Explosions echoed through the passage as Sol and Amber raced around the corner. Sol had switched from holding his Lipon to his bow, which suited the situation better, and used [Guided Bombardment] again, launching hundreds of arrows that curved around the passage, causing even more explosions.
From the dust clouds created by the exploding arrows, six Tomb Hulks burst forth, followed by over 20 Laughing Skulls and Nether Wraiths. The other two Zomest that hadn't slipped away had already been killed by Sol and Amber, along with 15 other undead, using a variety of methods at their disposal. Although no new Zomest appeared, more undead joined or ambushed them, adding to the slowly growing group of pursuers. If not for the fact that they had culled a decent chunk of the forces and targeted those with agility or enhancing type incomplete law techniques first, they would likely have been caught by now.
The [Guided Bombardment] did little in the way of slaying or even significantly slowing down the pursuing undead, but it did injure a few. The injuries weren't obvious, but some of the undead were defeated due to the continuous attacks wearing them down.
"[Tailwind]!"
After reapplying the wind magic that made them just slightly faster, Sol consulted the map of the floor he had ingrained in his mind and turned to Amber. "We're almost there! Be ready for anything!"
She nodded, sending sand spears and distorted slashes behind her, forcing one of the Hulks to enlarge and brace itself to block for those behind it. Sand spears pierced its body, and multiple cuts appeared on its skin, but no blood was drawn—it had none to begin with. The Hulk continued charging forward, being used as a meat shield as Laughing Skulls rained spells down on the duo from behind its cover. The black flames collided with the sand spears and a few distorted slashes, as the distortions were only effective if there wasn't anything between her and her target. The remaining flames headed toward the duo, but Sol called upon two magic hands to combine the green and indigo chroma, forming a reinforced barrier that briefly endured the attacks before breaking.
By the time the barrier broke and the rest of the black flames landed where they had been, the two were already gone, having turned to the next passage.
Sol chugged another potion as his mana dipped to just below half. He knew there would definitely be some sort of opposition at the stairs after being consecutively ambushed around corners. They were only six passages away from reaching the stairs, which they could cover in no time at all, and once they went down the stairs, they were basically home free. As for the possibility of being chased down the stairs? He had considered it and knew it wouldn't be a problem.
'Though it's known that monsters never touch the stairs, with how many "nevers" have been happening, I wouldn't put it past them to follow us down. But in case they do, we can just take the door to fight the boss immediately, use the Tynamo Cannon, kill it instantly, and take the teleport sigil to leave,' Sol thought to himself as he created stone spikes to rise from the ground and fall from the ceiling, crushing the undead pursuing them. A Laughing Skull and a Nether Wraith were unable to dodge the sudden attack. Already wounded, the spikes pierced through them, ending their existences.
[You have slain a Lv 126 Laughing Skull! Gained 134,348,526 Exp (460%)]
[You have slain a Lv 126 Nether Wraith! Gained 134,348,526 Exp (460%)]
Sol was pleasantly surprised. 'Two at once? Nice!'
In that brief moment of celebration, he failed to notice the blur coming from ahead, blazing straight toward them. Massive bronze claws flashed as they swiped forward, aiming for Sol's head. Before the claws could land, Sol was suddenly shoved to the side.
"Woah!" Sol yelled in surprise as he was pushed with enough force that it sent him flying toward the wall. He looked at Amber, who now stood where he had been, the claws slashing through her, spraying sand everywhere.
When Sol landed against the wall, he used [Terra Manipulation] to keep himself latched onto it. He saw what had attacked them this time. It was something he could only describe as a true monster—a scale-covered panther with two different heads, the main one resembling a drake while the one sprouting from its back appeared like turtle's. Aside from that it also had massive bat like wings folded on its sides and long bronze claws on each of its legs. It was an amalgamation of different creatures, some of which he could recognize, and others he had never seen before.
Name: N/A
Race: Variant Zombeast
Talents: [True Zombeast], [Apex Predator], [Death Stalker]
Level: 130
Sol immediately identified what it was. 'A Zombeast like the ones Zomest can summon! But I thought they could only create a creature by combining two animals—this is clearly much more!'
As he came to the conclusion that it was the result of an incomplete law technique, the Zombeast crouched and, with its long, spring like legs, launched itself toward Sol with frightening speed. It completely ignored the reforming Amber and went directly for Sol. This time, he saw it coming and preemptively merged into the wall with [Shadow Body].
SHLING!
A clean cutting sound was heard as the wall Sol hid in collapsed like paper, revealing another passage behind it. The wall, which became stronger the further down one went into the dungeon and which even the regular monsters of the floor couldn't easily break, was easily decimated by the creature.
Sol appeared next to Amber, rising from her shadow just as she fully reformed. Needing to act quickly before the rest of the undead army caught up, Sol pulled out the Tynamo Cannon and shot it at full power at the Zombeast.
As if anticipating his attack, the Zombeast blurred as it leaped upward, completely evading the beam that traveled back toward the incoming group of undead, piercing straight through the leading Hulk and those behind it.
[You have slain a Lv 126 Tomb Hulk! Gained 134,348,526 Exp (460%)]
[You have slain a Lv 126 Nether Wraith! Gained 134,348,526 Exp (460%)]
[You have slain a Lv 126 Laughing Skull! Gained 134,348,526 Exp (460%)]
[You have slain a Lv 126 Nether Wraith! Gained 134,348,526 Exp (460%)]
Despite the numerous kills, Sol wasn't relieved. He watched as the Zombeast clung to the ceiling, staring down at them mockingly. The creature's turtle head opened its mouth, and instead of some roar, spell or breath attack, it actually spoke.
"Is that all you got, thieves?"