At the north-south border between The Empire and The Federation
—a central continental belt equivalent to Earth’s equator—lies an ancient forest stretching nearly ten thousand miles from north to south, known as the 【Myriad Forest】, famed as the “Spine of the Continent.”
(It is called the “Spine of the Continent” because the Myriad Forest sits at a higher elevation and its position on the Divine Crystal Continent is like a backbone.)
The Myriad Forest is home to countless intelligent races and hundreds of millions of living beings. They maintain positive political and trade relations with both the Southern Federation and the Northern Empire, yet belong to neither, existing as an unrestricted, neutral, and free faction.
While it is said to be neutral and free, based on the World Rule of the survival of the fittest, some races that truly struggle to protect themselves will still seek the shelter of a powerful benefactor. And the mightiest benefactor in the Myriad Forest… is undoubtedly the Elf Clan, who possess the World Item, the 【Sky Tree】, without question.
But even the Elves, gentle, beautiful, and long-lived, enjoying extremely high courtesy and respect from the world in this relatively peaceful era, have a worry that keeps them awake at night.
…This worry is a grim problem that concerns the very future of the Elf race.
Just like Nidhogg, the black dragon in Norse mythology that gnaws at the roots of the World Tree and brings about Ragnarok, the roots of their 【Sky Tree】 are also coveted by a dragon!
Death Demon Dragon, Ralgas!
The Demon Dragon lairs in the largest underground city beneath the Myriad Forest, normally taking pleasure in killing commissioned adventurers and arrogant heroes who come seeking fame through a single battle. It hoards countless rare treasures and is a tyrant of the Myriad Forest.
Still unsatisfied, it began commanding countless Trolls and Goblins to serve it, continuously expanding the scale of the underground city, until it transformed into an immensely vast and complex underground labyrinth… and the direction of its expansion headed straight for the roots of the Sky Tree!
Relying on the labyrinth’s complex terrain, a withering death aura that is practically the natural enemy of the Elves, and the strength of the Demon Dragon Ralgas at Lv88, unless the Elf Clan is willing to mobilize entirely at any cost to encircle and suppress it, they can only
watch helplessly as the Demon Dragon extends its claws toward the Sky Tree’s roots, turning the world-class item that the Elf Clan has inherited for over a hundred thousand years into nourishment to strengthen itself…
?
Due to elemental affinities, even the Elf Clan’s sole Lv100 combatant could do nothing to Ralgas. However, even if it meant waging the most brutal war in a century, rallying all the forest’s allies, the Elves were determined to pay any price to eradicate… or at least drive the Demon Dragon away.
But what the Elf Clan didn’t know was…
an Aether Wormhole launched from the Eternal Mineshaft appeared within the Demon Dragon’s Underground Labyrinth.
And it emerged directly in the throne room, right before the eyes of the lightly sleeping Death Demon Dragon Ralgas…
“……Hm?”
The Demon Dragon slightly opened its pair of massive dragon eyes, filled with doubt, looking at the strange, vase-shaped entrance that had appeared below the throne without a sound.
What is this? Since when?
Ralgas stared for two seconds, then raised its dragon head. The low growl that spilled from its abyss-like giant maw almost instantly whipped up a hurricane within the underground palace.
“Summon the Trolls!”
Three Trolls, standing at least five or six meters tall, fully armed with armor and giant axes, quickly rushed in from outside the hall. The moment they entered, they dropped heavily to one knee, shouting with fanaticism and awe: “Lord Demon Dragon!”
“What is this object? Why has it appeared in my throne room?!”
The lead Troll trembled with fear. “…Reporting to Lord Demon Dragon, the small ones have been guarding outside the hall the entire time, allowing nothing inside! This… we do not know!”
“Heh, which blind insect dared to set the exit of a Teleportation Array within my underground city? However… this teleportation magic can actually be sustained for so long…?”
Ralgas narrowed its dragon eyes, which glinted with cruelty, as if slightly piqued with interest.
“You, go down and look!”
The Troll designated by Ralgas’s raised dragon claw shuddered all over. He slowly lifted his eyes, looking at the strange vase-shaped entrance twenty meters away…
Going down, there was still a chance to live, but disobeying the Death Demon Dragon’s command would certainly mean being consumed by Dragon Breath and dying an extremely painful death… The Troll, having no other choice, swallowed his saliva, raised his giant axe, and stood up.
“Wait!” Ralgas suddenly said.
Because at that very moment, the vase-shaped Wormhole merely flashed with white light.
Immediately after, two Giant Crows carrying eight Moles, along with six Void Crows, brazenly appeared right in the middle of the Demon Dragon and the Trolls…
Mole: “Squeak squeak—?”
Crow: “Caw—?”
Trolls, Demon Dragon: “???”
Considering that the “energy levels” and “size” of the Mole King and Giant Crow Leader were still too large, the first wave of scouts from the Eternal Mineshaft were all just insignificant Pawns.
The Pawns of the Eternal Mineshaft would certainly not be considered weak on the surface. The Void Crows possessed powerful combat abilities; even if outmatched, they should have been able to retreat unscathed upon encountering a strong foe.
But what no one expected was that not only were they discovered the moment they emerged, but by the worst possible luck, they ran right into the greatest scourge of the Myriad Forest… the Death Demon Dragon Ralgas!
The Moles and Crows stared blankly at the Demon Dragon glaring down at them with its fierce, bell-like eyes…
Aside from surprise and the unexpected, they showed no fear of this Demon Dragon at all.
Having lived in the Earth’s core before this, they had seen dragons before… Magma Dragons, Earth Dragons, even Diamond Dragons… but the outcome was always the same: they all became a meal for that Guardian of the Fourth Layer of the Eternal Mineshaft…
So, as they stared eye-to-eye with the Demon Dragon, they astonishingly felt no sense of fright or fear…
“ROAR Haaaaa——————！！”
After a second of dead silence in the air,
The Demon Dragon said nothing, initiating with a rolling blast of Dragon Breath. That demonic black flame was a deathly breath that even the Elves were helpless against.
Although unafraid of dragonkind, they instinctively sensed mortal danger. The Moles and Crows shrieked, wanting to flee back to the Wormhole, but unfortunately, the Dragon Breath was aimed precisely at its entrance, forcing them to scatter and dodge…
The slow, heavy Dragon Breath didn’t hit anyone; instead, it spread out, quickly forming a circular barrier of flame that sealed off the Wormhole…
“Capture them!”
In an instant, more and more Trolls and Hobgoblins surged into the hall, encircling them tightly.
A Void Crow unleashed black lightning, striking dead a Hobgoblin and sending a group of Goblins flying.
But in the next second, the attacking Void Crow was caught on the spot by a Troll King, twice the height of the other Trolls. The Troll King tossed aside his bloody giant axe and began tearing the Crow apart alive…
The Void Crow struggled desperately, screeching continuously, unleashing dense lightning and Dark Mana that flowed wildly and exploded across the Troll King’s iron-hard, leathery body… but this seemed painless to the Troll King. Grinning savagely, he tore off the Void Crow’s two wings and then, dripping with blood, shoved them into his mouth and began chewing, utterly ruthless…
The remaining Moles and Crows were frozen in terror…
Recalling the order their respective “Kings” had given them to prioritize self-preservation, they all chose to cease resisting.
