"Whether we advance or retreat, we need to get moving," Jonathan pulled out his water bottle from his belt and gave it a shake.
"We've prepared enough food and water for this journey, but it'll last us at most three days. We can't stay here indefinitely. We can't replenish food and water underground. We can't starve to death here."
"Let's keep moving forward then," Henry spat on the ground and signaled the group to continue their journey.
The mood among the group was far from as relaxed as before.
Everyone had become quiet.
As they passed through layers of white mist, the mist in front of them swirled, forming creatures made of water.
"Are these water elementals?"
"Damn it, don't tell me it's another illusion?"
Elemental creatures weren't uncommon, so the group of Heroes couldn't help murmuring among themselves.
While they were hesitating, the water elementals formed and charged towards them.
The leading dwarves thought that these water elementals were as harmless as the shadows in the black mist, so they were slow to defend.
With a splash, a water elemental's arm, like a wave, pierced straight through a dwarf's chest.
The fresh blood that splattered wrapped around the water elemental's arm, spreading upward, turning the translucent water elemental into a vivid red.
At the same time, the water elementals lunged over, initiating a bloodbath with the Heroes.
"Fools," Henry cursed at the Heroes who died due to carelessness.
He pulled out his sword and charged at several water elementals.
"Don't panic, everyone! Compared to those persistent shadows, these water elementals are much easier to handle. They may look numerous, but as long as they have physical forms that can be destroyed, we have nothing to fear!"
Henry hacked away, swiftly chopping a water elemental into pieces, turning it into a puff of water vapor that dissipated into the air.
The group of Heroes, wiser after the event, roared in rage and charged into battle.
They were experienced Heroes, well-versed in monster slaying and leveling up.
Though the water elementals appeared numerous, each individual was strong, and they could handle them.
"Attack!"
Magic of various colors exploded, countless swords slashed down, and the Heroes quickly carved out a path.
The strongest rank A Heroes took the lead, responsible for scouting ahead.
"There's a breeze!" Scott's eyes lit up as he pointed to the mist on the right. The rest of the Heroes also felt the warm wind.
In this kind of underground cave, a breeze indicated an exit, which instantly boosted the group's spirits.
Following the direction of the warm wind, the Heroes rapidly advanced.
The mist around them thinned out, and the number of water elementals emerging from it also decreased.
Eventually, they found the exit of the mist.
At the end of the dissipating white mist, a narrow corridor appeared.
At the end of the path, there was a massive cave with light flickering behind it.
"An exit?!" The group was energized, their pace quickening significantly as they headed towards the cave.
Henry quickly shouted, "What's the rush? You eager to die? We're still underground, how could we possibly find the exit so quickly? Use your goddamn brains!"
The few Heroes who were rushing to the front stopped in their tracks, their faces awkward as they fell back.
The group formed a tight defensive formation, cautiously approaching the cave.
The corridor wasn't long, only about a hundred meters, but for the Heroes, this was undoubtedly the most agonizing journey.
No one knew what they were about to face.
They finally reached the mouth of the cave, which was much larger than they had imagined, standing about eight meters high, like the gaping maw of a monster.
"Hold on, let me scout ahead," Scott called out, moving to the edge of the cave.
He quietly began to chant a cryptic incantation, summoning a pitch-black raven that slowly materialized in front of him.
Pointing towards the cave, Scott gave the raven a command.
The bird flapped its wings, flew into the cave, and returned a few minutes later, landing on Scott's shoulder.
Scott breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "Good news, there's nothing dangerous in the cave. We can go in now."
The group cautiously entered the cave.
Several mage Heroes simultaneously cast Lumos spells, and the white light quickly illuminated the cave.
Despite being a volcano outside, the cave was surprisingly damp, with plenty of moss growing on the walls.
They followed the damp path for a while until they came across a downhill slope.
They descended, walking a considerable distance.
After a sharp turn around a rock wall, the view ahead suddenly opened up.
Behind the cave, there was a wide-open space filled with countless corpses, easily several hundred.
A few brave dwarves took advantage of the Lumos light to get a closer look and instantly turned pale.
"Heroes... it's the previous quest team!"
The bodies lying on the ground were rotting at different stages, but from their gear, they had all been members of the Heroes, part of the team that had disappeared underground.
Crack... crack...
A strange noise rang out.
It seemed as if sensing the presence of the living, the bodies on the ground started to get up awkwardly, lunging towards the Heroes.
"Cut them down!" Henry was the first to react.
His sword gleamed coldly as it struck the three closest bodies.
There was no time to consider respect for the dead.
The Heroes around him sprang into action, chopping off several zombie heads.
Jonathan and the dwarves were not slow to react either, charging into the horde.
For a moment, severed limbs and heads flew everywhere.
The zombies, transformed from deceased Heroes, had only about half of their former abilities, posing no real threat to this elite squad.
The group quickly cleaned up the zombies on the open ground.
Scott pulled back the clothing of one of the corpses and promptly took out a dagger, starting to dissect it right then and there.
Most of the Heroes from Dark Core followed suit, dissecting several corpses in their vicinity.
An intense stench permeated the air, with yellowish corpse fluid and squirming maggots visible amidst the flesh.
This sight repelled all the other Heroes, but the folks from Dark Core seemed unphased.
Even the stoic Henry subtly distanced himself from this strange bunch from Dark Core.
After meticulously dissecting several bodies, Scott slowly said, "Most of the bodies don't have any external injuries. From the dissection, we can conclude that they died from asphyxiation..."
His gaze wandered towards the exit at the other end of the open space, contemplation etched on his face.
"We can continue forward or not, that's up to you guys. The Elemental Lord beneath here is tougher than we imagined. We probably won't even have a chance to fight him face to face, we could die down here instead."
Advancing could lead to mysterious suffocation.
Retreating, on the other hand, would result in getting lost in the illusion, leading to death once food and water were depleted.
"Is this what a Rank S quest is like? Next time, I swear I'm not taking it."
"Damn it, I did take Sean's money, but looking at it now, it's likely I'll earn but won't live to spend it."
"Damn, I wanted to save up to buy new equipment. I kept all my money in the bank. If I knew, I would have had a grand time in the brothel, spending lavishly before joining this quest."
"I... I don't want to die..."
In an instant, the atmosphere turned depressing.
The confined space was filled with curses and cries.
Listening to the uproar, Henry cursed under his breath and bellowed, "What the hell are you all wailing for? We're doomed either way. Instead of dying without putting up a fight, let's risk it all. We took on a quest, dying without even meeting the main antagonist is just pathetic."
"Damn this Elemental Lord, even if I die, I'm going to land a hit on him."
"Let's do this!"
"No matter what's behind the Elemental Lord, I've never backed down!"
"Live free or die, there might still be a chance if we fight!"
The Heroes cursed and roared, once again advancing forward as a unit.
They continued on the path, and the spacious cavern gradually narrowed ahead.
Eventually, it became a narrow path that only allowed one person to pass.
At the end of the path, they came across a stone door.
"A door? Who has the luxury of building a door underground?"
"Damn it, this path is so narrow. It feels like we're lining up for our execution."
"Shut your trap!"
The path was so narrow that if a trap was triggered, everyone present was as good as dead.
Their fears came true.
After proceeding a bit further, a terrifying creaking sound suddenly echoed from the end of the path.
The stone door opened abruptly, releasing a dense white mist...
"Retreat!" Scott was the first to yell, but trapped in the narrow path, he couldn't move.
Panicked, he cast a levitation spell on himself, lifting him into the air.
Not long after, he suddenly dropped back down, clutching his throat and gasping for air.
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