Chapter 51: The Tunnel Battle!
Author’s note: I apologise for the slight delay; I had some work to do, and as soon as I’d finished it, I came straight over.
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"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"
Gilont was cursing at the top of his lungs as he fled with every ounce of speed he possessed. Despair filled his heart, and he felt as though he was on the verge of complete psychological collapse. Everything was over. His patience, his plans, his sacrifices, everything he had built over the past days — shattered in a single moment.
Of course, he had known from the beginning that his plan was not guaranteed to succeed. That human Lord had held many trump cards, and Gilont had been well aware of the possibility of being discovered before the ambush could be executed. But despite preparing himself for that possibility, he couldn't stop himself from falling apart when it actually happened.
Even so, he hadn't given up entirely.
As long as he could reach the protective barrier, there would still be a chance to survive.
---
At the same time on the surface, the moment Ibla heard her Lord's order, she responded instantly:
"Yes, master!"
Then she surged forward, digging diagonally toward the discovered tunnel. She needed no additional guidance — she could clearly sense the movement of the enemies underground, which gave her a direct path toward her target.
The speed of a Rare-tier monster specialized in burrowing was nothing to be underestimated. She moved like a laser beam piercing through the earth, leaving behind a wide tunnel sufficient for whoever followed to pass through.
And the moment she disappeared into the soil, the others rushed in after her without hesitation.
But many of their faces went pale soon enough when they realized that Kaiden himself was running with them into the depths of the earth.
"My lord, this is far too dangerous. Leave this to us."
Golan was the closest to Kaiden among all of them, so he took it upon himself to speak without slowing his pace.
"This is not the time for argument. Don't worry — I'm strong enough. And if you have energy to spare for talking, invest it in running."
Kaiden replied in a voice that sounded confident and steady. But in truth, he was putting on a good performance — for he was tense.
His tension only deepened after they crossed the protective barrier's boundary.
His heartbeat began accelerating gradually. After all, this was the first real battle he would fight with his own hands — and worse, it was unfolding under entirely unfavorable conditions.
True, they were the pursuing side — but their prey were not a group of frightened rabbits. They were terrifying creatures, their bodies engineered to be genuine killing machines.
In terms of racial advantages alone… humans were already at a disadvantage against the Liclron.
On top of that, the battle would take place inside darkness — the environment in which the enemy naturally excelled.
From what Kaiden had discovered, that race suffered no difficulty seeing in the dark. Humans were the complete opposite.
Had Ibla not been among his ranks, Kaiden would never have considered sending a pursuit force at all — even with a victory, the losses would have been catastrophic. But with Ibla, he already had the capital needed.
Fortunately, the impact of racial advantages diminished gradually with rising levels. Otherwise, races that lacked special abilities — like humans — would have been doomed to swift extinction.
Kaiden shook his head and cleared his scattered thoughts, then focused on the path ahead.
The tunnel Ibla had carved was dark, sloping, and rough. The taller members had to crouch while running, and the torches provided only limited visibility. Yet none of those obstacles slowed them.
For even the weakest person present was an elite soldier.
As for Kaiden himself — he was in truth among the fastest.
His earth affinity granted him exceptional balance, and his level was nearly at the Silver rank already, which naturally placed him among the quickest.
"KRAAAH!!"
Suddenly a sharp, terrifying roar thundered from deep within the tunnel. More followed — the sound of their piercing cries was horrifying in a way Kaiden had only ever heard in horror films.
But past the wave of fear, he understood what it meant — Ibla had arrived.
And sure enough, notifications began flooding his mind.
[System Notification: Your pet Ibla has killed a Black Iron-tier alien warrior of the "Liclron" race. Kill reward: +7 Origin Points.]
[System Alert: You have killed a soldier belonging to another Lord's territory. Your relationship with Lord of the "Fortune and Prosperity Territory" has become Hostile.]
Several more similar notifications followed.
Nearly all the fallen were of the Black Iron rank — and at that moment a mental message reached him from Ibla.
Master, I managed to stop most of them, but a few who were at the front managed to escape.
Kaiden's eyes went wide and he picked up his pace. He wanted no one to escape.
Especially that overseer he had seen earlier — he seemed critically important, and he had possessed some means of detecting the ambush. Kaiden wanted him eliminated now, before he became a future problem.
Moments later, the opening Ibla had broken through appeared.
Kaiden leapt directly down to the tunnel floor without hesitation.
The instant he landed, he didn't even glance back at what Ibla was doing behind him. Instead he immediately fixed his gaze forward — and barely made out several black shadows retreating swiftly into the darkness.
Before a thought had even fully formed, he extended his hand forward and released Earth Manipulation at the maximum range he could reach.
The soil shook violently, then a massive earthen wall surged up at the front of the tunnel, sealing off the escapees' path.
In the next instant, Golan, Josh, and Laura landed behind him, while the elite soldiers began flooding into the tunnel one by one.
Without needing orders, the soldiers threw several torches forward and backward — and tongues of flame bathed both sides of the tunnel in dancing, flickering light.
---
Just moments before, Gilont had been fleeing at maximum speed — when suddenly a thunderous sound erupted behind him. He understood immediately it was the collapse of a section of the tunnel.
He had no need to look back. He knew the monster from his vision moments ago had arrived.
And when he realized that creature hadn't come directly after him but had turned toward the members of his race who were trailing behind, he felt a slight relief despite the catastrophic situation.
Even as the sounds of bodies being torn apart and wretched screams reached him from behind, he didn't look back once.
He already knew the nature of the nightmare that had arrived. Resistance would only prolong the suffering.
Besides, mercy had never been among the Liclron's virtues — cruelty was their baseline.
At this moment his thoughts were entirely focused on survival. The monster devouring his forces would take some time, and that was his window to escape.
Gilont's oval white eyes filled with the desperate gleam of clinging to life — but at that precise moment, a wall of earth rose before him.
"Noooooo!"
Gilont let out a desperate scream and leapt forward with everything he had, trying to clear the barrier before it completed its rise.
He didn't make it. He slammed into the wall with tremendous force and crashed to the ground.
"AARRGH!"
He roared with unbridled fury and slashed at the wall with his claws at full strength.
Suddenly a sharp earth spike launched from the wall's surface, attempting to pierce his body.
He barely managed to dodge it — and in that moment understood that escape was impossible. He turned toward the side to face the one who had haunted him so many times in his nightmares.
When he saw that forced smile on the face of that wretched human Lord — the very smile he had witnessed over and over — something like the last thread of his sanity snapped. Gilont lost his mind completely in that moment.
"I'll kill you, you wretch!"
Gilont roared at the top of his lungs, and a bloodshot crimson blazed inside his oval white eyes, making his already terrifying appearance more savage than ever.
Then he launched himself at Kaiden with everything he had.
Gilont's power was no joke.
Thanks to the resources and treasures he had obtained previously, combined with his original racial attributes, he was in no way weaker than a Silver-rank fighter.
In a single second he exploded forward at full speed.
He nearly vanished from sight.
Then materialized directly in front of Kaiden — before the latter had a real chance to react. His sharp claw rose into the air.
And descended with full lethal force.
If he was going to die here…
He would drag that human Lord down to hell with him.
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— End of Chapter Fifty-One —