Chapter 00034: The Legendary Humans
# The Legendary Humans
Chapter 34
Novel: AFK Game: Portal to Another World
Chapter 34: The Legendary Humans
Magic-infused Arrow was a technique that was extremely difficult to master—one that typically only elves could perform.
By channeling magic into the arrowhead, the power of the shot would increase tremendously.
Zhuoya, the strongest magic archer in Springlight Woodland, had no trouble at all dealing with a bunch of mere ghosts.
Druid Al, who had been observing the ritual ring, seized the opportunity while Zhuoya drew the enemies’ attention, and quickly prepared and cast a spell:
“Summon Lightning!”
Within the underground space, dark clouds suddenly gathered atop the cave ceiling.
Thin bolts of lightning struck down one after another.
The most troublesome thing about ghosts was that they were immune to physical damage.
But on the flip side, they had no strengths beyond that.
The ghosts struck by the summoned lightning were instantly scattered, their spirits vaporized as a large area was cleared out.
With such powerful firepower, Zhuoya loosed another arrow from the bowstring she held ready.
Before her, no ghosts remained.
“Is everyone alright?”
Zola turned her sword’s edge and, without looking back, stabbed into the darkness behind her.
The last ghost vanished into the underground shadows.
“We’re fine. Thanks to the druid’s magic.”
Zhuoya picked back up the arrows she had just shot out and turned to ask Zola:
“I’ve heard from the folks in the woodland that your demon race has very high negative energy resistance. Is that true?”
“Yeah, all demons do.”
Ghosts dealt damage primarily through contact, which produced a kind of negative energy effect when touching living beings.
But for demons, that kind of harm was hardly more than a tickle.
Anything that could be killed easily wasn’t worthy of fear.
Which was why, in the eyes of the demon race, dealing with undead creatures like ghosts might even be easier than killing chickens.
“Though depending on the bloodline, our resistance still varies a bit. For example, Her Highness the Princess, as a high-ranking demon race, has multiple resistances—against fire, lightning, poison, and mental attacks.”
In this regard, demons were much stronger than tree elves, who only had resistance to mind-related attacks.
After confirming there were no stragglers, Zola turned back to Zhuoya and said:
“Did you notice what those ghosts looked like just now?”
“No, I didn’t. Was something odd about them?”
“I think… in life, they didn’t look like demons. Instead, they looked more like humans spoken of in legend.”
“Humans? You mean that weak race that reproduces really fast?”
“Yeah. I saw some human sketches in old books when I was little. The biggest difference between them and us demons is that they don’t have horns. Their lifespans are way shorter too.”
“But the knowledge we have says humans have long since been sealed on the other side of the Final Great Chasm. Legend has it that the Demon God Himself placed that seal.”
“That was during the Mythic Era. And this town might also be something from the Mythic Era. Maybe those were humans leftover in demon territory, or maybe…”
Thinking about how entering this place required showing the Holy Emblem of the Demon God, Zola suddenly had a new thought.
Could it be… this place was built by humans who worshiped the Demon God?
–‐‐——–‐‐——
Archaeological discoveries often reveal astonishing truths.
But Zola hadn’t come here to do archaeology, nor did she plan to dwell on it.
After checking that no one was injured, the five of them continued on their way.
Zola felt extremely fortunate now because the Demon God was constantly relaying the path in her heart.
For a follower of faith, this was when one was closest to their revered deity.
Zhuoya, however, said with a curious look.
“Although I’m not a believer… I remember hearing that gods rarely communicate directly with their followers, right?”
Druid Al, who was still somewhat reluctant to leave the ritual ring behind, added:
“In our woodland, we have druids who worship the Springwater Goddess. He said it’s very hard to hear the Goddess’s voice. Even after praying for a month straight, he might not get a response.”
“It’s extremely difficult for gods to influence the mortal world. Divine oracles are normally only clearly heard within a temple. But His Lordship, the Demon God, is far stronger than your average deity.”
“That much is true.”
Zhuoya recalled how the Demon God had dispersed the Plague Goddess’s divine power with a mere thought.
The Plague Goddess hadn’t even been able to resist—it just proved how terrifyingly powerful He was.
Perhaps to the Demon God, speaking to His followers was as simple as exhaling, barely any trouble at all.
After all, He even spoke to the tree spirits in the woodland through pigeons.
What other god could pull something like that off?
“The treasure His Lordship mentioned… is just up ahead.”
At this time, the group stepped onto a staircase leading to the highest point of this ancient city.
A massive room was embedded deep into the stone wall, as if it had originally been a cave that someone later reinforced and modified.
After ensuring there were no traps, the two Royal Guards stepped forward and shoved the massive stone door with all their strength.
The hinges had long since rotted away, so the slab toppled inward violently.
Through the swirling dust, a faint golden glow could be seen shimmering in the air.
By torchlight, they saw chunks of gold and silver bricks scattered across the corners.
A large number of gold and silver vessels and ornaments littered the floor like discarded trash.
Various gems of different colors gleamed with brilliant light, like stars scattered among the piles of treasure.
“This is… the treasure?”
Even Zhuoya, a tree elf who had never used money in her life, felt her heart thump wildly at the sight.
The desire for gold seemed woven into the very DNA of all sentient beings.
The group stepped over the fallen slab into the chamber, surrounded—almost buried—in literal gold.
At the doorway, there was hardly even a place left to stand.
“Conservatively… this could smelt down to three or four thousand gold coins. If we count the gems, silver, and crafted items too, the total value might be more than twenty thousand.”
Zola glanced around and estimated, before turning her eyes to the deepest part of the room.
The room was close to a hundred square meters and roughly square in shape, with eight stone pillars supporting the ceiling.
At the very end stood a stone throne.
On it rested a crown—appearing to be made of silver, but even more radiant—and in the center of the crown sat a massive ruby, glowing red.
“His Lordship isn’t interested in treasure, I assume. So He guided me here… for that crown?”
In the minds of common folk, the divine realms were overflowing with gold and silver.
Mere wealth would hardly draw the interest of a god.
But before Zola could receive a reply from the Demon God, she suddenly felt a faint, tingling sensation underfoot.
“Stop right there—there’s footsteps!”
Zhuoya warned them all to halt, then dropped down with her ear pressed against the stone floor.
Only a few seconds passed before she jumped back up and shouted:
“Extremely heavy footsteps—it’s definitely some kind of huge creature. I think it’s even heavier than a bear and definitely heading this way!”
“Where’s it coming from?”
“Left side of the room—but there’s no doorway over there!”
Weapons were drawn, and everyone turned to the direction Zhuoya had indicated.
The sound of heavy footfalls soon grew loud enough for anyone to hear, and the vibration underfoot became more and more violent.
Then, at its peak, the footsteps suddenly stopped.
“It stopped?”
“No, it’s right behind the wall!”
With a thunderous boom, the wall on one side of the treasure room exploded.
The blast sent a cloud of smoke into the air, obscuring everyone’s vision.
They heard piercing metallic grinding and the gnashing of gears turning with harsh creaks.
A red light flickered to life amidst the smoke with a hum, followed by a massive shape shifting its body—the swirling wind it kicked up cleared the dust in an instant.
Standing there was a humanoid figure, nearly three meters tall, made entirely of metal with a single glowing red eye.
Without hesitation, it lunged at them.
(End of Chapter)