CHAPTER 91: CHAOS IN THE MINE

Chapter 91: Chaos in the Mine

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The sudden turn of events caught everyone off guard, both beasts and humans, and no one managed to react in time to what happened next.

A violent tremor shook the entire tunnel, which almost instantly began to collapse onto the beasts inside.

Even the underground chamber where the group of Mad Jackals mercenaries and Yun Hao’s group were stationed started to show visible cracks forming along the side walls, causing them to collapse one after another and plunging everything into chaos.

Meanwhile, up on the surface outside the mine, the situation was no better.

A powerful earthquake hit that entire section of the forest, and even some nearby villages could feel it.

Everyone wondered what was going on, since an earthquake of this magnitude had never happened before, especially in this area where there were no volcanoes nearby, neither on the surface nor underground...

or at least, none that anyone knew of.

That said, the earthquake lasted only a few seconds before it stopped, bringing peace back to the area.

Unfortunately, it didn’t last long, because the very next moment, a loud boom echoed through the area as, just a few hundred meters behind the mine’s entrance, the earth violently split open and a massive portion of the forest was completely swept away.

Trees were flung into the air like twigs, the ground caved in on itself with a deafening crash, and in the middle of the destruction, an enormous pit opened up,

tens upon tens of meters wide, like the land itself had collapsed under the weight of something overwhelming.

From the pit, through the dust and debris, a gigantic clawed hand emerged, pitch black, covered in rock hard scales, followed slowly by a massive, muscular arm.

The claw dug into the nearby ground and gripped it with immense force, causing the earth beneath to crack.

Then, as if the world itself were holding its breath, a colossal creature began to rise from the depths.

The ground quaked with each movement as its form towered ever higher.

The beast, nearly a hundred meters tall, loomed over the forest like a small mountain.

Its skin was thick, dark, and pulsing with an unknown energy, while a pair of curved horns rose menacingly from its head toward the sky.

Once it had fully emerged, the creature opened its jaws and let out a deafening roar toward the sky, as if it were announcing its return to the whole world.

The roar echoed through the forest, spreading for miles, making trees tremble and freezing the blood of anyone unlucky enough to hear it.

The surrounding villages heard it too, and needless to say, it threw them all into chaos as people frantically asked what terrifying creature had just appeared nearby.

Even the closest cities sensed something, though they couldn’t be sure what it was, only a few strong individuals could clearly feel the roar and got an idea of what had emerged.

Everyone went on high alert, and figures from all corners of the nearby cities began to move.

The chaos caused by the appearance of the massive creature was far from small, and those who were inside the mine below were the first to experience it.

The beasts that had survived the tunnel collapse trembled at the sound of the monster’s roar, a faint red gleam appearing in their eyes.

As if driven mad, they all raised their heads and roared together, causing another wave of disruption.

The human group that had also managed to survive the collapsing walls was just beginning to recover when they saw this scene, and they all trembled.

They immediately sensed that the already dire situation was about to get much worse, and they were right.

The beasts, after roaring upward, turned their gaze toward the human group, and with a crazed glint in their eyes, charged forward one by one, no longer caring to assess their opponents’ strength.

Yun Hao, seeing all this, pulled his greatsword out of the dimensional ring where he’d stored it during their escape, and without hesitation, swung a slash forward, cleanly cutting down the beasts in his path.

But their fall did little to slow the advance, as in the very next second, many more took their place and pressed onward, finally reaching the human group, who were already standing with weapons in hand.

A bloody battle broke out soon after, with screams echoing in every direction, beast or human, it didn’t matter.

In all this chaos, only survival mattered, so everyone fought with all their strength.

The mercenary group was the one in the best condition, since they had arrived only recently and hadn’t yet suffered serious injuries from the earlier collapse.

They too joined the battle, and for a moment, a kind of stalemate formed between the two sides.

At this point, the tide of the battle depended entirely on one particular clash in the center of the field, where, at that moment, a man wielding a spear and another wielding a Greatsword were continuously charging at the enormous centipede.

The clash between the three was intense, and so far, none of them had managed to land a fatal blow.

Yun Hao was panting heavily as he felt his energy being rapidly drained due to the wound on his arm.

He had sealed it with his Qi, but the problem was that the wound had clearly been infected by a strange poison from the creature’s tongue.

For now, it was suppressed in the shoulder area, but soon it might spread to the rest of the arm and then the body, and he wouldn’t have the strength left to resist it.

Yun Hao cursed his bad luck in his mind, wondering how the hell they’d ended up in this situation.

They had made plenty of preparations for this expedition to the mine, yet the creature in front of him still managed to corner them like this.

Not to mention that other being that had appeared nearby, he could feel its immense presence radiating in all directions.

His eyes were filled with frustration as he mentally cursed whoever had awakened that thing from its slumber.

’F*ck, The patriarch’s not gonna be happy about this...’

And so, while the battle below raged fiercer by the second, up above in the forest near the mine...

The towering beast turned its predatory gaze toward a certain direction in the sky, where a tall middle aged man with long white hair and deep gray eyes floated in the air, staring down at the creature below with an utterly emotionless expression.

"You certainly didn’t take long to arrive, dragon slayer," another voice suddenly echoed through the area as the figure of a woman dressed in red appeared out of nowhere, also floating in the air, watching the creature below with curious eyes.

Zhao Tianlei didn’t seem to care about the woman’s appearance, treating her presence like air.

Seeing this, the red clad woman looked almost offended and said,

"Tch, to think this poor woman isn’t even worthy of your gaze... ah, What a cruel world," she said with the expression of someone pitiful, as if she had been bullied,

but even so, the man clearly didn’t care.

Instead, he turned toward another point, where yet another figure soon appeared.

A man slightly taller than average, with long fiery red hair tied back, a simple yet refined appearance, appeared in the sky,

his hawk like golden eyes fixed on the creature before them, which was now glaring back at the three newcomers with a fierce expression,

a glint of caution in its scarlet eyes, as if it too could feel their power.

"Oh, if it isn’t the Headmaster of Qingyun Academy."

Said the woman, bowing to him, followed by Zhao Tianlei who gave him a nod before turning his attention back to the creature below.

"To think a creature like that was hiding here... If it hadn’t shown itself today, I fear it could’ve caused a major disaster in the province someday," said Long Huoyan, his face serious.

He could tell just by looking that the creature in front of them was abnormal, and even though he could sense its current cultivation level, he also felt something strange, he sensed that the beast wasn’t supposed to have that power.

It felt unnatural, as if it didn’t truly belong to the creature,

and, more importantly, it seemed far more powerful than it appeared at first glance.

Zhao Tianlei seemed to agree with his words and added,

"Hmm, not to mention that energy in its body, it’s the same as that time," he said, as the image of a massive dragon surfaced in his mind.

It was one of the strongest creatures he’d ever encountered in his life, an entity that had nearly wiped out him and his squad in the past.

He didn’t have pleasant memories of that battle, and now, seeing a creature emanating an aura similar to that being from back then put him on high alert.

At his words, both the woman and the Headmaster nodded, as if they understood what he meant, and they both agreed with him.

These three were some of the strongest individuals in the Human Empire, among the most feared across the Three Empires.

They were the closest to the forest, so all three didn’t hesitate to act when they sensed that strange fluctuation of energy.

None of them dared to underestimate the monster before them.

The creature, also sensed the power of the three and understood they were formidable opponents, but it didn’t seem too bothered by this.

In fact, behind those cautious eyes, there was another hidden gleam,

A strong battle intent.