My Computer Leads to an Instance Dungeon-Chapter 64: Pursuit! Boss Battle?

The flames in the passage began to gradually die down.

The burn time of a Molotov Cocktail depends on the amount of flammable liquid inside, but the intense burn usually lasts for 30 to 60 seconds.

Fang Zhen’s recipe included white sugar, which made it burn for even longer.

The flames in the passage hadn’t completely gone out yet. Small fires still flickered on the bodies of the Kobolds, and the air reeked of burnt meat.

Fang Zhen waited patiently.

After observing for a moment and confirming that all the Kobolds in the passage were pretty much dead, he finally relaxed and turned to grab the Night Vision Goggles from his equipment pack.

While the fire was burning, Fang Zhen had used his high-intensity flashlight and the flames themselves as light sources. As the fire died down, the temperature in the mine was still high, so a thermal imager might not be effective.

Fang Zhen switched directly to his head-mounted Night Vision Goggles, which provided a more comprehensive and wider field of view.

Waves of heat billowed out from the mine, scorching his face.

Fang Zhen had been too focused to notice before, but now he could feel his skin drying out.

He moved away from the heat and used the brief moment to rest.

Fang Zhen assessed his physical condition.

His stamina was holding up well. He had used the Dragon Gall Crossbow for the fighting, so his physical exertion was minimal.

He had used up a little stamina while running just now, but it was only for a short distance of thirty or forty meters, so it wasn’t a huge drain.

The main drain had been on his Spirit, from the intense focus and concentration.

’I’ve probably still got ninety percent of my stamina. Not bad.’

Fang Zhen turned, leaned his spear against the rock wall in front of him, and picked up the Dragon Gall Crossbow from the ground to inspect it.

The crossbow had fired nearly twenty steel balls, leaving the magazine half-empty.

While the flames in the passage still flickered, Fang Zhen kept his eyes fixed on the path ahead as his hands opened the pouch of steel balls on his person and began reloading the Dragon Gall Crossbow.

Reloading was incredibly simple. He just had to twist open the lever behind the loading port and drop the steel balls in.

Watching the situation in the passage, Fang Zhen grabbed a handful of steel balls and fed them into the crossbow’s loading port one by one, going by feel alone.

After a while, the flames in the passage finally died out completely, and Fang Zhen had finished reloading his Dragon Gall Crossbow.

The temperature in the passageway also dropped slightly.

"Quade," Fang Zhen called out.

Quade certainly lived up to his reputation for loyalty. The power of the burning Molotov Cocktail had clearly shaken him, but despite the fear on his face, he had still faithfully carried out his duty.

Fang Zhen handed the Dragon Gall Crossbow to Quade.

In the meantime, Quade had already picked up all the equipment Fang Zhen had dropped on the ground.

"Carry the Shield, put on the backpack, hold my Crossbow Arrows, and follow me," Fang Zhen said.

"Yes, my lord!"

With his hands now free, Fang Zhen picked up his spear and walked into the passage.

Inside the passage, embers and small patches of flame could still be seen on the Kobolds’ corpses.

The Kobold bodies were all burnt to a crisp, charred black. Some were even fused together, nearly carbonized. It would be a miracle if anything survived that.

But, following the principle that caution is the parent of safety, Fang Zhen still went around to finish them off.

He stabbed them one by one with his spear. The sensation transmitted through the spear’s shaft felt like piercing overcooked meat; some even gave the feedback of stabbing into charcoal.

There were over a dozen burnt Kobolds in the passage. Fang Zhen finished off each one, using his spear to toss aside any that were in the way, clearing a path.

Wearing the Night Vision Goggles, his field of vision was excellent. There was no risk of a Kobold hiding to ambush him.

After clearing the passage, Fang Zhen frowned slightly.

He didn’t see the Dogman Priest’s body.

The charred Kobold corpses all looked more or less the same—blackened and reeking of burnt flesh. But the Dogman Priest had green scales; its body should have left some distinct traces even after being burned.

But there was no such special corpse among the charred bodies on the ground.

’It escaped?’

Fang Zhen grew vigilant.

He advanced cautiously through the passage, ready to retreat at the first sign of trouble.

Twenty seconds later, Fang Zhen arrived at Mine Cave B again.

He scanned the area with his Night Vision Goggles but didn’t find the Dogman Priest.

Fang Zhen felt more and more that something was wrong.

’Did it run into Mine Cave C?’

Fang Zhen didn’t dare to let his guard down.

He didn’t even bother to sort through the loot. As long as the Dogman Priest was alive, the battle wasn’t over.

He quickened his pace, heading rapidly toward the passage that connected Mine Cave B to Mine Cave C.

The passage from Mine Cave B to Mine Cave C was over forty meters long. Fang Zhen moved quickly and soon passed through it.

Fang Zhen entered Mine Cave C. It was a cavern about the same size as Mine Cave A, but at the moment, there wasn’t a single Kobold in sight.

’Did the Priest go down to Mine Cave D?’ Fang Zhen found the situation increasingly strange.

Just then, heavy panting sounded from behind him.

Quade had just caught up.

Quade was carrying the backpack, the Shield, and the Dragon Gall Crossbow. The load wasn’t light, and he was struggling to keep up with Fang Zhen, panting heavily from exhaustion.

Fang Zhen glanced back at Quade, feeling a bit sympathetic.

Fang Zhen knew Quade was exhausted, but he couldn’t help lighten his load.

Fang Zhen had to conserve his stamina to be ready for battle at any moment. Quade was earning his pay through this hard labor, which was only fair.

"My... my lord," Quade gasped, running up, out of breath.

"Quade, you’ve been in these mines often. What’s the situation on the second level below? What’s the layout like?" Fang Zhen asked.

Since the Dogman Priest wasn’t in Mine Cave C and the way out was blocked by Fang Zhen, it could only have gone down to Mine Cave D.

Quade caught his breath. "Below? From this cavern to the one below, there’s a large, natural pit. The miners carved a spiral path along the edge of the pit. Following it leads down to the next level of the mine. The cavern on the level below is larger than this one, but smaller than the one we were just in. It’s quite open. At the very back of that cavern, there’s another natural pit. Down there is the underground river," he explained.

Quade’s phrasing wasn’t very precise, but Fang Zhen understood.

"Alright. Give me the crossbow and the Anti-Riot Shield."

Fang Zhen took the crossbow from Quade and handed him the spear to carry.

The Dogman Priest was a Magic unit. Fang Zhen had seen its Flaming Arrow, which was quite powerful—enough to shatter rock.

Fang Zhen had no intention of taking a Magic Flaming Arrow with his body. It was better to use the Anti-Riot Shield and the Dragon Gall Crossbow.

The Anti-Riot Shield might not be able to block the Magic Flaming Arrow completely, but it would at least provide a buffer, which was better than taking a magic attack head-on.

Fang Zhen was still about seventy or eighty percent confident. Having seen the magic before allowed him to roughly estimate its power, which was better than guessing blindly.

Fang Zhen quickly formulated a battle plan in his mind.

’If the Dogman Priest is down in Mine Cave D and it’s alone, I’ll test its strength first. If the Anti-Riot Shield can block the Flaming Arrow, I’ll press the attack. I refuse to believe a Dogman Priest’s magic has no wind-up or recovery time. It’s impossible for it to cast spells instantly and continuously; it probably can’t even cast in rapid succession. If I see an opening when it’s vulnerable, I’ll use the Dragon Gall Crossbow to take it out from a distance. If, on the other hand, there are other Kobolds in Mine Cave D, I’ll adapt to the situation. My combat objective for this mine expedition was to annihilate three-quarters of the Kobolds’ effective forces, and I’ve already exceeded that goal. If the pressure is too great, I’ll retreat for now, get more specialized gear, and then figure out how to handle the boss fight,’ Fang Zhen thought.

With his thoughts clear, Fang Zhen immediately sprang into action.

He held the crossbow in his right hand and the shield in his left.

"Listen to my commands. If I say to switch equipment, hand me the spear immediately. If I say retreat, don’t worry about anything else—just turn and run. We’ll regroup after you’re out of the mine," Fang Zhen instructed Quade.

"Understood, my lord."

With the shield in his left hand and the crossbow in his right, Fang Zhen quickly crossed Mine Cave C and reached its far side.

Fang Zhen saw the large pit Quade had described.

It was actually a nearly circular sinkhole, thirteen or fourteen meters in diameter and about eight or nine meters deep. A ramp had been carved around the edge of the collapse, spiraling downward.

Fang Zhen detected a light source below. He wouldn’t need his thermal imaging helmet; the Night Vision Goggles would be enough.

He started down the spiraling ramp.

Fang Zhen descended about halfway down the ramp.

From his vantage point, he had a perfect view of the entire layout of Mine Cave D.

As the situation in Mine Cave D came into view, Fang Zhen abruptly stopped, his eyes widening.

In Mine Cave D, which was roughly the same size as Mine Cave C, there were currently two Armored Dogman Warriors and two Kobold Crossbowmen.

In addition to them, there was an unusually tall Dogman Warrior, nearly 1.6 meters in height, clad in armor that was clearly of much higher quality and far heavier than that of the Armored Dogman Warriors!

This tall Dogman Warrior was not only huge, but its iron armor coverage also far exceeded that of a regular Iron-Armored Dogman. Furthermore, it wielded a metal warhammer in its hands.

Judging by its bulk, it weighed almost as much as two Dogman Miners combined.

And the green-scaled Dogman Priest was not far behind the Warhammer Iron Armor Giant Dogman, bent over and panting for breath.

Fang Zhen’s gaze froze for a moment.

Immediately after, Fang Zhen cursed internally.

’Fuck!’

’It’s a double boss!’