Chapter 185: The Earth Elemental God’s Death
Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Pranav
The numerous magical markings on the floor lit up, and the fixed tracks, which had been etched into the stone walls by the sword energy, were for its preparation. With the two elemental magical items prepared in their respective places, the entire stone cavern became flooded with light.
After hearing my proposal, Camdian’s first reaction wasn’t of praise or happiness. His eyes, which were flickering with streaks of lightning, stared at me with such an obvious panic that I instantly understood.
“Relax, we’re allies. How could I possibly seal you? Besides, I would need God-rank Earth Elemental power in order to seal you; where would I get that from?”
Camdian turned to look at his mortal enemy. His meaning was obvious; wasn’t Emordilorcan right before us a perfect source? He definitely had God-rank Earth Elemental power in him.
“Sealing two Elemental Gods at the same time? You overestimate me. If we had that level of power, we wouldn’t have asked for your help. Do you think that we’d be foolish enough to ask you to seal yourself? How illogical!”
Okay, I tried everything I could and swore on every oath I could think of. After considered the fact that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him, Camdian managed to nod and agree in the end. And while I was convincing him, poor Adam was being beaten up by the furious Emordilorcan.
No, it should be said that Emordilorcan was trying to escape, but our primary tank was sticking too close to him—it was as if Adam was a ghost haunting Emordilorcan and annoying him at every step. Since we’d already reached this point, though, how could we possibly let him escape?
And, to be honest, when all the magical markings in this location lit up, he had already lost the ability to escape.
When Camdian, prepared the final key for me and gave me a transformed Thunder Tear with apparent hesitation, a clear sound rang out that was rather uncomfortable to our senses. And as it rang out, the entire space began to transform into a forceful dimension.
After the three God-rank elemental items synchronized with each other, Emordilorcan was trapped in the middle of the triangle formation they formed. His Elemental Heart was currently synchronizing with the other three elemental items, creating a self-circulating elemental pocket dimension within.
According to the explanation in the ancient scroll, this seal merely borrowed the basic structure of the elemental world. For the lives of elementals, their structures were their foundations; it constituted a basic instinct just like breathing. It was completely unavoidable, unstoppable, and even irresistible for them!
That was also why Camdian had been so terrified. If we wanted to take this chance and seal him, it would definitely be possible. Needless to say, extra preparations were never wrong, and I was indeed prepared with a backup plan to seal him as well.
But, of course, there was no need to make him into our enemy now. If it weren’t for his help, we wouldn’t have been able to stall Emordilorcan for such an extended period of time, but scaring the Wind Elemental God would be beneficial for our future cooperation. If he wanted to betray us in the future for some personal benefits, he would, at the very least, consider the potential consequences.
Okay, I digress. All the magical markings were lighting up, and the naturally synchronizing elemental forces were creating a self-contained new world of its own. Now that it’s come to this, I felt somewhat sad to lose two God-rank elemental items, and I was even more depressed at not having finished my system’s missions—but it was all definitely worth it. At the very least, I was unable to think that Emordilorcan would be able to do anything else anymore.
As for any losses to Camdian? Who cared; he deserved it. It was his own fault for following us.
“Emordilorcan! Such a day has come to you as well; I’ve finally witnessed this day! Allow me to watch you be sealed.”
However, judging from Camdian’s jeers, I knew that I had overthought. As long as he could defeat Emordilorcan, no matter what price he paid, it was obvious that Camdian was willing.
It was then, however, that Emordilorcan broke out laughing.
“…You all want to seal me? Dream on! Even if I die, I won’t let you off easily!”
That familiar, furious laughter caused me to recall certain existences, such as those gnomes that were forced to the limit by city officials, or those gnomes who were forced by their debts into not even caring for their lives, or those gnomes who liked to gamble money on explosive barrels.
That was why, in the very next instant, I pulled Adam in front of me and proceeded to hide behind Camdian’s back.
“You intend to push me into the fire again?”
Okay, should I say that he’s already gotten to me doing this to him? Even though he was complaining aloud, he didn’t move at all, perfectly fulfilling his duty as a tank.
*Boom!*
Right as Emordilorcan finished speaking, a tremendous explosion occurred, caused the entire labyrinth to begin collapsing. The duststorm from the explosion made it difficult to see anything, and the massive wind and stone shards caused Adam to wail in pain!
“I knew you didn’t have any good intentions; always using me as your shield!”
Cough, I ignored that guy who always habitually complained as I turned my attention to the Wind Elemental God before me.
“Is Emordilorcan dead?”
“According to how you mortals would say, his body and soul have both been destroyed, so you could say he is dead. For us Elemental Gods, he probably just returned to the Earth Elemental Plane. However, for him to have committed suicide by exploding his own physical body would take him at least one or two hundred years to return to his original power. It won’t mean anything by then when he finally returns.”
The cackling Camdian transformed into humanoid form, with absolute delight plastered on his face at having killed his mortal enemy. It was worth any price since he was now one step closer to being the top of all elementals.
I nodded without saying much else, while I carefully recovered the four God-rank elemental items.
Four? Yep, four; apart from the Ocean’s Bottle and the Emblem of Fire, Camdian’s Thunder Tear and Emordilorcan’s gray-colored Earth Elemental Heart were also recovered by me.
After seeing these God-rank elemental items, Camdian seemed to want to say something, but I shook them at him and pointed to the magical markings on the ground that were beginning to dim. It was obvious what I meant.
‘It’ll be quite easy to use this magical seal again; would you like to try it? Or, do you intend to explode yourself just like Emordilorcan?’
Okay, I could only think that to myself, but judging by how icy Camdian’s expression had turned, it was obvious that he understood my threat.
Traitors could never be trustworthy. If he could betray someone for personal benefits one time, he could betray another for even greater personal benefits a second time. From the very start, I had been prepared against Camdian.
“Alright, my lord Camdian, could you please take us out of here?”
Yet sometimes, even if you knew, in your heart, that you had a grudge against someone, it was better not to have the relationship sour out in the open. That way, you could still act as allies on the surface. In my past world, didn’t the leaders of each major country, who each had legendary weapons called nukes, still smile and greet each other politely whenever they met each other in person?
“Of course, I’m never stingy towards my allies. Come ride on me, my friends.”
And so, Camdian transformed into a whirlwind and effortlessly took us out of the labyrinth. Above ground, near the entrance of the labyrinth, we met with Margaret, who had been waiting for us for a long while. She breathed an obvious sigh of relief upon noticing our arrival.
“Milord, Margaret used a teleport spell to help us escape. Unfortunately, she was unable to get a lock on your coordinates, so she was unable to support you. But since you came out successfully as she said you would, that must mean you have achieved victory.”
I nodded as I took out the Earth Elemental Heart, producing deafening cheers from the knights. Even if the collapsing earth elemental labyrinth could act as evidence for Emordilorcan’s defeat, only actual evidence of his defeat could release the pressure from everyone’s minds.
“Good job. Without you guys closing the Earth Elemental Door, we wouldn’t have been able to achieve victory. I shall reward you all after we return.”
However, everyone reacted strangely to my praise. They all glanced at each other awkwardly, as if they had something to say, yet nobody spoke up. It was Margaret who ended up explaining.
“It’s not that easy to close an Elemental Door. If I wasn’t careful enough, I could have exploded the entire labyrinth or sent us all to a different plane. We just temporarily cut Emordilorcan’s connection to the Elemental Door, but that seemed to have been enough.”
I was surprised to hear this, but I instantly gave a wry smile.
“Emordilorcan’s death was rather pitiful. If he had remained calmer, perhaps he could have seen through us, as not even Camdian could deal with him. Forget it; it’s already over. There’s no need to think too much about it. Then do we need to go down there one more time to close the Earth Elemental Door?”
Margaret smiled as she shook her head.
“That won’t be necessary. The Earth Elemental Door was being supplied by Emordilorcan’s divine power, and since he’s dead, it will collapse by itself.”
I nodded and was just about to introduce Camdian to everyone when the Wind Elemental God decided that it was time to leave.
“My human allies, let’s have a good chat again after everything’s over.”
His way of addressing us changed from ‘human insects,’ to ‘mortals,’ to ‘human allies’— for the Wind Elemental God to continually change was scary in its own way.
Nevertheless, since we had been successful and had the advantage over him, I wasn’t worried that he would play any tricks.
And just as I slightly relaxed and was about to heave a sigh of relief, my ring shook and brought a new battlefield message to me.
“Roland, a sudden extreme earthquake has occurred in the area, causing all of Red Maple Castle’s walls to collapse. Defending it has become almost impossible; do you have any emergency ideas!”
Hearing this sudden call for help and the sounds of crying and shouting from the other side, I knew that the situation was now extremely unfavorable.
“…You guys want to seal me? Dream on! Even if I die, I won’t let you off easy!”
I thought back to Emordilorcan’s mysterious dying message, and I now realized that this was his true revenge.
“Margaret, you have the coordinates for Red Maple Castle, right? Could you teleport me there? You only need to teleport me.”
At the same instant that Emordilorcan’s physical body was destroyed, a stone shard in the Bloodaxe Tent had suddenly transformed into a shining ethereal giant.
As it walked, this ethereal giant kept decreasing in luminosity. Camdian’s judgment had been correct; Emordilorcan had already been heading for death, and his current form was merely the final remnant of his soul.
From the very beginning, the Earth Elementals were Amon’s Bloodaxe Tribe’s allies, which was why Emordilorcan had cut off a small piece of his arm and transformed it into a stone shard for Amon to hold on to as the ace up their sleeve.
“In the final, critical moments of the battle you can summon my power, but remember, you’re only allowed to summon me at the final critical moment! Otherwise, I’m going to take my anger out on you first!”
Currently, as he watched his divine power gradually diminish, Emordilorcan, who had temporarily returned to life in his last vessel, knew that he didn’t have much time remaining.
“Damned humans, since I’m fated to die anyways, I’m going to pull you all down with me!”
*Boom!* *Boom!*
The incessant explosions caused substantial damages to the beastmen in the form of friendly fire, but no matter what, Emordilorcan aimed to self-destruct once more and take his final revenge.
“…Foolish humans, I, Emordilorcan, shall cause you all to tremble as you meet your deaths! Rage, oh earth, for I am your master! Pledge your loyalty to me and transform that damned castle wall to broken pieces under the fires of my rage!”
And that was how Emordilorcan finally lost his physical form once more and returned to the Earth Elemental Plane riddled with injuries, forced to hibernate there until the next Holy War. Yet his powerful final earthquake attack brought devastating destruction along with it.
Yet this was just the beginning. Countless hordes of earth elementals emerged from the ground, their target to destroy the enemy of the Earth Elemental God.
“Red Maple Castle’s defense line is under enormous stress!”