Following that earthquake-like violent tremor, an indescribable moistness washed over them. The sensation was hard to articulate, as if a transparent palm had swept across their faces, the sheer abundance of moisture on that palm so saturating that even the skin felt thoroughly drenched.

Simultaneously, a colossal, deep-blue tentacle whooshed in from the archway in the eastern mountain flank. Its massive suckers, each reaching a meter in diameter, could be seen engaging, adhering firmly to the adjacent stone wall.

As the tentacle began to retract and exert force, cracks immediately spiderwebbed across the rock face, hard as iron. Then, two more massive tentacles shot in. One of them was marred by terrifying burn scars, the flesh around the wounds exhibiting a striking crimson hue, much like a boiled shrimp or crab.

Next, a giant, sea-blue cephalopod retreated into the mountain cavity, using the contractile force of the three tentacles as leverage. This was the legendary creature: the Hecatoncheires!

Though appearing cumbersome on the ground, this giant octopus could shift its position by more than ten meters with the mere extension or retraction of its tentacles; it was the very definition of clumsy agility. It possessed over ten long limbs, resembling ten massive serpents, with the two primary tentacles exceeding twelve meters in length. Its body was spindle-shaped, covered in wart-like protuberances the size of basketballs. Though its appendages appeared soft, its eyes held a ferocity layered with the stark, savage brutality of the primordial wild!

Yet, the Hecatoncheires was injured—gravely so!

Two of its limbs were severed halfway through, revealing thick, turbid blue ichor oozing from the cross-section. Despite the muscles at the stumps constantly twitching and contracting, the flow of fluid was relentless.

Immediately following this, outside the eastern mountain archway, flames raged as if intent on incinerating the entire world. A roaring mass of incandescent red fire, soaring over ten meters high, obscured the distorted visage of a horned demon king. Its primary form was hidden within the inferno, its very soul malleable, allowing it to traverse the underground at will.

The Hecatoncheires' two broken tentacles were now being scorched and roasted in the flames, hissing fiercely. The Balrog of Ash and Cinder cackled, using its flaming maw to viciously tear and bite at the enemy's limbs, gulping down the spraying bodily fluids without pause.

Seeing this, the Hecatoncheires flew into a rage, swinging its remaining tentacles to lash out, opening its hard, parrot-like beak, which spanned half a meter wide and flashed with a cold, diamond-like sheen. One could only imagine the fate of anything it managed to nip. But the Balrog of Ash and Cinder roared with laughter, summoning forth a whip that appeared forged from molten lava. When the Hecatoncheires' tentacles struck it, they only generated huge bursts of flame, and the Balrog’s main body had somehow vanished.

The lava whip, however, moved like an ethereal serpent, swiftly weaving a net of fire in the air, lashing against the Hecatoncheires' pale blue carapace. Many of the basketball-sized warts were ripped open, spraying ichor that instantly sizzled and burned into black scorch marks. Even the fluid seeping from the Hecatoncheires seemed to turn into searing, molten heat!

At this moment, Wuge suddenly raised a finger. Fang Senyan and the others felt a whum resonate in their ears, plunging them back into the previous void state. They could clearly see the blue mass representing the Hecatoncheires—still pristine and flawless, indicating the wounds on its two tentacles hadn't caused significant damage, as the octopus could self-amputate in critical situations.

But Wuge intended for them to see something else! It was the psychic connection network between the main body of the Hecatoncheires and the surrounding eggs! Although the multitude of fine blue lines had significantly retracted, they were clearly heavily damaged, and now, under the Balrog's relentless whipping assault, they were breaking and evaporating continuously. It seemed the Hecatoncheires’ desperate situation was largely due to its need to maintain connection with and protect its brood.

A tacit understanding passed between them; Fang Senyan immediately recalled Sister Wuge’s unique method of absorbing the Hecatoncheires' eggs. Naturally, his gaze shifted to those mature, coconut-sized eggs... Brother Reef had diligently watered and moved them previously—after doing the father's work, he had assumed the mother's role, painstakingly nurturing them to this size, all while enduring their embarrassing discharge. Now was surely the time for them to repay society with gratitude.

It was worth noting that Wuge’s previous psychic probe had focused heavily on the Hecatoncheires’ main body, resulting in a massive backlash. This time, however, her sole focus was on detecting the psychic links surrounding the eggs. Thus, while there was still mental turbulence, it remained within tolerable limits.

The trio hid themselves in the rock crevices with utmost stealth, keeping a greedy eye on the five massive coconut eggs. They planned to pounce the moment the psychic connection to the eggs vanished, acting as egg thieves. However, it was largely thanks to her—this Verdant Elf—whose "Blessing of the Verdant Elf" could resonate with nature, preventing the Hecatoncheires, despite being a legendary creature, from detecting them via psychic scanning.

The Hecatoncheires’ two massive eyes, though half a meter in diameter, were forced to track the Balrog opposite them, and more critically, to shield its main body from the lava whip. Given the vastness of the cavern, it simply had no attention left to spare for the three ant-like presences near its eggs.

Suddenly, the Balrog raised its fire whip high above its head and brought it down in a strike that conveyed the feeling of crashing thunder and lightning. The Hecatoncheires raised two massive arms to cross-block. At the moment of impact, the Hecatoncheires once again failed to maintain its psychic link with its eggs. In Fang Senyan’s vision, the blue psychic network emanating from the octopus instantly fragmented into tatters.

And of the five coconut eggs before them, four instantly severed their mental ties with the mother!

If not now, when?

Fang Senyan and Reef lunged out simultaneously, using the animal hides they wore to each scoop up two eggs. Despite being subjected to the eggs' repeated discharge once more, they swiftly tied them off securely on their backs. Then, Sister Wuge layered the package with the Verdant Elf's unique spellcraft, cleverly concealing them. Having secured their loot, the three hesitated no longer, swiftly moving toward the passage previously used by the enslaved Orc, circling upward in a bid to escape that wretched place.

The three ascended the roughly hewn stone steps. Reef took the lead, poking his head out from the opening midway up the sheer cliff. He immediately retracted it, sucking in a sharp breath, and urgently made a "silence" gesture. Fang Senyan cautiously peered out, his expression instantly turning to stunned blankness. He slowly withdrew, terrified of dislodging even a small pebble that might roll down the mountainside.

Below them, the narrow valley floor was already teeming with a significant number of Orcs searching their way forward—their numbers were like swarming ants. Even closer, Fang Senyan could make out the figure of the powerful Orc, "Lutz," moving with lithe agility, accompanied by several large tentacled beasts leading the patrol. "Lutz," being an exceptionally formidable archer, relied heavily on keen eyesight and hearing. Fang Senyan dared not breathe deeply, retreating from the opening with the panicked haste of a shut-in who had just been caught cheating on his wife.

Even with Fang Senyan’s quick wits, he felt trapped between a rock and a hard place. Neither the battle between the two legendary creatures nor the Orc contingent led by "Lutz" was something they could afford to provoke.

The only advantage was their temporary safety. Both the giant mother octopus, now missing its eggs, and Lutz's Orcs were unlikely to have detected their presence yet. Fang Senyan examined the Orc group below again, noticing they occasionally erupted in cheers, seemingly picking up some valuable items from the ground—likely the semi-rotted Hecatoncheires eggs that he himself wouldn't bother with.

Since they had time, Fang Senyan asked Sister Wuge to once again cast the Verdant Elf’s secret rite to consume the fully matured Hecatoncheires eggs first. The previous egg had already granted him a full attribute increase, so this enhanced version should yield an unexpected bonus.

Fortunately, the giant octopus below was locked in a fierce battle with the Balrog, evaporating massive amounts of moisture through intense heat. The cavern felt like a massive steamer the moment the lid was lifted—shrouded in thick, billowing mist. Given the Blessing of the Verdant Elf covered their presence, the giant octopus would need its vision to refract three or four times to spot them visually. Thus, detection within this short period was nearly impossible.

Even so, Sister Wuge first muttered an incantation, bit her finger, and dripped blood onto the ground to set up a ward that neutralized natural energy fluctuations. What followed was standard procedure: she traced ancient Elven script in the air with her slender fingers.

Unlike before, the first Elven rune she wrote glowed with brilliant gold, and it seemed her face grew paler with every inch her finger moved in the air. It was apparent that writing out such a golden rune was the absolute limit of Wuge’s current ability.