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However, this may also indicates that the Dark Dwarves’ settlement is probably not far from the players’ location…

“It seems that the Dark Dwarves’ map might also be opened,”

She contemplated for a moment and decided to temporarily activate the language filtering function for the members of the First Legion. This would block any vocabulary associated with the World Tree, Yggdrasill, and any other terms that might inadvertently reveal her true identity.

Although the players have accepted the game’s setting of keeping the true identity of the goddess confidential for now, who knows if there will be any players who may act foolishly so it’s better to be cautious than regret it later on.

Of course, only the language conversion is being filtered. When the players are summoned to Saigües, they technically are still speaking by using their language from earth. However, with her being the administrator who controls the connection between players’ consciousness and their in-game avatars, Evé has the ability to manipulate the players’ avatars effortlessly.

Although the players may think that they are speaking language from earth, in reality, their words are automatically being converted into the local language of Saigües and vice versa.

The default local language is Elvish, but players also have the option to adjust the language settings to utilize the common language used for communication amongst the various races in Saigües.

For example, when communicating with the Orcs, players have the option to enable automatic translation of their spoken words into the common language of Saigües.

As for the language filtering, it simply disables the translation of relevant vocabularies. The system won’t convert any of these filtered terms, which means the natives won’t be able to understand them.

Of course, this filter is not entirely perfect, and there are many ways to bypass it. One method is for players to learn the local language themselves. However, what gamer would willingly invest time and effort just to learn a language that they probably see as gibberish created by some game developers that might not even have any real-world use?

Except for the genius HootyBird, only mage players might be inclined to learn the local language, particularly because it is often used in magical arrays. However, they tend to focus more on studying the elvish runes and imitating them.

In addition to language filtering, Evé also blocked the offering ritual. When one player was about to draw an offering circle, she promptly intervened and notified all players through a system notification message that, while in the underworld, the offering ritual is temporarily prohibited until they return back to the surface.

There are many believers of the Goddess of Death here. They may also expose her identity if the players carelessly use offering circles and it somehow got exposed to any inhabitants of the underworld.

The guild members of the First Legion were oblivious to the fact that their beloved goddess was filtering out their spoken words. While they experienced a slight surprise upon receiving the unexpected system message prohibiting the usage of offering ritual, it was nothing more than a momentary astonishment since it didn’t have any major impact upon their expedition.

They have already engaged in combat with these fierce giant scorpions. Most players in First Legion are skilled in field battles, and when they aggroed three giant scorpions, they still remained calm, even if they were up against high-ranking monsters within the upper iron-rank.

After experiencing numerous battles, they were no longer the same newbies as before who had just entered the game. Members of the First Legion had become skilled at dealing with multiple monsters at once, thanks to their tendency to engage in coordinated battles involving multiple parties.

It’s the same this time as well and the only difference is that the type of monsters has changed, making it more challenging to assess their attack patterns and vulnerabilities.

The mages prepared fireball spells, one after another. Drawing from their previous encounters with the crypt spiders, they were well aware that for the majority of underground-dwelling monsters, fire and light magic have the highest destructive power.

Meanwhile, the tanks maintained aggro on the giant scorpions, while the melee-DPS players surrounded them, executing coordinated attacks and strategic retreats in a perfectly synchronized manner.

Even Evé couldn’t help but marvel at how quickly the players had grasped the battle rhythm and improved their coordination in such a short time…

In fact, it’s quite normal if you think about it.

From the players’ perspective, this was merely a game, eliminating the greatest psychological hurdle of all— the fear of death.

Furthermore, players could also lower their sense of pain and even miraculously resurrect themselves. This subtly increased their courage, fearlessness, and tolerance especially in combat.

Therefore, after going through numerous battles without being affected by their deaths, it’s no surprise that the players’ combat proficiency grew so rapidly.

This also made Evé increasingly satisfied, feeling that she was getting closer to creating her own ‘Scourge Army’ ¹ that could make any other true gods tremble.

Meanwhile, on the opposite side in the distance, the inconspicuous individual who had been constantly spying on the players from a hidden cavern proceeded to traverse a narrow pathway that led to a man-made cave. Finally, upon exiting the cave, this person arrived at a small city constructed entirely from stone!

The entire settlement is constructed from a dark rock material, displaying a rugged aesthetic, and its appearance exudes a solemn and menacing atmosphere especially when bathed underneath the glow of numerous fluorescent stones positioned atop the subterranean cavern.

Several dark-skinned Dwarves dressed in rough, dark brown linen garments, bustle about around the small settlement, carrying pickaxes and goods on their backs…

This…is a city of dark dwarves!

The individual who had previously been spying on the elves can be seen weaving through the crowd of dark dwarves, briefly exchanging greetings with some familiar faces as this person makes their way towards the most majestic three-story stone tower situated in the center of the settlement…

“What!? Did you just say that you spotted a group that appears to be elven mercenaries from the surface? And there are hundreds of them?”

Inside the hall of the stone tower, an elderly dwarf listened to the scout’s report with a bewildered expression.

At first glance, he appeared to be short and stubby like a typical dwarf, but he had a long beard and his skin was grayish-black, with no hair on the top of his head.

The elderly dwarf looked at the scout reporting in front of him, with a hint of disbelief crossing over his face.

“Brasshammer, have you been drinking too much ale? This is the Underdark. Where could these elves possibly even come from? And you claim there are over a hundred of them, working as mercenaries?”

How is it possible for over a hundred elves, who are typically known as delicate beings, to take up the profession of crude mercenaries? It sounds so ridiculous.

Although there were instances of long-eared individuals concealing their identities by working as mercenaries, but those were the few exceptions!

Not to mention… what purpose would an elf have in the Underdark, anyway?

The elderly dwarf was utterly unconvinced.

“Really, Grandpa Barain! I assure you, I would never make a mistake. They have pointy ears, tall stature, and an undeniable attractiveness. Without a doubt, they are elves! They are currently right there in the Dark Forest!” The dwarf scout known as Brasshammer explained with a flustered expression.

“Impossible!”

The elderly dwarf shook his head and replied, “The Dark Forest is teeming with monsters, and even though the entrance to the surface is close by, it is guarded by a horrifying giant spider. Without our guidance, surface dwellers cannot descend here at all.”

“It’s true, Grandpa Barain! I swear upon the goddess of death that I absolutely did not see it incorrectly! They were really a group of elves! The armor they are using was stunning, surpassing the beauty of human-made armors. Their craftsmanship is on par with ours so it’s definitely elves without a doubt.”

Brasshammer then gestured a symbol representing the goddess of death and the Lord of the Underworld upon his chest.

Upon hearing the scout’s words, the old dwarf’s expression froze, before his expression became a little more serious.

In Saigües where the true gods reign supreme, swearing upon the deity one believes in is considered the most strictest oath, and regardless of anyone’s religious affiliation, no believer would ever dare to jest while being bound by such a sacred pledge.

“…Do they all have the same hair color?” the elderly dwarf asked.

“No, they all have different colors…” Brasshammer shook his head.

“Different colors…” The old dwarf muttered while frowning slightly before breathing a sigh of relief.

“So, it appears they are not an elven clan planning to relocate underground…Is it really possible that they are just mercenaries? But how did they even managed to get past the gatekeeper spider and descend to this place? Moreover, what could be their purpose for being here?”

“If you’re still skeptical… Grandpa, you can go and witness it for yourself. They are presently engaged in a battle with the giant scorpions over there at the Dark Forest!” Brasshammer said again.

Upon hearing his words, the old dwarf was slightly surprised.

“Fighting giant scorpions? How did they end up fighting those creatures?”

“It seems that one of the elves accidentally wandered into the Dark Forest and was eaten by those giant scorpions. Then the other elves became angry and launched a fierce attack probably to avenge their fallen comrade.”

The elderly dwarf: “……”

“Do they appear powerful? It is said that their entire race was cursed by numerous gods a thousand years ago…resulting in their race’s strength being diminished to a mere iron rank, isn’t that so?”

Brasshammer scratched his head and replied, “I didn’t investigate carefully, but it feels like their strength is not particularly strong. It seems they are all at the lower iron-rank.”

The elderly dwarf took a moment of silence, wearing a pensive expression as he absentmindedly tapped his index finger on the table.

A group of lower iron-ranked elves would dare fight a higher iron-ranked scorpions…isn’t that just pure madness?

Barain acknowledges that the culture and forging craftsmanship of the elves are truly exceptional throughout the entire continent. Even after a thousand years, the other races in Saigues have still not been able to surpass them in this regard.

Even the dwarves, who excel in forging, are barely equal to them in terms of forging ordinary equipments. However, when it comes to higher-level equipment that requires magic proficiency, their craftsmanship is still slightly inferior compared to the magical gears that elves used to produce back in the olden days…

But civilization is civilization, and forging craftsmanship is forging craftsmanship. These factors alone do not determine the combat power of a race.

Under the same level of strength, elves are notoriously weak in combat effectiveness.

In the past, the elves were able to overpower their enemies by virtue of their race’s higher starting point, superior equipment, and sheer strength, all without losing their rank. However, that was in the past and the circumstances have changed now…

And… sacrificing more of their kin just to avenge one of their fallen clansman?

Is it worth it?

It’s no wonder these long-eared fellows situation are getting more and more miserable…

The elderly dwarf shook his head, pondered for a moment, and said, “Take me there, I want to see it myself.”

He was still very curious about these elves.

If it were any other race, then he wouldn’t care at all, but elves are different…

Elvenkind are generally naive, sweet, stubborn, and easily deceived race known throughout Saigües. Moreover, they were relatively harmless. If it was really them, then the elderly dwarf wouldn’t mind interacting with these elves.

After all, he had always yearned for some of the elven crafting techniques.

Led by Brasshammer, the elderly dwarf Barain swiftly trailed the scout through the excavated tunnel, heading towards the location where the younger dwarf had previously spotted the elves.

Upon reaching the location, Barain caught sight of the elves still engaged in combat with the scorpions through a small peephole that had been dug into the tunnel wall.

Whilst observing how they handled the battle, the elderly dwarf couldn’t help but acknowledge that this group of elves was indeed quite experienced.

The three monsters were no match for them. Even the higher iron-ranked scorpions were annihilated with only five elves as casualties.

Considering the players couldn’t use the offering ritual, it seemed that these scorpions didn’t have any valuable loot drops apart from their pincers and stingers…

So when killing these scorpions, the players set the “experience gain” to a hundred percent, leaving no spoils of war. The entire scorpion was fully drained of its lifeforce through [War Sacrifice] and turned to ashes…

Seeing the large amount of experience points being added to their status screen, each players’ eyes became more and more eager for combat.

The EXP value provided by these giant scorpions are so high!

There was a reason behind this phenomenon. The underworld’s living environment was considerably harsher in comparison to the surface. As a result, the monsters that managed to survive in this place typically possessed significantly greater vitality.

Vitality is synonymous to lifeforce and with the underworld creatures having an abundance of vitality also allows the passive skill [War Sacrifice] to attract more lifeforce, consequently leading to an increase in EXP points.

In spite of the casualties of five players, those who remained had essentially already deciphered the attack patterns of the scorpions. This newfound understanding filled them with exhilaration, driving them to eagerly aggro and engage in battles with more monsters.

The old dwarf witnessed an unbelievable scene wherein the players just eliminated three scorpions and without even having time to rest, already proceeded to hurl a few fireballs into the mushroom forest which drew the attention of five additional scorpions, resulting in yet another battle where the players engaged with them fervently, resembling a group of crazed combat addicts.

The elderly dwarf was taken aback by the sheer excitement and greed displayed by this grpup of elves, along with the unmistakable expressions of manic joy that were clearly visible upon their faces from a distance.

These elves…

What on earth is going on?

This doesn’t seem like a fight for revenge, does it?

¹ (天灾军团) – The Scourge (sometimes called the Undead Scourge or Scourge Army) is one of three major factions in the game World of Warcraft.