Chapter 604: Grade IV

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The leader died, and I killed the monster beside me; suddenly, while it was in shock, the remaining monsters began to run.

“Kill them!” I roared and moved with everything I had and began to kill the monsters.

We killed them as much as we could before they escaped into the shadows. Nobody chased them, given how strong these monsters were. Chasing them without preparation is suicide.

“Patch up the injured and rest. The reinforcement is just a few minutes away,” I ordered.

I was tired and wanted to sit down, but I didn’t.

Instead, I looked at the injured and distributed the healing potions while Zela and the other healing mage began to cast healing spells.

Both of them are focusing on the most injured. Keeping them alive until the healers and doctors came.

We had killed more than half of the monsters.

Of a little over two hundred, barely a hundred escaped, and we will deal with them. They are a threat to the mine, and I won’t be going back until I deal with each one of them.

I looked at the injured before turning to dead bodies. They were good soldiers.

I silently prayed to their souls and talked to a few people.

Time passed, and six minutes later, I heard the sound. A few seconds later, the orc in his late thirties arrived with the company of men.

They stopped and dismounted.

“Lord Silver,” he greeted with a bow. “Colonel Irab,” I replied before turning to the priests, healers, and doctors. They immediately moved toward the patients.

“Colonel, gather the men. We have monsters to hunt,” I ordered, and the man began to throw the orders.

A few minutes later, one hundred fifty men gathered. Most of them were from what he brought, while the rest were from my team and Colonel Trasks.

One hundred and fifty are staying here to protect the injured.

“We are ready to leave, Lord Silver,” he informed me. Let’s go then,” I replied, and we moved.

The scouts and trackers are in front while we are behind.

The signs are clear, but there are other signs, too, like torn clothes, small body parts, and other things, most of which belong to the miners.

It made me sigh in grief, but I controlled my emotions. I need to be calm; I don’t know what we might face.

There could be anything.

This shouldn’t be happening—not at this level of a mine. Most of the monsters we encountered here, in person and recorded history, were Grade III or lower. But earlier, we had faced nearly twenty Grade IV creatures, one of whom had been dangerously close to Grade V.

Thankfully, it was not a full Grade V.

There is a vast difference in strength between Grade IV and Grade V. If there had been Grade V, then people would have been massacred.

It is why those in front are armored soldiers with tower shields.

A few minutes passed, and we came upon the body of a monster. Our people had killed it. This made everyone serious, and our steps became cautious.

We stopped three and a half minutes later as we reached a dead end in the mine.

All sides were sealed off, leaving only the massive hole in the ground as the sole exit. The way it had been carved—deep, jagged, and unnaturally precise—left no doubt in my mind. This was the work of the monsters.

“Jon, be careful,” I cautioned while others looked around in confusion.

He was in stealth and now had entered the hole. He is the highest-level rogue with powerful stealth skills. There is no one better than him to explore than him.

While he went inside, we waited.

A minute passed, and then another, and then another, before I knew it. Over fifteen minutes passed, and I started to get worried.

However, I didn’t show it to my face.

Jon is good; unless the monster is a Grade V Shardmaw, it would be hard to detect him.

Another ten minutes passed, and I was about to turn to Colonel Irab, when I sensed him and heaved a sigh of relief.

A second later, he becomes visible.

“Well?” I asked. “You are not going to believe it, my lord,” he said, turning to Zela. Immediately, she covered the officers and me in the privacy spell.

He spoke of what he saw, and it was shocking to us all.

“It makes sense, given their level,” Colonel Irab said, his voice steadier now that he had regained his composure.

But I couldn’t calm down. This news wasn’t just significant—it was monumental. It would send shockwaves through Panar and ripple across the entire Dominion.

“How do we deal with this, Colonel?” I asked. “We will have a shield lancers forward with mages behind,” he replied.

“Our current mages didn’t seem enough,” I said, and he nodded. We have enough mages, but we don’t have enough High Mage, and we will need them.

So we sat down while Jon went on another trip into the tunnel.

We had to wait an hour and a half until the required mages and shield lancers arrived. The colonel then arranged them into the formation.

“Let’s move!” commanded the Colonel, and the people moved inside the hole.

The hole is big, but not as big as we want. It isn’t smooth, and you couldn’t simply walk in some parts. The monsters make it for the monsters, not people.

That is why only thirty-eight people are moving into the hole. The rest will stay out.

We try to hide our movements with the spells and skills as much as possible, but it won’t be long before the monsters sense us.

We will have to be ready, seeing as we are in a compact space, and trouble could come from any side. If not, for the large number of mages we had brought. We wouldn’t have dared to come here.

Minutes passed, and we kept walking, climbing, and doing whatever we could to move toward our destination.

The mages helped. They build bridges, stairs, and other things we need.

“They are coming.”

Warned our earth mage, and a few seconds later. We saw a group of monsters in front of us.

Our strategy isn’t to just kill them, at least not here, as their bodies would block our way. We want to push them back toward the hollow space, which Jon said is at the end.

That would be the best place to fight the monsters.

Roar Roar!

The monsters’ roars shook the air as they charged forward, their fury reverberating through the battlefield. The mages unleashed their spells, raw power crackling through the air. But these weren’t cast to kill—only to wound.

It slowed them down, but they still came forward. It’s when I pushed my aura toward them with Lord’s Presence.

It is a powerful skill—one that embodies the full extent of my abilities. Within my domain, its strength is amplified,

It made the monsters stop—only for a second—before they came again. Four of them were in front; that was all they could have in the tunnel.

Roar Roar!

They roared and attacked us. The shield lancers brought the shields forward.

Bam Bam Bam!

The claws clashed against the enchanted shields before we attacked them with spears. Once more, with the intention to injure, not kill.

I oversaw it, ready to defend with Graceful Repel. If any claws or Earth Lance moved to kill soldiers.

The mages are doing a fine job defending against them, but it helps to remain careful.

Bam Bam Bam!

The skills roared, and shields crashed against the monsters. Driving them back.

They do not have enough physical power to do that, but the skills are connected. Giving the shield warriors enough boost to push the monsters back before attacking.

They attack, and we defend and push them back. It is slow and grueling, but we are moving forward.

“They are coming from under the ground!” warned the earth mage.

Immediately, the spells and skills covered the ground. If they tried to collapse it, we would be fine if the area wasn’t too wide.

A few seconds later, the ground begins to collapse under our feet, but the stones also start to fall from above.

These monsters are protecting their den, which had their young and eggs, but we also need to reach there and remove the threat of the monsters.

I don’t like it, but I must do it for my people.

Bam Bam Bam!

The earth collapsed under our feet, and stones fell from above, but mages handled it. There is a light path formed under our feet and earth shields above our heads while we push the monsters back little by little.

Roar, Roar, Roar!

Minutes passed, and the monsters roared in desperation to stop us, but we kept moving forward, dealing with everything they sent at us.

Soon, half an hour passed by, and their attacks became intense.

Things have become dangerous for us, with massive stones falling from above and giant holes collapsing under our feet.

It’s a good thing we came in small numbers. We would have suffered some casualties if we had brought a large force.

“We are close,” informed Jon nearly an hour later.

It gave our efforts new life, and we pushed the bloodied monsters back with greater zeal.

A few minutes before, the sizeable carved space appeared before me. The moment my eyes fell upon it, a grin spread across my face. Crystals—countless and radiant—filled the space, their glow pulsing with raw energy.

They were everywhere, shimmering with a power, unlike anything I had ever sensed. Not even the finest energy crystals harvested from the mines of Panar could compare to this.

These weren’t ordinary.

They were Grade IV crystals.

Grades I to III are common. We barely break even with them, but we will earn money from this.

The money will help the dominion and its people. As for how much, it will depend on the size of this lode.

I hope it is significant.

“Kill the monsters, but don’t kill the young. They will benefit us,” I ordered, moving with my men toward the monsters.

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