The Black Stone Mine is located in the southwest of Black Stone City, with more than a dozen mines, covering a vast area.
The extraction of shallow veins has hollowed out the surrounding mountain walls, forming a concave valley. Looking inward from the mouth of the valley, large areas of red-gray and lead-black rocks come into view.
All over the valley are mine carts and tracks, showing that the former lord invested considerable resources in constructing this mining area. Unfortunately, after decades, it has long since become a desolate and quiet ruin, with mine carts and tracks covered in rust.
Kei and Sunan stood side by side at the entrance of the valley, surveying the environment inside.
Behind them followed more than a dozen knights and over a hundred soldiers.
Due to the importance placed on the Black Stone Mine, Kei deployed nearly half of Black Stone City's forces in one go.
Of course, ordinary soldiers played little role in this operation.
Their task was to guard the retreat path and ensure logistics.
The real combat forces were Sunan, Kei, and the dozen or so knights.
"Is it really okay?"
Jordon glanced at the pitch-black mine entrance and murmured with some concern:
"I heard from the veterans that those Thun Iron Beasts are very strong. Is it too risky for just our few people to go in?"
Hearing this, the other knights all flickered their gazes.
To be honest, they were all surprised upon hearing that the lord wanted to clear out the Thun Iron Beasts in the Black Stone Mine.
The affairs of the Black Stone Mine were well-known in Black Stone City, and they had heard some news.
It is said that several previous lords had thought about solving the Black Stone Mine issue, but ultimately all failed, instead losing many people.
Over time, no one made any further plans for the Black Stone Mine.
No one expected Kei to suddenly decide to reactivate the Black Stone Mine.
If it weren't for Lord Sunan saying there was a solution for the Thun Iron Beasts, they would have already voiced their opposition.
Even so, many people were still somewhat apprehensive.
"Jordon, if you unsettle the troops any further, I'll punish you by forbidding you to drink alcohol for a month when we go back."
Kei turned around and gave him a sharp look.
Jordon shrunk his head and closed his mouth sheepishly.
He loved all kinds of fine wines and spirits, and couldn't enjoy life without alcohol. Being forbidden to drink for a month was akin to taking his life.
Seeing Jordon settle down, Kei finally turned back to look at the mine entrance, his heart also uneasily fluctuating.
After all, he had never seen a Thun Iron Beast with his own eyes. If these monsters were more terrifying than the veterans said, it would be troublesome.
But after glancing at Sunan beside him, Kei ultimately chose to trust his brother and did not show his inner worries.
Sunan touched the scale armor on his body.
This was the only scale armor in Black Stone City, more valuable than a complete set of refined iron armor.
It originally belonged to Kei, but Kei was so afraid that something might happen to Sunan, he forcibly put the scale armor on him and gave him a longsword.
Although Sunan's swordsmanship was very poor, it was better than nothing.
"Let's go!"
With Kei's order, everyone lit torches and filed into the mine, leaving soldiers to guard the entrance.
The shallow veins of the Black Stone Mine had long been exhausted, and several deep shafts were subsequently dug to delve underground and extract the lower layers of ore.
The mines crisscrossed beneath, with oil lamps hanging on the rock walls every few hundred meters.
However, the oil inside had long since evaporated.
A knight held a skin bag and poured lamp oil into an oil lamp, then lit it.
Soon, lines of fire illuminated the mine passage, drawing out a winding and tortuous path over vast distances with light and shadow, guiding everyone forward.
As they progressed deeper, they gradually slowed their pace.
The underground tunnels were uneven, and with dim lighting, a slight carelessness could result in a nasty fall.
Although all present were knights with strong bodies, no one wanted to fall flat on their faces.
The surroundings were silent, with only the sound of footsteps and breathing echoing; no other sounds could be heard.
The cold, silent underground lacked any trace of life. If an ordinary person were alone in such a place, they would certainly feel an instinctive chill.
After walking a bit further, they finally noticed changes in the surrounding rock walls.
A knight holding a torch approached the rock wall. In the firelight, the surface of the rock was coated with a layer of dark, cold black.
"It's Black Stone Iron ore!" Jordon's eyes lit up.
Without him saying it, everyone present could see it too.
They immediately became very cautious.
Moving forward again, they would reach the still-untouched vein layer.
It was likely that the miners back then encountered the Thun Iron Beasts ahead, forcing them to cease their extraction efforts.
In other words, they were about to encounter the target of their journey soon.
It turned out they were not mistaken.
Advancing four to five hundred meters further, everyone soon heard a rustling sound coming from the front, as if something was creeping along the ground.
"Be alert! Prepare for battle!" Kei uttered gravely.
Everyone raised their weapons with solemn expressions, staring ahead as if facing a formidable enemy.
Soon, feline creatures emerged from the darkness.
They elegantly stepped into the torchlight's range, fixing their grey gemstone-like eyes on this group of uninvited guests.
Iron Devouring Beast!
Exactly like the picture Sunan had seen.
More Iron Devouring Beasts appeared in the darkness; a quick count revealed over ten, with several pairs of glowing eyes flickering beyond the light-shadow boundary.
More than ten Iron Devouring Beasts had vaguely formed a semicircular encirclement, surrounding the group.
"These creatures have quite an appetite, looks like they plan to keep all of us here!"
Knight Brad muttered, tightening his grip on the giant steel shield.
He was the second most powerful knight in Black Stone City after Kei, just a step away from advancing to Senior Knight.
Standing two meters tall, adept with a shield, he was the best in Black Stone City's shield technique, famously fierce in battle.
Seeing the Iron Devouring Beasts up close, Brad could tell these creatures' aura wouldn't exceed Junior Knight level, which made him relax considerably.
"If that's true, it's actually a good thing, only worry is if these creatures try to flee."
Kei noticed this too, letting out a slight sigh of relief.
With more than ten Junior Knight-level creatures, their lineup was sufficient to cope.
The question was how to prevent this group of Iron Devouring Beasts from escaping.
Reality didn't afford them the luxury of pondering; the Iron Devouring Beasts soon launched their attack, leaping towards the crowd fiercely!
Battle erupted in an instant!
The sound of clashing metal echoed incessantly through the tunnel!
Brad raised his shield, smashing an Iron Devouring Beast aside; the beast flew over ten meters before crashing into the rock wall with a thud, rock dust cascading down.
The Iron Devouring Beast merely shook its head after standing back up, then continued its assault as if nothing happened.
Upon seeing this, Brad's brows furrowed tightly.
Elsewhere, knights were also engaged in a hard fight.
The Iron Devouring Beasts' bodies were exceedingly tough; even weapons imbued with Fighting Qi could only leave faint cracks on them.
Only Kei, as a Senior Knight, could inflict noticeable damage on the Iron Devouring Beasts.
Were it not for the tunnel's narrow confines hindering the beasts' movements, preventing them from showcasing their agile speed, they would have been even harder to handle.
The battle was not as easy as anticipated, and a stalemate ensued.
Just then, Sunan acted.
He uttered strange syllables and pointed his finger, instantly forming a basketball-sized blob of acid at his fingertip, which then shot forth, hitting an Iron Devouring Beast's face.
Ssss!
White smoke emitted from the Iron Devouring Beast's face, and it rolled frantically on the ground, trying to scrub off the corrosive liquid.
There are no weak attack spells.
Even though Acid Splash was merely Tier Zero Magic, its corrosiveness was more terrifying than King's Water.
A chicken egg-sized blob of acid could completely corrode away an average adult human male, leaving no trace!
Although the Iron Devouring Beast's casing is incredibly tough, enduring such an attack on a vital spot is quite unbearable!
Hush!
A figure darted forward, thrusting a sword into the Iron Devouring Beast's facial wound; with a forceful exertion, the beast's head exploded, and its headless body swayed for a moment before collapsing.
Kei withdrew his sword, surprised as he glanced back at Sunan.
The other knights were also visibly aghast.
They had personally felt how tough the Iron Devouring Beast's body was, rivaling actual Black Stone Iron.
Yet, such a robust body had half its head corroded within a few breaths!
What kind of terrifying power is this?!
If flesh and blood experienced such a strike, what would happen?
Just imagining this scenario made everyone's scalp tingle!
This is what a wizard is capable of!