Chapter 106: Karolena

Once they decided to act, Sunan and Rose hesitated no more and immediately set their plan in motion. The Man-faced Lion statue was extremely heavy, and even with Sunan's grand knight-level strength, moving it was near impossible.

Fortunately, he had another solution.

Boom!

An elite stone golem appeared out of thin air, wrapping its arms around the statue. With a powerful heave, it lifted the statue and moved it aside, much to Rose's astonishment.

That's a stone golem? Rose thought, bewildered.

Since when did stone golems possess such immense strength?

Even a legendary knight would struggle with such a feat!

But there was no time to ponder this; Rose pushed her surprise aside and placed her hand on the ground.

Instantly, the ground within a ten-meter radius rippled like water.

Moments later, a fist-sized crystal orb slowly emerged from the ground.

Rose grabbed the crystal orb and examined it closely, then exclaimed joyfully, "This is it."

"Good, let's get out of here."

In the brief moments they had been there, the commotion in the central square had already attracted the attention of the Man-faced Lions.

From all directions, Man-faced Lions were rushing towards them.

Sunan ordered the elite stone golem to stay behind and hold off the pursuers while he and Rose made their escape.

They chose a direction opposite the gate they had entered through.

After all, the gate was now teeming with Man-faced Lions, and heading there would be akin to walking into a trap.

They needed to escape in a different direction.

Since the island city was surrounded by a lake, it didn't matter which direction they left from.

"Intruders!"

"Capture them!"

Over a dozen Man-faced Lions charged at them, brandishing scimitars with savage expressions.

However, Sunan and Rose had little regard for ordinary Man-faced Lion warriors.

Without breaking stride, they waved their hands, unleashing a torrent of lightning that instantly turned the attackers into charred husks.

Against two level-three wizard apprentices, these Man-faced Lions, with strength only approaching that of a knight, were no match, falling in droves with no chance to retaliate.

Sunan and Rose swiftly crossed the city center.

To avoid the towering pillar that marked the Man-faced Lion nobles' residence, they took a longer, circular route around it.

But suddenly, a flash of fire erupted ahead, a wave of flames rushing towards them, the intense heat almost singeing their hair.

Instinctively, Rose began to halt, but Sunan's steady voice reached her ears.

"It's an illusion, keep moving!"

Without hesitation, Rose activated her protective magic items and charged forward.

Sure enough, as Sunan predicted, the blazing wave proved insubstantial, passing harmlessly over them.

They emerged from the flames unscathed.

Rose gave Sunan a curious glance.

"Man-faced Lions don't have innate spell-like abilities for manipulating fire, nor do they cast spells. They only know minor illusions to confuse," Sunan explained without looking back. He then flicked his hand, sending a bolt of lightning into an empty space.

A pained cry rang out as a Man-faced Lion stumbled out of thin air, its body blackened, lying lifeless on the ground.

Rose, a step behind Sunan, sensed something was off. The ring on her right index finger glowed faintly, emitting a grayish light that spread outward.

Wherever the light passed, Man-faced Lions appeared, their faces twisted in pain. They collapsed to the ground, their scimitars clattering down.

Their skin cracked open, but instead of blood, thin gray thorns sprouted, spreading across their bodies, enveloping them completely.

In moments, the street was filled with large clusters of gray thorns.

Whoosh!

More Man-faced Lions appeared in the air, all wielding scimitars, growling as they charged.

These differed from the ones Sunan had encountered earlier. They were larger and more muscular, their upper bodies adorned with intricate patterns that glowed eerily in the dim light.

Their scimitars were of higher quality, and all wielded dual blades.

Clearly, these were the elite warriors among the Man-faced Lions.

Despite being surrounded by elite Man-faced Lions, Sunan and Rose remained unfazed.

Two elite stone golems materialized, stepping forward to meet the Man-faced Lions.

Rose tossed a handful of seeds ahead, which quickly sprouted into vines, intertwining to form humanoid shapes.

Soon, the street was filled with dozens of creatures made entirely of green vines.

They swung their thick vine arms, roaring as they engaged the Man-faced Lions.

Meanwhile, Sunan and Rose kept their focus on a figure atop a nearby rooftop.

There stood a peculiar Man-faced Lion.

Unlike the others, this one had the upper body of a human female, with striking features, slanted eyes, and a beautiful, exotic face. Around her snowy neck was a silver collar, and her deep blue hair added to her allure.

She wore black leather armor, her chest prominently outlined.

To be honest, from the waist up, she was the kind of beauty that could ignite a man's desires with a single glance.

However, any such thoughts vanished upon seeing the thick, green snake tail below, swaying on the ground.

"Is that a Man-faced Lion too?" Rose asked, puzzled.

"That's a noble among the Man-faced Lions," Sunan replied calmly. "Most Man-faced Lions are half-human, half-lion. Only the nobles are half-human, half-snake, and mostly female. That one is likely part of the ruling class of this city-state."

"The illusion earlier was probably her doing."

Man-faced Lion nobles not only excelled in close combat but also possessed illusionary spell-like abilities, making them formidable legendary-level opponents.

Rose examined the Man-faced Lion noble and noted that in addition to the black snake-shaped short sword at her waist, she also held a long staff adorned with silver serpentine motifs.

Rose gave Sunan a curious look, asking, "How do you know so much?"

"I read it in a book," Sunan replied offhandedly.

Rose was half-convinced.

At that moment, the Man-faced Lion noble spoke up.

"Impressive. If I'm not mistaken, you two must be wizards."

She smiled seductively, her eyes filled with allure, as if she were greeting long-lost lovers rather than facing deadly adversaries.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Karolena."

"It's been many years since wizards have visited our city-state. Today, two come at once—how rare."

"Still, barging into our territory and killing so many of my kin—isn't that a bit much? Even wizards shouldn't be so reckless."

Rose sneered, "Coming from you, that's disgusting. Didn't you just invade the surface and massacre an entire village? Why didn't you care about reason then?"

Karolena's face lit up with understanding. "You're from the Thornflower Duchy."

Sunan glanced at Rose.

It seemed Rose had found the Underground World's entrance because of this incident.

Was she from the Thornflower Duchy?

"So you're here for revenge," Karolena laughed, her voice like silver bells.

"Then there's nothing more to say. Neither of you will—"

Before she could finish, Sunan and Rose attacked simultaneously, firing over a dozen magic missiles at Karolena, silencing her.

Karolena's expression darkened as her snake tail twisted, dodging most of the missiles.

The remaining missiles struck her, rippling across her body like leaves on a pond, vanishing without a trace.

Unscathed, Karolena leapt from the rooftop, landing gracefully.

She smirked, swinging her staff and striking the ground heavily.

In an instant, illusions of Man-faced Lions appeared around each of the original warriors, then solidified and attacked.

Suddenly, the number of enemies had multiplied.

This was clearly an illusion. Karolena couldn't summon so many kin instantly.

Yet opponents rarely had time to discern which were illusions and which were real.

Karolena had used this tactic to defeat many formidable foes.

But this time, she was destined for disappointment.

She faced wizard apprentices with far more versatile means.

Sunan unhesitatingly activated his Ice Necklace, unleashing a bone-chilling wave of frost that spread outward from him!

The wave shattered illusions like bursting bubbles, freezing the real Man-faced Lions solid!

In moments, the street was lined with ice sculptures.

Seeing this, Karolena and even Rose were taken aback.

"A micro-glow grade magic item!"

Rose inhaled sharply, her eyes a mix of envy and surprise.

These days, acquiring a micro-glow grade magic item was incredibly difficult, and making one was unthinkable.

Despite years of accumulation, Rose owned over a dozen magic items, none of which were micro-glow grade—all were alchemical grade.

Witnessing the item's incredible power, she couldn't help but feel envious.

"Player even has something this valuable."

Rose's understanding of Player's wealth deepened.

With a single strike, Sunan shattered Karolena's illusions. As the Man-faced Lions fell into disarray, he flicked his fingers, launching a gleaming gem like a bullet.

Boom!

In midair, the gem burst into brilliant azure light, transforming into a massive bolt of lightning that crashed down on Karolena, engulfing her.

"Let's go!"

Sunan commanded sharply, leaving two elite stone golems to hold the enemy while he and Rose made their escape.

This was the enemy's stronghold; lingering too long was unwise. They needed to leave quickly.

In moments, the two vanished at the street's end.

Simultaneously, a piercing shriek erupted.

The wind blew away the dust, revealing Karolena.

Her body was covered in blackened wounds, her snake tail's scales mostly gone, leaving her looking far from her earlier seductive beauty and utterly disheveled.

"Damned wizards!"

"Damned humans!"

Karolena glared venomously at the direction Sunan and Rose had fled, knowing it was too late to pursue them. In her rage, she angrily struck the ground with her staff.

"Lady Karolena."

A group of Man-faced Lions approached, led by a tall one.

He was shocked to see Karolena injured.

In his memory, the powerful Lady Karolena had never been in such a state.

Who were these intruders that could wound Lady Karolena so?

Karolena glanced at him, her face dark. "Angus, how's the situation at the gate?"

Angus lowered his gaze respectfully. "The enemies have been dealt with."

He hesitated before adding, "But Lady Karolena, those enemies were strange. They didn't seem like real sentient beings."

Karolena replied coldly, "They were golems, puppets created by wizards."

"Wizards!"

Angus was startled.

Wizards had attacked their city-state, no wonder even Lady Karolena was wounded.

In the vast Underground World, many legends about wizards persisted.

They were more fearsome than dragon demons, dark elves, or frost wights!

"Take the wounded for treatment, and have people watch the lower city's slaves to prevent any trouble. I need to report this to the Lord."

"Yes, Lady Karolena!"

Watching Karolena depart, Angus turned to the devastated street, his gaze lingering on the two shattered golems, frowning.

"Someone, clean this up quickly!"

After breaking through, Sunan and Rose used Invisibility, vanishing again.

With the pursuers held off by the two elite stone golems, they encountered only a few stray Man-faced Lions and quickly escaped the city.

Once back in the original cave, Sunan and Rose finally relaxed.

"Thanks to you," Rose smiled at Sunan.

Their successful retrieval of the key from the Man-faced Lion city-state was entirely thanks to Sunan.

Without his golem assault on the gate, drawing away the Man-faced Lion forces, and his devastating strike on the Man-faced Lion noble, their escape wouldn't have been so smooth.

Sunan's strength was even greater than she'd imagined!

Especially the powerful attack on the Man-faced Lion noble, resembling energy runes yet far stronger, left Rose deeply impressed.

Sunan shook his head, saying nothing.

Mainly, he was feeling the pinch.

The three elite stone golems and a hundred stone golems left in the city-state were worth over ten thousand gold coins!

Equivalent to a month's profit from the mines!

To get the key to the wizard's legacy, he'd paid a hefty price.

"Hope the wizard's legacy compensates for my losses," Sunan thought silently.

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