Above the mage!

Chapter 583 The Net Beneath the Stone (Part 2)

"Damn it, women really can't be trusted!" Gao De's inner monologue exploded like a thunderclap.

But he knew that the priority at the moment was not to blame Elena, but to figure out how to get out of this mess!

Rushing forward out of the cave is definitely unrealistic; that would be like walking into a trap.

So even if they know things aren't much better in the rear, at least there's still room for maneuver.

Left with no other option, Gaode had to retreat.

Without the slightest hesitation, he turned around abruptly and ran wildly toward the stone chamber.

The Cave Queen behind him let out an angry roar, its eight spider legs stomping the ground, its massive body chasing after him like an out-of-control chariot.

The rocks along the way were smashed to pieces, and the already shaking cavern became even more precarious.

The entire cave was still shaking violently due to the tremors of the earth's veins, and the bamboo shoots overhead broke off one after another and fell.

This is undoubtedly adding insult to injury for Gaode.

As Gao De rushed through the spiderweb at the entrance and into the stone chamber, his gaze swept over the young spiders on the soft spider silk cushions on the ground.

The tiny creature, about the size of a fist, was huddled up in a panic due to the tremors in the cave, its eight little spider legs pressed tightly against the soft cushion.

A bold idea flashed through my mind like lightning:
Hold the emperor hostage to order the princes!
This was a solution that Gaode came up with in a moment of desperation.

Without the slightest hesitation, he cast the Mage's Hand, precisely seizing the spiderling on the cushion.

The little creature struggled frantically, kicking its eight tiny spider legs, but to little avail, unable to break free of its restraints.

Newly hatched spiderlings are still too fragile.

Almost at the same time he grabbed the baby spider, the enormous figure of the cave spider queen rushed into the stone chamber.

Its compound eyes instantly locked onto the spiderling in Gao De's hand, and its already ferocious scarlet pupils now resembled burning flames.

The sharp screech pierced the eardrums, making Gao De's eardrums buzz.

But this time, it did not launch an attack immediately.

Its chelicerae dangled in mid-air, while its spider legs scratched at the ground, leaving deep marks.

Clearly, it was hesitant to act rashly.

The air in the entire stone chamber seemed to freeze.

The earth continued to tremble, and rocks continued to fall, striking the spider queen's carapace with dull thuds.

But it remained unmoved, stubbornly following Gao De's figure, its more than twenty compound eyes filled with resentment and anger.

Gao De gripped the spiderling tightly, slowly backing away until his back pressed against the cold stone chamber wall. He manipulated his mage hand to gently lift the spiderling, confronting the Cave Queen: "Let me leave!"

He knew that the Cave Spider Queen, as an elite creature at the late third stage, must possess enough intelligence to understand him.

The burrowing spider queen let out a low hiss, her legs carving deep furrows in the ground, but she did not take another step forward.

Its compound eyes kept moving, as if it were thinking.

Stones continued to fall from the top of the chamber, and a piece of gravel hit Gao De's feet, the flying stone chips grazing his ankle.

However, Gaode had already cast a [Shield] spell on himself, so he was not injured.

This time, the earthquake was exceptionally intense and prolonged, and a crack even appeared in the floor of the cave.

The cracks grew larger and larger, and dark purple energy gushed out like a fountain, turning the entire cavern into an eerie purple.

However, neither of the two spiders nor the human made any move, ignoring the tremors of the earth veins, and were caught in a strange stalemate.

Seeing the Cave Spider Queen's state, Gao De quietly reached into his robes, where he kept his most important and powerful trump card.

He was prepared to forcefully break the deadlock.

But at that moment, an unexpected change occurred.

Suddenly, a blazing red light shone through the passage behind the Cave Spider Queen, instantly illuminating the dim stone chamber.

Immediately afterwards, a fireball the size of a human head, accompanied by a howling heat wave, slammed straight into the dark purple carapace of the Cave Spider Queen.

boom!
The moment the fireball exploded, the orange-red flames resembled blooming fireworks, and a heat wave swept through the entire stone chamber.

Many dark purple crystals on the rock wall sizzled under the high temperature and turned into wisps of black smoke.

It's Elena!

Although she failed to keep her promise to hold off the Cave Queen for fifteen minutes, she did not hesitate to turn back and follow her after the Cave Queen suddenly returned.

In her belief, any changes caused by one's own "mistakes" must be rectified to the best of one's ability, even at a great cost.

As she blasted open the cave spider queen, Elena took the opportunity to enter the stone chamber.

Her gaze swept quickly around, taking in the scene in the stone chamber, especially the young spider bound by Gao De. She finally understood what had caused the Cave Spider Queen's sudden return.

“I’m sorry, I really didn’t expect it to be in labor.” Elena spoke very quickly, waving her bone staff as she explained to God.

This woman wasn't so unreliable after all. Seeing Elena suddenly appear, Gao De breathed a slight sigh of relief and took his hand out of his pocket again.

The cave spider queen was blasted off balance by the fireball, leaving a charred mark on her dark purple carapace.

Although it did not damage the interior, it completely ignited its fury.

The sharp hissing sound shook the rock walls of the chamber, causing dust to fall.

Ignoring the shaking ground, it slammed its eight spider legs into the earth, its massive body crashing towards Elena, its dark green venom spraying out like a torrential rain from its chelicerae.

The stench, mixed with the burnt smell of the fireball, was so strong it stung the nose.

Elena was prepared. She waved her bone staff in front of her, and pale blue magic power surged out instantly, condensing into a semi-transparent shield.

The venom splattered against the shield, making a hissing, corrosive sound, but it couldn't penetrate the shield's defenses for a while.

"I'll hold it back, you find the right moment to retreat."

Gao De received a message from Elena via [Communication] spell.

"Okay, got it."

After giving her instructions, Alina shouted and swung her bone staff again.

Large swaths of vines and thorns sprouted from the ground, wrapping around the spider queen's eight legs as if they were alive.

The vines grew extremely fast, instantly wrapping around the joints of the spider's legs, their sharp spines piercing deep into the gaps in its carapace. Although they failed to cause serious injury, they firmly restricted its movement.

The cave spider queen struggled fiercely, but for the time being, she was unable to break free from the vines.

Elena was clearly not having an easy time either; cold sweat beaded on her forehead, and her breathing became rapid, but she kept her eyes fixed on the Spider Queen to prevent it from breaking free of its restraints.

Gao De seized the opportunity, his steps as light as a raccoon's, and with the help of [Cat's Elegance], he moved quickly along the rock wall on the left side of the stone chamber.

While doing so, he also threw the spiderlings in the opposite direction from himself.

Forcing the young spiders to stay would only provoke conflict. If things went wrong, it might trigger the queen spider's maternal instincts, and only the spider herself would suffer. As Gao De searched for an opportunity to escape, he frowned and wondered to himself what kind of monstrous thing was lurking underground.

As the earth's tremors continued, the negative energy in the stone chamber became increasingly concentrated.

Moreover, Gaode Maps can now clearly perceive that this negative energy originates from underground.

This powerful negative energy, which had previously only partially penetrated the soil and rock layers and flowed into the lair of the burrowing spider queen, caused a layer of negative energy crystals to condense on the rock walls of the lair.

One can only imagine the immense power that exists beneath the earth, radiating negative energy.

The Spider Queen was temporarily distracted by Elena, while the baby spiders that God had left behind attracted most of the Spider Queen's attention.

Gao De was about to reach the entrance to the stone chamber. Once he took that step, he could temporarily escape the threat of the Spider Queen.

But just then, an even bigger surprise struck.

A violent tremor, far more intense than before, suddenly swept through!

The entire stone chamber was rocking violently, like a small boat in a stormy sea.

With a loud crash, all the stalactites in the underground passage broke apart, and several-foot-long boulders crashed to the ground.

Even more terrifying, the rocks beneath their feet suddenly cracked.

A massive crack spread out at a visible speed, and dark purple negative energy surged out of the crack, forming a powerful suction force that pulled the surrounding rubble into it.

"The ground has collapsed!" Gao De and Elena's expressions changed drastically.

This is equivalent to a super earthquake, which caused the land to collapse.

In just a moment, the rock strata beneath their feet shattered completely, turning into countless fragments of rock.

Caught off guard, Gao De, Elena, and even the Cave Spider Queen all felt their feet sink into the ground, their bodies instantly losing support, and they plummeted into the dark underground space below, along with countless rubble.

The two humans and the beast reacted extremely quickly.

Elena immediately activated her magic, her body enveloped in pale blue energy, and she instantly activated the [Flight] spell, attempting to take off.

The cave spider queen spins silk, attempting to anchor herself to the uncollapsed rock wall.

Gao De summoned Boeing, hoping to use the power of the wind to stabilize himself.

However, this fall was not a vertical drop; rather, there was an invisible force pulling and rotating them.

The pulling force was so strong, like an invisible giant hand, that it gripped the three of them tightly.

Elena's [Flight] technique had just lifted her half a zhang into the air when she was forcibly pulled back by the rotational force.

The spider silk spun by the cave spider queen failed to touch the rock wall as she had hoped. It had only flown halfway when it was forcibly pulled off course by the rotating suction force below.

The originally straight spider silk instantly became curved, like cotton thread being washed by water. Not only did it fail to touch the rock wall, but it was also pulled backward by the suction and wrapped around its own spider legs.

Gao De's wind-controlling power was like a mud ox sinking into the sea, utterly powerless against this irresistible force.
Upon seeing this, Gao De immediately changed his strategy, decisively switching the spell to [Feather Fall].

The moment the spell took effect, Gao De's body felt as if its weight had been removed, instantly becoming incredibly light.

The rapid descent slowed significantly, and the object drifted down slowly like a feather, following the direction of the suction.

During this time, many rocks came flying at us, but they were all blocked by Gaode's [Shield Spell].

The stone struck the shield with a muffled "bang" and shattered into tiny fragments.

Due to the fluctuating suction and their different falling positions, he, Elena, and the Cave Queen fell in three completely different directions.

They quickly dispersed and could no longer see each other.

The fall continued for about twenty or thirty breaths, with only the whistling wind and the loud crashing of rubble in my ears.

Finally, Gaode landed on a solid surface.

The effect of the [Feather Fall Technique] dissipated, and he staggered a few steps due to inertia before regaining his balance.

Gao De took a deep breath, looked around, and was shocked to find himself in an underground space that was far larger than he had ever imagined.

The space was at least several hundred feet in diameter, and the dome was so high that its top could not be seen. Only a few scattered points of light flickered in the darkness, like stars hanging in the sky.

There was complete silence all around; apart from his own breathing and the occasional sound of rocks falling in the distance, there was no other sound.

Elena was nowhere to be seen, and the hissing of the Cave Queen had long since disappeared.

Clearly, they had completely scattered during the fall, each landing in different corners of this vast underground space.

The materials purchased from the Green Forest City Mage Association made no mention of this space, causing Gao De to frown deeply.

Who would have thought that beneath the thick ground of Black Rock Canyon lies a hollow space, concealing such a vast secret realm?

However, this layer was so thick that not only outsiders like Gao De and Elena, but even the local native Spider Queen had never discovered this secret.

It wasn't until this rare and massive earthquake that the rock layer containing the cave was cracked open, that everything was revealed.

Out of caution, Gaode did not move rashly, but instead activated Mandora's Eye again.

The next moment, his pupils contracted instantly.
"This is..." Gao De was filled with shock.

What appeared to be almost completely dark underground space to the naked eye took on a completely different look in Mandora's demonic eye:
The dome and rock walls were covered by an enormous energy network, its veins as clear as a spider web, converging from all directions toward the center of the space.

Looking at the giant net, Gao De's heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly remembered the clue on the broken monument he had seen at the entrance to Blackrock Canyon:
"Beware of the net beneath the stone."

He originally thought it was a warning to intruders about the spider web traps of the cave spiders in the stalagmite forest.

But now, looking at the giant energy net before him, he realized that the true meaning of those words was far more complex than he had imagined!

The term "under the stone" does not refer to the spider webs under the surface rocks, but rather to the underground space hidden deep within the earth's veins.

As for the net, it should be the network naturally formed by pure energy above one's head.

Beware of the net beneath the stone; therefore, this net is dangerous.

Gao De's vigilance instantly reached its peak.

He stared at the giant net.

The giant net shimmered with an earthy yellow light, but within that earthy yellow, there were also wisps of dark purple.

This means that the giant net is composed of earth elemental energy and necromantic negative energy.

However, the two are not in a harmonious symbiotic relationship, but rather in a state of mutual entanglement and mutual attrition.

The earthy yellow ley line energy constantly tries to extinguish the dark purple negative energy, while the negative energy, like a persistent ailment, clings tightly to the ley line energy, and the two are locked in a struggle.

But judging from the situation, it seems that negative energy is gaining the upper hand?
What Gaode is even more concerned about is that all the veins of the energy network are converging towards the center of the space.

Moreover, within Mandora's magical vision, the direction of energy flow can be clearly seen.

There must be something extraordinary in the center!
Gao De made a judgment in his mind.

(End of this chapter)