Chapter 364 – The Heart of a Soldier

Vincent walked through the dense forest whilst flipping through the diary in his hand. He carefully considered the things that were recorded in it. He was trying to find out the relationship between Jacob and Andre.

Although he did not know how long ago ‘New Year 4396’ was, it was not difficult to tell that it was many, many years ago based on the old pages of the diary.

If the ‘Andre’ that was recorded in the diary was the same City Lord Andre of Devil Flame City, then this would mean that many years ago, he had hired a group of desperadoes to do an extremely dangerous thing.

Moreover, the matter seemed to involve the demons in the Imperial City. Unfortunately, this paragraph was the last paragraph in the diary. If Vincent wanted to find the subsequent records, he had to look through the remaining dozens of diaries in Jacob’s storage ring.

“What a pity! If I had known earlier, I would have used Spirit Binding to control Jacob’s soul. As his soul has dissipated, I can only use this stupid method!”

Vincent kept the slightly more important diary in his storage ring. He then started to check the remaining diaries one by one. However, after flipping through two diary entries, Vincent felt dizzy and was short of breath. His heart was very uncomfortable.

Only now did he remember that he had already stayed in the canyon for two days. He had inhaled too much poisonous miasma, causing him to have symptoms of poisoning!

Vincent could not help but feel a little helpless. If his Flaming Sun Divine Body had not been destroyed, he could have used fire spiritualization to burn all the poison in his body. Unfortunately, Vincent no longer possessed the ability to spiritualize with fire.

After thinking about it, Vincent suddenly remembered that Jacob had some fire attribute materials in his storage ring that could help him quickly cultivate the Flaming Sun Divine Body.

Following that, Vincent found a flat stone and sat cross-legged on it. He took out the fire attribute materials in his storage ring and began to absorb the fire attribute energy from within. As Vincent had once cultivated the Flaming Sun Divine Body to the fourth level, he had a rich experience. Cultivating it again was a breeze. Vincent could achieve twice the effect with only half the effort.

As time slowly passed by, Vincent’s feet were covered with the used-up materials. He had extracted all the energy from the fire attribute materials. The materials nourished his Flaming Sun Divine Body.

“Weng!”

A flame suddenly shot out from Vincent’s body, but it did not burn outwards. Instead, it began to burn Vincent’s body.

In the end, Vincent seemed to have set himself on fire. His entire body was scorched black by the flames, but he did not seem to feel any pain. He continued to close his eyes and meditate calmly until his charcoal-like skin began to soften under the flames. Finally, it became fiery red.

When Vincent’s entire body was assimilated by the flames, his body entered the state of fire spiritualization. As Vincent opened his eyes, two balls of flames were swaying in his eye sockets. They seemed very excited.

With just a thought from Vincent, the flames on his entire body immediately extinguished and he returned to his original appearance. However, because of the burning flames, his clothes were completely gone. Vincent was standing naked in the dense forest of the canyon.

He sighed emotionally, “I’ve cultivated the Flaming Sun Divine Body to the second level. This time, I’m no longer afraid of the poisonous miasma in the canyon!”

As he had successfully cultivated the Flaming Sun Divine Body, his strength had once again increased. Although Vincent was still a level 35 creature, his combat power had already increased by more than ten times compared to when he first entered Dark Elves World.

This was because Vincent had grasped the celestial secret art, the Art of Heaven’s Will, and even comprehended a brand-new blade technique. He had learned the first three moves of the eight forms of Heaven’s Will. At the same time, he had also regained the Flaming Sun Divine Body. This gave Vincent absolute confidence that he could defeat even stronger opponents of a higher level. He no longer needed to take advantage of one’s injuries in order to escape like before.

Vincent looked at his naked appearance and suddenly had an idea. He took out a set of clean clothes from Jacob’s storage ring, put them on, and took out a face cloth to cover his face. He had completely disguised himself as Jacob.

Then, Vincent grabbed the long knife on his waist and said softly, “Modify the shape!”

After a burst of sparkling light, the Return Journey of the Dead instantly transformed from a long knife into the most common magic staff amongst the elves. As long as Vincent did not take off his face mask, he would look like Jacob.

Vincent took a step and quickly rushed to the entrance of the canyon because he had to put on another show!

When Vincent rushed to the entrance of the canyon, he immediately hid behind a rock to block his figure. He then carefully looked out of the canyon.

He saw that there were already more than 300 soldiers outside. There were actually thousands of soldiers standing in the dark. The leader in charge of the soldiers was the leader of the City Lord’s guards, Miller!

However, for some reason, Miller did not follow Vincent’s previous arrangement to lead his men to bombard every corner of the canyon. Vincent guaranteed that the criminal hiding in here would have nowhere to hide if he did that.

But instead, Miller had led a group of soldiers to guard the intersection of the canyon and did not move.

“That’s good too, so there won’t be too few of them watching the show!”

Vincent laughed softly. He then put Jacob’s storage ring and the Demon King’s Groan on his left hand.

It was Jacob’s fault for being unlucky. He had used the Demon King’s Groan stored skills outside Hell’s Rose early in the morning on the day before. It usually required an entire day for it to complete the cooldown. However, when Vincent found him, there was only half an hour left until the cooldown was completed. Sadly, Jacob did not last until then!

As another day had passed, Vincent could use the magic spells that did not require faith or psionic power. This was definitely the greatest characteristic of the mysterious Dark Elf in everyone’s eyes!

This was because Vincent needed to continue hiding the fake remains. He could not let others know that Jacob had died at his hands. He had to let everyone think that Jacob had escaped with the Elf King’s remains. This would bring him and Dave the greatest level of safety.

…

At the same time, outside the canyon, Miller, who had led thousands of soldiers to gather at the entrance, was currently staring solemnly at the white fog. It was not because he did not know Vincent’s orders, but it was because he simply did not want to listen to Vincent. He hated Vincent. How could this guy, who was only a level 25 creature, be able to gain the trust of His Highness Dave the moment he entered the City Lord’s mansion? He had only made a few contributions. Yet he was directly promoted by the City Lord to become City Patrol Officer.

After thinking about how he had served in the City Lord’s mansion for many years, he realized that he was only the leader of the guards with limited power. Although it was a position that allowed him to be relatively close to the City Lord, the real power in his hands was far inferior to that of Vincent who was the City Patrol Officer!

Therefore, Miller felt unhappy in his heart. This led him to resist everything related to Vincent. He believed that even if he did not follow Vincent’s orders, he could still earn enough contributions.

It was already the third day since the mysterious Dark Elf and Vincent entered the canyon. If there was still no movement in the canyon, then Vincent would most likely die in there!

As for the mysterious Dark Elf, he would not be able to stay inside for so long. He would have to exit the canyon sooner or later. At that time, Miller, who had thousands of elite soldiers behind him, would be able to directly kill the mysterious Dark Elf at the entrance of the canyon. When that time came, he would bring the mysterious Dark Elf’s head back to Devil Flame City. He would definitely be able to exchange it for a higher position than the leader of the guards!

After much thought, Miller could not help but imagine his future prospects.

However, at that moment, a black cloud suddenly rose from the white fog within the canyon. It slowly condensed into a black cloud that blotted out the sky.

A soldier pointed at the sky and shouted at Miller in shock, “Sir Miller, look!”

Miller raised his head to look at the sky and started to tremble in fear.

He was too familiar with this black cloud. Back when the City Lord fought with the mysterious Dark Elf in the sky above the alley, the mysterious Dark Elf was able to withstand hundreds of moves without being defeated precisely because of this black cloud!

Since the mysterious Dark Elf had exited the canyon, this meant that Vincent must have died inside.

Miller could not help but be secretly delighted. He turned to the soldiers behind him and said, “Everyone, prepare to attack. Once you see a figure, immediately attack. Do not hesitate at all. Moreover, everyone’s attack must be quick. Do not give the opponent the slightest chance to breathe! No matter how strong he is, as long as we do not give him time to recover his psionic power, he will be exhausted to death by us sooner or later!”

“Yes!”

Thousands of soldiers replied in unison. Their shouts reverberated throughout the entire canyon. It did not dissipate for a long time.

However, not everyone was filled with a fighting spirit at that moment. There were 300 soldiers looking at Miller with ugly expressions on their faces. They were the personal soldiers that were appointed by the City Patrol Officer, Vincent. They had also witnessed Vincent’s iron-blooded order with their own eyes. Vincent had charged into the canyon filled with poisonous miasma alone to chase after the murderer.

Such an iron-willed man, who was determined to die, instantly won the respect of 300 of them!

However, when Miller, who was the reinforcement, arrived, he did not carry out Vincent’s plan. This made Vincent’s previous sacrifice useless. Even after the battle ended, the City Lord would not see any contribution from Vincent.

This made the 300 soldiers feel unconvinced because they had unknowingly developed a sense of identity and belonging toward Vincent. However, the mysterious Dark Elf had appeared. They had no choice but to obey the military order and prepare to attack. They could only persuade themselves in their hearts. This could be considered as taking revenge for Vincent, who may have died in battle.

Vincent, who was currently pretending to be Jacob, suddenly appeared from the dark clouds. He looked down at Miller and said in a very arrogant manner, “Haha, why didn’t Andre come personally? He actually sent you b*stards here to die. Isn’t he underestimating me too much?”

When Miller heard this, he could not help but frown. He shouted coldly, “Hmph, you have been heavily injured by the City Lord. The injuries on your body are definitely not fully healed. There is no need for the City Lord to personally make a move to deal with an old dog like you who is on the verge of death. I can take your head for the City Lord!”

Vincent laughed when he saw this. He said, “It’s a pity that Andre is short-sighted. He doesn’t know how useful the Elf King’s remains are. My injuries have long recovered, and my strength has improved. If you guys are still alive today, remember to tell Andre for me when you go back. Sooner or later, I’ll have to settle the score with him!”

Miller was shocked and looked up at the sky in fear.

Just as Vincent had said, both Andre and Miller were short-sighted because they did not know what was so special about the Elf King’s remains. They just believed whatever Vincent said!

Miller had seen the mysterious Dark Elf’s peak strength with his own eyes. He was able to destroy an alley in the blink of an eye and kill everyone there. Then, he fought back and forth with the City Lord. He suddenly realized that the few thousand men that he had brought along were simply not enough.

However, Miller was already riding a tiger. He had no choice but to summon up his courage and give the order, “Everyone, don’t be afraid, and don’t care about what he says. Let’s attack together!”

As soon as he finished speaking, countless arrows flew into the air. They shot straight at Vincent!

Vincent was not flustered at all. With the help of the Demon King’s Groan, he could form a connection with the dark clouds in the sky. He could also hide in the dark clouds with just a thought. No arrows could pierce through the dark clouds and hurt him. At the same time, Vincent could use the dark clouds to cast even more terrifying spells!

“I’ll let you see my power first, Sky Demon Dance!” shouted Vincent in a deep voice.

Countless black demons immediately emerged from the dark clouds and charged toward the soldiers on the ground.

The demons formed from the clouds were not afraid of physical attacks at all. Moreover, the demonic aura that the Dark Elves used was very difficult to harm the demons that were formed using the same aura.

Unless they had the same strength as Andre, whereby their demonic nature far exceeded the level of the black demons in the sky, they would have no choice but to try their best to forcefully suppress the demons.

In the first attack, hundreds of Dark Elves were smashed onto the ground by the demons that fell from the sky. The remaining Dark Elves could only cry out in fear. They did not know how to fight against those ferocious and powerful creatures.

As a level 40 creature, Miller’s strength was without a doubt. At that moment, he pulled out the great sword on his waist, stood up, and jumped into the air. He slashed several times at the demons that were flying around him in a cool manner. However, when his blade cut through the demons’ bodies, he felt as if he was cutting through the air. It did not cause any effective damage at all.

Miller was instantly terrified. He did not have the courage to face death, nor did he have the resolve to fight until the end. He was only thinking about how to level up.

If the opponent was weak and could be easily defeated, he was naturally willing to take a share of the credit.

However, if the opponent was strong and difficult to deal with, the first thing Miller thought of was to temporarily avoid the edge and protect himself. Even if he returned to the City Lord’s mansion without anything, he could still continue to stay by the City Lord’s side to gain experience. He could then slowly increase his status. Why would he risk his life for this moment?

When Miller thought about it, his level 40 strength was greatly reduced. He became even more anxious when he saw a small portion of the surrounding soldiers losing their fighting strength after just one exchange.

Vincent, who was in the sky, just had to recognize Miller at this time. He stared at him and shouted in a deep voice, “Kid, it seems that your strength is the strongest. Then I’ll let you have a taste of my skills, Demon Heavenly Punishment!”

As Vincent shouted again, countless black tentacles suddenly dropped down from the dark clouds and headed straight for Miller.

Miller was panicking. He waved the long sword in his hand and cut off a few tentacles that were in front of him. He then dodged the attacks of the demons.

Miller gritted his teeth and stomped his foot. He decisively gave up on the thousands of soldiers that had come with him. He broke away from the formation alone and fled in the direction of Devil Flame City!

Vincent, who was in mid-air, did not expect Miller to be so cowardly. He was completely different from before. He was once ruthless and merciless when he plotted against Horace!

This also caused Vincent to fall into a very awkward situation. If he wanted others to believe that he was Jacob, then he had to put on a show and kill all the soldiers that were below him.

However, Vincent could not bear to do so. There was no reason for him to sacrifice thousands of lives for his disguise.

Vincent was quick-witted and instantly thought of a more reasonable method. He shouted loudly, “Kid, didn’t you say earlier that you wanted to personally take my head? Why are you running away now? I don’t care about the others today, but you must die in my hands!”

Before he finished speaking, Vincent had already flown out to chase after Miller.

At this time, the pressure on the thousands of soldiers at the mouth of the canyon suddenly decreased. They realized that they were lucky to have survived. At that moment, they had the same thoughts as Vincent’s 300 private soldiers.

Miller, who was in high spirits and showing off in front of them just a moment ago, had actually abandoned everyone and fled alone at the critical moment. If such a leader could command an army, would these soldiers not be simply cannon fodder?

“The general has escaped. Do we still need to guard here?”

“Why don’t we just return to the city and report to the City Lord? We will just die in vain if we continue to follow him!”

The group of soldiers discussed in a chaotic manner.

At that moment, only 300 of them had a resolute attitude as they said to the others, “If you want to leave, you can leave first. We have to wait here for Sir Vincent to come out! If we do not see Sir Vincent again, we will enter the canyon to search for him. We have to at least see his corpse! Sir Vincent has never left us behind. Instead, he was leading the troops. We cannot return to the city alone without our commander-in-chief!”

The other soldiers were all moved when they heard this. As warriors, none of the thousands of Dark Elves present were afraid of death. However, they were afraid that they would die in vain.

As the saying goes, a gentleman dies for his bosom friend. Without a leader, they would not be satisfied even if they died!

After hearing the 300 soldiers praise Vincent, the thousands of soldiers who were abandoned by Miller said with envy and emotion, “In that case, we won’t leave. We will stay here with you and wait for Sir Vincent. If Sir Vincent can come out safely, then we will all listen to his orders. Anyway, our mission is the same. With a reliable commander, perhaps our brothers will be able to return alive! And if Sir Vincent does not come out, we will enter the canyon with you to search for him. We will bring Sir Vincent’s body back to the city. I believe the City Lord will not punish us again!”

“Good brother, then we will wait for Sir Vincent together!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep