MMORPG: The Elementalist

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Qin Ruo had considerable luck!

Recently, he had been troubled with discovering the actual location for the portal to the Buried City. However, Edgar told him that the portal was mostly hidden underground or in the bowels of mountains, not easily found out by humans. Furthermore, it would be guarded by several high-tier Undead and several Liches—in the unknown of the Underworld, Qin Ruo could do nothing on his own to find the portal from all those Underworld caverns…

He was convinced that the only thing he could do was level up and reach Tier 6 as soon as possible, or simply escape the Underworld when a large batch of players entered.

However, Windy Groan, the Netherspirit's Claw traitor revealed an important detail to him: he has the confirmed location of the portal!

Unbelievable…

Qin Ruo could tell from Windy Groan's eyes that he certainly was not lying, just as he had no reason to lie or the ability to set a trap.

After listening intently to the coordinates provided, Qin Ruo left the camp without a word—he was not about to miss a single chance to leave the damned place as soon as he could, even if there was a mere fraction of that chance.

Though he was confident in Violet Orchid and the others and did not believe that Netherclaw could do anything to Fallen Angels, Netherspirit's Claw Clan could inflict a heavy blow upon them if they had the thought! Qin Ruo was aware that Netherclaw's schemes could only be stopped if he left the Underworld and appeared in the Mythical Continent!

That was why he chose to trust in Windy Groan and see things for himself at the place he described…

***

The place where Windy Groan found the portal was very special—it was a large, hollow valley filled with cavities just like a beehive, and rather conspicuous!

He had confirmed the location with Captain Edgar that it was more than sixty kilometers away from the camp. When he found the target, he was profoundly shocked by the aesthetical mountains…

Its surface was dozens of times larger than Galbis's Lair! One could see upon a single glance that it was filled with dozen thousands of pores-like cavities with varying sizes, each cavern guarded by menacing high-tier undead guards. As if a forest of blades, it was a place most heavily guarded in the Underworld!

Looking down from above, Qin Ruo could clearly see countless Undead gathering from every direction of the valley…

Undead of all sizes entered different cavities, shambling yet solemn!

Keeping a distance from Hellhounds as he approached the valley, Qin Ruo could actually see what was happening inside from the less guarded cavities.

One would be ignorant if they did not look, but startled if they did!

Undead of all varieties and darkness filling the inside of the valley left even Qin Ruo inhaling sharply on sight, his heart shuddering as he threw away any thoughts of making an approach!

Damn it!

It was as if it was a superior central camp for Undead, and Qin Ruo projected that the massive mountain chain could hold at least hundreds and thousands of undead… if every spot was occupied by them.

A hundred thousand undead…

How does that even work?

Having both high-tier Vampires and Skeleton Dragons meant that there were both airborne and land forces. No wonder Windy Groan was killed off at once when he entered the mountain…

There was no telling how many Bosses was hidden amongst those innumerable Undead. Would a Tier 5 Bandit not be discovered and killed at once if he entered? Qin Ruo himself could hardly ensure his own safety if he was to go inside: that damned place is not one to be entered by typical Tier 5 players.

Qin Ruo even began suspecting if Windy Groan was right. The Bandit had claimed that there was only one portal linked to the Buried City, and it was not the portal said to have been prepared by the Underworld meticulously for countless years, directed towards the Mythical Continent!

Though one could leave the Underworld from both portals, the circumstances around them were distinctly different! The level of guards and the number of Liches were utterly different…

Furthermore, the Buried City was under complete control of players in the Mythical Continent. Every zone was covered by player groups and there would be no great danger wherever they appeared.

On the other hand, portal directly connected to the Mythical Continent was guarded by Liches and uncountable undead, with the risk of death being a hundred percent!

Stopping dozens of meters away from the mountains, Qin Ruo thought for half a beat before deciding to ask Windy Groan on voice for more details about how things were inside. He would then choose whether he should take the risk to investigate the place, or just spread his Angelic Wings to lure the Undead outside for a look.

But just as he hesitated, his danger sense tingled…

His extra long-range sense suddenly caught two familiar figures that had entered his perception boundary!

"Lich!"

Damn it!

His cover was blown!

Without another word, Qin Ruo at once turned and flew away, gliding toward the opposite direction with his Aqua Wings and slowly leave the pursuing Liches behind.

***

In terms of speed, Liches were comparable to an Angelic Wing fighter, but helpless against Aqua Wings. It could only watch as the human intruder that had invaded their territory for more than half a minute to distance itself, turning back in disappointment.

Still, their chase left a frown on Qin Ruo's brow.

"Troublesome."

As expected, the defense around the portal was at extreme levels. The Liches here were not fools like those in the Buried City that kept guarding the same passageway either—they were versatile, pragmatic and unrestrained. With Qin Ruo's ability now, it was already difficult for him to fight one, much less two… and he still had to fight with the Purification Potion Yaegar brewed for him.

"Are you sure how many Liches are inside?" Qin Ruo called Wind's Groan on voice.

In terms of lurking, the Aquamancer could not perform better than a top-level Bandit since his Aquamorph was not actual Stealth: any with slight ability could sense his presence if he ever approached. Without any defense barrier, even more than two thousand HP would not get him safely inside the mountain.

Even so, Windy Groan was left astonished when he received Qin Ruo's call… It was less than an hour since he had left camp, and he had already arrived at the destination!

Breathing deeply to calm his shock, he replied, "I'm not sure. I was shaken the moment I saw how things were inside! It was so vast inside and there were so many Undead that I simply could not see anything clearly. I've no idea how many Liches there are, but there is definitely more than two of them…"

Qin Ruo furrowed his brow quietly. Once he remembered the astonishing sight he had seen then, he realized he could understand Windy Groan.

"What's the general location of the portal?"

"The most center!" Winder Groan answered swiftly. "There was an empty chunk at the middle then…"

'Middle?'

Qin Ruo was frowning again. That made things difficult: if he entered from one of the cavities, he would have to fly at least seven to eight hundred meters under the assault of countless high-tier Undead to reach the center of the mountain range.

It was a pipe dream!

Qin Ruo's heart sunk to the bottom of the valley at once…

Such a place was clearly not meant to be entered by any Tier 5 player. It would be an overestimation of his own ability—even the Demigod champions would have to go through all sorts of trouble and sacrifice considerably to enter.

Even an entire part of Tier 5 champions could hardly make their way in…

Unless.

A stratagem flashed in his mind. Qin Ruo was not sure that the idea was impossible.

"You're quite sure about the situation here… Do you think that there are any fine methods to get us out of the Underworld?"

"Me?"

Windy Groan was taken slightly aback—he never thought that Qin Ruo would ask him about that, but soon quickly muttered, "Hmm… it would be better if there are just two Liches."

"We could slowly grind…"

"Hmm?"

"What I meant was I've noticed that the Undead inside seem to be heading to the Buried City through the portal in every single second. Of course, it could be the Mythical Continent too, I'm not sure where the portal is directed… but the Undead are definitely moving toward the portal in every moment."

"…"

Qin Ruo nodded silently. Windy Groan was right about that.

The Undead in the mountains would definitely decrease because hordes of them were being directed inside. If the rate of teleported Undead was lower than their movement, most of them would be held up outside, and the queue would keep growing.

That was a confirmed fact…

As he expected!

Windy Groan shared the same idea with Qin Ruo: Both of them intended slay the Undead inside to reduce their numbers. As long as the hordes that were entering could not catch up while those already inside were swiftly teleported away, it would be less difficult for them to enter the portal…

But there was one lethal flaw to that solution: a lack of manpower!

The surface of the valley was too vast for one Aquamancer and one Bandit to thin the ranks of the horde. Furthermore, their efforts would go to waste once they rest.

It was what worried Qin Ruo the most as well…

Realizing the issue, both were silent for a while.

Suddenly, Windy Groan's hesitant voice sounded.

"Boss Qin, can I ask you something?"

"If it has anything to do with leaving the Underworld, ask away," Qin Ruo replied flatly. While they were both in the same desperate situation, Qin Ruo had not reached the point of mutual trust with Windy Groan—at least, Qin Ruo was not too trusting of the Bandit who once served Netherclaw.

"When I first died in the dark thorn thickets, the sudden stampeded of Skeleton Warriors… was it your making?"

Boom!

Like a clap of thunder, Windy Groan's question jolted Qin Ruo, who had been troubled how he should reduce the numbers of Undead in the mountains.

"Silly me! Why didn't I think of that?!"

Qin Ruo delightedly knocked himself on his own head, his heart infinitely thrilled.

He had been using his Angelic Wings to lure Undead over the last few days, so how did he forget about such an obvious solution when he was so close to a camp where Undead was gathered?

"Windy Groan."

Qin Ruo's laughter sounded in the voice channel. "If you indeed left the Netherspirit's Claws on your own will… it is truly their loss."