The appearance of the imps and gremlins had caused the mines' operations to halt.
Many miners had died from the sudden attacks of the imps.
A day after Eros had slain the Chort, nurous squads of imps and gremlins had attacked, and it led to a great battle that summoned all the guards to focus their forces at the front.
Dozens of the guards were even killed when the Puks appeared, and Pernt had to move to the front line to fight.
The response ti was too long, forcing Pernt to stay at the front lines.
The guards proved to be utterly useless as many turned cowardly, and many had to flee.
It was only when Pernt stepped up and killed guards who were retreating and threw his authority and vowed their deaths that he managed to force many to fight.
Slaves and guards began to fight back. Pernt even began to use the gathered mines and the slain beasts to start increasing the levels of the slaves and fighters, which beca another layer of enticent that made many want to fight.
Pernt only had a small group of reliable n who arose at the occasion, and they used explosives to bring down so of the sides of the cave to force the monsters to pass through one small path where Pernt focused his attention and the guards.
He needed to buy ti and communicated to Eros through the ssage talismans warning them not to return.
The cowardly guards all blad Pernt and Eros for being the cause of things. Pernt denied it, but it would be too suspicious if Eros and the rest were to return.
Several adventurers and rcenaries had arrived and fought on the front lines, providing stability to the battle. With their arrival, the hordes of imps, gremlins, and puks were defeated and pushed back.
At first, the confident team of rcenaries and adventurers wanted to explore the inside of the mines and pushed back.
They had an average level of 13, with the leaders all at 15. They charged inside the caves and started to hunt the beast. The Puks were no match for them, and the fighting grew intense. The rcenaries could easily kill the Puks with their stronger weapons and numbers in one or two hits.
The archers, mages, warriors, and even the barbarians all fought, laughing at their foes.
On the night of the second day, they even made a killing and asked Pernt to grant them experience.
Pernt did so, but he was terrified at the reports that Eros kept sending him.
He had learned of the monster inside the room and that Eros planned to kill him. But Eros was very grim in his report that he told Pernt to leave if they did not call within the next day.
On the third day, one of the rcenary groups was massacred. How such a powerful team could be killed was unknown, but they never returned.
Soon, another group reported seeing large goat monsters at level 10. With the hordes of imps and puks, it was now a threat that the rcenaries could not take.
Many slaves and the guards tried to flee on the third day. Morale had risen but had now plumted at the deaths of a rcenary group. But as the group left, several powerful Captains were positioned at the exit. Barons and Viscounts were present but made a decree that no one would leave the mountains under the claims of an investigation!
In the next days that followed, the cave was practically inaccessible, and more and more slaves and guards were being sent inside.
Even the rcenaries and adventurers could not move in!
Pernt couldn't understand why until Eros guessed the scenario.
"Duke Ressongraze is the one who is assigned to manage the mines. This ans that his sponsors and partners from this kingdom, and even those in the Tri-Planet Union, would demand their money back or stop paying for the operations of the mines if this is found out. I believe Duke Ressongraze is keeping the news sealed so as not to scare the investors and is trying to find a way to resolve the issue. Right now, they think this is just the Day of Monster Passing. But soon, when they realize that there is an army of imps down here, they will look for soone to bla."
Pernt listened to the ssage sent through Talisman, and his heart clenched. With the current state of the mines, it would only be a matter of days until the Duke would look for a scapegoat to answer for his failings. And with Baron Elford outside, it was only a matter of ti until the blas would land on him.
It was a week since Eros disappeared that Pernt received a terrifying ssage.
"We will make a commotion and open one of the sealed paths. Run towards us when you hear it. Do not hesitate. You will die if you keep staying there!"
The ssage was a dire warning, and Pernt received it just in ti, and the ssage talisman crumbled to ashes as it had already used up all of the core energy.
Pernt read it and was startled. He was now among the front lines. Many of his companions were slaves and low-level guards. So of the rcenaries and adventurers had died since then.
Pernt didn't understand why there was such danger in his area. But he waited. And prepared to run.
He watched the dark end of the mines.
The two paths had been covered in stones, and in the week that passed, the imps and gremlins had little success in clearing it out as the soldiers and slaves would just pile more stones and push them in to keep the paths sealed.
"Eros must have found a way to create explosives. But will it be strong enough?" Pernt frowned. He didn't understand why there was such a commotion.
On the other side of the sealed tunnel.
Imps and Gremlins were constantly whacking and striking and picking up the stones. Occasionally, the stone wall would collapse as the humans on the other side would pile more stones and push them. With the elevated pathway, the stones often fell on the imps and gremlins' side. But they kept on trying to dig a way out.
Several puks were ordering the imps and gremlins to do their jobs.
But unknown to them, Philip and Serena slowly crawled above the ceiling and clung to the stalactites. They slowly moved and managed to keep a tight grip on the rocks above through a strange glove that they made which had hooks from the fangs and claws of puks and gremlins.
The pair wore boots that also allowed them to cling to the ceiling.
And aside from that, their strength stat had grown as they managed to achieve another level up in the past days of their hunting.
Eros, Don, and Wesret waited on the far end of the tunnel.
"Rember. Aim for the jugular. We have to do this quietly. It's a good thing that we've been training as assassins for the past few days. Everything that you've learned... apply it!" Eros reminded.
The two nodded as they saw Philip and Serena prepare to start the mission.
The two moved in position and quietly took a sip of their potion. Their vision changed as they could now see heat.
This was the potion of life detection.
A simple potion that affects the eyes of the drinker so that they can see life. But the side effect was that their vision would be very distorted.
With their sight changed, the two brought out a round ball.
Using a bit of mana that they could now summon, it heated the core of this ball, and a small fire ore began to heat up.
The two dropped the bomb, releasing a thick coat of smoke that quickly engulfed the area.
The imps and gremlins were surprised that the area was suddenly full of smoke and heard the commotion and started to cry out from afar.
But with their backs turned towards the tunnel, Eros and the rest appeared and stabbed at their throats.
STAB! SLASH!
Don and Wesret also moved with great speed, cleaving the heads of the creatures.
So of the imps and gremlins ahead heard the added commotion, but Eros and the rest began to throw knives made from the weapons, blades, and fangs of the monsters they killed.
STAB! STAB! STAB!
Serena and Philip moved out of the smoke, and the two groups made a pincer attack to wipe out everyone.
It all happened very fast, and no imp, gremlin, or puk could make a loud cry.
"Good work, team. Now set the explosives. We don't have much ti." Eros ordered. He had witnessed a terrifying sche at play. The imp army was magic capable. And a dark trap was set to eliminate the barricaded human army from within.
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