Chapter 34: Help
"Old man, let my Life Clone go in and accompany them. It can’t fight, but it can help the earth controller escorting the children by instantly restoring his energy at all times. That way, the escape route will progress much faster, and he can easily seal the tunnels behind them," Mateo said to the old barbarian, who looked utterly shocked.
How could Mateo possibly understand their escape plan?
This was indeed something the Barbarian Tribe could accomplish because they could control earth.
However, it couldn’t be done quickly since it required constant energy recovery.
If they wanted to speed up their escape, they needed someone capable of restoring energy.
Mateo simply didn’t want to act personally because he didn’t want the Baron to notice his disappearance.
"Boy, how can I trust an outsider like you?" the old barbarian asked suspiciously.
"If I had bad intentions, I would’ve already told the others. I genuinely don’t want this to happen," Mateo replied with a sigh.
He realized there was no way this old barbarian would trust him easily.
How was he supposed to convince him?
Unfortunately, this wasn’t his specialty.
He was just a village boy who had recently started attending college in the city.
"Old man, if I truly had ill intentions, I could simply force my way through. Honestly, I don’t think you’re my opponent at all," he said.
"That makes sense," the old barbarian suddenly replied, though he still kept his bow aimed at Mateo.
"In that case, you must have an even bigger plan. But don’t think you control everything. I can call for help. Every member of my tribe will rush here the moment they see my signal."
Mateo, "..."
Shua!
He finally released a small amount of flame that engulfed the old man’s bow.
There was no heat at all, yet the bow instantly turned to ashes.
"You—!"
The old man was stunned.
Mateo immediately shoved him to the ground.
At the same time, his Life Clone acted swiftly, opening the underground hatch that hadn’t yet been fully concealed.
A tunnel was revealed beneath it.
It had no concrete reinforcement along its walls.
It looked as though it had been created entirely through earth manipulation.
The passage sloped downward, suggesting that anyone traveling through it would be led deep underground.
The Life Clone jumped inside immediately before closing the hatch.
Once it closed, there was no light source except a faint glow in the distance.
Although dim, it was clearly visible.
The light came from a Light Crystal.
Mateo instantly knew it was probably the group of children.
He ran toward it as quickly as possible, feeling no discomfort moving in his Life Clone body.
Inside the tunnel, he noticed small black stones embedded throughout the earth.
Strangely, they remained visible even in the darkness when viewed up close.
What he sensed from those black stones was hidden power.
He immediately suspected that this was what the Baron wanted to mine.
"Stop!"
A loud shout echoed as he approached.
"I am a mercenary hired by your tribal chief to help restore your energy," Mateo replied, speaking through this clone for the first time.
His voice sounded exactly the same.
Rather than trying to explain his sincerity, it was easier to provide a reasonable explanation from the start.
Buzz!
The light grew brighter, clearly revealing a man in his thirties holding a Light Crystal.
Behind him were more than fifty children, all under the age of ten.
Some were still infants.
The man appeared to be a formidable physical fighter.
Behind the children stood another man in his thirties.
A brown aura filled with countless particles of earth surrounded him, showing that he was an extremely skilled earth-element controller.
Everyone remained vigilant.
However, they were all shocked and bewildered when they finally saw that the newcomer was a green humanoid figure that didn’t seem entirely human.
"Who... who are you?" the man in front asked as he pointed his greatsword at Mateo.
Mateo sighed.
"I can’t fight. I can only restore your energy," he said.
After speaking, he released Boundless Life Domain.
Green light radiated from him and enveloped every barbarian present.
He intentionally limited its size.
None of them could avoid it because the Domain appeared too quickly.
Yet after entering it, they were shocked once again.
"My Spiritual Energy recovered!" the man behind exclaimed.
"Stop asking questions and keep moving. Seal the tunnel behind us and open a deeper path ahead," Mateo said.
Meanwhile, the original Mateo was still restraining the old barbarian.
The old man turned out to be stronger than expected.
He was capable of pushing Mateo hard enough to slam him into the ceiling.
However, after realizing his bow had been destroyed, he seemed uncertain about how to continue attacking.
"Old man, my clone and the others are already moving quickly!" Mateo shouted.
"Look for yourself. They’ve already sealed the path behind them."
Hearing that, the old barbarian immediately opened the underground hatch.
As a result, no tunnel was visible anymore.
It had already been sealed.
"Y-You’re really helping us?" he asked, still unable to believe it.
"You should leave now," Mateo replied before jumping out through the window.
In the short time that had passed, he saw even more Magi entering the village.
Some weren’t even fighting.
They were simply breaking into houses in search of valuables.
Shua!
The old barbarian also jumped out through the window.
When he saw the increasing number of Magi flooding the village, rage filled his face.
"You all deserve to die!"
Suddenly, he roared and charged into a group of Magi that included Lucas and his companions.
Mateo was too late to stop him.
However, he realized something as he watched the old man’s actions.
The old barbarian genuinely wanted to die.
Boom!
Without warning, he exploded.
His body transformed into countless massive stones that slammed into Lucas and the others.
Self-destruction.
Ever since becoming a Magus, Mateo had learned that such a thing was possible.
It sacrificed one’s entire life force to generate immense energy and convert it into destructive power.
The result was devastating.
Even Lucas was violently blasted away by the stones, crashing in front of Mateo with a broken, bleeding nose.
"Damn it!"
Lucas immediately got back up.
His expression worsened when he noticed Mateo standing right beside him.
"You all... die!"
Suddenly, Mateo saw the greatsword-wielding barbarian youth again.
He was still alive.
His body was covered in wounds, yet he seemed even fiercer than before.
After losing all his life-type abilities, Mateo felt that combat had become significantly more dangerous.
He immediately chose to retreat.
As a result, Lucas had no choice but to face the barbarian youth himself.
Mateo continued avoiding battle whenever possible.
He hid inside empty houses and only emerged when the situation became calmer.
Meanwhile, his Life Clone advanced rapidly as the tunnel continued extending forward.
They truly descended deep underground.
Mateo had no idea how long they traveled.
However, it seemed they weren’t moving without purpose.
After more than two hours, the earth controller at the front finally began creating a tunnel upward.
This was easier for him.
Digging downward was actually much harder, as the soil deep underground was far denser and tougher.
