When Urian gave the command, a wave of attacks was launched towards Sol and Amber. It would have been a beautiful spectacle if not for the threat it posed to the duo.
“[Earth Wall]!”
The initial attacks were met with a solid wall of earth, and although it was much stronger than before, when hit with a multitude of attacks, it easily broke apart. It was not an issue as Sol knew it wouldn’t last long; he just wanted to stop the attacks for a moment.
The two ran back into the dungeon passages, trying to lose the chasing group, but they managed to follow them wherever they went. They had people who could track and others who could enhance the team's mobility, making escape impossible.
Sol originally thought they would give up, but after four hours, he realized they would stop at nothing to obtain the void root.
‘We need to fight back!’
Although Sol wanted to jump headfirst into the group and defeat them, he knew it was not going to be easy. They covered each other's weaknesses too well, but that didn’t mean there were no options.
Sol’s mind raced as he thought of different solutions.
‘We can either separate them somehow or I use [Overpower] and launch a huge attack, hopefully killing a few.’
Both options weren’t ideal, but it’s what Sol could think of on such short notice.
‘I don’t know how we could separate them, so what can I do with [Overpower]? Fully charged [Mana Arrow]? [Terra Spikes]?”
Sol didn’t have many skills that allowed him to use all his mana in one go. Nor did Sol manage to learn any powerful spells that consume a lot of mana. The best spell he had was a new wind spell, but it didn’t have the power to turn this around.
Just as he was debating what to do, a golden arrow flew out of a nearby passage and turned midair towards Sol. Instinctually, Sol took out his shield to block it.
The arrow was spinning as it collided into the shield and spun with vicious power. Cracks on the shield from previous battles grew until it couldn’t withstand the damage anymore and broke. The arrow continued spinning, and Sol was forced to use [Wind Barrier] to slow it down further as Amber came with her dagger and slashed it in half. Only then did the arrow finally cease moving.
“Screw this!”
Sol threw away the shield as it was broken beyond repair and activated [Overpower].
Time slowed down as Sol’s body unlocked its stored potential. His rough breathing calmed as he looked through the wall with [Mana Perception] and saw the pursuing group.
Completely focused on the mana signatures of the incoming group, Sol raised both of his hands and slammed down onto the ground.
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[Overpower] increased his strength, agility, and intelligence. Although it didn’t increase Sol’s overall mana supply, the massive increase in intelligence gave him control over the limited supply he had like never before. He could even control ambient mana to a certain extent to follow his will.
All of Sol’s mana gathered in his hands as he sent it all underground towards the mana signature.
…
The pursuing group at the time numbered 20; more than half of the entire group was dedicated to pursuing them. Their number had been steadily increasing as time went on, as nearby adventurers joined in to help their allies. Only a few stayed in the exit to make sure the two didn’t slip by, including Urian.
The scout leading the group suddenly stopped.
Omar, who had completely recovered and joined up with the group, asked. “What happened? Did you lose them?”
The scout shook her head. “No, they suddenly stopped. I think the golden arrow you shot wounded one of them.”
The archer chuckled pridefully, “It better have. I spent 100 gold on that driller arrow and used [Seeking Shot]. I doubt they could block it.”
One of the more cautious adventurers warned the group, “We should still be careful. Cornered rats always bite back. Don’t want to lose anyone else.”
A few nodded grimly. They didn’t expect the situation to change drastically within a day. A few were mad at how unlucky they were; if only their deceased friends found the root first, then this wouldn’t have been an issue.
They moved forward with caution, but before even turning the passage, the ground began to rumble ominously.
“An earthquake in a dungeon?!”
No one had ever heard of such a thing happening in a dungeon before, but this feeling was indistinguishable from a normal earthquake.
“No! It’s mana!” One of the mages yelled. Though they were unable to see it, they could feel the mana in their surroundings gathering with another foreign mana.
“We need to get out- Gah!”
By the time they realized it, it was too late as a spike rose from the ground and stabbed into the one who was talking.
It didn’t end there, as more spikes rose from the floors, the walls, even the roof, all targeting the adventurers. Those who were too slow were unable to react as multiple spikes came from different directions, killing them without a chance to fight back.
A few of the stronger and faster adventurers managed to dodge or break the initial earth spikes and tried to leave the hallway they were on. As they neared the end of the hallway, spikes rose, blocking their exit; the spikes overlaid over one another, creating an incredibly durable wall.
An adventurer slammed his huge axe against the spikes, breaking through a few before getting his hand broken by another spike that rose to fill in the gap.
“FUCK! My hand!”
His hand now stuck in the wall of spikes made him helpless to the other spikes that came from the roof like jaws. His high vitality, for the first time, worked against him as he didn’t immediately die but was unable to free himself from the multiple spikes penetrating his body. He was forced to endure being stuck there, losing blood while hearing the screams of his allies being killed behind him.
‘I can no longer hear them…’
The adventurer hoped it was because of his impending death that he lost his sense of hearing, but then he heard the sound of his blood dripping onto the floor.
Unable to even see the scene behind him, the light in the adventurer's eyes faded full of regret.
…
“Haa! Haa!”
Out of breath, Sol collapsed on the ground. Amber could only watch in confusion as she had no idea what he just did. Still thinking there were people chasing after them, Amber tried to lift Sol to carry him to safety.
Sol motioned for her to stop. “No… It’s fine. They're all dead.”
Sol unsteadily rose to his feet as he looked at the little mana he had left.
Mana: 13/1400
Using so much mana in one go was more strenuous than Sol thought it would be. Sol felt as if he lost all the blood in his body, which made him extremely dizzy. Pushing through the pain, Sol walked towards the hallway where the carnage took place.
Turning the corner, the duo saw an incredibly awful scene which Sol had caused single handedly.
“I think I’m gonna be sick…”
Sol immediately threw up.