Chapter 140: Tiefling vs. Enemy

Rod had said before that the closer the monsters were to the cave entrance, the closer they were to what could be called "normal creatures."

It was as if it were not the dungeon that was mutating the creatures, but our world assimilating the things inside into the creatures of the continent.

The two of them had idly chatted about this topic last time.

Falshad was quite in agreement with this as well.

"There is a faction of people who believe that dungeons are actually entrances connecting other dimensions to the continent. From that, one can infer that these monsters were once cosmic creatures, and we generally believe that other dimensions are filled with spiritual energy and aether, which is entirely different from the spirituality on the continent."

He lectured the two tiefling students as he walked into the stone door.

"So, after these cosmic creatures came into contact with the spirituality in the air, they began to transform toward continental creatures?"

The girl tiefling, Sashiel, said.

"You can understand it that way."

Rod raised a question at this moment:

"But on the actual continent, quite a few cosmic creatures have appeared that were not 'assimilated,' such as the most common Dreadbeasts."

The style inside and outside the stone door differed greatly.

Outside was a rough dirt path like a mine tunnel, with only simple wooden strips and frames fixed to the cave walls to prevent collapse.

And inside the stone door was a prototype space modified by 【Tu Mu Fa】.

The walls were tamped down and reinforced with rock, looking just like an unconventional mage's research room.

Only the furnishings here looked like something a primitive would use—no tables or chairs—with heaps of objects piled in the corners like junk.

"Yes, this is a major flaw in that theory. In the end, it's a conjecture based on assumptions, with no evidence to support it."

Falshad and Prula used Brighten together, illuminating the entire space.

The two of them, true to their passionate affair, exchanged a smile after successfully casting the spell together.

Rod couldn't bear to watch.

He turned his attention to observing the surroundings instead.

After a sweeping glance, he discovered at the other end of the space another stone door, though it was tightly shut at this moment.

He saw the two mages rummaging through this pile of ruins.

Mages are like that.

When they see something novel, even a garbage heap is worth rummaging through.

Rod simply found a rock and sat down.

Tally sat in his lap, her cheek resting on his shoulder, nuzzling his neck with her nose, like a kitten.

"That tiefling girl keeps sneaking peeks at you."

"There are way too many girls sneaking peeks at me."

Rod was unbothered.

It wasn't bragging; in Shi Ying Town alone, plenty of young girls and young wives looked forward to him coming into town to buy supplies.

"So are you going to eat her? Honestly, in my mother's inherited memories, there's nothing about tieflings."

"You know me, I like being passive."

"Really? Then who was it last night that used my tail to tie me up the whole time?"

"."

Fair enough.

It wasn't that he didn't want to.

This Sashiel was quite good-looking, with a bit of a tomboyish style, but the sulfur smell on her really did affect the experience a bit.

Besides, she was Falshad's student. The two of them were separated by a generational gap, so making the first move would be a bit inappropriate.

After all, Rod had always considered himself a decent person.

Sensing Rod's gaze.

Sashiel generously waved at him, flashing a bright, sunny smile.

Her tail behind her was also swaying unsteadily in midair.

Unlike a succubus's, her tail was very short, only about a meter long, with a certain thickness, and didn't look adept at moving.

Hmm... it should be possible to lift it up into midair...

"Huh?"

Over there.

The tiefling Prula let out an exclamation.

His 【Mage Hand】 was opening a notebook whose cover was covered in grime, which was, surprisingly, a spell notebook commonly used by mages on the continent.

Falshad input a wisp of magical power.

The 【Dust-Cleaning Spell】 built into the notebook immediately activated, and after a flash of light, it became spotlessly clean.

"This is a detailed explanation of introductory spells—basic and easy to learn. As luck would have it, all the spells that just appeared are recorded in this notebook."

After a brief read, the elf gave an answer with an unpleasant expression.

"You mean the seventh-tier monster inside learned spells?" Sashiel said.

Prula, meanwhile, said: "Someone is teaching it spells?"

"I lean more toward it having inadvertently collected this spell notebook and taught itself. I can't imagine any mage actually teaching a monster how to use spells."

Rod couldn't help but chuckle.

Isn't that exactly what you mages are doing?

The Wingcrystal boy, Siti, thought for a moment and said:

"But it's been nearly twenty years since any mage has perished here."

"Someone might have lost it."

Tally was more whimsical. She laughed and said, "Maybe this demon nest has another entrance."

Rod pushed her away from his embrace and stood up.

"Regardless, let's take that thing down first. Look, here it comes."

He pointed toward the stone gate on the other side.

A muffled yet hurried set of footsteps—thud thud thud—came rushing straight over.

The next moment—

Boom!

The stone gate was smashed open violently.

A massive demon appeared, letting out a soundless roar at them.

Its two hind legs were covered in brown flesh-warts, piled into two little mounds of flesh, pressed together like a giant skirt of meat.

Its forelimbs were slender, elongated scythe-claws, and they gripped long bar-shaped crystals whose densely packed, vertically bristling scales were enough to trigger trypophobia.

Its eyeballs had completely fallen off its face, dangling in the air on flesh-colored tentacles along with two mouthparts.

Just like the seventh-tier demon they'd encountered before.

The difference was—

This fellow raised its hand and instantly fired off several fireballs.

Farshad gathered a white magical shield to block for Saehiel at the very front.

But in truth, tieflings have quite high fire resistance—they weren't afraid at all.

Rod simply couldn't be bothered to dodge and tanked it with his body.

He casually patted out the sparks on his clothes.

He didn't plan to strike this early.

Whether Farshad or the two tieflings, they all needed the chance and experience of cooperating against a strong foe.

Over there—

Farshad raised his hand and cast, and after a complex incantation, several strands of magical thread burrowed into Saehiel's body.

【Heroism】 【Protection from Evil】 【Stone Skin】 【Cat's Grace】 【Toughness】

Unlike Lady Kali.

He walked the support path.

With all kinds of buffing spells layered on, the light around Saehiel's body flared brilliantly.

Her skin turned red as 【Burning Flame】 was instantly layered onto her body surface.

"Hah!"

Saehiel slammed hard into the seventh-tier demon, and with the buffs empowering her, she weaved and dodged, striking a balance between evasion and attack.

And she must have some kind of taunt skill, keeping the demon's aggro locked on her the whole time.

So that Prula on the side could gather magic power for a full thirty seconds.

The density of shadow energy reached its peak, forming a small shadow vortex swirling around him.

At the same time, the demon horn on his forehead radiated waves of searing heat.

【Shadow Flame】!

He suddenly opened his eyes wide and swept both hands forward.

Accompanied by a deafening roar, a blossom of shadow laced with blazing fire burst apart in an instant, releasing devastating magic power mixed with shadow and flame.

The spell struck the head dead-on.

The demon let out a shrill, wretched shriek.

A puff of green blood-mist burst open.

"Oh ho, a dual-cast combo?"

Rod had heard Lili mention this—a high-level technique for mages—and here a mere fifth-tier tiefling had pulled it off.

(End of Chapter)