Chapter 216: Beast Roar

The afternoon sun beat down with considerable force.

The knights, turning themselves into strongmen one by one, hoisted massive bundles of firewood upon their backs and set them down before the cavern.

Roning, meanwhile, emptied all the timber from his spatial ring, discarding it just inside the threshold.

With a casual wave of his hand, he cast several minor fire spells—small, flickering flames that instantly ignited the dry brush, catching with ferocious speed.

"Jenny, conjure some water, we need smoke."

"At your service, My Lord!"

Utilizing the same basic tier of magic, Jenny deftly invoked her water-gathering art to douse a portion of the timber, sending up a sudden, thick shroud of smoke that began to billow outward.

Roning then pivoted to a gentle breeze spell, which not only fed the blaze with ample air but swept the rising black plumes deep into the cavern's recesses.

Witnessing this, the company could not help but chuckle.

How grand it was to have mages at hand; look at them play with fire, water, and wind alike.

Though certain battle arts possessed similar properties, they were inherently too violent and would likely blow the entire pyre to pieces.

Sustained by the trailing wind, the dense smoke drifted steadily into the dark tunnels of the subterranean passage.

At first, the company heard no reaction from the depths.

Soon, however, the faint, muffled sounds of furious roars and shouting echoed out from within.

Roning raised an eyebrow, a slight smile tugging at the corner of his mouth: "Keep throwing dry wood inside, bundle by bundle."

"Jenny, maintain your water gathering to keep the smoke thick."

The party divided the labor seamlessly, keeping the fire fierce and the smoke heavy; they felt like mischievous children up to no good, their hearts alive with anticipation.

"Why has it gone quiet inside?"

"Could they have been suffocated to death by our smoke?"

"It is entirely possible; even we could not endure such a choking cloud."

The men fell into animated chatter; the bellows they had heard moments ago had completely vanished, rendering such speculation only natural.

Yet right then, the earth gave a sudden, violent shudder, and a low rumble of a roar seeped out from the very bones of the mountain.

This was no human outcry, but the voice of a beast, distinct from the howl of a wolf or the scream of a great cat.

It was deep, majestic, as if rising from the core of the world, shaking everything in its vicinity and leaving those who heard it with a creeping chill down their spines.

Whether it was Roning, Ridal, or any of the others, every face paled slightly.

As they stood in anxious uncertainty, a second roar bellowed forth, sounding closer this time, its cadence much sharper.

"What manner of creature is that?"

Joffrey’s expression shifted grimly; having lived long in the deep mountains, he had never encountered such a cry.

Jenny and Clamy, the only two ladies present, turned quite pale.

"Fall back, everyone! Get away from the entrance!"

Roning had originally intended to ambush whoever stumbled out, but the shifting tide of events made him realize such an arrangement was unwise.

Upon hearing Roning's command, the company retreated without delay.

Before Ridal and Maken withdrew, they flung the remainder of the firewood into the cavern mouth in one desperate heap—whatever was inside, they would burn it first.

The flames roared high, and though Jenny continued her water-gathering magic, the distance dulled her efficacy, and the thick smoke began to wane.

Then came the third roar, accompanied by a faint trembling of the ground, like the slow advance of some colossal behemoth that set the earth vibrating and struck terror into their souls.

"This is no ordinary magical beast!"

Roning’s expression hardened; he was already prepared to unleash the Fire Dragon’s Heavens-Swallowing Scroll the moment things went awry.

Yet he could not shake the strange impression that amidst this deep, majestic bellowing, there lay a note of grievance and exhaustion.

Before he could ponder further, a fourth roar erupted, bringing with it not just sound, but an endless, freezing frost and a violent gale.

Boom!

The surging energy blasted the piled firewood to splinters, sending the smoke rushing backward in an explosive surge that burst from the cavern and spread across the clearing.

"Get back!" Roning shouted at the top of his lungs.

The company, already a hundred meters away, scrambled further backward in frantic haste.

Simultaneously, to combat the encroaching smoke, Roning unleashed his Wind Roar magic; a furious gale laced with countless tiny wind blades clashed against the erupting cloud in a chaotic din.

Ridal, Maken, and the others unleashed their respective battle arts, striking blindly toward the cavern entrance.

After a brief, thundering crescendo, the world fell into an abrupt silence.

As the smoke dissolved, the cavern mouth was revealed to be utterly devastated, half-buried under a landslide of earth from the mountain above.

The pupils of the onlookers contracted sharply at the shocking sight before them.

The entrance was entirely frozen over, transformed into a corridor of pure ice.

The crystalline frost reflected the brilliant sunlight, and everyone could feel the ambient temperature plummeting.

Roning frowned; what tier of magical beast could deploy such a massive frost spell?

Yet after that single outburst, the beast's roaring seemed to cease entirely.

Whether it was biding its time within or occupied with something else, they felt only the tense, heavy stillness that precedes a storm.

"Stay alert! Maintain your guard!"

Ridal, the commander, spoke up to break the spell, recalling the minds of those transfixed by the frozen passage.

Tom, David, and the other knights swallowed hard; they felt they had no business being part of the battle to come.

Fortunately, the Lord seemed to have brought them along merely to observe and learn, rather than to participate in the fighting.

"Who goes there!"

"Who dares trespass upon the Master's domain!"

A powerful voice bellowed in fury, accompanied by the frantic, echoing sound of hurried footsteps rushing toward the opening.

Roning raised his hand, "Prepare ranged attacks!"

They had no need to consider the identity or role of the intruders; since they were foes, they would strike the moment a head appeared.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

In that instant, five figures burst from the cavern at breathtaking speed.

"Attack!"

Roning shouted, leading the volley with another Wind Roar.

At his command, Ridal, Maken, and Elrond struck first, with Joffrey, Clamy, and the others swiftly following suit.

The five figures emerging from the tunnel seemed to have anticipated a barrage of battle arts and magic, unleashing their own defenses the moment they crossed the threshold.

Instantly, a grand and deafening clash of skills erupted before the cavern mouth.

Though Roning’s side possessed the advantage of numbers, the explosive collision left both forces deadlocked in equal measure.

Watch out—there’s likely a Gold-rank on the other side!

The dust and energy from the collision dissipated, revealing the opposing forces.

Five of them stood across from them, led by a white-haired female knight at the center, with four others flanking her left and right—all undoubtedly no lower than High Knights.

Beyond them, as the residual shockwaves of their clash faded, eight more figures emerged from the cave.

All clad in uniform gray robes, they were the patrol group seen daily—likely Low or Mid-rankers at best.

Luo Ning’s gaze swept past them, into the cavern’s depths. Now that both sides had arrayed themselves, he still saw no trace of any beast.

Were they still holding back?

“You?”

The burly knight beside the white-haired woman leveled his sword at Ridal, his expression startled.

“I remember you—the one I pierced through the arm that night. How is it your wound has healed so quickly?”

He knew a single thrust like that couldn’t kill an equal, but he was certain Ridal’s left arm would have taken months to recover.

Yet here he stood—whole, unbroken.

“Who are you?” Luo Ning asked. “Why are you hiding in this cave?”

“Heh… a tender little boy.”

The woman licked her crimson lips. “Your appearance pleases me greatly. Why not submit to me? I’ll cherish you tenderly.”

“And you four as well—why not all submit to me?” (End of Chapter)