“Damned fools!” The leader of the dark elves, Tanya, snarled, her face twisted with anger. She shouted a command, abandoning her fight with Ice Phoenix and charging toward the suddenly appearing army.
“Retreat!” she ordered through gritted teeth, watching as her dark elves were slaughtered.
The Trap Formation had been broken, and with the presence of The Tree of Life and the unexpected reinforcements, they were outmatched. Continuing the fight would lead to the annihilation of the dark elves.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a massive wave surged forward, a wall of water blocking the dark elves’ escape route.
It was Black Turtle.
With Beast Clan’s Secret Area fully integrated into The Land of Darkness, Black Turtle was now free to act.
The dark elves were trapped, their retreat cut off, leaving them with no way out.
Tanya, the dark elf leader, glared coldly at Black Turtle and spoke with icy resolve, “Are you sure you want to make an enemy of us?”
Black Turtle sighed deeply and raised his voice to halt the battle, “Everyone, stop!”
The fighting ceased as the combatants on both sides paused, confused by Black Turtle’s sudden command.
The Blood-Eyed Demon Wolf, eyes burning with rage, growled, “Black Turtle, this Tanya imprisoned us for centuries. We can’t just let her go!”
This name belong to the leader of dark elf.
Succubus, eyes locked on Tanya, added coldly, “This demoness must die today!”
Tanya sneered, unbothered by the threats surrounding her. “You think a bunch of trash like you can stop me? Pathetic!”
“You filthy elf scum! Today, I swear we’ll fight to the death!” The Blood-Eyed Demon Apes roared, ready to attack again, but Black Turtle blocked their path.
Anna and Yuel, standing nearby, frowned in displeasure. Though the insults were aimed at the dark elves, they couldn’t help but feel offended by the generalization.
Black Turtle glared at Tanya, his frustration clear. “Do you even want my help or not?”
Tanya remained calm, her expression unchanging. “You owe us a favor,” she said flatly.
“I know,” Black Turtle acknowledged, though his hesitation was due to more than just a favor.
He pointed toward John and said, “You can return to Death Land, but you must follow this human’s orders.”
John was taken aback by Black Turtle’s proposition, surprised that the old turtle was actually looking out for him.
Tanya, however, looked at John with clear disdain. “You expect me to follow the commands of this weak human?”
she scoffed, her contempt for him plain to see.
“Hey! What’s with that attitude? Serving the benefactor is a privilege, and this is your chance to live!” Anna snapped, glaring at Tanya in defense of John.
But Tanya merely shook her head, her calm demeanor unbroken. She gripped her dagger tightly, ready to fight once more. “If that’s the case, then we would rather die in battle,” she declared coldly.
The dark elves around her, their eyes gleaming with a deadly resolve, stood ready to fight to the end, showing no sign of fear or hesitation.
“You are truly stubborn!” Black Turtle finally snapped, clearly frustrated. He was trying to help the dark elf tribe, but they seemed intent on throwing it all away.
“Fine, I’ll make another concession,” he said, looking at Tanya, who appeared ready to fight to the death. “I’ll let you leave, but you have to give something in return. If I’m not mistaken, the scroll to the demon race’s Dark Sea Secret Area went missing recently. I bet it was you.”
Tanya glanced at Black Turtle but didn’t deny it. Everyone knew that this was the handiwork of the dark elves.
She calmly reached into her robe and placed a scroll on the ground. Then, she turned her gaze to John, speaking softly, “Interesting, a human who has managed to subdue two elf races. I’m curious about you now. If you can conquer the Dark Sea, I might just join you.”
With that, she pulled out two more items from her robe-two jade stones.
“Origin Stone!” John’s eyes lit up in recognition. One of the stones was indeed an Origin
Stone.
While the other was equally rare-a Universal Order.
The Universal Order had one primary function: resetting a Secret Area.
Typically, after exploring a permanent Secret Area, such as those tied to cities, a seven-day recovery period was required before it could be accessed again.
Using a Universal Order would allow for an immediate reset.
While it seemed wasteful to use on low-level city Secret Areas.
But John immediately thought of the Elemental Secret Area.
“Human,” Tanya addressed John directly, “I can sense dark energy within you. If I’m not mistaken, you’ve taken on the dark elf-specific class of Nightmare Assassin.”
John nodded, not denying it.
Tanya continued, “Consider this Origin Stone and Universal Order a gift. Let’s make a wager. If, within six months, you manage to secure the Dark Sea, I will lead the dark elves to submit to you. But if you fail, you must hand over both the Death Land and the Dark Sea scroll.”
“Deal!” John agreed without hesitation.
He knew that the Dark Sea Secret Area was a level-seven area. Six months would be ample time for him to grow stronger and be ready to explore it.
Tanya smiled at John, a rare expression that softened her icy demeanor, making her seem almost warm and approachable. “A word of caution, human-you’ve been cursed by a fox
demon. Take care,”
“Retreat.” She said lightly before turning to lead the dark elves away into the dense forest.
The surrounding beasts watched them go with resentment, but something else quickly grabbed their attention.
“Kid, you’ve been cursed by a fox demon?” Black Turtle and the others immediately gathered around John, their expressions serious.
John, however, was completely baffled. He shook his head, confused, as he hadn’t received any system notifications about a curse.
“It seems there’s only one way to confirm it,” Black Turtle muttered, then suddenly struck out with a powerful blow aimed directly at John.
“Old man, are you attacking me again?” John growled, a strong sense of impending danger
washing over him.
Black Turtle’s strike was merciless, clearly meant to cause harm.
The women around them, confused and concerned, moved to help John, but were held back by
the other beasts.
To test whether John was truly under a fox demon’s curse, he had to be placed in a life-or- death situation or a state of intense mental focus.
Boom!
With a resounding crash, John was sent flying, utterly unable to resist the force of the blow. [You have been killed by Black Turtle. The Undying and Immortal trait has been activated…] A system notification flashed, and John was resurrected at full health.
“You old bastard, you’re getting way out of line!” John snarled, immediately launching his Flying Sword Strike. A streak of sword light sliced through the air, aimed directly at Black
Turtle.
Slash!
-42100
A black damage number floated up.
Black Turtle was taken aback. While the damage was minimal, what truly shocked him was that John had managed to break through his defenses.
“True damage! Kid, have you mastered the power of laws?” Black Turtle asked, staring at
John in disbelief.
“The power of laws?”
John was puzzled. He hadn’t heard of any such thing. The true damage was simply a result of
his recently acquired passive skill, Drunken Moon.
John quickly brushed off his confusion and continued his assault on Black Turtle.
He determined to test whether the Drunken Moon skill would allow him to defeat a high-
level opponent like Black Turtle.
Black Turtle soon regained his composure, easily blocking John’s attacks and overwhelming him.
“Damn it!” John cursed as he was killed yet again.
Despite his newfound ability to inflict true damage and his impressive combat skills, he was
still no match for Black Turtle’s sheer strength and relentless attacks. His opponent’s raw power was too much to overcome with technique alone.
Fortunately, John had the Undying and Immortal trait, as well as the life-sharing pact with
The Tree of Life.
He had no fear of death and continued to fight with intense focus, pushing his mental and
physical limits.
Whoosh…
Several sword beams flew out, but they missed their mark, slicing through the air around
Black Turtle without hitting him.
“What’s happening?” John felt a sudden wave of disorientation, his vision blurring as he
blinked rapidly, struggling to stay alert.
At this moment, a surge of heat flared up within John, making his entire body feel feverish
and clouding his judgment.
“Is this… a Lust Poison?”
John suddenly realized what was happening and glared at Black Turtle in fury.
“Old man, did you seriously use Lust Poison on me?”
Black Turtle’s expression grew serious as he stopped his attack. He glared back at John and
retorted, “I’m not that despicable!”
Ada and Judy both shot murderous looks at Black Turtle, clearly displeased with his
involvement.
Black Turtle, feeling the awkwardness of the situation, avoided their gaze and explained to John, “Kid, this isn’t Lust Poison-it’s the fox demon’s curse.”
“Fox demon’s curse? Could I really have fallen victim to that?”John struggled to control the
rising heat within him, trying to make sense of what was happening. So far, he hadn’t received any system notifications to confirm it.
Black Turtle went on, “The fox demon’s curse is similar to Lust Poison, but it’s more insidious. It flares up unpredictably, and the chances of it happening increase when you’re
fully engaged in battle.”
“What?”John frowned deeply. This curse was far more dangerous than he had initially thought. If it activated during a crucial fight, especially against an evenly matched opponent,
it could spell disaster.
He quickly asked, “Is there any way to get rid of it?”
Black Turtle glanced at the women around John.
The women seemed to understand what he was implying, their faces flushing with
embarrassment, but none of them refused. Some even looked somewhat expectant. “The curse is extremely difficult to completely remove,” Black Turtle continued. “It can only
be eased over time, especially when it flares up. The best way to manage it is through…
certain activities, particularly when the curse is active.” “Master, we’re ready to help,” Ada said boldly, without a hint of shyness.
Her words left the soldiers around them stunned, glaring at John with murderous intent, as if
they wanted to tear him apart.
The other women, despite their embarrassment, nodded in agreement.
Even Jean approached, looking up at John with innocent curiosity, “Big brother, can I help
too?”
John felt incredibly awkward, noticing the strange looks the women were giving him.
“Uh, I think the curse has subsided for now,” he said hastily.
“John, that was quick!” Sini teased him, her voice filled with playful exaggeration. The other
women giggled and nodded along.
John shot Sini a warning glare, mentally deciding that she’d pay for her teasing later that
night. Turning back to Black Turtle, he asked, “Is there really no other way to deal with this?”
John knew that as his enemies grew stronger, carrying such a curse was far too risky.
Black Turtle sighed, “There used to be a treasure in Beast Clan, the Jade Core Lotus, which could counteract the fox demon’s curse. Unfortunately, it was lost long ago, and no one knows where it is now. My advice is to always keep these women close. Whenever the curse flares up, that’s when you need them the most.”
“It seems that’s the only option,” John said, resigned to his fate.
The women shot him annoyed glances, as if accusing him of being reluctant.
With Beast Clan now fully integrated into Death Land, John decided to bring all the beasts and
Ada’s Undying Army into Death Land as well.
His forces had grown significantly stronger once again.