Chapter 337 - The Burrow XI
Chapter 337: The Burrow XI
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The Thousand-eyed Carcinus and most of the Demon-Hunters stopped and remained at a distance.
Grimm, Alxa, and Saris took the lead as they carefully scouted the situation ahead.
There were faint glows of light from sources of fire.
A few hundred meters ahead, bushes and rotten leaves smothered the place strewn with a thick layer of grayish-black densely packed cobwebs. However, these were definitely not the webs that the spiders spun. It was a burrow wall that was built by some kind of creature, eerily similar to a house built by a human.
The spider web wall cemented the branches of trees together which formed a giant Wolfspider Burrow.
A particular spot on the spider web wall of the Wolfspider Burrow was alight with flames that were raging with elemental forces. Obviously, that was the very spot where the Elemental Sorcerer had self-destructed.
They looked toward the source of light from the fire.
High up above the spider wall scattered a swarm of hundreds of Wolfspiders that were about twenty centimeters in length. Crawling all around the wall, there were also juvenile spiders that were half a meter in length. With that being said, it was rare to even see a mature spider that exceeded a meter in length.
Obviously, the spiders had hunted down the Demon-Hunters and stowed them in their burrow.
One of the Demon-Hunters realized the bleakness of the situation and managed to get through the interference of the Thought Echo. He chose to perform Elemental Self-Explosion out of despair and hopelessness. The Force Flame had blasted through the spiderweb wall of the Wolfspider Burrow.
“The amount of Wolfspiders here is simply shocking…” murmured Grimm as he gazed upon the situation.
Utilizing Grimm’s Ultrasound Positioning Sorcery, he was able to sense infant Wolfspiders that crawled on a spider web wall that had a background in white. These saplings were in black and densely packed together like a meal plate.
Although the spiders were still infants, they had already showcased a different level of hunting skills and survivability, one that was incomparable to any normal creature from the Sorcerers World.
Alxa extended her dry and skinny palm.
There was a green sprout that moved gently above her palm. It seemed to be her Symbiotic Insect and appeared to be informing Alxa about something.
A short while later, the green sprout retracted into the center of her palm and disappeared beneath the skin. Alxa then joined her palms, placed them back into her wide sorcerer robe and replied in a deep voice, “The sorcerer that had used the Life Energy Sorcery is still alive and is now in the inner part of this burrow.”
At that moment, Saris was supporting a giant dual-layered elemental barrier that wrapped around herself and Grimm. This was done to avoid being noticed by the Thought Echo of the Wolfspiders.
Saris also controlled the Alarm Rooster that stood on top of the metal serving plate that was placed on her hand. It appeared to have sensed something special from its surroundings.
“Good news.”
Saris began talking, which the excited Grimm and Alxa quickly turned to her, eagerly awaiting the answer.
Saris continued slowly, “The Alarm Rooster was able to sense 16 mature Wolfspiders within the range of its senses. Although the rooster’s senses might not cover the entire inner area of the burrow, the total amount of mature Wolfspiders will definitely not exceed the 30. I am sure about this number even if there happened to be an undiscovered part of the burrow which had eluded the rooster’s senses.”
Only a fraction of the mature Wolfspiders could be considered Level 1 creatures.
According to the terms in the Sorcerers Law, most mature Wolfspiders would still be considered creatures unable to be specified at any level. This was also similar in the case of the Legendary Knight.
Hence, if being dealt with individually, the spiders would not pose much of a threat to an opposing Elemental Sorcerer. Not unless the sorcerer was utilizing a high level of mental strength during a battle, or if the sorcerer was heavily outnumbered by the spiders.
After receiving the good news, the three quickly returned to the spot where the Thousand-eyed Carcinus and the rest of the Demon-Hunters had gathered to discuss whether or not to rescue the Demon-Hunter that was captured by the spiders.
Grimm and Alxa had to grind their minds and ponder hard to make the best decision. If what Saris mentioned was true, where there were 30 mature spiders at most, then a well-planned rescue mission should definitely work out for both teams of Demon-Hunters.
Grimm, however, could not resist his reemerging doubts toward Saris asked, “Saris, are you sure that the sensor of your Alarm Rooster is working fine?”
“Of course.”
There was a hint of dissatisfaction in Saris’ tone toward Grimm. If Grimm had not proven his ability to the team members earlier, such a doubtful question from Grimm would have definitely sparked conflict among the Dark Sorcerers.
However, as Grim had already proven himself worthy, and for the sake of being extra-cautious, there was no need to care about the level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction for that matter that others would have toward him.
Who’s to say that, perhaps when the demon-hunting mission had ended, they would both never meet again. Having these thoughts in mind, there was no need to care for her feelings.
In other words, when they meet each other again, Grimm should not consider too much on the characteristics of the opposite, as there were rules among the Dark Sorcerers. Those who were unable to abide by such harsh rules had already been eliminated long ago.
Alxa took the lead in expressing her thoughts.
“I do think that we have to try this. At least once. The Burrow World is obviously just another world of native creatures that are bigger in size. The creatures were not diverse enough for us to discover anything of interest from the demon-hunting mission. We also did not earn any Sorcerer Essence from this exploration.”
At the end of the sentence, Alxa shook her head and let out a sneer.
Grimm bowed in silence for a moment and made up his mind, “Alright, even… even if we could not save them, at least we freed them up from their suffering.”
Grimm showcased empathy toward those who were suffering. Great empathy was one of the values that he had learned being a human Demon-Hunter that also came from the Sorcerers World.
He could not stand to imagine on how the Demon-Hunters would have been tortured by the Thought Echo while feeling every part of their bodies getting liquefied and consumed by the spiders.
Such torture would have been more horrifying than the specimens in a sorcerer’s lab; even comparable to that of Grimm’s Dissimilation Sorcery.
Alxa looked at Grimm and nodded, “That’s right.”
After Grimm and Alxa were aligned on their plan, the others would have to obey the arrangement of the Dark Sorcerer Leaders and execute them accordingly.
Grimm stood on the back of the Thousand-eyed Carcinus and ordered his team of Demon-Hunters in a deep voice, “Refrain yourself from using sorcery that has a wide coverage area, or you might accidentally kill the Demon-Hunter that is in the burrow. You might also attract the attention of nearby Wolfspiders. Try to kill the spiders one by one, and the Alarm Rooster will…”
On the other hand, Alxa, a Level 2 Demon-Hunter, was far more experienced when it came to strategic coordination of a mission plan. The other three Level 2 Demon-Hunters were also veteran hunters. Hence, there was not much more left to be said. It was just the same old fashioned killing game with the same rules applied.
A while later, both Alxa and Grimm exchanged sights and nodded toward each other, and then they started to lead the other 12 Demon-Hunters to move closer toward the burrow.
Stay still.
Alxa raised her wooden magic staff and raspily commanded, “Summon the element-activated creatures.”
Whoo!
Roar!
…
Waves of roaring could be heard and tens of element-activated creatures appeared. The sudden spike of boundless elemental energy wave had attracted the attention of the Wolfspiders.
As if stabbing a beehive, countless densely packed infant spiders rushed out from the inner part of the spider web wall baring a pair of venom-laced fangs and brandishing claws from all eight feet. Thousands of these horrifying spiders rushed toward the Demon-Hunters.
Among the raging pack of infant spiders were also mature spiders that had appeared simultaneously, ranging from one to three meters in length.
These mature spiders were covered with spiky black fur as sharp as a needle around the surface of its entire body. It also had a pair of giant fangs that gleamed under the dim light, while its abdomen had vivid snivel face stripes.
“Wild Instinct Level 1, activate!”
Scaly armor suddenly materialized all over his body as he held onto his Sabbatic Goat Staff. It then cast out three Fire Bats. Combined with the Lava Greatsword of the Savage Flame Giant, they directed their attacks toward the infant spiders that were rushing for them.
In the eyes of the sorcerers, the infant spiders were just a bunch of annoying insects.
If not for the impairment caused by the cunning Thought Echo from the mature spiders, the Demon-Hunters would have easily wiped out these infant spiders in a jiffy.
Among all the element-activated creatures that were summoned, including the Elemental Giant that was summoned by the Level 2 Demon-Hunter, only Alxa and another Level 2 Elemental Sorcerer were able to summon their Level 2 element-activated creatures. These were slightly stronger than the Savage Flame Giant.
The Savage Flame Giant was engulfed with black and golden flames. Its body was covered with Lava Armor that had two giant mouths that were on the chest and the back of the giant. With one smiling and the other crying, it showcased its dominance that caught the attention of the other Demon-Hunters. These were the ones who had not seen it before, being affected by the Thought Echo during the last battle.
Nairo, who was on the other side, caught Grimm’s attention.
The black ball with chains that were in Nairo’s backpack began transforming into a giant metal hand more than ten meters long. It slapped the ground with a loud boom.
The metal hand, now firmly planted, extended tens of black chains that swept across the ground, annihilating every swarm of infant spiders that were in its trail of destruction.
However, despite the variations that the metal chains could achieve, there would always be one chain that remained around Nairo as protection. As a sorceress with golden hair, she was too fragile to allow any harm to befall her.