Wizards begin by accessing the Inspiration panel.

Chapter 149 The Mastermind

After entering a huge fissure in the forest floor, they were essentially in the territory of monsters. Every few steps the group took, they were harassed by a considerable number of monsters, keeping everyone on edge and soon leaving them quite fatigued.

After traveling a while longer, the ground in the crevice became increasingly damp, and various mosses grew on the ground and rock walls, where small monsters lurked, making their hidden attacks even more difficult to defend against.

Moreover, the passages within the rift were intricate and complex, with monsters launching surprise attacks from time to time. The screams that echoed throughout the group immediately slowed down the entire team's progress.

After a long while, the main force arrived at a three-way intersection. For a moment, everyone hesitated, unsure which path to choose to explore first.

Dividing the troops is not a good idea, and Daenerys, as the supreme commander of the entire team, would obviously not make such a foolish mistake.

Moreover, wizards have their own solutions!

With her pale fingers, she pulled a compass-like object from her bosom. After a series of rapid incantations, the compass seemed to guide Daenerys in the right direction.

Daenerys immediately pointed to the first fork in the road on the right and ordered the troops to continue advancing in that direction.

Watching this scene from afar, Richard seemed to be deep in thought. That compass seemed to be a kind of witchcraft tool or even a magical artifact that could detect the strength of a demon's aura.

Once the group arrived here, Daenerys, as the leader, intervened to save the day far more often than she had on the surface.

Although the Great Knight Vincent led the way, many hidden small monsters, such as the Red Ringed Serpent and the Moss Serpent, attacked the middle and even the rear of the group.

Moreover, the density of monsters here is much higher than that on the surface, so the frequency of attacks on the team has increased significantly.

Many first-level wizard apprentices have already been injured.

After traveling some distance, the relaxed expressions on many people's faces began to turn serious.

It seems they've realized this too. They haven't even met the main culprit yet, and these small fry already have this kind of strength. How strong must the mastermind be?

Richard had anticipated this situation. He had come with the purpose of investigation, and it would be best if he could resolve the issue once and for all. If not, his own safety was of course the most important thing.

If all else fails, persuading the father to lead the family away from Silverpine Town is also a viable option.

In short, as long as people are still around, there is always a chance to make a comeback!

This encounter with the kingdom's investigation team led by the unfamiliar beautiful witch was an unexpected delight.

At this moment, he, who had been following along, was overjoyed to see the energy points on the inspiration panel jumping up and down.

To be honest, he really hopes that the team in front of him can advance smoothly until they kill the mastermind behind the scenes.

In this way, he could not only obtain a large number of energy points, but also solve the security problem that had been troubling his family.

Kill two birds with one stone!

However, although Richard was able to move extremely fast in the deep tunnel thanks to the level zero sorcery Shadow Dance, he was still able to move very fast.

However, due to the slippery ground and occasional protrusions in the underground passage, the speed was limited by the terrain and could not reach its maximum, so they still encountered many attacks from small monsters.

Just as Richard was quietly killing a Darkfang Spider, the Soul-Eating Spider Crystal in his arms spoke a sentence in his mind.

"Dad, can I come out? I smell delicious food."

This startled Richard, as it seemed this was the first time Crystal had volunteered to come out. After a moment's thought, he immediately said, "Alright, come out, but be careful not to make too much noise."

"Yes!" Crystal replied happily.

At this moment, the fist-sized, crystal-colored Soul-Eating Spider crawled out of Richard's arms, moved around on the ground, and suddenly pounced at a speed to Richard's side and rear.

A lurking Darkfang Spider was spotted by Crystal, who subdued it with a single bite, much to Richard's surprise.

Because of the huge size difference between the two, one was the size of a washbasin and the other the size of a fist, but Richard looked closely and saw that the Dark Fang Spider was trembling and seemed not to dare to resist.

This puzzled Richard, who silently asked the crystal, "Why is this Darkfang Spider so afraid of you?"

"I don't know either, Dad. Aren't these foods? I just feel like they're naturally my food," Crystal said innocently.

food

Richard was stunned upon hearing this.

After a while, Richard seemed to have an epiphany. It was like a sheep seeing a wolf; the sheep would naturally tremble. It was a kind of suppression from the bloodline, and it seemed that this was the only explanation.

However, after absorbing the spiritual energy fed back by the Soul-Devouring Spider, Richard's spiritual sea felt like it was full but couldn't eat much more.

This made Richard wonder if the amount of mental energy his body could hold was limited before he broke free of his "shackles".

However, Richard could sense that the pure soul energy mixed in with the feedback was still improving his aptitude.

After letting Crystal hunt some "food" to its heart's content, Richard put away the Soul-Eating Spider again and followed the main force.

-

After the group turned a corner in a passageway, what appeared before them was a spacious hall with a high ceiling. The hall was filled with dozens of black spiders the size of millstones, with four extra-large black-striped spiders in the center, their backs outlined with the beautiful face of a human woman, exuding an unusual charm.

At the very center, beside the altar of bones, there is a black spider the size of a bull, whose head and claws, which should have been at the front of its body, have been replaced by an extremely horrifying human female face.

But upon closer inspection, everyone saw a woman with an exceptionally beautiful and alluring figure performing some kind of mysterious ritual on the bone altar. The surrounding area was filled with various red blood-smeared magic arrays, indicating that an enormous amount of human blood was required.

This witch formation looks extremely complex. No wonder the other side didn't come to intercept them earlier. It turns out the mastermind behind the scenes was busy setting up the witch formation!

When Daenerys first saw the altar, she was shocked and immediately exclaimed, "Oh no! Interrupt her!"

The great knight Vincent drew his greatsword with a "whoosh" and was about to charge, but he stopped a second later.

Seemingly sensing the arrival of the group, the graceful woman turned her head.

At this moment, everyone noticed that the woman was extremely beautiful, and there were several faint black lines on the center of her forehead, which added to her mystery and exotic charm!

The beautiful woman chuckled and said, "It seems we have some guests. Oh, I didn't expect to have such a distinguished guest as well."

The beautiful woman's every smile and gesture seemed to possess a natural ability to bewitch all beings, making the many men present want to protect her involuntarily. At the same time, it also made all the male creatures present feel an instinctive temptation, as if they all wanted to have some indescribable thing with this spider woman.

In particular, many witchers and several first-level wizard apprentices have already started to show their faces.

Richard was alright, after all, he was already at the limit level of a third-level wizard apprentice, and his ability to resist temptation with his mental strength was still quite strong.

But Richard was extremely wary of this beautiful woman!

Keep in mind that everyone's attention is focused on Daenerys!

If this allure is concentrated on a single man, it would likely increase exponentially, to an unimaginable degree, becoming quite terrifying.

Daenerys, being a woman herself, was clearly unaffected by the other's charm. She looked at him seriously and said with a hint of surprise, "The spider woman of the Underdark?"

Upon hearing the words "Spider Woman," Richard immediately took them to heart and pondered them for a moment. He then recalled a series of information about the Spider Woman, and his expression changed drastically!

Richard immediately understood why so many monsters were controlled by a dark force: the mastermind behind them was the Spider Woman. And one of the Spider Woman's talents, besides controlling spider-like monsters, was the ability to command monsters weaker than herself!

This knowledge was given to him by his chief servant, Fingart, when they were in the tribe of blind fishmen.

"Oh wow, what a knowledgeable witch you are, guessing my origins so quickly." The Spider Woman didn't seem to mind that Daenerys had guessed her origins, and said with a smile.

But after receiving an affirmative reply, the two level-three wizard apprentices in the group had a drastic change in expression, while many level-one and level-two wizard apprentices looked at each other in bewilderment, clearly not understanding what this spider woman represented.

It should be noted that the strength of an ordinary spider woman among the underground races is equivalent to that of a first-level wizard among humans on the surface, and she is a senior expert among first-level wizards.

No wonder Daenerys looked at him with a solemn expression. After all, she had only been a first-level wizard for less than two years, so she was definitely at a disadvantage in terms of accumulated strength.

However, as the altar began to emit a faint crimson light, the Spider Woman's expression changed. She seemed to need to finish the battle quickly, and suddenly let out a piercing shriek: "Since you're here, then stay!"

Suddenly, led by four enormous spiders, hundreds of all kinds of spider monsters surged forward, including crystal spiders, dark fang spiders, and a series of other spider monsters that Richard could identify.

In an instant, everyone's expression changed drastically!

Daenerys knew that her team had been intimidated by the opponent's momentum, and that she would have to turn the tide if she wanted to win.

She immediately planted the icicle staff in her hand into the ground, and then Daenerys began to chant the spell clearly. Obviously, the magic that even formal wizards needed to chant must be incredibly powerful.

Sure enough, an extremely powerful ice energy began to gather around the ice pillar staff in front of her. The strength of this energy immediately caught the attention of Richard, who was watching from afar.

The intensity of this ice-type energy is at least ten times that of his Ice Guardian!

At that moment, Grand Knight Vincent immediately took up his sword and shield and stood guard in front of Daenerys to prevent the Spider Woman and monsters from launching a sneak attack.

Suddenly, Daenerys finished chanting the incantation and waved her pale arm forward. Instantly, a powerful blizzard appeared out of thin air above the entire cave hall. The blizzard's biting cold wind was mixed with hailstones the size of eggs, creating a wide-range ice spell.

As the increasingly large hailstones rapidly pelted down, except for a few powerful spider monsters whose carapaces were tough enough, some of the smaller spider monsters that rushed over were immediately knocked to the ground, screaming incessantly. This greatly boosted the morale of the entire human team.

But this clearly angered the spider woman: "Witch, very well, you've angered me!"

After she finished speaking, the Spider Woman's arms suddenly transformed from the shape of human female arms into a pair of extremely sharp steel blades. The steel blades gleamed with a chilling light and seamlessly connected to the Spider Woman's armpits, looking as if they were made by nature.

Richard was immediately stunned by the transformation.

-

But the Spider Woman's ultimate move didn't stop there; she shouted in the ancient wizarding language of the Hutts, "Dark Mist!"

Suddenly, a large amount of black fog appeared out of thin air, and visibility dropped sharply.

The two-armed spider woman vanished from her spot in an instant. Richard's keen eyesight barely allowed him to detect her. She was moving at incredible speed, attacking the human group with almost one strike at a time. Neither the demon hunters nor the wizard apprentices could withstand her for even a single round!

Immediately, the human ranks were filled with howls and screams of agony.

It's like the feeling that if you kill my little brother, I'll kill yours too.

The spider woman immediately retaliated!

This was the first time Richard had witnessed a full-force attack from a formal wizard. Whether it was an ice wizard or a two-armed spider woman, they all broadened his horizons, making his trip worthwhile.

Although he had reached the limit of a level three wizard, both the powerful ice wizard and the two-armed spider woman had attack power far exceeding his.

Fortunately, he was hiding in the passage, watching the battle quietly through the cracks in the rocks. If he were to fight the two-armed spider woman head-on, he would be beaten to a pulp and run away with his tail between his legs!

It would be wonderful if the ice-type wizard sent by the Kingdom of Herun could defeat the two-armed spider woman.

However, if even a formal wizard couldn't defeat him, Richard certainly wouldn't jump out and fight to the death against an enemy far stronger than himself; that would be courting death.

He would immediately choose to return and persuade his father to lead the entire family to evacuate Silverpine and even Rossby County.

"Everyone except Vincent and the third-level wizard apprentice, get out!" Daenerys shouted.

At this moment, these first and second-level wizard apprentices and ordinary witch hunters are nothing more than wooden stakes under the Spider Woman's arm blades.

Moreover, for the Kingdom of Heron, if so many students from different wizarding academies were to perish within its borders at once, the Heron royal family would likely find it difficult to explain.

Vincent remained expressionless; his speed as a great knight was barely enough to keep up with the Spider Woman's movement speed.

Meanwhile, the two level-three wizard apprentices were already cursing Daenerys in their hearts. Damn it, all the other wizard apprentices had retreated, and they were just sitting ducks for the Spider Woman. It seemed that they had no choice but to fight to the death!

Upon hearing Daenerys speak, the wizarding apprentices, who had long wanted to escape, scattered like birds.

However, a few witchers lingered, wanting to help Daenerys fight alongside her.

But they didn't last long before they fell one by one to the Spider Woman's incredibly sharp arm blades!

At this point, only two level-three wizard apprentices, Grand Knight Vincent, and Daenerys remained alive on the field.

Of course, Richard was an exception; he was still quietly watching the battle from a distance in the passageway.

He used the concealment effect to its fullest extent and was not detected by either side.

(End of this chapter)