Chapter 181: The Dangerous Dark Region

Donald and his companions split up and soon arrived at the territory of those monsters. The owls and goblins were currently following their master Donald’s orders to hide outside the monster territory.
“This is it!”
Sensing the presence of lurking threats ready to attack passersby, Donald and his companion exchanged a glance. Understanding each other’s intentions, they did not stop.
Hearing Donald’s words, Thord removed the warhammer he had always carried at his waist. This was a weapon favored by priests. Being stronger than mages, they were just as skilled in close combat as warriors of lower ranks, and the warhammer, enhanced by divine magic, functioned similarly to a mage’s staff.
When the two reached the ambush point, three figures suddenly rushed out from the dark corners. Two of them attacked Thord, while the third targeted Donald.
The middle-aged priest remained calm, as if facing not fierce monsters but tame household dogs. He uttered a few words, swung his warhammer, and sent an invisible wave toward the two attackers.
Two screams merged together, followed by two thuds. Before they could reach the priest, the two fierce attackers fell to the ground, screaming in pain before dying after convulsing.
On Donald’s side, there was only one attacker, who was instantly dealt with by his “Star of Frost.”
The monsters attacking them were clearly not very strong. Upon being hit by the “Star of Frost,” they turned into ice sculptures covered in frost. Donald stepped closer to examine them and found they were about ten feet long from head to tail and stood about nine feet tall.
The monsters had small eyes and extremely sharp beaks. Their heads resembled vultures, but their bodies were insect-like, covered in thick bone plating. This armor provided excellent physical defense, but since both Thord’s wave attack and Donald’s frost damage could affect their internal organs, their formidable armor was almost useless.
Donald glanced at the two monsters Thord had dealt with and saw that they were completely lifeless, with blood flowing from their mouths, noses, and ears.

He knew that Sord was using a low-level divine spell called Sudden Sound Woman, which could inflict damage on creatures within a ten-foot radius. Depending on the spell’s intensity, creatures with strong resistance would suffer from dizziness, nausea, or intimidation, while those sensitive to sound would take severe damage. The brains of both monsters had clearly been shattered by that sound wave, leaving them instantly unable to move.

Subterranean creatures rely on keen senses such as hearing and touch to perceive their surroundings, unlike those in the surface world who mostly depend on vision. Thus, this Sudden Sound Woman spell was undoubtedly highly lethal to these senses-sensitive subterranean creatures.

The middle-aged priest also came over to take a look and said, “These are Claw Monsters, subterranean creatures skilled in ambushes. Known as underground killers, they live in caves with good water sources or edible fungi. They are social creatures; a nest usually contains five to twenty individuals, or several nests may gather together. If that’s the case, it will be troublesome for us to move forward! These Claw Monsters have a strong sense of territory and will fiercely attack any creature that invades their domain, often to the point of fighting to the death!” Donald nodded and said, “That’s indeed a problem. I don’t want to waste time cleaning up after these monsters. How about we work together to deal with them first and then reunite with the teacher and the others?” Sord agreed and said, “Then I’ll handle restraining them, while you deal with them as quickly as possible!”

After discussing this, the two continued forward. Shadows swayed ahead. After Donald and his group invaded the Claw Monsters’ territory and lost four companions, all the remaining Claw Monsters became bloodthirsty and aggressive, eager to tear apart the intruders with their sharp claws and beaks.

When the first batch of Claw Monsters attacked from the shadows, Sord immediately unleashed the divine spell he had prepared. The seven or eight Claw Monsters that had been charging suddenly stopped as if braked abruptly, staring blankly at the middle-aged priest, as if he were a naked beauty suddenly appearing before some lecherous drunkards.

It was just a common second-level divine spell, Charm, which forced all creatures within its range to focus on the caster, rendering them unable to act otherwise. However, once any threat appeared, the effect of the spell would be dispelled.

Donald watched in admiration. Truly, she was an elite warrior sent by the headquarters of the Goddess of Agriculture. Whether it was her sudden voice attack earlier or her deception techniques now, they were merely second-tier divine spells. Yet through her clever application, a group of monster killers with only bronze-level strength were easily subdued, with hardly any chance to fight back.

Without hesitation, he seized this opportunity. Donald raised his hand, and blood blossoms erupted above the heads of the seven Scyther Monsters, causing them to collapse helplessly.

This was the spell he used—Steadfast Blade. It created a tiny force-field blade through energy, flying at 40 feet per second. Under normal circumstances, it could be used once per attack. If mental power techniques were employed, it could function like a legendary flying sword, capable of severing heads from ten paces away. However, this was only a first-tier spell, not very fast, and its damage was equivalent to that of an ordinary dagger. If these Scyther Monsters could move freely, his spell might not have been fast enough to catch up to them. But since they were restrained by the God’s spell, they became stationary targets. Once the target was marked mentally, the force-field blade could move along a predetermined path—so how could Donald miss?

In just a second or two, the first batch of seven Scyther Monsters was completely eliminated. Even demons with strong vitality would die instantly if struck through the brain, let alone these creatures at the edge of bronze-level strength!

As soon as those seven monsters were dealt with, three more appeared. This time, Donald didn’t wait for Sord to act—he cast a spell immediately.

A roar echoed through the cave passage. The three Scyther Monsters collapsed to the ground as if struck by lightning, convulsing unnaturally.

It was the Roar Spell, which used a loud, high-pitched sound to attack the target. The sound could bypass the target’s coverings and, depending on the caster’s level, inflict varying degrees of damage. Even creatures resistant to sound damage would go deaf. Though it was only a first-tier spell, like Mage Armor and Arcane Missile, its power increased as the caster’s strength grew.

With Donald’s current mid-silver-level mage status, and these Scyther Monsters being underground creatures vulnerable to sound spells, their brain-related abilities were already damaged—death was just around the corner.

Compared to Sord’s expertise in experience and proficiency in casting divine spells, Donald’s ability to grasp battle situations and his learning capacity deeply impressed Sord, a seasoned elite of the church. He merely restricted the monsters’ movements, and Donald could immediately find the most suitable spells to deal with them. After using the “Sudden Sound Lady” spell just once, Donald was able to identify the common weaknesses of subterranean creatures and use it to defeat enemies and achieve success! Initially, he had dismissed Donald as a rural noble from a remote area, thinking he was the kind of arrogant mage who focused solely on leveling up while neglecting skills and relied on external means to advance. But after observing his performance in these two battles, he realized Donald was by no means a fool who only possessed strength but lacked the ability to utilize it. In fact, if Donald hadn’t received divinity and gone through two rounds of accelerated time-based training, his abilities would never have reached such a level of ease and mastery, allowing him to cast spells effortlessly as if he had practiced them countless times. Especially after these two rounds of time acceleration—where only three days passed in the outside world, but nearly a year went by inside the House of Time—his prolonged training made his control over spells even more precise. Spells that once required preparation could now be cast instantly, with the recitation and casting times perfectly timed, even reducing the casting time significantly, showing proficiency akin to that of an experienced mage with decades of experience. This is the power of divinity—all beings with divinity can gain insights into the laws of the universe, and those like Donald, who have absorbed the divinity of a true god, reap even greater benefits. By absorbing this divinity, he can grow and strengthen at a rate thousands of times faster than ordinary professionals. Divinity is a higher form of power rooted in the soul. Although the original evil god’s divinity lost its consciousness and memories, many instincts and knowledge insights remained. Even a fraction one-thousandth of it contains so much that Donald cannot fully comprehend it in just a short time; it will take several more years before he can master it completely. But with the existence of the House of Time, which greatly reduces this time, three years is equivalent to only ten days in the main material world. As long as Donald is willing to expend divine energy, he can definitely achieve this.

However, prolonged seclusion for cultivation also requires some relaxation; balance is key in both arts and martial arts. So Donald wasn’t in a hurry. It was only when he sensed a potential crisis that he temporarily secluded himself for a hundred days and successfully reached the Silver rank.
Setting aside Sord’s astonishment at Donald’s talent and strength, the two of them searched the nearby cave passages briefly until no more Scyther monsters were found, before returning to the location of the earlier battle.
“This area is clear. I’ll have my summoned creatures continue exploring further down, then get in touch with the teacher and the others!”
With that, he ordered the summoned creatures that had been hiding behind them to come to him, summoned a few more to make up the number, and sent them deeper underground to explore the passage.
“I’ll go check on Wood and the others!”
Saying this, the middle-aged priest began casting a divine spell, conjuring a realm of light and shadow in front of them. Within it appeared the three members of the other group—Messer and the others.