Chapter 104: The Sphinx

Chapter 104: The Sphinx

Deep within the cavern.

In the low basin, the diligent Clay Golems worked tirelessly.

The sharp sounds of iron picks striking rock echoed continuously.

Clay Golems pushed carts filled with ore along the mine tracks, clattering as they moved toward the outside.

Over the past two months, this mine had already contributed nearly 15,000 gold coins in profit to Su Nan, more than covering the expenses from slaying the Hundred-Armed Monster and leaving a surplus.

What delighted Su Nan even more was that the ore vein's reserves were far richer than he had expected.

Su Nan estimated that the vein could still provide him with at least 80,000 more gold coins in profit before it was completely depleted.

That was equivalent to the profit from selling potions for three to four years!

If not for the limited space in the mine, which couldn't accommodate too many Clay Golems, he would have considered deploying more to increase the mining rate.

After a thorough inspection of the mine, finding no issues, Su Nan headed straight for the guard post.

The so-called guard post was where the Hundred-Armed Monster had once lived.

It had been cleaned up, and five Iron Golems stood vigilantly, motionless like statues.

The magical alarm system was also still intact.

Su Nan approached the entrance to the underground world and walked in without hesitation.

It had been almost three months, and he felt it was time to investigate the city-state's condition.

Now, he had the powerful Magic Pattern Core as his ace in the hole, along with twenty High-Rune Gems.

Additionally, the income from mining over these months had mostly been used to refine more golems.

Currently, his cube contained two Iron Golems, eight Elite Stone Golems, and one hundred Stone Golems.

With so many resources at his disposal, Su Nan felt confident.

Even if he encountered danger in the underground city, he had a good chance of escaping.

Reaching the downward turn in the entrance, Su Nan cast Levitation on himself, followed by Lightness and Invisibility.

The latter two were the fifth and sixth second-level spells he had recently mastered, specifically for this exploration.

As the spells took effect, Su Nan's form instantly vanished, disappearing into the air.

His body became lighter and more agile.

With a leap, he floated into the passage.

Before long, Su Nan emerged from the stalactite, and the peculiar island city-state came into view once again.

The lake at the bottom of the cavern was eerily calm, not a ripple in sight.

The dim light from the glowstones embedded in the stalactites barely reached the lake's surface. From above, the entire lake appeared like a black curtain, radiating a bone-chilling silence.

It made one wonder if any life could exist in the lake.

Su Nan surveyed his surroundings and found no bridges or paths crossing the lake.

He couldn't help but wonder how the city's inhabitants could leave the island or access the entrance above the stalactites.

However, soon enough, Su Nan saw a strange flying creature approaching from ahead.

It looked somewhat like a furry manta ray, with a wingspan of over five meters. Two half-human, half-lion creatures sat on its broad back.

They appeared to be a fusion of handsome human and powerful lion, with human torsos and lion bodies.

"Sphinxes!"

Su Nan's gaze sharpened as he recognized the two creatures.

Sphinxes were extremely cunning and evil beings.

They possessed strong bodies and exceptional combat skills, making them natural warriors.

Some Sphinxes even had innate spell-like abilities, such as various illusions and invisibility.

Sphinxes with such abilities were feared assassins in the underground world.

Moreover, Sphinxes often had high intelligence and could speak many languages.

An adult Sphinx had strength comparable to a Knight, easily taking on four or five Apprentice Knights.

If they were elite warriors or nobles, they could reach the level of Grand Knights or even Legendary Knights.

"It seems these are the city's means of transportation."

Su Nan watched as the manta ray-like creature slowly flew to a stalactite with a hole, and the two Sphinxes jumped in one after the other.

After the Sphinxes left, the flying creature leisurely descended onto the lake, floating motionless on the water.

Su Nan's eyes flickered, and he quickly made up his mind. He turned and headed to the stalactite entrance, slipping inside.

Behind the entrance was a passage leading upward, and after passing through, he found himself in a spacious cavern.

To his surprise, there was a vein of ore within the cavern.

The uneven rock walls were dotted with patches of reddish metal, stretching in a continuous line.

Two Sphinxes were tapping at the rock wall with curved blades, though it was unclear whether they were surveying or doing something else.

Su Nan fired off two rays of enfeeblement, and the two Sphinxes didn't even have a chance to react before they collapsed to the ground.

When they saw Su Nan appear out of thin air, they both widened their eyes in shock.

"Human!"

"Who are you?!"

Su Nan didn't bother with small talk. He knocked one Sphinx unconscious and then began interrogating the other.

"Don't even think about lying. I'll ask your companion the same questions, and if I find out you lied, trust me, you'll regret it."

Thanks to the Comprehend Languages spell, the Sphinx understood Su Nan perfectly and showed a look of fear on its face.

After a bit of torture, the Sphinx couldn't hold out and began answering Su Nan's questions.

Once he got the information he needed, Su Nan knocked the Sphinx unconscious and then woke up the other one to repeat the interrogation.

He wasn't being overly cautious for nothing; Sphinxes were notorious for their cunning, evil nature, and lack of trustworthiness.

Without some precautions, he might have been led into a trap by these two Sphinxes.

Unfortunately, the Charm Person spell only worked on humanoid or bipedal creatures, not on half-human, half-lion Sphinxes, which made things more complicated.

After obtaining the information he needed, Su Nan didn't hesitate to eliminate the two Sphinxes.

He burned their bodies to ashes and then stared at the charred marks on the ground, lost in thought.

According to the Sphinxes, the island in the center of the lake was an underground city-state ruled by Sphinxes, with a population of around four to five thousand.

About two-fifths of the population were Sphinxes, while the rest were various slaves.

"A city-state ruled by Sphinxes, this is going to be a problem."

Su Nan frowned.

While most inhabitants of the underground world were inherently evil and had a bad reputation, there were exceptions like Fire Dwarves and Gold Dwarves, who were less evil and could be negotiated with.

Originally, Su Nan had hoped to encounter a more cooperative race and establish friendly trading relations.

But Sphinxes! They were not the kind of beings you could negotiate with, let alone trust.

Su Nan was certain that if the Sphinxes discovered the entrance to the surface, they would invade and plunder for resources and people.

Or perhaps they had already found the entrance and were preparing their attack.

Regardless, as long as the entrance to the surface existed, a battle with the Sphinxes was inevitable.

"I need to warn my brother to be prepared."

The defensive strength of the Sphinx city-state was a formidable challenge even for Su Nan.

After all, there were nearly two thousand combatants, each close to the level of a Knight.

And among them were many elite Sphinxes and noble Sphinxes, likely including several Legendary-level combatants.

"First, I need to infiltrate the city and gather more information."

Su Nan left the cave and flew toward the island.

He safely crossed the lake and slowly landed at the edge of the island.

The city-state occupied about four-fifths of the island, with the remaining one-fifth being a clear lakeshore.

Whether entering by swimming from the lake or flying from the sky, any creature would be immediately spotted by the guards on the distant walls.

This was why Su Nan had prioritized learning the Invisibility spell.

He confidently crossed the lakeshore and soon arrived near the city.

The towering walls were about twenty meters high, constructed from square, well-cut gray stones. The craftsmanship was surprisingly good, making the walls look even more solid and robust than many human towns on the surface.

Su Nan wasn't surprised.

After all, a significant portion of the underground world's inhabitants were dwarves, including Gray Dwarves, Fire Dwarves, Deep Dwarves, Shield Dwarves, and Gold Dwarves.

Dwarves were known for their expertise in metallurgy and construction.

Thus, the weapons and buildings in the underground world were not inferior to those on the surface.

Looking around, he saw several Sphinx warriors patrolling the walls, their upper bodies bare.

At the city gates, a group of Sphinxes with curved blades were checking the identities of those entering the city.

But what caught Su Nan's attention even more was a black lion coiled up beside the gate.

Its entire body was pitch black, even its eyes were a deep, shadowy black, blending perfectly into the darkness. If not for Su Nan's keen senses, he might have missed it entirely.

After a long look, Su Nan couldn't identify the creature.

Shaking his head, he didn't dwell on it. Due to the radiation from the earth's veins, the underground world often produced various mutated creatures. No matter how knowledgeable someone was, they couldn't possibly recognize every single one. Encountering an unknown creature was quite normal.

He turned his head to look at the queue of creatures waiting to enter the city gate.

There were all sorts of beings in line, including lizardfolk, dog-headed men, minotaurs, and even ogres.

Under the intimidating gaze of the sphinxes, these strange and diverse creatures stood quietly in a long line, waiting to enter the city.

"Good luck."

Su Nan's expression brightened.

The Magic Disguise spell was similar to Charm Person; it could only transform him into a human, humanoid, or bipedal creature that resembled a human, but not into a sphinx.

Su Nan had originally planned to use the Invisibility spell to try and sneak into the city, but now that he saw lizardfolk in the queue, things became much simpler.

Just as Su Nan was about to find a place to disguise himself as a lizardfolk and return, a sudden commotion broke out at the city gate.

The black lion that had been quietly lying beside the gate suddenly stood up, its pitch-black eyes fixed on a lizardfolk in the queue. It then opened its mouth and let out a deafening roar.

Even from over two hundred meters away, the sound caused Su Nan's head to throb as if it had been struck by a heavy blow.

At the same time, the lizardfolk that the black lion had been staring at let out a muffled groan and staggered backward a few steps.

The sphinxes around the black lion had already sensed something was amiss. Seeing the lizardfolk stagger, their eyes turned sharply fierce.

"That guy's suspicious!"

"Seize him!"

With a fierce shout, over a dozen sphinxes drew their curved blades, growling deeply as they pounced on the lizardfolk.

The queue at the city gate erupted in chaos, and the various creatures quickly backed away, leaving the lizardfolk exposed.

Realizing his cover was blown, the lizardfolk stopped hiding. His form twisted and blurred, and in an instant, he transformed into a figure cloaked in a gray robe and wearing a gray mask.

In the next second, a massive fireball shot from his hand, striking a sphinx and turning it into a flaming torch that screamed and rolled on the ground.

"Flameball!"

Su Nan's gaze sharpened.

The gray-robed figure was a wizard's apprentice!

Whoosh!

Six magic missiles tore through the darkness, shattering the heads of four or five sphinxes.

The sudden death of several companions only fueled the sphinxes' ferocity. They brandished their curved blades, roaring as they charged at the gray-robed figure from all directions.

The gray-robed figure drew a wand and continuously unleashed magic missiles while casting spells with his other hand.

Scorching Ray!

Flameball!

The scorching heat spread, and the air temperature soared.

Despite being outnumbered, the gray-robed figure's storm of spells forced the sphinxes to retreat.

However, at that moment, a towering figure silently appeared behind the gray-robed figure.

He wielded his dual blades in a frenzy, slashing out seven or eight times in quick succession, each strike landing on the gray-robed figure's back.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The sound of blades striking leather echoed.

The invisible shield behind the gray-robed figure shattered instantly, but the powerful blade strikes were stopped by an invisible force field just a few centimeters from his skin.

Seizing this opportunity, the gray-robed figure's body glowed red, and he spun around, kicking the sphinx flying over twenty meters away.

Bull's Strength!

The surrounding sphinxes, caught off guard by the sudden burst of strength from the thin human, hesitated in their attack.

Taking advantage of this, the gray-robed figure leaped upward, paused briefly in mid-air, and then sped away into the distance.

The sphinxes, snapping out of their shock, gave chase but were stopped by the lake.

By the time a sphinx riding a manta ray-like creature arrived, the gray-robed figure had already vanished.

"Damn it!"

The sphinx with dual blades stood up, his face contorted with rage as he swung his blade and cut a trembling dog-headed man in half.

Inside the hollow stalactite, the gray-robed figure paused and looked behind him.

"Come out."

Su Nan stepped out of the darkness.

He hadn't bothered to hide his presence, so the gray-robed figure easily detected him.

"Who are you, and why are you following me?" the gray-robed figure said coldly.

The voice beneath the mask was androgynous.

Su Nan smiled slightly.

"Long time no see, Rose."

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end