Chapter 60: Clawfiend

“Whoosh~~~”

Once sure nothing else lurked, Su Lun pushed the half-open stone door fully aside. Firelight spilled into the chamber, finally revealing the scene inside to the group.

It was a stone room roughly two hundred square meters in size. This appeared to be a laboratory. Against one wall stood a bookshelf. But due to immense age, when Su Lun reached out to take a book, the moment he touched it, it crumbled like dry leaves into a pile of fragments. The books here had endured for far too long without any protection; all were ruined.

A thick layer of dust covered everything, and many spiderwebs hung about, making the place look derelict. On the other side of the room stood several stone tables. Scattered across them were broken, old glass containers, oddly shaped bottles, and some sealed glass vessels holding translucent liquids. Floating within these liquids were the preserved limbs of unknown creatures.

On some tables lay unfamiliar skulls, animal specimens, the dried husk of a bat corpse, and black, decayed lumps of unidentifiable matter. The whole room looked like the horror-filled laboratory of an evil wizard.

“An abandoned wizard’s laboratory?” Su Lun’s face lit up with surprise and delight upon seeing this scene.

While Knights were said to be a profession for Nobles, Wizards were the true aristocratic calling. As long as they weren’t Necromancers, Wizards enjoyed Noble treatment in human kingdoms. If willing to join a kingdom, one could instantly become a Count with real power. Hence the saying: all ‘Master Mages’ were Nobles, but not all Nobles were ‘Master Mages’.

Every Wizard was wealthy. The profession burned through money, but its money-making potential was just as astonishing. Even a low-grade Magic Scroll could easily fetch hundreds or thousands of Gold Nar. Healing potions or body-enhancing brews crafted by Wizards, too, commanded sky-high prices per bottle.

Wizards were also among the few beings in this world capable of crafting Supernatural Weapons or equipment. Finding what seemed like an unscavenged Wizard’s Relic now meant undiscovered value almost certainly immense.

Knowing this was possibly a Wizard’s Laboratory made Su Lun extra cautious. Wizards were no kindly folk. To prevent intrusions, they often laid countless spells. There was no telling if such defenses existed here. Exploring a Wizard’s Relic demanded twelvefold vigilance.

Su Lun ignored items clearly beyond salvage. He carefully picked up other objects for examination. Many glass containers on the nearby stone tables were empty. Some bottles, though corked, held only dried residue at the bottom; their liquids long gone.

A few, well-sealed ones contained dark black liquids. Su Lun had absolutely no impulse to test these possible Magic Potions. The place had been sealed for ages—who knew if the potions were expired? Besides, with countless varieties of Magic Potions, consuming one without knowing its effect could prove fatal without warning.

Sealed biological limbs, soaked for too long, had swollen, turned black, and likely lost all efficacy. After searching all the stone tables thoroughly, Su Lun found scarcely any valuable items.

Leaving the tables, Su Lun turned to several standing cabinets nearby. The cabinets were divided into numerous compartments of varying sizes. Presumably, they once stored many items, though now most compartments were utterly bare.

Sifting through what was essentially piles of trash, Su Lun finally spotted a surprisingly intact crystal bottle. He lifted it. Preserved well, the crystal bottle held a clear, bright translucent liquid. An enchantment shimmered on its surface. This was likely a valuable potion. Yet Su Lun knew little of Wizardly matters and couldn’t identify its purpose.

Storing the crystal bottle, Su Lun moved to the next cabinet. The moment he opened it, he felt a faint magical pulse trigger instantly.

“Oh no! A Magic Trap! Everyone, scatter!” Sensing the magical pulse, Su Lun conjured a wind shield immediately. The Barbarian Warriors scattered instantly too, alert and focused on their surroundings.

What puzzled Su Lun was the expected volley of acid, lightning, frost, or fire never came. Just as he breathed a sigh of relief, a Spell Radiance flashed brightly within the room! The next instant, an oval-shaped portal of light materialized!

The oval portal glowed with a deep crimson light. Inside swirled a vortex that looked deeply unsettling at first glance.

While the group stared in shock and curiosity, the transfer completed. A towering figure, easily three meters tall, appeared inside the stone chamber.

Its body was tall, limbs powerful, covered in dark red scales. The ugly head bore six eyes. Where a nose should be were only black, gaping holes. A monstrous mouth occupied half the skull, crammed with razor-sharp, vicious teeth.

Its arms were muscular, each ending in three scythe-like claws gleaming with cold light. As it arrived, a thick smell of sulfur filled the room.

Though he’d never seen such a creature before, Su Lun recognized those signature claws instantly. This was a mid-level Abyssal Demon—a Clawfiend.

Ding! Abyssal Supernatural creature detected: Clawfiend.

Clawfiend [Abyssal Demon] (Third Tier).

Strength: 21, Dexterity: 18, Constitution: 19, Spirit: 12. Possesses Spell-like Abilities.

Skills: Biting, Continuous Attacks, Leaping Pounce, Haste, Cursing…

Special Abilities: Demonhide, Toughness, Regeneration.

As the System prompt sounded, part of the Clawfiend’s stats appeared before Su Lun. This Clawfiend was a mid-level Demon, equivalent to a human Third-tier Professional—a Knight Captain. Yet a Knight Captain fighting one-on-one against such a Demon would likely lose nine times out of ten.

Demons possessed not only mighty physiques but also Spell-like Abilities, making them dangerous foes. Though this Demon was strong, meeting Su Lun meant its misfortune was just beginning.

“ROAR!!!”

Freshly arrived, the Clawfiend took in its surroundings, then roared skyward in excited triumph. Spotting humans nearby, it wasted no time; the prospect of feasting was irresistible.

Planting its back feet firmly, the Clawfiend launched itself instantly with powerful muscles. It pounced straight at Su Lun, the nearest target. Seeing Su Lun’s comparatively frail frame, it was already eager to taste human flesh.