The image reappeared on the Water Mirror. The Fire Elemental team sped through the crevice and soon reached the outside of the underground hole. With the accumulation of rubble in this short period of time, the gap leading to the hole was only as thick as an arm.
The mages hurriedly controlled the Fire Elementals to clear away the rubble and widen the gap. Inside the Cave, which was filled with red light, six or seven more crystals were activated and looked ready to explode at any moment.
Just as the group was about to order the Fire Elemental to go inside, Unas stopped them, saying, "It's too late! Everyone retreat and wait for this explosion before rushing in!"
Before the words were even finished, the light shooting out from the crack suddenly intensified several times, and the image in the Water Mirror began to shake violently, accompanied by another rumbling sound. This was probably the most violent explosion so far.
Although separated by a pile of rubble, four Fire Elemental were instantly destroyed by the Shockwave, turning into sparks and dissipating into the air, while the others were all injured.
"Now!" Unas roared, startling the stunned mages. The surviving Fire Elementals swarmed into the Cave.
The scene inside the cave startled everyone once again. A crimson monster appeared out of nowhere. It had a human body and a snake's tail, with a dozen twisted, gray-black horns growing on its arms, shoulders, and head. Two fleshy tentacles hung down from either side of its chin. Its features resembled those of a lizard. It gripped a crooked spear with only three-fingered claws. Its crimson scales made its entire body seem to be on fire.
"Flamewaker!" Huoye exclaimed, naming the monster and voicing the question on everyone's mind, "Where did this monster come from?"
No one could answer his question, and now was not the time to pursue it. The Flamewaker clearly did not consider the mages' Fire Elementals as its allies; it charged forward and raised its spear to stab the leader of the Fire Elementals.
Fire Elemental- type creatures, which generate energy, are immune to most physical attacks, but the Flamewaker's spear seemed to have special damage. Amidst the sparks flying, the Fire Elemental's entire arm, which it raised to block, was shattered by the spear.
The Flamewaker brandished its spear and attacked several more times, easily dismembering the Fire Elemental that belonged to Angela.
Judging from the situation, even the remaining eleven Fire Elementals combined might not be able to defeat it. More importantly, their goal wasn't to eliminate the Flamewaker in the first place. Unas made a decisive decision. "Huoye, you deal with it. The rest of you, continue working on the crystals!"
The four Fire Elementals of Huoye were the strongest. Unas didn't expect them to defeat the Flamewaker, but at least to entangle it for a while so that the others could succeed.
Huoye immediately understood the Warden's intention. The four Fire Elemental quickly floated forward and surrounded the enemy, making it impossible for the Flamewaker to break through.
The last explosion activated eight crystals. The remaining seven Fire Elemental rushed to the Cave walls and quickly removed five crystals, but three remained firmly embedded in the stone wall. The Fire Elemental took turns trying to pry them off, but they couldn't manage it.
Time was of the essence, Unas shouted anxiously, "Forget about those three, all of you come out here!"
The highly focused mages instinctively obeyed orders, Fire Elemental swarmed back, with only the Fire Elemental of Huoye remaining to cover their retreat. By this time, the Flamewaker had already eliminated two Fire Elemental that were attacking it, and the remaining two escaped immediately after the other Fire Elemental had retreated.
The Flamewaker chased the fire demon to the crevice, but being a creature of flesh and blood, it couldn't freely change its size and could only pace restlessly around the crevice.
All five activated crystals were handed to a Fire Elemental in good condition, who then carried the timed bombs away from the underground hole at high speed. The other eight Fire Elemental moved at a moderate pace through the cracks in the ground, maintaining distance from both the underground hole and their companion carrying the timed bombs ahead to avoid being harmed by explosions from either side.
Before long, the remaining three crystals in the underground cavern exploded first. The mages immediately ordered the Fire Elemental squad to turn back. On the other side, the Fire Elemental carrying five activated crystals also exploded just before reaching the surface, widening this section of the crevice and causing a large amount of rubble to roll down.
Fortunately, the Fire Elemental team managed to crawl back into the large hole before the rubble completely blocked the crevice. Everyone thought that the Flamewaker, either killed or injured by the explosion, would appear on the Water Mirror. However, to their disappointment, there was nothing in the large hole except for a new layer of rubble. The Flamewaker had simply vanished without a trace.
The good news was that no crystals were activated by the explosion this time, so they were temporarily safe. Perella and Huoye breathed a sigh of relief, as their tribe's energy was finally saved. However, the other mages did not relax. The Fire Elemental squad immediately dispersed and carefully searched the large hole for traces of the Flamewaker.
The Fire Elemental had searched every inch of the cave, which was about half the size of a football field, but still couldn't find any trace of the Flamewaker. Could it have been buried under the rubble?
Unless this problem is completely resolved, it will always be a threat, and it seems unlikely that these eight Fire Elemental alone can find it.
The mages remotely controlled the Fire Elementals, but although it was only for a short time, they were exhausted from their efforts. After searching for another fifteen minutes, they still found nothing, so Unas had no choice but to order them to stop and rest.
After offering his condolences to the mages, Tyrosus approached Unas. "I had intended to visit your front lines, but this has happened, so it seems I cannot go."
"Thanks to you, sir, for summoning Miss Angela for help. Otherwise, I don't know how much we would have lost. Thank you so much, sir," Unas said hurriedly.
"Let's not be so polite between comrades," Tyrosus patted him on the shoulder. "Your command in battle was also excellent; you should thank yourself as well."
"You jest, sir."
The One-Eyed Baron smiled slightly, "I have something I'd like to discuss with you privately."
When your boss says he wants to talk to you alone, it's usually not a good thing, but Unas didn't have a chance to refuse. He nodded helplessly, and the two walked toward a large rock in the distance.
"Holiya's death... how's your investigation going?" Before they'd gone far, Tyrosus asked bluntly, this being the first task he'd given Unas.
As expected, there was no escaping it. Unas rubbed his chin and decided to tell the truth. Of course, he decided to keep the rescue of Emily a secret, as it could easily implicate the prison break incident.
After hearing the whole story, Tyrosus frowned, a surge of anger welling up within him. Finally, he couldn't help but curse, "Useless wretch!"
The insult was, of course, directed at the kidnapper, Holiya, whose actions were indeed disgraceful. Unas quickly tried to calm things down. "I was afraid that if this got out, it would damage the reputation of the Argent Dawn, so I didn't report it to you in writing. Please forgive me for the delay."
"You did well. I have never advocated using drastic methods to solve problems. Although the Gnomes' act of uniting with other races for revenge was wrong, they were victims and their actions were understandable. I agree to your pardon of them."