Chapter 117: She Has Done Me a Favor

“Demon Lord Challenge Entrance.”

Outside the forest, a wooden sign marked the entrance to the Demon Lord Challenge.

A dense crowd of dwarves stood at the crossroads, none willing to be the first to step forward.

“Lady Eluvita is still waiting for me!”

After waiting a long time, the innkeeper from the town grew impatient. He picked up his hammer and declared, “I remember the way to Wolf Castle. I’ll lead the way!”

The innkeeper took the lead into the forest, and the dwarves followed in a grand procession. Only a few hesitated and stayed behind, unsure whether they should trust the Demon Lord.

As they debated, a group of dwarves suddenly rushed out of the forest.

“My goodness, it’s terrifying!”

The sight of these bruised and battered dwarves startled the crowd.

“What happened?”

“Did the Demon Lord strike?”

The crowd gathered around to ask, but the bruised dwarves shook their heads. “No, we were driven out by poisonous wasps!”

“The damned Demon Lord brought a whole bunch of wasp nests here. The forest is swarming with venomous wasps!”

Others couldn’t help but laugh aloud.

“You’re so embarrassing! Afraid of just some wasps?”

If you can’t even handle that, what kind of mighty dwarves are you? Yet the fact that the Demon Lord actually brought in poisonous wasps made them wonder—could he really be playing by the rules?

The dwarves were puzzled, but soon they saw groups of dwarves returning one after another.

“Damn it! The Demon Lord is digging pits right on the main road!”

“The old path is impassable, full of traps and poisons!”

Those who had entered the forest fully armed all came back tail between their legs. Some had their backsides pierced by traps, others were poisoned and ran home with diarrhea, and some even had their beards and hair completely singed.

“Hahaha! How did you end up like this?”

“Didn’t expect you’d fall for such simple traps!”

The dwarves laughed, clutching their stomachs. The adventurers who lost their hair looked pale and grim. “What’s so funny? The traps in the forest are endless. You’ll fall for them too!”

They stormed off angrily.

“Hahaha!”

The dwarves continued to laugh, yet more and more ventured into the forest.

As the number of returnees grew, they realized the Demon Lord hadn’t used brute force but rather relied on traps and ambushes to weed out the dwarves.

Moreover, the Demon Lord hadn’t personally intervened. He had sent out werewolves, and so far, no dwarf had died. The worst injury was a serious wound caused by panic and falling into two traps in succession.

“…It seems the Demon Lord is really following the rules of the Adventure Guide!”

The dwarves were astounded—they hadn’t expected the Demon Lord to become so disciplined.

At the same time, their enthusiasm began to swell—their innate spirit of adventure was fermenting rapidly.

“He really won’t kill us.”

“The Demon Lord is playing fair!”

“Miss Eluvita will be mine!”

This once-in-a-lifetime chance for adventure appeared before the dwarves. More and more grew interested in the challenge and began pouring into the forest, providing the werewolves with an increasing supply of food.

“Keep working, keep working!”

The werewolves diligently continued setting traps throughout the forest.

“The master was right; these dwarves all want to claim the Lady of the Lord.”

“Unbelievable!”

“I even heard some say they’ll come back for another try after failing!”

The werewolves found dwarves to be extraordinary creatures—the more they eliminated, the more dwarves came running, increasing their food supply, which only fueled their enthusiasm.

“Those bastards!”

At the lord’s manor, the dwarf lord crushed the gem in his hand. He was nearly furious to the point of explosion upon hearing Eluvita’s message—and even more so when he learned that the male dwarves in the territory were flocking to the challenge. “They dare to steal my woman!”

He raged, wanting to send troops to wipe out Wolf Castle. Yet, news from the dwarves who had opened chests in the forest warned that if he disrupted this game, the Demon Lord would abduct his daughter too.

“Outrageous!”

The lord spun in anger. The werewolves were lively in the forest, but he dared not act rashly. His fury burned, yet he was cautious.

The Demon Lord could appear and disappear at will, snatch Eluvita away, and had the strength to do anything at the manor—even behead him.

What to do? The lord’s rage blazed, but so did a rising fervor. If the Demon Lord truly followed the rules, why not defeat him the adventurer’s way?

That way, he could not only eliminate the werewolves but also prove to Eluvita that he was the truly powerful man.

“Bring me my armor!”

The lord decided to take matters into his own hands. In his youth, he had been the best adventurer in the territory. A mere Demon Lord was nothing.

“Father, are you going to Wolf Castle?” A dwarf girl blocked the lord at the door. The lord paused slightly. “Daughter, do you also want to challenge the Demon Lord?”

He felt a flicker of pride—this daughter was quite filial!

“No, father, I wanted to ask…” The dwarf girl blushed. “Could you ask the Demon Lord to take me away too?”

“…”

In the ancient castle, the female werewolves busily brewed poisons. The plants from the surrounding swamp were perfect materials for toxins, and various poisonous herbs and mushrooms were constantly brought in.

Nearly all usable items in the castle had been moved out to craft traps. The werewolves hustled about, while Eluvita busied herself packing boxes. Only Lin Lei lay atop the castle, leisurely enjoying the sunset with drowsy eyes, pondering new cultivation spell codes. He recently had a promising idea.

“Wouldn’t it be better if you helped?” The earring shimmered faintly.

“No need, teacher. No one can get past these traps.” Lin Lei rested his head and replied. The dwarves in this small territory were weaklings; no one could breach his traps.

News had already arrived from Lin Wen—the spaceship’s fuel would arrive within a week. These traps would buy him sufficient time.

Though Lin Lei wanted to join the game, a beast stirred restlessly behind the scenes. Given its peculiar taste, if it disguised itself as an adventurer, he’d have to devise a way to deal with it.

“By the way, has Hera returned?”

Lin Lei suddenly thought of his escort team. They should have returned to Florence by now.

Since Florence had acquired a fragment of the Guardian, the Guardian could now monitor the situation there.

“She’s back.” The Guardian smiled. “The night elves seem quite angry. I told them you’re safe, but Queen Angie still hung her up on the city wall, saying she’d keep her there for an entire day.”

“An entire day?”

Lin Lei turned over. “That’s not right. Hera’s old—how could she endure being hung up for a whole day?”

“Besides, without her, I wouldn’t have been able to discover the spaceship here. She did me a favor. You should tell the queen that three days would be more appropriate.”

“…”