Chapter 100: The Sea Tomb of Evil Light (3)

“Pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft~~”

Accompanied by a series of disgusting, diarrhea-like sounds, streams of pale green, eerie slime sprayed toward Li Mei and Hei Dai.

An ice wall suddenly rose before Li Mei, and two protective spells instantly enveloped her body as she retreated.

An elite wraith was launching a jet attack on the two, but it was spraying from a hole torn open in its own belly.

At that moment, Zhao Tianhe was casting an acceleration spell on Hei Dai when he accidentally triggered a level-three sluggish airflow.

Hei Dai, about to dodge, keenly noticed that the strange slime rushing toward her suddenly slowed down.

She swiftly circled around and with one sword stroke severed the upper body of the elite wraith, then cleaved it in two with another.

The surging slime burst out from the creature’s body, but before Hei Dai, it had become unnaturally slow, allowing her to easily escape.

“Well done, Ahe,” Hei Dai praised, a rare compliment.

Beside her, Li Mei’s eyes brightened. This eerie slime was highly corrosive, even able to severely erode the structure of spells; all protective magics were ineffective against it.

‘He saw through this move at a glance and used an indirect defensive spell?!’ Li Mei looked at the expressionless Zhao Tianhe with great admiration.

Although she knew an indirect defense was necessary, such jet attacks were rare, and she hadn’t reacted in time, instinctively resorting to the most common defensive routine.

But Zhao Tianhe, meeting this tactic for the first time, instantly understood and cast the correct spell—how could she not admire him?

Zhao Tianhe himself remained indifferent, unaware of the significance of the spell he had just cast; it was triggered randomly.

‘Another Dragon Fang… just one more and the Holy Swordmaster skill can upgrade. Still, I feel a bit sorry for this girl...’ Zhao Tianhe glanced at the materials on the ground and then at Li Mei, guilt welling up inside him. ‘Next time, better not team up with her. Six elites already, all just materials... What use are so many materials from other classes and heroic spirits? Am I supposed to gamble with Saint Quartz?’

Previously, in the unknown dungeon, most monsters were defeated by Alisa, who absorbed them, so no materials dropped. But at the final explosion caused by Zhuo Ke, the damage shares of Ailei and Artoria were substantial, resulting in two Saint Quartz shards dropped at once!

In other words, Zhao Tianhe now had three Saint Quartz shards for single draws.

But these three shards represented three full-team revivals—nine lives in total!

If he drew a heroic spirit, no matter who, even Hei Dai in swimsuit form, it would be a profit. But what if it was another craft essence?

‘Forget it. At least four shards are needed for a single draw! This isn’t a game—no draws with less than three! No, no draws with less than five! I must keep at least three shards for survival!’ Zhao Tianhe set strict rules for himself, determined never to misuse this life-saving treasure.

“Not bad, just miscellaneous materials,” Li Mei said with an innocent smile. “Once the equipment enhancement machine is introduced, there’ll probably be a material value chart, right? Maybe some materials could even be worth more than equipment!”

“Yeah.” Zhao Tianhe smiled and nodded. “Let’s split the materials evenly. I’ll take that silver chess piece, the tooth, and the dust; the other three are yours.”

He couldn’t use the other three materials anyway, so giving them away was no problem.

Though the first layer was vast, it could not withstand the party’s speed—each member was either a powerful fighter capable of running at hundreds of kilometers per hour or a flying mage. Half an hour later, they cleared the floor and gathered before the light barrier leading to the second floor.

At this point, Hei Dai’s summoning time had less than twenty minutes left. The second floor was larger than the first, and Zhao Tianhe pondered whether to summon Artoria or Ailei.

‘Better summon Artoria now. The second floor won’t take more than an hour, and with the remaining time, I can summon Ailei on the third floor, so both can fight simultaneously,’ Zhao Tianhe thought as he and his teammates stepped into the dark green light barrier.

It was a light barrier on the ground; jumping through it meant an 800-meter free fall.

Jelos promptly cast flying spells on Hei Dai and Zhao Tianhe, and together with the others, they landed on the water’s surface.

Summoner Li Shan casually cast water walking spells on the group, unaware Hei Dai didn’t need it, as she possessed innate water walking abilities.

Unlike the first floor, the second floor was a vast aquatic environment. The ambient light dimmed, revealing countless blurry green light spots in the lake.

Illumination spells rose one by one. This time, Jelos no longer coordinated from the center; the team split into three groups.

Zhao Tianhe, Hei Dai, and Jelos formed one group.

Captain Han Ar and his summoner Burei another.

The rest formed the third group.

Here, the disparity in individual strength became apparent. Level six mages, even in a B-rank dungeon, were top-tier combatants, seldom instantly killed, especially veterans like Jelos and Burei.

Others had to stick together cautiously; this place was extremely dangerous for them.

Though reluctant, Li Mei had no choice but to join the other group.

“How do you feel?” Jelos asked Zhao Tianhe.

“Not bad. With Artoria’s strength, we can handle it,” Zhao Tianhe replied with a smile. “But in the future, I’d rather not team up with others. I always feel I’m letting them down.”

“Hahaha! Materials will be useful anyway, no worries,” Jelos chuckled, knowing Zhao Tianhe’s ‘black hand’ tactics with heroic spirits. “Besides, maybe your materials will enhance better than ordinary junk, right?”

“Hmm, thanks for the encouragement,” Zhao Tianhe shook his head. He thought it better to prepare for the worst—that these materials might be utterly useless for enhancement—than indulge in wishful thinking.

“Something’s there.” Zhao Tianhe suddenly stopped and pointed at the water’s surface. Jelos and Hei Dai nodded, and the three immediately spread out.

Boom!

The water surface violently bulged and exploded. A massive half-body rose from the water—a bizarre wraith that seemed headless, with dark purple skin and ten fingers on each hand, though their soft, flabby appearance made them look more like tentacles.

“An enhanced elite. No wonder we haven’t encountered monsters for so long,” Jelos increased his overhead illumination magic. Around the water, more malevolent wraiths surfaced, including two elite wraiths. “All its subordinates.”

There were more monsters on the second floor, and after some time, they had merged and divided territories under leaders. Faced with the invading heroes, they no longer fled or attacked blindly but chose organized encirclement and counterattack.

Without hesitation, Hei Dai swung her holy sword, slaying several ordinary wraiths, then engaged an elite wraith in combat.

Zhao Tianhe refreshed his protective and support spells while launching attacks against the surrounding common wraiths.

Ordinary B-rank monsters were no challenge for him. With beneficial status effects, aided by random curses and dishwashing spells, a few sword strikes could kill one; with luck, a single spell could finish them instantly.

As for the dozen-meter-tall enhanced elite, it was naturally Jelos’s task.

A few beams of rainbow light exploded on its body, but the effect was minimal. The creature’s magical resistances were high, including strong defenses against light and dark elements that usually terrified ordinary wraiths.

‘Dark purple shell—magic resistance enhancement? Let’s get brutal then,’ Jelos took a deep breath and began chanting a level six spell.

This B-rank enhanced elite rivaled Alisa from the unknown dungeon in strength. Slowly resurfacing after being blasted underwater, its slippery shoulders were riddled with holes, and high-pressure corrosive slime jets erupted like rays, destabilizing Jelos’s protective magic.

But Jelos wasn’t idle these days in this dungeon. Without stopping his chant, he shifted his protective magic to gravitational deflection.

The corrosive jets’ trajectories twisted; only a few struck the barrier, but the damage was negligible.

Ranged attacks weren’t the elite’s primary method. It charged at Jelos at high speed, its body twisting and transforming; its arms swelled into terrifying siege hammers.

“Try this,” Jelos smiled, aiming his right hand at the raised arms of the enhanced elite.

Level six magic: Rending Force Field.

Invisibly immense power enveloped the monster, cracks appeared on its surface, and it shattered with a roar!

Before it could swing its fists, the terrifying force field had already twisted and torn its surface apart, blue viscous gel oozing out, making it look like a melting wax figure.

The immense power distorted its movements; its soft fists thudded helplessly against the air.

The elite’s regeneration was strong; its surface began healing beneath the weakening force field.

But Jelos wouldn’t give it a chance.

The blue gel’s strength and nature seemed comparable only to ordinary elite wraiths.

Two spheres of black and white light emerged, and two level five spells slammed down.

With its shell shattered, the enhanced elite finally succumbed to light and dark magic, exploding into four pieces that fell downward.

But Jelos knew its vitality well; even shattered, if it reached the bottom and merged with reinforcements, it could rise again.

Beams of light struck the fragments, utterly obliterating them.