Chapter 1408
At this moment, Leon had already led everyone to the entrance of the underground world.
After finding a safe spot, Leon immediately began setting up a super teleportation array to cross space. At times like this, concerns about exposure no longer mattered.
If the Blood Elf King caught them, they could only hope for a quick death. It was obvious how furious the Blood Elf King would be, and what would happen if those deranged Blood Elves went completely mad...
The teleportation array spanning space was swiftly set up. The group vanished from the array, and as soon as they disappeared, the array exploded into dust with a thunderous boom. A silver-white spatial rune appeared, turning into a shockwave that swept across a kilometer, erasing every trace left behind.
A few minutes later, the Blood Elf King appeared in midair, looking even more battered, with one arm missing. Staring at the faint traces left behind, he let out a furious roar toward the sky.
"Pureblood dragons, I’ll have your heads—every last one of you!"
A blood-red ripple radiated from the Blood Elf King. Instantly, every living thing within a dozen kilometers died as their bodies exploded, plants withered, and a suffocating aura of death and blood filled the air.
Realizing he could no longer track them, the Blood Elf King’s eyes turned bloodshot, his face twisted, and he vanished without a trace...
Leon and the others returned to Northend, appearing in the central region of the Odin Kingdom, not far from where they had entered before. Beneath their feet was a colossal teleportation array, spanning over a kilometer—only such a massive array could support this kind of teleportation.
Strictly speaking, the underground world is also part of Northend. The two worlds share the same origin, yet they are considered independent realms. Pathways between planes are nearly unusable now—only these massive teleportation arrays can handle such transfers.
The instant they arrived, Leon spat out a spatial rune, shaking the surrounding space and completely destroying the massive teleportation array beneath them, eliminating any chance of being tracked.
Once everything was done, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief. Leon glanced at Marianne—the little one showed no sign of fear, her mind occupied with thoughts just like Xuban: food, food, and more food...
Damn, I nearly got played to death by a kid for no reason. Turns out the Void Blood Pool was created by the Seventy-Third Deity. Now it seems likely the origin of the Blood Elves was also the handiwork of the Seventy-Third Deity...
After descending to the underground world, the Seventy-Third Deity found a group of elves—maybe once natural elves or some other kind—and used his power to corrupt them all, turning them into a new race: the Blood Elves, further empowered by the Void Blood Pool.
He set the Blood Elves to guard the entrance to the ruins. If nothing went wrong, no one would disturb his resurrection until the Seventy-Third Deity fully returned...
Leon instantly deduced the general course of events—and his guess was ninety-nine percent the truth. The Blood Elves were one of the Seventy-Third Deity’s backup plans.
But this world is full of surprises. The Blood Elf King’s city wasn’t built at the ruins’ entrance; only a mid-sized Blood Elf city stood there.
Maybe the Seventy-Third Deity just tossed the Void Blood Pool into some elf tribe fleeing underground, corrupting the whole tribe and creating the Blood Elves. Or maybe Blood Elves already existed here, but they gained the Void Blood Pool near the ruins’ entrance.
After that, the Blood Elves rose to power. The immense blood magic of the Void Blood Pool gave them terrifying defenses and boosted their strength. Every aspect of Blood Elf society that needed blood magic was sustained by the Void Blood Pool.
This Mythic Artifact has no direct combat power—it’s just an incomprehensibly vast reservoir of magical energy. But that’s enough to guard the entrance to the ruins.
The Blood Elves built an enormous defensive network and an impregnable royal city. This was likely the Seventy-Third Deity’s first line of defense in the underground world—the strongest, most obvious barrier.
Unfortunately, the true history can’t be traced, but it’s clear something went wrong. The Blood Elves didn’t put their strongest defenses at the ruins’ entrance, so the first line of defense became mere decoration. With a bit of trickery, Leon made the entrance practically unguarded.
The fact that Marianne could summon the Void Blood Pool also proves something: the Blood Elf King never truly mastered the Void Blood Pool—he could only use it, and maybe track its location.
Now that they've crossed into another realm, no matter how capable that old bastard Blood Elf King is, he can’t sense the location of an artifact that isn’t his. Marianne could pull out the Void Blood Pool and play with it like a toy, and it’d be fine.
Just imagining the Blood Elf King’s rage, Leon figured those big lizards in the underground world must have gotten thoroughly screwed. If the Blood Elf King doesn’t bash the pureblood dragons’ brains out, this mess won’t be over.
For now, forget about returning to the underground world. Who knows what tricks the Blood Elf King might have left behind? Maybe he’s already caught their scent or their blood. If he has, then any time they show up in the underground world, that old bastard will sense them instantly.
Back in Northend, they were finally safe. Daenoson and Rives soon parted ways with Leon. Even though Marianne got them into a mess this time, no one dared to venture into the underground world for a while. Still, the haul was incredible—the rare materials they’d gathered could rival Northend’s annual output for years.
This chapter isn’t over yet~.~ Click next page to keep reading!
Some rare materials are so scarce that finding two or three kilograms a year in all of Northend is considered lucky. This time, everyone casually picked up thirty or forty kilograms—and that’s just what each person had on hand.
Leon dug up more rare materials than Daenoson and Rives combined. Plus, with Marianne and a Mythic Artifact in tow, this haul was more than anyone could hope for...
"Archmage Leon Merlin, I hope you’ll have time to visit the Chester Family—and of course, Marianne is welcome too. Our family has the largest number of magical beasts in all of Northend..."
Even as Daenoson was leaving, he made sure to ingratiate himself with Marianne. His family’s painstakingly raised magical beasts were even offered up as barbecue for her...
After Daenoson left, Rives was even more direct.
"Archmage Leon Merlin, I look forward to our full cooperation. Storm Tower can acquire many materials from the Endless Sea—I’m sure you’ll be interested..."
After Rives left, Leon squinted at his departing figure, raising his estimation of Rives yet another notch. Clearly, Rives was the smart one—he knew that building a good relationship with Leon was what mattered most. As their two factions deepened cooperation, the ties grew closer, eventually forming a mutually beneficial alliance—the best possible outcome.
As long as Leon’s relationship with the Gilded Rose grew, so would his ties to Marianne.
Still, Leon couldn’t shake the feeling that Rives valued him more than Marianne...
Rives was far smarter, bolder, and more perceptive than Daenoson—no need to dwell on it.
With no way to reenter the underground world soon, Leon didn’t care if others had noticed this place. It didn’t matter anymore—the path to the underground world was exposed. In this era, there aren’t many ways to enter, but there are definitely two or three methods out there.
Anyone who enters the underground world right now—well, good luck to them...
In fact, the underground world had plunged into chaos. The Blood Elves lost the Void Blood Pool, and the Blood Elf King, in a fury, launched a full-scale war—not just against the pureblood dragons, but also the beastkin...
Anyone whose territory borders the Blood Elves, anyone with a history of conflict, anyone with the means or motive—every one of them became a target for the Blood Elves’ madness.
Without the Void Blood Pool, the Blood Elves’ proud city defenses lost their magic supply. Battles were no longer stalemates—this war was especially fierce. Losing the Void Blood Pool drove the Blood Elves completely insane.
Centuries of grudges and hatred erupted all at once. Like Leon said, unless a forty-ninth-level powerhouse gets their brains bashed out, this mess won’t be over...
But for now, it had nothing to do with Northend.
Leon quietly left central Odin. Soon after, he received intelligence from Thorned Crown—turns out, many factions were gathering in central Odin, having noticed something. But that didn’t concern Leon much.
Back in Neverwinter City, everything was normal. Nothing major had happened during his absence. The Gilded Rose’s growth had slowed, but it was more stable, and more powerful factions were signing long-term partnership contracts.
As time passed, the effects of the Azure Mana Elixir and Radiant Mana Elixir became clear. With enough mana recovery, battles lasted longer, and the ability to alter the outcome of a fight was beyond question.
Longer battles meant more combat experience. With plenty of mana as a backup, fighting styles changed too. Any mage with the Azure Mana Elixir was far stronger than before.