Sewer Giant Crocodile

After a brief ten-minute rest, everyone got up and washed their armor and clothes clean with fresh water. Lister cast Ice Armor on them again. This modified spell was truly worth its price of ten thousand gold coins; at the very least, Krasus was extremely interested in it.

There were three pipes ahead. Two led directly into Lake Dalaran, while only the middle one led to the largest underground hub.

"No rush." Lister offered his opinion. "That spider earlier was very powerful. I think that around the territory of such a terrifying monster, no prey would dare approach. The battle here would be unlikely to alert other monsters of the same level. We don't need to hurry so much. We just need to follow the route indicated by the pipes."

Salorian nodded. After pondering for a moment, Korthira also agreed. "That's true. Powerful monsters in the forest all have their own territory and are very hostile toward other monsters. If even that monster from earlier counts as a weak one, then I think we should let Dalaran explore this place themselves."

How could that be? Krasus wore a bitter smile. That giant spider had already been a monster on the level of a dragon. If not for the fact that they were all elites, and Salorian himself possessed the strength to duel a dragon alone, they would never have been able to defeat it together. If monsters like that counted as weaklings, then the Council of Kirin Tor might as well commit collective suicide.

"Mage Eye." Lister began casting. As several runes on his arm flickered, magical power slowly formed blood vessels, an eyeball, and a pupil, finally creating an exquisitely realistic eye. Uther's eyes widened. "It looks just like a real eye."

Lister nodded. As he channeled mana, the eyeball flew forward. Strands of magical energy extending from the runes connected to the Mage Eye, and Lister was already seeing everything ahead. "According to the map, there's a waterway roughly five kilometers deep. At its deepest, the water is about four meters deep, but the water quality is much better. It corresponds exactly to the location on the map—it's beneath the fountain."

Dalaran's fountains were directly summoned from the Water Elemental Plane, so the water was exceptionally fresh. There might even be small creatures from the Water Elemental Plane inside. Just as Lister finished speaking, a rune suddenly flashed. At the same time, the abruptly severed strand of mana lashed back at him hard, making him hiss softly.

Uther immediately used the Holy Light to heal him, and the wound on Lister's arm rapidly closed. He took a deep breath. "A shark, roughly five meters long. It was dark red and very fast, and it's already swum ahead. Once my Mage Eye was destroyed, I couldn't see it anymore."

"How long until you can restore the Mage Eye?" Uther asked. Lister sensed it for a moment. "This rune was damaged. I'll need about ten minutes."

The light filtering through the cracks in the manhole covers was the only light source here. Krasus kneaded a fireball radiating a gentle red glow into existence and let it float in the air as a light source. The group stepped across the water and headed forward.

Just as Lister had said, the water quality here was excellent. Clean water constantly flowed down from the drainage holes above. Even without fragrance, they could breathe easily now. Salorian still walked at the very front, and everyone had great faith in his abilities.

Warm firelight illuminated the dark underground passage, sending many small animals scurrying away, such as little turtles. Yet the cats hiding here for the winter poked their heads out from above the pipes, watching the slowly passing party. The walls were covered in plump, tender moss. This place was quite damp.

Four turtles surrounded a huge sewer rat at a corner. Beside them lay a bloody corpse. The giant rat, nearly half a man tall, was greedily devouring flesh when the group rushed it and hacked it to death in a flurry of blades.

"Nameless rat." Uther spat. That rat had bitten his finger just now. Bloodthirsty rats were simply the perfect monsters for nightmares. He smashed open the rat's head, revealing nothing but red and white matter within. "What's going on? Shouldn't its brain be black?"

"It would only turn out like that after being corrupted by demons." Lister explained with a smile. "This rat mutated because it consumed quite a few arcane crystals."

"Fine." Uther turned to inspect the bloody lump of flesh. "This seems to be..."

"It should be a goblin corpse." Cromie examined the unfortunate body. Its thin frame and the stink of machine oil on it matched the traits of a goblin perfectly. She shook her head. "It was probably killed by thieves."

The sound of water grew louder. Lister noticed it sharply and looked in a direction within the darkness. The sound of water slicing through the air told everyone that something was coming.

"It's a big one." Falon raised his greatsword. He could almost tell what it was. "That shark?"

No more words were needed. Lister suddenly slammed the ground, and rapidly spreading frost froze the pipes as it surged toward the massive creature.

An eight-meter giant crocodile slowly crawled out from beneath the ice. Cruel light gleamed in the yellow vertical pupils of the vicious reptile, and its greedy eyes reflected the same brutality. Salorian did not move, nor did anyone else around him, because Lister had raised his hand first. Stealing someone else's prey was clearly not polite behavior.

The best way to deal with this kind of reptile was still Arcane Missile. Lister did not continue using Ebony Chill. During training, he had mostly used the jade staff. Although it felt awful in his hand, he had grown accustomed to that feeling.

The Spiral Missile took longer to gather than before. The inscriptions on his right arm helped him gather mana and cast spells faster. His heart was calm. Even when Liadrin cried out in terror, he did not release the spell until the giant crocodile crawled right up to him and opened its bloody maw.

The explosive missile detonated in the crocodile's mouth, sending it rolling across the ground in pain. Lister stretched out a hand. Arcane energy surged ceaselessly in his palm, forming powerful rippling shockwaves. A purple halo suddenly exploded. "Arcane Explosion!"

The badly wounded crocodile was flipped onto the ground, left with nothing but ragged breathing. Lister calmly raised his heavy hammer and smashed it down.

The crocodile's huge mouth suddenly caved in. Everyone shut their eyes. Poor crocodile.

Heavy blows rang out without end. Like a blacksmith, Lister calmly raised his hammer, brought it down, raised it again, brought it down again, repeating the motion with the same calmness and steadiness as his usual training.

The crocodile was dead beyond doubt. Everyone looked at its head, repeatedly hammered into a slab of meat, its bones shattered into fragments, and all of them sighed. What a pitiful creature.

The final thunderous blow echoed through the empty sewers. Lister felt as though everything had been released, a profound sense of relaxation washing over him. The long-suppressed pressure within him had been completely vented, leaving only a powerful sense of fulfillment. He could not help raising his heavy hammer and letting out a sky-shaking roar.

But the roar abruptly stopped the next moment. He returned to his calm, indifferent expression, and the sudden change caught everyone off guard.

"It's probably around four in the afternoon now. I suggest we move faster." Lister looked at Uther. "Do you remember when we slaughtered pigs and ate roast meat together during the Winter Veil Festival? I just wonder whether you like crocodile meat."