Mercenary Wars

Chapter 123 Molten Hound
There is a large opening to the north, which matches Hilgon's previous speculation; perhaps that is the exit from this Underdark.

Therefore, everyone quickened their pace, passed through a forest of giant mushrooms, and arrived at the cave entrance.

"Could this be the exit?" someone asked.

“It doesn’t seem like it.” Hilgon frowned slightly. “If this were the exit, there would definitely be grey dwarves guarding it, but as you can see, there’s not even any sign of grey dwarves around. It’s more like an untouched place.”

Ryan peered into the cave entrance: "But the entrance is wide and deep, and the terrain is uphill."

Hilgon pondered, “I’m also puzzled. Logically speaking, such a large, upward-facing cave, even if it’s not an exit, should at least be built as an exit or a passage connecting to other dark areas. There’s no reason for the Grey Dwarves to leave it unfinished.”

"Perhaps it's because this place is too far from their town?" someone speculated.

This place is indeed quite far from the town of the Grey Dwarves, at least several tens of kilometers away.

Hilgon paused briefly: "Perhaps."

"Let's go in and take a look." After discussing it, the group decided to go in and explore.

Then the warriors with shields led the way, and a dozen or so people carefully entered the cave and went deeper into it.

As Ryan said, the cave was very spacious and deep, with most of the terrain rising rapidly, almost steep, and there was wind blowing through the cave from time to time. All these signs indicated that this was very likely the exit.

Thinking of this, everyone quickened their pace.

John muttered, "Why does it feel a bit hot..."

“It’s a bit hot, probably because we’re almost at the surface,” Daniel said.

At first, everyone thought similarly to Daniel and didn't pay much attention to this slight change in temperature.

But soon, as the group continued to move forward, the temperature inside the cave rose higher and higher, clearly exceeding the changes that altitude could bring.

When their view was blocked by a raised area of ​​land, Hilgon and Ryan said in unison, "Stop."

People stopped in their tracks.

Barons' level was too low, and he was struggling to keep up with the others, already panting heavily. He couldn't help but say, "It's so hot here. Could there be an underground volcano ahead?"

“Let me take a look,” Hilgon said, reaching into a leather pouch at his waist and pulling out a small mouse.

"Squeak!" The mouse, which seemed to be sleeping, was suddenly pulled out and immediately let out a dissatisfied squeak.

Hilgon handed over a small piece of cheese.

"Squeak, squeak." The mouse munched on the cheese, its tone softening.

Gao Jiano examined the mouse closely for a while, then exclaimed in surprise, "This is a Spirit Vision Mouse?"

“That’s right.” Hilgon patted the mouse’s head. “Don’t underestimate it because of its size. It’s a level three magical beast with both spiritual vision and dark vision. It can see through the night and even see ghosts.”

"Squeak, squeak," the mouse squeaked twice more.

Hilgon offered another piece of cheese, and after the mouse finished eating, he used the spell Eye of the Beast to put the mouse on the ground.

The mouse then ran forward, and soon crossed the raised terrain, heading deeper into the cave.

Hilgon closed his eyes and silently sensed.

The Beast's Eye in the second ring can only be used for half a minute.

Twenty seconds later, someone asked, "Still no sign of anything?"

“It’s a bit slow and has a limited field of vision,” Hilgon said.

A few seconds later, his expression suddenly changed: "That is..."

"what happened?"

"Rumble." Just then, the ground suddenly began to tremble slightly. Hilgon quickly whistled and said, "It's a Molten Hound—at least level eight!"

Level 8 Molten Hound!

Everyone's expression changed.

"Roar—" A deep roar came from the depths of the cave, and the tremors of the ground became more and more obvious.

"Run!" Without hesitation, everyone turned and ran.

Only Hilgon remained where he was.

"Squeak!" He scooped up the mouse as soon as it ran back, put it in his bag, and then turned and ran away as well.

As Hilgon sprinted, he tore open a spell scroll, and immediately a large area of ​​ice covered the ground behind him.

A few seconds later, as the flames lit up, a colossal beast several meters tall crossed the raised terrain. It had a lava-like body and an obsidian-like horn, and its burning eyes stared directly at the fleeing crowd.

"Roar--"

The Molten Hound roared and then charged after the group.

"Rumble!" The giant beast's heavy footsteps caused the cave floor to tremble violently.

In fact, most of the people had already run a long distance, but Hilgon had fallen behind while waiting for the mouse and was about to be caught up.

Fortunately, the ice worked its magic. As soon as the Molten Hound stepped onto the ice-covered ground, its entire body was enveloped in steam, and its speed was momentarily halted.

But this delay is obviously not very significant.

"Roar—" The Molten Hound quickly caught up again.

The others noticed the danger posed by Hilgon, but didn't know how to help; after all, no one dared to approach such a terrifying beast.

Daniel seemed to realize something, turned around, spread his hands, and aimed them at the space between Hilgon and the Molten Hound. Then, light shone from his palms.

A female Molten Hound with striking gender characteristics appeared out of nowhere, and it was so realistic that it was clearly Daniel's "tricky illusion."

Molten Hounds are keen creatures, but their camouflage is far superior to that of the Deceptive Illusion.

Therefore, as soon as the illusion appeared, the Molten Hound abruptly stopped in its tracks, staring intently with its eyes wide open: "Roar?"

"Roar." The Molten Hound illusion responded, shaking its gender-specific features.

However, although the illusions were very realistic, Daniel did not understand the mind of the Molten Hound.

Therefore, although the illusion's gender characteristics were quite striking, the Molten Hound instead let out a questioning sound: "Roar?"

After a few seconds of failed interaction, the Molten Hound seemed to realize it was an illusion and let out an enraged roar: "Roar—Roar!"

It crashed through the illusion and chased after the group again.

Fortunately, thanks to the delay caused by the ice and the illusions of deception, Hilgon successfully caught up with the main force and was very close to the cave entrance.

The group quickened their pace and ran out of the cave in one go.

"Roar—" The Molten Hound seemed extremely angry, but for some reason, it refused to leave the cave, only lying at the entrance and roaring.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and sat down on the ground, panting.

“No wonder there’s no sign of gray dwarves here!” Ryan said.

Gaucano gazed at the fiery behemoth in the cave: "This should indeed be an exit, but because of the molten hounds blocking the way, no one can pass through here."

Barons then remarked, "These are the legendary Molten Hounds. Don't they have two heads?"

(End of this chapter)