Chapter 631 – 631. Sinkhole (3)
“Um, what is that… !”
Seeing something that appeared in pitch-black darkness, the knights reacted in astonishment.
Key, Kirik!
They sounded like scratching their vocal cords and approached gradually, but they had a human form, but they were not human.
Although it has limbs and a head, the shape itself is very strange.
Overall, the torso and limbs are very thin, but they are unusually long compared to normal people.
Although it took the form of a human, it could not be seen as human.
If I had to define it, it was a shocking visual that could be described as a locust-like insect in the form of a human.
Kyririk!
The most shocking thing is the face of the human locust.
It had a mouth and ears that made harsh sounds like scratching its vocal chords, but a nose and two eyes did not exist.
However, despite the lack of eyeballs to receive visual information, it was coming towards the Arthia Knights.
Not just one, but many, dozens, hundreds of human locusts.
“Gee, disgusting!”
Erin, who hates bugs, eventually couldn’t stand it and got nervous.
She drew the Levantine from her belt and wrapped her blade around her blade, ready to slash them at any moment.
Erin wasn’t the only one who reacted like that.
The sight of dozens of human locusts swarming toward them at high speed was truly terrifying, and someone with a weak stomach would instantly vomit.
Everyone had such a thought, and after enduring the adverse effects, Artia’s knights and adventurers also took up their own weapons.
“Everyone! Destroy the enemy!”
When the command of Riod, the commander of this raiding expedition, went out, the troops charged at the human locusts in unison.
Kirik!
Before long, the human locusts jumped at the knights in unison.
The long limbs bent and crouched, looking up at the human locusts that jumped up, and the knights who had rushed stopped all at once.
“What!?”
The speed of the human locusts jumping with terrifying elasticity is so fast that the knights miss the movement for a moment.
Kiaag!
The human locusts that fell in an instant opened their mouths at the knights in unison.
However, the knights did not stand idly by, looking up at the human locusts rushing to devour their own flesh.
If they were at this level, they wouldn’t have even joined the Artia Knights.
“Kuh… !”
The knights who hurriedly came to their senses swung their swords at the human locusts jumping toward them.
Realizing that a part of their body was almost eaten in vain, the Arthia knights suppressed their agitation deep in their hearts and concentrated on dealing with the monster they encountered.
However, the situation did not allow them to gain the upper hand so easily and quickly.
“Jen… Page!”
A knight spat out disgust as he swung his sword at a human locust that was not easily defeated.
The leg strength of the human locust is definitely menacing, to the point of being lost for a moment.
Even so, it was only fast in straight line high-speed movement using jumps, and other things were not a threat at all.
The reason why the knights are annoying and distort their faces is because of the hard skin of human locusts.
The human locusts’ defense power, which was harder than expected, was becoming a constraint that prevented them from immediately cutting off their breath.
At least, if it was a fight on the ground where visibility was properly secured, it could have ended by aiming for a vital point, but it was not easy even with the lanterns supplied by Eunhyeon.
Kirik!
Holding the red moon and blue moon in both hands, Eun-hyeon accurately cut the body of the human grasshopper that was running towards her in half.
The two swords held in his hands are surrounded by fierce and sharp blades.
The terrifying cutting power that cuts with just one sword strike, no matter how hard it is, means that Eun-hyeon’s swordsmanship, which has been taught and honed in Siete, shines through.
“Kyaaaaa disgusting! Don’t come any closer!”
Beside him, Erin was wielding the Levantein in disgust.
Unlike usual, her swordsmanship, which was just randomly wielding a rapier, was very disorderly and full of violence.
Still, the reason she is burning away the human locusts one after another is because of the blue flames surrounding her Levantine blade.
The human locusts were unable to withstand the flames of the divine beast, which burned everything until their magical power was exhausted.
Eun-hyeon looked at the situation around her while arranging the human locusts step by step.
The senior knights of Riod and Artia continued to clean up the human locusts, but the other knights were unable to cut through the human locusts’ hard skin.
Even if they couldn’t handle sharp and tidy swordsmanship like Leo or Eunhyeon, it was difficult to expect them to attack vital points with skillful senses in this darkness.
‘I was surrounded.’
Eunhyeon was worried when she figured out the number of human locusts that kept coming back and forth.
Should I leave the front line to Rio de and his senior knights and go back to support myself and Erin?
But this is a very foolish idea.
It is true that these human locusts are certainly menacing monsters, but Eun-hyeon was sure that these monsters would be the ones with the weakest power in the sinkhole cave.
If you are just frustrated here, there is no future for this search and raid team.
Even if he gets injured, it would be the right decision to let him gain some experience.
After grasping her battle situation and finishing her thoughts, Eun-hyeon took out a jewel from her bosom, infused her with magic power, and threw it into the air.
And freed her magical energy that was blown into her jewel.
[Elysia Gem Amplification]
[November’s birthstone, Topaz]
The topaz jewel that floated into the air radiated a bright light, filling the cave in the middle of a battle.
It was a jewel amplification technique triggered by Eunhyun, but it was a very embarrassing change to the knights who did not know the details.
However, rather than questioning the light that flooded the inside of the cave, the knights turned their thoughts to taking advantage of the instantly brightened vision to deal with the human locusts.
Kyririk!
It cuts off its long, slender limbs and inserts a longsword into the mouth of a human locust that has been wide open to bite off the flesh.
The human locusts, screaming and struggling, were subjugated one by one as their vital points were attacked.
The battle with a clear view changed the unfavorable battle situation and became a stepping stone for the knights to exert their full potential.
Kiaag!
Finally, when even the last human locust stopped breathing, the battle ended and several knights sat down with their swords on the floor as if they were relaxed.
“Don’t relax yet.”
The battle is over, but the sinkhole search isn’t over yet.
At the words of the senior knight who continued to be alert, the knights who had been sitting down hurriedly rose from their seats with their faces stiff.
“I’m sorry!”
“No. It wasn’t until I said don’t take a break. I was telling you not to lose your mind.”
The knights, who went into a brief rest while maintaining their tension, figured out the number of wounded under Riod’s command.
Eunhyeon was carefully observing the carcasses of human locusts collected by several knights.
His actions, such as cutting off his limbs for observation and tearing his head with no eyeballs out of his torso, are extremely bizarre.
“Ugh… Hyuna. Do I have to do that?”
Erin, who was watching Eunhyeon from her side, plugged her own nose to prevent her scent from flowing in.
The stench emanating from the carcasses of human locusts is fatal to Erin, who has very sensitive senses.
“… It’s a monster I’ve never seen before.”
“… Are you saying you haven’t seen it either?”
Riod made a surprised expression when he heard Eunhyun’s words.
Eun-hyun, who has accumulated various knowledge through various experiences while living as an immortal for a long time, soon hardens her face at the fact that she is a monster she has never seen before.
This is because it meant that it was no longer possible to figure out why, how, and by whom this huge pit called a sinkhole was created.
“This monster probably changed its form to suit the ecology inside this sinkhole.”
Its distinctive feature is its face without eyeballs.
In this pitch-black darkness where not a handful of light flows in, it is impossible to secure a view, so it naturally degenerates.
Instead, it must have developed an unusually keen sense of hearing.
Quadrupedal walking, not bipedal, and the amazing leaping power created from leg strength are close to the result of evolution in a form suitable for activity in a complex burrow like this ant nest.
“If we pinpoint our location and see that hundreds of them have flocked… It’s annoying.”
“… Right.”
After hearing Eunhyun’s thoughts, Rio de nodded her head and agreed.
I couldn’t even guess how wide the sinkhole underground ant nest was, and thinking that there would be fierce battles in the future, the hardships were clear.
“Ugh… Are there only demons like this here? I hate it…”
Erin saw the mountain of human locust carcasses and her body trembled as if she were getting goosebumps.
It seemed that his teeth were quivering with a disgust that was physiologically unacceptable.
“Do you hate it that much?”
“I really hate it! I hate them more than cockroaches!”
“I don’t like that either.”
Seeing Erin’s reaction, Eunhyeon smiled bitterly at her.
Coo goo
Suddenly, the inside of the ant nest began to vibrate violently.
“What, what!”
“What is this… !”
The knights who were taking a break hurriedly got up when the sudden abnormal situation started again.
Piles of dirt from the ceiling fall and cracks begin to appear on the walls, intensifying the vibration.
“This… !”
Eunhyeon hardened his face.
Perhaps because of the impact of the intense battle, the ant nest with weak ground could not withstand the cumulative impact and began to collapse.
“Leod! We must retreat immediately!”
Hearing that, Riod immediately gave an order to the distraught knights.
“Everyone! Retreat!”
As soon as they heard the commander’s order, the knights started to run back the way they had walked so far.
Because the ceiling had already collapsed and the rocks were falling.
With no time to prepare formations in line with the five, the search team was busy running in a hurry.
The sound of hundreds of people running and kicking the ground filled the ant nest.
Blasphemy!
And to make matters worse, the ceiling of the anthill collapsed and the ground cracked at the same time.
“Ahh!”
As they hurriedly ran towards the entrance where the gate was installed, one of the successor knights running from the end fell behind and fell through the cracked ground.
“… !”
The nearby knights hesitated and stretched out their hands toward the falling knight, but were unable to catch the hand, and the desperate knight’s face fell to the floor.
“Oh, Zen… !”
“Retreat!”
As the knight next to him hesitated while spitting out disgust, Riod’s short command made the hesitant knights move again.
“Captain! But… !”
“Who said you were leaving! You retreat! Hurry!”
The constantly cracking ground and collapsing ceiling did not give the knights time to hesitate.
“This is an order!”
Giving an order to the hesitant knights, Riod threw himself under the cracked ground where the successor knight fell.
“Father!”
It was his daughter, Eira, who was astonished at the sudden and arbitrary action.
No, not only Eira, but the entire Knights of Artia had a similar reaction.
“Captain!”
For a few seconds, everyone froze at the arbitrary action of the leader of the dungeon knights who jumped under the cracked ground to save his subordinates.
“All come back! It’s the captain’s order!”
Cain, the vice-captain who took over the next command due to Riod’s absence, awakened the spirits of the knights with a shout.
“Oh no! Father… !”
“Ah! No!”
“Return! It’s the captain’s order!”
The Knights of Artia retreated as Eira, who was about to jump down the cracked ground along with Riod, was extremely restrained and dragged her by force.
“Tsk. That fool.”
Eunhyeon clicked his tongue at Riod’s sudden action.
“Erin.”
Thinking he could not help it, he called out to her Erin, who was running alongside him.
“Huh?”
“If you retreat, wait. I will contact you separately.”
“… Uh?”
Erin didn’t understand for a moment what she was talking about.
It was already too late when she understood Eunhyeon’s words and hardened her expression in the midst of the urgent situation.
Eunhyeon turned around again and threw herself under the cracked ground following Riod, dodging the falling rocks as the ceiling collapsed.
“Hyunaaa!”
The sound of Erin, who belatedly grasped her situation, calling her in a screaming voice lingered in Eunhyun’s ears.
