Reverse tracing

Gazing at the bewildered Dark Elf before him, the Mind Flayer hissed with excitement. He reached out his sticky tentacle and placed it on the Dark Elf's head, gently stroking its long silver hair. Feeling the cold, unpleasant touch, the Dark Elf trembled violently. Even though its mind Mind Flayer, its biological instincts seemed to tell it that the current situation was not reassuring.

This group of Dark Elf was discovered half a day ago by Mind Flayer patrol. At first, the Mind Flayer thought they were simply lost. After all, Dark Elf were rarely seen in this godforsaken place. Centuries ago, after several battles between the two sides, the severely weakened Mind Flayer went into hiding here, while the Dark Elf withdrew. Later, the Mind Flayer learned that these Dark Elf had received divine favor, and thus abandoned their plans to attack again. But what's going on now? Are the Dark Elf planning to settle a score for the battles of centuries past?

However, from the minds of these Dark Elf soldiers, the Mind Flayer obtained an answer completely unexpected. They had come here with a mage, and the god the Dark Elf originally worshipped was dead. Now, a new god would take over these elven brethren scattered underground. This series of events surprised the Mind Flayer, but it was quickly followed by excitement. The brain of a powerful spellcaster was the Mind Flayer' favorite food. Since this mage seemed to have come looking for them, these Mind Flayer naturally wouldn't let their prey go so easily.

While exchanging information with its companions using its mental powers, the Mind Flayer slid its tentacles downwards, reaching deep into the Dark Elf's ear. Then, like vines, it wrapped around the Dark Elf's slender ear before "poof" burrowing into the Dark Elf's head.

The Dark Elf's body trembled more and more noticeably, while the Mind Flayer emitted a slow, subtle, excited hum. It greedily absorbed everything beneath the Dark Elf's skull, its tentacles throbbing incessantly, and one could even vaguely see the semi-solid, semi-liquid white substance rapidly flowing within. The Dark Elf's eyes began to dim, while the Mind Flayer grew increasingly excited. Such sweet, delicious brains were a rare treat—or rather, they had had enough of the disgusting food of those inferior races like goblins and orcs.

"--------!!"

Suddenly, a burst of noise interrupted the harmonious and smooth mental communication between the Mind Flayer. They raised their heads in confusion and stopped eating. This was something that had never happened before for the Mind Flayer, and none of them knew what had occurred.

But just then, a sweet, clear, and lovely voice appeared.

Good morning, octopus heads!

This is definitely not the voice of the Mind Flayer.

The sudden turn of events immediately put the Mind Flayer on edge. For the first time ever, someone had managed to Mind Flayer their mental networks without their permission.

"Who goes there?!"

The mental shockwaves from dozens of Mind Flayer were enough to explode the head of a strong adult, but the voice seemed completely unaffected. She simply chuckled, her voice filled with arrogance and smugness.

"You are not worthy to know my name. I have only come to deliver a message... Prepare to die, deep-sea monsters."

The mental network began to vibrate.

The Mind Flayer keenly sensed a blood-soaked, death-filled energy surging into their network, followed by an angry roar. Although, given their mental strength, the mind Mind Flayer would normally be difficult to withstand an attack of the same magnitude, the owner of this voice seemed to possess even greater mental power than they did. It managed to break through several mental defenses erected by the Mind Flayer, and then, this blood-soaked, violent mental energy, like a longsword, pierced deeply into the strongest part of the mental network.

"...!!!!"

The wounded Elder Brain began to growl in fury. It swiftly located its opponent, and the location was instantly transmitted to the minds of the Mind Flayer. They emitted the same furious hiss and then used their power to begin teleportation. Within minutes, dozens of Mind Flayer had crossed the spatial barrier and arrived at their destination. They trembled their tentacles, enraged, wanting to tear the culprit to shreds. In the history of the Mind Flayer, no one had ever dared to harm their leader on their home turf, using the very powers they excelled at. This was undoubtedly the greatest insult to the Mind Flayer, who arrogantly believed themselves to be the ultimate rulers of the multiverse, with everyone else only fit to be their slaves and food. Even though these Mind Flayer had escaped from the Astral Plane to the matter plane for some reason, their defeat had not changed their mindset.

Now, they have finally encountered an existence even more arrogant and haughty than themselves.

"One, two, three... Hmph, an octopus head is an octopus head, its reproductive ability is really strong."

Angela chuckled softly, casually tossing aside the mind flayer's Mind Flayer corpse. It was no longer useful as a medium connecting to the Mind Flayer's mental network. Besides, Angela had used this poor wretch as a shield to fend off the Elder Brain's mental counterattack—now half its head was burst open, and the oozing fluid displayed two completely different colors: bright red and bluish-green.

A human girl?

Even the cunning and treacherous Mind Flayer was surprised by the scene before him. A human girl who looked quite young, accompanied by two other girls, and behind her, a group of Dark Elf... This matched the information the Mind Flayer had gleaned from the minds of its prey. However, even the Mind Flayer couldn't understand why the Dark Elf would be so "afraid" of this little girl.

Isn't she more than just a human?

There's a problem.

Realizing the situation was vastly different from what they had anticipated, the Mind Flayer did not immediately launch an attack. They communicated with each other using telepathy, while secretly observing the crowd before them. To attack? Or to retreat?

Although they didn't know who Angela was, her bright red eyes always gave the Mind Flayer an ominous feeling. They tentatively launched a mind attack on Angela, but the powerful force seemed to sink into the water silently, without even making a ripple.

Something's not right!

The Mind Flayer reported the situation to the Elder Brain while simultaneously reactivating the teleportation spell; after all, it seemed far too bizarre to them.

And the facts proved the Mind Flayer. The teleportation light around them flickered for a moment, but did not release its original effect; it simply vanished in an instant.

The space was sealed off.

"Call..."

Looking at the shimmering Isolation Barrier above, Li Lin breathed a sigh of relief. Everything had gone smoothly with Angela; these Mind Flayer hadn't even had time to check their surroundings before leaving their lair... But even if they had, it would have been difficult for them to find Li Lin; the abilities of Arcane Mage were more than just empty words.

However, there are actually not many of these Mind Flayer.

Li Lin gazed at the small underground city, puzzled. He imagined it housed only thirty to forty Mind Flayer at most, a stark contrast to the Mind Flayer cities he remembered. The facilities were rudimentary, and although some of the guarding goblins attacked him after sensing Li Lin intrusion, Li Lin easily dismissed them with a few low-level spells, sending them to another world to continue their suffering. The remaining slaves perfectly embodied the behavior inevitably associated with Mind Flayer —Erosion drooling and standing motionless, showing no reaction to Li Lin and Nia's intrusion. Without the Mind Flayer's orders, these puppets couldn't even move.

Don't you think there's something strange about this place?

Li Lin stroked the book cover in his hand and asked in confusion.

"These Mind Flayer don't seem to be a large population... that's quite rare."

Nia made the same judgment.

While knowing that these Mind Flayer had come from the Astral Plane to the Prime Material Plane must mean something unusual had happened, this was still far too strange. Moreover...

Li Lin stopped in his tracks, sensing a powerful mental force gathering around him, poised to unleash its power. At the same time, four Mind Flayer, even more powerful than their kind, emerged from all sides, blocking Li Lin's path. They twitched their tentacles and mouthparts, their pale eyes revealing a sinister, evil smile.

At that very moment, an old, heavy voice appeared in Li Lin's mind.

"Hello, Master."

You've been tricked.

Li Lin tapped the cover of the Eternal Library with a sigh of resignation.

"Hello."

"Arcane Mage..."

To Li Lin's surprise, the Elder Brain actually called out that title the next instant. It hadn't broken through Li Lin's mental defenses, so...

What brings you here?

"I'm just here to find some things I once made."

Li Lin appeared quite frank. Although the Mind Flayer's mental probes couldn't penetrate his defenses, Li Lin didn't decide to act so soon. While he already knew the location of the Elder Brain was heavily guarded, he hadn't yet pinpointed Elder Brain location, and given Li Lin's personality, it was best to be cautious. As for Nia, he didn't need to worry; elven weapons wouldn't be touched by such mental probes, let alone sensed. At this moment, Nia was probing the Elder Brain's location without attracting the Mind Flayer's attention.

"I think you might know where 'she' is."

The Elder Brain remained silent, but thanks to the effects of the magic, Li Lin could clearly feel the mental network around him trembling. Unlike the young Mind Flayer sent out by the Elder Brain as bait and decoys, these four Mind Flayer possessed powerful mental strength and appeared to be very old—this was important, as the longer a race lived, the younger it looked. Once even they looked old, then one should be wary, as these creatures might be older than the history of several nations.

The older they get, the more difficult they become to deal with.

After speaking with his subordinates, the Elder Brain finally responded.

"We know where you're looking for, Arcane Mage. But it's not a dangerous item that can be returned to you."