Chapter 70: The Dungeon’s Wrath

Outside the ruins.

"W-What in the world is this?" Kenna yelled in shock as she swung her daggers at the approaching insect beast.

"I-I have no idea! Hold your ground!" Kelvin yelled as he swung his sword.

"Where is big brother Chris? What’s taking him so long!?" Aelonen pulled his sword out of the body of a dead beast.

Looking around, his eyes widened at the tide of monsters rushing their way.

Just moments ago, the ruins had suddenly vibrated, sending a shockwave in all directions.

Immediately afterward, everyone heard screeches coming from all directions as the beasts started rushing out of the forest one after another, aggressively attacking the group.

They formed a formation to withstand the tide, but the monsters just wouldn’t stop coming.

*ROAR!*

*BOOOOM!*

A powerful roar was heard from above, followed by a stream of fire that descended, sending explosions in all directions and killing dozens of beasts every second.

"Luckily, Azreon is here with us. Otherwise, I can’t imagine what would have happened." Aelonen sighed as he continued his attacks.

"What in the world is going on!?" A familiar voice came from behind.

"Big brother Chris! What took you so long!?" Aelonen turned around and yelled.

Chris and Lilith approached the scene from behind. "You didn’t answer. What’s going on?" he pressed.

"I don’t know! The ruins suddenly vibrated earlier, and the beasts started attacking from all sides!"

Chris’s eyes widened as he looked at Lilith.

"I don’t know!" she replied, equally surprised.

"That artifact. When you touched it, it sent out an energy wave." He narrowed his eyes.

"I swear I didn’t do anything!" she yelled.

"Sigh..." He looked up before putting his hand to his mouth.

*WHISTLE!*

*ROAR!*

Azreon turned in the air and dived down toward Chris.

"You’re coming with me." He grabbed her shoulder and jumped into the air, landing on Azreon’s back.

"Attack!" he yelled.

*ROAR!*

Azreon spun in the air, flying back toward the tide of beasts.

Chris raised his hands, conjuring dozens of fireballs before hurling them at the beasts.

*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*

Explosions spread in all directions, causing everyone’s eyes to widen.

"Hiss. Isn’t he a bit too strong!?" Kelvin gasped as he watched the destruction in front of him.

"Hehe, that’s my big brother over there!" Aelonen patted his chest proudly.

*QUAKE!*

Suddenly, everyone felt a strong earthquake, making some of them fall to the ground.

"W-w-what is happening!?" a girl yelled.

"How should I know!?" another girl beside her yelled back.

Chris activated his dragon vision and looked as far into the distance as he could.

He could see countless insect beasts rushing toward them from all sides. Some were running on the ground, while others flew through the air.

’Not good!’

Their numbers were far too great.

"There are too many of them! Can you do something about it?" he yelled to Lilith.

"What do you want me to do!? I have no clue myself!" she yelled back.

"I don’t know! Think of something! That artifact caused this, so try to use it to control the beasts."

"Okay, I will try." She pulled the artifact out of her storage ring before grabbing it with both hands.

*THUMP!*

The artifact thumped again, sending a shockwave through the area.

The rushing beasts suddenly slowed down.

"It’s working! Continue!" he yelled.

"I’m trying! It’s not easy!" She focused on the artifact again, not noticing that the veins on her head were starting to bulge and her eyes were turning red.

*THUMP!*

Another shockwave spread in all directions.

The monsters slowed down even more, and some of them stopped completely.

*Cough!* Lilith suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood and lost the strength in her legs.

"Are you okay?" He quickly caught her before she could fall.

"I... I’m fine."

But he could clearly see the blood on her lips and the tears in her eyes.

"We must evacuate. This place is no longer safe." He made his decision.

The monsters were no longer as aggressive as before, and some had stopped attacking, but a huge number was still marching toward them.

"There is a portal to exit the dungeon. Cough... We must get out." Lilith replied weakly.

"Do we know where it is?" he asked.

"Yes, someone already found it and spread its location to the others. Everyone knows."

"Everyone! We must fall back! Head for the exit!" he yelled with all his strength.

"Big brother Chris is right!" Kelvin yelled as he decapitated a beast. "Let’s all rush to the exit!"

"Yes!" Everyone around them listened as they started advancing as a group, running toward the exit.

"Azreon!"

*ROAR!*

*BOOOOM!*

Everyone rushed in the direction of the exit while still fighting the beasts attacking them from all sides.

Chris and Azreon provided support from above, killing countless monsters every moment and greatly reducing the pressure on the group.

"We can do it! Don’t stop running!" Kelvin yelled to everyone.

"YES!" they all yelled back.

"How much farther?" After a while, Chris turned toward Lilith, who had managed to steady her breathing and had recovered considerably after drinking some potions.

"It should be close." She replied while checking her tracking device.

He nodded and continued attacking.

*SCREEEEEEEEECH!*

Suddenly, a powerful screech echoed in the distance, making everyone cover their ears.

Chris immediately looked in that direction, and as soon as he did, he regretted it.

What appeared before him was a gigantic spider, bigger than anything he had ever seen, rushing toward them from the distance.

The spider was easily as big as the entire ant colony he had fought before.

"W-What in the world is that!?" Lilith yelled in disbelief.

"We must hurry! Everyone, run faster!" He yelled to the people below.

The others couldn’t see the gigantic spider from that distance, but based on the piercing sound they had heard and the earth quaking around them, they all knew that something big was approaching.

Chris looked ahead and finally spotted the outline of a portal in the distance.

"We’re close! Keep pushing!" he yelled as he continued bombarding the beasts from above.

They were getting closer and closer, but the gigantic spider was rapidly closing the distance.

"We won’t make it in time!" Lilith added from the side with a grave expression.

Chris thought for a moment before a determined expression appeared on his face.

"I will drop you off. Take everyone and escape through the portal. I’ll hold it back." He turned toward Lilith with a serious expression.

"No way! If you’re doing this, I’m staying with you!" She didn’t know why herself, but she didn’t want to leave him behind.

"You might die here!"

"If I have to die today, then fine!" she replied with determination.

"Sigh... Suit yourself." He shook his head and turned toward the approaching spider.

"Azreon, let’s do it!"

*ROAR!*

Azreon spun in the air as he flew toward the approaching spider.

When they were close enough, he opened his mouth and released a concentrated stream of fire upon the gigantic beast.

*BOOOOM!*

The fire hit the beast, making its body light up in flames.

The beast slowed down slightly as it screeched, but the fire didn’t seem to affect it much.

Chris raised his hands and conjured fireballs before throwing them at its body.

*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*

The beast slowed down for a moment before turning its numerous eyes toward Chris.

"Yes! Look at me, stupid spider!"

*SCREEEEEEEEECH!*

The beast released a piercing scream as it raised one of its legs and swung it toward them.

*WOOOSH!*

The long leg approached rapidly.

Azreon spun in the air as he dived down, narrowly avoiding it.

Chris turned around just in time to see their group escaping through the portal. The beasts chasing them had stopped in front of it, as though an invisible barrier stood in their way.

"They escaped. Let’s go!" he yelled.

*ROAR!*

Azreon spun again and flew toward the portal at full speed.

*WOOSH!*

A powerful burst of air hit them, making Lilith almost fly off Azreon’s back.

"Hold on!" Chris caught her hand and pulled her closer.

She hugged him tightly without even realizing it, watching as the portal grew closer and closer.

*SCREEEEEEEEECH!*

Another piercing scream echoed in their ears before they heard something flying through the air toward them.

*WOOOSH!*

Chris turned around just in time to see a huge boulder flying directly at them.

"DODGE!" he yelled at Azreon.

Hearing Chris’s command, Azreon quickly flapped his wings and shifted his body in the air.

*WOOOOOSH!*

The boulder passed right beside them. Any closer, and it would have hit them.

Just when he was about to sigh in relief, Chris’s eyes widened in shock.

The boulder continued flying past them, and based on its trajectory, it was about to hit the place where the portal stood.

The problem was that the boulder was much larger than the portal itself.

*BOOOOM!*

The boulder hit the ground where the portal stood with great force, sending dust flying in all directions and creating a deep pit in the ground.

In the next moment, when the dust cleared, both Chris and Lilith gasped.

The portal had completely disappeared.

"Fuck! What now!?" he yelled.

"I-I don’t know!" Lilith didn’t know what to do either.

"AAAAGH!" Chris suddenly yelled in pain.

Looking at his side, he saw a strange green liquid burning through his clothes and skin at an alarming rate. Within a second, his flesh was exposed before it, too, started to disintegrate.

"Fuck!" He yelled in pain as he activated Gwenor and formed a thin barrier that separated his body from the strange liquid.

The liquid instantly separated from his body and fell down, landing right on Azreon’s back.

His eyes widened in worry, but he sighed in relief the next moment when he saw that the liquid didn’t seem to affect Azreon at all. It seemed that it couldn’t penetrate his scales.

"Are you okay?" Lilith gasped at the sight and asked worriedly.

"I’ll be fine." He shook his head as he held his wound in pain.

He looked back toward the gigantic spider.

"SHIT!" He instantly activated his dragon scales across his whole body as he hugged Lilith tightly and turned her away from the spider.

*SPLASH!*

The green liquid sprayed all over them.

Luckily, he had managed to activate his dragon scales in time and shield Lilith. Any later, and they would have both probably died.

"AZREON, RUN!"

*ROAR!*

Azreon changed direction and flew into the distance at full speed.

After a few minutes, Chris looked back and finally sighed in relief when he could no longer see the spider.

"H-hey! I can’t breathe!" Lilith suddenly stammered.

"Ah! Sorry!" He quickly let her go.

He had been so focused on escaping that he had completely forgotten he was still hugging her tightly.

"Huff! Huff!" Lilith breathed heavily as her whole face reddened. She looked at Chris angrily.

"Sorry, sorry! I had to do it, okay?"

"I-it’s fine." She turned her red face away.

"UGH!" He painfully grabbed his wound as he retracted his dragon scales.

"Are you really okay?" Lilith approached and looked at the wound worriedly.

"I should be okay." He shook his head while wiping the beads of sweat from his forehead.

She nodded but still looked worried.

"Azreon, find a place to hide."

*ROAR!*

Azreon quickly flew toward a mountain in the distance before descending onto its peak.

Chris looked around and spotted a huge cave nearby. "Good job, buddy."

He jumped off his back with Lilith before raising his beast pouch. "Come on, buddy. Time to rest."

Azreon turned into a streak of light before disappearing into the pouch.

Chris turned around and walked slowly toward the cave. In the next moment, his legs lost strength, and he dropped to one knee.

"Chris!" Lilith quickly approached, intending to help him, but he raised his hand to stop her.

"I can do it myself." He shook his head as he slowly stood up and continued into the cave.

She didn’t know whether to praise him for his endurance or hit him for his stubbornness.