Chapter 269 - The Gold-tier Evil-eyed Monster

What happened?

Annie scanned the area in fear. She noticed that the entire passageway was shaking, and cracks had appeared on the ground and the surrounding walls. Behind her, the adventurer teams fighting the minotaur warriors had lost their combat strength and fell to the ground after the violent quake. At the same time, the cracks in the ground widened. Some of the adventurer teams, along with the minotaur warriors, fell into the void and disappeared.

The entire ten-story underground area seemed to be collapsing, sinking deeper into hell.

“Is the labyrinth changing? D*mn it, Arthur, you jinx! I told you not to spout nonsense. Now, the labyrinth’s metamorphosis has really happened!”

Annie’s expression changed from panic to fear.

The labyrinth’s metamorphosis referred to the process of the free transformation of a certain level in the labyrinth when it suddenly connected with another labyrinth on the same level or a labyrinth that did not belong to that level. The metamorphosis represented an opportunity to enter a deeper level quickly. It also represented danger. An unexplored level of the maze might have even more terrifying magical beasts.

“Run! The passage is not far from where we are. Let’s try our best to get up there.”

Clyde was the calmest in the group. He stood guard in front of Watson and Nightingale, shattering the falling rocks above their heads. Arthur did not dare to say anything else at that time. He shut his mouth and rushed toward the passage with his head lowered. Meanwhile, Leon chanted a mysterious prayer to draw an invisible force from the sky to descend onto everyone there.

“Thank you, God, for your mercy. Bless everyone with speed.”

That was a blessing that could significantly increase everyone’s speed. Watson had it as well. He seemed weird as he felt the blessing’s power. “The power of faith that the priest had mastered is indeed magical. It can increase the speed of a platinum-tier elite like me by one-third.”

If it were a bronze-tier spell, the effect on his speed would be minimal. That was because he had mastered the Absolute Magic Immunity spell. It was not only low-tier spells, but high-tier spells would not affect him as well. However, a blessing could do what those spells could not, so he was curious about the priest’s ability.

The difference between a blessing and a spell was not only that. The release of a spell was an instantaneous process. Whether it was an attack or a defensive spell, they were formed in an instant. A blessing was different; it had a continuous process, and it could be delivered onto oneself and others, as well.

If they had known Watson was contemplating those things as he fled, the adventurers would almost certainly have collapsed.

“We’re close to the tunnel. Everyone, put in more effort.”

Clyde dashed to the tunnel’s entrance. He noticed that the tunnel opening was closing in on him.

One hundred meters.

Fifty meters.

Ten meters.

Clyde’s eyes glowed with energy as he realized the tunnel was only inches away. At that very moment, something on the ground broke with a dull sound. Then, his eyesight dimmed as his body descended into an infinite state of weightlessness. “No!”

The hole over his head grew smaller until it vanished entirely. That was Clyde’s final sentence.

After an unknown amount of time, two people climbed out of the tunnel’s remains.

“Young Master Watson, aren’t you going to help those people?” The two people who managed to climb out were Nightingale and Watson.

“No. We will be exposed if we make a move now. Additionally, the tunnel only collapsed a few meters or a few floors. That is nothing to a bronze-tier warrior!

It just so happens that I am interested in learning more about the underground city. I believe that there will be something different in its deeper levels.”

Watson pulled the expensive robe he was wearing and rubbed it repeatedly against the ground and the wall. Soon, it was covered in dust.

Nightingale gave him a concerned glance when she saw that. Finally, she stretched out to grab the wall and touched her face twice, pretending to be in a sorry state. She lacked Watson’s outrageousness.

“Ahem, ahem, ahem.”

The sound of coughing came from the remnants of a rock. Clyde clambered out of the ruins behind Watson and Nightingale; he was limping with two swords in his hands. He was taken aback when he noticed Watson and Nightingale were in front of him. “How did you two survive such a violent fall?”

“We were fortunate. We landed in an area without any falling debris,” Watson remarked, clutching his back and appearing to grimace in pain. “However, I hurt my back in the fall. My bones feel as if they are fractured.”

He noticed that Watson and Nightingale were both covered in dust and looked quite miserable. Clyde began calling out to his companions without hesitation. “Are you alright, Annie? Arthur? Leon?”

Clyde used his two-handed sword to brush away the debris on the ground while he called out to his friends. He quickly located his three teammates among a pile of rocks. Except for Arthur, who was struck in the head and had his face covered in blood, Annie and Leon sustained only minor injuries.

“Arthur, you scumbag. I despise you. Without your jinx, how would we have discovered the labyrinth’s metamorphosis?” We have no idea how many floors there are in the labyrinth. If the number of floors is excessive, then we may not even make it back alive.” Annie complained loudly to Arthur after she climbed out. Arthur, who had been reprimanded, said nothing. He simply curled up in a corner and tore a part of his clothing discreetly to bandage his head.

Clyde, unable to tolerate another fight, walked up to mediate the situation. “Alright, you guys don’t have to worry too much. Perhaps this place is close to the tenth floor, and it’s only the 11th floor? We had just exited the 11th floor. At worst, we can simply repeat it. Additionally, the magical beasts here may not be as frightening as the flame lizard we had just encountered.

Watson curled his lips and remained silent in response to Clyde’s consolation. In his opinion, they were on either the 14th or 15th floor.

As if to confirm his words, a terrible roar erupted from a distance in the dark passage, followed by the shouts from several adventurer teams that had fallen in earlier.

“Monster, monster, there is a monster here!”

“We can’t go back; we are finished! Someone save me!”

Those shouts were mixed with the screams and sounds of fighting.

Everyone, including Clyde, shuddered when they heard those shouts. Even Watson and Nightingale frowned.

A fireball appeared in Annie’s palm; it illuminated the front. Soon, the adventurer teams that were screaming earlier revealed themselves from the depths of the tunnel. There had been more than a dozen people when they fought the minotaur warriors; only six of them were left. Two of them had lost their arms as they rolled and crawled out of the tunnel.

More than ten minotaur warriors with metal axes in their hands were behind those adventurers. Thick and white air currents shot out from the beasts’ nostrils.

“It looks like the minotaur warriors had managed to injure those adventurers.”

Clyde exhaled a breath of relief when he saw the magical beasts emerge from the tunnel. Those monsters remained constant, indicating that their numbers had not fallen significantly. He surmised that the adventurers and minotaur warriors had perished together. The minotaur warriors had thick skin and were the first to wake up, which was why they had suffered such heavy losses.

Of course, even though the minotaur warriors were bronze-tier magical beasts, fighting one would require numerous warriors of the same level. However, he had been worried because he did not know where they were. It seemed like his odds of survival had improved.

As Clyde considered that, one of the minotaur warriors on its way toward their location was suddenly snatched by an invisible hand. There was a sound before the enormous head had vanished. Then, they heard something chewing in mid-air.

“What… is that?”

Clyde’s face stiffened, and he paled.

He stared blankly at the tunnel in the air. With the help of the flames in Annie’s hand, he could vaguely see eyes that did not have the white part above the tunnel. Then, he noticed the mouths with sharp teeth. They rubbed against one another as though poised to eat someone.

In Clyde’s memory, there was only one type of magical beast with many eyes. That was something he had overheard while drinking with another powerful adventurer in the City of Steel. The mighty explorer said that he saw a scary and repulsive magical beast while he explored the underground city. Its entire body was covered in eyes, and he had dubbed the magical beast the Evil-eyed monster, and it was gold-tier!