Chapter 266: Mysterious Ah Chou

Boom!The earth was torn open, revealing a massive chasm.Yumia suddenly turned her head, looking in the direction from which the fiery red blade had struck. "What kind of creature are you!"

She looked at the twisted monster with its hideous, distorted face, spiraling demon horns on its head, and eyes glinting with tyrannical, cruel malevolence. It seemed to embody the world's ultimate evil and brutality, like a life form composed purely of malevolent thoughts.

"How can such an evil creature exist in this world!" Yumia felt a bone-chilling cold. This cold wasn't due to fear of the opponent's power, but rather from the extremely repulsive black aura it emitted, filled with an aggressive, wild intensity that instinctively repulsed all living beings, as if gazing into an abyss.

"Man, are you a demon?" Yumia's voice grew colder as she looked at Ruhr, the demon beside her. "Is this your hidden card?"

Ruhr also looked horrified. "That repulsive aura – he's more like a demon than us! But our demon race doesn't have a creature like this, like an abyssal demon!"

The demon race is naturally endowed with powerful demonic forms. However, they are inherently tyrannical, violent, aggressive, and prone to conquest and slaughter, making them infinitely more terrifying than humans. It was precisely because the Demon Ancestor Ruhr understood this that he did not allow them to live on the surface, instead leading his race to retreat deep underground, becoming subterranean demons.

"An evil being, the embodiment of the world's ultimate wickedness! You are accumulating the power of rage!" Yumia's expression grew grim as she felt his fiery rage intensify, as if something terrifying was brewing. "Such a terrifying creature as you must not be allowed to live."

In an instant, the two figures collided violently.Another fierce slash.The terrifying man unleashed a powerful strike; his ancient, flawless blade technique caused the entire valley to rapidly crack. He was enveloped in raging black flames that burned intensely, his eyes fiery with anger, as if all his emotions were ablaze. He showed no fear whatsoever of Yumia's terrifying pressure.

"Gale Step." The monster moved with an eerie gait, savagely swinging its long blade, its eyes widening and bulging. The endless aura of rage it had accumulated finally reached its peak, converging into a force of fury. Gripping the blade with both hands, it leaped and unleashed a "Critical Strike."

In that instant, terrifying rage mingled with wails, screams, pain, madness, and despair. Countless dark emotional sounds blended and intertwined, forming an overwhelming force. A blade mark hundreds of meters long appeared across the earth, as dust billowed.

"What kind of power is that!?" The entire valley fell silent instantly. The griffin archers in the sky froze, and the humans standing on a distant mountaintop suddenly roared with overjoyed recognition. They finally knew who it was.

"That's Ah Chou!!" Someone was incredibly excited, unable to believe that the dull-witted man who had swung his blade at rocks for over thirty years could hide such depth. "But isn't Ah Chou the 'Listening Ah Chou'? The 'Silent Ah Chou'? The 'Ignorant Ah Chou'? How can he be so enraged!" "Is this the Rageful Ah Chou!?" "Th... that's Ah Chou...?!"

Arthur and Ilfan, not far away, gazed at the blade mark that had torn the earth. Ah Chou's appearance was now somewhat different, more demonic, with spiraling horns. Perhaps, this was his combat form? But such power was too terrifying, exuding a great, chilling dread that gave goosebumps. It was black with wails and despair, savage and horrifying, filling everyone with both awe and fear.

"Monster!" Yumia dodged the attack, but her body was covered in fine, dense blade marks, even revealing her fair skin. She turned and swiftly launched herself into the air to escape. "I need to find a way to get out of here, and use my arms to heal the wounds."

Her regenerative ability was strong; given some time to breathe, she could fully recover her combat strength. The enraged Ah Chou watched Yumia's retreating figure. He did not pursue her, but instead quietly observed her departure with his fiery red eyes of fury.

In the lush forest, silence reigned.Thump, thump, thump!Across the land, a figure sped past. Yumia, the Elf Empress, had never been in such a disheveled state. She couldn't imagine what kind of terrifying creature that was! Human? Demon? Or perhaps a hybrid of both?

How could such a terrifying and chilling life form exist in the world! No wonder it's a fallen, incomplete creature that has lost its divinity! But it was indeed too dreadful: tyrannical, imbued with the world's ultimate evil. Simply standing there, its overwhelming black aura even formed a coercive pressure, no less potent than her own.

"What kind of environment did it grow up in to become so violent and dark? Humanity is indeed too complex and wicked...." Her elegant, beautiful face tightened as she pursed her lips, then took a deep breath. "Far less singular than our divinity, which is purely good. I must exterminate them. I have no regrets, even if I bear the weight of countless lives and accusations."

Witnessing such a terrifying evil creature further solidified her resolve. This was a struggle between races, without right or wrong. Although she had been uncertain these past few days, she had consistently and firmly told herself that she was not wrong, and that the birth of humanity would lead to the extinction of the elf race.

"Perhaps I am no longer myself, having transformed into a song of slaughter, an iron-blooded sentinel, or even another tyrannical demon like the one just now – but so what?!" She strode forward, beginning to remove her gloves to heal, and said coldly, "After this war, once the elf world has peace restored, I should step down. An elf like me is not fit to continue as queen."

In her mind, she suddenly recalled a sentence spoken by the previous Elf Empress Yumia, from her time in the Elf King's Hall—a declaration full of vigor: "The King acknowledges, the King permits, the King bears the burden of the entire world!" The previous Empress Yumia, full of vigor, had not achieved it, but she herself was striving forward.

She fell silent, as if only at this moment did she truly understand the meaning of that sentence: "If the King bears the burden of the entire world, then there is no good or evil; the elves do not need to carry pain and condemnation.... All of this will be decided by me. I will enforce the will of my subjects."

Suddenly....A more concealed, translucent figure approached."Gale Step." The semi-transparent figure, like an assassin, quickly leaped and unleashed a cleave.

"It's you again!!!" Yumia swung the Wheel of Venom, and the semi-transparent figure fully revealed itself. This time, the man's appearance was somewhat different from the last. He had sharp teeth and tusks, and his eyes held not the tyrannical destructiveness seen before, but a pure wildness – a creature's most primal instinct, perhaps... bestiality!

"What kind of creature are you, really!" Yumia's expression grew utterly grave as she fought this monster once more. Compared to the demonic monster before, this wild monster was noticeably less aggressive. Instead, it possessed an animalistic, agile instinct, capable of precisely anticipating her every move.

Yumia had always been proud of her superior combat skills, but only against this man did she witness what true combat skill meant – a terrifying, instinctive killing intent. This battle was extremely difficult. Large swathes of trees were corroded, and the entire mountain forest turned into a desolate land. Yet, her oppressive aura seemed to have no effect on this creature; he did not appear to be a living being.

After several struggles, Yumia quickly left again. The beast-like man holding the blade merely watched her quietly, without giving chase.

She continued moving like a phantom, and to her surprise, a dilapidated human town appeared before her. She hesitated for a moment, then swiftly entered the town, finding rest in an abandoned, ruined cottage at its edge. The stove, wooden table, and wooden door were all overturned; it seemed the owner of the house had met with misfortune.

She stood up and looked out at the street beyond the town from a gap in the interior window. Beneath broken eaves, women still cradled their children, and middle-aged men were trying to find food for their families among the ruins.

Yumia closed her eyes slightly, beginning to rest her mind. She had already suffered two major blows; if she were pursued again, she wasn't sure she could escape.

"What exactly is it? If I had to guess, the first man embodied the demonic nature of a demon, carrying the world's ultimate evil. The second man was like a beast of the mountains and forests, possessing pure bestiality." Their appearances indeed matched their inner characteristics.

She kept wondering if there would be another man. But the next second, another man, carrying a long blade, walked in. His face was flawlessly handsome, as gentle as jade, and his body exuded a natural freshness, as if bathed in holy light. He drew people in, as if approaching nature itself.

Yumia was already intimately familiar with this aura. "Elf!?" Feeling this aura, Yumia was shocked and stood up abruptly, her head reeling.

Bathed in divinity, the man seemed to have no intention of fighting. He merely smiled gently, revealing white teeth. "Yumia, do you want to know the truth of the world?"

"What truth?" Yumia gripped the Wheel of Venom cautiously. In this moment, she suddenly felt incredibly weak, unworthy of being the Elf Queen, and ashamed before her people.

"The eleven ancient elf trees hide the secret truth of this world, the true text of history.... For instance, Yumia, who are you really?" The man's voice, also full of divinity, was bathed in the warm sunlight. "Yumia, are you... truly an elf?"