The two dirt spears had pierced through its right chest and left leg, but hadn’t been able to claim its life. However, as it was lying on the hard cold ground painfully giving its dying kicks, the gigantic foot of Demon Alligator suddenly appeared in its line of sight.
A muffled boom broke out through the silence, followed by the sound of a watermelon being crushed was heard in the cavern.
Leisurely and slowly, the Demon Alligator continued its movement and strode away. Once its leg left the ground, the place where the human-like creature had been lying was instead replaced by a pile of crushed meat, making it impossible to identify its original shape, species or even gender.
A sharp whistle suddenly echoed in the darkness.
When the whistle resounded throughout the entire cavern, from the far-reaching darkness, countless shadows approached him at high speeds. Judging from the size of the group, perhaps there were more than hundreds of them.
Twangs of bowstring burst out through the darkness, as noises of sharp object piercing through the air rang out from all directions. The arrows sliced through the air and were targeted at Greem who was covered by a raging flame all over his body.
Aww! So they were going for a gang fight!
Greem dared not underestimate his enemy. Without any hesitation, he dispelled the Fire Shield that was hovering around his body and then merged himself with the gigantic body of Demon Alligator – it looked as if he was sinking into a muddy swamp.
Right when Greem had disappeared, countless sharp arrows instantly struck at the back of Demon Alligator where he had been previously standing. All the arrowheads were flickering with a greenish glow; clearly, the arrowheads had some unknown poisons applied onto them.
Like the Demon Alligator, the Hunter’s body had also been stuck by multiple arrows, however it showed no concern at all. With both hands continuously grabbing into the air over its head, it kept forming one dirt spear after another. Each spear had a length of one and a half meter. Without stopping its movements, it fired these dirt spears into those Lizardmen who had shown themselves in the far distance.
Some of the spears were dodged by the Lizardman hunter and assassin, some shattered after hitting the stalagmites that blocked their path, and some hit right on target, eliminating the enemy in the total darkness.
It was worth mentioning that the bodies of the Lizardman were overly delicate and slender. In order not detract from the agility and speed of their movement, their body hadn’t evolved with thick and dense hard scales like some of those huge size demons. Instead, they were given layers of tiny, light, dark-green scales, whose function was only to prevent the leaking of their body temperature.
This evolution had given them with the incredible ability to move stealthily in the darkness of the Underground Cave, but it also made their defense so weak that they couldn’t even withstand a single blow. Regardless of which part of their body had been pierced through by the cup-sized dirt spear, it would instantly become a frightening injury. Their delicate bodies just weren’t able to withstand an attack like this.
As they were facing of against an Elementium Golem, made entirely of clay, the poison arrows they usually used couldn’t bring them their desired effect. Left with no other option, these Lizardman hunters were forced to pull out their short daggers and run through the rock walls and stalagmites to leap onto the giant Demon Alligator that kept pushing its way forward.
At this moment, their weakness – the lack of a magically enhanced weapon – had become clear.
Though the weapon produced from the unique underground metal was extremely sharp, most of them were overly thin and short. A weapon like this could never break through the clay armor of Demon Alligator. Numerous Lizardmen surrounded the Demon Alligator and kept attacking it, using their dagger to shed off countless dirt chunks from its clay armor. However, within seconds, following the flash of an earthy yellow light ring, the clay armor had once again been restored to its original condition.
They weren’t to defeat Demon Alligator, but Demon Alligator could easily kill them off.
Though the attack frequency of Demon Alligator was rather slow, every time it cast an AoE Spikes spell, it would always claim the lives of three to five Lizardmen. The Demon Alligator was like a massive tank that kept moving forwards, while the Lizardmen were like a group of ignorant natives who carried bamboo sticks in their hand and bamboo arrows on their back. The gap between their strengths was simply huge. Thus, the massive casualties caused by this gap was reasonable.
Finally, after more than half of the Lizardmen were either wounded or killed, a shrill whistle once again echoed out in the far distance from the darkness.
Following a few deep and hoarse roars, the Lizardmen began to retreat.
After peace had once again returned to the surroundings of the Demon Alligator, from under the covering of its thick coat, Greem finally emerged. He hesitated for a brief moment and decided not to drive Demon Alligator to pursue after the Lizardmen.
Apparently, all of the underground populations had a very strong sense of territory. Perhaps it was because he had come too close to their habitat, that caused the Lizardmen to orchestrate their violent attack. Having suffered such a huge loss, it looked like these Lizardmen had returned to their nest to focus on defense.
However, right when Greem drove Demon Alligator to continued his journey, he, due to his sensitive hearing, heard the miserable shrieks of Lizardmen coming from the far distance. It seemed as if a new round of battle had erupted in the darkness.
Nevertheless, Greem showed no interest in this. He just stood up on Demon Alligator’s back, threw a few glances over into the far distance, before continuing his journey.
Amidst a pitch-black shadow, the old Gnoll leader was hiding behind a rock pillar, looking at Greem as he strode away into the far distance. His skinny, gray, furry face showed an unconcealed expression of shock.
Behind him, one after another, the vigorous Gnolls ran through the dark and rugged cavern as if they were on a flat surface, before leaping fiercely onto the group of defeated Lizardmen. Both parties were chasing and slaughtering each other within the darkness filled with countless rock pillars and stalactites. The muffled sounds of daggers slicing through throats kept ringing in the air.
If this ambush mission had been carried out smoothly, maybe they would have at most been able to chase away that damn Lizardmen tribe from this region. At that point in time, all the profits found in the ruins would have belonged to the Gnolls.
However, Gray Ear’s mind was still felt with scruples in regards to that surface apprentice who had suddenly intruded onto the inner area of the ruin.
It waved its hand and a minion of the same species emerged from the shadows behind him.
“Go and inform Cracked Tooth in Elysium City to pass a message to his master Fallen Adept that someone is trying to enter the ruins. Tell him that the tribe of Gray Ear had failed to stop the enemy and that we’ve suffered a huge loss, while the Lizardmen tribe of Dark Scale had been totally wiped out by the enemy!” From within the darkness, a shivering gleam flickered in the bloodshot eyes of that old Gnoll, with its pale white fangs looking extremely frightening.
“Understand. Your subordinate will carry out your order now!”
After slightly bending its body and bowing, the dark figure turned around and dissolved into the vast darkness.
…………
The further inside he went, the stronger the worry in Greem’s mind became.
Front and back, left and right, even above his head and under his feet, the metal contained within the soil was getting denser and denser, while the exposed soil was becoming lesser and lesser. This also meant that if he encountered a frightening enemy in this area, it would be tougher for him to escape like how he usually did.
For him, this was bad news that he really didn’t want to hear.
But Greem had to admit, this was the perfect region to build a city.
In order to bu
ild a city once and for all in the Underground World, in addition to taking into account living resources, mineral resources and water source in the surrounding area, the most important factor to consider was the stability and toughness of the geological structure. It was really rare to find a region like this in the Underground World, which was surrounded by countless metal ores and large stretches of stable rock stratum.
Being able to find metal ores meant that the place would had a constant supply of resources which could attract the wandering merchants. The existence of a water source meant the place could support more lives. However, none of these are comparable to a stable ‘sky’. No one wished to be crushed into meat paste by millions of tons of rock and sand during his sleep!
Thus, when Snorlax had pointed out that this area was where the ruins of the previous Elysium City were, judging by just the terrain alone, it made perfect sense.
Greem had passed through several habitats of different underground creatures. Perhaps as a result of the Lizardman’s defeat, all these underground creatures gathered in the far away darkness, but no one recklessly launched an attack.
Under this intense threatening situation, the Demon Alligator had finally reached the end of its long and tiresome journey.
When Greem passed through a huge arched door riding the Demon Alligator, the space in front of him suddenly expanded, revealing a gigantic cavern filled with bizarre and fantastical colors in front of his eyes.
Chapter 90
A Forest!
There was a forest in this Underground World!
When Greem first saw this flourishing green forest, he felt dumbfounded.
His first reaction was to use a spell to check whether it was actually real. The result assured Greem and confirmed that what he saw wasn’t caused by any illusion, but was instead an actual, genuine space within this Underground World.
Greem stood at the cavern entrance and scanned the boundless and dense forest. He instinctively sensed a strange and twisted smell lingering in the air. He was standing on the dividing line. Taking a step back would bring him to a hard rock layer that was painted with darkness and a weak glow of metal; while taking a step forward would let him be greeted by greenish grass that touched his ankle, and tall trees and dense vines that tightly barricaded the passage. In addition to this, there were also rose and fruit bushes.
Vaguely, through the greenery, Greem could even see the shadows of small, tiny animals that were sprinting through the forest. In the far distance, within the depths of the forest, tree branches and leaves were swaying up and down, and the howls of monkey and roars of tigers echoed across the place. This resulted in an extremely vigorous atmosphere in the forest.
However, behind this flourishing scene, a strange energy aura could be sensed. This aura made Greem’s heart tremble.
After three seconds, Greem had come to a conclusion. This place must be the ruins of the previous Elysium City that was mentioned by Snorlax. After the Adept Tower was destroyed, a huge amount of magical energy leaked. This frightening leakage was the direct cause of what was presented in front of Greem’s eyes.
Every Adept Tower had an Elementium Pool built within it. It served as the source of energy for all their magical equipment. But once the Adept Tower was destroyed, the leakage of these energies would cause a tremendous and irreversible contamination to the surrounding environment. The abnormal energy level in this region was so strong that it had even caused the birth of this mutated forest.
Yes, this was a mutated forest. However, but not those virgin forests which could be found everywhere on the surface world.
When infected by such a strong energy, any plant or creature would violate the natural law, and grow at an incredible speed, before mutating into a totally different species. Therefore, although the forest looked normal on the outside, it was just a disguise.
This place had become the paradise for demons!
Greem took off the thick and sweltering traveler’s cloak from his body and wiped the sweat off his face. He took out his water bag and replenished his body with some water. After that, while sitting high up on the back of Demon Alligator, he slowly and carefully continued his journey by entering the forest.
From the first step into this forest, anything around him could no longer be trusted.
In fact, this seemingly blooming, evergreen demonized forest was far more fearful than the dark underground tunnel. There were far more menaces that lurked everywhere. Yet, Greem had no idea what kind of demons were waiting for him inside of this forest. However, since he had come this far, no matter what was hiding in this place, he still needed to give it a try!
It was worth to mention, that, with the support of three Pseudo-Adept level Rock Snake Golems, Greem’s heart had become bolder.
No doubt, walking in a forest that never been explored before was really tough.
The ground was choked with weeds and wildflowers. Shrubs could be seen everywhere, roses and vines climbed wantonly and some of the large tree branches stretched many meters long! All of these plants grew disorderly, tightly knitted into each other. These plants filled up every single gap between the tall and old trees. Without the Demon Alligator, it would be difficult for Greem to move even a single step in this forest.
But now, relying on the gigantic body and powerful muscle strength of the Demon Alligator, Greem was like someone who just had joined a demolishing team: crushing and ripping everything in his way. This resulted in a smooth and flat path being made in this densely grown forest.
With every step the Demon Alligator took, wildflowers, weeds, shrubs, and bushes would turn into powder. As long as a tall and old tree got in the way of the Demon Alligator, it would be knocked down and crushed. Old trees were falling down, vines began to break off and colorful leaves flew in the air.
However, countless bizarre scenes were hiding behind this seemingly normal situation.
Whenever the huge feet of the Demon Alligator crushed a patch green grass, countless indistinct and strange noises could be heard coming from underneath its feet. They sounded like the cries of a baby, yet also resembled the shrill howls of bizarre demons. It was rather unsettling and forced people to cover their ears.
When the Demon Alligator raised its feet again, Greem could see dozens of emerald green sprouts in the disc-shaped hole that was made. All the other weeds and wildflowers were crushed into a pile of greenish liquid, yet they were the only thing that survived. Not only did they survive, they even coiled up their green sprouts, like a living creature, and began to change into mouths full of sharp teeth. They began to tightly cling to the Demon Alligator’s feet and started biting like crazy.
Under their insane attack, pieces of dirt kept falling off the Demon Alligator’s feet. In addition, its feet had started to suffer some damage.
Meanwhile, right in front of Demon Alligator, some towering old trees were seen arduously pulling out their roots. They slowly ran away from the path the Demon Alligator would take later. However, there were still some fearless mutated plants who valiantly launched attacks at the Demon Alligator.
These mutated plants strongly resembled a sunflower. The only difference was the middle of the petals. At the end of the thin stalk, where the bright yellow petals were blossoming, a woman’s face could be seen mounted right at the center. Their method of attack was rather primitive, as they kept spraying out venom from their tiny mouths. This venom was not only acidic, but was smelly and sticky as well.
Many overhanging vines started to twist crazily. A frightening large mouth suddenly broke out from the end of these vines. It was full of countless tiny teeth that look frightening and sharp. If any creature passed by them, it might only take a single leap to bite off the creature’s head.
A disgusted expression emerged on Greem’s young face.
This forest was just like a gigantic beast in disguise. Once the Demon Alligator intruded, it instantly triggered all the snakes hiding in the bushes. If someone without sufficient str
ength came here by accident, they would probably find it difficult to keep even their corpse intact!
Imagine this: without the Demon Alligator, those mutated sprouts, that hid between the ordinary grass, would cut through the soles of one’s feet. They would then squeeze into the body of the creature and begin to feast on the delicious flesh. Those old trees, who could walk freely, were most probably the Dryads who existed in the legend. Once an ordinary creature was entangled by their roots, their only ending would be suffering through the pain of having their flesh devoured by these frightening trees.
As for those terrifying plants and snakes in disguise, they were just the companions of the Dryads. Although their individual strength wasn’t worth mentioning, there were a lot of them. It would be rather troublesome if Greem was caught by them.
Greem slightly tilted his head upward and pointed with his finger. Beside him, a long vine, that hung from a tall and old tree, was nearly touching him. However, with this point of a finger, a flame suddenly broke out and coiled up the vine. Within the towering and scorching flame, the vine kept twisting and struggling violently, while its ferocious mouth started letting out a strange hissing sound that made one frown.
But it was too bad. No matter how crazily it struggled, it just couldn’t escape the fate of being annihilated. The scorching flame soon devoured its body, transforming it into ashes that fell from the sky.
Perhaps realizing this intruder was tough to handle, indistinct whispering noises could be heard coming from the depths of the forest. With great effort, countless mutated plants started to flee from the area around the Demon Alligator.
After efficiently frightening these demonized plants, who had no idea of their limits, the Demon Alligator slowly and leisurely continued its journey into the depths of the forest.
After they continued for a short distance, Greem looked over his shoulder. The path they came from had once again been blocked off by those strange plants. It looked like these demonized plants were not willing to let their food slip away. They still wished to feast on Greem’s corpse.
Age of Adepts c1-1513 Page 61