Chapter 126

A gloomy breeze, carrying bloody yellow sand, blew across the pitch-black and barren land, emitting the fawning laughter of evil spirits.

Stalagmites rising from the ground connected the firmament to the earth; beneath them grew withered, yellow thorns and fungus stalks as hard as dry firewood, resembling the skeletons of giant beasts.

This is the fifth layer of the labyrinth.

The monsters living in this area were mostly helpers that Lei Ji·Delagong had picked up from outside the labyrinth.

And legend has it that only the most ferocious monsters can take root in this desolate and barbaric land.

Over the past few hundred years, countless adventurer teams, large and small, have arrived in this barbaric place known as the "Blood Arena."

Yet, other than staining the ground beneath their feet black with their own blood, they were unable to leave any trace behind...

The camp of the Skull-Crushing Tribe.

An ogre cook with a fat, bulging belly was pouring a plate of chopped-up flesh and blood into a pot, stewing it together with messy plant roots and mushrooms.

A priest draped in a skeleton cassock danced before the roaring fire, occasionally scattering the ashes of beasts into the bonfire, watching the flames hiss and shriek as they flared up.

Adventurers whose limbs had been dug out were tied to a totem pole not far away, their blood-stained faces filled with numbness and despair.

Before long, their despair came to an end.

Under the command of the ogre priest, several small goblins stepped forward, skillfully slitting the throats of those adventurers, letting their blood spill onto the encrusted totem pole, and then skewering their bodies onto a spit as thick as an arm.

"Gob!!!"

"Offerings to our King!!!"

"Awoo awoo awoo!!!"

Accompanied by human-skin drums, the goblins responsible for executing the blood sacrifice danced a war dance to please the "Great Gluttonous Monarch," their mouths emitting gibberish chants.

Looking at their compatriots being roasted by the fire, the captives locked in iron cages turned pale, their lips trembling, unable to say a word.

Bloody.

Barbaric.

And cruel!

This place is even more like hell than hell itself! Rumor has it that while demons in hell torture captives, they rarely kill them, as dead people cannot provide faith power.

In order to keep the captives' minds intact so they aren't broken, they even give those captives hope of being rescued by their compatriots.

However, these ogres are different.

They are not pleasing the Demon God they claim to worship, but the omnipotent "Great Gluttonous Monarch·Buerdada" of their imagination! And it is precisely because of that barbaric faith.

Like the rat people, they are known as the race closest to chaos.

After all, once a portion of the ogres are not full, and a portion of the ogre lords are too full, they will be targeted by the "Claws of Eternal Hunger."

And once they create excessive slaughter, with their brains filled with the desire to kill, they easily please the "Flame of Destruction" inadvertently, causing the totem of the Great Gluttonous Monarch to gradually turn into the portrait of Kaer Mandesi.

It is precisely because of that unstable spirit that they are neither accepted by humans on the surface nor tolerated by hellish society.

They are only needed when one side is at a disadvantage on the battlefield, and they are incorporated under their banner in the form of mercenaries.

Honestly, if it weren't for Lei Ji·Delagong's sudden death, Kasen·Skull-Crusher would never have thought that he, an ogre, could one day become a lord dominating a corner of hell.

Even the Fourth Demon General, "Blood Blade" Gelake, promised him—as long as he could unify the first five layers of the labyrinth, he would accept him as the Fifth Demon General!

The future Lei Ming County Labyrinth would no longer take orders from hell; they would defend this territory in their own way and offer loyalty to His Majesty the Demon God.

Although he had no interest in "offering loyalty to His Majesty the Demon God," he was very interested in ruling the first five layers of the labyrinth.

It was precisely because of this that he deliberately caused trouble at the Summit Meeting and secretly colluded with the ruler of the third layer of the labyrinth.

Sitting on a skeleton throne, Kasen·Skull-Crusher chewed on charred leg meat while fantasizing about what the thighs of dark elves tasted like.

I heard that the flesh of those pointed-eared ones carries the fragrance of fruit wood, and even without seasoning, it is tender and delicious... I wonder if it's true.

And little demons.

Ever since he saw that little demon with red hair and red eyes at the Summit Meeting, he had wanted to taste that fellow.

However, it is a pity that the new Demon King sent by hell completely disrupted his plans.

Just as he was accumulating strength to annex the fourth layer of the labyrinth, he didn't know what methods that fellow used; not only did he leave the human town alive, but he also solidified the scattered upper layers of the labyrinth into an iron plate with lightning speed.

What made him even more wary was that the new Demon King was not only capable internally but also had external methods that could not be underestimated; he not only stopped the infiltration of the southern swamp lizardmen but was even suspected of having reached an unknown tacit understanding with the internal forces of the surface human kingdom.

The Demon King's minions and human knights sitting together, chatting and laughing...

Even Lei Ji·Delagong had never managed to infiltrate the Trident Knights with corruption! If his confidant hadn't seen that scene with his own eyes, he would never have believed that such a thing was actually true!

In short—

That new Demon King from the Demon Capital cannot be underestimated in terms of strength or strategy.

He even couldn't help but suspect that that fellow had been to Lei Ming County before and had been quietly working for many years when no one knew.

Because they couldn't figure out the background of this new Demon King, the remnants of Lei Ji·Delagong also became indecisive.

He knew the nature of those demons very well; although they had thoughts of carving out a territory, they didn't dare to truly betray the Demon God—they were all a bunch of fence-sitting cowards.

If he showed a sign of weakness and the Demon King showed an intention to negotiate, they, being demons themselves, would mercilessly betray him, an outsider ogre, and push all the trouble onto him alone! Kasen·Skull-Crusher knew very well that he had no choice.

Either solve this Demon King and become the Fifth Demon General of Lei Ming County, or give up everything and get out of this labyrinth!

The war has already begun!

Just as Kasen was pondering countermeasures, a commotion suddenly came from the entrance of the camp, and a goblin ran in from outside in a panic.

Kasen recognized this cowardly and ugly face.

This goblin was the messenger he had sent to the Rock and Earth Soul Tribe to trade coal and those clay golems for metal and diamonds.

And seeing his empty hands and panicked expression, Kasen had already guessed what had happened, and his face darkened in an instant.

Looking at the monarch sitting on the skeleton throne, the goblin trembled all over, fearing he would be the target of anger, and tried to explain tremblingly.

"Res, respected Your Majesty Kasen, the Demon King suddenly attacked our allies on the third layer, and the Rock and Earth Soul Tribe has fallen... Everything happened too suddenly; our caravan had just arrived there and happened to run into the Demon King's minions... On, only this one luckily escaped with his life..."

Not wanting to look at this spineless, begging face, Kasen impatiently gave the ogre guard beside him a look.

Not a member of the cabinet, yet able to have a say in the cabinet...

"Ah—!"

Sizzle—! The sound of boiling hot oil instantly swallowed the wails of that unlucky fellow, and in a moment, it fried it until it was crispy and golden brown.

The goblin lackeys and the crowd of ogre tribesmen dancing the war dance around them either shrieked, mocked, or clapped and cheered.

Shaking his fat belly, the burly Kasen stood up from the skeleton throne.

He was like a giant among ogres, a dwarf among giants; his legs were as thick as stalagmites connecting to the firmament, his hands were as large as cattail fans, every finger was so thick it seemed unable to bend, and his skin was wrinkled like a dried-up riverbed.

Those rough, wide hands stretched out to the sides, and he conveniently picked up the two hundred-kilogram meteorite iron battle blades attached to chains.

Rusty iron chains wrapped around his barrel waist, emitting clanking sounds amidst the shouts of the ogres and the accompaniment of human-skin drums.

"Warriors of the Skull-Crushing Tribe!"

He pulled open his sonorous throat, his fat cheeks wobbling.

"Just a moment ago, our allies, the Rock and Earth Soul Tribe! Have fallen under the claws of the evil Demon King."

"This good-for-nothing fellow has never shed a drop of blood for this labyrinth! Yet he wants to snatch the land that Lei Ji·Delagong bestowed upon us! Not only have they never fought our enemies, but they have also colluded with those dirty human things!"

"This is not just the shame of the labyrinth! It is the shame of hell!! Our shame!!!"

"Tell me! What should we do?!"

The deafening roar resounded throughout the barren wilderness, carrying monstrous killing intent that swept through the entire camp like a hurricane.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

From the ogre tribesmen to the small goblin followers—

Everyone held their weapons high, emitting shouts like a dance of demons, wishing they could kill their way to the Demon King's territory right now.

Looking at the banners shaken by the roar, Kasen, with bloodshot eyes, laughed loudly and swung the meteorite iron battle blade with the chain hanging from it.

"Kill—!"

That shout stunned the demons.

Since we must fight!

Then let's fight to our heart's content!

The earth-shaking shouts of killing scared away the monsters across the wilderness, but also attracted a group of players from "Longxing Tianxia" who were grinding monsters.

Several days ago, Long Xing Wan Li discovered a secret passage into the fifth layer of the labyrinth, and the group had been using this area as a monster-grinding spot.

Now, hearing the roar that was clearly different from that of monsters, the group of players immediately followed the sound and, sure enough, discovered something unusual behind a thicket of thorns.

Looking at the brightly lit camp emitting a bloody and eerie aura, Long Xing Wan Li's face immediately revealed an expression of surprise.

"Good fellow... is this... an orc city?!"

Longxing Qianli looked through a monocular telescope bought from an NPC shop, her expression solemn as she said.

"Looks like ogres."

Longxing Baili looked at her curiously.

"How do you know?"

Qianli glanced at him and said.

"There's a text description on the official website... You couldn't have just been reading those sand-sculpture posts, could you?"

Baili smiled embarrassedly; it was clear she had hit the nail on the head.

Following beside the two skeletons, two cave spiders whispered to each other.

Failed Wuman: "Those adventurers are really miserable..."

Failed Eel: "Give up, we can't save them."

Moreover, they had no reason to do so.

Looking at their boss, Guofu Diyi Zhizhu asked in a low voice.

"Brother, what do you say? Those ogres don't seem to have green names."

Long Xing Wan Li, carrying a battle axe, flickered his gaze slightly, and after pondering for a long time, decided to retreat to advance.

"We don't know how many people are inside; it's better to sneak attack than to launch a frontal assault."

Guofu Diyi Zhizhu understood in a second. "Brothers, retreat!"

The shouts of killing from the Skull-Crushing Tribe were earth-shaking, but no matter how loud those shouts were, they couldn't reach the Demon King's territory far away in the Beifeng mine.

Regardless of how Kasen of the Skull-Crushing Tribe was indulging in wishful thinking, Luo Yan, who was packing his luggage, didn't take him to heart at all.

The Necropolis's territory was already large enough.

Before directly facing the "Four Demon Generals" of the lower labyrinth, he intended to first digest the territory he had already mastered while consolidating his own strength.

Before he was fully prepared, using the fifth layer of the labyrinth as a buffer zone was a good choice.

For one, it could allow human adventurers to exhaust the strength of the ogre tribe for him, and for another, it could stabilize the warlords in the lower labyrinth.

The longer these remnants of Lei Ji·Delagong watched, the more favorable it would be for Luo Yan, the new Demon King.

As long as a buffer zone existed, he believed those fence-sitters shouldn't be in too much of a hurry to make their final choice in a short time...

The Demon King's Magic Workshop.

After confirming one last time that all his luggage was packed, Luo Yan finally snapped the suitcase shut, picked up the handle, and left his simple and monotonous little nest.

This trip back to the Demon Capital would only last seven days; it wasn't short, but it wasn't long either.

Since going back wasn't easy, he made a list of things to do and wrote it in the notebook he carried with him.

This included visiting Priest Jiefuli, visiting Headmaster Aiwen to investigate the energy source of the Demon Capital's dome crystal, and going to the Demon Capital's slave market to scout for capable beasts of burden, etc.

Especially the latter.

His Demon King territory was really lacking in talent! Especially management talent!

Only when it was time to go on a business trip did Luo Yan discover that his subordinates were either treacherous officials with a bunch of bad ideas or idiots who were too obedient but had absolutely no ideas of their own, to the point where he couldn't even find a guy who could act as a second-in-command while he was away.

Teleportation Room.

Luo Yan stood on the teleportation array with his suitcase, instructing his subordinates who had come to see him off one by one.

"Alakeduo, I hope that during the few days I am away, you and your construction team will not slack off and will continue digging according to the plan. Also, remember to help me keep an eye on the stone men in your construction team; see what they usually eat and the impact of eating different things on their metabolic waste."

"Leave it to me, Demon King!" Facing the Demon King's instructions, Alakeduo puffed out his broad chest and guaranteed.

Luo Yan continued to look at Ouke.

"Ouke, you study engraving Nether-scripts on the stone men to see if it can enhance their performance. Also, regarding the printing press and papermaking machine I mentioned before, you and my subordinates should ponder together to see if Nether-script technology can be applied to them."

Ouke nodded and agreed quickly while hurriedly taking notes.

"No problem! Ouke guarantees to complete your task!"

Luo Yan then looked at Shala; originally there was nothing to say, but seeing those expectant eyes, he still gave a couple of instructions.

"Shala, um... I'll leave the work of looking after the house to you. If anything happens, pray to the statue I placed in the Demon King territory; I can hear it."

With Shala's current strength, there was really nothing he could ask of her, so he could only say some repetitive words.

However, a certain little kitten didn't seem to think so; not only did she firmly remember this sentence as if it were some kind of mission, but she also nodded her head seriously and said.

"As you command! Demon King!"

Looking at that obviously overly serious appearance, Luo Yan reached out and gently patted her fluffy hair, saying casually.

"No need to be so nervous, don't do anything unnecessary; I'll be back in a week at most."

As for the people of the Nightmare Homeland and the Gray Wind Tribe, there was no need to notify them separately; he was just going on a business trip, no need to make everyone know.

After explaining the things that needed attention, Luo Yan signaled for his subordinates to retreat outside the teleportation room.

At this moment, Shala, standing by the teleportation array, hesitated for a long time before finally opening her mouth in a voice that was hard to speak.

"Um... Demon King."

"Is there any other problem?"

"When you go back this time... will you see your fiancée?"

Fiancée? What is that? Luo Yan was slightly stunned for a moment, and it took him a long time to realize that he seemed to have said that casually at the time just to dismiss the Queen of the Nightmare Homeland...

Has this already made everyone know? Seeing that it wasn't just Shala who was curious about this, but also Ouke, Alakeduo, and a group of subordinates who were all looking over curiously, Luo Yan finally coughed and said in a majestic voice.

"My return this time has nothing to do with the engagement; it is mainly to solve the problem of the crystal dome on the fourth layer of the labyrinth."

To avoid spreading more troublesome rumors, he chose not to clarify the rumors.

Upon hearing this, the cat ears on top of Shala's head swayed left and right, and her face seemed to reveal an expression of relief.

As for Alakeduo and Ouke, they were slightly regretful.

"That is truly a pity; Alakeduo thought that when the Demon King returned next time, he would be able to see the Mistress and the little master..."

"Isn't it an engagement? Ouke thought you were going back this time to welcome Miss Mi Ya..."

Luo Yan looked at these two idiots with black lines on his forehead; because there were too many things to complain about, he didn't know where to start, so he could only skip this topic and say.

"Is there any other problem?"

"No!"

"Take care! Demon King!"

"Ouke will wait for your return!"

Looking at the servants seeing him off, Luo Yan waved his hand in response, then injected magic power into the teleportation array, bathing in a pool of eerie green light.

The teleportation array is starting up.

Once the teleportation array on the Demon Capital side is also fully charged, a path across subspace will form between the two arrays, achieving point-to-point interconnection.

Although this method of teleportation consumes a huge amount of energy and is easily interfered with, it is very efficient, especially suitable for long-distance delivery of a small number of elite cadres and strategic materials.

Looking at the increasingly blurred light and shadow in the teleportation room, Luo Yan suddenly sighed softly and said.

"You You, tell me how to trick more real talent into working for me."

You You said in a low voice.

"Doesn't that Miranda you tricked recently count?"

Luo Yan said.

"It counts, but it's too few."

You You continued in a low voice.

"Demon King... You You still thinks that talent can only be attracted; you can't trick them, right?"

Luo Yan thought for a while, pondering that this statement indeed had some truth, so he sighed in resignation.

"That's true."

You You said, laughing and crying.

"Don't give up so quickly, Demon King; you are destined to become a god—"

Before You You's voice had even faded, the Demon King, carrying his suitcase, turned into a ray of emerald green light and disappeared with a "pop" in the center of the magic array.

Watching the colorful light particles fly past him like a kaleidoscope, Luo Yan only felt as if the entire planet had flipped over on its own beneath his feet, instantly crossing the Vortex Sea and the Vast Ocean, sending him from the hinterland of human society to the deepest part of hell.

At the same time, in the Demon King Management Division of the Demon Capital's Internal Affairs Department, Deputy Director Gelien, standing outside the teleportation room, revealed an expression of surprise.

"This magic fluctuation..."

It's actually Bai Yin Tier?! Unbelievable—

He clearly remembered that the last time they met, that popular junior was merely a Bronze Tier human.

Is it because he is carrying some treasure in his luggage?

Or the egg of a high-tier monster...

Gelien fell into deep thought.

Because it was too inconceivable to rise from Bronze to Bai Yin in two months, he didn't even think in that direction at all.

And at the same time, in the center of the teleportation array.

The eerie green light pouring out from the array eye gradually condensed into a solid, like a sharp blade cutting a wound in space, welcoming the Demon King who had flown over ten thousand kilometers.

The scene before him gradually became clear; Luo Yan, holding his breath, slowly exhaled the turbid air in his chest, let go of the suitcase he was holding, and gently moved his shoulders.

The experience of traveling through the teleportation array was not very good; to describe it specifically, it was like condensing the "torture of sitting on a flight for a dozen hours" into a few seconds and infinitely extending it in the spiritual world.

Before graduation, he wondered why demons didn't just use teleportation arrays to move, instead making some flashy flying horse-drawn carriages.

Now it seems it's not that high-tier demons aren't smart, but that he, who hadn't seen the world, lived too sloppily and didn't understand the goodness of private jets.

"Giggle..."

Familiar laughter suddenly came from the shadows not far away, interrupting Luo Yan's thoughts and making the latter, who had just stood firm, feel a chill down his spine.

Realizing something, Luo Yan turned around and looked in the direction the sound came from, and sure enough, he saw a familiar figure.

Supple pink long hair hung on her shoulders like silk, the ends slightly curled, tilting upward with a hint of demonic cunning. And the demon horns, wings, and tail that truly declared her identity as a high-tier demon were hidden by her without a trace using magic.

Luo Yan could see that this old classmate had changed quite a bit.

Whether it was her style of dressing, the temperament from the inside out, or even the scent of perfume she inadvertently emitted, it was far different from the frivolity of her student days.

Only those wine-red heart-shaped pupils and the charm passive she released, whether intentionally or unintentionally, were still the same as ever, regardless of the occasion.

Pity.

The current Luo Yan was no longer the stubborn Bronze Tier he once was; even without stacking a mental resistance BUFF on himself, he could easily exempt himself from the influence of this level of mental-type magic.

However, a certain demon didn't know this.

Looking at Luo Yan, who was "stunned in place," the smile on Mi Ya's face became even brighter, as if her prank had succeeded.

She giggled, looked him up and down with a provocative gaze, covered her lips, and said.

"Long time no see, dear classmate Luo Yan."

"Or should I change the way I address you—"

"For example, the respected 'Bronze Demon King'~?"

(End of chapter)