Compared to the clear skies of the surface world, the sky of the Underground World was always yellow and dark. People were already used to thinking it through before deciding to drink that murky underground water which was full of impurities. They were also used to have their clothes full of dust if they hung them outside for too long and coughing blood at the young age caused by all kind of respiratory problems.
Perhaps, this was the basic reason why the descendants of those exiled looked forward to the blue sky and white clouds of the surface world. After all, who wouldn't hope for a better life for their children.
At this moment, the yellow sky turned even more awful. The clouds in the sky turned into an eerie blood-red color. The crepuscular wind blew slightly and if it were to be slightly closer to the surface, one could smell the nauseous smell of blood.
The crepuscular wind wasn't formed naturally. In the world of Eich where souls were an actual entity, the echo of the gloomy wind was the ghastly apparition formed by the fragments of the soul. When sufficient blood filled the land at one go, when sufficient people had died, it would create a natural relatively confined land of negative energy that was known as the Land of the Rising Undead — The Cursed Land.
When too many people died in one go and the souls lingered around, reluctant to die just like this, their feelings would resonate and the dead would remain in the world. Undead would rise in bulks. In history, there was even an incident when after a city was massacred, the entire city turned into a Necropolis and the knights who had given their life for their country turned into Death Knights.
This was also the main reason why the battlefield had to be cleaned by the victor at the end of a great battle. Other than collecting their spoils of war and burning the corpses that could bring plague, they had to invite Priests to purify the souls of warriors who died with grievances.
Otherwise, if this land turned into another Cursed Land where Undead gathered in the next few decades, it would really be a big source of trouble.
Even so, as evidenced from those Undead Lords often prowling around ancient battlefields, if the death toll numbered up to several tens of thousands or several hundreds of thousands, coupled with the death of sufficient powerful people, the heavy Aura of Death might be unwilling to scatter. The bright red blood stained even a few meters beneath the ground. The despair of the experts lingering around the mortal world as a curse. When all of these conditions were met, the Purification of the Priests wouldn't work, it would still forcefully turned into a Cursed Land. Or even worse, it might become the higher-tier Land of Death.
This time, the surroundings around the mine outside Vance were destined to become a future Land of Death.
This was the smell of a battlefield belonging to the medieval era. The scent of blood drifted along the wind, even people a few miles away could smell it clearly. The dark and murky crepuscular wind prowled high in the air of the battlefield. The tears of the living and the cries of agony of those surviving echoed throughout the battlefield.
Standing atop the bloodstained land, the Old Lion looked at his old subordinates who had followed him for several decades for a last time. Carrying his axe, he offers the final relief to an old soldier who only had half of his throat remaining.
"Clean the battlefield." There was no place for kindness on the battlefield. This was an order squeezed out from gritted teeth.
On the battlefield, Healing and Potions were always insufficient. The Priests and other healing jobs had long expended all of their mana on the battlefield. The phrase 'cleaning the battlefield' referred more to offering relief to both the enemies and allies who were on the brink of death.
"Have we won?"
Yes, the Old Lion and his army had won. After losing over half of his army, after the fearless charge of over tens of thousands of soldiers, after facing the innumerable destruction of life and souls, the experts whose rationality had been overran by their greed finally weighed the importance of keeping their lives as greater than the pursuit of future authority and strength.
Those surviving had all started to scatter. But those who were dead and heavily injured were bound to remain on this foreign land forever.
At this moment, it was already too late.
"HAHAHAHA, such a pleasing sight. Shou Nuya, I've forseen your doomed future. I never thought that the curse would be taking effect so soon. I would be waiting for you in hell!"
The Red Dragon who witnessed everything, the one whose fresh blood had filled the entire altar and was being tied to it as though a poultry waiting to be slaughtered, mocked her archenemy without any sympathy.
"I lost, huh?"
Yes, despite winning this battle, the Old Lion lost as well. What he lost was everything.
The elite core of the 12 divisions all had losses numbering over half their members. Two of the divisions were completely erased. This ace army, the Du Yan division, in the face of the primary charge had casualties over 90%.
However, what he lost was not just those on the surface.
War was an extension of politics. If a war was unable to bring about any profits, then even if they won the war, it was still a loss that was determined from the very start.
Looking at his trembling hands, Shou recalled the moment when he was smashing the skull of 'The Great Mathematician" Penny Horst. He had seen the absolute madness and curse within her eyes as her green Soulfire extinguished.
He knew that this wasn't the end of things. Since Liches didn't die that easily, when she revived, the assault of a great army of Undead could be said to be inevitable.
The temporary death of Xiluo Empire's 11th Senator was just the smaller part of the trouble. The 10th Senator 'Ant King of Corrosion' Lamost didn't have the ability to resurrect himself after death. The look of his old partner Crimspur as he left with the other's incomplete body, the gaze of intense hatred, it had also the shadow of a new war that was looming about.
Furthermore, the Undead Senators were just a portion of the experts there who met with casualties.
"Done. I'm done for."
Just as how Molly mocked him, Shou's career as an Underground Autarch was done for.
He and his army just chopped off the head of a Knight of Royalty from the Felix Elf Kingdom and hung the head of an Advisor of Auland Empire on a spear. Even the legendary Beast Tamer Jeredas's only disciple was slaughtered. Eventually, the Beastmen could no longer recognize which 'influential figure' it was and which power was backing him. They were already numb.
Shou knew that there was no individual nor organization that could still live under the wrath of so many powers. No one…
Needless to say, this was the Underground World. The ones with the highest casualties were still the underground city lords who he had barely met with or even those under his command.
"A debt of blood."
Shou didn't regret his actions at all. Should he surrender his head just because the enemy had the backing of powerful figures or organizations? Since the enemy had already clearly expressed their intention to get rid of this successor of the God Equipment to become the next Emperor Yongye, should he obediently pass his head and God Equipment to them?
The only thing he regretted was the look his soldiers were staring at him with. Those were no longer respectful and trusting gazes. Their eyes were full of confusion and fear. Sometimes, when their eyes locked together, they would divert their gazes and whisper silently about his secrets.
"Look at those yellow pupil, and the claws and wings of the Demons… Our king was actually a Demon, then why are we still fighting for him."
Shou was forced to his limits under the Undead Senators. In order to survive, he was forced to tap into the powers of the Demon, causing the traits of Demons that would never appear on an ordinary Beastman to materialize. He couldn't fool the eyes of tens of thousands of Warriors.
The enmity of the Underground World towards the Chaos Faction wasn't as strong as on the surface. As an underground city lord, one could collude with the Demons, side with the Malevolent Gods and scheme together with the Devils. However, if the Underground Autarch which represented the entire Beastman Tribe wasn't even a Beastman, then what rights did he have to sit on this position?
Shou could already imagine the situation when these rumours spread through the entire Underground World. Those ambitious underground city lords would use this as a reason to raise the flags of betrayal. The soldiers under him would probably be confused for whom they should fight for.
"No, I'm not done for yet!! I still have this!! I'm going to be the next Undead Emperor!"
The brilliant God Equipment in his hands had become his final straw.
Suddenly, from the back of an altar, a blinding light of blood-red and countless souls and blood were absorbed into the altar by an intangible force. The fresh blood formed a river and the grievances of the souls of the experts who died were crying in despair. All of them were pulled into the gate leading to another Dimension.
"Tributes. Such rich tributes! So many high-quality souls, so many delicious dishes! I… "
The altar had already been activated. By a series of coincidence, unexpectedly, this fight became the best tribute for the Demon Count Kakajil.
In this war, thousands of Legends had fallen and hundreds of thousands of elite Beastman Warriors perished. Their souls and fresh blood was even sufficient to allow this Demon Count who was known for devouring souls to step into higher realms. Perhaps, in less than a thousand years, a new Demon Duke would be born.
However, Demons were beings that didn't know the concept of satisfaction.
"Scepter. Quickly, pass the Eternal Night Scepter to me!!"
Even to Demon Counts, a God Equipment that concealed the profound secrets of a SemiGod Undead Emperor was a rare treasure. Perhaps, after laying his hands on the Scepter, he was able to add 'Death', 'Undead' or similar Chaos concepts into his power. If so, his route to breaking through would be smooth.
Hearing that his master wanted the Scepter, Shou's face immediately hardened. He wanted to escape with the Scepter, but with the sufficient tributes, the connection to the Lower Realm had already been established. In the face of a Demon Count, it was impossible for him to escape.
Large deformed hands stretched out from the empty space within the Dimension Gate. With a slight gesture from his fingers, the Scepter flew into his hands.
"Ha, Eternal Night Scepter! This is great. Is it my lucky day today? Later, I will go beat up some Devils for entertainment."
Shou knelt despairingly onto the floor. Even his final straw was gone. His position as the Beastman Sovereign would be stripped very soon. With such rich tributes, the Demon Count could probably descend onto the mortal world himself. His job as his proxy had most likely come to an end.
Suddenly, a furious roar caused this entire space to tremble.
"Fake, it's fake! Who was it?! Who dares to fool this noble and great Kakajil?!?! I must tear him into pieces!!!!"
The entire Dimension Gate started to tremble. Very quickly, a gigantic hoof blazing with inferno stepped out of the Gate of Hell. Soon afterwards, that savage goat-head appeared from the gate.
The entire world started to darken and the cracks appeared on the ground. The fire hidden beneath the ground all rose to the surface and a few extinct volcanoes erupted.
With great rage, Demon Count, Soul Eater Kakajil descended on the mortal world!
At this moment, Shou was still in shock over the fact that the Scepter was fake. He gave up everything but in the end, he was made a fool of from the very start?
"Impossible, impossible!!"
In his muttering, the words suddenly appeared in his mind once again.
"You… might regret it."
"WUMIANZHE!! YOU DECEIVED ME!!!"
At this moment, the frenzied howling of Shou was ignored by everyone. The furious Demon Lord already had him in his hands, holding him straight in front of his face.
"Who was it? Who dared to deceive the great Kakajil? Was it you? You bastard!!"
Just by standing there, the hundred-meter tall body seemed to corrupt the earth. All of the plants withered and died. The volcanoes explode and cracks appear on the land. Kakajil's existence started to destroy the Rules of the surroundings. A Demon Duke was capable of crossing blows with Gods while the Demon Count, which was a tier lower, could be said to be an unrivaled existence on the mortal world.
The stinging stench of sulfur made one feel suffocated. His great strength crushed all of Shou's bone together. The gigantic mouth that devoured blood, flesh and souls was right in front of him. The Beastman Sovereign had to justify everything for the sake of his life.
At this moment, under the questioning of his master, the silhouette of the hateful man appeared once again in Shou's vision.
"No, it was Wumianzhe and that darned Sulfur Mountain City. The Scepter was sent by them. It was all their scheme! That man deceived you, noble Demon Count!"
Hearing that, the Demon Count hesitated. Looking at the frightened Beastmen by the side, he decided to spare the life of this mixed blood.
"No one can deceive Kakajil without paying the price. Use your life to atone for your sin. If you do well, then I shall spare your wretched life."
The Demon Count waved his hand and the Dimension Gate opened entirely. Countless Demons crowds in. At the same time, another brand-new gate on the other side opened.
In there, a beautiful city by the mountains could be vaguely seen — Sulfur Mountain City!
"Our new tributes are there. That city is filled with the hateful Power of Order. Fool, show the way to where the Ancient Fire Elemental God lies sealed. If you are to delay Prince Karwenz's plans, I will make you cry in agony for all eternity in my lantern."
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At this moment, our group was moving slowly, chatting while walking, as though we were on a tour.
From the very start, I didn't think that those fellows alone would be sufficient to deal with an Underground Autarch. After the Alliance Conference, it was perfectly okay for an Underground Autarch to launch a war campaign against another underground city lord. In the end, power was all that mattered.
The location for the final battle had been decided. What was left was the for all the actors to come on to the stage.
We didn't have many people. Me, Adam, Little Red, while Margaret was still in Sulfur Mountain City. Excluding Lisa who couldn't be here, the entire team from back then was all gathered.
However, we intentionally brought Annie and Elisa this time.
Little Red and Adam were excited about the future battle and Elisa maintained her silence as per usual. On the contrary, Annie lowered her head, looking depressed.
Her state affected the progress of my Epic mission. Whether she broke through Legend or not, I intended to get Adam to pass on the seat of the City Lord to her at the end of this battle so as to fulfill the basic conditions for my revival.
I was finally on the verge of getting my physical body. If I were to remain in the weak state I was currently, how could I deal with future troubles?
As long as I revived in a new body, using the system and my advantage from being knowledgeable about the 'events', I could grow strong rapidly and start with my series of plans. Furthermore, I looked forward to the class of the physical body I would get when I revived.
There are different classes for physical body? Of course there are, the Goddess of Order and Goddess of Chaos weren't fair from the moment they worked on their creations.
The direct creation of the Goddess of Order, the great Dragons were considered as members of the Golden Race. Without doing anything, they would be able to attain the minimum strength of a Gold-rank when they came of age. Yet, the
My current Lich body was actually called 'The King of Undying (Silver)', it was equivalent to a member of the more powerful Silver Race. The strength that it provided me wasn't inferior in any ways to the bonus Elisa got from Demonification.
It was unfair, but it was the cruel reality.
Adam might have reached the peak of humans as a SemiGod, but he wasn't necessarily a match for Little Red who wasn't even at the same level as him. Back then, Elisa could beat Annie using just one hand despite both of them being the same rank. This was the benefit of a superior physical body adding to one's total fighting prowess. It determined the basic stats and the race talents, race abilities and even served as the basis of all strength and magic.
No matter how skilled your swordsmanship was, you couldn't do anything with a weak body. Imagine wielding a sword with both hands and meeting an 8-handed monster whose strength was 3 times yours, if you were both on the same skill level, there was totally no way you could beat him.
A skyscraper starts with its foundation. The height of the building is dependent on how solid the base is. For one's fighting prowess to be strong, the physical body and bloodline was important.
Of course, the weaker races had the advantage in terms of numbers and tools. Furthermore, normal Golden Bloodlines grew extremely slow. Otherwise, the surface world wouldn't be dominated by the weakest race, the humans.
But, in order to face the problems that would occur in the future, power was something I couldn't lack. The Demon army couldn't be reasoned with. Their race talents and basic stats were even more unreasonable, so strong, that it made one shiver.
How strong could the race talent of The Favored One of the Abyss, the Demon Prince be? Most probably, even the Dragons who were known as the Golden Race wouldn't be able to compare with him. Hehe, the last time, I was already of Silver-rank. This time, would I get a body with talents that was equal to the Dragon Race? Or, even a rank higher.
However, in history, the Demon Prince still ended up getting slaughtered by humans. This showed that perhaps, race talents wasn't everything… Fine, I knew better than anyone that the unlucky Demon Prince in history was 'me' and the Hero who killed 'me' was the Annie in front of me, who was obviously not in a good state.
"Why? Are you afraid?"
Suddenly, recalling the history, did I count as a Demon King who counseled the Hero before the battle? If someday, she was to grow up and slicing me apart with her sword, then shouldn't I prepare a medal for myself 'The Demon King Who Touches the World, Trying His Best to Dig His Own Grave'
"No, I myself am just really dumb, not being able to help much." Different from the awkward Elisa, Annie was a straightforward kid. When someone asked her about her trouble, she replied directly.
However, Adam and Little Red, who were listening in from the side, smiled. In their eyes, the trouble Annie was facing really didn't count as much.
I used my gaze to invite Adam over to console her. However, he looked at the ceiling, trying his best to feign ignorance. At the same time, Little Red was suddenly very interested in the ant holes on the ground. Frustrated, I looked around me. In the end, I could only do it myself.
"Heh, those fellows had been training for hundreds and even thousands of years. You aren't even 20, so it's normal that you're unable to catch up with them."
"That isn't it! If it was just strength, Annie could accept it. However, Annie just found herself really dumb. Despite seeing everyone being so busy, I couldn't help much with anything. Big Sister Elisa can do everything well and little Victoria was able to suppress everyone during the Conference. But, as the future City Lord, I could only watch from the side."
Looking at Annie who was truly frustrated, my head hurt. Young boys and girls like to compare themselves to others of the same age as them, so it was much easier for them to corner themselves.
Just like how the one who was the most carefree in our team was Fool-dam because he thought that he would just screw things up if given the responsibility, this generation, compared to Elisa who was the head of 'Observer' and the seemingly mild but cunning and devilish Victoria, Annie did seem immature.
However, if I were to say the truth, she would probably just end up more depressed. If the future City Lord were to lose her confidence, my Epic mission would go down the drain.
"Hehe, it seems that you have misunderstood something. Remember what I told you the last time? The most important responsibility for a City Lord is to use talents properly. Throw the troublesome things to those who are skilled in dealing with them. I mean, look at the current City Lord, isn't he still eating and slacking around without a guilty conscience?"
"Cough cough!" After hearing my evaluation of him, Adam faked two coughs, indicating to me to stop talking about him. It looked like he still had some self-awareness, he knew that nothing good could come out from talking about him.
"But, Uncle Bones, you said that everyone's path is different. I don't want to be like godfather. Everyone was obviously so busy and there were so many things he could help with, but he chose to hide and slack around. Normally, he also lazes around, inciting criticisms from the people. I think that this is very embarrassing."
Being told to be embarrassing by his goddaughter, Adam's face immediately turned sorrowful. Little Red bent over, laughing loudly. Elisa nodded her head and looked at me with a meaningful look that said 'you are the same'.
Normally, I would pull his reputation further down without any hesitation. But this time, even if it made me frustrated, I had to help to protect his image.
"Actually, there is also another important task for the City Lord to work on other than protecting everyone. It may be hard to rush to gain sufficient strength to protect everybody, but there's another thing which you can try to work hard on now, and Adam's quite successful in that aspect."
"What?"
"You are the head, so you have to point out the direction for everyone, so that everyone will have more confidence in tomorrow, giving them the motivation and hope to live their hardest every day. Even if you can't find one, it's alright to make one up."
"But, I don't even know my own direction…"
"Then, you can try asking your subordinates what they wish the future to be like. Combine all the dreams and expectations for the future of everyone and maybe, that is the direction you should lead them towards."
Hesitating for a moment, I felt that perhaps this was the moment for me to clarify some things. I started to talk about my own personal experiences.
"Giving an example, many years ago, there was a tyrant who decided to stop invading other countries. He started peace talks with the surrounding kingdoms. However, if he were to share this with those city lords and generals beneath him, there could only be one conclusion."
"What conclusion?" Annie asked curiously.
"He would be overthrown. His hungry generals weren't satisfied yet and the noble city lords beneath him weren't content with the new territory and population they earned. They would have overthrown their current ruler who was in their path and swiftly nominated a new leader, continuing their invasion."
The one who answered Annie's question was Adam. Looking at his leisurely look, it was apparent that he had been considering this question for more than a day or two.
Yes, back then, there had been 7 Undead Lords who were just slightly weaker than me in the Yongye army. Even if there was a screw loose in their head and for some reason they had actually agreed to stop the invasion, how could I have explained this to the middle-tier and high-tier Undead Generals? When every single Undead General was anticipating the arrival of the Age of Undead, I didm't even have the confidence to convince my Four Heavenly Kings to make peace with the living. The only outcome for the me back then if I had tried was the occurrence of a coup d'etat and getting overthrown.
"So, many times, the enthroned rulers are just the combined will of his people. The direction that he must point everyone towards is just the future which the majority anticipates. So, you don't have to overthink it and just try your best to listen."
"Look, there might be a lot of freaks in our city, but everyone is living happily. Even those perverts who often get locked in the cell don't leave the city. If you like this city too, protect it well, allow it to operate just as it did. Isn't that enough?"
Yes, just like I said, given the strength of Beifeng, Eaglestorm, Xueti and the Beyar Brothers, they could have gone anywhere in this wide world. Who knows, they might even be able to become nobles in some other locations. However, they chose to stay in this city that was full of rules here and there. Despite messing around, they were willing to lower their pride and accept the punishments. This showed that there was something that they wanted here, something that other places wouldn't provide them.
My words were too broad, the female City Lord nodded her head, confused.
"Try your best to think about it and build it up using your effort bit by bit. Everyone walked the same path like that. Your Big Sister Elisa will help you."
This time, Elisa spared me some face and just nodded her head solemnly.
"Un, Annie will work hard." There was still a bit of confusion in her eyes but from the looks of her clenched fist, it seemed that she had regained her spirit.
[Congratulations, Epic mission The Revival of the Phoenix is 50% completed. Please try your best. When the mission is completed, there will be a special reward depending on how the situation turns out.]
The system also brushed up its existence at this time. However, the tangible rewards brought me the motivation to work hard.
Before we even reached our destination, the earth started to shake and split open. Even more so, the volcanoes far way started erupting and the sky became full of ominous red clouds. Something was obviously wrong.
At the same time, with the God Sword that he borrowed from Annie, Adam slashed the rock wall while charging forward, splitting apart half of the hill.
Then, he raised his long sword, making the standard pose of a Knight preparing to charge as he roared towards the hill.
"Who are you?! Come out! Otherwise, I shall cut you along with this hill."
The lazy Adam was actually agitated. There wasn't any need to draw his sword to split the hill, so, Little Red and the rest had looks of incomprehension on their face. But, I just frowned in disdain. My Magic Eye had already told me the conclusion.
"Heh, isn't it cause you just lost face in front of your juniors? So you hoped to salvage the situation with this? You will just end up crying."
Following Adam's furious roar, a bald Goblin spy appeared running out from the back of the hill.
"City Lord, don't cut, it's me! 'Observer' number 4267. We are on the same side!"
"Just you?"
"Just me!"
"It's enough, you don't have to say anything. Looking at your thick eyebrows and large eyes, to think that a person with such an honest face would actually be a revolutionary. You traitor, to think you lured us here to ambush us. I shall kill you in the name of Sulfur Mountain City!"
"Pah!" This wasn't the sound of a gunshot. It's just that I really couldn't watch on and kicked the Adam who despite obviously knowing that he had been wrong persistently pushed on. This spy obviously had important intelligence. If we were to continue messing around, it might end up in a disaster.
Quickly flipping through the intelligence, even I had been dumbfounded. It looked like there was an explanation for the earthquakes just now. A Demon Count wouldn't be easy to deal with.
I threw the information to Little Red. After reading it, she turned into her Dragon form without any hesitation.
Due to the existence of Dragon Knights in all kinds of knight novels, a large portion of giant Dragons actually disliked having mortals riding on their back. However, at this moment, Little Red couldn't care less.
"Come up, I will fly u there as fast as I can. We must make it in time to stop them! The opponent this time won't be easy. You all better recharge your energy and prepare for the final battle!"