Chương 422: Monstrous Terragore King.

Liu Shu checked the area and noticed that the <Terragore King> had gone out once more after two days of inactivity. During these two days, Liu Shu advanced her roots and managed to peek into the area near the main area. She could see the external layers, but nothing close to the center. Still, she asked Flor curiously.

"Flor, there is a nest below the main terrain. Do I mess it up?" Flor shook her head.

"Don't. Since you are here, we are now aiming to complete all of the objectives. With your help, it shouldn't be impossible to do."

"Hm~. Okay!" Liu Shu easily agreed to her words. Then, she commented.

"Oh, the <Terragore King> is out. I am looking at him from a distance, trying not to scare him like in the past. From what I can detect, he should have around 400 <Third Energy Cycle> Terragores with him, four times the number that he had before. Plan accordingly because dealing with him will be dangerous. My roots in this area will be effective but not overly so. At most, I'll slow him down. Flor smiled.

"That's enough. Thank you, Baby. And sorry that your roots will get damaged." Liu Shu chuckled.

"I prefer my roots getting damaged compared to anyone dying!" The people cautiously listening felt a surge of warmth, even with the intimidating multiple voices speaking at once. With that, everyone started to plan. Today was the day that they would try to capture the <Terragore King>. Meanwhile, the <Terragore King> was looking around cautiously. He could see some of those unlikable roots with blue glowing veins poking from some of the walls. Honestly, he had an urge to destroy and devour the roots.

Still, he understood that it was not a time for that. As a <Fourth Energy Cycle>, his intelligence was not that far behind. He could guess that there was a group of enemies roaming around, and that those enemies had separated into groups. Therefore, his plan was to catch those separated groups and cause destruction. Lately, their colony has been completely suppressed, and even moving too far out of the nest would cause their people to die. Such a situation had caused a lack of resources and minerals.

If it weren't because of the strange roots on the walls, they could dig out to feed their young, some of them might've died already from hunger. Of course, no one knew that. The <Terragore King> made a strange crackling growl. A skill called <Underground Echomapping (C+ Rank)> was activated together with his sounds. He could use it to create an image of the tunnels in his head and the big creatures roaming through them. A very nifty skill for an underground creature.

After he had used it, he quickly noticed three groups in the nearby vicinity. Those three groups were similar in both size and strength. However, the <Terragore King> didn't feel nervous or threatened by any of them. His personal strength was enough to tip the scales of whatever war he participated in. Beyond those groups, deeper underground than they were in, the <Terragore King> noticed a group of ants. Those pesky ants had been a big problem for their people.

Moreover, as similar monsters vying for the territory, the <Terragore King> had quite a beef with them. With that in mind, the <Terragore King> decided to attack the group of ants.

"Grraa!" His four hundred followers followed his low scream, and they all dug down, creating holes that crumbled some of the tunnels they passed through. Still, their strong hides and bodies didn't mind much, even if they were buried under large piles of rubble. Moreover, as they dug down and created new tunnels, the pressure of the dirt above them disappeared as new structures manifested through equilibrium.

After digging for a few minutes, the four hundred monsters and their king dropped into the enlarged tunnel and looked around. The <Terragore King> sniffed the air, finding the direction the ants had moved, and followed with the others. He was a bit confused, though. He understood that this direction was separating him from the main nest. The strange uneasiness made the beast pause his charge through the tunnels. Confused, the other Terragores looked at the massive body of their King.

One of them, a female, approached and purred quite deeply. The <Terragore King> looked at the female with his glowing red eyes and used a hand to slam her against the ground. BOOM! Then, ignoring the pained cries of that female, he continued looking around. There was a nagging feeling at the back of his head, one that he felt a few days ago, and forced him to go back and prepare more troops. The monster walked forward, stepping away from the female.

On all fours, with the help of the two long frontal arms, the King moved swiftly through the caves, and the others followed. After a while, he stopped and sniffed the air. The smell of nearby prey made his eyes glow. Instead of rushing ahead, his movements became cautious as he stalked his prey, ready to pounce when it was the best situation. The tunnels sneaked from his position, so hiding while following his prey was not hard. A few sounds reached the <Terragore>.

"So, they are following us? That's honestly terrifying; I can't sense anything."

"Well, Lady World Tree has said that they are approaching cautiously. It seems that the King is quite wary." Of course, none of the <Terragore> understood a single word of what was being said. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

"Clever bastard. My aunt was killed by him, so even if I die today, I swear that I will make that bastard Lady World Tree's pet."

"Heh. You are not the only one. That bastard has been going on quite a rampage thanks to his <Fourth Energy Cycle> strength. I just hope that the cage the leaders prepared is strong enough to hold him." The <Terragore King> tensed his muscles.

"Uh oh, he is about to attack. Prepare yourselves. He is a fast bastard!" But when he was about to leap from the shadows, the nagging feeling at the back of his head materialized as a System Message. [<Danger Instinct (B- Rank)>, activates! Be careful!] The King looked at the notification, understanding it fully, and making him stop. The surrounding Terragore sensed the tension on their King's body disappear, confusing them once more. A rather large Terragore, somewhat dissatisfied, growled at him.

"Grah!" The King glanced at it indifferently. As the Terragore King, there was naturally a lot of competition. Some Terragore would challenge him from time to time, although all of them were completely suppressed by his ridiculous strength. This was one of the challengers that he had lost to in the past. While it was large and very high level, his power was just lacking against someone with a Major Energy Cycle ahead of him. After thinking, the <Terragore King> chose to listen to his instinct and turned around.

On the other side, the "bait" was confused.

"Huh? How could that be possible, Lady World Tree? Did he notice that he is about to fall into a trap?" A female voice echoed in the caves.

"As if I'll let him go!" The <Terragore King>, about to leave the area, suddenly stopped in his tracks. His blood red eyes began glowing as his nose sniffed the air. Fresh blood. The delightful scent of fresh blood from a powerful being reaches him. [<Danger Instinct (B- Rank)>, activates!] [<Title: Bloodthirst>, activates!] [<Danger Instinct (B- Rank)>, activates!] [<Title: Bloodthirst>, activates!] [<Danger Instinct (B- Rank)>, activates!] [<Title: Bloodthirst>, activates!] The <Terragore King>'s body twitched as two deeply rooted desires acted inside of him. Ultimately, the title won. <Bloodthirst>: When you smell the blood of a delightful prey, you will enter a blood frenzy and attack everything that prevents you from reaching that prey. +10% stats during the rampage.

"GRAAHHH!!" The <Terragore King> roared, and all 400 <Terragore> around him felt a rush from within them. [<Title: Terragore King>, activates!] <Terragore King>: All members of your pack receive a 5% stat increase. [<Passive: Royal Terragore>, activates!] <Royal Terragore>: All <Terragore> will fight to the death as long as you remain alive. [<Talent: King's Howl>, activates!] <King's Howl>: Increase the physical defense of all <Terragore> by 15% and the hardness of their claws and teeth by 10%.

Then, all four hundred monsters rushed through the tunnels toward the "bait" group.

"They are coming! Prepare the defenses!"

"That was a great idea, sis! These beasts are attracted to blood, after all."

"It hurts, but as long as it works, I can make myself bleed even more." The <Terragore King> led the charge, overcoming all the smaller ones thanks to his speed. The people on the other side were a group of 500 led by Hua Edharen. Edharen, the Lion Knight, grabbed his longsword and stared at the dark tunnel ahead of him. Inside his head, the voice of the World Tree echoed with incomparable majesty.

"Edharen, be careful. The <Terragore King> is extremely fast, and I don't think my roots will be able to slow him down much. Remember, you are playing a defensive battle; no need to bother yourself with hurting that monster. Just keep yourself alive." Edharen nodded firmly, his eyes flashing with determination. Then, the monster arrived. A black shadow with two glowing red orbs appeared from the corner of the wide tunnel.

The place was around ten meters tall and twenty meters wide, large enough to hold a few dozen people side by side. However, when that monster appeared, everyone felt small. The ridiculous pressure emitted from the monster was enough to make a few people step back in fear. Edharen's face turned incredibly serious as well. When he blinked, the beast had suddenly crossed a distance of over forty meters, reducing the distance between them to less than 200 meters.

Edharen used a skill to reinforce his own body, and then stepped forward toward it. As he did so, Aether Mana bolts of many different elements rushed past his side, aiming at the <Terragore King>. However, they were naive. The <Fourth Energy Cycle> monster suddenly jumped upward, reaching the ceiling like a blurring shadow, and then using the ceiling as a launching pad, the <Terragore King> passed over Edharen and barreled down into the crowd. BOOM!

"ARG!"

"KYAA!"

"GAH!" Edharen's eyes widened, and he swiftly turned around. The place where the <Terragore King> had landed already had three corpses from his landing, and his claws were slashing right through the chest of an armored woman.

"GRAAHHH!!!!" The monster swung his claws around at enough speed to make them appear blurred, killing four more people instantly. Edharen's heart thumped once.

'Those were all <Third Energy Cycles>!' Liu Shu's voice reached him with haste.

"Hurry up! I'll use my roots to keep it in place so that you can entangle with it in battle!" Edharen moved, while the floor below the Terragore King burst with several roots. Many of the roots were instantly slashed by the <Terragore King>'s sharp claws. Thankfully, some managed to coil around his legs.

"<Explosive Root (D- Rank)>! <Root Light Burst (E+ Rank)>!" BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The body of the monster was surrounded by bright explosions, interrupting his killing spree. Edharen took this chance to finally close the distance.

"Fight me, Monster! Summoners, use them quickly!" The Terragore King glared at Edharen and opened his mouth full of sharp teeth.

"GRAAHHH!!"