Chapter 9: Encounter

Wheel of Heroes

Li Mingxing’s wish did not come true. After leading thirty-five dwarves to Yin Haitao’s position, he hadn’t yet assigned the additional dwarf smiths to reforge the minotaurs’ weapons and armor before he received startling news.

Less than twenty kilometers from their location, a group was pursuing a dark elf.

If those in pursuit were also part of the dark faction, Li Mingxing wouldn’t have cared and might even have gone to see if he could profit from the situation. But when further details arrived, he fell into deep thought.

The pursuers belonged to the light faction, and the unit was a mixed force of several races. Li Mingxing suspected he had encountered an apprentice hero from the light side.

Although Raymond had never explained the relationship between the light and dark alliances, Li Mingxing understood perfectly well: in the underworld, when two apprentice heroes cross paths, only one survives.

Without hesitation, Li Mingxing made a decision. He turned to the five dwarf smiths and said, “You stay here and guard everything. If possible, try to reforge these items. I’ll take the others to battle.”

At the mention of battle, the eyes of the thirty dwarf demolishers and dwarf bombardiers gleamed with excitement. The mighty warrior of the beastfolk jumped about, eager to prove his strength.

Leaving behind a skilled rogue, two dwarf demolishers, two dwarf bombardiers, and three battle panthers to guard the area, Li Mingxing and Yin Haitao led the rest of their forces to the site of the enemy confrontation.

Li Mingxing quickly assessed the situation. The force chasing the dark elves clad in crimson armor belonged to the apprentice hero from the light faction.

The enemy unit was not large. Fourteen centaur warriors, clad in shimmering silver armor and wielding long halberds, led the way. Behind them, a centaur shield-bearer in full silver armor carried a square shield on his back. Next came nine elf archers, three of whom were women. Following the archers was a man dressed as a mage, floating rather than walking—a clear sign of his troublesome abilities.

This force steadily pursued the dark elves, neither attacking with full force nor allowing them to escape.

Observing their tactics, Yin Haitao whispered, “Sir, do you think something’s wrong with them?”

“They’re baiting rescuers to come for the dark elves, so they can trap everyone in one sweep,” Li Mingxing speculated, already considering whether to trace the enemy’s route to find their ambush.

Before Li Mingxing could share his plan, trouble erupted among the newly joined dwarves. Despite leaving two demolishers behind, fourteen remained. Ignoring orders, they rushed forward as soon as the dark elves passed by.

To Li Mingxing’s astonishment, the dwarves lifted their black iron hammers and smashed them fiercely into the ground. The nearby passage collapsed with a thunderous crash, cutting off the pursuers’ retreat—but also blocking Li Mingxing’s own route back, at least until the beastfolk warrior could dig it open again.

The dark elves, seeing allies emerge, stopped fleeing and joined the dwarves, weapons ready, carefully watching the mage’s actions.

Furious, Li Mingxing said, “Yin Haitao, take two skilled rogues and five battle panthers, circle around and launch a sneak attack on the mage. Beastfolk warrior, you claim to be brave—why are you still here? Go down with the dwarf bombardiers!”

The beastfolk warrior didn’t hesitate, gripping his battle axe and charging ahead. But before he could even get started, the dwarf bombardiers, nearly as tall as he was, had already reached the enemy lines.

The dwarf bombardiers’ attack range was short, so they had long mastered loading their weapons while running. When they were thirty meters from the enemy, they fired simultaneously. The centaur warriors and the shield-bearer were blown to pieces.

The bombardiers didn’t stop there; they sped up, reloaded, and advanced another fifteen meters. Their firepower stunned even Li Mingxing—he hadn’t expected such devastating might. These units could stand against the minotaur guards and prevail.

Yet, as Li Mingxing pondered this, the bombardiers did something that enraged him: they turned their cannons on the elf archers. Li Mingxing hadn’t planned to spare the archers, but the bombardiers failed to account for their weapons’ power—using maximum force, they not only annihilated the archers but blasted another unstable section of the passage into rubble.

Unable to hold back any longer, Li Mingxing led his remaining troops into the fray. Yin Haitao seized the moment, appearing behind the mage and stabbing him with a poisoned dagger.

Perhaps startled by the bombardiers’ destructive power, the mage failed to notice Yin Haitao’s approach. Only when stabbed in the waist did he react, but it was too late; two skilled rogues arrived, one seizing his throat, the other snatching his spellbook.

After the mage was slain, Li Mingxing reached the battlefield. His first task was to rein in the nearly berserk dwarves; if the fighting continued, not only would the enemy perish, but Li Mingxing’s own forces would fall victim to the collapsing tunnels.

Once the dwarves were subdued, Li Mingxing’s troops finished off the remaining enemies. The battle yielded nothing: the dwarf bombardiers’ short-barreled cannons had reduced not only the enemy, but their weapons and gear, to fragments.

Li Mingxing cared little for this now. He watched as Yin Haitao produced a milky white diamond, identical in size and shape to the black magic gem Li Mingxing had previously used. Without needing to be told, Li Mingxing knew this was the item used by the apprentice hero of the light alliance. According to Yin Haitao, the diamond had been forcibly dug from the mage’s body, confirming he too had been a follower of an apprentice hero.

Based on the timeline of the underworld, Li Mingxing reasoned that this was likely half of the apprentice hero’s army. He had five days left in the underworld; if he could eliminate the apprentice hero, the rewards would be substantial.

The thought made Li Mingxing tremble with excitement. Yin Haitao sensed his intent and cautiously asked, “Sir, are we going to...?”

“Yes, that’s my plan, but there are two unresolved issues,” Li Mingxing replied, glancing at the ruined passage.

Yin Haitao understood the predicament. After some thought, he suggested, “Why don’t we ask the dark elves about what happened, and see if they know another route to their location? Perhaps the dwarves know a way through.”

Li Mingxing agreed—there was no better option. He led his troops to the dark elves.

This time, it was Yin Haitao, transformed into a dark elf, who questioned them, while Li Mingxing used his imperial aura to suppress their reactions.

Soon, Yin Haitao had the whole story. The dark elves were blood knights guarding a mysterious location.

They had been defending it until yesterday, when powerful enemies invaded. The blood knights fought back, but though they were a fourth-tier unit with fifteen members, the surprise attack and the enemy’s strength left only a few survivors after a prolonged battle.

If the attackers hadn’t been occupied with seizing the mysterious location, only sending half their force to deal with the blood knights, not a single dark elf would have escaped.

Hearing this, Li Mingxing and Yin Haitao’s eyes lit up. Yin Haitao asked, “Did they really send out half their forces?”

Li Mingxing asked, “Is there another route to your location?”