Chapter 193: The Panther Fiend

A thousand years. It had been a very long thousand years.

Among the Demon Clan, the creature’s name was spoken with equal parts fear and reverence. Cunning, ruthless, and monstrously powerful, it was one of the Demon Lord’s Eight Guardians, the infamous Six-Headed Twin-Winged Serpent.

For an entire millennium, it had failed.

No matter how it raged or schemed, it had never managed to break the seal Lyanna cast upon the Mist Veil Palace. It had never laid its coils upon the Divine Artifact known as the Dragon-Horse Lyre. And now, with the Demon Lord stirring from slumber, the serpent could already imagine the inevitable question.

Where is the artifact?

Its massive wings beat violently against the air, each stroke cracking the sky as it forced itself beyond its usual limits. The seal had fallen, that much it could sense. But who had broken it? Had the Dragon-Horse Lyre already been taken?

It did not know.

What it did know was this: it had to secure the artifact. If it failed again, it would become a laughingstock among the Demon Clan, its thousand-year vigil reduced to a tale of incompetence.

“Hssss…”

The serpent twisted one of its six heads toward its companion and hissed impatiently.

Beside it flew the Dark Arch-Sorcerer, the Double-Headed Raven King.

“Caw… caw…”

The Raven King was miserable.

Its true body had been grievously wounded during its clash with the Five-Clawed Divine Dragon, guardian of Dragon’s Peak Citadel. Even now, it had not fully recovered. Every beat of its wings strained injured sinew and bone. Yet the serpent, indifferent to its condition, had dragged it along toward the Mist Veil Palace without so much as a second thought.

This was torture.

’Where is that wretched knight?’ the Raven King brooded darkly. It was already preoccupied with tracking down the pet egg of the Dark Violet Sky Dragon, not to mention settling accounts with the knight who had nearly killed it. It had no interest in cleaning up someone else’s failure.

This was becoming increasingly irritating.

Back inside the Mist Veil Palace, Marcus remained blissfully unaware of the chaos converging upon him.

Had he looked up, he would have noticed the white mist barrier above thinning into pale strands, the dense fog that once blanketed the palace grounds slowly unraveling into nothing. The seal was unraveling, minute by minute.

But Marcus was busy.

“Searching, searching for a treasure, hope I find a really good one…”

He hummed his self-composed masterpiece, “The Treasure Hunt Song,” while hunched over like an overenthusiastic raccoon. His eyes gleamed with determination as he scoured every courtyard, every corridor, and every suspicious corner for hidden loot.

“Argh…”

“Are they serious? Were they this cheap?”

He had searched the vast courtyards from end to end. All he found were rotting furnishings, cracked porcelain, ordinary daily tools, and a suspicious number of dusty footprints. Not a single piece of equipment, not even a halfway decent trinket.

His excitement curdled into frustration.

He threw his head back and let out a long, frustrated howl that echoed across the empty courtyard. Unfortunately for him, there were no trees to rustle or birds to scatter. The palace walls simply absorbed the sound and gave him nothing in return.

It seemed the residential courtyards had been thoroughly looted even before Lyanna sealed the place a thousand years ago.

Resigned, Marcus shifted his focus to the legendary dark-glowing doorway he had heard about. The portal pulsed faintly, like the mouth of some sleeping beast.

According to ancient accounts, this entrance led to the true main hall of the Mist Veil Palace. Six levels descended within, each one rumored to house the cult’s most precious treasures. But there was a catch. Every floor was guarded by high-level monsters summoned by the Water Moon Cult’s fiends. Without overwhelming strength, descending into its depths was suicide.

Still, he had come this far, he had to at least take a look.

Marcus recalled Lyanna into his soul and dismissed the Shadow-Stained Gryphon King back into its Pet Storage Slot. After layering himself with every available buff, he activated Phantom, his body fading into invisibility. He then ordered his Temple Guardian, Pebble, to take the lead as they crossed the threshold and entered the first level of the main hall.

The moment they stepped inside, four black panther-like creatures near the entrance twitched their noses.

Though Marcus and Pebble were invisible, the creatures’ heads snapped toward them instantly, they had been detected.

With terrifying speed, the panthers lunged, claws flashing and fangs bared.

“Pebble, charge!”

’So they could see through Phantom. Fine. Let’s see what you’ve got.’

Pebble responded instantly, activating Taunt and rushing forward to intercept them. Marcus lifted his hand, preparing to cast Insight.

-900

-800

Miss

-800

Marcus’s eyes widened.

’Damn. They’re strong.’

The Panther Fiends moved like liquid shadows. Before he could even cast Insight, they had already swarmed Pebble, tearing into the guardian with relentless precision. Their claws struck weak points as if guided by instinct.

These were at least Level 50 monsters. He hurriedly cast Insight.

—

Panther Fiend

Level: ???

Health: ???

Skills: ???

Description: A dark panther from shadowed regions that evolved into a vicious fiend by devouring undead corpses and absorbing necrotic energy. Possesses an extremely keen sense of smell.

—

Over Level 50.

More than twenty levels above him, and completely outside the detection range of Insight.

Before he could adjust his strategy, Pebble suffered another coordinated assault and collapsed beneath the four Panther Fiends without even managing to thin their numbers.

“Desperate Strike!”

Marcus switched to a common longsword and lunged at the nearest panther, unleashing his strongest burst skill. The fivefold damage multiplier landed cleanly.

-1000.

That was it.

Even with the multiplier, the damage barely scratched the creature. The four panthers turned toward him as one, as their golden eyes glinted in the dark.

Marcus did not hesitate, he retreated immediately, slipping back through the portal without attempting anything foolish.

No wonder no one had ever reached the depths of the Mist Veil Palace. If the guardians on the very first floor were this overwhelming, the monsters further below had to be utterly absurd.

His grand exploration ended there.

He moved swiftly back through the now eerily quiet corridors. Not a single monster respawned. The silence felt wrong, feeling heavy and unnatural.

Passing through the deserted halls, he reached the main entrance once more.

“Roar!”

Bang. Bang. Bang.

The thunderous sounds of battle crashed against the heavy iron doors.

Marcus froze.

He had been worrying about the Cloud-Tusk Lion stationed outside, a beast capable of one-shotting Pebble and, by extension, him. Yet what he was hearing now was not a lone roar but the unmistakable rhythm of combat.

’What’s going on?’

Did it wake up and decide to start a morning workout?

He quickly reapplied his buffs, activated Phantom again, and layered Bat Cloud Form and Wraith on top to maximize his speed.

Taking a steadying breath, he positioned himself before the doors, ready to throw them open and sprint.

He still did not realize that breaking the seal had restored the use of Town Portal Scrolls. Had he known, he would have teleported straight back to Dragon’s Peak Citadel to claim his quest reward without a second thought.

Even so, he was confident in his escape plan.

He would send Pebble out first to cast Taunt and draw the Cloud-Tusk Lion’s attention. While the lion focused on smashing the guardian into rubble, Marcus would summon his Nightmare Dragon Steed and ride at full speed. The lion was powerful, but it was slower. It would never catch him.

The Cloud-Tusk Lion had once evolved from Lyanna’s Grade 8 pet, the Cloud-Flame Lion. Right then, a thought surfaced in his mind. Would it still remember her?

If he summoned Lyanna at the right moment, could he tame it instead of fighting it?

His hand hovered over the door.

’Time to find out.’

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