"There's no air above us..."
"Fog is coming from the back!" A hero from the rear cried out.
White mist began to spread from where they came from, completely blocking their retreat.
"Charge, break through!" Jonathan, at the forefront, quickly grasped the situation.
The stone door ahead was likely their only escape route.
He pushed the hero in front of him aside, jumped over a few heroes, and dashed towards the engulfing white mist.
Just a few steps in, he toppled over.
"Air... can't... breathe..." Jonathan managed to get out in between gasps.
His face turned bright red as he clutched at his throat.
"Brother Hao, I'm coming to save you." A girl in a white dress rushed out to help, but she too fell within a few steps into the white mist.
Meanwhile, from the rear of the squad, came the sounds of bodies hitting the ground.
One by one, the heroes collapsed.
This contraption, which extracted the oxygen from the air, nearly wiped out their whole squad.
"Dammit, I'm not dying like this!" Henry roared.
He took a deep breath, held it in, and charged forward.
He darted past his teammates, straight into the white mist, continuing forward.
The distance to the stone door seemed short, but now it felt like a chasm.
Henry's steps grew heavier, and his limbs felt as if they were weighted down.
The white mist was not only suffocating but seemed to intensify gravity as well.
After a few steps, Henry found he could no longer move.
The breath he was holding in was at its limit.
"Cough...cough..." Unable to hold his breath any longer, Henry tried to take a breath, but the misty air made him feel worse...
With a lack of oxygen, his vision blurred.
Time was ticking away; these might be his last few moments in this world.
Suddenly, a strong surge of magical energy emerged.
Henry turned his head to see the dark-skinned man, who had joined their team last, standing on a slowly appearing magical circle.
He disappeared, reappearing next to the stone door.
His hand shone with a terrifying lightning, which he used to smack the air in front of him.
A sound like shattering glass rang out, and the space in front of him broke apart.
There was no stone door at the end of the passage; it was a spacious cavern.
In the middle of the cavern stood two enormous elements.
One was a white figure composed of various gases, like an inflated balloon, while the other was an oval black crystal creature, resembling a roly-poly toy.
"Air element, gravity element..." Scott muttered from a distance, "Kill them! Defeat them and we're free!"
The white mist pervading the air was coming out of the mouth of the air element, while the gravity element emitted a distorted light.
An invisible force field, centered around it, enveloped everyone.
Before Scott could instruct further, Ethan made his move.
Lightning crackled in his hand as he hurled a thunderbolt, piercing the air element.
Electric arcs flickered inside the air element, causing it to expand rapidly.
More than half of its body dissipated into a thin mist.
Unable to maintain its form, the air element was forced to stop releasing the white mist.
With the fog dissipated, the heroes began to gasp for air, like drowning fish.
They never thought breathing could feel so wonderful.
Ethan leapt, drawing the longsword from his waist.
He dashed towards the gravity element, but an intense gravitational force made him stumble.
He stepped into the ground, creating a huge pit; his entire lower leg was buried in the rock.
For an average human, this would have meant a broken leg.
"Only long-range magic attacks can combat the Gravity Elemental. I've got your back!"
Scott hurriedly shouted, summoning a deep green fireball above his head and launched it towards the distant Gravity Elemental.
Suddenly, a flurry of white mist swept in, instantly enveloping Scott's fireball.
The Air Elemental had regained its form and blocked Scott's strike.
Ethan, disguised as a middle-aged man, remained expressionless.
With a vigorous thrust of his left foot, his draconic physique and horrifying strength allowed him to leap within the Gravity Elemental's force field.
With his sword in hand, he drove it directly into the Gravity Elemental.
A shattering sound echoed as the place Ethan hit spread with countless fractures.
The Gravity Elemental released a harsh grinding noise, its released force field immediately shrank, concentrating on Ethan.
The terrifying force field twisted the surrounding space, crushing Ethan into the ground.
Even as a dragon, this terrible gravity made it impossible for Ethan to move.
His eyes slowly turned into golden vertical pupils, and golden scales appeared under his clothing, a terrifying aura radiating from his body.
The grinding sound from the Gravity Elemental grew more piercing, like a loud roar.
It sensed the threat to its life, forming multiple force fields above Ethan and bringing them crashing down again and again, driving Ethan nearly ten meters into the ground.
Gripping his sword, scales began to surface on Ethan's right hand.
Just as he was about to finish the Gravity Elemental, a roar came from behind.
"I've got you covered!"
Henry bellowed, leaping over the pit Ethan had smashed into, and his sword struck the Gravity Elemental. Shattered into countless pieces, the black crystal shards sparked everywhere.
Its force field had to split attention between Ethan and Henry, easing the pressure on Ethan significantly.
With a leap, Ethan's sword glowed coldly, shattering the Gravity Elemental into a multitude of crystal dust.
Upon the death of the Gravity Elemental, the nearby Air Elemental let out a low howl, its body rapidly expanding to fill the entire space.
"It's going to self-destruct!" Scott shouted, not holding back anymore.
A dark portal appeared behind the Air Elemental.
Slowly opening, a sturdy arm stretched out from the portal, grabbing the Air Elemental and started dragging it in. "Get it in there!"
Scott's shrill scream rang out, desperately.
Everyone understood the severity; if the Air Elemental successfully self-destructed, no one would survive.
Jonathan, who had just recovered, got up from the ground, his sword radiating countless rays of light, pushing the swelling Air Elemental several meters away.
The Heroes released their abilities simultaneously.
Terrifying blasts echoed, as the Air Elemental was gradually pushed back, finally forced into the dark portal by the group.
With a bang, the portal slowly closed, followed by a series of intense explosions, shaking the portal violently.
Having narrowly escaped death, many collapsed on the ground, gasping for air.
"Thanks, brother," Henry slapped Ethan's shoulder, his face showing some lingering fear.
If Ethan hadn't acted, they would all be done for.
Jonathan also gave Ethan a respectful nod, expressing his thanks.
Even the white-dressed girl who had been mocking Ethan before muttered her thanks.
"Ah...."
Suddenly, a mournful howl echoed.
Everyone quickly turned to see Scott curled up on the ground, groaning in pain.
Dense black veins suddenly appeared on his body, looking extremely unsettling.
Several Heroes from the Dark Core hurried over, encircling Scott.
One of them quickly pulled out a sheepskin water pouch, opened it, and poured its contents into Scott's mouth.
However, it wasn't water that was being poured, but blood, bright red in color.
Scott gulped down the blood, the black veins on his face gradually disappearing.
It was only after draining two pouches of blood that Scott's condition finally stabilized.
Everyone present distanced themselves further from the Dark Core group.
The eerie black gate, the gigantic arm, and Scott drinking fresh blood - everything about this group was bizarre...
Scott glanced at the Heroes, his expression not showing any significant change.
He wiped the blood from his lips, calmly saying, "In the pursuit of power, we must pay a price, don't we?"
His gaze swept across the Heroes, finally landing on Ethan.
A grin spread across his face. With the remnants of blood between his teeth, his smile seemed chilling.
"Compared to us, you should actually be more afraid of this guy." Scott's words left everyone somewhat puzzled, but he didn't elaborate.
After resting for a while, the group continued on their way.
This chapter is updated by freew(e)bnovel.(c)om