Chapter 321 Retrieval (End)
"Kyaaak!"
Basil could hear an uncomfortably ear grating screech of Demon coming from ahead of him. He also heard rapid footsteps, indicating that it was coming at him.
He couldn't help clicking his tongue at that; the tunnel that wasn't tall enough for him to stand straightly wasn't a good place to fight. It was also not wide enough for him to fully swing his sword, so the fight would definitely be annoying.
At least, that was the case if Basil decided to engage in close range fight with the Demon. Basil was, of course, experienced enough to not do that, so he cast a Spell which he thought would be enough to blast away the Demon.
"[Air Burst]!"
It was a Spell that incorporated Fire Magic and Wind Magic. It allowed one to compress the air to reach a certain pressure, and add fire into it to create an explosion that was strong enough to blast a boulder the size of a hut.
Boom!
As soon as the Spell was executed, a powerful blast traveled through the tunnel to the Demon coming at Basil. It carried some fire that was hot enough to immediately burn one's skin to crisp upon contact.
Screech!
A second passed after the Spell was executed, and the blast finally reached the Demon. Basil couldn't tell how much injury it received, however judging from its shrill scream, it was quite fatal.
Unfortunately however, that also means that the blast wasn't enough to kill the Demon in one go. It was stronger than Basil had initially thought. It was still not a problem luckily; it had been immobilized, so killing it should be easy.
"Oh, I thought I wouldn't encounter one of these guys in this kind of place."
Basil reached the point where the Demon had been injured after a few seconds and took a good look at it. It had lost its limbs and half of its stomach to the blast, however it was still breathing and in the process of healing its injuries.
The Demon was called Hole Dweller. Hole Dwellers were a humanoid Demon whose head looked like a sloth's with hands that were twice longer than their feet.
They had strong and long nails that could be used to cut metal, and they had feet that allowed them to overrun some Peak Stage Yellow Core Knights. They couldn't see well, however they were very attracted to light.
They preferred to live in cavities in the ground due to the lack of light; they felt safe in the dark. Because of this, many people would encounter them in an abandoned underground tunnel.
On the surface, many Hole Dwellers ran up to Knights or Mages that had shiny things on them—armour, blades, crystals, gems, etc.—to snatch the shiny things. Due to their nails' strength however, that ended up tearing the unlucky people's body.
Hole Dwellers were also very sneaky, because their main objective was to steal. They hid their presence well, so they could hardly be detected by inattentive people.
"Why were you running at me?" Basil asked the Hole Dweller funnily. "I shouldn't have anything shiny on—oh... There is this badge."
Basil took off the Head Commander Badge he was wearing on his coat, and kept it in his Spatial Bracelet. Sighing to himself as he infused his Mana to his foot, he stomped on the head of the Hole Dweller, turning it into mush.
Looking to the front, he immediately frowned and clicked his tongue faintly in annoyance. He could sense more than one Demon approaching, and he knew what they were—Hole Dwellers.
It was one of their characteristics—travelling in group. They did it only whenever they were in their living place, and it was their way to express their intention to eliminate their enemy.
They fought well in an enclosed space, especially their home, so facing them would definitely be a hassle.
"Tsk. That slimy bastard—he knows his game well."
Basil could take tens of thousands of Hole Dwellers by himself, but he didn't have the time for that. He needed to retrieve Durendal as soon as possible, so he couldn't help but be pissed finding Hole Dwellers standing in his way.
Boom!
Materializing all of the five Ultimate Circles he had, he quick cast [Air Burst] and fueled it with an inappropriate amount of Mana. He was going to make a huge blast that would kill thousands of Hole Dwellers at once.
Anyone in their right mind wouldn't dare to do the thing Basil was going to do in such an enclosed space; there was a high risk of them also getting blown away. Basil was aware of this fact, however he couldn't care less. Time was more important.
BOOM!
Encapsulating himself with his extremely hard Qi Shell, Basil utilized [Feather Step] to pierce through the shockwave. He heard loud screams of agony ahead of him, but they immediately disappeared after a few seconds.
He knew that indicated the death of the Hole Dwellers, but he knew there were still many of them remaining. Casting [Air Burst] the same way again, he blast away the remaining Hole Dwellers.
BOOM!
"Now I know why Goap keeps such weak Demons in the Obelisk." Basil clicked his tongue in faint annoyance. "They breed as easy as blowing bubbles. Their amount alone is simply overwhelming."
No matter how far he had run and how many times he had cast [Air Burst], Basil still found himself killing Hole Dwellers. They seemed to be endless—it made him wonder if he had to exhaust his Mana Heart to kill all of them.
Luckily, he didn't have to exhaust his reservoir to eliminate all of the Hole Dwellers coming at him. After some time, he found a way that would take him to the treasure room of the Obelisk.
The bodies of the Hole Dwellers were starting to clog the tunnel at this point, so that was a good news.
Turning to the right, he ran through the passage until he met a tightly locked metal door. He frowned slightly when he saw there was no Rune carved on it; he wondered if the only way to open it was to break it.
Basil, obviously, couldn't do that. It was clear, by its characteristics, the door was made of Vanadium; he would need a quite long time to break it.
"Stupid me. There is a lever to open it."
Basil ridiculed himself as soon as he noticed the iron bar sticking out above the door. He had been using Magic too long; he forgot that such a simple and primitive mechanism still existed.
Stepping to the side of the door, he took out one of the swords he stored in his Spatial Ring. Using [Master of Weapons] on it, he controlled it to pull the lever for him.
Boom!
The door opened with a strong blast, and the sword that had pulled the lever was disintegrated.
There was a Curse on the lever and a trap that would be triggered when the door was opened. Knowing it in advance, Basil was harmless.
Stepping inside the room behind the door, Basil immediately looked around the dimly lit room that was filled with gold, weaponry, and armours. He could detect many trap Runes Carved on each tile of the floor, so he watched his step carefully.
"Creative. All of them are Selective Runes, so only intruders will trigger them," Basil remarked. "Unfortunately, these Runes are not—"
"Kyaaak!"
"Blimey!"
Basil immediately jumped to the air as soon as he heard the shriek of the Beast that had just whizzed past him. He widened his eyes in shock as he couldn't notice its presence until it decided to shriek.
Taking out his widest sword midair, he controlled it with his Aura Ability and put it under his feet. He now flew through the air; he took a good look at the Beast that had almost torn his head off.
"Bloody hell!" Basil cursed lowly. "What is this bastard doing here?"
The Beast had a very long neck, a head that looked like a crab's claw, a hard black skin, two wings like those of a bat, a pair of legs, and a lizard like tail but with a skin structure of a crocodile.
It was one of the Magic Beasts that people thought had extinct ... A Wyvern.
It was flying quickly through the air. Basil found it hard to spot in the dimly lit room even though he could see the room as clear as day; its skin allowed it to repel Mana, so Basil's [Eyes of Mana Perception] couldn't detect it.
"Kyaaak!"
Basil immediately planned a course that would allow him to avoid the Wyvern while also exploring the treasury room as soon as it came at him. Durendal was there, so he couldn't just escape because there was a Wyvern guarding it.
Flying away from the Wyvern chasing him as soon after he decided the course, he thought funnily to himself. In the past, he had been able to scare away Wyverns by merely stomping down his foot lightly—the current situation was ironic.
"What a strange thing fate is... If there is even any."
Huffing lightly to himself, he swiped the surrounding with his Mana Sense to spot Durendal. Asia was also helping him, so he expected to find it in a fairly short time.
He didn't count how long he had spent his time blasting through the horde of Hole Dwellers in the tunnel, so he was quite agitated.
Squirt!
Other than their claws, Wyverns relied on their saliva. They had an unlimited amount of it, so they could spit it out as much as they wanted.
The Wyvern was doing the exact same thing that any Wyvern would do to its opponent, and it annoyed Basil to no end. He wanted to electrocute the Wyvern to mobilize it, but he knew his lighting would spark fire.
A spark of fire was a nightmare when it met the Wyvern's saliva, so Basil avoided it at all cost.
Squirt!
Maneuvering to the right, Basil dodged the Wyvern's corrosive saliva. He had been hit by it once in his past life, and the pain it had caused was enough to be a must remember lesson.
"Tsk. This annoying bastard..."
[Husband, I have found it! Above you!]
Luckily, Asia managed to found Durendal even before Basil did something crazy. It was embedded in the ceiling, so Basil had to go up to take it.
Shiing!
The sound Durendal made when Basil pulled it out was amazing. The blade hummed each time Basil moved it as if it was cutting the air in a molecular level.
That way, Durendal was retrieved.