Ali was about to head down the tunnel to keep up the pressure when a shockwave sent him flying a few meters backwards. As he sat up, he coughed to get the dust out of his airway. Before he could stand up, he felt a second shockwave reaching him. Five shockwaves later, the teenager counted twenty seconds before he tried to stand up again. As he poked out his head, he could see the large silhouette of the toad dragon at the other end of the tunnel.

Tian, are you okay? Call out if you can hear me!

Since the air serpent hadn’t returned to the summoner realm, he wondered where Tian was. He stared at the tunnel ceiling and noted the small holes scattered in various locations. Knowing that Tian could fit in a lot of tight spaces, he expected the air serpent to be literally holed up somewhere until the shockwaves subsided. The teenager returned his attention to the toad dragon which had gotten up on its feet. From where he stood, he could make out the silhouette of a handful of people standing before it. One of the individuals raised a hand before lighting came down and struck the toad dragon. The creature roared out in rage as it released a thick cloud of poison around it, causing the individuals to back away hastily.

I should probably stay some distance away.

Good call!

Ali looked up to see Tian flying towards him. He checked with the air serpent as to what was happening up ahead. He couldn’t afford to get closer without getting killed by the poison or getting spotted by the cult members. While he could make out a bit of the situation at the other end of the tunnel, he had no clue as to what was happening in the cavern where the toad dragon was in combat. He and the air serpent found a good hiding spot before Tian relayed all the information. The cult members had all turned upon the toad dragon with the majority of them taking part in the prison that limited the creature’s mobility and the stronger members actively attacking the toad dragon. Despite their efforts, victory didn’t seem to be within their grasp, proving the resilience of the toad dragon.

What should I do now? I cannot possibly get involved in that battle now.

Stay hidden and wait. Why not lay down more traps while you wait?

With nothing better to occupy his time, Ali set a bunch of traps along the tunnels at random locations. He knew he could trust Tian to keep a lookout while the Toad Dragon and the cult were in a deadly standoff. The creature still couldn’t free itself from its prison but the cult members also lacked the firepower to kill it. Once he had enough of the waiting, Ali asked Tian to get close enough to the dragon so he could cast his traps. With no urgency this time, he waited until his MP was full before he spammed his traps beneath the toad dragon. The process was repeated a few times before Tian reported back to him.

Stolen novel; please report.

The toad dragon is bleeding now! Your traps and the cult members’ attacks are actually hurting it.

The teenager wasn’t worried about his traps getting discovered by his enemies. According to the air serpent, the toad dragon had been releasing poisonous gas nonstop which made it impossible for the cult members to notice the traps underneath the creature’s feet. They were probably too preoccupied with killing the creature to notice anything out of the ordinary. Meanwhile, the cult members responsible for the offensive were several ranks deep. As soon as those at the front ran out of MP, they would retreat to the back, allowing the next rank to engage. This allowed them to continuously launch offensive abilities at the creature, making it impossible for the toad dragon to differentiate those abilities from the traps right beneath its feet. Even in the situation where the creature could escape its prison, it would likely mistaken the trap abilities to belong to one of the cult members, thus eliminating any suspicion it could have for the teenager. After much effort, the toad dragon was eventually defeated and collapsed onto the ground.

Now what? We keep hiding until we take out all the remaining cult members?

Something just came out of the toad dragon.

Huh?

Ali wanted to ask Tian for more clarification but the air serpent was focusing on whatever left the corpse. A minute later, he watched as a snake-like creature came into view.

Is that the thing…

Before he could finish his sentence, the teenager watched in horror as the snake creature came straight at him. He reached out his hands to grab the creature but his hands went straight through it as though it was an illusion. Ali was about to ask Tian what happened when the entire tunnel shook from what felt like an explosion. Several explosions later, Ali found some cover to hide under. In his new hiding spot, he could hear the cult members as they fled from the source of the explosions. By listening carefully, he could make out some of the shouts indicating that they were heading for the secret exits.

Tian, can you see if you can figure out who is responsible for the attack? I’m hoping help is finally here.

I’ll check but this underground base is huge. You should stay put and not use your trap ability. It will be hard to explain your situation if you accidentally harm or kill your potential rescuers.

Agreeing with what his companion said, Ali simply laid low and waited. As time passed, his eyelids got heavier and heavier until he fell asleep. Normally, he had no reason to be in the summoner realm when both of his companions were summoned. Yet, he found himself exactly in that condition to his confusion.

“Mika?” he called out, wondering if something forced his lightning mink or air serpent to return.

“That’s odd! You’re much weaker than I expected! How did you unlock the summoner realm?”