What witch? The Deadly Pharmacist!

"Place the dire wolves on the outermost ring, and you stand at the tunnel entrance where you can evacuate at any time," Leon whispered to Lena.

Lena nodded obediently and manipulated the dire wolves to form a defensive array around them. At the same time, Simon's men began to pile the firewood they had brought into a tall campfire, as they needed a lot of light to illuminate this huge underground space.

After a while, the mercenaries who had cleared out the low-level monsters gradually gathered here. Everyone was amazed to see the pack of demon wolves controlled by Lena. Some mercenaries even tried to approach the demon wolves to touch them out of curiosity, but the demon wolves twitched their noses and fell to the ground in fright, which made the others burst into laughter.

"Stop fooling around and get to work." Leon urged the mercenaries to get to work, reminding them that they couldn't let their guard down until the maze was fully explored.

Soon, a new campfire was set up and lit. The blazing fire dispelled the darkness, and the group was finally able to catch a glimpse of the entire ruins nestled in the mountain.

Judging from its size, nearly half of this mine is hollow. The huge cave is uniformly shaped with an arched top, reaching a height of twenty meters at its highest point. Scattered ruins are found among the overgrown weeds and shrubs, indicating that there were once some man-made structures here, but they have all been destroyed. In the center is a pool that looks bottomless and seems to be connected to an underground water vein.

There are many traces of the wolves' lives here. There is a huge pit filled with their leftover bones. Their food mainly consists of wild goats that enter the cave in search of grass and rock salt, and giant rats native to the labyrinth. There are also many of their droppings in the grass, which caused some mercenaries to curse after stepping on them.

Apart from the ten demon wolves they controlled, there seemed to be no other demon wolves present.

"Mr. Fenrir, we've found something!!" The mercenary shouted as he reached the deepest part of the area.

Leon looked up at the sound and saw the mercenaries' torches illuminating a dilapidated yet still magnificent wall standing at the deepest part of the maze. The reliefs on it were no longer legible, but the structure of the doors and windows could still be vaguely discerned. The edges of the door looked as if they had been deliberately smashed open, leaving huge gaps.

Everyone was quite surprised to see a palace here, and it looked very old!

What exactly is the origin of this maze?

While Leon was still carefully observing, one of the young mercenaries who had first spotted the hall couldn't contain himself any longer and volunteered to go inside with a torch in hand: "I'll go in and check it out first!"

While it is risky to go in first to spy, if they discover any gold, silver, or valuable antiques, the first person to go in has the opportunity to keep some for themselves—it's a chance to make a fortune!

"Hey!!" The captain in charge of the mercenary shouted, trying to stop him.

At this moment, Leon raised his hand to stop him, letting the mercenary go inside, and said to the others, "Get away from here for now."

He glanced down at the ground. The surrounding area was covered with traces of the demonic wolves' activity: footprints, the remains of their prey, and droppings and urine used to mark their territory. However, a large area near the entrance of the hall was only covered with overgrown weeds, with no trace of demonic wolves and almost no smell of urine.

The demonic wolf dwells here, yet it seems unwilling to approach this hall; he vaguely senses something is amiss.

Exploring the maze was ultimately necessary, and since someone was willing to volunteer as a scout, he was naturally eager to oblige.

He led his men away and waited for more than ten minutes when suddenly a shrill scream came from inside.

Everyone was taken aback. Just as the mercenary captain spoke, a terrifying roar came from inside, completely drowning out his voice.

Chapter 98 Level 4 Monster

Upon hearing that terrifying roar, everyone felt a sudden chill run down their spines, and even their legs went weak.

Lena's breathing quickened suddenly. This feeling of being suddenly awakened to her primal fear was very similar to when Leon released the cursed blood.

She couldn't imagine what kind of creature could achieve such an effect with just a roar.

The wolves, including the alpha wolf, began to howl restlessly, their voices sharp and filled with undisguised fear.

Leon noticed the wolf's movements and turned to run without hesitation.

"Retreat! Retreat!!" he shouted, raising his arms as he ran. "Everyone, get out of the maze! Now!!"

The one whose roar could terrify the demonic wolf like this must be no benevolent being.

And now, the "brave" young man who was the first to go in to investigate has awakened the master!

If we don't escape now, when will we?

The mercenaries also realized what was happening and began to swarm towards the tunnel entrance.

They had only taken a few seconds when the hall's doors suddenly exploded with a deafening roar, and a massive, scaly head burst out of the hall, smashing through the edge of the doors—the breach in the side of the hall's doors had clearly been caused by this creature.

As Leon ran, he turned his head to look. The creature that sprang out of the temple had a head as big as a van, with obvious reptilian features, resembling a giant snake or lizard, but far more imposing than either.

Its face was covered with bony protrusions, and the scales covering it looked much thicker than those of snakes, with a metallic sheen. Its head also had a ridged, umbrella-shaped crown, from which three pairs of dragon horns of different sizes extended.

But what truly embodies its majesty is its pair of eyes. It has a pair of gleaming golden eyes that shine brighter than a campfire, as if lava is churning in its eye sockets!

The moment you see those eyes, an intense fear will flood your mind.

dragon!

Although he had never seen it in this world, Leon understood the moment he saw it that it was a dragon, a creature at the top of the labyrinth's creatures, and that roar and gaze that could evoke the instinctive fear of creatures was the dragon's might it was releasing!

The dragon was clearly enraged and charged out of the hall to chase after the fleeing crowd.

After it continued to rush out, Leon realized that its body was not as robust as he had imagined, and although it had four limbs, it had no wings, and a row of sharp thorns grew on its back.

This is an earth dragon, a subspecies of dragon like the wyvern. Although its size and strength cannot be compared to a true dragon, it still possesses enough power to crush an ordinary legion, making it one of the top-tier level four monsters.

This damned maze is even inhabited by a level four demonic earth dragon!

Leon had no time to complain about the situation; he could only focus on escaping.

"Run! Run!!" he shouted at Lena.

Lena, following Leon's instructions, stayed near the tunnel entrance. When she saw the earth dragon appear, she turned and ran away.

As soon as she had this thought, all the demon wolves moved in sync with her, fleeing towards the tunnel exit.

However, Lena's speed was no match for the others. No sooner had she entered the tunnel than the mercenaries who were charging desperately overtook her.

Leon followed from behind and suddenly noticed that the alpha wolf was chasing after them. He rushed forward and grabbed Lena, who was still running.

"Ah!" Lena exclaimed in surprise.

"Get on!!" Leon hoisted Lena onto the wolf's back and pushed her there, allowing her to lie on its back. "Hold on tight!"

Reina realized what was happening and quickly adjusted her posture on the wolf's back. At the same time, she focused her consciousness on the alpha wolf. Under her control, the alpha wolf cooperated by helping Reina sit firmly on its back and began to run at full speed, quickly catching up with the people in front of it.

The tunnel was fairly spacious, and there were two exits. After the group split up and fled, it wasn't too crowded when they escaped with the pack of wolves.

However, the earth dragon also burrowed into the tunnel where there were more people, and slightly changed its shape, retracting its limbs into its body, making its body slender, like a giant snake. Earth dragons are a subspecies of dragons that are specially adapted to the underground.

The people at the back of the line tried to fire at the pursuing earth dragon, but the bullets only sparked when they hit the dragon's scales.

Legend has it that dragons have incredibly strong scales, so strong that even their eyelids are impervious to blades and spears; now they know this is no exaggeration.

"Ah! Damn it!" Simon had just turned around after firing a shot when he tripped over a vine and was a little behind when he got up.

Fortunately, the earth dragon was still quite a distance away from them, so he got up and continued running.

However, at that moment, the earth dragon opened its mouth and unleashed the most terrifying weapon of dragons: its breath.

Acid mist spewed out from its gaping maw, rushing along the tunnel like ocean waves. Rocks that came into contact with the acid mist began to hiss and emit white smoke, melting on the spot.

By the time the acid mist reached Simon from behind, it had become quite thin, but when it seeped into the gaps in his leather armor, Simon still felt a burning sensation as if he had been doused with hot oil.

"Ughhhh!!" He staggered a few steps and fell to the ground, dropping the torch in his hand. He tried to get up, but the pain was too much for him to control.

"Help! Help me!!" he cried desperately towards the receding crowd, while behind him, the earth dragon was rapidly approaching.

Lena turned her head and, without thinking, focused her attention on the last dire wolf running behind: "Go!!"

Driven by her intense will at that moment, the wolf turned around and rushed over, biting Simon's collar and dragging him along as it ran wildly. Although Simon was kicking his legs in pain, it was better than being devoured by a dragon.

However, this delay allowed the earth dragon to close the distance between them. Just as the earth dragon's throat began to throb and prepare for its next breath, Leon suddenly remembered something and took out a second flask from his person.

This is a backup blood sample containing 100 milliliters of his blood and an anticoagulant. In addition, he added a little magic element, which can greatly enhance his curse power. Now, let alone drinking this blood, just splashing it on a person can cause fatal damage from the curse.

He turned around and threw the flask at the earth dragon like a grenade.

The earth dragon sensed something, suddenly opened its mouth, bit off the flask, and swallowed it whole.

This was an unexpected bonus for Leon. He had only intended to smear the cursed blood on the other party's face, but now that the earth dragon was willing to eat it, it was even better.

He immediately activated his ability, and purple smoke spilled from the earth dragon's mouth.

The earth dragon coughed hoarsely on the spot, and the pursuit stopped for a moment, allowing everyone to create distance.

However, it immediately let out a furious roar and continued its pursuit, causing the entire tunnel to rumble and tremble as its scales rubbed together.

Perhaps the dosage was insufficient, or perhaps the curse's power was inadequate, but Leon realized that his cursed blood could only cause the dragon pain, and was far from killing it!

"Exit!" someone shouted with ecstatic joy.

They had reached the vicinity of the exit and joined their companions who had escaped through another tunnel. The group and the wolf pack rushed out of the maze.

Even after leaving the mine, they didn't stop, continuing their race along the mountain path towards the pass, because the roar of the earth dragon never ceased.

After running another hundred meters at full speed, Leon looked back and saw the earth dragon's lava-like eyes gleaming in the dark mine.

However, after chasing it to the cave entrance, the earth dragon suddenly stopped, as if it had been suddenly awakened by something.

Leon slowed down and began to carefully observe the earth dragon.

The earth dragon let out a low, rumbling roar from its throat, and after a moment, it retreated and disappeared into the depths of the mine.

"It went back!" Leon shouted, signaling everyone to calm down.

Although monsters cannot stray far from the maze, they can still move around the maze within a certain range for a period of time. For some reason, this earth dragon seems unwilling to leave the maze.

Is it related to that palace? Leon wondered to himself.

Simon, dragged out by the dire wolf, groaned in pain. Lena quickly manipulated the wolf to put him down, and then Simon's men rushed to his aid.

The others stood there, still shaken. Some were overjoyed, while others were stunned.

Leon took a long time to remove his protective mask and let out a helpless sigh.

Earth Dragon—it's unbelievable that such a troublesome level four monster exists in this maze!

This kind of thing can't be solved by just recruiting a few dozen mercenaries. He really didn't expect that such a big problem would emerge at this critical juncture!

The fact that the demonic wolf was moving around the area suggests that the earth dragon had been staying inside the hall in the ruins and hadn't come out much, as if it were guarding the hall.

Leon was quite certain that something different existed in this maze, but without dealing with the earth dragon, the maze was impossible to explore, let alone manage.

Lena, riding on the wolf's back, looked at Leon with lingering fear and some worry.

Leon glanced at Lena, then at the other mercenaries: "Take care of the wounded, let's retreat first. I'll pay you back, let's get out of here first!"

……

The following day, in the Inquisition, in the director's office.

“There are earth dragons in the maze…” After listening to Leon’s account, Bishop Beckett tapped the table with his knuckles with a solemn expression. “How could we have encountered a level four monster?”

“I suspect it might be related to the ruins in that labyrinth,” Leon said.

“This isn’t archaeology or heretical ruins. Those are the church’s scholars who should be interested. We just need a labyrinth that we can manage,” Bishop Beckett said.

“I know, but without dealing with that earth dragon, this labyrinth can’t be run.” Leon stared at Bishop Beckett and said, “Sir, the Earl doesn’t think I should handle this kind of thing all by myself, does he?”

Faced with such a major problem, he felt he had every reason to seek more support from the Earl.

"The monsters of the sub-dragon species are not so easy to deal with. Even the church would have to send its most elite knights. We cannot use the church's power to solve the maze. If we use the church's power to solve the maze, the maze will be sealed and then placed under surveillance."

Not to mention the labyrinth church on Arendt Island would almost certainly not approve of the seal. "If you seek my advice, my advice is to choose another labyrinth," said Bishop Beckett.

“Exploring a different maze would require spending time and resources again, and if the same situation were to occur again…” Leon shook his head slightly. “Sir, with the Earl’s power, surely there’s nothing he can do about a single earth dragon?”

Bishop Beckett pondered for a while upon hearing this before replying, "Yes, there is someone who can solve this problem, and the Earl has just assigned him to River Valley County to oversee the business there."

"That……"

“But whether you can actually borrow his power is another matter entirely,” Bishop Beckett interrupted Leon.

"So, like Baal, he's someone who doesn't want to see me succeed?" Leon asked.

“No, I think he’s the kind of person who doesn’t care. He has a very strange temper; he basically only listens to the Earl, but if it’s something he doesn’t like, he’ll refuse even the Earl, and I don’t even have much of a relationship with him. I don’t think he’ll be interested in this matter, so I advise you not to get your hopes up,” Bishop Beckett advised.

Leon was silent for a moment before speaking, "Could you tell me more about this person?"

Chapter 99 The Apostate Grand Master of the Knights

Valley County, a mountain villa.

Leon sat in the reception hall again to wait, with Bishop Beckett sitting beside him.

“Johnny Wellman…” Leon kept repeating the name in his mind.

Before he arrived, he had learned some information about this man from Bishop Beckett.

"This man is in charge of managing an armed fleet for the Earl's transoceanic transport. He is responsible for escorting 70% of the Earl's import and export goods. He is known by the name Johnny Willman, but that is a lie. His real name is Jonathan Ruit, and he is an apostate knight of the Church of the Creator," Bishop Beckett explained to Leon at the time.

"A heretical knight? So he's a wanted criminal?" Leon asked.