Your Majesty's money, why don't you engrave my name on it?

"Could it be a snake lizard?" A creature with multiple heads, capable of spraying acid, and possessing numerous reptilian characteristics is rare. Feng Daer quickly thought of a very likely candidate. "That cultist has certainly attracted a group of formidable monsters."

"Cultists?"

“We were focusing on the wrong things before, and I may have misled your judgment,” Leslaufer apologized, but the man dared not hope that he was truly sincere. “In short, that guy is dead, and the most important thing is for you to get out of here as soon as possible. You can leave the monsters here to anyone else to deal with.”

"You go up first, then we'll go and get your boss and colleagues out."

"This, this won't do!" Upon hearing this, the man was about to obediently leave, but after taking only two steps, he stopped helplessly. "Sir, waiting for them here is considered carrying out a mission, but going up would be dereliction of duty, or even worse—desertion! I can't leave like this."

"So you're just going to let the spider eat you? This dead spider is almost certainly going to be another predator or scavenger. What's the difference between you staying here and courting death?"

"This..." The man hesitated for a long time, "Can I come with you? I am a soldier after all, and even without equipment, I won't be a big burden to you."

“‘At least’ is far from enough,” Leslaufer hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded in agreement. “Mary, you will go with him and walk at the very back. Report any danger that is attracted to you immediately, understand?”

Mary could not be considered a combatant in most cases, so it would be appropriate to have this unarmed soldier with her.

“I understand.” Mary nodded. However, when the man approached the girl with freckles on her face with a smirk, Mary glanced at his clothes with suspicion.

His Excellency Raslaufer never wears this type of clothing... Nor has Princess Angelita.

Is there some reason behind this clothing, which isn't very convenient for movement while wearing armor?

Chapter 329 The Underground Snake Lizard

According to the man, they encountered the monster deeper inside, so there were no fragments of his corroded equipment around here. He then led the group deeper into the area.

The path gradually became a complex network of tunnels, some man-made, others carved out by the creatures themselves. It seemed the spider had emerged from one of these tunnels and, by chance, made the man its prey.

“This must be the place,” the man said, staring intently at the nearby traces. Finally, he found the path his team had taken before returning. “Look, here are the Inquisitor’s footprints, lizard-like claw marks, and traces of blood and corrosion.”

"It was right here, Your Excellency the Judge, who coordinated the attack on that serpent lizard and nearly killed the monster!"

Raslaufer neither agreed nor disagreed with the praise. In his opinion, if the lizard really had many heads, at least half of them should have remained here to qualify as "nearly killed." Judging from the amount of blood loss here, the two sides probably only exchanged a few blows.

This man must have had a really unlucky day to have his equipment corroded by the acid.

The group continued to explore deeper into the route, and gradually, many corroded corpses appeared on the passageway. It seemed that after the man left, the Black Knights had indeed experienced a long and fierce battle, and their side had suffered considerable losses.

"This……"

The man bit his finger, seemingly feeling a chill run down his spine with each sight of a colleague's corpse. But there was at least one piece of good news: so far, no one had found any trace of the judge. Therefore, even though they were outnumbered, he should still be alive. However, the size of the monster he was facing was simply insurmountable, forcing him and his remaining men to flee in the opposite direction.

“Watch out for the tunnel entrances around here; they probably aren’t very big,” Leslaufer instructed. “If they’re lucky enough, they might find an entrance that snakes and lizards can’t enter, but humans can squeeze through to survive…”

Suddenly, a howl, like the wailing of a thousand beasts, echoed from the depths of the tunnel, shaking the entire tunnel.

"That's the voice!" the man exclaimed in shock. "It's still alive, which means—"

"That means it's going to die at our hands!" Leslaufer shouted. "Get ready, that thing is charging towards us!"

Raslaw's judgment was always spot-on. Just as everyone had formed their formation, a massive snake head suddenly burst forth from the darkness in the distance. Daisy's Daylight Spell caused the monster's pupils to contract sharply, but the next second, the remaining seven heads all protruded simultaneously!

Eight heads, each with a mouthful of sharp teeth and sixteen snake eyes with pupils narrowed to slits, slithered along the cave wall from different directions, encircling and approaching the group!

"Clang—" Dobulle took the lead, wielding his greatsword with the speed of the wind. He firmly suppressed the venomous fangs that sprang from the two snake heads, keeping them two or three meters away. No matter how potent the venom was, the fact that he couldn't get close meant that it was nothing more than the next animal to be slaughtered by Raslaufer.

However, just when everyone thought that Leslaufer could handle the monster all by himself, Angelita suddenly noticed that one of the snake heads was opening its mouth wide, and a strong, sour stench was spreading through the cave from its throat!

"Uncle, watch out for its acid!"

Angelita's warning was timely, and the subsequent freezing arrow was even more timely. Before Shouzhi Changshi arrived, a large ball of ice slammed solidly into the head that was trying to spew strong acid, knocking it off balance.

If they were facing a dragon species capable of breathing attacks, Angrita's support would only have forced it to withdraw an attack. However, the lizards are different from those real or fake dragons; they do not actually possess the ability to breathe. What they call "spitting acid" is actually spitting out, or rather, vomiting out, their own highly concentrated stomach acid.

Normally, even other mucous membranes of a living organism have difficulty adapting to its own stomach acid. Angelita's attack forced the snake-lizard to swallow back the highly toxic stomach acid that had just refluxed!

This level of "sour" sensation is the same for any creature; it's not divided into one-eighth just because it has eight mouths! Taking advantage of this discomfort spreading among the eight heads, Raslaufer suddenly lunged forward.

However, besides its swift and fierce attacks, the snake lizard's defensive scales were also incredibly tough. When it realized that ordinary greatswords were ineffective in harming its enemies, Raslaufer did not hesitate to draw the Hellblade and slashed at the head that had just tried to spew acid and was now still howling with its mouth wide open!

It severed the snake's head with a single blow! Raslaufer was astonished and sheathed his sword to protect his chest. Although it wasn't enough to cut off the entire snake's head, Dopler still left a menacing mark on the skull!

In such agony, the lizard's remaining heads snapped back and attacked Leslaufer from both sides. But this wasn't the most deadly part. When the monster was in so much pain, the thick, long tail that had been hanging at the end of its body began to tremble, and at the very end of that tail, a pincer shaped like a scimitar was raised.

As the mercenary was still trying to find an angle to deliver another blow and completely sever the already teetering head, the thick, long tail lashed out like a whip, the pincers whistling sharply as they hurtled toward Raslaufer's side.

Before Angelita's scream had even faded, Raslaufer had already reacted swiftly. In this critical moment, his body suddenly and unnaturally ducked, using the interaction with the ground to roll violently, narrowly avoiding the subsequent attack.

The pincers scraped against his armor, making a grating metallic scraping sound, and the heads missed their target, gnawing a hole the size of two people in the spot where the mercenary had just stood.

"Now!" Daisy's eyes lit up. While the monster was still slamming its head to the ground, a deafening noise erupted at the poet's designated spot, dodging Leslaufer and engulfing all eight heads.

Immediately following, a blue energy spear, wreathed in shattered magic, flashed in Angelita's hand, transforming into an arc of lightning that struck precisely at the junction of the eight heads' necks. The magic of the lightning and the poet's thunder caused a thunderstorm to erupt underground. With a series of cracking sounds, the scales, which were impervious to ordinary metal swords, began to shatter at that moment!

Although Leslaufer had just escaped danger, he was not about to give up such a good opportunity. He immediately rushed in again, and with all his might, his battle blade forged from hell iron cleaved down, and a lone, charred snake head flew up!

Chapter 330 The Snake Lizard's Nest

They... actually defeated the snake lizard?

The rescued man stared blankly as the lizard, now with only six and a half heads, succumbed to its wild instincts, turned, and fled into the darkness. A complex mix of emotions welled up within him, an indescribable feeling.

First it was his beloved pet, and then this snake-lizard?! Everyone else was scrambling to avoid it! He initially thought the guy upstairs was asking for trouble, but now it seems…

It seems the only option is to take them to the boss.

"Chase it!" Before the man could say anything, Leslaufer had already taken the lead and given chase. "This thing can't be used effectively in the tunnel, so it must have a hideout. Those Black Knights are probably over there!"

For such a multi-headed monster to be able to swing its tail pincers while biting with all eight heads at the same time, it must choose a relatively spacious battlefield, at least not in a narrow passage.

At this moment, the balance of power shifted. The monster roared and fled, while Leslaufer and the others pursued it relentlessly. The Daylight spell illuminated the surroundings as if it were daytime, and the other creatures that lived and lay in ambush here dared not show themselves.

Finally, as the lizard's roar abruptly changed, and the group rounded another corner, the light from the rapier suddenly became empty. Looking around, they found themselves in a vast, open space.

However, the snake-lizard had disappeared without a trace; the snake tracks on the ground abruptly ended, leaving no trace whatsoever.

“This seems to be the place,” Daisy said, raising the Sea Song Blade in her hand. “But it’s strange, the darkness here is even denser than outside. Normally, darkness created by ordinary darkness magic should be dispelled by daylight magic.”

“Either there’s a more powerful spellcaster here, or there’s some kind of object that specifically releases darkness,” Angelita said, stating her judgment. “Whichever it is, it seems this serpent lizard has shown us the right path.”

"Hmm? Wait for Daisy!" The poet was aimlessly waving her light around the cave when suddenly, von Dahl stopped her. "Go back, shine it back a little! Back again!"

While a dwarf's eyes cannot penetrate the darkness created by magic, within the area of ​​effect of the Daylight spell, his vision is somewhat better than others. Just now, he seemed to have seen some shadows moving over there.

What did you see?

Daisy, puzzled, had no choice but to adjust the light as the dwarf instructed, and after von Dahl called for a stop, she headed straight in that direction. The others followed suit.

As they drew closer, the location the dwarves were focusing on was gradually revealed to the light. As Daisy moved forward once more, those "things" finally came into the sight of the others.

"That's him! That's His Excellency the Judge!" the man who had been rescued earlier shouted. "My God, they're actually here!"

Just as he said, what appeared before everyone at this moment was the inquisitor and four other members of the cult, but their condition was obviously very bad—even when Raslaufer beat them up, they were not as miserable as they were now.

Their equipment was almost completely corroded by the strong acid, and their bodies were covered with deep, bone-piercing bite marks. Around these piercing marks, the skin had turned a dark bluish-black, making them look quite gruesome. More importantly, each of them was bound with several layers of iron chains, resembling lambs to the slaughter.

“It must have been that snake lizard,” Leslaufer concluded after observing. “Whether it was strong acid, a bite, or venom, it all fits its hunting habits. To accept all of these without question, it’s quite a tough guy.”

“Stop making sarcastic remarks, Leslaufer,” Bella deactivated her Wilderness form and stepped forward to heal the people. “They look terrible and need immediate treatment—”

Before she could finish speaking, Leslaufer raised his hand and stopped her: "Wait, don't you find this strange?"

"Strange? What's strange?"

"A snake lizard, with such skill, after defeating these five people, still has the leisure to entangle them one by one?"

This is not something monsters are good at, or to put it more bluntly, leaving survivors alive is not something monsters are good at.

Leslaufer's considerations were not without merit, and Bella indeed stopped in her tracks. However, after careful examination, the druid shook his head: "It doesn't seem like it. From my magical perception, they are also without any problems; they are simply the Black Knights themselves."

"As for the surroundings... I don't think there are any traps."

"Of course there won't be any traps."

As soon as Bella finished speaking, a cold voice rang out from another direction. Everyone hurriedly turned around to look, and the surrounding darkness slowly receded like a tide, giving Daisy's Daylight spell a chance to illuminate the entire space.

To the right of where the group had originally been, twenty or thirty men in black robes had appeared out of nowhere. Their eyes, hidden in the shadows of their cloaks, fixed on the uninvited guests, including Raslaufer. The leader stepped forward again and continued speaking:

“These people have offended the sacred place and are destined to be sacrificed. And you, who have wounded the guardian spirits, will also suffer the same fate.”

"As for you, my brother, now that they've been lured here, what are you still doing standing there?"

Come again?

Leslaufer snorted impatiently, "Who said we're brothers—"

"Of course it's me, you bunch of foolish mortals!" Before the mercenary could finish speaking, the man they had rescued earlier suddenly burst into laughter. "So what if you killed my pet and injured the snake lizard? You were still lured here step by step!"

"No matter how disgusting that guy was, he was still our brother. You actually killed him? Now you're going to face your retribution—uh?"

The man swayed, and the sudden pain made him instinctively look down. In his chest, only the hilt of a dagger was visible. The angle of its cut was so precise that the victim did not feel any pain until the very last moment of his life when he realized he had been stabbed.

Almost instantly, he fell backward. An arm caught him and gently placed him on the ground. The dagger in his chest was pulled out by another hand, and with this slight movement, the final pull between the muscles and nerve groups finally made the man's eyelids slowly close.

The girl with long braids stood up. Her dagger was as if it had never been used, without a trace of blood on it.

"Looks like you're the one who's going to get your comeuppance, Mr. Cultist."

Chapter 331 Firepower Suppression

This is Kolasund's swordsmanship.

A silent death is far more deafening than a bloody massacre. Raslaufer was familiar with Mary's movements; like his cloak, they were part of the Corazonde swordsmanship. Only, Mary executed them with far greater precision.

Leaving aside Daisy, who joined later, Angrita and Mary started learning at almost the same time, but now it seems that Mary has gained much more than Angrita.

“After all, I don’t need to cast spells while wielding my sword; it’s much easier if I just need to calculate the timing and angle.” Mary smiled modestly at Angelita, then stepped back, placing herself at the very back of the group once again.

No one knows when Mary, who had almost no opportunity for real combat, mastered this skill; perhaps this is a manifestation of the difference between people. However, after her brief demonstration, no one present considered her a less threatening opponent.

"Make your move! Take care of that woman first!"

Seeing their companion killed before their eyes, the leader of the group of black-robed men did not fly into a rage, but the oppressive atmosphere around him indicated that his anger was not easily extinguished. As the order was relayed, his black robes were suddenly billowed by a magical wind, and a ring of flames appeared at his feet, with a rose-shaped pattern lighting up at the center of the ring.

"How dare you act so presumptuously in the sacred ground where Grand Duchess Philna is worshipped! You will all die here!"

"Master, I beseech your power—the magic of Phrygsos of the Hellfire, grant me the desire for molten radiance!"

In an instant, a gate to hell, adorned with various ornate decorations, was summoned between the two sides. The gate was as if it were cast from lava, and it was scorching hot and bright. Even Daisy's Daylight spell was dimmed under such power. As the cultist suddenly pushed the gate open, a small crack appeared in the gate.

Even this tiny crack was enough; boundless malice, accompanied by terrifying heat, poured out from it, like claws, blindly and frantically trying to seize everything around them, wanting to drag the souls of the material plane into the lava sea of ​​Phrygsos!

"Shouldn't it be the desire of Hadda? What is this?!" Daisy and Bella frantically worked together to create a protective spell, hoping to buy their companions a chance to escape the clutches of the demon within the door.

Even though she had tried her best to defend herself, she still felt a burning pain on her skin. When the claws reached out to grab her while she was slowed down, the intangible touch shook her very mind.

The shock was immense; in just a few seconds, Daisy felt a surge of intense emotions and feelings that nearly overwhelmed her. Even after she was freed from it, the aftershocks lingered like an iron spike, relentlessly drilling into her mind.

This was yet another dubious magic, completely different from any power she had ever known—but just as insidious and deadly!

"They are followers of the devil, why would they worship some unknown demon star, Hada?" Zhengling's voice carried a strange melody, quickly calming the poet's thoughts. "Don't get distracted, just focus on a song, I'll protect you!"

The cult leader, who had been confident of victory, suddenly hummed in surprise. In his vision that led to purgatory, a change that he could not understand suddenly appeared on one of the two spellcasters, the flaxen-haired woman.

He immediately urged those demonic claws to pounce on her even more "attentively," but this time, just as they were about to touch Daisy, a sharp piano melody suddenly exploded in the cult leader's mind. At the same time, a demonic phantom flashed behind the woman, and all the outstretched claws immediately fled in all directions like mice that had seen a cat!

"What is this—a demon?!" the cult leader roared, pointing his hand at Daisy. "Go and grab her, alive!"

As soon as he finished speaking, several dark red rays made a loud noise as they struck the shield that Daisy had hastily erected.

"Didn't you say you wanted him alive?!" The bard's furious shout came from the edge of the spell's range opposite the cult leader, but the latter only responded with a cold laugh.

A creature with its entire whiskers and tail can be alive, as can one without limbs. If it weren't for the fear of a possible connection between the creature and a demon, even a mere spirit could be considered "alive."

Such lenient conditions allowed these cultists to spare no firepower, unleashing various spells on the crowd through the leader's magic. Meanwhile, Leslaufer's side lacked ranged attack capabilities, leaving them unable to retaliate for the time being.

"I can't take it anymore!" The bard felt her magic power rapidly draining away. After escaping the reach of the Radiant Desire, Zheng Ling naturally wouldn't show up to help her anymore. As one of the few spellcasters in the team, Daisy now had to choose between defense and offense, and no matter what she chose, it seemed like an unsolvable situation.

Are they going to be defeated here today?

"Old Lei! Do you have any ideas? I can still try now, but in a little while, I might not even have this chance anymore!"

"Quiet down, I'm thinking of something!" Raslaufer used his greatsword as cover to block the magic rays and missiles that slipped through, but even he was helpless in the face of this situation.

In a normal battle, if one side is pinned down by a hail of arrows on the other side of an impassable terrain, surrender is generally the best option. If forced to charge, the chances of victory are slim to none. But now, neither of these outcomes is possible: the opposing side certainly won't accept surrenders like those nobles, and that damned Gate of Purgatory in the middle completely eliminates any possibility of a forced breakthrough.

But conversely, if this broken door could be closed...

"Daisy, give me back my pendant." "Huh? Oh, okay! And then?"

"Then, can you still use the same trick you used against the Night Witch?"