Chapter 57

"Rustle... Rustle... Rustle..."

The sound of metal armor rubbing against each other came from all directions. The enclosed and winding passages of the underground palace made the sound echo continuously, making it impossible to determine the position and number of the enemies. Hao Ren and his two companions fought and retreated under the pursuit of countless undead knights. They had been running through the vast underground passages for over ten minutes but still hadn't seen any exit to the surface. If it weren't for the data terminal's firm assurance that their route was correct, Hao Ren would have felt that they might be trapped and die in such a place.

Humans are a very strange species. Sometimes they are so weak as to be astonishing, but some can burst with infinite strength in dire situations—Hao Ren thought the "infinite" part was a bit exaggerated, as he was already panting like a dog after all this exertion. However, he did indeed burst with more courage and brute force in this dire situation. Normally a mild-mannered citizen, he now faced the swarm of undead without fear, even becoming more courageous as the battle continued. Although the undead wielded swords and spears, they were likely just recently awakened, so their movements were slow and their minds not very sharp. They just held their weapons and ran forward, seemingly forgetting how to use them. Hao Ren, with his quick reflexes, could kick the iron-clad cans near him away, and apart from sore legs, he hadn't been seriously injured yet.

He felt his fighting spirit was unprecedented, but it was clearly not on par with the true outliers in the group: Lily, relying on her genuine brute strength, charged at the forefront of the trio, still swinging the "warhammer" she had from the beginning. One of the undead knights must have had terrible luck, as it was smashed from the tomb to the tunnel and then from the tunnel to the next tomb, being knocked down hundreds of times, now broken and mangled like a pile of flattened scrap metal, long since ceasing to struggle...

"How much further?!" Vivian was the most elegant and least stressed of the three. The high-level vampire's combat experience and diverse blood magic finally came into play when facing a horde of enemies. She flew near the ceiling of the underground palace, using a continuous stream of cold shockwaves and blood blades to kill enemies from several meters away (any further and she might collapse the entire palace). The path behind her was littered with enemies cut to pieces or frozen into ice chips, and deep scratches on the walls of the palace. But like Hao Ren, she was also frustrated, as this environment made her feel that her great abilities were useless, "Is your radar reliable? This is so frustrating, I can only fly a meter... Oh, I hit my head again!"

All the injuries Vivian had sustained so far were from flying too high and hitting the ceiling.

"Halfway there!" Hao Ren was exasperated, "We ran too fast and took a wrong turn earlier, now we have to go through the center of the underground palace. Lily, pay attention to the direction!"

But the only response from Hao Ren was a muffled roar: after such prolonged combat, Lily seemed to have lost her mind a bit.

"Is she losing her sanity?" Hao Ren, seeing Lily's condition, became somewhat worried, "Werewolves are prone to losing their minds."

"Don't worry, I saw her pull a bread roll from her pocket and eat it while running. She won't go berserk with that."

The tunnel reached another end, and a large hall appeared ahead. Hao Ren prayed it wouldn't be another tomb, or else the number of undead knights around him would multiply, and he wouldn't know if he could hold on. Fortunately, his prayer was answered this time. When the three rushed into the hall, they saw an empty space, with no wandering undead knights or coffins that made their hearts tremble.

"Seal the passage!" Hao Ren dodged a heavy shield knight charging at him (he didn't have the strength to kick it five meters away anymore), and leaped... well, more like rolled and crawled into the hall, then called out to Vivian in the air.

The vampire girl had already prepared a powerful spell. When the three were all inside the hall, her body suddenly disintegrated into a large swarm of bats. The bats split into two groups, forming two conical vortices in the air, with the tips pointing at the tunnel entrance. With a piercing sound, bright blue lightning rapidly gathered in front of the two vortices. After two seconds of charging, the two groups of bats rushed toward the stone door of the hall. A thunderous explosion followed, and the entire door, along with half of the tunnel behind it, was blown apart by the lightning-like impact.

The explosion echoed throughout the hall and the entire underground palace, and countless sand and rocks fell from the ceiling. Hao Ren covered his head and shouted, "Is this place going to collapse?!"

Vivian's voice came from all directions, "Don't worry, I controlled the force!"

The swarm of bats, scattered by the explosion, quickly reformed into Vivian's shape. She jumped down from the air, looking proud, "Finally found a spacious place to use my big move—wasn't that impressive? After consulting with Faraday, I turned the lightning strike into a two-pole attack..."

Hao Ren: "..."

Although the pursuing enemies had been cut off, the three were not completely safe. Along with Vivian and Lily, a few more agile sword knights had also rushed in. These iron-clad cans seemed to be becoming more flexible and "smart" after the warm-up. They had taken cover in the corners during the explosion and were now wobbling to their feet, raising their swords and charging at the intruders.

"How many people are buried in this underground palace?" Hao Ren panted, "The last lord of Jofurde wouldn't have buried his entire army down here, right? Is this the English version of Qin Shi Huang and his terracotta army?"

"Do you know why, despite fighting for so long, their numbers haven't decreased?" Vivian suddenly understood the secret of these knight cans, pointing to a sword knight that Lily had just knocked away, "This is how you can't kill them!"

The sword knight, knocked away by Lily's brute force, crashed into the wall of the underground palace and shattered into pieces. The components of the full-body armor, such as arm guards, leg guards, chest armor, and helmet, scattered on the ground. However, a few seconds later, these metal parts reassembled with a clattering sound, and a nearly intact undead knight recharged at the intruders!

"These things are hollow inside?" Hao Ren, who hadn't had the chance to examine them closely before, finally noticed the astonishing scene, "We're fighting a bunch of armors?"

"They are soul-possessed armors, high-quality ones," Vivian sent out a cold storm, finally turning the last few "hollow knights" into dust. Armors shattered like this couldn't be resurrected, "Unless you crush them to pieces or disassemble them several times, you can't kill them. And here underground, they resurrect very quickly."

Lily finally returned to her normal state. She looked at her "warhammer," which was now completely dead and only had one leg left. She shook the leg armor, "It's really hollow inside... I wasted my effort? If I had known, I would have used more force, thinking that once it was disassembled, it would be over."

"This... is the magic of a monster hunter?" Hao Ren approached Lily, cautiously poking the empty section of the armor, "There's a soul inside?"

"Now it's gone. The soul is naturally released when the armor is shattered," Vivian's tone was quite dismissive, "They were all fanatics in life, voluntarily sacrificed to become such armors, given the noble name of 'heroes' by their descendants, but in reality, they are just another form of vengeful spirits. Their grudges are no different from those of ordinary vengeful spirits. Don't be too surprised; there are many more magical things than this. Can you be surprised by everything?"

Hao Ren chuckled, then noticed the surroundings were unusually quiet, "Strange, there seem to be no more enemies ahead?"

The entire hall was quiet, and the sound of the metal armor rubbing against each other was no longer heard.