, and his Power was beyond question.

But his Javelin was swatted aside by the creature’s claw, embedding itself in the nearby rock wall.

"How is that possible?" Zat looked as horrified as if he’d seen an Undead. Even back in his days of roaming the Wilderness, his Javelin had been powerful enough to fell a Mammoth, to say nothing of now, after receiving the Gift of the War God countless times.

His strength had long since become extraordinary, yet this was the first time his Javelin had had so little effect.

The Lord, however, narrowed his eyes. He had seen it clearly.