Chapter 264: Chapter 47: Monsters Flood the Fissure

The Disguise from [Thousand-Faced Illusion] made his silhouette almost indistinguishable from the rock’s texture, while the [Shadow Ring] absorbed any trace of his body heat and Energy Fluctuations.

His breathing grew long and faint, his heartbeat slowed to a near-dormant state. Even the Qi circulating through his body stilled, maintaining only the barest-minimum flow through his finest meridians, like a hibernating snake.

’Can I kill these monsters?’

’Yes.’

’Even against that Giant Scorching Beast... with the power of my 7.6-degree Flying Sword, killing a creature that only requires a 3.5-degree attack would be incredibly easy.’

’No more difficult than crushing a cockroach.’

’But what’s the point?’

’Kill one, and I’ll attract ten.’

’Kill ten, and I’ll attract a hundred.’

’I might even attract something far more terrifying.’

’This isn’t the Main World. This is the monsters’ home turf.’

’Their numbers are practically endless, but my Qi is finite.’

’Survival isn’t about fighting and killing. That’s just a last resort.’

’Exposing myself now would be like painting a bullseye on my back in the eye of the storm.’

"ROAR—!"

An even louder roar echoed from the crevice entrance.

The Scorching Beast at the very front, seemingly irritated by its companions shoving from behind, suddenly lunged forward, forcing its entire front half into the opening!

Its massive body blocked most of the entrance. Its thick, jointed legs scraped across the uneven ground, kicking up a shower of sparks.

It didn’t seem to notice Murphy hidden deep inside, drawn instead by some kind of aura emanating from the crevice’s depths.

The Scorching Beast’s compound eyes locked onto that direction. It let out a low growl and began to push its way further inside.

More monsters began to pour into the crevice. A second, then a third... They jostled one another, emitting threatening growls. The cramped space restricted their movement, which only made them more irritable.

An Earth Rock Worm even tried to force its head through, but the entrance was too narrow. It furiously battered the rock wall with its head, triggering a violent tremor and a shower of shattered stone.

Murphy, like the most patient of hunters, remained motionless in the shadows.

He even kept his gaze slightly lowered, avoiding a direct stare that might alert any of the more perceptive monsters.

He kept his Spiritual Power confined to monitoring a radius of a few meters around himself, never actively probing outward.

A monster with a relatively slender body, like a giant centipede with a carapace that gleamed with a dark purple luster, crawled in along the rock wall with astonishing agility.

Its many legs scraped across the rock, making a rapid TAPTAPTAP sound. The pincers on either side of its maw opened and closed, dripping a clear, acidic liquid that corroded small pits into the ground.

It seemed to possess a heightened sense of perception. It crept along the wall, gradually approaching the alcove where Murphy was hiding.

Murphy’s muscles remained relaxed, but the Qi inside him had already been subtly adjusted, taut as a drawn but unreleased bowstring.

The Flying Sword lay dormant in its sheath, but his sword intent was already linked to his mind, ready to unleash a fatal strike in an instant.

The dark purple, centipede-like monster stopped a few meters from the alcove, raising the front half of its body. Antenna-like organs on either side of its head vibrated at a high frequency, seemingly receiving and analyzing information from the air.

Its compound eyes glowed with a cold, eerie light as they slowly swept across the shadows on the rock face.

One second, two seconds...

The monster seemed somewhat puzzled. It crawled forward a little more, its pincers almost touching a stony ledge dangling from the edge of the alcove.

Murphy could even smell the foul stench emanating from its maw—a mixture of acid and rot.

Just then, a greater commotion erupted from behind them, followed by a pained shriek!

It sounded as if some of the monsters had come to blows in the crush, tearing into one another.

A Scorching Beast blocking the entrance was startled. It twisted its body in irritation, its thick tail accidentally striking the wall and sending several loose rocks crashing down!

"BANG! CRASH—!"

The falling rocks landed right near the dark purple centipede monster, and the resulting debris even struck its body.

Startled, the monster let out a piercing shriek and instinctively recoiled. The eerie light in its compound eyes flickered, its attention momentarily diverted by the chaos behind it.

’An opening!’

Murphy didn’t hesitate for a second. In the instant the monster’s attention was diverted and the sound of falling rocks masked any subtle noise, he moved. Like a melting shadow, he hugged the wall, sliding silently toward a deeper, more complex fork in the passage at a speed nearly imperceptible to the naked eye.

His movements were perfectly fluid. He didn’t stir a wisp of wind or make the slightest sound, even cleverly using the shifting light and shadows cast by the monsters themselves for cover.

Just as he left the alcove, the dark purple monster seemed to sense something. It turned its "gaze" back to the spot, its pincers tapping quizzically at the empty rock. But the escalating crush and roars from behind it once again drew its attention, and it finally turned away, heading deeper into the crevice where prey seemed more likely.

Murphy slipped into the deeper darkness of the branching passage, his back pressed against a damp rock wall.

The clamor and roars from outside were muffled by the winding passage, becoming dull and distant. But the tremors running through the ground and the increasingly thick, rank stench in the air were a constant reminder of the monsters’ presence.

He quickly analyzed the situation.

’The monsters are swarming the Rift Valley Slope in such large, organized numbers. Their target is almost certainly that ruined temple.’

’Either me killing the Wizard or a resonance from the ancient spirit coins in my possession... one of them must have been the spark that ignited this firestorm.’

’Good,’ Murphy coolly calculated. ’As long as the temple draws the monsters deeper into the crevice, the entrance is bound to be left unguarded or in chaos for a short time. That will be the perfect moment to escape.’

He was determined not to get involved in this mess.

’The mission objective is to destroy the anchor point, not to explore some unknown ancient ruins.’

’I’ll wait for the majority of them to pass and for an opening to appear, then I’ll slip out. It’ll be chaotic outside, but as long as I can get out of this cramped space, I can find an opportunity with my stealth and speed.’

He held his breath, honing his senses to their absolute peak as he patiently waited for his chance to escape.

Time crawled by in the suffocating stillness.

More and more monsters poured into the crevice, their roars, impacts, and scraping sounds blending into a maddening symphony of noise.

Murphy could even feel a constant, subtle tremor through the rock beneath his feet, caused by the sheer mass of creatures squeezing through the passage.

’Almost... Just a little longer... Wait for their main force to push through...’

He was completely focused on the activity at the crevice entrance, silently calculating the number and pace of the incoming monsters.

And then, without any warning, a bone-chilling cold shot up his spine.

The hairs on his body stood on end in an instant!

In that same instant, out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed something in the shadows deeper down the branching passage, not far from his side.

Two points of Dark Gold light—cold and utterly devoid of emotion—were floating there silently, like a pair of eyes stealthily opening in the dark.