The news that Neo gave Rhode made the latter finally face the underground world squarely. Rhode’s initial plan was to let Nell lead them into Carlesodar City and use their tunnels to enter the outer region of the Darkness Capital. As Carlesodar City was the core of the Dark Region and largest city for dark elves, traffic was accessible from all sides. But now, Carlesodar City was under lockdown, which meant that Rhode’s group couldn’t continue with their journey and had to find another way. It was a pity that the underground was unlike the surface. If it were a tall mountain, Rhode could transform into his dragon form and soar over it. But in the face of solid rock walls, he didn’t have other solutions. He couldn’t simply transform into the Void Dragon and barge his way through, right? That would be too embarrassing.
“I think we can still continue since Carlesodar City is just ahead.”
Gazing at the underground map before him, Rhode shook his head. The map that was more intricate than a spider web gave him a huge headache. But he was certain that if he didn’t continue with this path, they would spend several days reaching their destination.
“But…”
Upon hearing Rhode’s words, Nell knitted her brows with a complicated look.
“Carlesodar City has always raised their guard against outsiders in the first place. Normally, with my network, there shouldn’t be a problem sneaking in. But now, Carlesodar City has been sealed off. If we insist on slipping through, it will be difficult.”
“Why must we sneak in?”
Upon hearing Nell’s remarks, Rhode seemed surprisingly calm. He swept a glance at the icon that represented Carlesodar City, before rolling up the map and putting it into the folds of his clothes.
“Since they don’t allow us to enter, we will just fight our way through.”
“… Huh?”
Nell widened her eyes in astonishment, lifting her head and gazing at Rhode in disbelief. Rhode’s expression remained unchanged. He tidied his clothes and swept a look at Nell. Upon hearing Rhode’s response, Mini Bubble Gum raised her arms immediately and started screaming.
“That’s right! That’s my Leader! Didn’t we always do that in the game? We trampled any bast*rds who stood in our way! What’s so powerful about Carlesodar City? Back then, we even trounced the entire continent with Leader!”
“But we didn’t attack the underground world last time.”
Icy Snow curled her lips, glared at Bubble, and grumbled. Facing Icy Snow’s refute, Mini Bubble Gum waved her arm mindlessly.
“No dif, Little Icy. Didn’t we come here to accomplish that?”
“… Hmph!”
Upon hearing the name that Bubble called her, Icy Snow pulled a long face, stomped her foot on the ground, and turned around to stop speaking to Bubble. Ever since they confirmed their ‘sister-relationship’, the two Bubbles had been treating Icy Snow as the younger sister, infuriating Icy Snow to a complete loss. Even though Icy Snow knew this was Bubble’s sophistry, the former with a serious personality still agreed to Bubble’s words, but it was impossible for her to accept it convincingly…
“Are we going in for a fight? Awesome. Anne hasn’t fought with Leader in a while~”
On the other side, Anne raised her arms in excitement and couldn’t wait to jump into battle. Judging from her thrilled look, Rhode wasn’t surprised if Anne were to retrieve the shield on her back and smash someone with it. Cassidy, who stood on the side, remained silent. But judging from Cassidy’s behavior, it was obvious that she wouldn’t object to Rhode’s suggestion. As for Angelina, as a vampire from the first vampire family, those dark elves were basically no different from human slaves in Angelina’s perspective. The so-called Carlesodar City was nothing more than an over-sized pigsty to her.
“I suggest you reconsider your options, Master.”
Witnessing the various reactions, Nell was the most panicky one. She stood in front of Rhode in a fluster to block his way, waving her hands and speaking sternly.
“Carlesodar City is the largest city in the underground and isn’t any smaller than the Darkness Capital. Even though dark elves aren’t as powerful as the forces of the Country of Darkness, they have more than a dozen of advanced spell casters in every family. Furthermore, there are well-equipped dark elf guards and countless goblin slaves. Not only that, but if you also try to storm Carlesodar City, you will face hundreds of ballistas that are as powerful as magic cannons. Also…”
Even though Nell dissuaded the group patiently, informing them of how dangerous Carlesodar City was, no one was as worried as her. In the end, Mini Bubble Gum interrupted in a hurry.
“Alright, alright, stop trying to bluff. It’s not like we haven’t been to Carlesodar. Let me ask you this—can this city defeat a dragon soul heir?”
“This…”
Facing Mini Bubble Gum’s retort, Nell was dumbfounded. Of course, she understood what Mini Bubble Gum meant. Carlesodar could never defeat a dragon soul heir. There was a precedent. It happened centuries after the Country of Darkness was established. After settling matters on the surface, the Country of Darkness began extending their forces to the deep underground, attempting to control the entire continent comprehensively. Back then, the dark elves were ambitious. They strived to become the strongest force in the underground world and even built their very own underground kingdom. They tried in vain to become the dominator of the underground world and naturally wouldn’t allow themselves to be ruled by others. That was why there was no doubt that the prideful dark elves rejected the Country of Darkness’s request. Not only that, but the dark elves also used their underground advantage to wreak havoc and humiliate the undead creatures.
That was how the war broke out.
In the beginning, when facing the undead creatures who closed in on them, the dark elves had indeed defended their homeland. But later, as the dragon soul heir showed up, the situation reversed. Under the Dark Dragon’s lead, in just seven days, the dark elf kingdom crumbled completely. Their proudest capital, Talonwat, got buried in the deep underground under the indignant attack of the Dark Dragon, not leaving behind any debris. Talonwat was the true honor of the dark elves. Its scale was 10 times larger than Carlesodar. But in the end, Talonwat couldn’t avoid its fate of destruction. That war crushed the dark elves’ pride, causing them to shiver and surrender under the deterrence of the dragon soul heir. Talonwat had gathered the effort and wisdom of the dark elves, which was why the dark elves felt so hopeless and desperate. They did their best. But even so, in the face of absolute power, they were bound to collapse.
And now, standing before Nell was a true dragon soul heir.
Perhaps it was because Rhode often loved roaming about, Nell subconsciously didn’t treat him as a high and mighty dragon soul heir. Of course, Nell who was ‘trained’ by Rhode wouldn’t betray her master. But she had to admit that even so, from her perspective, her master was simply too different from dragon soul heirs who sat in massive palaces full of dignity and majesty. But even so, Rhode was still a dragon soul heir. He was perhaps one of the strongest beings in this world.
Since Nell knew she couldn’t change his mind, she could only embrace herself and lead the way. Perhaps due to the mighty dragon’s prestige exuding from Rhode, none of the annoying and dangerous underground creatures stirred trouble with them along the way. Under Nell’s lead, the group passed through cracks in rock walls and channels made up of rocks and rushing river. Then, they finally arrived at a deeper and relatively spacious tunnel.
“This is the outpost that leads to Carlesodar City.”
Gazing at the spacious tunnel, Nell puckered her brows, turned, and said to Rhode.
“Seems like that dwarf was right. Logically speaking, we have entered the warning area of Carlesodar. Usually there are guards patrolling the area. But now, we don’t see any of them. This means that Carlesodar has shrunk their defense perimeter…”
“I doubt so.”
Rhode disagreed with Nell.
“With the personality of the dark elves, they wouldn’t wait for a poisonous snake to slither to their feet before screaming and jumping. I’m sure we’re within the encirclement of the dark elves… It’s about time to teach them some manners. Little Icy, attack!”
“Yes, Big Brother!”
Upon hearing Rhode’s command, Icy Snow lunged forward immediately. She flipped her right hand around and a white, jade-like longbow appeared in her hand. She pulled the bowstring and aimed ahead. She released her finger and a dazzling brilliance erupted from the bowstring, penetrating the gap between the cave and stelae and flitting across in a trail of afterimages.
“Woah———!”
The instant the brilliance vanished, the group heard a blood-curdling scream. A dozen black figures sprung up from the surrounding shadows. They held specially-modified and non-reflective bows, pouncing on the group like poisonous scorpions!
