Chapter 308: The Crazy Test

Chapter 308

The Crazy Test

“That beast has gone into a frenzy. Just from that last attack, their power has doubled!” Owen’s man commented. Although he didn’t have the sharp eyes of the lady, comparing the recent attack to previous ones was easy based on his vast experience.

Owen frowned slightly. Sacrifices in battle were to be expected, but sudden losses like this were displeasing. This challenge to reach the 7th floor didn’t show any sign that it would be the final stage or even seem close to the final test. This was just the beginning...and already the Setter family had lost a long-trained member?

“It seems they really aren’t ready for the 7th floor,” Owen murmured. His face remained as calm as ever, but Ellie, standing closest and was the only who could look into his eyes, could see that this young lord was so concerned about the current situation.

“Defend against these frenzied attacks, and if you have the chance, reduce their numbers. Don’t wait for the Setter family to act.” Owen gave the order, and his followers immediately leaped into action. This signaled that the family members’ roles were now insignificant.

Although the elders regretted that they could go no further, they knew this was their limit. They couldn’t handle the sudden changes in the enemies. Pushing on would only lead to more losses.

They had brought the young ones and the family’s future hopes here to gain experience and possibly benefit from the tower. They never intended to sacrifice everyone. So...seeing that the real battle was about to begin, they had no choice.

“Everyone, fall back. Now, rest and observe the fight closely. These hunters before us are very strong, and by learning from them, I believe you can develop, more or less.” Hearing this, the young ones felt real regret, but they knew they could no longer keep up with the frenzied buffalo-like beasts.

Once the beasts’ eyes turned a deep red, their speed doubled, as did their physical strength and magical attack power. Even without being directly attacked, the continuous released of fire magic heated the atmosphere, making them feel their energy was draining.

Boom, boom, boom!!

The battle continued to rage, with an array of magic powers being unleashed, creating a spectacular display of colors. The skill of the eldest young lord’s followers left the family’s hunters in awe. Until the last Bubalus was left, one of the Naemorhedus, which had been lounging comfortably, began to rise.

“Be on guard, the goral is getting up!” The cloaked hunter, with keener instincts than the family hunters, immediately signaled his comrades at the first sign of abnormal movement. In a blink of an eye...as soon as he finished speaking, the Naemorhedus vanished from its spot, appearing in the air for nearly 2 seconds. Its powerful hooves kicked back into the air, making a loud "whoosh!!" before it disappeared again, reappearing beside one of the hunters.

“Watch out!” Shouts of warning ringing continuously.

Boom!!

Fire magic shot out from the horns of the Naemorhedus, reverberating loudly through the hall. This was just one attack from a single Naemorhedus, yet its power was clearly greater than that of the Bubalus. The hunters at the back felt a chill run down their spines.

Had they stubbornly insisted on joining the fight, it would have likely been their last moments. Fortunately, they had heeded the advice to retreat. Once all the large black beasts had been defeated, the large goral wasted no time. It took only 3 seconds to reach its enemies, and its movements were incredibly unpredictable.

Initially, they thought it could only jump and hover in the air for 2 seconds. However...it combined its strength with wind spell to alter its aerial trajectory, allowing it to stay airborne for over 4 seconds and potentially longer if it chose not to land on the ground.

Cloud of dust and magic powers scattered, filling the air as the heavily attacked figure emerged, with magic power surrounding him perfectly. Nevertheless, these were the eldest young lord’s personally trained followers, not ones to be easily rattled.

As soon as the Naemorhedus came into view, the cloaked man beneath the barrier shield unleashed his own magic.

“Mist Claws!” Magic power erupted swiftly. As the sound of “fwoosh!” filled the air, unnoticed by many, the Naemorhedus activated its botanic spell. It intended to use this moment to put its enemies into an eternal slumber, but unfortunately for it, its enemies were not worthless hunters.

Fwoosh!! Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh.

The sound of blades slicing through the air was heard, and simultaneously, the fragile body of the Naemorhedus split into 5 parts without even realizing how it was attacked.

“Heh, heh. Did you think you’d have the advantage by staying airborne? It seems it didn’t know about my Mist Claws,” the cloaked man scoffed, spitting on the ground. The botanic spell of the creature hadn’t even fully activated before it was already torn apart.

Seeing one of their own so easily defeated, the remaining Naemorhedus couldn’t stay idle any longer. They rose in anger, entering a frenzied state without waiting for their numbers to be halved.

“Be careful, their eyes have turned red!” an elder watching the fight shouted in alarm. They were attacked when they were unprepared, just like right now.

However, his warning seemed to fall on deaf ears for the cloaked men. Instead of retreating, the eldest young lord’s men advanced towards the enemies.

“Who wants to challenge my speed? Hee-hee,” a chilling laugh came from one of the cloaked figures.

“Don’t hog them all; I want to show my strength to our master too.”

“Hee-hee, in situations like this, whoever’s faster gets the prize.”

“Tch! Do you think speed alone will ensure victory? Let’s see if your speed can outmatch my Ten Thousand Hands skill.” Two cloaked figures leaped at the enemies. One moved so quickly he was almost invisible, but the enemies in front...now frenzied, also moved faster. Both sides clashed head-on, yet the Naemorhedus’ speed was still somewhat visible, with a 1-2 second delay after jumping. For someone with ultimate speed, this 1-2 delay was like standing still, making them easy targets.

Swish!

The dagger in his hand slashed rapidly, slicing open the belly of a Naemorhedus gruesomely. And yes...the poor beast, facing someone faster, didn’t even get a chance to use their fire spell from its horn or summon its botanic spell.

On the other side, the man who boasted about his Ten Thousand Hands skill also started to move. He approached the beasts with golden magic forming numerous hand shapes. The Naemorhedus tried to attack with speed and magic power, but the golden hands deflected all their attacks. He walked into the midst of the beasts fearlessly, and not a single Naemorhedus could break through the golden hands!

“Excellent, come closer to me,” he roared, releasing a powerful burst of magic power. The golden hands were an excellent source of power, they were initially defensive, but suddenly became lethal weapons.

Several Naemorhedus were violently struck down, falling like leaves. Certainly, his speed in eliminating the beasts matched that of the other cloaked figure who moved as if disappearing.

"A-Amazing!!"

"Only 3 people managed to handle so many of them."

"No wonder the Eldest Young Lord relies solely on his own men to conquer the numerous cities on the 6th floor. They all have such remarkable skills."

"Mist Claws is already a mysterious power, but then there’s someone who can create so many hands from magic. Just how vast is the gap between me and them?" Many were astonished by these incredible abilities. Of course, only the 3 who enjoyed the hunt like children were fighting; the others respectfully stayed out of the way, not wanting to waste time.

However, the 3rd stage was not that simple. After they defeated all the two types of beasts, a loud “rumbling” sound drew everyone’s attention. Another wall across from them revealed nearly a hundred more beasts, both Bubalus and Naemorhedus. It seemed the first set of beasts was merely a hint of what was to come.

"My God! Is this a challenge from heaven?! How can there be so many beasts?"

"This is too much, really too much. At first, I thought the stone golems were an excessive test, but now we have to face these crazy tests too. No wonder even high-level species have been stuck on the 6th floor for so long. Perhaps we will only leave here as spirits!"

"Who knows how many souls have been sacrificed here? This is maddening!"

"Maybe...even the Eldest Young Lord might..." They weren’t afraid that the beasts in front of them could harm Owen’s group; rather, the excessive nature of the test itself was daunting. Even before they could feel that the test was near its end, they had to face so many high-level beasts.

In such a situation where there were so many traps, not only the weaker hunters but even Owen, usually unperturbed, furrowed his brow tightly. It seemed that reaching the 7th floor seemed truly difficult!!

"Eldest Young Lord, there are 2 Naemorhedus at level 5 among them. Although their skills are the same, their higher level likely means significantly greater attack power."

"Mmm, understood. Perhaps this test won’t end with just these 100 beasts." Hearing Owen said this, Ellie felt her hair stood on ends.

more of Owen’s men joined the battle, making it 5 against the enemies. They managed to overcome the adversaries, though they sensed something unusual about the last 2. Eventually, the appearance of the level 5 beasts indicated something more.

"Another warning." Because after defeating the two level 5 beasts, a “rumbling” noise echoed again, and simultaneously, over 50 level 5 Naemorhedus emerged!!

These were much faster than the regular Naemorhedus, even without being in a frenzied state. However, after 2 rounds of combat, these 50 newly appeared Naemorhedus were all in a frenzy.

Before even joining the battle, the beasts began summoning botanic spell. It seemed they knew that if they didn’t use it now, they wouldn’t have another chance. Many hunters were signaled to drink antidotes immediately, but Owen’s cloaked hunters didn’t need to do so. They weren’t afraid of this level of poison!

This final clash was intense. The Naemorhedus relentlessly hurled fire spell, making it almost impossible to see inside. After more than half an hour, they had only managed to defeat about half of the enemies, as they had to constantly dodge incoming attacks and be wary of their speed.

Ellie watched the fight with great interest, but she was even more intrigued by the light green plants. These were undoubtedly the bonded plants to the Naemorhedus. She felt a deep-seated hope that the 7th floor might hold many things to help develop her botanic element abilities.

“Watch out!” While everyone was enjoying the intense battle, Aman’s shout caught everyone’s attention.

It turned out the Naemorhedus weren’t stupid. They had been fiercely attacking the 5 fighters, but only managed to inflict minor wounds after a long fight. They noticed many more creatures resembling their enemies. Instead of focusing solely on killing the 5, why not target the comrades of its enemies that were sitting leisurely and watching its companions perished?

One of the Naemorhedus hurled a fire explosion at the unsuspecting hunters who were watching the fight. Luckily, Aman reacted quickly, jumping in to counter the fire magic with his own. Unfortunately, the difference in power levels was too great!

Boom!!

“Argh!!” The young man spat out a large amount of blood. It seemed his internal organs had been severely damaged!!