Chapter 353 Safe

"Fuck, Fuck, Fuck, FUCKKKKK!!!!!" Dave was cursing to the high heavens as he flew in between enormous rock formations that rose to the sky.

A loud crashing sound echoed behind Dave. Then a glowing light followed soon after. The light was so powerful enough; that it brightened the Underworld's night, making it look like it was day although only for a few seconds.

A notification appeared in front of him.

***

Level UP!

Level UP!

The Node of Durability has been obtained!

***

He currently had [Demonic Ascension] activated. The Tengu was flying next to him, bloodied and scarred. One of his arms was completely torn off and an enormous gash spilled ichor from his back as he flew.

"Lord, I can't go on any further!" The Tengu said, he turned and said," I'll buy you a bit of time."

"NO! You'll die!" Dave argued.

"I'll die anyway, I'll be sent to the Dead Realm, but your task must not fail! Go, Lord!" the Tengu shouted and drew his katana with one hand.

He performed his [Dimensional Cut], slashing space itself in half.

A loud beastly howl echoed in the distance, not of pain, but more like a howl filled withof rage, wrath, and anger.

Soon a boulder the size of a building flew from the depth of the tree infested rock formation and hurtled toward the Tengu. The rock smashed into the Tengu like a sandal smacking a fly on a wall. The Death Knight died in one hit.

"Shit!" Dave cursed as he received the death notification of his last Death Knight.

He turned, and continued flying. He had to get out of this area, there was no way for him to survive here.

Another beastly howl echoed, this time it was much closer.

Dave shuddered at the howl. But he kept flapping his raven wings as fast as he could. Dave looked over his shoulders, in the distance, something black, and twice the size of a man was breaking through the rock formations as if they were made of sand. The creature was jumping from rock to rock, rapidly closing up on Dave.

"Fuck, how the fuck did shit turn to this!?" Dave cursed again as the creature that was chasing him smashed its clawed legs on the rock formation, destroying it in the process and propelling itself toward Dave like a rocket.

The creature closed the gap between Dave and itself in the blink of an eye. It's knife sized fangs were right in front of Dave's face.

"Shit!"

***

Dave was mounting Grumpy as they went through the third area of the Underworld. He had taken a teleportation scroll to the Pharaoh's Tomb and headed directly to check out the new area.

In Dave's inventory was a new item. It was the Forbidden Chapter that he was entitled to once every month. This one was called [Balance Breaker]. Dave didn't know what it did, but he kept it in his inventory. He wanted to go back to the library in the Pharaoh's Tomb to learn more about this chapter. But for now, he didn't want to waste time and wanted to level up fast.

He rode through the black sands of the third area for several hours. By this time his party members had all finished their duels. They had all won with ease.

Dave's movement through the Underworld was unhindered. The Undead now residing in the third Raid Zone had made it clear to any wandering critter that they should behave themselves lest they want to die out.

The Manticores kept themselves hidden under the sand, which was by no means was a good thing for Dave right now. He needed to level up, and this was what made it more and more challenging to level up. Thus, Dave thought of venturing to the fourth raid zone.

Samael had already warned Dave about going there, and had shared his knowledge on the existence of some of the treacherous and dangerous creatures found there. Dave wasn't dumb, he took Samael's advice into consideration and was ready to retreat if he found himself unable to win a fight. The last thing Dave wanted was to find himself losing a level and getting sent to Limbo, further wasting more valuable time.

Dave had been going up and down black sand dunes for the better part of the day. Grumpy's wobbling-scuttling movement through the sand continued without pause. The Onyx Basilisk's powerful arms parted the sand with every step, and he darted through the desert like a bullet.

After an unknown time of traveling, Dave felt like he had crossed some sort of thin film. His vision swam for a second. Then it returned to normal.

Dave felt that something was awry, he patted Grumpy on the head, "Grumps, slow down a bit."

Dave's blue, flaming eyes looked around. He spotted a small difference from the mundane sand dunes. There was a little green bud growing in the middle of the sand. Grumpy spotted the green budding plant and went toward it. With a chomp the thing went down the creature's gullet.

"Hmm, plants, guess we're close to the fourth raid zone. Grumps, be careful."

Grumpy heeded Dave's words, and his eyes slowly traced the land. He decreased his speed to a trot and moved ahead.

More of these solo buds appeared on the ground. They were like sprouts of green misplaced in the underworld theme. The whole underworld was all death and fire. Seeing greenery naturally growing gave Dave a strange feeling of fakeness.

In the distance, were gigantic rock formations standing. These rock formations had lush green trees and herbs growing all around them. It was like a patch of heaven in the darkness of the Underworld. These rock formations extended a long way. It looked like the whole geography of the area from there on would be something like that.

Grumpy kept moving toward the lush greenery intermixed with the rock formations that stood up to hundreds of meters tall.

The sound of moving water echoed in the distance. There was a waterfall falling down one of the largest of the rock formations up ahead. The moonlight reflected on the waterfall surface and created a never before seen night-time rainbow.

"Wow, this place is pretty cool," Dave commented to himself.

But he never dropped his guard. The moment he stepped into the greenery, he believed he would have officially stepped into the fourth raid zone. The closest zone to the Ash King. No matter what, this place was bound to be dangerous.

Grumpy kept going toward the rock formations, and as Dave guessed, the moment he stepped past a bush, a notification appeared in front of Dave.

***

You have set foot in the Fourth Raid Zone.

The Drow Kingdom.

*

Debuff applied [Trespasser]

Effects:

Using Teleportation scrolls is forbidden.

You can only summon five Undead to your aid.

Summoned Undead blow the Death Knight Class will instantly perish if they set foot in the Drow Kingdom.

Tiny, the Grave Lord, has been disabled as long as the Drow Kingdom is still unconquered.

*

The inhabitants of the Drow Kingdom are extremely hostile and territorial. If you are spotted trespassing, you will face the wrath of the cursed Elves. Move with caution.

To conquer the Forth Raid Zone {Drow Kingdom}, one must satisfy the following condition.

Obtaining the three Nodes of Damlacaous from the three guardians of the area.

Node of Durability: Obtainable by defeating the [Rune Golem.]

Node of Life: Obtainable by defeating the [Mother Flower]

Node of Power: Obtainable by defeating the [The Sage]

***

"Damn. That debuff sucks ass man," Dave complained.

Grumpy growled at him, he didn't know what Dave was annoyed at, but something deep within the area in front of him made the skin on its back crawl. Grumpy was feeling fear.

This was not a good sign for Dave.

Dave didn't notice a hand that was petting Grumpy on the side, until its owner spoke a word in a gentle tone, "Easy."

Dave jerked, pulling gGrumpy's rines with him as he realized that there was a robed man standing next to him.

Dave drew his sword and shield and readied for a mounted battle, yet seeing the hooded man smiling at him gently. Dave lowered his weapon and shield.

"Dortha! Man, what's with the jumpscare?" Dave groaned.

The man next to him was the Abyssal Knight Dortha the Beast. Claimed to be the strongest in the Undead Legion under the Undead King.

"We Undead fear not, but I see you still have a bit of fear, I say it is good. You still have some of your human emotions. Safeguard them. They are precious." Dortha said in a calm tone.

"What are you doing here, Dortha? No one told me you'd be coming?"

"Well, I thought to come here to confirm a suspicion I have," Dortha said. His eyes were gazing into the depths of the Drow Kingdom.

"Which is?" Dave asked.

"Dagla came to me with a piece of lost knowledge. There exist in these lands a fountain that can cure my loss of control. Even your friend, the giant, can use it." Dortha said.

"You mean there is something here that can stop your berserking?"

"Yes, but I don't know if it's true or false. Still, I came to verify." Dortha said, still petting Grumpy. The basilisk was enjoying the man's scratches.

"Right, well, let's get going then. I'll feel safer with an Abyssal Knight at my side," Dave said with a smile.

"Right, let's go then, I've been itching to see how you fight, inheritor of Deadra's will. Don't worry, with me you shall be safe," Dortha said with a toothy smile. The fangs on his very, very white teeth reminded Dave that this friendly grandpa Abyssal Knight can turn into one of his nightmares…

Dave gulped and nodded, "Yeah, safe…"