"Cat demons? Why would they appear here..."

Evan voiced his confusion with some puzzlement. Previously, they had never encountered monsters in the corridors—every time, monsters had been gathered inside the sealed chambers.

But he was only puzzled, not panicked.

After all, there were only four or five cat demons before them, posing no real threat to the group.

"Don't get careless, focus on the enemy."

Bern habitually reminded everyone, though his tone carried no tension.

Lin Mo set down his great axe, using his companions as cover to enter his "Concealment" state.

In the next instant, he burst forward with lightning speed, executing a clean "Cross Slash." The narrow terrain made it impossible for those cat demons to dodge his extremely fast attack.

That single sword strike instantly eliminated four cat demons.

The remaining one was shot by Miriam's arrow and then easily finished off by Cody who arrived moments later.

[Concealment] Proficiency +4

[Cross Slash] Proficiency +4

The battle was quite easy, but these suddenly appearing cat demons...

Watching Evan and Miriam collecting the cat demons' claws, Lin Mo turned to look back the way they came, seeming to vaguely realize something.

"Everyone, come quick!"

Cody, who had taken initiative to scout ahead, suddenly called out, "There are two more intersections here..."

The group quickly gathered their loot and rushed over, indeed seeing that both sides of this corridor now had branching paths, forming a cross intersection.

Just as suspected—their earlier speculation was correct. This secret realm was a maze, and the deeper they went, the more complex the structure became.

"Let's continue forward for now."

After some thought, Bern took out the charcoal pencil he carried and drew their traveled route on the parchment, marking these two branching paths as well.

More actions meant more mistakes. In this maze full of unknowns, it was better not to easily change their chosen path.

The corridor length seemed much shorter than before. Less than a minute after passing the two intersections, they reached the end of this path.

"Same as before..."

What appeared before them was another bluish-gray door.

No words were needed—everyone remembered that terrifying minotaur from earlier and raised their weapons, assuming defensive positions.

Bern again took responsibility for opening the door, with Lin Mo standing beside him to handle any unexpected threats.

"Creak—"

The ancient bronze door emitted a grating creaking sound. As Bern stepped back, the chamber before them was revealed to everyone.

"That's... an exit!"

Sharp-eyed Cody was the first to spot the rift at the other end of the chamber, his face lighting up with joy.

They had thought it would take much longer to find an exit, and had even begun to feel pessimistic. Apparently their luck was quite good—they had found the location where magical energies from both worlds converged and resonated so quickly.

"Watch out!"

Lin Mo's pupils suddenly constricted as he charged toward Cody without hesitation, executing a diagonal slash with his sword.

"Slash!"

In the next instant, a blurred black shadow suddenly burst from the chamber, its blade-like claws slashing toward Cody's face.

"Clang—"

The sword edge blocked the claws, stopping less than twenty centimeters from Cody's scalp.

Seeing the claws that had come within 0.1 seconds of piercing his skull, Cody broke out in a cold sweat.

In the next moment, the Wolf Bone Sword carried tremendous force, repelling the attacker.

During that brief stalemate, everyone had clearly seen the familiar appearance of their ambusher—it was exactly the same kind of rune-marked cat demon they had pursued not long ago.

But compared to those two rune-marked cat demons, this one was quite different.

A noticeably larger frame, longer and sharper claws, and terrifying speed that even Cody couldn't react to...

Clearly, this was a fully mature rune-marked cat demon!

"Everyone fall back behind me!"

Bern quickly regained his composure, shielding the group behind him.

Just as Lin Mo was about to pursue, a series of piercing screeches suddenly came from within the chamber.

In the next instant, over a dozen cat demons burst from various corners of the chamber, attacking the group.

Besides that rune-marked cat demon, there were this many ordinary cat demons too?

The group immediately felt their pressure multiply. Even without that rune-marked cat demon, these ten-plus ordinary cat demons would already be difficult to handle.

"Stay calm! Evan protect Miriam, Cody provide flank support..."

Bern quickly issued concise commands, then raised his sword and shield, spreading his arms to block the narrow corridor as much as possible.

The cat demons quickly swarmed forward. Although these monsters weren't particularly strong—not much stronger than goblins—several attacking together still made Bern nearly lose his footing, staggering slightly.

With an angry roar, his face flushed red as he stubbornly held against this wave of attacks.

But this meant he was completely occupied. Several other cat demons leaped high, flying over their companions to attack Bern.

One or two attacks were blocked by his sturdy iron armor, while others left bloody scratches on Bern's neck and face. Fortunately, as a knight, Bern's physique was robust enough that the cat demons' claws could only penetrate one or two centimeters, unable to cause fatal wounds for now.

Lin Mo leaped forward, executing a precise sword strike that once again blocked the rune-marked cat demon attacking under cover of its companions.

He had to ensure he stopped this creature—if it managed to ambush any other team member, it would mean certain death for whoever it touched, even Bern couldn't be an exception!

An arrow from Miriam flew past, shooting under Bern's armpit and piercing through the abdomen of a cat demon clinging to him.

Facing so many cat demons, even with terrain advantage, Bern couldn't completely block them all. Two or three cat demons quickly broke through his defense line, attacking the others behind him.

Evan stood before Miriam, slashing at a cat demon in front of him.

Cody was being surrounded and attacked by two cat demons, looking somewhat disheveled with several scratches already appearing on his body.

Fortunately, as long as vital areas weren't hit, the damage cat demons could inflict was relatively limited, and with their armor protection, these flesh wounds wouldn't have major impact in the short term as long as they protected their necks.

Lin Mo knew well that their situation was precarious. He couldn't focus solely on dealing with that rune-marked cat demon. After repelling it, he quickly found an opening to execute a "Cross Slash," eliminating three cat demons.

But the rune-marked cat demon seized this opportunity to attack again. Lin Mo barely dodged by turning his head, the claws grazing his cheek and leaving several bloody marks.

Lin Mo countered with a backhand slash, but the creature easily dodged it too.

After several direct clashes, this thing knew it was no match in strength and no longer engaged directly, instead using hit-and-run tactics that left Lin Mo being the one getting pulled around.

But while it could run, its companions couldn't.

As the rune-marked cat demon retreated, Lin Mo found an opening. He delivered an elbow strike that instantly stunned a cat demon harassing Bern, then executed a "Cross Slash" to force back the attacking rune-marked cat demon.

The narrow corridor significantly reduced the difficulty of single-handedly defending against the creature. As long as this rune-marked cat demon didn't dare engage in sustained direct combat, Lin Mo could always find opportunities to occasionally strike at its companions.

With Lin Mo eliminating four cat demons, Bern's pressure had greatly reduced, giving him some breathing room.

If they continued fighting like this, though they might sustain more injuries, ultimate victory would undoubtedly belong to them.

But just then, somewhat familiar "drumming" sounds suddenly began echoing from behind them...