The passage was narrow and damp, but it seemed as if the users didn't care at all, with no additional moisture-proof measures or processing done to the passage. They simply dug out the passage and constructed some steps.

Although it seemed simple, this kind of project was actually quite significant. After all, this was a passage for mountain travel, and its construction naturally required a lot of time.

I wonder how those mages above created this kind of passage. Without any earth magic, digging such a passage would be torture.

"Um, where does this passage lead to in the end?"

Suddenly asked Sylvantas.

"How would I know when you ask me? Anyway, when we encountered a fork earlier, we chose to go up. Should be fine. After all, if we went down, we might end up descending the mountain."

"But we've been walking for over ten minutes, and it still seems like this passage doesn't end."

"You, are you energetic a moment ago and tired now?"

I chuckled.

"No, no! I'm just afraid of taking the wrong path!"

Sylvantas waved his hands repeatedly.

But as he waved his hand, he slipped and slid down!

I quickly reached out to grab him and caught hold of a candle holder beside.

"Hey, be careful, will you?"

I pulled him up and steadied him.

"It's embarrassing for a warrior to ask a mage for help."

"Um... sorry, I..."

"No need to apologize, let's go. Just be careful... hey?"

At that moment, I suddenly noticed something.

The candle holder which I grabbed seemed a bit loose, as if it could be pulled out.

I called No-one back from the front and shone the light on the candle holder.

"I didn't pay attention to just lighting them up, these candle holders are the only decorations in the entire passage. The passage was dug out so casually, why use such unique candle holders?"

I said 'unique' not because they were made of expensive materials, on the contrary, they were made of iron.

However, when I grabbed the candle holder earlier, I found no trace of rust on it. Normally, in such a damp place, the candle holder should be covered in rust, yet this candle holder was so clean, looking as good as new except for a bit of dust.

Unless...

I pulled the candle holder out, and the entire passage shook, and the stone door next to it opened directly.

A musty smell wafted out, as if the space behind the stone door had been sealed for a long time. As I shone the light from the drone inside, I was stunned by what I saw inside the room.

"These are... (to) people from whom energy is being extracted."

Yes, just like the scene I saw from the drone earlier, these rooms behind the stone doors contained people whose energy was being extracted through some magical means. They appeared lifeless, with dim eyes, resembling corpses.

If not for the faint HP bars still showing some health left, I would have really mistaken them for corpses.

"These mages... are truly disgusting!"

I walked up and was about to deactivate the magical formation on the back of one of the people.

But I stopped.

"Sylvantas, hurry and pull all the candle holders along the passage. Check how many stone doors there are. If you see the magical formation, hit the center of the magical formation from behind! Destroy the magical formation. Hurry up, or the magic user will likely sense the magical formation being destroyed."

"Oh... alright!"

Seeing him nod, I destroyed all the magical formations in the room at once, then poured healing potion on them.

However, as the blue energy slowly returned to their bodies, their dry skin suddenly improved somewhat, and their HP recovered by half.

"... What is this?"

Suddenly, one of them reached out and grabbed my hand.

"That Time Mage!"

He appeared as a middle-aged man, and upon closer inspection, he was a Water Mage.

"That Time Mage captures people everywhere, then draws the time from humans as the energy for his magic!"

After saying this, he muttered some spell, and several blue light rings wrapped around the people nearby.

Their HP started to slowly recover; it seemed to be a healing magic.

"Do you know where the mage is?"

I asked the mage.

"Well, taking out the opponent troubles my conscience."

"That mage is very dangerous. But with what you're saying... if I report to the Mage Headquarters and let their people..."

"Don't worry, I have companions. If we leave now, the opponent might escape, and we won't find him next time."

"You have a point."

He nodded.

"Be cautious."

"Of course, I have a companion who is dealing with the others inside the passage. You should help later. But I'm curious how much further this passage goes before reaching the end?"

"After climbing 50 steps up, there should be another passage. Every time, I hear the mage leave, climb 50 steps, and then open a door."

"Thank you!"

Great, got the intelligence, otherwise, I would have been lost in this passage.

After bidding farewell to the mage, I climbed up 50 steps and indeed found a candle holder at the side of the passage.

I reached out, and the wall next to it slid open, revealing what seemed to be a warehouse-like area.

However, there was another door on the other side of the warehouse.

Since there doesn't seem to be anyone around, it doesn't matter much.

I took out a mechanical bear from my ring, started it, and pointed to the door.

The mechanical bear walked up, pulled the door, and it came off easily like a layer of pudding.

If it weren't for the underdevelopment of technology in this world, I would have wanted to unleash the entire mechanized legion to play. But forget it, others might think I'm one of those ingenious goblins skilled in machinery.

Well, since I'm not good at picking locks, the mechanical bear thudded along the passage, quickly opening all the doors, and soon, I stepped out into the open.

It looked like another house, but it had a more lived-in feeling, with at least someone still cooking something in the kitchen.

Of course, looking at the pot that had started emitting black smoke, I knew the culinary skills of the owner needed improvement, or... they were just preoccupied.

"Space distortion!"

Indeed, I heard the voice of someone who seemed to be the owner of this room outside.

Of course, I didn't know what the owner of this room sounded like, but since that voice wasn't of Blanche, Mary, Fran, or Pure White, it must be an enemy's.

I pushed open the door and looked up at the sky.

Blanche, Mary, Fran, and Pure White were relentlessly bombarding the enemies not far away, while the enemies simply absorbed all the attacks and funneled them into what looked like a black hole.

Such a waste, Pure White! Are you going to exhaust all my ammunition on the mech like this? Can you use some magical weapons? The bullet production line isn't set up yet.

However, although Mary and others were attacking, it seemed they were using low-level magic. Looking at the rotating black hole and the sweating old man on the enemy side, it seemed they intended to outlast him...

I wiped my sweat, then moved along the outer passage to another angle.

Then, I pulled out the electromagnetic cannon, aimed at the back of the mage.

"Goodbye."

A half-meter-wide electromagnetic beam pierced through the mage's back, turning him into ashes before he could even make a sound.

...

"Dale, you jerk, you stole the kill!"

Mary pointed at me and cursed loudly.

"Huh?"

I smiled helplessly.

"You can't even flank properly, and blame me?"