That's How Badass It Was

As expected, Therazane the Stonemother, seeing that Al'Akir the Windlord and Neptulon the Tidehunter were both holding back, and that Ragnaros's army had not yet arrived, decisively refrained from attacking. She didn't even need Azathoth's verbal sparring; she simply led her army to a halt. A dense army of earth elementals camped at the edge of the Throne of the Elements, forming a three-way standoff with the wind and Water Elemental.

Xiao Yu was also happy to see this happen, since the longer it dragged on, the more advantageous it would be for him, so he simply continued standing there.

Time ticked by, and twenty hours had passed. In just four more hours, he would become the Elemental King. The three Elemental Pseudo-Kings remained remarkably calm, not moving an inch. They were probably wary of Ragnaros; if Ragnaros didn't appear, none of them would dare to make a move.

Xiao Yu thought to himself, "Ragnaros, please don't come out! It would be best if you got stuck in traffic and couldn't make it. That would be great for me."

However, it's obvious that this is impossible.

Although twenty hours had passed, very few players had logged out of the game. Everyone knew that a major battle was about to begin, and the closer the deadline got, the more nervous and expectant people became. Some experienced players had even taken a nap and logged back in long ago.

At the twenty-first hour, the system notification sounded again.

[System notification: Ragnaros (the Firelord) and his forces have entered the Throne of the Elements.]

[System notification: Selaste (Soul Burner) and his forces have entered the Throne of the Elements.]

[System notification: Kaomiqiya (The Burner) and her forces have entered the Throne of the Elements.]

[System notification: Galax (the Fire Stealer) and his forces have entered the Throne of the Elements.]

[System notification: Barsa (the Firelord) and his forces have entered the Throne of the Elements.]

[System notification: Numak (Elemental Lords) and his troops have entered the Throne of the Elements.]

[System notification: Majordomo Executus (the ruler) and his troops have entered the Throne of the Elements.]

The ground suddenly began to tremble, the rumbling growing louder and louder. Suddenly, the ground collapsed, cracking open a huge fissure. Flames shot into the sky, and a colossal figure over thirty meters tall emerged from the ground. Its body, formed of flames, was incredibly imposing, descending upon the world like a demon god. Behind it, a line of fire lords and fire armies surged out from the gap. The flames of tens of thousands of fire elementals illuminated half the sky, their power far surpassing that of the other three elemental pseudo-kings.

Ragnaros (Firelord): "Who summoned me? Who awakened me!"

Ragnaros made his entrance with an opening remark.

Neptulon (Tidehunter): "No one summoned you here. If you were summoned, I think you've come to the wrong place."

Therazane (Stone Mother): "Ragnaros, you're really late, even later than me."

Al'Akir (The Wind Rider): "I bet you're wondering why we didn't become allies. That must be disappointing."

Ragnaros (Firelord): "Shut up, all of you! I intended to let you settle things first, choosing the strongest to fight me. I didn't have time to deal with you all one by one. I didn't expect that you wouldn't be able to defeat a Wuming after all this time. You have truly disappointed me."

This Ragnaros is quite the talker, even his reason for being late is incredibly sophisticated.

Ragnaros (Firelord): "Let me see who opened the Throne of the Elements! Who is it— Big Ivan, you traitor, how dare you betray me!"

That Big Ivan is the Lava Titan who sided with Xiao Yu in the Elemental Will. He must be incredibly frustrated to be singled out and criticized by Ragnaros. Sure enough, following along means taking the blame. But Ragnaros is far more terrifying than Al'Akir. If he becomes the Elemental King today, he'll definitely be in deep trouble.

Azathoth (the Source of Chaos): "Ragnaros, you've finally come. I thought you wouldn't dare to come, but it was I who activated the Throne of the Elements."

At that moment, Xiao Yu suddenly heard the system notification again.

[System notification: The second phase of the story event "The Road of Vengeance" has been triggered. Kill Ragnaros and avenge your father.]

What the heck? What does "Road of Vengeance" mean? Xiao Yu was stunned for a moment, then thought back carefully. It seemed that he had triggered a story quest when he killed Baron Geddon in Blazing Flame Canyon, which was to avenge his father. It seemed to be triggered because of the character's background. He didn't expect to actually encounter it today.

He quickly opened the taskbar to check.

[Road of Vengeance]: Your grudge against Ragnaros drives you to seek revenge against him and his minions. For each powerful elemental creature under Ragnaros's command you slay, you will gain additional reputation points and increase your influence in the Water Elemental Plane.

Killing Ragnaros will grant you the title of "Child of the Plane" and automatically inherit the Water Elemental Lord template. If you already possess the Water Elemental Lord template, your template level will automatically increase by one tier.

(Holy crap, there's even a quest like this? The reward is pretty good. I'm already Elemental Lords, if I take him down I can advance to the next level.)

He was currently worrying about how to continue advancing his rank when he unexpectedly encountered this quest. If he could advance another rank and reach the level of a six-skull, he would absolutely crush Al'Akir, and he wouldn't have to fear even if Neptulon and Therazane joined forces.

It's important to understand that upgrading your template becomes increasingly difficult as you progress, but the corresponding increase in strength becomes more significant. Right now, even if he kills a level 2 Skeleton Elemental Lords, he'll probably only get two or three hundred reputation points. But if he can kill Ragnaros, his victory today will be guaranteed.

But a one-on-one fight against Ragnaros seems a bit difficult.

Just as he was struggling with this decision, Ragnaros spoke up.

Ragnaros (Firelord): "There's no need to waste any more time. There are only two hours left until the end of the Elemental King's ritual. If we delay any longer, this Wuming junior will only seize the position of Elemental King. So I propose that we join forces, kill him, and then settle the score between us."

Azathoth (Source of Chaos): "Come on, you think you're the strongest and best prepared, that's why you say that, right? You arrived last and brought the most troops, so naturally it's most advantageous for you to do this."

Ragnaros (Firelord): "Hmph, if you're scared, just say so! Now get out of here and hand over the Throne of the Elements. The title of Elemental King is not something Wuming like you can usurp."

(Oh ho, you think you can challenge me? You think my verbal skills are just for show?--)

Azathoth (Source of Chaos): "Hahahaha, you're so naive. You think I'd be afraid of you? Why make such an absurd joke? The reason I don't want this fight is because I don't think it's necessary for our elemental race to bleed and sacrifice in this struggle. If this war breaks out, regardless of who wins or loses, our elemental race will ultimately be severely weakened. Therefore, I propose that the battle be fought between the five of us. And let's not take it one by one; let the four of you come at me together!"

"Holy crap, does that have to be so domineering?!"

"Did I hear that right?!"

"Wow, that's so arrogant, it's ridiculously awesome."

"Impressive, truly impressive. Forget about skill, you can't even match their spirit."

The players were all dumbfounded. The previous feat of taking on four Elemental Lords was already astonishing, but those four Elemental Lords were all weaklings. These four were pseudo-elemental kings, and any one of them could easily slaughter a city. The Elemental Lords had pledged allegiance to Xiao Yu were especially shocked. This was too domineering and incomparable.

Xiao Yu, however, did not appear arrogant. His thinking was very clear. He was not crazy. Previously, even when the four Elemental Lords of the Elemental Will were of one mind, they would still interfere with each other. Now that the four pseudo-elemental kings were scheming against each other, it would be even more difficult for them to cooperate in the fight. They might even trip each other up. 1 vs 4 would not be more difficult than 1 vs 1.