Chapter 341
Chapter 341: An ancient magical formation
Celt certainly felt like his luck had run dry lately. Really, it was almost like he was the epitome of bad luck! This trip to the Dark Forest should’ve been a rich experience, fat with loot and rewards. There was no way he would’ve expected to encounter setbacks by the dozen.
To begin, the Dark Mantle had seemingly set their eyes on him the second he’d set foot in the Dark Forest. They stuck to him like a bunch of irritating flies, never leaving him or his group unwatched. When he’d finally managed to loot the den of a golden dragon, an elusive expert had come along to pursue him. That battle had cost him his steed, as well as his ear.
Even that fire grand magus Marceau, who he’d taken great effort to invite, had inexplicably disappeared. Her two disciples wouldn’t stop nattering about her all day either, so that hadn’t helped his mood.
Finally when he’d reached the underground world, Celt had assumed that he could take advantage of his superior forces to easily subdue that creature. Yet once again, he’d encountered a severe setback. Even after three consecutive attempts, they’d failed to occupy the magic crystal mine. Other than three hundred injured men, they’d gained nothing.
In the end, his low numbers had forced him into an alliance with the dark elves that disgusted him so. His pride and arrogance had taken a severe blow in the last few days, and he intended to rectify that shortly. He would vent all his ill humor by seizing the magic crystal mine and thoroughly torturing any lizardmen who dared to block his path.
“Mister Celt, I hope you can appreciate and cherish this opportunity that you’ve been blessed with. It’s not very often we dark elves are willing to work with others.” A refined, elegantly attired male dark elf was speaking to Celt. A natural intricate web of creases and folds decorated his left cheek, and a tuft of a beard grew from his chin. All in all, the effect made him look a bit sinister.
This male dark elf’s outfit was that of a noble, gorgeous and luxurious. A black magic staff was lazily gripped in his left hand as his slow words reached Celt.
Celt’s face clouded over. He ordered the knights to stop when they were about to reach the gourd-shaped mountain guarded by the lizardmen. Turning his head to glance at the elegant male dark elf, he said in a neutral tone, “Distinguished Sir Arlen, you should know that we are acting in mutual benefit this time, and not that I’ve begged you to come with me.”
“Our aim is the magic crystal mine, while you dark elves would be equally happy to see large numbers of the lizardmen eradicated. If that strange creature continues to protect the lizardmen, it won’t be an easy matter for you to occupy their territory. That creature is afraid of flame, so I hope you’ve prepared enough goblin missiles, or we can just turn back right now.”
Completely unruffled, Arlen looked coldly at the lizardmen and mocked, “Lowly lizardmen who don’t know their place! All your race knows is brute strength. The likes of you can only serve as our domestic animals!”
Celt could not be any less interested in the bickering between the dark elves and the lizardmen. As the leader of the Redbud Knights, he held the title of marquis in the Brut Empire. He’d lost all patience by now as he interrupted Arlen’s speech, speaking to Kassel, “We’re familiar with the inside, lead the way.”
Kassel nodded. He understood that as a traitor to the druids, joining the Redbud Knights meant absolute devotion to the leader. Kassel charged forward as soon as Celt finished speaking, his body shifting into the form of an enormous eagle in mid-air.
The Redbud Knights abandoned their horses and followed Kassel to charge towards the gourd mountain caves. When he saw his men already deployed, Celt turned to dark Arlen with some displeasure, “Distinguished Sir Arlen, shouldn’t you be taking action already?”
“I don’t need you to remind me.” Arlen didn’t put on a good face either for humans. Although he admitted that humans was more advanced than the dark elves in some areas, humans were still known for being despicable and shameless. Their notorious reputation in the underground world was more infamous than even the batmen.
“Let’s move!” Dana smiled charmingly as she gave the order to her lackeys. The branch of dark elves answering to her rushed out ahead, aiming fine arrows straight at the lizardmen.
Just as Dana’s elves took action, the numerous dark elves behind her divided into teams and charged the gourd mountain. A part of them stayed behind with Arlen.
Frowning as he watched at the conflict break out, Arlen felt something was amiss. He spoke to Celt nearby, “As long as that damned creature appears, our goblin missiles will end its life along with the gourd mountain.”
“I hope so!” Celt didn’t respond much to Arlen’s egoism. He too looked down on the lizardmen just as Arlen did, and included the dark elves in this disdain as well.
In the human world aboveground, be it the dark elves or the forest elves, they were all enslaved objects. Human claimed themselves to be the center of all things, raising the dark elves as domesticated help. Aristocrats such as Celt even had one or two young and beautiful dark elves serving at them at home.
The vigorous lizardmen immediately retreated back to their caves just as the Redbud Knights and the dark elves mounted their assault. Several dark elves carried enormous bundles on the backs. Han Shuo surmised that those must be the goblin missiles he’d seen before.
Looking at their postures, it seemed that they intended to throw those massive bombs directly inside the gourd mountain, trying to blow up that enormous creature along with all of the lizardmen in one go.
Han Shuo’s spirit could sense the seething anger of the creature inside. He knew it wouldn’t be able to worry about too many things at once, so he once again summoned the earth elite zombie and commanded it to sneak into the gourd mountain.
The earth elite zombie sank into the ground, and was no longer obstructed and chased back by that strange force this time. As there was a very high number of Redbud Knights and dark elves inside the gourd mountain, it was impossible for the strange, powerful creature to sense and scan every single one.
In addition, its rage had reached the peak and finally boiled over. The piercing sound of its howling cry rumbled out from the depths of the mountain. The whole gourd mountain seemed to shake beneath its howl. Han Shuo was worried that the thin bottom of the mountain would not be able to support the upper part of the mountain and crumble away.
Han Shuo attached the only yin demon he had to the earth elite zombie. He could see the situation underground through the earth elite zombie’s vision, but since it had yet to reach the main combat area, the zombie couldn’t send any useful information. Han Shuo could only place his attention on the Redbud Knights and dark elves alliance.
In Han Shuo’s view, the strength of the Redbud Knights far exceeded that of the dark elves, be it their equipment or individual power. They wore bulky armor, yet their speed still outstripped the sparsely dressed dark elves even without the support of the horses.
The knights all possessed cold and confident looks, having been through various battles. Their bodies were that of true warriors, sturdy with restrained viciousness. Each knight formed either triangle or diamond shaped formations as they charged, complementing their comrades while helping themselves run swiftly. This helped them avoid ambushes from the sides and the rear.
The arrogant dark elves fell far behind in this aspect. They still messily charged forward like a swarm of bees, their tactics unchanged in the last thousand years. The dark elves had resided in the underground world for who knew how long, yet had never fought hand in hand in proper formations like the humans, let alone coordinating skillfully with each other.
As Han Shuo observed the battle, he suddenly saw a scene on his mind. He immediately understood that the earth elite zombie had cleared all the underground obstacles and had reached that powerful creature’s location beneath the gourd mountain.
The earth elite zombie was showing Han Shuo his line of sight from beneath the enormous creature. The first thing it conveyed was a huge, ancient octagonal magical formation up above. A much smaller, also octagonal array lay in each corner of the formation. Each small array was filled with magic elements.
A ten meter long, enormous reddish brown tail was in the center of the formation. The tail itself was like a small hill entrenched in the formation. Circles of colorful lightning shot out of the formation, as if restricting it, whenever it struggled.
“Can it be that the huge creature is being sealed beneath this gourd-shaped mountain by this formation? If the goblin missiles destroy this mountain, won’t the imprisoning formation be broken?” Han Shuo’s heart spasmed with shock as he thought worriedly.