Chapter 291: Act 58 – The King of the Underground (9) (Adjustments)
The underground world is shrouded in endless darkness, and the long tunnels are silent, interrupted only by the occasional sound of water dripping from the rock layers above due to the tremors, echoing softly to the ground.
This sound takes a long time to be heard again in the impenetrable depths.
After driving away a large number of unwelcome guests from the underground, Medisa had to stop to rest. Though she is a ghost, it does not mean she is tireless—the vitality of her soul fire somewhat constrains the movement of undead beings.
However, she does not need light; a faint glow hidden in her pupils allows her to see far in the absence of light.
This Silver Elf Princess did not sit down but instead leaned against the rock wall with one hand on her polearm, resting amid the scattered remains of stone leopards; their incomplete corpses lay scattered far and wide.
Unlike Brendel, she had been attacked almost immediately upon entering this level, and she had to carve her way through with blood to get here. After a moment of silence, the Silver Elf Princess asked into the darkness, “Is there a lift this way?”
Medisa was not alone in the darkness; the only other breathing sound came from the other side of the tunnel.
“Yes,” a voice replied.
But Medisa did not relax; as soon as she finished speaking, her hand gripped the polearm, and she looked cautiously in the direction she had come from. However, as she turned her head back, a joyful expression appeared on her face, and she shouted, “My Lord!”
The newcomers were none other than Brendel and Xi.
They raised their illuminating crystal to shine the light in her direction and, upon seeing Medisa, were not overly surprised; they had been following the marks left by this Silver Elf Princess.
When they first discovered that the supposed “formidable person” might be Medisa, Brendel was not too shocked either. There were only a handful of them down here—either Medisa, Kuran, or Juliette—all of whom lacked such strength.
However, when they spotted another person within the illuminated area, they were momentarily taken aback.
“Medisa,” Brendel asked, “who is this?”
He saw Kuran sitting silently on the ground, looking rather disheveled. The once-mighty elder was now in a pitiful state, his forehead, face, and blue-gray uniform covered in blood, and his gray-white hair was in disarray.
“Mr. Kuran is injured,” Medisa replied. The Elf Princess wisely kept her explanation brief, leaving more unspoken thoughts buried in her heart. However, she knew that Brendel would understand her meaning.
The elder huffed, “Captured is captured; there is no need to hide it. But this young girl seems to find some use for this old bone of mine and has temporarily signed a non-aggression agreement with me.” He looked sideways at Brendel, “But she shows you great respect, lad, saying that the final decision is in ‘your’ hands. So, state your will—shall you kill or maim?”
Though he spoke that way, he couldn’t help but scold the clever elf girl inwardly. When the mine tunnel collapsed, everyone’s first reaction was self-preservation, almost instinctively out of a survival instinct, and even those of them at the peak of gold rank were no exception.
What Kuran did not realize was that not everyone present was a ‘living being.’
When the mountain collapsed, Medisa’s first action was not to retreat to a safe location but to attack him amidst the falling rubble. It was an utterly reckless tactic; even Kuran, who was usually composed, couldn’t help but be startled.
However, the conclusion of battles at the gold rank often comes down to an instant. Although Kuran’s absolute strength far exceeded Medisa’s, he had expended his energy in a fruitless pursuit of Brendel prior and wasn’t mentally prepared when the collapse occurred, resulting in Medisa landing a critical strike that severely injured him.
Had it not been for this young girl dragging him out from the rubble, this dignified figure of gold would likely have met an unfortunate end during the mining accident.
Yet, despite his embarrassment, he had to admire Medisa’s courage; in that situation, even he may not have dared to make the same choice. As an old soldier, Kuran had little to say when defeated by an enemy.
However, if he were to remember that Medisa was merely a ghost, his heart would likely cry out in regret for underestimating her.
Hearing his words, the young man nodded slightly and asked, “Agreement?”
“The old sir agreed to lead me to find you all and help us return to the surface. He is very familiar with the terrain here. He knows where the tunnels are, where they connect to the upper level, and where he can break through without causing a larger collapse,” Medisa explained, speaking steadily—though using Cruz language, she spoke with the natural cadence of an elf’s ballad. “My lord, not far ahead is a lift, leading to the primary tunnel of the third layer. It branches out, providing many routes to the surface that should not all be blocked.”
She smiled slightly, “If it weren’t for the old sir, I wouldn’t have arrived here so quickly.”
Brendel guessed she was referring to the lift that Kewen and the others had come down. He remembered that the scale of that tunnel was significant, with at least three wooden tracks.
He nodded and glanced at Kuran, “What are his conditions?”
“Let the old sir speak for himself.”
Kuran cast Brendel a sideways glance, “Lad, I know your intentions. As a prisoner, I have little to say; now, you can naturally take over this place as you wish. Within a month or three, Parsons will not suspect anything.”
He paused, “As for my condition, it’s quite simple: I do not wish to meet the same fate as Grudin.”
He knows? Brendel’s heart gave a slight start.
The disturbance in Firburh was certainly not something that could be concealed, but not everyone was aware of Grudin’s current status after the fact. It was well known that uprisings in the Erluin territory were not a significant issue. Except for a few unfortunate souls, there was no reported instance of a powerful lord being killed during an uprising.
Therefore, after the disturbance in Firburh, most would assume that Grudin had escaped through secret passages. Only a few high-ranking members of Brendel’s group truly knew that Grudin was as good as dead.
Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but look deeply at Kuran. If the outside world had learned of Grudin’s death, then the nature of the situation would be entirely different. Sir Parsons would likely be unable to wait and would immediately dispatch troops, while Count Rendener would not allow Duke Toniger more time to “solve this problem” himself.
If that old fox sensed that this territory was in imminent danger of secession, it wouldn’t be long before a large army descended.
Brendel hoped to buy time by leveraging the asymmetry of information. If Count Rendener could not confirm whether Grudin was dead, he would likely prefer to let this incompetent son deal with his territory’s issues himself.
At that moment, they would still appear to the other side as a bunch of rioters; in the eyes of the nobility, there was nothing to fear about rioters. Didn’t Grudin still have many loyal retainers?
But with Grudin dead, this small riot would equate to rebellion—though he knew well that he was indeed instigating a rebellion, even if it was not aimed at splitting Erluin, the actions he had taken would be viewed by the nobility as a severe challenge to the rules of the game.
In his plans, he had hoped that Count Rendener would realize the situation only after Sir Minate and Sir Parsons had met their demise.
Before then, he still had at least a month or two.
But Kuran seemed to see through his thoughts, the elder smiled mysteriously, “You need not worry; the outside world is only filled with rumors. But seeing you here, I almost understand—those in Firburh are certainly not mere rioters!”
With that, he shook his head slightly, “But I don’t know if you have gone mad or if I have. Since the year of the Harp, there has been nearly a century without a rebellion in Erluin.”
Brendel nodded.
The year of the Harp refers to the reign of King Heisen I, who was mockingly called the “King of the Highways.” This king was infamous in Erluin’s history and was one of the last rulers of the Siphai dynasty—his nickname originated from his personal militia robbing all merchants passing through Erluin, regardless of nationality.
He openly proclaimed that all property along the roads within Erluin belonged to him, and merchants traveling on them had to pay him two-thirds of their goods—such bandit-like behavior enraged everyone aside from him. As a result, Heisen I was deposed after only three years, as he was even the only king in Erluin’s history to die by the hands of an angry populace.
Of course, his actions indicate the dire state of the people’s livelihoods during that era. It was one of the darkest periods in Erluin’s history, and were it not for Madara’s rise, the current chaos in Erluin would have paled in comparison.
This was also the most frequent era for uprisings, disturbances, and rebellions in Erluin’s history. One could hardly find “uprising” mentioned in historical records in the world of Vaunte.
But perhaps this is what is called national strength and destiny; Madara was indeed supposed to rise from Erluin. Thus, under similar circumstances, the Corvado dynasty was able to revive, while the reforms of Princess Grifian failed under better conditions.
However, Brendel did not have time to dwell on it and first shook his head, “This condition is overly vague. We can certainly coexist peacefully here, but how can you guarantee that you won’t run off to alert others once we leave the underground and reach the surface?”
His reasoning was not without merit; if they were cave dwellers, he might have had Tagib swear an oath to their gods, but humans were likely the least trustworthy people in the world, often speaking of Lady Martha but rarely taking such oaths seriously.
Brendel himself was human, so he understood this better.
But Kuran shrugged and said, “Old man is currently severely wounded; even if I wanted to run, I couldn’t.”
(PS. Adjustments; speed will increase.)(To be continued. For more chapters, please log on. Support the author, support original reading!)
