The lift platform slowly came to a stop. Vincent and the others once again returned to the fifth floor.
However, what appeared before their eyes was not the passageway to the fifth floor’s entrance. Instead, it was a secret door that led to Catherine’s residence!
Catherine led the three of them into her palace-like residence as she explained the next steps.
“My room can be considered a forbidden area on the fifth floor. No one is allowed to enter without my orders, so this place is absolutely safe. The three of you will hide here temporarily. I will personally bring food to you here every day! Later, I will return to the ninth floor and walk in through the lift platform at the front. This way, no one will be able to guess where His Highness is!”
Dave did not make the decision on his own. Instead, he turned his head and looked at Vincent with an inquiring gaze.
Vincent thought for a moment before he nodded and said, “This method is feasible! Moreover, if the conditions permit, I hope that Lady Catherine can use a few employees from the ninth floor who have the same built as His Highness. They can dress up as His Highness and enter the first and sixth floors. This way, it will be an even more perfect arrangement!”
Catherine nodded and said, “That is not a problem. I will do it right away!”
After saying that, Catherine walked into the lift again. As the lift slowly sank down, she soon disappeared from the sight of the three of them.
At that moment, Dave did not wish for Catherine to act alone. He could not help but feel worried and confused, so he did not follow Vincent’s explanation for a moment. He could not help but ask, “Why do we need to arrange for others to disguise themselves as me and go to the first and sixth floors? Why don’t we just send a few men to disguise themselves as me and spread them to all the floors? Wouldn’t that be more effective in concealing the public’s eyes and ears?”
Vincent shook his head and said, “If we spread those men to all floors, those who received the news will definitely search every floor. At that time, the most mysterious room on the fifth floor will become one of their targets. There will be no point for us to hide here!”
Vincent continued, “Letting those disguised as His Highness enter the first and sixth floors will stall time for us to the greatest extent. The Dark Elves on the first floor all wore black robes and did not reveal their faces. It would definitely be very troublesome to search! The sixth floor was the most chaotic place among the nine floors. Anyone who walked into it would be like a stone sinking into the ocean. It was also the best floor for hiding. Therefore, those outsiders who do not know about His Highness’s relationship with Catherine would definitely search the first and sixth floors seriously. This would allow us to have sufficient time to escape!”
Dave nodded in realization and then asked, “You can be said to have played the heart attack technique to the extreme by arranging it like this! But isn’t it safer for us to hide all this while? Why are we in a hurry to escape?”
Vincent smiled and said, “Although all of Hell’s Rose is connected, there is still only one exit. So, it is still a very dangerous place to hide. And with His Highness’s status, only by walking out of Hell’s Rose can you maximize your advantage. When that time comes, you will have the Elf King’s remains in your hands, and you will also issue an order in the name of the son of the City Lord. All those who want to assassinate you can only wait for death!”
Dave nodded after hearing Vincent’s arrangements. However, he was suddenly stunned and quickly shook his head as if he was still unwilling to accept Vincent’s suggestion to leave Hell’s Rose.
After seeing his reaction, Vincent could not help but say, “I know that His Highness has just untangled the knot in his heart with Catherine, but now is not the time to care about love. In the future, His Highness will have plenty of opportunities to come to the fifth floor. There is no need to rush now!”
Dave was startled. He hurriedly shook his head and said, “What kind of person do you think I am? At this moment, would I be unable to distinguish between my priorities? Moreover, I am even clearer that the closer I am to Catherine now, the more harm I will cause her in the future. This is because it will cause more and more outsiders with malicious intentions to view her as my weakness!”
Vincent laughed helplessly in his heart. The young were indeed stubborn. What did he mean by seeing Catherine as his weakness? That was his weakness, to begin with!
However, on the surface, Vincent still asked curiously, “Then why is His Highness not willing to leave?”
Dave raised his head to look at Monica and said to her, “You now belong to Vincent. I shouldn’t order you to do things, but for now, I can only let you do the task of preparing wine and food!”
Monica was smart and knew that Dave was deliberately trying to get rid of her. He wanted to talk to Vincent alone, so she nodded and said, “Yes, I will go and prepare!”
Monica walked into Catherine’s kitchen. Dave then turned to look at Vincent and said with a serious face, “Follow me to the bedroom, I have something important to discuss with you!”
Vincent nodded slightly and followed Dave into Catherine’s bedroom.
As the big boss on the fifth floor, Catherine’s bedroom was naturally luxurious and sexy. However, at the moment, Dave and Vincent were not in the mood to pay attention to the decorations in the room. Once the two of them entered the room, they sat on the floor and looked at each other face to face.
Dave said in a deep voice, “Right now, the one I trust the most is you, so I don’t want to hide things from you. I will discuss it with you carefully!”
Vincent said, “Your Highness, please instruct me!”
Dave took a deep breath and sighed, “The current crisis is all because of the Elf King’s remains but do you know what will happen to the remains of the Elf King if I leave Hell’s Rose?”
Vincent said frankly, “Of course it belongs to His Highness!”
Dave shook his head. He sneered and said, “You’re wrong! “If I leave Hell’s Rose, the remains in my hands will definitely be handed over to my father, Andre. Although my father is now the City Lord, his ambition is extremely great, and his thirst for power is far greater than mine. At that time, he will definitely demand the Elf King’s remains from me!”
After hearing that, Vincent nodded and said, “What Your Highness means is that you want the Elf King’s remains to be used by you, and not to be given to others for free!”
Dave did not hide his intention and said, “That’s right. You have also seen the situation in the forest today. For the sake of his own rule, my father can disregard my life and death. If I still value the relationship between father and son above everything else, I’m afraid that I would have long died without a complete corpse! That’s why I want to become stronger and seize the position of City Lord from my father. I don’t want to wait for him to pass down the position to me. When that time comes, I will rule Devil Flame City in my own way. I guarantee that I can do better than my father!”
Vincent noticed that Dave’s prejudice against his father was no doubt deep in his bones. He already had the idea of replacing him. Moreover, the current situation was different from the conflict between Conrad and Linus.
Although Vincent had never met the City Lord of Devil Flame City, based on what he observed and heard from others, it was not difficult to conclude that Andre was a ruthless Dark Elf. Moreover, Andre was one of the twelve apostles of Gajero. Vincent would definitely have to find a way to get rid of him sooner or later!
After seeing that Dave had such thoughts, Vincent decided to help him with this matter. Moreover, if it really came to a day when swords were drawn, Vincent would also kill Andre first. He would not let Dave’s hands be stained with his father’s blood. It could be considered as compensation for the lies he had told him over the past few days!
Vincent said in a deep voice, “Since Your Highness has such thoughts, I will naturally do my best to help Your Highness with this matter. The most important task now is to let everyone know that you do not have the Elf King’s remains in your hand!”
Dave frowned slightly and could not help but ask, “Then how should I let everyone know that I do not have the remains in my hands? Do you want me to hide the remains in Hell’s Rose and then walk out to let them search me?”
Vincent shook his head and said, “That is useless. You are facing those who have lost their minds. Even if they do not see the Elf King’s remains on you, they will still believe that you have it. My idea is for Your Highness to hand over the Elf King’s remains in front of everyone!”
Dave could not help but look at Vincent with a profound gaze. He immediately fell into silence.
…
Outside of Hell’s Rose, the originally noisy alley had become quiet.
This was because all those who had gathered in the alley had been killed, and the murderers were the buyers who had left the auction house early.
It was as if they had discussed it beforehand. They had used the cruelest and most direct method to occupy the entire alleyway for themselves. They then called their friends to occupy a room while monitoring the situation at the exit of Hell’s Rose. At the same time, they were getting ready to assassinate the buyer.
Since the Dark Elves on the entire street were there to seize the Elf King’s remains, before they succeeded, they could all be considered friends with the same goal. However, if one of them succeeded, the others around them would immediately become their enemies!
Therefore, those who were guarding the various courtyards would never interact with each other. Most of them would keep a respectful distance from each other. Only a figure was constantly shuttling between the courtyards as if nothing was happening.
Suddenly, a blood-stained young elder who was wearing a robe and holding a magic staff that symbolized his status appeared. Everyone had no choice but to give him some respect and welcome him into the courtyard to have a chat.
This was because this Dark Elf was the son of the high priest of Devil Flame City, David!
“Young Elder David, you’re famous and talented at such a young age. I believe that once the buyer of the Elf King’s remains walks out of Hell’s Rose, you’re the most likely person to succeed in stealing it. You wouldn’t ask us brothers to work for you now, right? After all, we still want to take a gamble for ourselves!” said a Dark Elf who looked like a big brother. He spoke in a neither servile nor an overbearing manner.
David was alone. Plus, he only had the strength of a level 21 creature. Apart from his noble status and background, they had nothing to be afraid of.
There were more than ten of them gathered in the courtyard. Each of them had the strength of a level 30 creature. They were not afraid of David making things difficult for them. It was just that they did not want to cause any more trouble before they saw the Elf King’s remains.
David smiled very nicely at this time. He said to the leader, “I naturally want the Elf King’s remains but I have my own methods. I don’t need to cooperate with others. However, I also don’t want to let go of the Dark Elf who bought the Elf King’s remains, so I’m here to tell you his true identity!”
When the leader of the Dark Elves heard this, he could not help but ask excitedly, “Do you know who he is?”
David sneered and said, “Of course! Because he is my sworn enemy, the son of the City Lord, Dave!”
“It’s really him!”
The leading big brother sighed in a deep voice. It turned out that he had already made a guess in his heart earlier. However, he suddenly felt more confident after David verified his guess.
Since they had already decided to kill for the Elf King’s remains, there was no turning back. Even if the other party was the son of the City Lord, they could only give it their all. Plus, as long as they knew the exact identity of the target, the ambush would be much easier!
After seeing their reactions, David smiled and said, “It seems that you have decided to kill, so I won’t say anything more. If I can see Dave die on the streets today, then I’ll be very satisfied even if I miss the Elf King’s remains!”
The leader had long heard of the conflict between David and Dave, so he was not surprised by his comment. Instead, he said in a deep voice, “Young Elder Dave, please rest assured. We brothers chose to stay because we wanted to try our luck. But as long as there is an opportunity, we will definitely help Young Elder Dave to get rid of this problem!”
Dave smiled and nodded, saying, “Then I will thank you in advance! If you succeed, feel free to come to me if you want to leave the city. I can help you arrange it!”
“Thank you!”
The leader cupped his fists and bowed respectfully. He then watched David turn and leave until he walked out of the courtyard.
After that, the other Dark Elves in the courtyard surrounded the leader. One of the Dark Elf smiled and sighed, “It seems that Young Elder David has a good heart! He even promised to help us leave Devil Flame City after we succeed. If we really succeed, this is also a way out!”
“Hmmph!”
The leader sneered and said, “To be able to become an elder of the Divine Hall at such an age, even if he is the son of the high priest, he is not an ordinary person. If we go to him for help after we succeed, then we will not be far from death!”
After hearing that, the others looked at the leader thoughtfully and did not dare to mention the matter again.
David walked into the alley that was filled with the smell of blood. A sinister smile hung on the corner of his mouth that was covered by his long robe.
He had already walked through every courtyard in the alley and said almost the same thing to the Dark Elves inside. His purpose was to expose Dave and let him die. He pretended to be righteous and promised everyone that he could help them escape after the incident. The purpose was to let those who succeeded in the future take the initiative to bring the Elf King’s remains to him!
David was currently only a level 21 creature. He did not have the strength to compete with anyone in the alley for the Elf King’s remains. However, if those Dark Elves took the initiative to look for him, he could directly mobilize the experts in the temple. He could then capture all of them who came to his door in one fell swoop.
As the saying goes, the mantis stalks the cicada whilst the oriole follows behind. Whoever laughs last would be the real winner!
…
At the same time, in a courtyard furthest away from the entrance of Hell’s Rose, there was a group of Dark Elves from Dark Yuan City guarding the courtyard. Linus had hidden in a room in order to conserve his energy.
In the room, Linus looked at the fire spirit crystal in front of him. A hint of determination flashed across his deep eyes. Back then, in order to pursue the strongest power, he had given up his faith and believed in Gajero.
However, the moment his father died, Linus realized that he had erred in his method to obtain true power. This was because it did not matter how strong the god that he worshipped was; what mattered was how determined he was in his faith.
His father was naturally persistent, which was why Linus could see the power in him. At the same time, he began to regret betraying his faith.
Therefore, after becoming the High Priest of Dark Yuan City, Linus wanted to make up for the mistakes that he had made. He also wanted to make a small attempt to see if he could return to the embrace of the Fire Elf King.
“Great Fire Elf King, please allow me to become your believer again. Please forgive my ignorant betrayal. I am willing to use the rest of my life to atone for my past mistakes. Let me return to the arms of the Fire Elf King!”
Linus placed his hand on his chest and chanted devoutly. As he chanted again, the fire spirit crystal in front of him suddenly emitted red light and rushed into his body.
“Ah!”
Linus grunted and immediately felt that long-lost burning sensation. His left eye instantly turned from black to red. This was the symbol of his faith being changed. He was becoming a Fire Elf again.
“Kacha!”
As the fire elemental energy was exhausted, the fire spirit crystal in front of Linus instantly shattered. At this moment, he only had time to transform halfway. Only one of his eyes had turned red; the other was still black and symbolize the darkness of the Demon Race.
“Please forgive me, Great Fire Elf King. It’s not that I don’t want to give up my previous faith, but I still need to use this identity to do more things. I want to investigate the true purpose of those foreign races. I also want to find the truth behind the Demon Race’s rule. But now, I have to do an important thing for the Elf King. That is to retrieve the remains of the Elf King and not let any Dark Elves touch it!”
Linus piously confessed as he put on his robe. He then took out a black ribbon from his clothes to cover his eye that had turned red. After all, he still had to maintain his status as the High Priest of Dark Yuan City.
Linus walked out of the room and said to the Dark Elves in the courtyard, “Still no news from Hell’s Rose?”
His subordinate, who was lying against the wall immediately turned his head and said, “Reporting to the High Priest, no one has come out of Hell’s Rose so far! The others in the alley seemed to be a little impatient from waiting. However, weren’t we here to capture the alien races? Why are we here?”
Linus said in a deep voice, “Those alien races are obviously here for the blasphemy. They will definitely pay attention to this Elf King who had died at the hands of Gajero. Naturally, we cannot let go of any chance to capture those alien races. This is because we will never know whether this is our only chance!”
Everyone looked at Linus solemnly and said in unison, “Don’t worry, High Priest. We will seize the opportunity to capture those foreign races!”
Linus nodded and said, “If there is still no movement at dawn, we will send someone into Hell’s Rose to replace the brothers guarding inside. We must find the whereabouts of the Elf King’s remains while preserving our combat power!”
Everyone answered in unison, “Yes!”
