School Transmigration: I, Chosen as the Saint by Dragons at the Start-Chapter 131 --Ambushed

The mine couldn’t possibly be built on a volcano.

If the volcano erupted, wouldn’t that be dragging everyone to their doom?

The staff couldn’t be so incompetent as to overlook such a basic aspect of site selection.

Owen, holding up a glowworm, pressed close to the tunnel wall and observed, "The walls of the tunnel have changed."

The others peered closely and noticed that the originally dark stone walls had somehow transformed into a grayish-white hue, intertwined with countless root-like tendrils resembling veins.

Touching the walls, they no longer felt the icy coldness of stone but a peculiar warmth, even elasticity, as if the entire mountain had come to life.

In this era, mine safety was not paramount.

Miners, after carving out passageways, often used wooden supports to reinforce the tunnels.

This was a common sight throughout their journey and hadn’t raised any concern.

However, in the most recent stretch, it seemed as if not a single wooden board was in sight.

"We’ve been walking for fifteen minutes, and it feels like there’s no end. It’s just one continuous passage ahead," a team member muttered in a low voice, "like a maze that could change at any moment. Have we entered an illusion?"

Brawny found the situation eerie and spoke in a hushed tone, "Impossible. I haven’t detected any fluctuations in arcanergy. Could it be that the continent thousands of years ago didn’t use arcanergy?"

Willow pondered and then advised, "Let’s be cautious, after all. It’s been thousands of years; it’s normal for us not to know about some arcane methods."

Owen remained silent, lost in thought.

He wondered how despairing it must have been for those sentinels thousands of years ago to discover this anomaly.

Jonathan, seemingly unconcerned, whispered, "It’s likely that the Devourer’s Flesh Fortress has transformed the mountain’s veins. We must now be officially entering the fortress. Everyone, be extremely cautious."

His words sent a chill through the group, prompting a firmer grip on their weapons.

They approached an uphill path and upon reaching the summit, encountered a fissure in the ground, no more than thirty centimeters high, resembling a flattened mouth.

To cross, they had to crawl on all fours, hugging the ground.

Willow, slender and agile, volunteered to go first.

"I’ll lead the way," she declared.

With a swift push of her hands, she glided through the crevice with the grace of a fish, her swift movements making her a difficult target for any lurking enemy.

After assessing the safety on the other side, she lifted her glowworm high and called out, "It’s safe, come on over."

The team followed one by one, with Owen deliberately staying behind to cover their rear.

Among the ten, nine were magi, physically less robust than Owen.

His presence, as requested by Headmaster Kendo, was not only for his strength but also to protect his fellow teammates.

When it was Owen’s turn, darkness had enveloped him, his teammates out of sight.

Lying prone, with little room to maneuver or draw a weapon, each member had to move quickly to avoid being vulnerable to ambush.

Just as Owen lowered himself, he felt a sudden tightness around his calf.

Something had seized him, yanking him backward with a forceful pull.

While most would instinctively crawl forward if grabbed by a ghostly hand, Owen reacted differently.

With a cold chuckle, he pushed forward with his left hand, accelerating his slide backward instead.

The creature pulling him already exerted considerable force, and Owen’s additional momentum resulted in a swift, doubled retreat.

It was akin to a fisherman reeling in a fish with all his might, only for the fish to leap from the water, powered by the man’s pull, and crash into his forehead.

Such an unexpected turn of events would leave anyone stunned.

The shadowy hand that had seized Owen hadn’t anticipated capturing its prey so smoothly.

Surprised but undeterred, it prepared to claw at him.

The creature wasn’t large, standing just about thirty centimeters tall, perfectly suited for the low, narrow tunnel.

Despite its small stature, its claws, rising to a menacing ten centimeters, were formidable.

A mere wave of them seemed to ripple the air.

A swipe from those claws could easily rend flesh from bone.

If Owen didn’t turn, his spine was vulnerable; if he did, his abdomen would be exposed.

However, the creature, lacking in intelligence, overlooked a crucial detail: the shorter the creature, the shorter the reach.

Owen, nearly 1.9 meters tall, had legs longer than the creature’s entire body.

His rapid backward kick landed squarely on the beast’s belly.

Before its claws could reach his back, it was sent flying, squealing, seven meters away, crashing harshly against the tunnel wall.

Only then did Owen land, turning around with a cold iron longsword already in hand.

In the dark, gloomy tunnel, the blade gleamed with a chilling, sinister light.

Its sharpness was silent, emitting not a whisper of wind.

The creature, recognizing Owen’s formidable prowess, scrambled to evade, its movements as agile as a mouse darting from a pursuing cat.

Yet, it still felt a chilling, piercing pain at its knee joint.

Everything below the joint had been severed.

It shrieked, the sound akin to a baby’s wail, its high decibels amplified within the cave, causing Owen’s eardrums to throb painfully.

However, this did not hinder Owen’s swift blade.

His first strike was sharp and instinctive, a reactive slash born out of sheer instinct.

The second was deliberate, filled with lethal intent, aimed to annihilate the creature.

Keeping it alive served no purpose; Owen sought a decisive, fatal blow.

The creature, seemingly aware of the danger it faced, ceased its screams and arched backward, disappearing instantly.

Owen’s sword struck the stone wall, embedding itself with a soft thud.

Willow and Brawny, hearing the commotion, hurried back.

"What happened?" Willow asked, her face illuminated by the glowworm in her hand.

"I severed one of its legs," Owen pointed with his sword to the mark on the wall.

"It escaped through here."

"Through here?" Brawny gaped at the wall, incredulous.

"There’s not even a crack."

Any cracks present were created by Owen’s blade.

In this illusionary realm, Owen’s space ring and his Seastar Trident were inaccessible.

However, the principles of weaponry remain universally similar, and Owen’s combat technique with the sword was equally impressive.

"The stone wall seems deeply connected to it. It dove into the wall as effortlessly as a fish leaps into water," Owen mused, using his sword to lift a severed tendril, from which a dark red liquid began to flow profusely.

Willow leaned in closer, a strong scent of blood assaulting her nostrils.

Brawny, not needing to come close to smell the blood, commented in wonder, "Interesting, the walls of the mountain are bleeding."

Owen replied, "The Devourer constructs flesh fortresses; it seems we have entered its territory."

She frowned, speaking firmly, "It could be a River Crossing Demon, not necessarily a Devourer."

The Demon Mother gave birth to nine offspring, but the first eight cannot be called Devourers.

Owen shook his head, "I don’t think it’s a Devourer either. The youngest child of the River Crossing Demon Mother shouldn’t be this foolish."

Brawny, looking at the perfectly simulated environment, couldn’t help but say, "This illusion is so lifelike. Even knowing it’s not real, it still unnerves me. I can’t imagine how desperate those sentinels must have felt upon discovering this."

Owen, with a stern face, gazed at the crevice he had just crawled through, picturing a scene from thousands of years ago.

He envisioned the moment when the last sentinel was crossing the crevice, suddenly feeling a force gripping his leg.

His terrified screams echoed for a brief moment before his comrades, shocked, frantically tried to pull him through.

But by then, the creature had already sunk its claws into his back, and what they dragged through was nothing but a lifeless body.

It was then that the captain of the sentinels realized they had been tricked.

The monster lurking in the mine was beyond their ability to handle, and Abbott had concealed the truth.

But there was no turning back.

If they tried to retreat through the crevice, the creature would be waiting, and in their prone position, they couldn’t reach for their weapons to fight back.

They would be lambs to the slaughter.

Their faces were etched with fear, despair, pain, and anger...

They had no choice but to leave behind their fallen comrade’s body and continue trembling towards the abyss’s depths.

It was their only path to survival.

The images from thousands of years ago faded, and Owen heard Willow’s voice beside him, "What are you thinking about?"

With a slight twist of his mouth, Owen responded indifferently, "Those sentinels must have faced the same situation as us."

They exchanged a glance, the thought alone silencing them for a moment.

Historical records suggested that once the Devourer’s flesh fortress took hold, no news ever escaped from it, implying those sentinels likely perished within the mine.

"Let’s move on. Our mission isn’t complete yet," Owen said, sheathing his sword.

He walked to the crevice, pausing briefly before turning to Willow, "Is this human blood?"

He was referring to the liquid oozing from the vines.

Willow hurried back to the spot, dabbed some of the liquid on her finger, and tasted it thoughtfully.

"It’s somewhat similar, but not entirely."

"What’s the difference?" Owen asked.

"The taste of rust is much stronger, heavier than in normal blood," Willow explained.

"Let’s proceed," Owen gestured towards the crevice.

"I’ll cover our rear again."

This time, they crawled through the fissure without any hindrance.

"At least we can be certain we’re in the right place.

This is indeed the lair of the River Crossing Demon’s offspring," Owen commented, having gotten a clear view of the creature during their brief encounter.

Monkey couldn’t help but whisper anxiously, "Aren’t you being too confident, Owen? What if that creature sneaks up and rips out your heart from behind?"