That was an eight to nine-year-old Elf girl.
Under a parasol, she sat in her small chair. The little girl's silky golden hair drifted along with the wind. While secretly giggling beneath her hands, she was tackling the lollipop in her hands with all of her strength.
Her white skin looked just as smooth as milk and her cute princess skirt had pictures of little bats on it. Her pink and chubby face had a shy and sweet smile on it, reminiscent of a little angel which accidentally descended onto the mortal world.
Noticing that I was looking at her, she immediately blushed red in embarrassment, but her pink tongue didn't stop its motion. Instead, just like a hungry cat secretly sipping on a bowl of milk, she hastened her action. It didn't take her long to digest over half of the lollipop.
The eyes of onlookers might just see an innocent little girl secretly smiling due to the joy from licking her delicious lollipop. However, I only got goosebumps watching the sight.
"What a cute girl. Master, where did you kidnap her from?"
Elisa had finally finished reorganizing her emotions and just when she stepped into the room, she saw this unfamiliar little girl and was curious.
"Your senior, the 'Omniscient One' Harloys."
I replied to her with a blank face. All of her reports that she was holding fell to the floor. Then, she props up her glasses and started to pick them up silently.
"Why don't you ask anything? Like why did the old granny suddenly turn young and where did Greed go?" This overly calm reaction made me curious instead.
"No, the moment that I think of the fact that she was your mentor, she probably plays a big part in why you turned out like that; I suddenly felt like I could accept it no matter what kind of person she was."
What did it mean that it was acceptable because she was my master? It made it sound like I was hopeless and unreliable.
"When have you ever been reliable? When has anything that you got involved with ended up well? Stop guessing, I can't read minds and you didn't accidentally blurt it out. Even if you are wearing a mask, but when were you ever able to hide your emotions from me? It seems that you have forgotten that I had followed you for many decades."
A venomous tongue as usual. Elisa, who seemed to have regained her composure on the surface, lowered her head as much as possible to hide her swollen red eyes and I, who was feigning ignorance, didn't know what to do.
Fortunately, there was a fool that couldn't read the atmosphere by the side.
This granny seemed to finally recall that she was the 3rd Senator, the Queen of Banshees, and it was unbecoming of her to be licking on a a lollipop like a little kid. She first hid her lollipop behind her, intending to dispose of it later, but then she felt that it was a waste so noticing that we were still chatting, she immediately turned about and swallowed the rest of the lollipop.
Afterward, before she could even finish swallowing all of it, she turned around…
"Haha, my good disciple. I didn't expect your Undead Creation to have reached such mastery. Cough cough! …Un, to be capable of making Undead regain their taste buds, wa kaka… cough cough cough, this body is really powerful. I can feel the God's Bloodline circulating in my body. It's possible that I might even be stronger than when I was at my peak. Cough cough cough!!! …I finally managed to spit it out, I almost died again."
The wind created by magic lingered at her back, allowing her small physique to float slightly in the air. The words that she intentionally used were said in an old and commanding tone t, in the perspective of the listeners, didn't have a trace of dignity it should have. Other than the exceptionally innocent and cute voice of a kid, she choked on a lollipop just after saying a few arrogant words and her continuous coughing was hilarious.
I could understand the agitation of an Undead who suddenly regained her taste buds, but it wasn't correct for her to act cute like this. Not to mention, the thought of her being an old granny dispelled every single thought of her being cute. So, I laughed.
"Wahaha, Elisa, look at her foolish sight. Being of such an age yet choking on a lollipop…"
But I stopped after a few seconds of mocking her. That was because Elisa's gaze at me was full of sympathy, as though as I was an infant that was laughing at someone despite not being much better.
I could roughly get the message she was trying to express — "You probably need a mirror. Remember that time when you used so much lubricant that you were unable to fix your bones together properly? Afterward, I had to use glue to help you stick them back on. Back then, you probably looked just as foolish."
Fine, it wasn't that I could read minds. Elisa had already said it out.
"Cough, Harloys, I…" Just as I was trying to change the subject, Harloys interjected.
"Call me master. I'm satisfied with this body and your plan interests me as well. So, I shall consider this a favor and I hold off the matter of expelling you."
Shaking my head, I didn't retort. It was just a name and besides, she had indeed taught me many things. If she was willing to continue being my mentor, then so be it.
"Fine, demon… Mentor, why did you turn into such a look? You had dozens of fixed looks for this physique, so you should be able to interchange between them easily. Maybe, it's your personal interest? You want to try to pretend to be young?"
Harloys sighed and shook her head helplessly.
"It isn't that. This is my true appearance when I died. When the soul and physical body is aligned, it's easier for it to resonate and merge together. In order to allow my physical body and soul to completely merge, it's best for me to maintain this form temporarily. Speaking of it, you are probably the only ones to learn about the existence of this look of mine."
"WHAT!!?" Hearing this, even me who knew her for a few centuries was flabbergasted. That was to say, this was the true look of the old demon granny's soul. Back then, when she turned into an Undead, she looked so cute and innocent and she was just slightly bigger than this at her moment of death.
"What was there to be surprised about? Didn't you know about it? Undead are the product of lingering will and curse. The more pure and noble the soul is, the more it would despair under the darkness of reality, the more vicious the curse it gave out would be and the easier it would be for a strong Undead to be born. Back then, you also…"
"Cough, let's not talk about excessive things. Right, what is the progress with the Dark Elves?" I didn't want my history to be dug up and so, it was my turn to change the topic.
Knowing that I didn't want to talk about these past matters, Harloys shook her head and raised her hand. Sand floated in the air and congregate to form a fortress. In it, countless sand men were moving freely and if one were to take a closer look, they would realize that they were no different from real people.
In the fortress, there were innumerable sand groups that were chasing the sand men. The moment they caught up, they would jump on it and merge together as one. When the sand group finally left, the sandman would be left on the spot without any equipment or clothes and would simply lay there paralyzed.
"The potential of the Child of Greed is limitless. Just by evolving it a little bit, its offensive power has increased by at least 10 times. If you allow me to use my human form to control and organize them into different armies and have them complement one another, I can guarantee that it will be a simple matter to gain control of this city."
[Child of Greed (Evolution)
Race: Half-Undead Slimes
Stats: All 5
Race Talent: Equipment Devour, Fiber-Decomposing Secretion, Rapid Regeneration, Single Elemental Control, Single Elemental Immunity, Paralyzing Venom, Fluid Transmogrification
System Evaluation: I have nothing to say. If you want to destroy the world, just do it. If you don't want jelly to be the only thing remaining in the entire world, then control her properly!]
The God's Bloodline was extremely powerful. It may seem like there wasn't much of a change with the Child of Greed, but the individual power of each and every one of them was at least 10 times stronger than before. Fluid Transmogrification allowed it to have extremely strong resistance against physical attacks and depending on its colour and composition, the Single Elemental Control and Resistance granted it a certain level of ability to cast spells.
In order to counter the Dark Elves, 90% of the Child of Greed she sent out were black-colored ones. Against Lorci's Priestesses who specialized in curses and dark divine arts, these Black Slimes, who were completely immune to the Dark Element and negative energy, were their complete nemesis and their worst nightmare.
However, if we were to really do as she proposed and create Slime Warriors, Slime Mages and such to start a War of the Slimes, it might really cause the Underground World to think that another intelligent race willing to destroy them had appeared. That would cause quite a bit of trouble.
"Right, my good disciple, can we negotiate?"
"Of course we can. I've always been one for negotiation. That is, except for dispelling the Magic Pet Contract."
"I was the Omniscient One, the noblest and ancient Queen of Banshees. How can I become a foolish and lowly Magic Pet! That's the job of foolish animals!!!"
"You're already a Magic Pet so stop playing little tricks. According to the contract, if I die, you will have to accompany me. If you die… I shall try my best to squeeze out two drops of tears to grieve for you."
Yes, in order to tie the toughest and most resilient metal chain on the extremely dangerous personnel, the Queen of Banshees Harloys had become my Magic Pet.
[Magic Pet: Harloys (Main Body of Greed)
Race: Unable to be classified
Strength: 22
Dexterity: 10
Stamina: 40
Intelligence: 28
Will: 25
Charisma: Depends
Job: LV60 Mage/LV20 Omniscient Mage
Rank: Legend
Race Talent: Transmogrification (Myth)
System Evaluation: This is your Magic Pet, but she is constantly thinking of how to get rid of you within the limitations of the contract. You better keep her in check otherwise just wait for her to get the better of you.]
The only reason why Harloys was being so obedient was because she had signed a Magic Pet Contract with me. Under normal circumstances, a Necromancer might be able to sign a Magic Pet Contract with another Undead, but it was impossible with a powerful and intelligent being.
It was just that I had made use of a loophole in the Rules. As a Necromancer, I was entitled to sign a contract with my own creation 'Greed' and Greed didn't have any soul, thus it was impossible to sign a Magic Pet Contract which required the binding of souls. However, if we were to put the unconscious soul of Harloys into the body of Greed at that moment, the contract would naturally take Harloys who had obviously lost all resistance as the soul of Greed. Thus, the contract was able to be successfully established.
As my Magic Pet, based on the basic Rule that the rank of a Magic Pet couldn't exceed the Mage himself, Harloys's strength went down all the way from Myth to Legend-rookie. At the same time, she became much more obedient.
I also benefited quite a bit from the contract. A tenth of the basic stats of the Magic Pet would be augmented on its owner. To a normal Mage, it normally didn't have much of a use. After all, those ducks, black cats, bat, and eagles had pathetic basic stats. It was quite rare for a tenth of their stats to even increase one's Dexterity or Stamina by 1.
However, my Magic Pet granted me Strength +2, Dexterity +1, Stamina +4, Intelligence +3, Will +2, effectiveness of Necromancy +30% and effectiveness of Elemental Magic +20%. It was really quite a big gain, not mentioning my Pet's extremely high fighting prowess and the ability of controlling the 'Child of Greed's.
But ultimately, the main reason why I signed this Magic Pet Contract with her was because I lacked basic trust in her and didn't dare to keep her out of my sight.
"My Magic Pet Contract can be retained even after I revive. At that moment, even if this powerful Magic Pet ends up at LV1, it would still be a powerful force to rely on when starting a clean slate.
According to my plan, it wasn't too far away from my day of revival. I should start planning ahead.
Thus. I looked at Harloys with bad intentions.
"40 points in Stamina. Such a high-quality meat shield and tanker. Teacher, I shall be relying on you to act as my shield in the future."
At this moment, Harloys suddenly shouted in shock.
"Hmmm!? Why did these fellows suddenly appear on the field?"
On the fortress of sand, a bunch of experts was moving towards the direction of the city gates. Looking at this situation, I smiled.
"Ever heard that there was a soul in the God Equipment that chose its master?"
"Bullshit. The number of God Equipment that I've come into contact with was at least in the double digits and I have yet to see a single God Equipment that could choose its own master. No matter how powerful a God Equipment is, it was made for others to use. If a God Equipment were to gain self-awareness to the point that it choose its own user, it would have long returned to the hands of their original user. Or perhaps, it might simply get annoyed by seeing those fools vie over it and choose to dig a hole to bury itself. A God Equipment choosing its own master? This os obviously some nonsense made up in knight novels to make its main character seemed extraordinary. If a God Equipment could really grow its own legs to run, then don't dream about getting the God Equipment to acknowledge you. The first thing you should suspect is whether you walked into some scheme or trap."
"It's a pity that some people don't seem to think that way. Or perhaps, they might be thinking that it's an exception and chose to go along with it."
Looking at the crowd rushing out of the city on the sand field, I couldn't help but sigh.
--------------
Spatial Distortions were a natural passage. They normally appeared in places where the fabric of space wasn't stable and the destination at the end of the passage was completely unknown. 90% of the Spatial Distortions were completely random Dimension Warps like this.
However, there was a connection between Spatial Distortions. The most likely situation for the destination of a Spatial Distortion was another Spatial Distortion. There were even some relatively stable connections between Spatial Distortions that were used as a tunnel for passage, as though walking across a bridge.
There were quite a few such stable tunnels in the Underground World and they were viewed as normal tunnels. Underground city lords had viewed them as an important location for the accumulation of wealth and military presence, so they built a fortress around it.
However, the formation of Spatial Distortions was completely natural. There were much more Spatial Distortions in the spatially unstable Underground World as compared the surface world. However, for a Spatial Distortion to appear around Vance City and for it to coincidentally lead to the vicinity of Sulfur Mountain City, the possibility could be neglected altogether. However, using an extremely profound Spatial Magic accompanied with a great price, it was possible to create a temporary tunnel.
That sudden and unexpected assault on Sulfur Mountain City back then was conducted through forcefully distorting this hidden Spatial Distortion in the mines here to activate and connect it with a cavern 30 meters South of Sulfur Mountain City. Then, the two Underground Autarchs brought their personal guards to conduct the assault.
Of course, from another angle, this meant that they had started plotting against Sulfur Mountain City since a long time ago. Connecting two spaces needed to be done from both ends and required great effort and time. It wasn't something that could be kicked up on a whim.
After the Beastman army was completely crushed that time, the Lion King ran all the way back to prevent the Spatial Distortion from being discovered.
The situation was much different this time. The forceful reactivation of the connection between two Spatial Distortion caused the unstable Spatial Connection to become stable. The temporary tunnel would become a permanent one. At the same time, the price to pay for reconnecting the tunnels increased exponentially.
In the mastery of Spatial Magic, if the Demons that plague the countless Dimensions in the Lower Realm were to say that they were second, there probably wouldn't be a race that would dare to say that they were placed first.
This blood-red Demon Altar intended to use the unstable spatial fabric of this Spatial Distortion and a massive amount of tributes to open the gates to the Dimension of Demons so as to get back-ups and support. At the same time, the Demon Count who had been long-awaiting would personally connect the Spatial Connection to Sulfur Mountain City.
"As long as Sulfur Mountain City disappears, what will the rest of those fools count as?"
Shou's words may sound awful but he did accurately point out the weakest link of Sulfur Mountain City. Sulfur Mountain City had a weak defence and lacked a strategic vantage point. Furthermore, it only had one city.
"Hehe, what does a history of a century count as? If we were to break their nest, then no matter how strong Adam and that Wumianzhe is, they, who lost their roots, won't be able to overturn the situation."
Of course, there were some words that they didn't tell each other. For example, the leaders of both sides had requested for the release of the seal of the Ancient Fire Elemental God. For another example, the intent to fall out immediately after getting rid of Sulfur Mountain City.
At this moment, countless soldiers were getting into formation and waiting for the Dimension Gate to open.
"My 12 armies, 79000 underground Beastman! In the face of my veteran elites, those cowards of Sulfur Mountain City aren't even worth mentioning!"
"I'll lend you four divisions. They might only comprise 30000 people, but there are two Mage divisions and one Shaman division in it. This should be enough to make up for the magic firepower you lack."
The oppressing dark army started to gather and silently, the flags started to rise up. This was the accumulation of the Underground Autarchs, the elite army of over 10 underground cities.
There was a considerable number of Legends and Saints in their midst. In fact, there were even a couple of Myth experts within their ranks. Different from the situation before, the Underground Autarchs were well-prepared this time.
Suddenly, Shou looked towards the sky of Vance City. He was delighted for a moment, then shocked before becoming angry and finally, he felt a trace of fear.
"Eternal Night Scepter?! It's flying here by itself."
Yes, the sight here was just like what those knight novels normally depicted. The God Equipment chose his own master and flew over thousands of miles to seek him.
To the deeply poisoned Lion King, this was naturally something to be delighted about. But, what made him shocked, angry and even frightened was those people who were chasing the Scepter. Apparently, they didn't believe that a God Equipment could have a soul to choose its own master.
"Don't you dare to touch it. It's mine, Crimspur!"
"No, only I, Lamost, who has been said to be the one closest to the recent Undead Emperor am suited for this Scepter. I can already hear its calling."
"You fool, that was just your misconception. The Scepter is obviously calling for me! This was its test for me!"
Those who were in the forefront were the 3 frenzied Undead Senators. Looking at the madness burning in the green flames in their eyes, it seemed to be burning even their own souls. Behind them, there was everything.
It was really a mystery how the gigantic Nine-Headed Dragon Emperor could come here from the swamp it lived was far away. Its gigantic body shouldn't allow it to even pass through the underground passage.
Over there, a Great Angel carrying the Sun's Bow was currently fighting with another Fire Demon who was dancing with his Inferno Whip while chasing the Scepter. In this instant, the Sand Dragon King from the desert was destroying the entire underground tunnel. The Elf Knights riding unicorns were racing with the Death Lords. Thousands of experts of different races were chasing the Scepter and the ones blocking them were the alliance army of the two Underground Autarch.
In this instant, Shou somehow remembered the words left behind by the man dressed in a long robe and hidden behind a mask a month ago.
"You… might regret it."
Back then, he replied arrogantly.
"The Beastman Sovereign NEVER regrets!!"
Right now, watching as his army got involved in a battle due to some ridiculous reason, not to mention that they were getting suppressed and slaughtered by the experts of differing races, he felt a sensation of weakness which he had never felt before. Looking at the radiant Eternal Night Scepter in front of him, he sensed the disappearance of Eduar, who had dumped his army on him. He had been forced into a corner in all aspects. The white-haired Old Lion could only sigh helplessly.
"Wumianzhe. You were right, I'm regretting it now. But…"
"WAGHHHH!! Beastmen NEVER surrender!"
The next moment, after a deafening roar, the Lion King left another scar on his face that represented another score to settle. The undefeated Lion King had returned.
"The one who is even more cunning than the Devils, Wumianzhe! This old man admits that he's regretting it, but this doesn't mean that I'll lose! Wumianzhe! I shall return it tenfold back to you one day!!"
"The First, Seventh and Ninth Divisions, face them head on! The Du Yan Division, get into formation, prepare to face the brunt of the charge! Let them witness the might of the Beastman army! The weak surface dwellers actually dare to mess around in the Underground World! Kill them!!"
----------------
"Greed, it will be forever the deadly sin that is the most difficult to suppress."
Looking at the Eternal Night Scepter fan group that disappeared without a trace on the sand field, I stood up to prepare to move out.
"You aren't waiting anymore?"
"Un, the Underground Autarchs aren't that easy to deal with. We must also do some preparations. Elisa, help me thank Minial for the report he sent over. If he didn't inform us about the gathering of the Old Lion's army, we might really have been outdone this time. Right, ask Annie and Adam to prepare to move out as well. It's time for the final battle."