Chapter 168: Golden Palace

As the squad continued onwards, more and more monstrous eagles appeared. When one was crowded by two or more monstrous eagles, he’d be in danger due to how strong the eagles were.

Despite Greenstone’s potent healing and Health control, things were getting tough. Not that they were poor fighters; the monstrous eagles were simply too strong and many in numbers.

It wasn’t a monster designed to be trampled over by players. Instead, it had high attack, defence, and speed stats, which was why its spawn points were sparse. Not a single player would bother if powerful monsters spawned continuously at nearby spawn points because it spelt nothing but death.

Drako Yau didn’t instruct them to kill all the monstrous eagles either. Their objective was to push forward in search of treasure, not levelling up. As time went by, more and more eagles swarmed towards them. But he knew their destination wasn’t far ahead.

‘I can only hold out for three more minutes at best,’ Greenstone plainly stated. He had already brought out his secret healing skills, but things were still pushing his limits, given how many monstrous eagles there were.

‘Don’t need that long.’

Drako Yau focused his eyes on where the eagles were pouring out from. It was a spot of light, albeit small and hazy. Monstrous eagles emerged from it one after another.

‘Barge in there,’ Drako Yau said decisively, leaving no room for objections. He led the way at the forefront as he thrust his spear forwards like a flaming meteor and knocked away all the eagles in their way.

Whoosh.

Drako Yau’s valiant silhouette vanished from the spot. The rest of them sent glances at one another before gritting their teeth and made a break for the orb of light.

It was a dazzling golden palace. From the looks of it, the palace was made of pure gold. However, water was dripping from somewhere on the ceiling, splattering onto the floor.

Pzzt…

A piercing buzz it was. Suddenly, a hazy glow appeared on the golden walkway. A shadow came out of it moments later.

Drako Yau immediately inspected his surroundings upon landing. There was nothing to be seen apart from the golden structure. Not long after he landed, four shadows leapt from the hazy glow one after another, after which the glow vanished. Only their hasty breaths and inconspicuous sound of dripping water remained.

‘What’s this place?’ Zephyrwolf looked around curiously.

‘A palace? I guess.’ Windstrider shrugged as he looked around.

Greenstone knelt and touched the puddle on the floor with his large palm, then lightly licked it.

‘We’re in the mountain.’

‘Huh?’

Everyone’s gaze landed on Greenstone, who extended his palm and the water on it for them to see. ‘Tastes like mountain spring water.’

‘Looks like we’re teleported to a palace built inside the mountain,’ said Drako Yau.  ‘Let’s go, we’ll play it by ear.’

The group began exploring the depths of the palace.

Meanwhile, other squads were being teleported to different locations in the palace. A deadly treasure hunt now took place within the spacious palace.

‘How much longer do we have to walk for?’ Zephyrwolf, as always, was the first one to complain, to which no one concurred with him.

Greenstone, Drako Yau, and Dumbgirl were all marching seriously. Windstrider, while not as stern, treated his work seriously; he shot Zephyrwolf a glance that said ‘This can’t be helped’ and continued onwards.

Kiiiiii!

A screech reached them from forwards and was quickly approaching them.

Drako Yau immediately readied his Moon Breaker and pointed it to the front. A black spot, one that was more eye-catching than the glistering golden palace, appeared at the end of the passageway and rapidly grew larger.

Its sound reached them before it did.

Drako Yau and the rest grunted. Its cries resounded throughout the passageway, creating echoes that hammered their eardrums. As they covered their ears, the black spot was already right before their eyes. Drako Yau forced himself to focus and held his spear across his body.

A loud clang sent him flying backwards like a rocket. Greenstone waved his left arm, and several beams of light entered their bodies, which relieved their ears of pain. Once they saw Drako Yau being thrown backwards, they all made their moves.

The challenger was a monstrous eagle. Unlike its ugly and bald counterparts, this particular eagle was way more well-built. It had glistering feathers and a crown-like comb on its head that was hung high with pride.

Dumbgirl thrust her palm at the golden monstrous eagle with a serious look. The dragon aura of Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms formed around her and lunged at the eagle. With no intention to dodge, it shrouded its body with its golden wings as if they were two solid walls.

Dragon clashed against gold.

The dragon dissipated, while the golden eagle stood its ground.

Hades was at a loss for words as he looked at the man lying on the ground before him. On the man’s face was a fiery red mask decorated with a dragon pattern.

Right after they went around a corner, they were greeted by Drako Yau who was sent flying and tumbling on the ground.

‘What happened?’

‘There’s a boss upfront. A strong one.’

Even Drako Yau was startled; the attack carried greater force than he had anticipated. Just how far did it knock him back? Even his hands were still numb and shuddering. Thankfully enough, he quickly realised he messed up the moment it clashed against his spear and used Flame Form. His palms would’ve turned into minced meat already if he hadn’t.

He stood up as he dissipated the fiery force within his body. Flame Form was a double-edged sword that granted him extraordinary strength and speed at the cost of constantly burning his flesh. After countless practise sessions, he could now use it for around three minutes. His flesh would begin accumulating injuries beyond three minutes, and he’d be burnt to a crisp after another two minutes without receiving any healing.

‘Let’s travel together. So all of us don’t get hurt.’

Drako Yau joined hands with Underworld’s squad as they continued onwards. This hell of a monster was even stronger than Nin because of its additional trait which Nin didn’t own—agility.

By the time Drako Yau rushed back to his squad members, they were already caught in a tough spot. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

The golden feathers on the eagle’s wings formed an invulnerable armour. No matter how they attacked it, its wings remained unscathed. Also, while the passageway wasn’t too narrow, it wasn’t particularly suitable for combat either.

The golden eagle flapped its wings, sending a tornado at them. Windstrider, being slightly careless, was caught by the tornado and instantly lost half his Health. He was so scared that he immediately asked Greenstone for help.

‘Go!’ shouted Drako Yau.

The Underworld members made their moves. Every one of them was the guild’s prized elites: Hades, Everlastor, Bloodless Bladester, Soulsmith, and Unceasable, Underworld’s number one cleric.

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