130: The End of the Dark Wizard (Part 2)

… The first day passed without incident, calm and peaceful.

Everyone survived safely… The second day also passed without incident, calm and peaceful.

Everyone relaxed and began to take turns resting… On the third day, things started to feel a bit off.

Wafts of smoke slowly permeated the entire underground cavern.

By the time many Wizards noticed, it was already too late.

“Cough cough cough…”

“Cough cough cough…”

“Cough cough cough…”

A chorus of coughs erupted… Wizards are still human, and for Wizard Apprentices who have just embarked on the path of the extraordinary, their life essence has not yet changed.

Their resistance to these fumes is relatively strong, but only to a limited extent.

Only upon becoming a Formal Wizard, with their life essence transforming into a first-order life form, can they become immune to most ordinary damage, and smoke and dust would no longer trouble Formal Wizards.

“Cough cough… How can these White Wizards use such despicable methods…”

“Bah, strip off their white skin, and aren’t they just like us, damn hypocrites…”

“Exactly, White Wizards are all hypocrites…”

… The first to cough were the Intermediate Wizard Apprentices, who had the lowest cultivation.

Feeling the smoke attack, and inhaling the various “magic attacks” mixed in the smoke—putrid, bitter, foul, fishy, pungent, sour… The Black Wizards lost their composure and began to curse loudly… “Alright, save your strength.”

“Everyone listen—

Tear off a strip of cloth, dampen it with clean spring water, and cover your mouth and nose.”

“Don’t worry, this cavern has many vents, and these fumes will dissipate quickly.”

Blood Cat stepped forward, calming everyone’s anxieties.

Everyone followed suit, and things finally got much better… On the fourth day, the smoke concentration steadily increased.

The many Black Wizards had countermeasures, so it wasn’t too much trouble… Several Peak Wizard Apprentices led everyone into several secret rooms within the cavern.

These secret rooms were protected by complete Wizard Arrays and had pre-reserved vents.

Mere smoke could not affect the Black Wizards at all.

Blood Dog even mocked loudly:

“These White Wizards are truly brain-dead; with such a large cavern, how long will they have to burn smoke?”

“We’ll just stay here and fight them to the death; let’s see how long they can burn.”

“Trying to smoke us out with fumes is a bit too fanciful, isn’t it?”

“Hehehe…”

Although the Black Wizards looked down on Blood Dog’s arrogance, they agreed with his words.

After all,

With the protection of the Wizard Array and the many vents present,

The possibility of White Wizards smoking out Black Wizards was extremely low; even if they wanted to use smoke to force the Black Wizards out, it would take several months.

Those White Wizards couldn’t stay here for several months; the longer the delay, the greater the future uncertainties.

On this day,

The Black Wizards also received promises from their backing forces.

Encouraging Blood Dog and Blood Cat to persevere, Blood Fortress and Blood Bone Forest had received their distress signal and were preparing a rescue plan.

Heart of Plants couldn’t be besieged for much longer… On the fifth day, the smoke concentration in the cavern continued to rise.

Due to the small space in some secret rooms, it was difficult to cook.

Therefore,

The Black Wizards took turns arranging people to leave the secret rooms to cook.

Of course, this arduous task naturally fell to the Intermediate Wizard Apprentices, who held the lowest status.

“Ah…”

“Ah…”

“What the hell is that…”

Suddenly, three of the apprentices who had gone out to cook cried out in alarm.

Blood Cat and Blood Shark, as the leaders of their respective factions, both stood up.

“Let’s both go take a look…”

“It might be a trick by the White Wizards.”

… “Blood Snake…”

“Have your snakes constantly monitor the movements in both cavern passages, and if you detect any activity from the White Wizards, notify us immediately.”

“Understood, my precious snakes are more reliable than all of you combined.”

Blood Snake Wizard said sinisterly;

“For now, only some small insects have entered.”

“Those cowardly White Wizards won’t come in.”

… The two quickly opened the door to the secret room, slipped out, and immediately closed it again.

“Damn…”

Gazing at the hazy cavern, where one couldn’t see five fingers in front of their face,

Blood Shark cursed:

“How much smoke have these White Wizards pumped in here?”

“Cough cough…”

“Don’t waste your breath.”

“Quickly check what happened?”

The two followed the sounds and found the four Intermediate Wizard Apprentices who had gone out to cook.

By the light of the bonfire, they discovered the four surrounded by a swarm of Black-Spotted Illusion Butterflies.

Two were already disoriented and attacking wildly, one lay on the ground, his life unknown.

Only one person was still struggling to resist.

Blood Cat and Blood Shark exchanged glances, not daring to step forward.

These hundreds of low-level demonized creatures—Black-Spotted Illusion Butterflies—were not to be trifled with.

The two tacitly cast a Wizardry together, rescuing the trapped person.

“Where did these Black-Spotted Illusion Butterflies come from?”

“What happened to you all? When attacked, why didn’t you signal immediately?”

“Lord Blood Cat,…”

The rescued Wizard’s eyes were also a bit hazy at this moment, but he was still struggling to suppress it.

“We were roasting meat…”

“Those Black-Spotted Illusion Butterflies were attracted by the fire, and we were ambushed. There were too many of them, and we sent a signal immediately.”

“This must be another trick by the White Wizards.”

“Let’s go back and get people to eliminate these Black-Spotted Illusion Butterflies together, otherwise, given their characteristic of chasing fire, we won’t be able to eat a hot meal of roasted meat.”

“Let’s go, get people.”

… Three or four hours later.

The many Black Wizards spent a great deal of effort to kill all these hundreds of Black-Spotted Illusion Butterflies.

The main reason was that these Black-Spotted Illusion Butterflies emitted a mind-confusing powder, which, when it got on someone, caused extreme itchiness, coupled with the thick smoke in the cavern, making it especially difficult for the Black Wizards.

If it weren’t for these Black-Spotted Illusion Butterflies’ characteristic of chasing fire, the Black Wizards might not have been able to eliminate them even if they spent ten times as long.

“Slap…”

Blood Bear slapped the foreign object on his arm, killing it, and looked at it by the firelight.

Two giant flower-backed mosquitoes, one black-furred moth, one green-headed housefly… “Let’s go back, there are too many bugs out here…”

The many Black Wizards, exhausted by the Black-Spotted Illusion Butterflies, nodded in agreement.

They didn’t pay much attention to these common mundane insects, just found them annoying…