Battle in the Passage

Flame Breath

Dragon Wing Slam!

Tail Sweep!

Relying on her enormous size and the devastating power of her dragon breath, Vermes successfully kept one of the Flesh Golems at a safe distance, preventing it from getting close enough to attack.

Not only that!

She also used her weight to pin another Flesh Golem beneath her, leaving it unable to move.

Then she swung her claws, forcibly tearing away chunks of corpse flesh reinforced with protective magic.

Once the massive damage dealt in a short span exceeded its self-repair capabilities, one of the Flesh Golems finally lost the ability to move completely, turning into a pile of shattered remains that reeked of death and decay.

"Nicely done!"

Zuo Si generously praised Vermes, then recovered quite a bit of black Mana and Universal Mana from the fallen golem.

Just as the red dragon lunged toward the other Flesh Golem, preparing to kill it the same way, the previously empty passage ahead suddenly began flashing with intense, multicolored magical radiance.

Immediately afterward, summoning circles appeared out of thin air one after another.

In the blink of an eye, the passage was crammed full of creatures summoned by Conjuration magic, numbering several dozen.

More than half of them were the Undead Creatures most beloved by the Archlich Astar. There were also evil creatures such as Trolls, giants, Half-giants, Bear Goblins, and orcs, as well as fierce beasts like wolves, lions, tigers, bears, and leopards.

It's obvious their true purpose was not to defeat the Invaders.

Rather, they were meant to exploit their numerical advantage and exhaust the intruders' strength, spells, potions, Spell Scrolls, and Magic Items as much as possible.

Unfortunately, Vermes had just used a Flame Breath and could not unleash another one so soon, meaning she could not deal area damage to so many targets at once.

So she directly used the Flesh Golem pinned beneath her as a weapon, grabbing one of its legs and smashing it viciously toward the front.

Bang!

With a thunderous crash, several Undead Creatures that feared no Dragon's Might and had charged at the front were smashed to death on the spot.

The skeleton warriors clad in metal armor and wielding weapons were struck so hard that their entire bodies fell apart.

The savage and brutal red dragon seized the chance to leap up, using her enormous body as a weapon and the thick, hard scales on her back as protection as she slammed down with a boom and rolled forward.

Large numbers of summoned creatures immediately suffered crushing damage exceeding their maximum health.

Colorful anti-summoning circles appeared beneath their feet, sending them back to the worlds they had originally come from.

Just as Vermes was about to press the attack and wipe out the rest, a strange sound suddenly came from the stairs around the corner of the passage.

Then two more Flesh Golems charged down from above, accompanied by eight metal constructs of roughly the same size.

They carried heavy weapons such as axes, scythes, two-handed swords, and warhammers, every one of them gleaming with magical light.

There was no doubt that these enchanted weapons met the minimum requirement for breaking through dragon-scale defenses.

"I need help!"

Without even looking back, the red dragon loudly called for support.

At this moment, she finally understood why Zuo Si had repeatedly emphasized how dangerous the path leading to the upper level was.

Those metal constructs wielding magical weapons alone were enough to block an adult dragon in a confined area and surround it to death.

"Fall back!"

Zuo Si clearly understood that the battle in the passage had triggered the defensive system in the upper area, so he pulled out a card he had prepared long ago.

Magic Card: Swamp

LV1 Black Card (Cannot be upgraded)

Card Quality: Common

Effect: Creates a swampy area at the designated location, filled with sludge and nearly impossible to traverse. Any object or creature weighing more than ten kilograms will sink into it regardless of friend or foe. Duration: one minute.

Using this card requires one point of Universal Mana, one point of death Mana, or twice as much Mana of another type.

After the Swamp is created, this card automatically enters the graveyard and waits to be reborn. Rebirth time: one day.

Seeing Vermes swiftly break free from the summoned creatures and retreat into the room behind the passage, Zuo Si immediately activated the card.

Instantly!

A vast black swamp appeared out of thin air in the middle of the passage.

The heavy Flesh Golems, metal constructs, and some of the summoned creatures did not even have time to react before falling straight in and sinking deeper and deeper.

Since the passage was relatively narrow, the entire stretch of ground was covered by the Swamp. Walls stood directly on both sides, leaving them nowhere to brace themselves and climb out.

But it was not over yet!

Zuo Si clearly had no intention of wasting such a perfect opportunity to deal damage.

He quickly took out a Spell Scroll and activated the spell stored within with a simple motion.

The next second...

A bright Fire Wall appeared out of thin air above the Swamp, continuously burning the enemies trapped in the mire and unable to move.

Right after that, another string of fireballs flew from a gemstone ring glowing red, crashing down on the summoned creatures and Flesh Golems before exploding.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The flames produced by the explosions rapidly drove up the surrounding temperature, turning the entire passage into an inferno.

The former was an Evocation magic spell called Fire Wall, while the latter was Chain Fireball, a deluxe upgraded version of Fireball.

Under such ferocious bombardment, the most numerous summoned creatures were the first to give out and were all eliminated.

The Flesh Golems, which were likewise vulnerable to fire, also suffered extremely severe damage.

Only the metal constructs showed no sign of melting at all. Instead, they continued struggling to crawl out of the Swamp as if nothing had happened.

"Immune to fire damage?!" Vermes's expression changed slightly.

As a red dragon with a fire-energy affinity, she hated enemies immune to fire damage the most.

Because that meant one of her most effective weapons—Flame Breath—would become completely useless.

"Those should be Iron Golems with specially designed forms! Ignore them for now! Hurry up and use Flame Breath to finish off the Flesh Golems!"

At the critical moment, Zuo Si kept a clear and calm head.

The weakness of Flesh Golems was fire, while lightning damage they received would be converted into energy to repair themselves;

The weakness of Iron Golems was lightning, while fire damage they received would be converted into energy to repair themselves.

If fire spells were used to attack Flesh Golems, the nearby Iron Golems would be repaired.

Conversely, if lightning spells were used to attack Iron Golems, the nearby Flesh Golems would be repaired.

The Archlich Astar had clearly arranged this combination to ensure that no matter what form of energy attack they suffered, at least one type of golem could still threaten the Invaders.

Without understanding these mechanics, or without being able to keep one's thoughts clear in battle, one would be slowly worn to death by these two complementary types of golems.

Zuo Si's tactical thinking was very clear: first concentrate their firepower on killing the heavily damaged Flesh Golems, then deal with the Iron Golems trapped in the Swamp.

Although the red dragon did not quite understand the order, after a brief recovery, she still opened her mouth and released a scorching Flame Breath.

After enduring the repeated assault of Fire Wall, Chain Fireball, and dragon breath, all the Flesh Golems present finally could not hold on any longer and turned into charred black corpses.

While the Swamp on the ground had yet to disappear, Zuo Si strode forward, stepping along the edge between the floor and the mire. He raised the device fixed to his belt, which stored a massive amount of electrical energy, and released all of its power at once.

Crack!

A thick bolt of lightning shot from the Cylindrical Crystal like a silver serpent, striking the nearest Iron Golem ahead with perfect accuracy.

Then the second, the third, the fourth...

In an extremely short time, the powerful electric current ricocheted back and forth between the Iron Golems several times.

Since they were standing very close together and metal was naturally an excellent conductor, they absorbed nearly the full force of the lightning damage without the slightest bit being wasted.

Then, without the slightest hesitation, Zuo Si activated several high-level Spell Scrolls in succession.

For a time, all kinds of powerful acid and lightning ravaged the Iron Golems overhead.