A critical moment
There are also several gem processing areas in this area. The entrance to the mine is in the innermost one, which is a passage opened on the ground and extends downward like a basement.
During the normal operation of the workshop, this place was rarely locked, so everyone had a discussion on whether blasting was necessary. However, the scrolls didn't take up much space anyway, so to be on the safe side, Morina finally put these precious blasting scrolls in her pocket.
Fortunately, all of them - including Ruisha, who was far away in the base and was controlling the mechanical puppet to lead them all the way - had carefully studied the map. With Sorens' on-site command, they quickly turned into the target location. Without having time to take a close look at the alienated monsters working in the room, they immediately locked the location of the secret door at the entrance of the mine.
"That's it!"
Following Sorens' instructions, the two mechanical puppets rushed forward with them. After putting the people down at the door, they immediately turned around, drew their weapons with a "swish", and opened their four arms to block the enemies who were slowly surrounding them.
Sorens got down to the ground and immediately tried to pull the secret door on the ground. Unexpectedly, when he exerted force, the seemingly heavy iron door made a clanging sound and actually moved!
The door is really not locked?!
Before the two of them could be happy, a pushing force from inside the door suddenly increased slowly. As the door was lifted and opened, Morina, who was standing right in front of them, suddenly bumped into a strange face that was stiff, gray, and had glowing pupils!
Taking a deep breath, she took several steps back and threw the blasting scroll in her hand without thinking - and in the blink of an eye, Sorens slammed the open iron door back shut!
——“Boom!”
Although there was a heavy iron door between them, the explosion at such a close distance was very powerful. Sorens, who was pressing against the door, was directly bounced away, spitting blood from his mouth, and fell not far away.
But before he even touched the ground, a stream of aquamarine light caught up with him and began rapidly repairing his injuries. The immense pain was stifled before it could even begin its attack, dissolving into a wave of cool, refreshing magic.
Morina used "Float" to stop his fall, and with a wave of her staff, she pulled him back to her side.
At this moment, the entrance to the mine was wide open, and the monster they had encountered was nowhere to be seen. It was probably blown to ashes by the scroll just now.
At the same time, two explosions were heard in the corridor outside the door, one far and one near. The surging smoke blocked her vision, making her anxious and worried for a moment.
"Ximu!" The priestess girl helped the frail Sorens up with one hand, then looked into the depths of the billowing smoke, anxiously calling out her companion's name, "The entrance to the mine is open, hurry up!"
Perhaps hearing her call, a figure suddenly pierced through the thick smoke like a sharp knife and rushed towards this side with all its might!
After seeing that the person coming was indeed Ximu, Molina immediately turned around and jumped into the tunnel with Sorens without hesitation!
The silver-haired girl followed closely behind. Under the cover of the puppet, she did not get entangled with any monsters. She swung out a black magic whip to hook the iron gate, and with a "clang", all the pursuers were locked on the other side of the door!
For a moment, the only sounds in the air were the frightened heartbeats and gasps.
To be on the safe side, Ximu set a seal on the door lock the moment he closed the door, to prevent those horrible centipede-shaped monsters from opening the door and chasing them before they had gone far.
Fortunately——
Previous experience is still useful. When the prey enters an area that does not belong to them, these pursuers will lose their target and leave in disappointment.
The iron door was very soundproof, and Ximu couldn't hear any movement outside, but the seal on the door didn't send back any feedback of being pulled or damaged, which made her feel somewhat relieved.
There is no lighting in the passage, but the two rock walls are inlaid with many large and small minerals, some of which emit faint light, which provides some visibility.
"How is he?"
Ximu could see normally in the dark, and when they reunited just now, she had already noticed that Sorens was injured.
In fact, Sorens was conscious at the moment, but because of the impact of the explosion, he could not speak. He could only nod reluctantly after hearing Ximu's question.
According to the original plan, when Morina blew up the door, he should have prepared a defensive barrier to protect the former and himself... But after all, plans cannot keep up with changes, and everything was urgent at the time, and there was really no time to maneuver.
"The injury is not light... but not as serious as I thought."
Morina had already grasped Sorens' wrist, channeling healing magic into him while checking his physical condition.
"You were flung so far just now, you should have broken a few bones... What, in that critical moment, did you cast a barrier on yourself?"
In response to Morina's curious question, Sorens smiled and nodded slightly.
When he pushed down the iron door just now, he expected that if it was not locked, the door would be blown open by the power of the explosion, and he, with the weight of an ordinary person, could not bear it at all, so he immediately defended himself.
It's just that the time was too short and the completion of the defensive barrier was not high, so at most it only protected himself from being blown to death on the spot... If it weren't for Morina's timely rescue, his life would have been in danger if the delay had been longer.
After getting Morina's assurance that "Don't worry, he will be full of energy again in a while", Ximu confirmed that there were no enemies below the passage for the time being, then closed his eyes for a while and stood on the steps to take a breath.
She had given up fighting and ran away, so apart from some hair being cut off while dodging, she suffered almost no major injuries.
But all four combat puppets they brought with them were destroyed in the chase.
When being chased by the long monster, the two puppets exploded at the perfect time. Could it be Ruixia who was behind it? Unfortunately... there was no way to take him along all the way down to the mine in real time.
Thinking of this, Ximu opened his eyes and released another mechanical insect into the mine.
When she was being chased before, she did not forget to take the time to do her old job - but the centipede monster had such a strong desire to attack and territorial awareness, and she didn't know how many of these little bugs could hide in the end.
When they returned from the mine, Ximu said that he would never stay in that corridor for long. It was really bad luck.
While Sorens was being treated, monsters carrying baskets of ore and wielding chisels would occasionally climb up the stairs from below. They looked to be the same type as the one that Morina had previously killed.
These monsters, which look like miners, have slender limbs and thin bodies. Their eye sockets contain not normal eyeballs, but two common luminous minerals.
Their arms were very long and their attack range was large, but they were of little use to an assassin like Ximu who was good at fighting in extreme environments, and they were soon beheaded one by one without noticing.
Phew... human-shaped opponents are better, they are much easier to deal with.
Looking at the baskets of light blue ores that had fallen to the ground and did not disappear with the death of the monsters, Ximu picked up some and asked Molina to put them in her bag. Then he gathered them together and used a special spell to hide his tracks and temporarily conceal them.
There is no other way. All the mechanical dolls that were supposed to be responsible for the transportation work have been damaged. As for the transportation of mineral materials, we can only put it on hold for the time being and think of other ways later.
"So... was the basket that the miner was carrying destroyed by me?"
Molina was shocked. After getting Ximu's response of "probably", she looked heartbroken, as if she had missed out on a huge sum of money.
Sorens was much better by then. Seeing her beating her chest and stamping her feet, he quickly comforted her, saying that as long as she was okay, there were actually quite a few piled up near the upstairs entrance, so it would be the same if they took them back.
"Are you unclear about the road ahead?"
Ximu did not delay and went straight to the point when he saw that Sorens had regained his ability to move.
"……yes."
The mine is a very important resource center. Many students are not even sure of its existence. Sorens only knows a little about it because he often goes to the workshop.
"Don't even mention me. Apart from some senior craftsmen, other people don't know much about the situation here either."
Although the workshop and the mine are connected, they do not interfere with each other. The miners only focus on mining and the craftsmen only focus on processing. Apart from the handover of ore materials, there is almost no additional communication between the two sides.
The terrain of this underground mine, where it leads to, and how big it is are all unknown.
"Let's go."
No matter how big a place is, it always has boundaries and limits. Anyway, since coming here, Ximu has not known hunger or thirst. He has some confidence in his mental strength and is confident that he will not be easily crushed.
Besides, they have a priest who can calm their teammates' minds.
Reading the urging in Ximu's eyes, Molina waved her hand, stood up and walked down the stairs, while trying hard to hold back a roll of her eyes.
"Okay, let's go... But let me tell you in advance, my magic power hasn't fully recovered yet, so you all need to be alert."
He spoke like a boss, but his body was honest and he stopped two steps behind Xi Mu.
After all, they had experienced crises together, and Sorens seemed to have gradually become accustomed to Morina's style of doing things. He stood by and smiled without saying a word.
...Why does it feel like their relationship is getting better? Is this an illusion?
Ximu was slightly puzzled.
The long steps in front of them were steep and long. After killing a few miners who came up face to face and confiscating the ores they left behind, they finally reached the end of the steps and came to a small platform that was a little wider.
In front of the platform, a familiar circular stone platform was suspended.
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