บท 104: Chapter 104: The Man-faced Lion
Deep within the cave.
In the low basin, the diligent clay golems were hard at work. The crisp sound of pickaxes striking the rock was unending.
The clay golems pushed carts filled with ore along mining tracks, clattering as they moved outside.
Over two months, this mining area had contributed nearly 15,000 gold coins to Sunan's coffers, more than covering the expenses of defeating the Hundred-Armed Monster with surplus to spare.
To Sunan's delight, the ore deposits were even richer than he had anticipated.
Sunan estimated that by the time the veins were fully depleted, they could yield over 80,000 gold coins in profit.
That's equivalent to three to four years' worth of potion sales!
If the mining area weren't too small to accommodate more clay golems, he would have considered deploying even more to hasten the mining process.
After inspecting the mining area and finding no issues, Sunan proceeded to the monitoring point.
The so-called monitoring point was the former lair of the Hundred-Armed Monster.
The area was now cleared out, with five steel golems standing vigilantly—motionless, like statues.
The magical alarms remained intact.
Sunan approached the entrance to the Underground World without stopping, stepping inside.
Having delayed for nearly three months, he felt it was time to investigate the city-state's situation.
Now, armed with the powerful magic rune core and carrying twenty high-level rune gems, Sunan was well-prepared.
Additionally, the income from mining over the past few months had been invested in crafting more golems.
Currently, his cube housed two steel golems, eight elite stone golems, and a hundred stone golems.
With these assets, Sunan felt confident.
Even if danger arose in the underground city-state, he was certain of his ability to escape.
At the entrance leading downward, Sunan cast Levitation on himself, followed by Feather Fall and Invisibility.
The latter two were his newly mastered fifth and sixth second-circle spells, prepared specifically for this investigation.
As the spells took effect, Sunan vanished from sight, becoming invisible in the air.
His body felt lighter.
With a leap, he floated down into the passage.
Before long, Sunan emerged from the stalactite, once again facing the peculiar island city-state.
Activating the Extreme Protection Ring on his hand, he also cast Shield and an energy particle layer on himself before cautiously flying forward.
The lake at the cavern's bottom was eerily calm, devoid of even the slightest ripple.
The dim glow from the fluorite embedded in the stalactites failed to reach the lakebed, making the lake appear like a pitch-black curtain, exuding an unsettling stillness.
One couldn't help but wonder if any creatures lived within the lake.
Sunan observed his surroundings but found no bridges or roads crossing the lake.
He wondered how the city's inhabitants left the island and accessed the stalactite entrance above.
However, it wasn't long before Sunan noticed a strange flying creature approaching.
It resembled a furred manta ray, with a wingspan exceeding five meters, carrying two half-human, half-lion creatures on its broad back.
They appeared to be a fusion of handsome humans and powerful lions, with humanoid upper bodies and lion-like lower bodies.
"Man-faced Lions!"
Sunan's eyes narrowed as he recognized the creatures.
Man-faced Lions were cunning, evil beings known for their robust bodies and adept combat skills, making them natural warriors.
Some Man-faced Lions possessed innate spell-like abilities, such as illusions and invisibility.
Man-faced Lions with these abilities were feared assassins in the Underground World.
In addition to their strength, Man-faced Lions were highly intelligent and spoke multiple languages.
A mature Man-faced Lion had strength comparable to a knight, easily capable of defeating four or five apprentice knights alone.
Elite warriors or nobles among them could reach the level of grand knights or even legendary knights.
"It seems that's the transportation for this city-state's residents."
Sunan watched as the manta ray-like creature leisurely flew to a stalactite with an opening, where the two Man-faced Lions disembarked.
Once the Man-faced Lions left, the manta ray descended to the lake's surface, floating idly.
Sunan's eyes gleamed with contemplation. He soon turned back to the stalactite's entrance and slipped inside.
Beyond the entrance lay an upward passage, leading to a spacious cave.
Unexpectedly, the cave contained a mineral vein.
The uneven rock walls revealed patches of reddish metal, stretching across the area.
The two Man-faced Lions were using scimitars to strike at the rock walls, seemingly surveying or engaged in some task.
Sunan swiftly cast two weakening rays, incapacitating the Man-faced Lions before they could react.
When they saw Sunan appear out of thin air, they were equally shocked, their eyes widening in fear.
"Human!"
"Who are you?!"
Sunan didn't bother with pleasantries, knocking out one of the Man-faced Lions before interrogating the other.
"Don't try to lie. I'll ask your companion the same questions later. If I catch you lying, trust me, you'll regret it."
Under the effects of the Comprehend Languages spell, the Man-faced Lion understood Sunan perfectly, a look of terror crossing its face.
After some coercion, the Man-faced Lion eventually broke down and answered Sunan's questions.
Once he obtained the information, Sunan knocked out the remaining Man-faced Lion and repeated the interrogation.
His caution was warranted, given the Man-faced Lions' notorious cunning, evil nature, and lack of trustworthiness.
Without some precautions, they might have led him into a trap.
Unfortunately, Charm Person only worked on humanoid or human-like bipedal creatures, so it was ineffective against the Man-faced Lions. Otherwise, things would have been simpler.
Having gathered the necessary intel, Sunan unhesitatingly disposed of the Man-faced Lions.
After burning the bodies to ash, he stared at the scorched marks on the ground, lost in thought.
According to the Man-faced Lions, the island in the lake's center was ruled by a Man-faced Lion city-state, home to around four to five thousand inhabitants.
About two-fifths of them were Man-faced Lions, with the rest being various slaves.
"A city-state ruled by Man-faced Lions. This complicates things," Sunan thought, frowning.
Though most inhabitants of the Underground World were inherently evil and had terrible reputations, there were exceptions, such as fire dwarves and golden dwarves, who were not as malevolent and could be reasoned with.
Sunan had initially hoped that if he encountered a reasonable race, they could establish a friendly trade relationship.
But dealing with Man-faced Lions was a different story!
They were entirely untrustworthy and beyond negotiation.
Sunan was certain that if the Man-faced Lions discovered the entrance to the surface, they would invade, plundering people and resources.
Or perhaps they already knew of the entrance and were sharpening their blades.
Regardless, as long as the entrance existed, a conflict with the Man-faced Lions was inevitable.
"My brother needs to prepare for this," Sunan mused.
The Man-faced Lion city-state's defense force posed a significant challenge, even for someone like Sunan.
After all, it consisted of nearly two thousand knight-level combatants.
Among them were elite Man-faced Lions and Man-faced Lion nobles.
There were likely several legendary-level combatants.
"I should infiltrate the city and investigate further."
Sunan left the cave, flying toward the island.
He crossed the lake without incident, landing at the island's edge.
The city-state occupied about four-fifths of the island, with the remaining fifth being an open lakeshore.
Whether approaching by water or air, any creature landing on the island would be spotted by guards on the distant city walls.
Aware of this, Sunan had prioritized learning Invisibility.
Strolling openly across the lakeshore, Sunan soon reached the vicinity of the city-state.
The towering city walls stood over twenty meters high, constructed from neatly arranged blue stones. The craftsmanship was surprisingly good, appearing more solid and sturdy than many human towns' walls on the surface.
Sunan wasn't surprised.
After all, a significant portion of the Underground World's inhabitants were dwarves.
Including gray dwarves, fire dwarves, durro dwarves, shield dwarves, and golden dwarves.
Dwarves were renowned for their skill in forging and construction.
As a result, the Underground World's weapons and architecture were not inferior to those of the surface.
On the city walls, many Man-faced Lion warriors patrolled, bare-chested.
A group of Man-faced Lions with scimitars stood at the gate, inspecting residents entering the city.
But what drew Sunan's attention was a black lion crouched beside the gate.
It was pitch black, even its eyes were a deep black, blending perfectly into the shadows. If not for Sunan's keen perception, he might have overlooked it.
After observing for a while, Sunan couldn't identify the creature.
Shaking his head, he didn't dwell on it. The Underground World's geomantic radiation often resulted in various mutant creatures, and even the most knowledgeable individuals couldn't recognize them all. Encountering unfamiliar creatures was normal.
He turned his gaze to the queue of creatures waiting to enter the city.
There were various beings, including lizardfolk, kobolds, minotaurs, and even ogres.
Under the Man-faced Lions' intimidation, these strange and diverse creatures stood quietly together, lining up to enter the city.
"Fortune smiles on me," Sunan thought, his spirits lifting.
Like Charm Person, Disguise Self could only transform him into a human, humanoid, or other human-like bipedal creature, not a Man-faced Lion.
Sunan had initially planned to use Invisibility to try and sneak into the city. But seeing lizardfolk among the crowd made things easier.
Just as Sunan was about to find a place to disguise himself as a lizardfolk and rejoin the line, a commotion erupted at the gate.
The black lion, previously lounging beside the gate, suddenly rose, its black eyes fixating on a lizardfolk in the queue. It then let out a deafening roar.
From over two hundred meters away, the sound reached Sunan's ears, making his head throb as if struck hard.
Simultaneously, the lizardfolk targeted by the black lion staggered back with a muffled grunt.
The Man-faced Lions, having sensed something amiss the moment the black lion moved, now focused sharply on the staggering lizardfolk.
"Something's off with that one!"
"Seize him!"
With a shout, over a dozen Man-faced Lions drew their scimitars, roaring as they charged at the lizardfolk.
Chaos erupted at the gate as the crowd of creatures retreated, isolating the lizardfolk.
Realizing its cover was blown, the lizardfolk ceased its disguise. Its form twisted and blurred, revealing a figure clad in a gray robe with a gray mask.
The next second, a massive fireball shot from the figure's hand, slamming into a Man-faced Lion, turning it into a living torch that writhed on the ground.
"Fireball!"
Sunan's eyes narrowed.
The gray-robed figure was a wizard apprentice!
Whoosh!
Six magic missiles tore through the gloom, blasting apart the heads of four or five Man-faced Lions.
Despite the casualties, the Man-faced Lions showed no fear. Instead, their ferocity was stoked, and they charged with scimitars in each hand, claws digging into the ground as they surrounded the gray-robed figure.
The gray-robed figure drew a staff, releasing magic missiles with one hand while casting spells with the other.
Scorching Ray!
Fireball!
The searing heat waves spread rapidly, the air temperature soaring.
Though the Man-faced Lions outnumbered their opponent, they were driven back by the magical onslaught.
But then, a burly figure appeared silently behind the gray-robed figure.
With crossed blades, the Man-faced Lion slashed wildly, delivering seven or eight heavy blows almost simultaneously to the figure's back.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The dull sound of blades striking leather echoed repeatedly.
The invisible shield behind the gray-robed figure shattered instantly, but the powerful slashes were stopped by an unseen force field mere centimeters from the figure's back.
Seizing the opportunity, the gray-robed figure glowed red and spun, delivering a powerful kick that sent the Man-faced Lion flying over twenty meters.
Bull's Strength!
The surrounding Man-faced Lions were stunned by the frail-seeming human's surprising strength, their assault momentarily halted.
Taking advantage of the pause, the gray-robed figure leaped upward, hovering briefly before darting away.
The Man-faced Lions, regaining their wits, pursued but were halted by the lake.
By the time a Man-faced Lion arrived on the manta ray, the gray-robed figure had vanished.
"Damn it!"
The dual-wielding Man-faced Lion stood up, cursing as it slashed a trembling kobold in half.
In the passage of a hollow stalactite high above the cavern, the gray-robed figure paused, glancing back.
"Come out."
Sunan emerged from the shadows.
He hadn't bothered to hide, making it easy for the gray-robed figure to notice him.
"Who are you, and why are you following me?" the gray-robed figure asked coldly.
The voice beneath the mask was neutral.
Sunan smiled faintly.
"Long time no see, Rose."
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