Celt certainly felt like his luck had run out lately. Really, it was almost as if he was the epitome of bad luck! This trip to the Dark Forest should've been a rich experience, full of loot and rewards. He hadn't expected setbacks by the dozen.
For a start, the Dark Mantle seemed to have set their sights on him the moment he'd set foot in the Dark Forest. They stuck to him like a bunch of annoying flies, never letting him or his party out of their sight. When he'd finally managed to plunder the lair of a golden dragon, an elusive expert had come in pursuit. The battle had cost him his steed and his ear.
Even the Fire Grand Magus Marceau, whom he'd gone to great lengths to invite, had inexplicably disappeared. Her two disciples hadn't stopped talking about her all day either, which hadn't helped his mood.
When he'd finally reached the underground world, Celt had assumed that he could use his superior strength to easily subdue this creature. But once again, he'd suffered a severe setback. Even after three successive attempts, they hadn't been able to occupy the magical crystal mine. Apart from three hundred wounded, they'd gained nothing.
In the end, his small numbers had forced him into an alliance with the Dark Elves, who disgusted him so much. His pride and arrogance had taken a severe beating in the last few days, and he was about to make amends. He would vent all his ill humour by seizing the magical crystal mine and thoroughly torturing any lizardmen who dared to block his path.
"Mister Celt, I hope you can appreciate and cherish this opportunity you've been blessed with. It's not often that we dark elves are willing to work with others." A refined, elegantly dressed male dark elf spoke to Celt. A natural, intricate web of wrinkles and folds adorned his left cheek, and a tuft of beard grew from his chin. All in all, the effect made him look a little sinister.
The outfit of this male dark elf was that of a noble, splendid and luxurious one. A black magic staff was lazily gripped in his left hand as his slow words reached Celt.
Celt's face clouded over. He ordered the knights to stop as they approached the gourd-shaped mountain guarded by the lizardmen. Turning his head to look at the elegant male dark elf, he said in a neutral tone, "Distinguished Sir Arlen, you should know that this time we're acting for mutual benefit and not because I begged you to come with me."
"Our goal is the magic crystal mine, while you dark elves would be just as happy to see large numbers of lizardmen exterminated. If that strange creature continues to protect the lizardmen, it won't be easy for you to occupy their territory. This creature is afraid of flames, so I hope you've prepared enough goblin missiles, or we can just turn back now".
"Mister Celt, rest assured that the wise dark elves are the true masters of this layer. These cowardly goblins offer us an astonishing number of missiles as tribute each year. This huge creature will surely be blown to bits." The dark elf Dana was as flirtatious as ever, smiling obsequiously at Celt. Her limpid eyes, capable of attracting men, swept up and down his body. Celt secretly swallowed a mouthful of drool that threatened to leak from the side of his mouth. That wanton woman is certainly tempting! Of course, he didn't want to reveal the unbridled side of him that had 'gone to war' with a naked Dana in front of his subordinates.
Celt solemnly flashed a charming smile and nodded, "Then I'm relieved. We have gone in three times and have some understanding of this creature. It seems incapable of leaving the foot of Gourd Mountain. Otherwise we would have suffered a much greater loss in our last three attempts. With the lizardmen protecting the Magic Crystal Mine, we don't know if this strange creature evolved from the lizardmen or not. It looks like a giant lizard, a thousand times larger than the lizardmen, and it occupies a large area under the gourd mountain. You should be careful if you go in, it's best to retreat from the gourd mountain immediately if there's anything you can't handle".
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's send these lizardmen to hell!" Dark elf leader Arlen waved the dark magic sceptre in his hand and motioned for his dark elves to begin the attack.
Celt did not hesitate when he heard his words. He nodded to the several knight captains behind him. He himself drew a shining sword, but it wasn't the divine artefact "Starry Sky". Celt and the traitorous druid Kassel were heading straight for Gourd Mountain.
"So this guy's afraid of fire, huh? Celt has finally provided some useful information!" Han Shuo secretly thought as he eavesdropped through the Yin Demon.
Han Shuo didn't immediately rush into the pumpkin mountain guarded by the lizardmen. Instead, he used the Yin Demon to determine Celt's course of action, hiding in a dark corner and waiting to take advantage of the ensuing chaos to sneak in quietly.
The Redbud Knights and the dark elf invaders advanced openly towards Gourd Mountain, accompanied by Celt's long and loud howl. Arlen stood out as their obvious leader as even matriarch Dana, who'd tried to take advantage of Han Shuo last time, followed Arlen's lead.
Arlen led several of the bow- and staff-wielding dark elves on a leisurely stroll up to Gourd Mountain. He watched as the lizardmen rushed out of their caves upon hearing the alarm, and said with a voice dripping with contempt, "You base and vulgar lizardmen! You have neither the qualifications nor the right to enjoy this fertile land. I will give you one last chance. As long as you leave Paparlia, we noble dark elves will let you go.
Each race had its own language in the vast underground world. However, they still used the common human language to communicate with each other, as the human language was concise and simple. Moreover, after so many years of development, the human civilisation was undoubtedly the leader of the entire continent.
Many lizardmen came out of the mountain caves. They stared angrily at Arlen and his minions, who boasted of their own nobility. One lizard with a relatively coarse, large tail pointed a weapon that looked like a cross between a knife and a fork at the extravagantly dressed Arlen. He shouted shrilly in the common tongue: "Despicable, greedy dark elves, this land is protected by the guardian god of our race! No one can even dream of trespassing! If you dark elves dare to wage war against our true god, we will fight this bloody battle with you to the end! Our true god will destroy you despicable, filthy offenders!"
"Hmph, just a giant lizard; how did he become your true god?" Arlen snorted dismissively and made a strange hand seal in front of his chest. He spoke with a somewhat pious expression, "We are blessed with the protection of the Goddess Rose, and we will wipe out all races in this layer. The Dark Elves will unite all the great races of the world, and no one can stop us!"
"How dare you greedy dark elves look down on our mighty true god! You will pay the price!" The lizardman's shrill voice grew sharper. He raised his tail high as he roared, snapping it in the air like a giant whip.
The lizardmen had strong, fleshy bodies with incredible brute strength. However, they were unable to grasp the depths of magic, so their culture was far more crude and vulgar than the illustrious history of the dark elves.
The dark elves proclaimed themselves the oldest and noblest race of the underground world. They regarded the lizardmen as wild beasts, capable only of brute force. With their magic at the forefront of every attack, the dark elves often won the battles against the lizardmen, forcing them to scatter across the underground world in a desperate attempt to survive over the years.
However, every race of high intelligence had a common problem - civil war. From the self-proclaimed oldest race of dark elves to the human race, they all suffered from this strange disease. Different tribes of dark elves were constantly fighting each other in huge battles. If it weren't for their inability to unite, they would have conquered this layer of the underground world long ago.
Though the lizardmen were no match for the dark elves in terms of overall combat power because they didn't know how to use magic, they possessed an amazing unity. It was this unity, as well as their physical strength, that had allowed them to survive for so long. That was why they hadn't been conquered by the dark elves yet.
As the lizard man's tail snapped in mid-air, his brethren hurled numerous crude spears at the boastful Arlen.
The spears seemed quite simple to Han Shuo. They were essentially just sharpened, durable wooden sticks. This severely limited their lethality.
Unlike the lizardmen, the dark elves obviously knew how to use sharp weapons. Not only were their bows and swords unusually sharp, but they were also engraved with intricate designs. Indeed, their weapons far surpassed those of the so-called savage lizardmen in both practicality and aesthetics.
The two young archers behind Arlen drew their bows and shattered the spears coming towards them.
Undeterred, Arlen looked at the lizardmen coldly and sneered, "Vile lizardmen who don't know their place! All your race knows is brute force. The likes of you can only serve as our pets!"
Celt could not care less about the bickering between the dark elves and the lizardmen. As leader of the Redbud Knights, he held the title of Marquis in the Brut Empire. He'd lost all patience by now when he interrupted Arlen's speech and said to Kassel: "You know the inside, lead the way.
Kassel nodded. He understood that as a traitor to the Druids, joining the Redbud Knights meant absolute devotion to the leader. Kassel charged forward as soon as Celt had finished speaking, his body transforming into the shape of a giant eagle in the air.
The Redbud Knights abandoned their horses and followed Kassel as he charged towards the caves of the Gourd Mountain. Seeing his men already deployed, Celt turned to the dark Arlen with some displeasure, "Distinguished Sir Arlen, shouldn't you be taking action already?"
"I don't need you to remind me." Arlen didn't put on a good face for the humans either. Although he admitted that humans were more advanced than the Dark Elves in some areas, humans were still known to be despicable and shameless. Their notorious reputation in the underground world was even worse than that of the Batmen.
"Let's go!" Dana smiled charmingly as she gave the order to her minions. The branch of dark elves answering to her rushed out in front, aiming fine arrows straight at the lizardmen.
As Dana's elves swung into action, the many dark elves behind her split into teams and attacked the Gourd Mountain. Some of them stayed behind with Arlen.
Frowning as he watched the conflict erupt, Arlen sensed something was wrong. He spoke to Celt nearby, "As long as that damned creature appears, our goblin missiles will end its life along with the gourd mountain."
"I hope so!" Celt didn't react much to Arlen's selfishness. He, too, looked down on the lizardmen as Arlen did, and included the dark elves in that contempt.
In the human world above ground, be it the Dark Elves or the Forest Elves, they were all enslaved objects. Humans claimed to be the centre of all things and raised the dark elves as domesticated helpers. Aristocrats like Celt even had one or two young and beautiful dark elves serving them at home.
The strong lizardmen immediately retreated to their caves as the Redbud Knights and the dark elves began their attack. Several of the dark elves were carrying huge bundles on their backs. Han Shuo guessed that these must be the goblin missiles he'd seen earlier.
Looking at their stance, it seemed like they intended to throw these massive bombs right into the heart of the pumpkin mountain, trying to blow up this huge creature along with all the lizardmen in one fell swoop.
Han Shuo's mind could sense the seething rage of the creature inside. Knowing that it couldn't take care of too many things at once, he summoned the Earth Elite Zombie once more and ordered it to sneak into the Gourd Mountain.
The earth elite zombie sank into the ground, and this time, it was not hindered or driven back by the strange force. Since there were so many Redbud Knights and Dark Elves inside the Gourd Mountain, it was impossible for the strange, powerful creature to sense and scan every single one of them.
Moreover, his anger had reached its peak and finally boiled over. The piercing sound of its howling scream rumbled from the depths of the mountain. The entire Gourd Mountain seemed to tremble under his howling. Han Shuo feared that the thin bottom of the mountain would not be able to support the top of the mountain and would crumble away.
Han Shuo attached the only Yin Demon he had to the Earth Elite Zombie. He could see the situation underground through the Earth Elite Zombie's vision, but since it hadn't reached the main battle area yet, the zombie couldn't send any useful information. Han Shuo could only focus his attention on the alliance between the Redbud Knights and the dark elves.
In Han Shuo's opinion, the strength of the Redbud Knights far exceeded that of the Dark Elves, be it their equipment or their individual power. They wore bulky armour, but their speed, even without the support of their horses, outstripped that of the sparsely clad dark elves.
The knights all had a cold and self-confident look, having been through various battles. Their bodies were those of true warriors, sturdy with restrained ferocity. Each knight formed either triangular or diamond formations as they charged, complementing their comrades and helping themselves to run quickly. This helped them avoid ambushes from the sides and behind.
The arrogant dark elves lagged far behind in this regard. They still stormed forward like a swarm of bees, their tactics unchanged for a thousand years. The dark elves had been in the underground world for who knew how long, but they had never fought hand in hand in proper formations like the humans, let alone coordinated skilfully with each other.
As Han Shuo watched the battle, he suddenly saw a scene in his mind. He immediately understood that the Earth Elite Zombie had cleared all the underground obstacles and had reached the location of this powerful creature beneath the Gourd Mountain.
The earth elite zombie was showing Han Shuo his line of sight from underneath the huge creature. The first thing it showed was a huge, ancient octagonal magical formation above. In each corner of the formation was a much smaller octagonal array. Each small field was filled with magical elements.
In the centre of the formation was a ten-metre long, huge, reddish-brown tail. The tail itself was like a small hill embedded in the formation. Circles of colourful lightning bolts shot out of the formation, as if to confine it whenever it struggled.
"Could it be that this formation is sealing the giant creature beneath this gourd-shaped mountain? If the goblin missiles destroy this mountain, won't the trapping formation be broken?" Han Shuo's heart spasmed with shock as he thought worriedly.