Elf Kingdom: Game of the World Tree-Chapter 364 - 347: The Delegation Arrives

In the Underworld, a massive Earth Water Lizard swam in the waters of the subterranean lake southwest of the Deep Rift Cave...

On its back sat more than ten members of various underground races, primarily comprised of dark dwarves and underground gnomes.

If you looked closely, you would find that although these underground races were dressed differently, they all wore the same sickle-shaped emblem on their chests.

It was the emblem symbolizing the Death God, often used in formal occasions.

In the Underworld, this emblem had another meaning too, signifying that the wearer belonged to a major city-state organization in the western region of the Underworld—the Silent City State Alliance, consisting of many residents from the underground city who believed in the Death God.

The city-state alliance was a common joint force in the Underworld; though the structure of these alliances was loose, and the city-states within often fought among themselves—sometimes even to the death—when faced with invasions from a powerful external force, they would unite against a common foe.

The Silent City State Alliance was an alliance of numerous small and medium-sized city-states that worshipped the Death God. They occupied parts of the upper regions in the western Dark Territory and were constantly at odds with another city-state organization in the west—the Dark City State Alliance, who worshipped the God of Darkness and Shadow.

Of course, unlike the Dark City State Alliance, which was steeped in history and boasted nearly fifty underground cities, the Silent City State Alliance was young and weak, with a total of only seventeen cities.

It’s worth mentioning that although Black Rock City in the Deep Rift Cave also worshiped the Death God, this underground city had a remote location, was small in scale, and was initially founded by dark dwarf exiles of different faiths, so it did not belong to any city-state alliance...

However, as time passed, the Death God Church had already brought Black Rock City under its control. Since Black Rock City was near the entrance to the surface world from the western boundary of the Underworld, its geographical location was advantageous, so... joining the Silent City State Alliance was only a matter of time.

Clearly, the group riding the Earth Water Lizard was an emissary delegation from the Silent City State Alliance, and their destination was Black Rock City in the Deep Rift Cave.

At the head of the Earth Water Lizard stood an old dark dwarf with a long gray-red beard and a bald head, silently leaning on a magic wand, seemingly the leader of the group.

He wore a black mage robe, his expression stern, and the deep wrinkles and weathered age on his face added a hint of melancholy, giving him an air of heavy-heartedness.

The old dwarf was named Huo Xu, and he was 141 years old this year.

He chose that name because dwarves pride themselves on their beards, and in his youth, he had a long red beard like a flame, which was a source of pride among dwarves and earned the admiration of many female dark dwarves...

Of course, that was in his younger days.

Even though Huo Xu was a Lower Gold level professional, with a lifespan nearly double that of ordinary clan members, he was considered quite old among the dark dwarves, who have an average lifespan of 100.

Logically, a dark dwarf of his age, no matter how strong, would usually choose to retire and live out their days in the underground city, maybe serving as a member of the Elder Council to partake in some major decisions.

However... war had come.

This war was initiated by the Dark City State Alliance, worshippers of the God of Darkness and Shadow. Their objective was simple: to defeat and destroy the Silent City State Alliance.

The hostility and covetousness of the Dark City State Alliance toward the Silent City State Alliance had a long history. However, due to constant internal strife and heavy internal losses, despite being overall much stronger than the Silent City State Alliance, a delicate balance had been maintained between them over the millennium.

Yet, since last year, with the rise of magic power across the entire Segis Plane, the city lord of the Dark City State Alliance’s largest underground city, Moso City—the Witch Demon King Pelonie—seized the opportunity to break through to the legendary level. With the support of some secretive entities, she integrated the entire city-state alliance’s power in a very short time, shattering that balance.

Once the balance was broken, war came.

And as the former chief of the largest underground city in the Silent City State Alliance—Blade City, as well as a Divine Favored of the Death God in the Underworld and one of the dark dwarf leaders, Huo Xu naturally had to shoulder his responsibilities.

This time, he would lead other emissaries from the underground cities to seek help from Black Rock City.

As a dark dwarf, in his youth, Huo Xu had also traveled through the Underworld, and he had visited Black Rock City.

In Huo Xu’s memory, Black Rock City was just a remote small city with a population of only a few thousand people.

This underground city was weak, with scant resources, and was extremely vulnerable except for another dark dwarf Divine Favored stationed there.

One could even say that, had it not been at the Underworld’s remote boundary, such a city would have long been annexed by other underground cities!

However... it was this very city that, in the divine oracle of the Death God, became a place of hope, telling them that the turning point of the war lay here, hinting for them to come here for assistance.

Not only that, the Death God had even issued a divine oracle to set up ultra-long-distance teleportation arrays in various underground cities!

And the other end of those teleportation arrays would naturally be Black Rock City.

This meant that the reinforcements sought would be directly teleported from Black Rock City to various underground cities, joining their battlefield.

However, Huo Xu could not understand what reinforcements Black Rock City could possibly offer...

He had been to Black Rock City and knew it to have only a few thousand dark dwarves, with not many reaching the Black Iron Upper level.

This war was vast in scale; what use could a mere few thousand non-combat-oriented dark dwarves possibly have?

Of course, as a devout believer of the Death God, Huo Xu was long accustomed to his True God’s habit of speaking in halves.

Moreover... he had indeed heard some rumors recently, and although the content was absurd, it might very well relate to the True God’s oracle.

That was that half a year ago, Black Rock City was besieged by a shadow army and successfully defeated them, even overcoming a shadow dragon!

However, considering that strange phenomena had occurred worldwide this past year, with bizarre, implausible news emerging one after another in the black markets, their authenticity difficult to determine... Huo Xu did not know whether it was true or false.

Though puzzled, Huo Xu still carried out the True God’s orders.

But others were not the same.

Most of the delegation wore heavy expressions, worry lining their brows.

This mood persisted until they crossed the underground lake and arrived at Black Rock City.

"Is this Black Rock City? The place of hope in the Death God’s oracle? The city that allegedly defeated a shadow dragon?"

Gazing at the low city walls and the rocky city whose boundaries could be seen at a glance, a gnome from the group furrowed his brows.