SWDnovel Chapter 55 Ghouls, Fierce Battle in the Cave!
Chapter 55 Ghouls, Fierce Battle in the Cave!
We walked another two hundred meters or so.
We finally arrived at a new area, and the tunnel ahead opened up a bit more.
The horizontal distance increased to seven or eight meters, but the vertical distance was only three meters! Movement was severely restricted.
As the flashlight beam swept across the ground, Su Chen saw fragments of something.
He squatted down and poked at it with the tip of the knife.
eggshell.
The eggshell fragments were grayish-white, with dark red patterns covering their surface.
"The eggs of the Abyssal Demon Worm".
Zhou Chengjie squatted down beside him, picked up a large piece of eggshell with the tip of his knife, and examined it in the flashlight. "Judging from the condition of the eggshell, these larvae have been hatching for at least two or three months."
"Two or three months?" Su Chen frowned.
Zhou Chengjie nodded and tossed the eggshell fragment back onto the ground: "Hmm! Abyssal Demon Worms mature in a month, and their lifespan is six months. In two or three months... their reproduction rate is quite high!"
After saying that, he turned around and glanced behind him, about to say something to Su Chen...
Suddenly, a rustling sound came from inside!
The sounds of countless shells rubbing against the rock face and slender limbs crushing pebbles were dense and varied.
Everyone stopped in their tracks at the same time, instantly entering combat mode.
Xiao Zi also turned around abruptly, her back arched, and lightning flashed between her silvery-white fur.
"Tighten the formation!" Zhou Chengjie immediately ordered.
The group moved toward the center almost simultaneously.
The three forwards and the leopard took two steps back, while the defenders retreated three steps.
Center-backs Su Chen and Wang Yichuan each guard one side.
A powerful flashlight swept quickly across the cave wall.
Those cracks... and countless insect heads emerged from them!
The movements of each abyssal worm as it emerged were remarkably synchronized.
First, it uses its head to poke out of the crack, its whiskers quickly scanning the surrounding environment to confirm that there is no direct threat. Then, its six legs are pulled out of the crack one by one, and its entire body squeezes out of the narrow gap.
The entire process takes no more than three seconds.
Its body is the size of a washbasin, and it moves forward on six legs in alternating directions. The round, sharp teeth on its mouth are curved inward.
One.
Ten.
Thirty.
One hundred!
more and more!
Su Chen's flashlight beam landed on a relatively wide crack...
A grayish-white hand emerged from the crack; though called a "hand," it looked more like the claw of some kind of humanoid creature.
The next second, his entire body was squeezed out of the crack.
Ghoul!
The illustrations in the textbook flashed through Su Chen's mind.
Its size is similar to that of a child who is about 1.2 meters tall. Its skin is a dark grayish-white color, so thin that it is almost transparent, and you can vaguely see the black blood vessels underneath.
Its limbs were slender, but its joints were large, and every bone looked as if it had been stretched out of shape by something, resulting in a distorted and bizarre appearance.
It doesn't walk on two legs; it walks on all fours.
"They're ghouls!" Zhou Chengjie's voice rose a half-octave. "Watch their mouths! Their saliva contains ghoul toxins!"
The words had barely left his mouth...
"Roar~!"
A sharp screech came from overhead.
Su Chen suddenly looked up.
A ghoul had somehow climbed onto the top rock slab, hanging upside down on the rock surface.
It is larger and has thicker limbs.
It has chosen its target – Su Chen!
"roar!!"
The ghoul slammed its limbs off the rock slab and crashed down.
The speed is astonishing!
The flashlight beam didn't even have time to capture its trajectory; all that could be seen was a grayish-white shadow rapidly magnifying in the field of vision.
Su Chen's body reacted faster than his brain.
Shadowless Step!
Psionic energy surged from his acupoints, flowing along his meridians into his legs, shifting his center of gravity half a meter to the side in a fraction of a second.
The ghoul's claws grazed his shoulder, sending up a stench.
"Little Purple!"
Xiao Zi did not hesitate at all.
Swift Step, Thunder Fang!
A silvery-white figure shot out from beside Su Chen's feet, accurately striking the ghoul's side and biting down.
"Boom!"
The ghoul was knocked off its intended landing trajectory, tumbling twice in mid-air before crashing into the rock wall on its right.
Its limbs braced against the rock face, and it regained its footing.
Those dark red eyes locked onto Su Chen!
Su Chen didn't give it a chance to catch its breath.
He slammed his right foot down, unleashing the full power of his Shadowless Step!
The ghoul had just sprang up from the rock wall, its limbs outstretched, its grayish-white belly exposed to the blade.
Su Chen's knife slashed diagonally upwards from below!
The ghoul tried to dodge, but Xiao Zi's thunderous roar briefly stunned it.
"Pfft~!"
The blade sliced through the ghoul's belly with a dull thud.
Dark gray blood dripped from the wound.
The ghoul let out a sharp scream, its body losing coordination for a moment.
Su Chen did not stop.
With a twist of the blade, the angled slash became a horizontal cut, the blade slicing diagonally from the ghoul's left shoulder to his right chest.
"Snap!"
The sound of bones breaking was unusually crisp.
The ghoul's left arm was severed cleanly at the shoulder joint, the limb flew through the air once, and crashed to the ground, its fingers still twitching.
Su Chen at this moment is a far cry from his state in the morning.
With a casual slash, he employed the Overlord Body Technique and the Bright Strength Technique, mobilizing all the muscles in his body.
Its destructive power is naturally astonishing!
Ghouls are known for their agility, not their thick skin and tough flesh.
The moment the ghoul was injured, Xiao Zi unleashed her Thunder Fang once again!
The lightning exploded, biting down hard on the ghoul's neck.
"Sizzle~"
The ghoul was electrocuted, its body convulsing violently, and it let out a muffled roar.
Su Chen gathers power in his right fist.
Mountain-Splitting Fist!
The spiritual energy rose from the dantian...and went straight to the Laogong point.
A faint vortex of energy was gathering on the surface of the fist.
A punch was thrown!
This time it wasn't a cyclone, but a solid blow to the ghoul's jaw.
"Bang!!"
The punch wasn't powerful enough to knock the ghoul's head off, but it shattered its jawbone.
The long sword tightened, then stabbed, piercing the brain!
The blade pierced the ghoul's upper jaw, penetrated its skull, and exited from the back of its head.
"Pfft~!"
The ghoul's body suddenly stiffened, its limbs twitched one last time, and then it remained completely still.
A dark red energy, imperceptible to anyone, drifted towards Su Chen's head, becoming one of the soul entities in the special area within the pet space.
Su Chen drew his knife and shook off the dark gray blood on it.
My consciousness swept across the panel.
[Task 2: Hundred-Enemy Slayer, Progress: 48/100]
The battle had only just begun; even more abyssal worms were swarming in from the cracks and from both sides of the passage...
Su Chen did not hesitate.
He drew a Beast Hunter Type 1 submachine gun from his waist with his left hand, held the gun in one hand, and aimed the muzzle at a wave of demonic insects surging from the passage ahead.
Pull the trigger.
"Da da da da da~"
The gun muzzle spewed out a tongue of fire half a foot long.
The bullets struck the exoskeleton of the abyssal worm, producing a series of crisp, continuous "rat-a-tat-tat" sounds.
The first demonic insect was hit in the head by three bullets, and its exoskeleton exploded with a fist-sized hole. Several more bullets hit, and half of its six legs were broken off.
Su Chen's projectile swept upwards, damaging most of the demonic insects.
Fifty rounds! Even with controlled rate of fire, the firepower was only maintained for ten seconds.
The magazine is empty.
Su Chen's right hand had already reached for the full magazine in the ammunition pouch at his waist.
Press the latch, and the magazine will fall to the ground.
Insert a new magazine, reset the bolt, and pull the trigger.
"Da da da da da~"
The gun barrel spewed fire again.
The entire movement was fluid and graceful.
[Task 2: Hundred-Enemy Slayer, Progress: 51/100]
[Progress: 53/100]
[Progress: 56/100]
The progress is jumping wildly!
There were 600 rounds of ammunition at the start, while Su Chen had only used about 200 rounds of ammunition in a day in order to maintain his score in previous levels.
Later, his team found supplies, and he also received assistance from Yang Fan.
There are now over 1,400 rounds!
While suppressing the enemy with firepower, Su Chen glanced across the entire battlefield and noticed that the ghouls and abyssal worms emerging from the cracks were tightening their encirclement in a coordinated manner.
Very methodical!
The demonic insects in front drew fire, the ghouls on the flanks circled around from the rock wall, and the monsters behind blocked their retreat.
Su Chen's heart tightened. He glanced at Xiao Zi, who couldn't exert much strength in the confined space, and said, "This place isn't suitable for combat. Just defend for now! Conserve your energy."
.......
Another battlefield.
Yang Xin.
Her heavy rifles provided unstoppable firepower in open areas.
But here...
In this narrow space, which is only three meters high and seven or eight meters wide, her advantages were compressed to the extreme.
The gun is too long.
Turning around too slowly.
Aiming requires distance.
Her back was pressed against the rock wall, and the muzzle of her gun was aimed at the three abyssal worms emerging from the crack on her right.
One shot, headshot.
The second shot pierced the torso of the second bird.
The third one has already pounced in front of you.
She had no way out.
Zhang Yan's spear thrust in from the side.
The spear tip angled upwards and precisely pierced the mouthparts of the demonic insect.
"puff!"
The demonic insect's mouthparts were torn apart, and dark red blood sprayed all over Zhang Yan's face.
But this demonic insect was a size larger than the previous ones, with a thicker torso and a harder exoskeleton.
After Zhang Yan's spear went in, it got stuck on the exoskeleton.
She pulled hard, but the gun didn't budge.
The demonic insect pushed off the ground with its six legs and lunged at Zhang Yan.
Upon seeing this, Zhang Yan released her spear.
Clenching both fists, he unleashed the full power of the Overlord Body Technique.
Mountain-Splitting Fist! Lv4!
He threw a punch.
"Bang!"
The demonic insect's head was shattered by the terrifying force.
Zhang Yan snorted.
"How dare you mess with me!"
He then took out his spear.
But the number of demonic insects is increasing...
More demonic insects attacked, and Zhang Yan threw a punch, severely injuring their abdomen.
Zhang Yan responded to four consecutive attacks with her domineering Mountain-Splitting Fist.
Just then, a ghoul pounced.
Before she could react, Zhang Yan was bitten on the arm. Fortunately, the energy protection device was activated, and there was no actual damage.
Zhang Yan, glaring at the ghoul that was relentlessly biting her left arm, roared in fury, "Damn it!"
As soon as she finished speaking, she grabbed his head with her left hand and slammed it hard against the ground.
"Bang!"
Then he grabbed the legs and slammed them wildly against the rock walls on both sides and the ceiling above.
"Bang~ Bang~ Bang~!"
A moment later...
The ghoul was a gruesome sight, with most of its bones broken, and it had died.
Zhang Yan gasped for breath, continuing to grip the spear tightly.
"This little monster is quite resilient!"
She had just said one sentence.
A little devil swooped down from a crack in the rock slab overhead.
It was smaller than the previous little devils, but had wider wings with a dark red halo around the edges of its membranous wings.
It bypassed Zhang Yan's front and pounced from her side and rear.
paw!
Five hook-shaped claws were spread out, pointing directly at... Yang Xin!
Zhang Yan turned around and called out, "Sister Xin, be careful!"
Upon hearing the warning, Yang Xin instinctively shifted to the left.
At that moment, another dark figure darted out from the crack on her right, moving at an incredible speed, leaving only a blurry afterimage.
Little devil!
High-ranking soldier!
Its membranous wings were pressed tightly against its sides, and its claws were aimed straight for Yang Xin's throat.
Yang Xin held his short knife horizontally in front of him, the blade blocking the claw attack.
But the little devil's power was greater than she had anticipated.
Her body was thrown backward by the impact, and she lost her balance, taking several steps back.
Another little devil turned in mid-air and attacked Yang Xin's exposed right rib.
From that angle, Yang Xin's short knife couldn't be used to defend in time.
Zhang Yan was too far away, and the spear wasn't in her hand; she couldn't reach it.
She gritted her teeth, quickened her pace, and tried to rush forward.
But then, a silver-white figure swept past her.
Little Purple!
It alternates between the rock face and the ground, drawing an arc in the narrow space.
Raiga!
When the second little devil's claw was less than half a meter away from Yang Xin's ribs, Xiao Zi's mouth had already bitten the base of one of its wings.
"Snap!"
The crisp sound of bones breaking.
The little devil let out a sharp, piercing scream, lost its balance, and tumbled through the air.
Su Chen attacked from the side.
He raised his long sword and swung it down!
The blade precisely sliced into the little devil's neck.
"puff!"
He was tough, only managing to score three points.
Su Chen exerted force again.
"Snap!"
The head rolled to the ground, and dark red blood gushed from the severed wound.
[Progress: 63/100]
Meanwhile, the other little devil that launched the attack, seeing that things were going badly, darted into the gap and escaped!
Su Chen shook the blood off the knife and let out a long sigh of relief.
Yang Xin steadied herself and glanced at him.
Her tone was calm, but her breathing was noticeably more rapid than before: "Thank you!"
Su Chen couldn't help but laugh: "We're fighting, what are you thanking me for!"
"If we have to thank you for this, then we'll have to say thank you for at least half the battle!"
As he spoke, he cautiously scanned the surrounding cracks to make sure no new little devils were pouncing out.
Yang Xin paused for a moment, then smiled.
"Okay! You're welcome. I'll repay you later."
"Haha~ That works!"
Zhang Yan jogged up from behind, her short blades crossed in front of her chest, her ponytail swaying: "You two, flirting without considering the occasion."
Su Chen rolled her eyes at her: "Is there anything else in your head besides these things?"
"Sure!" Zhang Yan said confidently. "Like, how to blow your head off. By the way, how about we arrange a sparring match when we get back this time?"
"No good! Let's fight first!"
Just then, a series of dense rustling sounds came from the direction the group had come from.
That sound was clearly not something that could be made by just one or two monsters.
There are hundreds or even thousands!
Su Chen's expression changed slightly, and he shone his flashlight beam in the direction from which the sound came.
The beam of light swept across the cave wall, illuminating a dense mass of dark shadows.
Abyssal worms! Imps, ghouls, and all sorts of abyssal monsters.
It feels like this has exceeded the information provided by the school!
They surged in from the direction they came from.
Zhou Chengjie saw it too.
His reaction was lightning-fast; he immediately made the judgment: "Keep going deeper!"
"Find open terrain to fight!"
As he spoke, he took two steps back from the back of the group, using his sword to block a small demon that pounced out of the crack, and then kicked it away.
"If it's a dead end, then bombard it with hellfire!"
"clear!"
Several voices responded simultaneously, and the team immediately sprang into action.
Su Chen beckoned Xiao Zi to his side and casually followed the passage deeper into the passage.
The sounds of pursuit behind them grew closer.
Occasionally, a few fast ones would catch up from the flanks, but they would be dealt with immediately.
Li Yu's shield proved invaluable in the confined space.
He held the shield horizontally, almost blocking half of the tunnel.
...
After running for a while, the tunnel began to widen.
It gradually widened from three or four meters to five or six meters, and then to seven or eight meters.
The height above our heads is also increasing, from being within arm's reach to three or four meters, or even five or six meters.
Su Chen swept the beam of his flashlight ahead and discovered a more open space at the end of the cave!
It's not a dead end!
The air no longer felt as cramped and oppressive as before; it began to feel fluid.
A damp wind blew from the front.
There's the sound of water!
The sound, which was very faint and distant, like a drop of water falling into a deep pool, gradually became clearer.
Su Chen breathed a slight sigh of relief.
"Almost there!" Zhou Chengjie's voice came from behind. "Keep running, don't stop!"
The group quickened their pace.