Chapter 260: Adding fuel to the flames
“This mithril mine is within the Rainbow Sickle mercenary band’s property. It now belongs to our Church of Light. All of you, please leave!” The light grand magus Ferguson floated in the air. Dressed in a bright white magic robe, he was dazzlingly bright as both he and the magic staff he held in his left hand shone. He gave off an inviolable, sacred bearing.
All of the light magical elements in the valley converged towards his magic staff from all directions. Ferguson’s presence was becoming stronger and stronger. A brilliant curtain of light burst out of the magic staff in his hand, illuminating the moonless valley.
A small river was quietly flowing through the center of this valley, a few li wide. Boulders of strange forms dotted the banks. The mountain wall was covered in a green, thick carpet of ivy-like vines.
The four great powers of the Valley of Sunshine, the Cairo mercenary band, the Rainbow Sickle mercenary band, the House of Menlo, and the Katar orc tribe, had all gathered here. They had divided the valley into four sections in order to occupy it. In addition, a dozen or so smaller forces were scattered in groups here and there. Driven by greed, all of them had come here.
Han Shuo had originally wanted to hide his traces. As soon as he heard the loud rumbling, he released the three yin demons to circle and scout the valley. After obtaining a clear understanding of the situation through the yin demons, he knew that this was a key moment in the valley, since all the forces were no longer hiding in secret.
“Let’s go. No one will notice us as long as we’re a bit careful.” Han Shuo raised his voice slightly, leading Gilbert and Trunks. The three cautiously slipped through several forces to a remote corner in the valley before hiding behind a large boulder.
“Mr. Ferguson, the person who discovered the silver mine was a merchant from our House of Menlo. Therefore, the mine naturally belongs to us.” Adam Menlo, head of the House of Menlo, said blandly, his face heavy as he glared at Ferguson.
Adam Menlo was a skinny old man rumored to be a sky rider. He was riding on the super rank magic creature Golden-Winged Roc, holding a golden spear in hand. He looked very heroic.
Dozens of experts from the House of Menlo were behind him. The entire group was riding on exotic, odd magic creatures, their hands grasping superior weapons or magic staves. They all stared at Ferguson in an unfriendly manner.
“Ferguson, it’s not your Church of Light’s turn to be arrogant in this Valley of Sunshine. Our Cairo mercenary band is the true master of this place, everything here belongs to us.” The bald, robust Laureton bellowed in a deep bell-like voice. A huge battle axe completed his ensemble.
This battle axe showed no reflection under light magic, as if it contained a mysterious force within. At a glance, the handle seemed rusted all over, as if it had been through many years of life.
Similarly, the elite mercenaries of the Cairo mercenary band were standing behind Laureton. He was evidently also determined to take control of this mithril mine. The chief of the Katar orc tribe stood on another side. He was roughly two and a half meters tall and carried a huge totem pole on his shoulder. The warriors of the tribe who stood behind him were all similar in form and weaponry.
“Looks like this battle is inevitable!” Han Shuo curved his lips into a devious smile as he said to Trunks, looking at the four great powers having their tit for tat in the central part of the valley.
“Mm, but why are Janet and the Butcher’s bandit gangs not here?” Trunk first nodded then asked somewhat suspiciously, “Logically speaking, they should have gotten the message. I didn’t expect that they wouldn’t even come for a piece of the pie.”
“They’ve actually come already. They are just hiding like us. Heh heh, these bandits didn’t dare to expose themselves, so they’ve just been hiding.” Han Shuo pointed in the direction of the Katar orc tribe chief and said, “There’s a huge rock in the mountain valley behind them, the Butcher’s bandits are hiding over there.”
“Over there, within the ivy bush about a li behind the House of Menlo is Janet’s gang. However we shouldn’t go hunting for her for the time being. Let’s look at the situation first before deciding.”
“Understood.” Trunks replied.
Since the valley was limited in size, the parties here had only brought a portion of their elite forces. The number of people from each faction wasn’t too large. All of the powers in the light and dark had gathered here with the intention of taking the mine. The situation was a precarious stalemate in every corner and direction of the valley. At this moment, no one dared to make a move. Even Laureton didn’t dare to act first, trying to avoid the inevitability of becoming a target for the other forces.
After quarreling with each other for a while, the four great powers were still stuck in a battle of glares and curses. Even the lackeys only waved their weapons around like props. They hadn’t officially started the fight. Obviously, they still held some apprehension about each other.
“These people are so troublesome. Why can’t they just make a move? I’m already so tired from looking at them.” Gilbert observed for a while, but the bunch was still quarreling nonstop. He couldn’t help but complain.
“Where is the mine? I’ll give them a kick to get it started.” Han Shuo thought for a bit then looked to Trunks and asked.
“There’s a hidden underground cave over there at that overgrowth. Rumor has it that you can find silver inside, and even a very small amount of mithril.” Trunks answered as he pointed at the place where the four great factions were standing.
His heart jumped as Han Shuo suddenly had an idea. He laughed devilishly, “I have a way. This time, I must make Florida suffer continuously!”
Han Shuo’s group saw Florida upon moving forward. His injuries had been completely healed after half a year’s worth of recovery. He was currently in high spirits as he stood behind his grandfather Ferguson, and whispered something to Asa.
Asa and Maxine had tried to assassinate Han Shuo during his last trip to the Valley of Sunshine. Marco’s right arm had been cut off in the end, and he barely escaped with great embarrassment. He seemed to yet to recover, as his face was pale, almost bloodless. Even though the severed arm had been reconnected, the spasming of his fingers indicated that some aftereffects were present. His arm might never recover its original flexibility.
The little skeleton and earth elite zombie appeared after a quick necromancy chant. After being refined by demonic magic, the earth elite zombie no longer had the original appearance of a zombie warrior. He didn’t look much different from a human.
Upon receiving an order, the earth elite zombie slowly sank into the ground and disappeared before the incredulous eyes of Trunks. There was no change in the land where he disappeared, as if he were a drop of water absorbed by the soil.
“This, what is this? He, what thing is he?!” Trunks cried out in disbelief, he seemed to be unable to accept the scene that he had just witnessed.
Pointing at the little skeleton, Han Shuo smiled and explained, “The same as him.”
Upon hearing Han Shuo mention him, the little skeleton’s purple eye immediately lit up and focused on Trunks. He arrogantly waved his right hand which grasped the bone knife, seemingly disdainful of Trunks’ ignorance.
“I see, wondrous Bryan! You truly know how to shock people!” Trunks exclaimed, then smiled wryly as he said, “No wonder both Ferguson and Edwin are looking for you!”
“This is the territory of the Rainbow Sickle mercenary band. You dared to break into this place and covet the silver mine. You really think too little of us!” Florida shouted on the other side with murderous intent as he looked coldly at Laureton.
Amongst the troops invading the valley this time, the Rainbow Sickle mercenary band had brought the most amount of people. Moreover, with the presence of his grandfather Ferguson and the Church of Light, Florida felt that his side was the most powerful. His manner naturally became more and more overbearing.
“Florida, do you think the Valley of Sunshine is your home just because you have your grandfather backing you?” Laureton coldly snorted as he mocked Florida.
Suddenly, the earth elite zombie appeared beneath the thick bush of ivy vines. His hands held a huge silver rock and enthusiastically ran towards Florida, tossing the big rock to the latter under the crowd’s watching eyes.
“Very good, damn you! Florida, your people are blatantly exploiting the mine and simply ignoring our presence!” Seeing the situation, the head of the House of Menlo, Adam Menlo, immediately cursed out loud. He rode the super rank Golden-Winged Roc and rushed straight at Florida.
The Golden-Winged Roc was a dozen meters long. Its pair of golden wings completely unfurled and covered the moon that had just risen in the night sky. A sharp cry resounded as the huge wings sent enormous gusts whirling through the valley as they flapped. The frenzied winds fiercely buffeted the Rainbow Sickle mercenaries on Florida’s side, making their sleeves flutter madly. Their bodies swayed as they struggled to stand upright.
As the golden spear lifted, it emitted a thick murderous intent. Adam Menlo was at the forefront as he charged towards the Rainbow Sickle mercenary band. The men from the House of Menlo were riding all kinds of exotic magic creatures as they bellowed and followed from behind.
“Your Church of Light will never have the chance to be arrogantly dominant in the Valley of Sunshine! Brothers, let him know who’s the strongest in the Valley of Sunshine!” Laureton suddenly roared to the sky, bursting out of his clothes. A terrifying aura exploded out of his body and his bald head shone brilliantly.
As his body sank into a berserk state, Laureton gave full vent to his violence. He carried the huge battle axe and was the first to rush out, leading the charge. The battle axe swept out fiercely before him as boulders exploded before his terrifying momentum.
Following his charge, a group of Cairo mercenaries also went berserk. They roared and howled loudly as they rushed towards the Rainbow Sickle mercenaries like a group of enraged bulls.
At the same time, the chief of the Katar orc tribe howled a few sentences in the orc language, fiercely slamming his huge totem against the ground. The ground immediately shook violently before the totem pole caused a great pit.
Several orc shamans also capered madly behind him. Colorful lights fell one by one onto the bodies of dozens of orcs behind Katar. After being blessed by the chant, their muscles turned as hard as granite. Together, they raised their shining totem poles and advanced in a strange rhythm, howling as they rushed towards Florida.
“Who are you? Do you want to kill us all?!” Florida roared furiously at the earth elite zombie, his rage reaching its peak. He quickly chanted a spell, wanting to kill the earth elite zombie first before anything else.
It was a pity that the earth elite zombie quickly sank into the ground and had already disappeared without a trace before he even completed the spell. Florida eventually gathered a light sword to deal with Laureton, who was madly charging towards him.
Once the berserkers and orcs went berserk, Florida knew too well how difficult it would be to stop them. He understood that this battle was unavoidable. On the other hand, he fully intended on killing Laureton to begin with. He’d be executed heartlessly if he didn’t find a way to stop the latter.
He laughed wildly as he shot a sword of light forward. The attack barely reached Laureton before it shattered into shards. The bald berserker’s momentum was unstoppable as he sprinted full tilt at Florida. Boulder were sent flying as the battle axe in his hand emitted a presence that could disintegrate mountains and upend the seas.
“Formidable, they truly are experts! This battle is really interesting!” Han Shuo laughed loudly and said leisurely as he looked at the other three great powers attacking the Rainbow Sickle mercenary band.
“Honored master, what do we do now?” Gilbert couldn’t help but ask with excitement when he saw the chaotic scene before him.
“Trunks, send out the signal and have our brothers come over. These people who want to fight, let them fight. You guys go harvest the mine, I’ll keep watch out here.” Han Shuo hastily told Trunks when he saw the spectacle of extreme chaos in the valley.
“But the mine entrance is right where they are fighting! Since they’ve blocked the place, whoever tries to go inside will meet with a bad fate. This isn’t a good idea!” Trunks smiled wryly and didn’t immediately release the signal.
“Heh heh, the secret tunnel is prepared! With the earth elite zombie here, we won’t have to go that way.” Han Shuo laughed softly. As soon as he finished those words, a tunnel appeared underneath the rock where they were hiding. The earth elite zombie stood in the middle of the tunnel and waved his hand, beckoning with a broad smile.