Chapter 17: The Mantis Stalks the Cicada, But Who is the Oriole?

Chapter 17: The Mantis Stalks the Cicada, But Who is the Oriole?

The next day.

Lu Heng and Su Muyu set out to retrieve the third Narnia Crystal.

The third crystal was located in a colosseum south of Mist City, making it the most challenging one to obtain.

Upon arriving at the colosseum, they saw over twenty Clawhorn Demons guarding the ancient structure, some patrolling while others engaged in a wrestling match inside.

Lu Heng and Su Muyu entered an invisible state and positioned themselves on a tall building outside the colosseum, observing the situation within.

Spotting over twenty Clawhorn Demons, they felt the task ahead was daunting.

At that moment, a Horned Demon Commander appeared with a squad of Clawhorn Demons, climbing up the colosseum's walls and patrolling the perimeter.

All the Clawhorn Demons bowed respectfully to the Commander, showcasing the strict hierarchy among the Abyssal Demons.

The Horned Demon Commander, being a high-ranking demon, held an almost godlike status among these lower-ranked demons.

Lu Heng and Su Muyu observed from a distance, waiting until the Commander finished his patrol and left the colosseum.

However, the Commander didn't take his Clawhorn Demons with him; instead, he left them behind to guard the colosseum.

This increased the number of Clawhorn Demons inside the colosseum to over forty.

The situation had become tricky.

As they were observing, Su Muyu suddenly spoke up, "Someone is following us."

"Hmm?"

"The guy with the bright yellow hair is hiding behind the wall behind us, probably tailing us from Forge Castle. I just noticed him." Su Muyu explained the situation.

"I didn't expect him to be so bold," Lu Heng said, initially thinking the yellow-haired thug wasn't this courageous. It seemed he had acquired an invisibility skill, boosting his confidence.

"What should we do now?" Su Muyu asked, looking at the forty-plus Horned Demons in the colosseum, with a rat-like figure hiding behind them, making the situation challenging.

Lu Heng pondered for a moment, a smile creeping onto his lips, "Perfect, let's have that rat behind us help us get the crystal."

"In a moment, I'll go out and lure the Clawhorn Demons away. The rat behind us won't be able to resist, and he'll definitely try to steal the crystal."

"Once he takes the crystal, you keep an eye on him. We'll meet up later and retrieve the crystal."

Su Muyu nodded in agreement, "Alright."

With the plan set, Lu Heng, still invisible, approached the colosseum. When he was five meters away from the Clawhorn Demon guarding the entrance, he activated Gale Step, dashing forward and drawing the Aurora Blade. With a swift horizontal slash, he beheaded the demon.

The sharp blade precisely sliced through the Clawhorn Demon's neck, severing its head.

[Kill Clawhorn Demon, absorb 50 Demon Energy.]



After slaying the guarding demon, Lu Heng turned and sprinted south.

Roar!

The Clawhorn Demons inside the colosseum let out an angry roar and charged out of the gates and walls, pursuing Lu Heng.

Lu Heng maintained a certain distance to lure the group of low-ranking demons, giving them the illusion that they could catch up.

Meanwhile, Su Muyu used her invisible scout eagle to keep an eye on the yellow-haired thug's position.

As expected, the yellow-haired thug started approaching the colosseum after seeing most of the Clawhorn Demons lured away.

However, not all the demons had been lured out; over ten Clawhorn Demons remained to guard the Narnia Crystal.

The yellow-haired thug hesitated outside the colosseum, too afraid to enter.

Su Muyu grew impatient watching his indecisiveness and urged him mentally, "Hurry up!"

The yellow-haired thug cautiously entered the colosseum, moving along the walls slowly like a crawling turtle, fearing detection.

After three minutes of dawdling, there was no progress.

Su Muyu couldn't stand it anymore and controlled the scout eagle to scratch the wall, dislodging a brick.

Bang!

Ah!

The yellow-haired thug was startled, attracting the attention of the Horned Demon guards.

The guards shouted and rushed towards him, throwing a handful of dust into the air.

The thug's figure flickered in and out of the dust, and seeing the situation turn dire, he turned and fled.

Half of the Horned Demon guards roared and chased after the yellow-haired thug, leaving the colosseum.

However, ten Horned Demon guards remained to protect the crystal.

Su Muyu quickly assessed the situation and, without hesitation, controlled the invisible scout eagle to fly into the colosseum and collide with the Narnia Crystal.

The eagle's energy transformed into an Invisible Veil, covering the crystal.

This move was a perfect demonstration of the skill synergy between the Scout Eagle and Invisible Veil skills. Lu Heng had explained the principle to her the day before, and now it came in handy.

The Narnia Crystal, under the cover of the invisible energy, disappeared from the guards' sight.

The ten Horned Demon guards, left to watch over the crystal, panicked upon realizing it was missing.

Clawhorn Demons, being low-ranking demons, possessed some intelligence, but it wasn't particularly high.

The loss of the Narnia Crystal meant severe punishment from the Horned Demon Commander, and they immediately charged out of the colosseum to pursue the yellow-haired thug, believing he had stolen the crystal.

Su Muyu, on the other hand, strolled into the empty colosseum, picked up the invisible Narnia Crystal, and casually turned to leave, heading to meet up with Lu Heng.

...

Meanwhile, the Clawhorn Demons chased the thug for two kilometers before turning back.

After reuniting, Lu Heng and Su Muyu eliminated three isolated Clawhorn Demons.

With the Horned Demons killed the previous day, Lu Heng had reached level 6, but he couldn't learn any ultimate skills yet.

Su Muyu had also reached level 4, progressing rapidly.

Afterward, the two returned the Narnia Crystal to Forge Castle.

Grumble held the third Narnia Crystal, beaming with joy. "Great, thank you, my friend. As a token of my gratitude, I'll give you this Aurora Blade."

A data prompt popped up.

【Mission Complete: Collect Narnia Crystals】

【Reward: Aurora Blade】

A new item appeared on the character's data panel.

【Item: Aurora Blade】

Su Muyu also received the same reward, officially obtaining the 【Energy Crystal Bracelet】 as a reward.

In the evening...

Hu Biao and his team finally mined enough Ignition Ore, completing the collection task.

As they delivered the last batch of Ignition Ore to Grumble, he was delighted and addressed the group, "Finally, we have enough materials. Forge Castle must leave this damn place. Once I deactivate the castle's camouflage, that damn Horned Demon Commander will definitely find us. You must stop it from breaking into the castle."

Soon after, everyone received a prompt about the new stage of the series hidden quest.

【Series Hidden Quest "Forge Castle's Peril" enters the second phase.】

【Mission: Stop the Horned Demon Commander】

【Content: Forge Castle has gathered enough materials to leave the Abyss, but activating the spatial device will cause the castle's camouflage to fail, and it will face the attack of the Horned Demon Commander. Grumble requests your help to stop the commander until the castle leaves the Abyss.】

【Reward: Grumble the Forging Master's Friendship】

After the new mission appeared, Grumble added, "There's one more thing. After Forge Castle leaves the Abyss, it will be discovered by a terrifying entity within the Abyss. The intensity of psychic contamination will increase by several dozen times, so you must leave the Abyss as soon as possible."

The main mission of this Abyss Battlefield was to survive for three days, and it was already the third day's evening.

According to the time calculation, they only needed to hold on until midnight to complete the main mission and return to Bluesphere.

Grumble also needed to adjust the spatial device's parameters, and the estimated activation time was also midnight.

...

As night fell, the final stage of the Abyss Battlefield drew closer.

At that moment, someone returned to Forge Castle—it was Huang Mao.

Huang Mao looked disheveled, and when he returned to the castle, he kept his head down as he passed through the first-floor hall, not daring to look at Lu Heng and the others.

Lu Heng was a bit surprised to see Huang Mao.

Previously, Su Muyu had mentioned that Huang Mao had sneaked into the Colosseum but was discovered by the Horned Demon Guards. After escaping, he had disappeared without a trace.

More than three hours had passed since he fled the Colosseum.

Hu Biao was also annoyed to see Huang Mao because he had been missing since noon, leaving him to complete double the mining task.

"Where have you been?" Hu Biao asked coldly.

Huang Mao rolled up his sleeves, revealing bandages on his arms, and said, "Brother Biao, is that how you're questioning me? While you were mining, I saw demons approaching the mine, so I took the initiative to lure them away, and that's how I got injured."

"Oh, I see," said Hu Biao. The others on his team also showed guilty expressions upon hearing his explanation.

Lu Heng watched him with interest and suddenly asked, "Have you seen the Horned Demon Commander?"

"What?"

Huang Mao widened his eyes, feigning surprise, "That thing is so terrifying, how could I possibly return after seeing it?"

Others might have been deceived by him.

After all, one of the main missions in this Abyss Battlefield was to escape the pursuit of the Horned Demon Commander.

So, according to normal logic, encountering the commander was almost equivalent to death.

However, Lu Heng was different; he knew some secrets of the Abyss Battlefield.

The tasks in the Abyssal World were never static; they changed with the situation.

The Horned Demon Commander was not a stupid beast but a highly intelligent high-rank devil.

Intelligent beings had one characteristic—they could communicate.

As for the outcome of communication, that depended on how it was conducted.

So, Lu Heng asked directly, "What task did you trigger from the Horned Demon Commander?"

"What... task?" Cold sweat broke out on Huang Mao's forehead.

"It doesn't matter if you don't tell me. I'll take a guess. The fact that the commander let you go means you provided information valuable enough to keep you alive. In this city, the only thing of such value is Forge Castle."

This wasn't hard to guess; a high-rank devil wouldn't let Huang Mao go for a few extra meals.

So, it could only be Forge Castle.

Lu Heng saw the large beads of sweat on Huang Mao's forehead and continued guessing, "The task you triggered must be to stop Forge Castle from leaving the Abyss. In the branch mission, you must have deliberately exposed the castle's location to lure the commander to attack."

Huang Mao's head was now drenched in sweat, as Lu Heng's guess was almost identical to the task he had triggered.

Huang Mao had been proud, having triggered such a satisfying hidden quest.

If he completed this hidden task, he could lead the commander and wipe out the bunch of idiots in Forge Castle.

However, Lu Heng had seen through his plan before he even started executing it.

This type of hidden quest had another name—the "Traitor Task."

Naturally, Huang Mao couldn't admit it and shouted, "I didn't! You're slandering me! Why are you so malicious towards me?"

"Whether it's true or not doesn't matter. Killing you will solve the problem, whether you triggered the Traitor Task or not," Lu Heng said with a dangerous smirk.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end