Versatile Mage Novel - Chapter 1416
Chapter 1416: There Can Be Only One King in the Underworld
Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
The whirlpool kept expanding continuously, resulting in unrecoverable damage to the other world. The two emperors in the whirlpool disappeared for a moment as they relocated the fight to somewhere else.
Meanwhile, the Red Skeleton Ruler was commanding the undead army on behalf of the King of Undead.
The Carnelian Corpse Ruler, the Nether Bone Dragon, and the Misty Phantom Commander, under the lead of the Mountain Zombie, began to push forward, too, driving the Underworld army back to the heavily damaged Squaretrek Plain. A strong presence of death lingered in the area from the thick mist of the dead looming over the land. The undead army’s strength mounted up as the battle progressed. The leaders of the Underworld army, including the Sphinx, the Dark Pharaoh of Serpents, and Scorpion Lord Medusa, were at a clear disadvantage.
The Sphinx had fought Mo Fan for a long time. The Scorpion Lord Medusa was severely injured by Mo Fan. As a result, the undead army had an absolute advantage when the Mountain Zombie, Nether Bone Dragon, and the Misty Phantom Commander took over, not to mention that the sea of zombies, skeletons, and phantoms were stronger than the creatures of the Underworld on average…
The deathlight of the Great Pyramid of Giza was shrinking gradually, now restricted to an area of thirty kilometers across on the Squaretrek Plain. The ravines, chasms, gaps, and valleys were piled up with remains, most of them belonging to the Underworld creatures.
The Mountain Zombie finally utilized his full strength. He lifted the Sphinx high up in the air and slammed it down at the Pyramid with all his might.
The Sphinx could not control himself. He was hurled a great distance and was only able to come to a stop after slamming heavily into the base of the pyramid. His fighting capacity had been reduced greatly by his injuries, so he was struggling to take on the Mountain Zombie.
The Sphinx rose to his feet and roared at Mo Fan furiously. There was no way he would be losing so easily if he had not wasted so much energy on Mo Fan!…
The Rulers of the Underworld army had almost reached their limits. The only one that was still fighting on the side of the Underworld army was their leader, Osiris.
They would not retreat if Osiris was still around. The Sphinx might be the commander of the army, but Osiris was their conviction!
They were supposed to construct a beautiful desert from the remains and ashes of their enemy, but the outcome was completely the opposite of their desires. Even the Sphinx and the Dark Pharaoh of Serpents had not expected they would be tasting defeat instead of conquering this land in the east, after they finally found a way to invade it!
Black dragonlike gusts burst out of the giant growing whirlpool. The energy of unknown Elements had taken the form of hundreds of dragons coiling in the sky. They were circling the King of Undead like servants. They would suddenly transform into savage beasts, pouncing fiercely at the white Pharaoh!
The black dragon winds were extremely powerful. One of them accidentally ended up in the Squaretrek Plain, and immediately eliminated a huge troop of Underworld creatures. The unstoppable dragon wind lingered in the area for quite some time after eliminating the Underworld creatures. The rest of the Underworld army froze like statues. They had completely lost the will to fight any further.
More than a hundred black dragon gusts had accumulated in the whirlpool above. They were chasing after the Pharaoh. The Pharaoh used his staff of office to nullify the terrifying gusts while dodging them continuously!
The black dragon winds had obviously expended a huge amount of the King of Undead’s energy. After releasing the dragon gusts, the King of Undead remained still to recover his energy. The Pharaoh finally nullified the dragon winds, giving him an opportunity to counterattack the King of Undead.
However, the Pharaoh did not retaliate. He instead glanced at the Underworld army that had been forced to withdraw to an area within twenty kilometers of the Pyramid…
His Underworld army was already losing. His Staff had begun to crack while he was nullifying the dragon winds. Most importantly, he was not sure whether his opponent was putting up an act as bait, or his opponent was actually recovering his energy and giving him a chance to counterattack!
Khufu could see the confidence in the King of Undead’s eyes, being someone who had lived for thousands of years. He had also seen the King of Undead’s outstanding magic. He did not believe that the King of Undead was standing still because he was trying to catch his breath…
However, his army was obviously at a disadvantage. If he did not defeat the ancient ruler of China, his army was only going to be crushed even more!
Damn it, how dare that stupid human tell him that China was weak and vulnerable? How dare he say that the Underworld army could easily invade their land? To think that he was actually going up against an ancient civilization bold enough to challenge his kingdom, and it resulted in such a great loss to his forces. Even Osiris began to feel distressed about the loss of strength.
Another twenty kilometers, and his mausoleum would be under attack!
An undead was able to live for so long mainly because of their mausoleum. The Pharaoh believed the King of Undead had a magnificent palace for himself, too. If he could claim the King of Undead’s palace, he might become the true God of the Underworld and have total control over the world of the dead… he might even be able to challenge the God of Darkness!
“There can be only one King in the Underworld!” Khufu said to the King of Undead in a cold voice.
The Ancient King knew Khufu was not referring to his kingdom of undead when he mentioned the Underworld.
The entire world of the undead could be referred to as the Underworld. The Pharaoh was in charge of Egypt’s Underworld, while the Ancient King ruled China’s Underworld. Other countries had their Underworlds too, but they were not really worth mentioning. Either one of them could easily dominate those other Underworlds with ease!
The Ancient King had long lost interest in invading and dominating other Underworlds. It had been thousands of years since he had entered his mausoleum. His ambition to rule the world had died with his flesh.
The living world no longer belonged to him. Therefore, even when he had the chance to reclaim his capital city, he chose to turn around and stay under the ground alone.
However, even if creatures that were born to fight had lost their flesh, when the cries of battle and the war drums rolled, they would still pick up their weapons and fight as long as they still had their souls!
They might have lost the ambition to compete with the living, but the Underworld did need a true ruler to keep an eye on the dead who were roaming in the living world, unwilling to die!
“There are still a lot of people like us, so I’ll need them all to submit to me!” the Pharaoh declared.
It was necessary to unite the Underworld. Otherwise, they would never stand a chance against existences like the God of Darkness, nor could they compete with the Lord of the Ocean.
The King of Undead did not respond.
Khufu needed more people to worship him. He was in need of greater power, but the Ancient King had already acheived that long ago. He was an emperor of the entire nation when he was still alive, an incomparable king. His Magic was so strong that no one could possibly match his strength. He was the inventor of the Undead Element and the strongest user of the Earth Element. Even the strongest Totem Beasts were in deep slumber in his territory… what else could he conquer?
Nothing, there was nothing in the world that was worth his attention!
However, Khufu was right about one thing. The Underworld needed a ruler, and the Underworld could only have one King!
He had no intention of competing with the living, but it was indeed necessary to dominate the world of the dead…
“So, are you going to fight, or run away?” the King of Undead asked.
Khufu’s face twisted. Egypt’s corpse-preserving technique was clearly the top of the world. He looked no different than when he was alive.
The King of Undead was quite interested in it. He did not like his current face, which was covered in the wrinkles of the dead. He wanted to look just like when he was still alive, so the King of Undead was very interested in Khufu’s technique.
Khufu had the urge to fight back. Once he succeeded and defeated the Ancient King, the Underworld army would be able to defeat the undead army, too! The tables would be turned, but it did not really matter anymore, since it was not the goal he had in mind.
“I’m relieved to learn that another old monster like me is still alive. This mysterious land in the east, I’m glad that I didn’t waste my time coming here,” Khufu proclaimed.
“So you’ve chosen to run away?” the King of Undead retorted coldly. He was so straightforward that Khufu almost had the urge to pick up his broken staff and hurl it at him!
“War always takes time. This fertile land, this land full of heroic spirits, will eventually belong to me, Khufu!” Khufu proclaimed.
The King of Undead was unmoved, grinning disdainfully.
He initially thought this Khufu was a brave leader who had decided to have a final showdown with him after sharing his ideas and beliefs, but it turned out that he was planning to retreat instead!
Khufu summoned his golden chariot and returned to the Pyramid.
He purposely turned around and watched the King of Undead.
He wanted to see if he was making the right choice. He wanted to see if the King of Undead was actually in a pinch. He wanted to know if he would actually win the battle if he chose to fight back.
However, he noticed the King of Undead stopped recovering his energy as soon as he left. Khufu immediately felt a great chill running down his spine.
The cunning jerk was indeed baiting him. He was lucky that he did not take the bait!
Retreating was indeed the wiser decision!
The golden chariot went to the top of the Pyramid. The deathlight dimmed a lot after the Pharaoh decided to retreat. Khufu would never admit to his people that he had taken the initiative to retreat. He was convincing his people that they would return one day!
The Underworld army began to withdraw. They had surged out from the Pyramid like a tide, and went back into it the same way. The outline of the magnificent Pyramid gradually faded away, before disappearing completely.
