Lei Lin's fiery wings stretched in the morning breeze, hotter than when they had rushed to aid the Elven Forest—the Life Crystal Core's pale green light wreathed its wingtips, and every beat drove away the chill along their route. Loran sat on Lei Lin's back, with Liya riding the Deer of Wind beside him and ten Elf Guard members following behind. Their quivers held arrows soaked in Dew of Life, and earthenware jars filled with purification potions hung at their waists as they sped toward the Blackstone Mountain Range.
"Watch the skies!" the Snow Spirit Qilin suddenly called. Luminous white frost mist instantly formed an ice shield above the party. Almost simultaneously, more than a dozen black-and-purple flying insects swooped down. Their wings were as thin as cicada wings, and tiny bone patterns covered their shells. Slime dripped from their mouthparts onto the ice shield, corroding a dense scattering of small pits into it.
"They're Bone-Corroding Flying Insects! The aerial evolved form of Soul-Devouring Insects!" Liya immediately raised her staff. Emerald vines sprang from the ground and tangled around three insects' wings. The Elf Guard captain drew his bow and nocked an arrow. Arrows soaked in Dew of Life pierced the insects' shells with precision, and jade-green light seeped through the wounds. The insects instantly stiffened, fell to the ground, and turned to black ash.
Loran leaped up, sweeping an arc of pure white light from his knight's sword that cut the remaining insects in half. He noticed an extremely faint trace of evil iron aura seeping from their remains-the metallic scent unique to the Blackstone Mountain Range. Clearly, these insects had long since nested near the mine tunnels and even fed on evil iron.
"The Insect Clan has already taken root in the Blackstone Mountain Range." Loran landed with his brows tightly furrowed. "Chief Tongchui has been trapped for so long. I'm afraid the situation inside the tunnels is worse than we thought."
The Snow Spirit Qilin's ice rune flickered in the air, pointing toward the mine entrance deep in the Blackstone Mountain Range. Its red light shone brighter than before and had even begun trembling faintly—a signal of extreme danger. The Icefield Wolf ran low to the ground, its golden nose constantly sniffing. Suddenly, it growled at a pile of rubble and pawed aside the stones, revealing densely packed insect holes beneath. Fresh Insect Clan slime still clung to their walls.
"We're almost at the mine entrance. Watch for an ambush." Liya signaled the Elf Guard to spread out into a fan-shaped defensive formation. The Deer of Wind flattened its ears and gently pawed the ground, clearly sensing the hidden danger around them as well.
Rounding a ridge, they finally saw the entrance to the Blackstone Mountain Range's main mine tunnel. The once-open entrance was now sealed by a thick layer of black-and-purple slime covered in writhing Bone-Corroding Flying Insects. Several dwarven corpses wrapped in slime lay against the rocks on either side-their armor had been corroded through with large holes, and their hands still tightly gripped mining picks. Clearly, they had been killed defending the tunnel.
"They're dwarven scouts!" Liya's voice was heavy. "The slime hasn't dried yet. They haven't been dead long."
Loran was just about to step forward and clear away the slime when dull impacts suddenly sounded from inside the tunnel, accompanied by Chief Tongchui's furious roar. "You bastards! Don't even think of touching the fallen star iron!" A sharp crack of breaking metal followed. Pale golden light shone through a gap in the slime, only to be quickly covered by more slime.
"Chief Tongchui is still alive!" Joy stirred in Loran's heart, and he immediately shouted to the others, "Liya, use your power of nature to occupy the insects in the slime! Elf Guard, clear out the insects with your Dew of Life arrows! Snow Spirit Qilin, freeze the slime with your frost mist to keep it from spreading! Lei Lin, prepare your flames. Once the slime freezes, burn the entrance open!"
Everyone acted immediately. Liya's emerald vines burrowed into the gaps in the slime, and the power of nature spread along them. The Bone-Corroding Flying Insects within instantly grew agitated and rushed toward the vines. The Elf Guard fired in unison, jade-green light piercing the slime, each insect struck leaving a small pit in it. The Snow Spirit Qilin unleashed frost mist, quickly freezing the black-and-purple slime into solid ice and immobilizing the insects on its surface. Lei Lin seized the opportunity, turning its golden-red flames into a pillar of fire that slammed into the ice.
Crack! A huge fissure split the ice. Loran leaped up and slashed out pure white light with his knight's sword, cleaving the ice apart completely. The scene inside the tunnel instantly came into view—more than a dozen modified Evil Iron Golems surrounded a small group of dwarves. Bone-Corroding Flying Insects coiled around the golems' joints, Insect Clan slime coated their shells, and their evil iron axes whistled through the air, every swing carrying black-and-purple evil light.
Chief Tongchui stood at the front of the dwarven group. The sacred runes on his Evil-Breaking Warhammer had dimmed, and bloodstained cloth wrapped his arm. The skin beneath was black and purple-clearly corroded by slime. Surprise and delight flashed in his eyes when he saw Loran's party. Roaring, he smashed his warhammer into the golem before him. "Loran, lad! You've finally come!"
"Chief Tongchui, hold on!" Loran charged among the golems, sweeping pure white light from his knight's sword and severing the joints of two golems. Lei Lin and the Snow Spirit Qilin followed close behind, fiery wings intertwining with frost mist as they froze the golems while purifying the slime with flames. The Icefield Wolf pounced on the Bone-Corroding Flying Insects at the golems' joints, shattering several with each swipe of its sharp golden claws.
The Elf Guard immediately joined the battle as well. Emerald vines bound the golems' limbs, restricting their movements, while Liya waved her staff and turned Dew of Life into a jade-green rain of light over the wounded dwarves. Wherever the rain passed, the black-and-purple corrosion marks gradually faded.
"These golems have been modified by the Insect Clan!" Chief Tongchui panted, smashing his warhammer into a golem's head. "Soul-Devouring Insect eggs are hidden in their cores. Ordinary sacred power can't break them at all. Only your Three-Element Unification power can destroy them completely!"
Loran immediately noticed that every golem had a black-and-purple core in its chest. Insect eggs writhed inside, constantly supplying the golems with evil power. He leaped behind a golem and drove his knight's sword into its core, pouring pure white light into it. The eggs were instantly purified. The golem stopped abruptly, stiffened in place, then crashed to the ground and became a pile of ordinary evil iron fragments.
"That's it!" Seeing this, Chief Tongchui immediately changed tactics, directing the dwarven warriors to occupy the golems and create opportunities for Loran to strike their cores. Working together, they soon cleared out all the Evil Iron Golems, while the Elf Guard's arrows finished off the Bone-Corroding Flying Insects in the tunnel.
Chief Tongchui slumped to the ground, accepted the water Loran offered, and gulped down several mouthfuls. "Thank you. Any later, and us old bones would have met our end here. We'd mined almost all the fallen star iron deep in the tunnels, but just as we were ready to haul it out, the remaining black dwarves suddenly arrived with these golems and insects. Their chief had even been parasitized by a huge insect queen, making him several times stronger than before!"
"The black dwarf chief was parasitized by an insect queen?" Loran's heart sank. "What are they after? Just the fallen star iron?"
"More than that!" Chief Tongchui shook his head and took a slime-contaminated fragment of fallen star iron from inside his clothes. A black-and-purple sheen covered it. "They want to modify the fallen star iron with Insect Clan slime and build an 'Evil Iron Insect Hive'—something that can keep producing Evil Iron Golems and Soul-Devouring Insects. If they build it, the entire Blackstone Mountain Range will become an Insect Clan stronghold!"
Liya took the fallen star iron fragment and channeled the power of nature through her fingertips. Its black-and-purple sheen gradually faded. "The fallen star iron is very pure. As long as we purify it completely with Dew of Life and sacred power, we can still use it to forge the sacred warship. We need to reach the depths of the mine as soon as possible and stop the black dwarf chief from completing the Evil Iron Insect Hive!"
Everyone immediately checked their equipment and set off deeper into the tunnels. The light grew dimmer, the evil iron aura and the rotten stench of Insect Clan slime in the air grew stronger, and the insect holes in the ground grew denser. Occasionally, they spotted a few Bone-Corroding Flying Insects that had escaped, which the Icefield Wolf swiftly pounced on and killed.
After roughly an hour of walking, they suddenly heard the clang of metal being forged ahead, accompanied by the black dwarf chief's wild laughter. "Hurry! Put your backs into it! The Evil Iron Insect Hive is almost complete! Once it's built, we can turn the entire continent into an insect paradise!"
Loran signaled everyone to stop and quietly peered ahead. In a spacious cavern deep within the mine, a huge evil iron platform was under construction. Black-and-purple slime covered it, and dozens of black dwarves were setting fallen star iron fragments into its surface. In the central recess, a Bone-Corroding Insect Queen three times the size of the queen in the Elven Forest was constantly laying eggs. The eggs landed on the fallen star iron and quickly fused with the evil iron, becoming tiny Evil Iron Golems.
The black dwarf chief stood beside the queen. Half his body was already enveloped by the queen's body, and his arms had turned into black-and-purple insect limbs. He held a longsword forged from evil iron and insect shells. Slime dripped from its blade, corroding the air and leaving black streaks.
"I didn't expect you to find this place." Sensing movement, the black dwarf chief turned, his eyes filled with madness. "But it doesn't matter. The Evil Iron Insect Hive is almost complete. You've arrived just in time to become its first sacrifices!"
He swung the longsword in his insect limb, sending black-and-purple evil light slashing toward Loran. Loran immediately raised his knight's sword to block. Pure white light collided with evil light, shaking loose fragments from the tunnel's rock walls. He felt tremendous force travel along his blade, leaving his arm slightly numb-after being parasitized by the insect queen, the black dwarf chief's strength had actually reached the early fifth stage, more than a single tier above what it had been.
"Lei Lin, Snow Spirit Qilin, attack him with ice and fire!" Loran shouted. Lei Lin beat its fiery wings, turning golden-red flames into fire serpents that coiled around the black dwarf chief's limbs. The Snow Spirit Qilin breathed frost mist and froze the fire serpents, forming a cage of ice and fire that temporarily trapped him.
Liya and the Elf Guard charged toward the Evil Iron Insect Hive. Emerald vines bound the black dwarves on the platform, and Dew of Life turned into arrows of light that shot toward the Bone-Corroding Insect Queen at its center. Chief Tongchui led the dwarven warriors in clearing out the small Evil Iron Golems around them, protecting the Elf Guard's flanks.
"You want to destroy my hive? Not so easily!" the black dwarf chief roared. His longsword burst with black-and-purple light, cleaving apart the cage of ice and fire. He leaped toward Liya. "I'll kill you first, meddlesome elf!"
Loran immediately gave chase. Pure white light from his knight's sword condensed into a blade of light and slashed toward the black dwarf chief's back. Forced to turn and block, the chief had his insect limb grazed by the light blade, leaving a deep wound. Jade-green insect blood gushed out and corroded small pits in the ground.
"Do you think I'm the only one who's been parasitized?" The black dwarf chief suddenly laughed wildly and took a badge from inside his clothes—it was the very Radiant Temple badge Loran had discovered in the Elven Forest. "We have people in the temple too! Once the hive is complete, our insider will open the Holy Spring and nourish the hive with its power. Then the Insect Clan will rule the entire continent!"
Loran's heart jolted-the news of an insider in the temple confirmed his earlier suspicions. He tightened his grip on his knight's sword, a trace of coldness flashing in his eyes. "You'll never live to see that day! Three-Element Unification: Purification Slash!"
Pure white light surged along his sword, forming a blade of light several meters long that slashed toward the black dwarf chief's chest. This time, the chief failed to block it. The light blade pierced his insect limbs and body, purifying the insect queen and eggs within him. He let out an agonized scream as his body gradually melted, finally turning to black ash that scattered in the tunnel's breeze.
Having dealt with the black dwarf chief, Loran immediately charged toward the Evil Iron Insect Hive. Seeing that its host was dead, the Bone-Corroding Insect Queen frantically laid eggs, trying to hasten the hive's completion. Liya and the Elf Guard's vines had already bound the queen's limbs, but its slime was steadily corroding them away.
"Use the Life Crystal Core!" Loran shouted. The Snow Spirit Qilin immediately tossed the Life Crystal Core to Liya. She caught it and pressed it into the central recess of the Evil Iron Insect Hive. Pale green light instantly erupted, spreading along the fallen star iron fragments and covering the entire platform.
The Bone-Corroding Insect Queen let out a scream as the light purified its body. Its eggs also lost their vitality and turned into ordinary stones. The black-and-purple slime on the Evil Iron Insect Hive gradually receded, and the fallen star iron fragments regained their silvery-white sheen, glowing with a faint metallic light.
The crisis in the mine was finally over. Chief Tongchui looked at the purified fallen star iron with a gratified smile. "Wonderful. With this fallen star iron, along with the Elf Clan's power of nature and the temple's Holy Spring power, we'll soon finish forging the sacred warship."
Liya put away the Life Crystal Core, but her expression remained grave. "But the insider in the temple that the black dwarf chief mentioned is a serious problem. Elder White still hasn't sent word. He may already be in danger."
Loran looked at the Snow Spirit Qilin. Sure enough, the light on its ice rune had changed again-it pointed toward the Radiant Temple, shining with a red light even stronger than the one for the Blackstone Mountain Range. A trace of black mingled with the red, as though it had been contaminated by evil power.
"We must go to the Radiant Temple immediately!" Loran tightened his grip on his knight's sword. "The insider may already have taken action against Elder White. If the Insect Clan really contaminates the Holy Spring, the consequences will be unthinkable!"
Chief Tongchui immediately said, "I'll stay here and lead the dwarven smiths in clearing the tunnels. We'll also begin preparing the materials for the sacred warship. When you return from the temple, we can start work right away!"
Liya nodded and told the Elf Guard members, "You stay too. Help Chief Tongchui, and use the power of nature to purify the remaining evil power in the tunnels while you're at it. Loran, the two qilin, the Icefield Wolf, and I will go to the temple."
They quickly divided up their tasks. Loran's party set off toward the Radiant Temple, and Lei Lin spread its fiery wings once more. This time, the light on its wings shone brighter than before-the Life Crystal Core and the tempering of battle were slowly restoring its essence.
The sunlight outside the mine was dazzling, yet Loran felt a weight settle over him. The insider in the temple, the contaminated Holy Spring, the coming larger-scale Insect Clan invasion... The clues intertwined, making him understand that this war was far from over.
Dark clouds filled the sky in the direction of the Radiant Temple, as though a tremendous storm were brewing.