Chapter 590 - 588: Exploration
"This is a mineral called the ’Blue Lancelot Stone’. The original mineral of this stone is very sturdy, with earth elements, and extremely hard before its overall structure is destroyed."
Rose gently explained to Hilia, who was inspecting the demon’s corpse, about the origin of this demon.
Shortly after the demon’s death, its body gradually dissipated, slowly reverting back to its most basic polluted state.
Only a square blue stone was left behind.
Hilia picked it up, observed it closely for a moment, and shook her head.
"All those previous attacks were conducted onto the stone by the demon. So many explosions had already shattered the stone’s structure, such a pity."
Rose laughed lightly: "No need to feel pity. This stone is only so hard in its original form. After separating its components, although it can still be used to forge armor or for magic puppet material making, it is no longer as durable, gaining more flexibility and magic compatibility."
Hilia tossed the stone into the air, watching it fall to the ground, accompanied by a loud ’bang’, shattering into pieces.
When complete, the stone was a square blue stone, roughly as large as a Rubik’s cube, very beautiful. Unfortunately, the continuous bombardment by Hilia had violently destroyed its internal structure, leaving it in a state where it could break at any moment.
"Speaking of which, Lord Rose, is there any special method for dealing with demons constructed from Blue Lancelot Stone?" Hilia asked.
"Yes. If you can identify the weak point of the stone, you can disintegrate it into various mineral components without destroying the stone’s elements. Even if polluted, this subtle weakness still remains."
"Hmm... I see."
Hilia was actually accustomed to how such tough things still have weak points.
Just like how tempered glass instantly shatters when struck at the corners, this world has many things that appear strong, but as long as their weak points are attacked, no matter how hard they are, they crumble quickly.
It’s just that these weak points are varied, not limited to collision and injury.
Hilia looked ahead and continued moving forward.
Before long, another demon appeared, still constructed from the Blue Lancelot Stone like the previous one.
This time Hilia didn’t rush forward, choosing instead to use the freezing properties of ice-element magic to freeze and slow down the target. She carefully observed the demon’s overall structure, intending to find a critical weak point.
The weak point of the Blue Lancelot Stone is a subtle elemental chaotic singularity, where the flow of magic occasionally exhibits sudden chaos.
As long as you seize this singularity, use external force, or magic to disintegrate it into various mineral components.
Demons constructed from minerals share the same feature.
It might be hard for others to notice the difference in this flow, but with the keen perception brought by the Mage’s Hand, it didn’t take Hilia long to notice the subtle differences.
An ice spike formed, quickly penetrating that seemingly fleeting area.
The next moment, the demon struggling within Hilia’s frost cage suddenly stiffened. Moments later, it slowly transformed into pollution, dissipating into the air.
The Blue Lancelot Stone that served as the core of its body fell, shattering into pieces, revealing some glittering mineral components.
Hilia went over and collected some of the components.
Only then did she continue forward.
Along the way, she encountered a lot more demons.
But Hilia felt something odd.
"There are too few demons. Could it be that the elves outside have cleared them?"
Hilia blinked.
At that moment, a resonating tremor faintly emanated from the tunnel cave walls.
Hilia reached out and pressed a hand on the wall, using Mage’s Hand to sense, and looked ahead.
"Someone is fighting? Let’s go take a look!"
Hilia quickly rushed towards the direction where the battle originated.
Shortly after, the trembling from the wall became stronger, and faintly Hilia could already hear the sounds of battle.
Basing on the sensed magic and pollution flow, Hilia guessed that a mage was engaging in battle with the demons.
Moreover, this mage might be above Tier Three.
"A Tier Three Mage can enter, but Tier Three elves entering would be suicide. The Elf Royal Family shouldn’t let Tier Three elves enter to die."
Maybe initially there were some who sought death, and then actually died, prompting them to change tactics.
Hilia quietly approached, soon seeing the area where the battle was happening upfront.
It was an area that seemed like an array node, a moderately sized but not small underground space.
In Hilia’s perception, there were currently three mages fighting against several demons.
Upon first glance, Hilia recognized that those demons were constructed from the Blue Lancelot Stone, extremely sturdy.
A melee Sword Master used an enchanted sword to fiercely stab the demon’s body, but a metallic clashing sound expelled the enchanted sword.
Yet it was not without effect, at least driving the demon back.
Hilia heard another mage speak.
"No, if it continues like this, we simply won’t be able to break through this node, we have to find a way."
Hilia looked over, seeing an elf shooting from a distance.
Differing from temporary elven archers like Hilia, he was a true Bow Master, or rather, called Elf Ranger.
This is a branch of mages that is only fervently pursued within the Elf Race, who learned the integration of archery and magic through forest hunting, thus becoming Bow Masters, Elf Rangers.
There are also rangers within the Human Empire, but they are collectively termed Bow Masters, as opposed to the more popular mage, Sword Master, Fist Master, Holy Priest.
"These demons are too tough, we can only rely on a strong attack, it takes a long time to kill one, we totally don’t know where its weak point is," the Sword Master said, panting.
"The external magical concentration here is still too low, not suitable for our combat. It’s about time, let’s retreat," the last was a Nature Mage, assisting and controlling the entire battle.
"Hmm, retreat first, and return after gathering with the others."
The three were saying this, preparing to retreat.
Just then, the demon’s howl echoed from all directions of the tunnel.
Elf Ranger’s expression changed, "Why are they coming so fast? We clearly controlled the kill count outside the node."
"Other teams came down to kill?"
"Run!"
The several quickly ran towards the initial underground space.
Hilia slightly furrowed her brows, avoiding their route, and reappeared after they passed.
"Why do they need to run? Control the kill count outside the node? Does it mean..."
Feeling the vibration from other channels, Hilia slightly squinted her eyes, battle intent intense.
"Running away is not my style!"