Wizard: My skills can be upgraded indefinitely.

Chapter 103, Episode 101: The Hidden Hand

Ahead, the Shadow Eater suddenly split into dozens of tentacles, shooting towards Kelly's group of apprentices like venomous snakes.

An apprentice was unable to dodge in time and was caught by a tentacle around his ankle. The human face that appeared on the surface of the tentacle immediately pressed against it and began to suck frantically!

The apprentice withered away at a visible speed, his skin turned ashen, his eyes became unfocused, and in just two breaths he became a dead body.

"Light of Purification!" Kelly shouted, and her metal staff burst forth with a blinding, holy white light, shining on the Shadow Devourer's tentacles.

The tentacles hissed and contracted rapidly, as if encountering ice and snow under the blazing sun. The Shadow Devourer let out a silent shriek, its slimy body trembling violently.

But the two Venomous Claw Night Stalkers had already cut into the middle of the defensive line like ghosts!

"Lightning!" With a loud bang, Kelly severely injured a Poison Claw Nightstalker, and her own aura also dropped significantly.

"Watch out!" a young apprentice exclaimed as he unleashed a binding vine at full power, attempting to restrict the monster's movements.

A purple afterimage flashed by.

Three thin lines of blood appeared on the young apprentice's neck. He stared in astonishment, his magic dissipated, and he slowly collapsed to the ground.

The defenses were completely in disarray.

Screams, roars, the crackling of spells, and the sound of flesh and bone being torn apart mingled together, and the air was filled with a strong stench of blood and burning flesh.

Ian moved through the chaos.

He appeared to be clumsily dodging the flying debris, venom, and energy shockwaves, but in reality, he precisely avoided deadly threats with every step, while calmly observing the entire scene.

The burly apprentice was on the right edge of the defensive line, working with several other apprentices to besiege the heavily wounded Poison Claw Nightstalker.

Although injured, this poisonous claw night stalker was still extremely fast, its bone claws leaving trails of purple shadows as it swung.

"Quick! It can't hold on any longer!" the burly apprentice roared, punching the Nightcrawler in the chest, sending it staggering backward.

The other apprentices seized the opportunity to unleash fireballs and wind blades, which blasted the Nightwalker into pieces of charred remains.

The Poison Claw Nightstalker let out a sharp screech, and a large amount of purplish-black poisonous mist surged from its wounds, causing its body to swell!

"Back off!" an apprentice exclaimed, and the group hurriedly retreated.

The burly apprentice also wanted to back away, but he had rushed too far ahead and was a moment too slow to turn around.

It was in that very moment.

Fifty meters away, Ian was "barely" forcing back a monster with a scorching ray, but out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the back of the burly apprentice.

His left hand hung naturally at his side, his index finger trembling very slightly.

A frost energy, simplified to its extreme, was compressed into an almost invisible thread and shot out silently.

The target wasn't the self-destructing Nightcrawler, but the rock surface where the burly apprentice's right foot was about to land.

laugh.

A barely perceptible sound.

A thin layer of frost, as thin as a cicada's wing and extremely transparent, instantly condensed on the surface of the rock.

The burly apprentice stepped down with his right foot.

The frost is extremely cold.

His body paused slightly, and his retreating movement was delayed by half a breath.

Half a breath is long enough for a monster of formal wizard level to self-destruct.

The Poison Claw Nightstalker's body swelled to its limit and then exploded!

The purplish-black poisonous mist, mixed with blood, flesh, and bone fragments, spread out in a ring-shaped shockwave.

"No—!" The burly apprentice only had time to let out a short, startled scream before being swallowed by the poisonous mist.

hiss hiss hiss —

A sickening corrosive sound rang out.

After the poisonous fog dissipated, only a charred, incomplete skeleton remained. Even the reinforced, metallic skin could not withstand the corrosive effects of the self-destruction at close range.

The other two apprentices who were slower to retreat were also thrown by the shockwave and crashed heavily to the ground. Although they were in a sorry state, they only suffered minor injuries.

They stared at the skeleton, still terrified, their faces ashen.

Ian had already looked away, as if he had never paid any attention to that side.

He was frantically erecting an energy shield to block a flying piece of rock, while simultaneously unleashing a scorching ray at the approaching Corrupted Claw Imp.

Throughout the entire process, no one noticed anything unusual.

Even Calem, Rod, and Kelly were all engrossed in their own battles and had no time to spare for anything else.

Under Kelem's continuous bombardment, the Lava Scale Beast finally succumbed and had its neck severed by a wind blade condensed to its maximum strength, causing its massive body to crash to the ground.

The stitched abomination was completely disrupted by the "storm of pain" triggered by Rhodes, with countless arms tearing each other apart and eventually exploding into a pile of minced meat.

Under the siege, the Shadow Eater was gradually disintegrated by Kelly's alternating purifying light and lightning strikes, turning into a pool of smoky slime.

The last Poison Claw Nightstalker was killed remotely by Ian and more than twenty apprentices before it could self-destruct.

When the last monster fell, the area in front of the cave was a complete mess.

Corpses were scattered everywhere, some human, but more monsters. Dark red, dark green, and purplish-black blood mixed with slime flowed into nauseating streams on the ground.

In addition to the stench of blood and burning flesh, the air was filled with a suffocating stillness.

Calem was panting heavily, the scars on his face appearing even more grotesque from the strain of exhaustion.

He surveyed the battlefield, his gaze sweeping over the corpses of the apprentices, his face grim and terrifying.

Rhodes retrieved the blood-red dice, which now bore several cracks. He licked his lips, but his eyes held a morbid excitement. Kelly silently cast healing spells on several severely injured apprentices, but the light from her wooden staff had noticeably dimmed.

Ian stood there, his gray robe stained with blood and dust, and a wound on his left arm, cut by gravel, was slowly bleeding.

His face was pale and his breathing was rapid, indicating that he was exhausted.

In fact, if it weren't for his secret assistance, the apprentices would have had almost no chance of killing the Poison Claw Nightcrawler.

These are still subterranean monsters with low intelligence, only knowing how to kill on instinct, and their strength is still somewhat inferior to that of formal wizards.

He still had more than 70% of his mental strength left, and the Gaga on his chest had not yet appeared. He just looked as disheveled as the other survivors around him.

"Take a headcount," Kelham said in a hoarse voice.

A moment later, the results came in.

Of the 68 senior apprentices who participated in the battle, seven were killed, eight were seriously wounded, and almost everyone sustained minor injuries.

On the first day, we encountered a group of monsters at the level of formal wizards for the first time, and the casualty rate exceeded 20%!

"Captain—" an apprentice with blood on his face said in a trembling voice, "This monster—is too strong."

Kelham did not answer.

He walked to the entrance of the cave, used all his mental energy to probe deep into the cave, and carefully sensed it for a long time before slowly stepping in.

After a while, a violent energy fluctuation came from inside the cave, and Kelham reappeared.

His gaze swept over the survivors' still-shaken faces. "The Demon's Nest has been destroyed by me."

"But this demon's lair is far stronger and more numerous than any previous intelligence suggests. Something's not right."

He paused, his voice grave: "The western side of Ironspine Canyon is just the outer area. Logically, there shouldn't be so many Tier 1 monsters there, let alone five gestating at the same time—something may have happened deep underground that we don't know about."

Everyone's hearts sank.

"Now, obey my orders," Kelham quickly issued the command.

Seriously wounded personnel received treatment on the spot, while lightly wounded personnel assisted in setting up defensive fortifications.

Rhodes, take ten men and set up triple guard and trap runes at the cave entrance.

Kelly, you take the other ten people and clear out all scattered underground creatures within a three-mile radius to ensure the outer perimeter of the defensive line is secure.

"The rest of you, join me in reinforcing the existing defenses and collecting all the abyssal crystals and valuable materials."

He glanced at the pile of monster corpses. "We need to be quick. We don't know when the next wave of attacks will come."

Ian silently approached the corpse of a Poison Claw Nightstalker and began extracting the crystals.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the charred skeleton not far away, the remains of a burly apprentice, which was quickly dragged aside by two apprentices with expressionless faces and piled up with the other corpses.

No one mourned him.

In this underground world, death is all too common.

Ian looked away, his fingertips touching the cold crystals.

In my mind, a soft clattering sound rang out: "Clatter, that last strike—clean and swift."

Ian did not respond, but simply put the crystal into his leather bag.

He gazed into the eternal darkness deep within the cave, his eyes profound.

The war against demons has only just begun.

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