âUrm... nothing...â
Chen Rui returned to normal only after awhile, âTorre, is there anything?â
Torre replied, âThe earth elemental that left brought their leader over;Chief Delong asked you to come over.â
Chen Rui asked, âHow many earth elementals came?â
âJust these two.â
Chen Rui nodded. It seems that things are going well, otherwise the rebel forces leader of the earth elementals wonât come alone to the âenemyâsâ nest.
When Athena saw that he was about to leave, she asked, âWhat happened?â
Chen Rui told her the thing about the earth elemental and Athena said, âLetâs go together. After sleeping, my strength has almost fully recovered.â
Chen Rui thought that there should be no danger this time, so he agreed and the trio walked out of the cave together.
Doug brought a cyan-colored earth elemental. He looked similar to the other two earth elementals who battled against Queen Medusa and Chief Tauren. He should be the leader that Doug mentioned, the head of the three elite earth elementals under Earth Elemental King, Tag.
Chen Rui approached and the comprehensive strength shown in was indeed âUnable to Judgeâ.
Tagâs body was smaller than Dougâs, and he was slightly shorter than the taurens. His body was closer to the human figure. His eyes flashed with the same white light as Doug instead of the yellow light after âmutationâ.
As the taurens couldnât communicate with earth elemental, even if there were only two earth elementals that came, Delong and the others showed considerable vigilance. The surrounding tauren were all on guard since this light-green earth elemental had powerful strength that rivalled the Chief Tauren.
The cyan earth elemental saw Chen Rui and took the initiative to greet, âHi, Iâm Tag. Thank you for releasing Doug.â
The consciousness exchange of could be divided into area and unit. Chen Rui didnât want to cause the taurenâs misunderstanding. Therefore, he expanded the area of so that that the surrounding taurens could understand him.
âHi, Iâm Chen Rui, the taurenâs best friend. For the leader, Tag to come here today, are you coming with sincerity or hostility?â
âYou indeed have the magical power to communicate with the elementals.â Tag said while nodded solemnly to Chen Rui. He wasnât disdainful of Chen Ruiâs weak strength. âI came here only with Doug, which is enough to prove my sincerity, but at the same time, I have another doubt.â
Others couldnât understand Tagâs language, so Chen Rui listened while translating to the taurens and Athena.
âEarth Elemental King in Earth Realm will always be the highest ruler of us, the earth elementals. Although I led some of the elementals who didnât want to accept the mutation to escape, we arenât willing to be hostile toward our great king and even more unwilling to kill our comrades with our own hands. In this case, I donât think that the tauren or medusa will be willing to accept the defective earth elementals. However, in order to show the friendliness of the earth elementals, I still come with sincerity as I donât wish to be your enemy.â
After listening to Chen Ruiâs translation, the Chief Tauren was silent. He waved his hand to let the alert taurens backed down. Whether it was accepted or not, Tagâs sincerity was worthy of recognition. There was no need to make such a tense posture that made the taurens look weak and cowardly.
Chen Rui could tell that Tag wasnât someone that was arrogant and unreasonable, so he said, âTag, thank you for your frankness first. I want to ask you a question. Before you are forced to leave the Earth Realm with your companions, do the elementals often massacre the other creatures in such a way?â
Tag shook his head, âWe elementals have our own principles. Unless our territory is violated, weâll never attack or interrupt the existence of other remaining creatures.â
âWhat about now?â Chen Ruiâs words made Tag lowered his head. Chen Rui didnât give him the opportunity to explain and continued, âExcept for the tauren and medusa that are struggling to resist, all the other underground creatures were eliminated by these mutated earth elementals. Not only that, even you, an earth elemental isnât safe. I heard Doug said that because of the unwillingness to accept the mutation, many earth elementals were brutally killed. At this time, where are the so-called principles of the elementals?â
Tagâs head was lower and Chen Rui went on to say, âUniting with the tauren and medusa isnât to kill your comrades, the earth elementals, but it is for your own survival! Even if you donât kill each other, once the taurens and medusas are destroyed, the only ones left will be you, the earth elementals who defected. Do you think that you can escape the killing from your own people?â
Everyone was closely interdependent.
Tag thought for a while then suddenly raised his head and said firmly, âThe great king is only fallen into confusion due to some special reason. I believe that with his powerful strength, he must be able to solve the confusion in his heart and return to the initial, normal state.â
Chen Ruiâs heart was moved. He asked, âIâve always been curious about this. Why has the Earth Elemental King changed so much? What is the confusion that you said? Please tell me what you know. Itâs not only for our survival, but also for the great king of the earth elementals. Perhaps we can find a way to help him return to normal as soon as possible. Besides, you wouldnât want to be killed in your comradesâ hands without knowing the reason right?â
After hearing the last sentence, the white light in Tagâs eyes glittered a little. . After a moment of contemplation, he finally said, âThis matter starts from a long time ago, probably about 400 years ago.â
For a long time, the underground world had always been in balance. Although thousands of years ago, the space above was fully excavated. Yet, for various reasons, most of the creatures were unwilling to leave the underground, especially the few that relied on the fountain of life for reproduction and survival. For the strongest force, earth elementals, although their newly-born great king had the strength to easily break the seal, the earth elementals had their own principles of survival. They wouldnât easily interfere with the rest of the civilization. Thus, instead of breaking the seal, they continued to live a peaceful and leisure life in the Earth Realm.
However, one day, a sudden change occurred. A strange outsider broke through the powerful seal and killed a lot of creatures along the way. Originally, it had nothing to do with Earth Realm. However, while killing the underground creatures, he also killed several earth elementals. The principle of the earth elementals was that they wouldnât violate others if others didnât violate them. So, the Earth Elemental King could no longer neglect. He personally went to destroy this enemy who dared to kill the earth elementals.
This enemyâs strength was far beyond imagination. With the Earth Elemental Kingâs strength, the enemy actually couldnât be taken down at once. The shocking battle continued to the Earth Realm, where the earth elementals gathered and it lasted 1 day and 1 night. The Earth Elemental King finally won and eliminated the enemy with his advantage in the Earth Realm.
According to Earth Elemental King afterward, this enemyâs strength was quite horrifying, but this enemy was seriously injured before the battle. Otherwise, even in the Earth Realm, he might not be able to rival.
Chen Rui was shocked: The earth elementals has the strongest combat power in the earth and so is the Earth Elemental King. This seriously-injured person is able to fight against the Earth Elemental King to such a degree must be a strong Demon Overlord. Why did such a strong man come to the underground somehow, slaughter the underground living creatures and even went into conflicts with the earth elementals?
Tag went on to say that although the enemy was eliminated, the incident didnât end. The man was destroyed by the king, leaving only one thing that emitted strange powers. It actually caused a strong interference. The Earth Elemental King had to suppress this thing personally in the kingâs chamber of the Earth Realm.
This thing is likely to be the key! Chen Rui thought quickly. He stopped translating and interrupted, âWhat is that thing?â
âItâs a mask! Itâs terrifying! The mask looks a bit incomplete, but it has very weird power. Those who are close feel like their souls are drawn to it!â
When Chen Rui translated the maskâs incident to the taurens and Athena, the taurenâs couldnât understand, but Athena looked like she was pondering.
âAt the beginning, the king was only holding the mask in his hands and suppressed it with strength.â Tagâs features couldnât express too many expressions, but there was a bit of fear in his voice, âYet, one day the mask was worn on the kingâs face somehow!â
The Earth Elemental King with a mask started to get weird. He was always sitting motionless all day in the kingâs chamber. At first, he still spoke a few words with the three elite earth elementals under his command, but afterward, it was complete silence. Besides, the Earth Realm that prohibited anyone else to come in had undergone some abnormal changes, and the earth elementals could feel it.
In such a way, over a hundred years later, a strange flying creature began to appear in the Earth Realm. This creature that looked like a fly had never appeared in the underground world. At first, the earth elementals didnât care about it. However, these âfliesâ gradually increased. The Earth Elemental King that had always been silent suddenly issued a command: No earth elementals are allowed to harm these demonic flies.
The emergence of the demonic flies caused more and more strange things happened. The most obvious thing was that the ever-lasting fountain of life actually dried up gradually. After many years, the silent Earth Elemental King once again issued a command: Attack the underground creatures around the Earth Realm! Those creatures obviously didnât invade the Earth Realm, so the earth elementals were very puzzled by this order that violated our principles. Yet, they still faithfully executed the will of the king.
Strangely, the number of demonic flies increased significantly after the creatures were eliminated.
Since then, the Earth Elemental King became even more weird. For years, he rarely spoke. When he spoke, it was a command to kill. The number of demonic flies increased greatly as well. Many earth elementals began to suspect. The three elites, Tag, Taug, and Sog went to the kingâs chamber multiple times to meet the king, but they either got no response or were reprimanded.
After another period of time, the Earth Elemental King spoke again. He claimed that he had obtained a powerful revelation previously, and he had been studying this revelation. If he succeeded, he would have control over the mutation that could make earth elementals stronger. However, it required the earth elementals to accept mutations irresistibly. The most loyal elite earth elemental, Taug took the initiative to accept the secret method and his strength indeed increased. Yet, strangely, Taug seemed to have lost his previous memory. He didnât recognize even Tag and Sag and led all his subordinates to accept the mutation.
The mutated earth elementals lost their memories. They were more obedient toward the kingâs orders. They started to kill more underground creatures, and they even eliminated the most populous trolls.
Tag and Sog were skeptical about the âmutationâ. They put their highest doubt onto that mask. Sog secretly went to the kingâs chamber to look for the truth. Yet, he was accidentally discovered by the elemental king. When Sog came out of the kingâs chamber, he had also became the same as Toug. The mutated earth elementals didnât even let their companions go. Many rebellious earth elementals were killed. In this case, Tag confirmed that the Earth Elemental King was affected by the mask. Thus, he had to flee the Earth Realm together with some earth elementals who were unwilling to receive the mutation. He was looking forward to the day when the Earth Elemental King could wake up and return to himself.
After hearing Tagâs words, Chen Rui felt that many doubts in his heart were solved one by one. Some vague key points in the past could be faintly connected together. The truth was going to be revealed.
The abnormal change of the Earth Elemental King must be related to that mask. The appearance of the demonic flies was also the same. The demonic flies was only a small amount initially. The number increased with the destruction of enemies. They also seemed to be able to strengthen themselves with other lives and flesh. This could also be used to explain the attack on other creatures.
For âmutationâ of the earth elemental mustnât be simple. It should be a special way for the Earth Elemental King to manipulate these subjects who had suspicion. Normally, with Earth Elemental Kingâs Demon Overlord strength, it shouldnât be difficult to destroy underground creatures or suppress the skeptics. Thus, it posed an important question: The Earth Elemental King is unable to exert power for some reason! He canât even leave the kingâs chamber!
The number of demonic flies is already quite large. Then, whatâs the purpose for the Earth Elemental King to continue to control earth elementals and demonic flies to attack the underground creatures? Is it to unify the underground world?
Chen Rui was filled with multiple assumptions and doubts at once. After translating Tagâs speech, Athena cautiously said, âChen Rui, are you sure these demonic fliesâ name were bloodthirsty demonic flies, decomposing demonic flies and borer demonic flies?â
Athena had been fighting ever since she arrived to the bottom level of the main pit. She hardly had time to stop. After being teleported from the Medusaâs Lair to the stone beam, the two were immersed in tenderness and intimacy, so they never had the chance to discuss about this aspect.
When Chen Rui was translating just now, Athena began to pay attention to these details. Her eyes kept changing. She seemed to have thought of something.
âIâm sure.â Chen Rui nodded. The data displayed by his should have no mistakes.
After getting a positive answer, Athena blurted out, âI know what that mask is! Also, the man from 400 years ago!â
âWho is it?â
âThat mask is 1 of the 7 artifacts in the Demon Realm, the God-Eating Mask! That person is the Glorfin Beelzebub from 400 years ago!â