Your Majesty's money, why don't you engrave my name on it?

"We can't let people from other families—"

“‘Kales Nao Yus Muzeld Taga Dostan,’” Sylvia said to Dieter in a mocking tone, standing behind her mother, “Trust no one but yourself.”

“If this happens, the outcome will be very ugly,” Lilindra glanced at Dahl. “There was a small team that tracked us down to the surface before, and they had a lot of trouble suppressing them.”

"After that, we painstakingly built an outpost underground. Although it was sufficient to defend against reconnaissance squads, it would probably be far from enough in a real war. It should be noted that the soldiers of these five families totaled about 2,500, and the number of mages should be between 300 and 500. Unlike you, we specialize in training a large number of spellcasters, and there are sorcerer schools in slightly larger cities."

A ratio of one to eight, or even one to five, was enough to make Dieter and the mages listening in turn pale.

“However, we are not entirely alone,” the matriarch of the Evans family said, noticing the apprehension on their faces. “A family in another city will help us. The Pirnaen family is skilled in alchemy and arcane arts and can provide about a hundred spellcasters, which can somewhat make up for the gap in this area.”

"But the problem now is that their team is on the other side of Alagi'Belbol. If they can't regroup with them, it would be too easy for them to be separated and wiped out by the five alliances."

Chapter 488 Ready to Go

Dieter's mercenaries quickly sprang into action, entering the passage connecting the surface and underground. Adhering to the principle of "better to have too much than too little," they began constructing outposts and strongholds, preparing to make the entire rugged and narrow passage as bright as day—and equipped with sufficient fortifications.

This was something that Dahl and Lilindra's subordinates couldn't accomplish on their own, but when their numbers increased five or six times, it became an achievable goal. The biggest challenges that surface creatures face underground are darkness and radiation; protection against the latter is difficult to maintain indefinitely, but at least the former should be addressed first.

But this only allows the team to gain a foothold in the early stages. The reason why the step-by-step strategy is effective but foolish is that, in addition to consuming a lot of time, food, water, rewards, and so on are all major problems.

“We can rely on divine magic and natural supplies for food, but gold coins can’t be conjured out of thin air,” Dieter said, grimacing as he watched his men working enthusiastically. “At this rate and considering the distance on the map, I should be bankrupt by the time I make contact with those Pirnaien.”

It would be fine if he used the family's resources, but he couldn't represent the entire Strongman family.

“What else would I be here for?” Raslaufer shrugged. He hadn’t joined the construction project, and of course he wouldn’t. “Don’t worry, the rendezvous will be shorter than expected. I’ll go down first, find the dark elves, and then take a detour to bring them over.”

With over a hundred people, according to Lilindra's calculations, although the target was still somewhat large, it was at least more concealed than the three thousand or so people. Leslaufer leading the elite troops meant that this larger target would actually only appear in the enemy's sight once.

Moreover, this way, Leslaufer would essentially travel the entire route twice, eliminating the problem of the two sides meeting at different locations. This would further reduce the chaotic time before the battle, as the dark elves, who follow Lolth's will, have no concept of "declaring war." Turning the opponent's chaos into an advantage is precisely what they excel at.

“It’s better than crawling along,” Dieter nodded. “When are you leaving?”

“Soon,” Leslaufer turned his head to the other side, “a team of about twenty or thirty people will be selected, and once the selection is finalized, we will set off.”

Raslaufer and his companions naturally had to be included. Compared to ordinary soldiers, they were undoubtedly better equipped to handle more complex situations. In addition, several priests, mages, dark elf guides, and "vanguards" to clear the way were also needed.

Unlike the surface, the underground is not a place where you can go everywhere. Natural caves and grottoes are only a minority. If the underground inhabitants hadn't already carved out a large number of usable passages, this work would have required temporarily opening up tens of kilometers of rock strata.

"Fortunately, if the elf lady's map is accurate, we only need to open a few walls."

The speaker was a sturdy man with a dark complexion. He was carrying a heavy pickaxe, which, judging from the wear and tear, had been used for many years.

Seeing that Raslaufer was looking at him, the man casually wiped his hands on his clothes and extended them: "Nice to meet you, Mr. Raslaufer. Just call me Big Thomas. I'm a miner by day. My brother, Little Thomas, is a spearman, but we won't need him for this mission."

Reislaufer nodded and shook hands with the other person—this Thomas was probably a member of the logistics support team, or rather, the family team, and he wouldn't normally need to use his talent, but now he had a chance to put it to good use.

“I’ll be in charge of the other colleagues later,” Big Thomas said. “It’s a pity that my brothers from my hometown aren’t here, otherwise the efficiency could be a little higher.”

"You and your brother take turns supporting the family?" Bella asked curiously.

Big Thomas nodded: "Pretty much. When my brother can't get any work, he helps me out at the mines, and vice versa. What can I say? It's better than being a bandit in your spare time, right?"

At least it's a legitimate business, and in that respect, Thomas wasn't wrong.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Big Thomas stepped away temporarily. He had to vet the candidates who would be working with him next. This operation was different from ordinary mining; if they weren't careful, they could all be buried alive—the kind of burial that would never be dug out.

Raslaufer soon met Christian and Sophia. Sophia was a sorceress who, according to her, had been able to manipulate magic since she was an infant. Christian, on the other hand, was Cranjadin Silverbeard, a follower of a dwarven deity. Although the East Sea dwarves were not far from East Inathas, this faith was still quite rare among humans.

They were representatives nominated by their respective colleagues, and Raslaufer could give them direct orders without having to give orders to each of the spellcasters in the same profession. Sophia and Christian would arrange the other two priests and two mages themselves—it would be too inefficient to have a warrior who knew no magic think about these things.

The only task left for Raslaufer was to command the remaining ten mercenaries. Although he was not nominated by his colleagues, Raslaufer believed that no one would dare to disobey his orders. Moreover, even if such a thing happened, the rebels would certainly not be all of them.

"Lord Raslaufer, Erwin reports for duty!" The young man carrying a baggage, accompanied by three attendants, bowed to Raslaufer. Compared to the others, they stood ramrod straight, their eyes filled with awe as if worshipping a deity.

They had witnessed Raslauver kill Rose's maid, and in their eyes, this Doppler truly held a godlike status.

“Very good, it seems this is all we need,” Raslaufer patted Erwin on the shoulder with satisfaction, but then turned to Dahl. “I say, are you really comfortable letting him come with me? He should be considered your successor, right?”

Dahl has many adopted sons and daughters, but he is probably the only one who has received special attention and training. If Erwin really dies in the underworld, Raslaufer thinks that this older brother will probably follow him very soon.

"Young man, how can you lead an entire battle group without some experience?" The Lion Dahl smiled at his adopted son. "Don't you think so, Erwin?"

“Exactly!” Erwin looked at Raslaufer with fervor. “Lord Raslaufer, please rest assured, you don’t need to worry about me. Just treat me as an ordinary soldier! If I can’t even take this little risk, I’m not worthy of being Dahl’s son!”

"Aren't you afraid of dying? I might not be able to protect you." "No! Dying down here is better than dying with the entire battle group later!"

Dobul grinned: "Good lad, you better really not be afraid!"

"I'm not afraid, that's all!"

Chapter 489 Welcome to the Underground

The sounds of digging fortifications had gradually faded away, and the light from magic and torches had become almost invisible reflections on the walls. Bella raised her hand, and a bright blue-green flame ignited in her palm, slightly illuminating the area around the group of thirty-three people.

Following closely behind, Daisy also cast a Light spell, attaching it to the kite-shaped shield of a soldier in front.

This would be enough to illuminate the people moving in double columns through the tunnel; adding more would be superfluous.

“We can keep the light here, but going forward, if you don’t want to attract any more trouble, you’d better get used to the darkness as soon as possible,” Sylvia, the eldest daughter of the Evans family, said as she walked beside Leslaufer, glancing back at him. Her eyes still shone with a purplish-red light in the dim light. “These lights might scare away some creatures, blind some, but in the end, they’ll attract the most troublesome ones.”

Raslaufer is not afraid to confront those things, but it's best when he's not on a mission.

"What kind of troublesome creatures lurk underground?" Angelita asked, her curiosity tinged with wariness. "I've heard of a monster that looks like a crab..."

“You are very knowledgeable, young lady,” Sylvia said with a hint of sarcasm. “But unfortunately, I must correct your mistake: 'crab fishing' is a product of misinformation spread by you surface dwellers. In fact, it has little to do with crabs and is more like a spider.”

“Those creatures have long ‘nose’ and can produce silk threads to cover the ambush area and capture small creatures like bats. They are indeed a bit troublesome, but I would say they are among the creatures that can be ‘scared away’.”

"They understand that creatures larger than themselves are difficult to catch, so they will avoid them in advance. Moreover, burrowing crabs are naturally averse to fire, as flames would ignite their flammable blood..."

Walking through the narrow and rugged cave, Sylvia explained the strange creatures underground to the group. The mercenaries and miners listened with rapt attention, pondering how to incorporate these things into their drunken "adventures," while the priests and mages began to take out their notebooks, writing down the key points one by one, just in case.

The underground world is extremely mysterious to the surface. Only daring adventurers, risk-taking desperados, or the extremely lucky (or extremely unlucky) have the opportunity to glimpse its wonders. But these are like real voyeurism, with a narrow tube or slit separating reality from the eyes. The opportunity to hear a real underground dweller tell everything, as it is now, is extremely rare.

"Now, can you tell me what other creatures you know that you might encounter underground?"

Sylvia's tone was provocative, which annoyed Angelita: "I know a lot more! Goblins, gnolls, they might all be hiding underground, and oh yeah, the chokehold monsters!"

She recalled her first battle, which was also underground, though the cellar was nothing like the real underground world.

“Hmm, a chokehold monster!” This time, the young dark elf didn’t mock. She raised an eyebrow. “Every year, some poor wretches who don’t know how to obey orders die at the hands of the chokehold monster. They recklessly get separated from their prey, don’t know how to protect themselves, and expose their location thinking they can get help. But what happens? They only provide the predator with food to fill its stomach.”

She turned and stood still, looking at her companions around her: "You'd better understand this now: if you find yourselves in danger, my only advice to Lord Raslaufer is to disregard your own lives. Here, mercy to anyone is cruelty to yourself and a betrayal of the cause! I know how you view our race, but you can ask the dark dwarves! The subterranean gnomes! See what they have to say!"

"Do you think I only tell you bedtime stories because I'm bored? I'll only say these things once. Once we're in the real underground, all this talk will just be a waste of time."

“Now,” the dark elf, abandoning her usual languid charm and becoming stern, brandished her dagger, “dispel that light spell, leaving only the torches. You must at least memorize these few sign words so you can recognize them even in the dim light! In the underground, there are many places where you can’t communicate with words!”

This doesn't mean the Underworld is entirely within the range of Silence spells, but rather that there are many creatures that rely on hearing. They can clearly hear not only voices, but also the rustling of armor and even breathing, and accurately determine directions. Therefore, sign language can be considered the second mother tongue of the Dark Elves. Now, in order to save her life and prevent herself from being dragged to death by these "Revelers" (Dark Elf: humans), Sylvia is going to entrust them with the most important parts of it.

This part of the sign language is simple, clear, unambiguous, and easy to understand. The only problem is that humans can hardly see in the dark, so it can only be seen at very close range. However, Sylvia is powerless to deal with this part and can only pray to Rose that she will not encounter too difficult a predicament. Otherwise, even a small oversight at this moment could lead to her death.

After most of the people had mastered the tricks of sign language, the procession continued downwards. As they went deeper into the area, the passage became narrower and the double columns became crowded. Eventually, they could no longer even walk side by side and had to move forward one by one.

After walking down the slope for about an hour, the shield bearer at the front suddenly let out a trembling exclamation. Then, he quickened his pace and eagerly squeezed through a hole that only allowed one person to crouch down to pass through, leaping out onto the "outside"!

Before his eyes, a fluorescent light, invisible on the surface of the earth, illuminated his armor and face. Giant fungi and ferns stood like trees, and an unfathomable dome loomed above him. The murky air, with its strangely fresh scent, filled his lungs, making him feel as if he were still on the surface of the earth.

He saw sights he had never witnessed in his entire life! He saw a world that others would never see in their entire lives! He saw—

A gigantic, damned beetle charged at him!

The beetle's head, as hard as steel, clashed violently with the shield, producing a deafening roar and echo. A pair of alien daggers, hidden behind the shield, leaped up with Sylvia's slender and agile figure, precisely slicing through the healed area of ​​the beetle's first two segments. A slightly corrosive liquid missed its mark and spilled onto the ground. The dark elf landed on the still-convulsing beetle's back, letting out a series of giggles.

"Wel (Dark Elf: Fools), welcome to the Underground!"

Chapter 490 Traveling in the Dark

"What is this thing?!"

The shieldbearer wiped his face, his temples and forehead damp: "The giant beetles up there won't grow to this size!"

Fortunately, he was a shield bearer; anyone else would probably have been clamped in two by those sharp mandibles!

“You should be thankful that this guy is still a minor,” a male dark elf popped out from behind and patted the shieldbearer on the back. “Now you should know why we let you go first, right?”

“Turn off all the lights,” Sylvia said, her gaze sweeping over the male dark elf, who immediately fell silent. “Continue onward; the benefits of light cannot compare to the protection offered by darkness.”

The flames and light were extinguished. After moving away from the clump of bioluminescent ferns, the humans could hardly sense the presence of their companions, except for the sound of breathing. A suffocating oppression came from all directions, as if to bury them in this dark and unfamiliar grave.

Even for the elves with darkvision, the environment had lost its color in their eyes, leaving only different shades of gray to indicate the shapes of objects. However, they were not the only ones who could perceive their surroundings through darkvision.

With a few brief incantations, the three prepared mages each cast spells granting themselves darkvision, an ability that would last for eight hours, enough to sustain them underground. However, the power of this arcane magic was far from comparable to the dark elves' natural abilities; ordinary darkvision provided less than half the field of vision of the dark elves.

Moreover, given that none of the three monks were experienced in being underground, their observation of the surrounding environment was even slower.

But Leslaufer was an exception.

For some reason, Dopler felt a slight throbbing pain in his right hand. His eyes scanned his surroundings, as if he could grasp every minute change. Based on the grayscale of the objects, Reslaufer estimated that the farthest he could see was about thirty or forty meters away, which was farther than the field of vision gained by ordinary magical influences.

He saw Sylvia silently lower her body and stealthily approach Angelita behind him.

With a loud "smack," the dark elf recoiled in shock, exclaiming urgently, "Damn it, how did you know what I was doing?!"

She only wanted to play a prank, so she didn't take out her dagger to avoid the three mages misjudging her. But she never expected that there were more than just those three mages who could see in the dark!

Fortunately, she didn't have any real malicious intent; otherwise, Raslaufer would have given her more than just a slap.

“The surrounding wind,” Dople paused for a moment, choosing to temporarily conceal his ability to see, “your movements are too exaggerated.”

“Is that so…?” Sylvia stared at Leslaufer suspiciously for a while, but didn’t notice anything unusual. “I’m sorry, this was just a test, it won’t happen again.”

"Better so."

To prepare for the unknown dangers, the group formed a dense square formation. The dark elves naturally moved to the front, while Leslaufer and the others retreated slightly. Doppler observed the surroundings as if by chance, watching the group move through the darkness with great interest.

He discovered that although more than two-thirds of the people had difficulty seeing in the dark, it was not as difficult as he had imagined: the miners, led by Big Thomas, seemed to be able to sense their surroundings, and under their guidance, the selected veterans were able to remain calm and continue moving forward with the team.

Meanwhile, the druid had already transformed into a giant owl, using his natural creature talents to gain vision comparable to that of the dark elves. Mary seemed to be quite adapted to this environment as well. The few who seemed to stumble were Anne, Daisy, and the three priests.

At least during the journey, there were far fewer troubles.

In complete darkness, any being capable of making a sound would be tempted to create some noise to announce its existence unless it was a creature naturally accustomed to such an environment. Fortunately, the members here were all warriors who had been through many battles or tested by their faith, and they knew when to restrain their instincts. Surprisingly, they did not encounter any danger along the way.

During this time, several mud monsters, resembling liquefied stones, slithered past the group like snakes—perhaps they weren't actually gray, but in the dark underground, it was difficult to find any other color besides gray. These mud monsters, which relied on perception rather than sight to obtain information about their surroundings, probably sensed that this group of more than thirty people was not to be trifled with, and chose to keep to themselves without being disturbed.

But not all creatures are so "friendly".

Unnoticed by several pairs of eyes, a purple fungus crawls stealthily across the ground with root-like tendrils. The plant moves so slowly that it is harmless and difficult to detect. Only when its tendrils, radiating outwards from the center of its canopy, touch its prey does its body, devoid of muscles and nerves, display unparalleled aggression and scourge.

For example, when a veteran steps on it as if he were stepping on other vegetation.

The seemingly delicate but actually whip-like mycelium climbed up layer by layer in an instant, wrapping around the old soldier's leg. The old soldier was no ordinary man; even in this situation, he did not cry out. Instead, he immediately drew his short sword and tried to cut off the mycelium clinging to his body.

The sharp dagger struck the mycelium, producing a dull metallic clang. At the same time, the veteran felt his metal leg armor losing its effectiveness. His movement drew the attention of his companions, prompting a warning to everyone. A dark elf immediately returned, a water pouch at his waist containing a special liquid that, when splashed on the purple fungus, would quickly wither it.

The "water" emitting a strong, pungent odor was immediately splashed onto the ground beside the veteran's feet. The mycelium all over the purple mushroom's body stiffened instantly, and then, as if it had suffered a great injury, it quickly retreated towards the center, and then rolled and crawled away from the crowd.

Leslaufer looked at the victim's legs and noticed dozens of black, net-like lines on the gray leather and metal, which were probably marks left by corrosion.

If the other person hadn't been wearing this protective gear, their entire leg would probably be ruined...

Before Leslaufer could finish his thought, suddenly, a sharp, piercing shriek that could cut through all the darkness rushed into everyone's ears from not far away!

Chapter 491 Screaming Mushroom

"Damn it, that purple mushroom!"

Sylvanas launched into a tirade of curses, a string of dark elf words whose exact meaning was incomprehensible, but Leslaufer, observing her facial expressions, could tell that none of them were pleasant.

"Don't delay, everyone, follow me! The smell of the mushroom repellent solution will attract other creatures, and now we have even less time!"

"What is that sound?"

Christian asked, holding his breath. He had been standing not far from the veteran, and the pungent smell of the solution had almost made it hard for him to breathe.

“It’s a screaming mushroom,” the dark elf who had just splashed the solution answered hastily, the sharp screech of the previous cry rendering the group’s silence meaningless. “That nasty thing screams to warn all creatures around it when disturbed. We’ve already bypassed it!”

Their cautious actions did not trigger a response from the screaming fungus. This fungus does not have real nerves or consciousness to judge whether there is a sufficiently threatening presence in the surroundings. As long as its extending hyphae are not particularly squeezed or disturbed, it will not trigger a scream.

The purple mushroom that had been sprayed with mushroom repellent solution crawled up next to it!

Instantly, the once silent darkness was filled with roars and strange cries, and ominous footsteps or sliding sounds came from all directions, as if they were about to surround and devour everyone.

"Turn on the light source!" Leslaufer decisively. "Everyone who can cast spells! Everyone else, close your eyes!"

Now that our location has been exposed to those beings living in the darkness, it's better to scare away the scoundrels than to continue putting ourselves at a disadvantage! As for those who are not afraid of light and even dare to continue attacking us, let them come!

"Let them see what the sun looks like!" The bard's music rang out quickly. In this situation, Daisy preferred to use more drastic methods to protect everyone's safety, rather than harmless light spells or dancing light spells.