Chapter 0053: Dramatic Changes Beneath the Earth

Grimm's excessive composure had clearly aroused the lizardman's suspicion regarding the "hostage" in his grasp.

But before he could take any action, Mary—seemingly weak and powerless—moved first.

Her alabaster, slippery body twisted just two or three times, like a fish darting in water, and slipped free from the lizardman's hold. With a flash, she appeared behind him, while the lizardman's limbs drooped limply, his whole posture betraying a loss of resistance.

Only Grimm, facing them directly, could see the fine bloodlines seeping from beneath the lizardman's dark green scales at his wrists and ankles. Mary had already severed his tendons with her bladed fingers.

Such wounds would have been crippling for an ordinary person, but for these tenacious lizardfolk with remarkable regenerative abilities, it was but a minor injury. His limbs were paralyzed, yes, but he still had a mouth full of serrated fangs.

Unfortunately, Mary lingered behind him, rendering all his snapping and lunging futile.

Just as he grew frantic, desperate to shake off the terrifying woman at his back, his emerald body suddenly went rigid, as if a power source had been cut, leaving him frozen in place. Only then did Mary, her lips curled in a smile, withdraw her razor-sharp finger blade from the base of his spine.

In such close quarters, Mary had managed to slice through the lizardman's vertebrae through the gaps in his scales, severing his spinal cord. Only at this point was the lizardman truly rendered powerless.

"Well? Planning to stick around and watch us get passionate?" Mary teased the now-awkward Grimm, still entwined around the lizardman as she coyly moved her blood-red lips toward his supple neck.

Beauty and the beast.

Little green man versus vampire.

Such a spectacle was tempting enough for Grimm to want a front-row seat, clapping in anticipation.

But the thought of what was about to happen—so visceral, so grotesque—made him decide that discretion was the better part of valor. Unlike the vampires of legend, who would gently pierce a lover's artery with sharp fangs, this scarlet-clad Mary far preferred to feast with savage bites.

Grimm had seen enough of such horror—blood mingling with shattered windpipe and larynx—to know it could ruin his appetite for days. With a sigh, he turned and left.

He had only just rounded a stalagmite when the grisly sounds of tearing flesh echoed behind him, along with Mary's feverish, animalistic gasps, and the dying whimpers of the doomed lizardman. Grimm shuddered and hurried his pace.

A full half hour later, Mary emerged from the "dining hall," gracefully adjusting her gauzy dress.

She looked radiant, her beauty undiminished—no one could have guessed what had transpired in the past thirty minutes.

"Finished taking the sample from the mission point?" Grimm, who had been waiting, closed his grimoire.

"Of course! Such a trivial task was no problem at all," Mary replied, tossing Grimm a runic crystal.

Grimm cast a spell to verify it, then tucked it into his pouch, satisfied.

At the bottom of the pool was a small spell array set up by the Association's wizards. There were five mission points, each corresponding to a node in the array. Their task was to periodically collect information from the array using special runic crystals, allowing the wizards—safe in their towers—to monitor any changes in the terrain or geography of these shadowy caverns.

So Grimm and Mary’s job was to reach the mission point and extract the stored data from the array with their crystals. The rest of their time was free to search for rare resources.

When the team had split up, they’d arranged to regroup in three days, giving everyone ample time to scour the area around each mission point. Since Grimm and Mary had finished their task in half a day, they now had plenty of time to wander at will.

But while they strolled leisurely, five miles away in another cavern, a dramatic battle was just beginning.

Leo, hailing from the mushroom forests of Lofenhe, was running for his life, anxiety etched on his face. Two black-robed apprentices with the power of near-wizards were hot on his heels. As for his companion, the senior apprentice Matthew, there was no sign—likely already fallen.

Leo, the favored scion of his family, was gifted in lightning magic. Though not known for agility, he was surrounded by a swirling haze of wind particles, making his body as light as air and allowing him to run faster than a galloping horse. If not for the winding, obstructed tunnels, he would have long since escaped his pursuers.

Whenever he entered a narrow passage, he would summon a crackling ball of blue lightning between his hands and fling it behind him before racing on. Within seconds, a violent explosion would sound, followed by a stream of enraged curses from behind.

Moments later, the two black-robed figures—scorched and battered—would charge through the smoke, braving the miniature storm. Their protective spells offered some defense, but the relentless lightning still tore their robes to shreds.

The one on the right, his tattered cloak revealing pitch-black armor, wielded a serpent-headed staff, his face marked by a pair of crimson, vertical pupils that sent a chill down the spine.

"Are we still chasing him? This one seems like real trouble," he growled.

The one on the left, his hood thrown back to reveal a cruel, menacing face, spat out a reply through clenched teeth.

"Of course! The brat doesn’t know the terrain. Let him run into a dead end, then we’ll deal with him at our leisure."

"And Anna and Gary? Why haven’t they caught up? Does it really take that long to deal with a senior apprentice?" The blood-eyed man glanced back, his tone icy.

"They took another route. They interrogated the senior apprentice and sent us the enemy's team composition. I suspect they’ve already gone to sector seven to pick off the weakest group," the other replied, his voice marking him as their leader.

"Damn it, I knew this would happen! We’ll have to pick up the pace—if we let this brat get away, we’ll have nothing to show for today," spat the blood-eyed man, biting down in frustration. He slammed his staff to the ground, and his body dissolved into a cloud of black smoke, vanishing into the rock wall.

The leader gave a cold, mirthless chuckle, his aura flaring as he doubled his speed.

Moments later, an earth-shattering explosion echoed through the distant tunnels.

A savage shockwave tore through the winding passageways, obliterating everything in its path. Stalactites, stalagmites, rocks, and earth were flung outward in a storm of destruction. Even the steel-hard walls were pitted by the spell's arrow-like force, and whole sections of the tunnel collapsed.

The deadly duel between apprentice near-wizards devastated the underground passage, altering the landscape for miles around. Massive cave-ins and rockfalls blocked old routes and created new ones, so even in the midst of despair, hope for escape still lingered.

Such an upheaval could not go unnoticed by the wizard apprentices in the area. All found secure hiding places, quietly speculating about the source of the chaos.

Meanwhile, in a dark, shattered cavern, there was a soft “pop” as a mass of black shadows suddenly burst from the ground, nearly filling the space.

"Damn it, why an earthquake now? Did those wizards not avoid active regions when choosing their patrol routes? Damn it..." Mary's voice, sweet and laced with danger, echoed in the darkness.

"I doubt this was a natural quake," Grimm replied calmly, his eyes shining with intelligence even in the pitch-black. "The vibration source is about five miles southeast of us, no more than twenty meters deeper. If it were a real earthquake, the epicenter wouldn't be so close to the surface. So..."

"So it was caused by people!" Mary turned to him, evidently impressed by his precise sense of direction and composure underground. "You think one of our outlying teams ran into the enemy?"

"Very likely," Grimm analyzed. "First, the shock is so close—too much of a coincidence. And you've seen the creatures here; save for a few rare types, none can threaten senior apprentices, let alone near-wizards. So it wasn't a desperate struggle with a beast. Only one possibility remains."

"Agreed," Mary nodded. "Must be those black bastards. Now, I only wonder which unlucky team ran into them. I’d love to gauge their strength—if your earth golem can tunnel, perhaps we could ambush them ourselves!"

"We were too arrogant this time. It's our first time underground; before we get used to the environment and battle tactics, we should have stayed together and completed one mission before splitting up. Also..."

"Also what?"

"Also, don't forget—we’re the weakest pair here. If the enemy wants to ambush someone, we’re the most likely target."

"Let them come, then. I’ve been itching to test their mettle. By the way, since your earth golem is so amazing, can you sense nearby enemies? If you help me catch one of those black bastards, I'll spend the night with you—how about that?" With that, Mary let her fingers glide across Grimm’s lips, then burst out in uninhibited laughter.

Grimm shuddered inexplicably, helpless in the face of Mary's wicked sense of humor.

Mary had grown ever more interested in teasing men, never missing a chance to provoke Grimm. Yet, seeing the excited glow in her blood-red eyes, Grimm had to steel his will against the rising heat in his veins—he had no wish to become her plaything.