Mahades was the capital of the former West Goth Empire, and as the strongest empire of the Sigranians, it had persisted until the end. When the insectoid monsters had invaded the sky continent Sigrani, West Goth Empire had been the last to be destroyed and only disappeared together with the Moon God Clan that had protected the Sigranians.
Now, the old imperial palace of the West Goth Empire had fallen under the control of the insectmen monsters and joined the estate of these underground humanoid monsters. In fact, the insectmen monsters could be regarded as insecoid monsters of very low rank. Their combat power was no match for the other insectoid monsters. The insectmen monsters of Ximengsi Continent were the advanced forms of multiple-legged insect monsters. Their bloodline was impure, so their combat power was naturallyno match for the genuine insectoid monsters.
Clyde, who was still carrying Valkyrie Cynthia, entered the palace of the West Goth Empire. In the main palace hall, he saw the leader of the insectmen monsters, a humanoid cockroach king with a gold crown on its head and a gold scepter in its right hand. While the other insectmen monsters could only use physical attacks coupled with spraying venom, this kind of basic innate attack, the Insect Monster King possessed a very strong magic ability along with the other abilities of ordinary insectmen monsters. Just on the basis of magic power, among the human magicians of Ximengsi Continent, only a few might be the opponent of this cockroach king. Ximengsi Continent was a low-magic civilization; most of the magicians were incapable. Only the magicians of the four border super empires might be able to fight this Insect Monster King.
Among the insectmen monsters, the intelligence of the Insect Monster King was also the highest. Only its appearance was that of a humanoid monster, its intelligence was no different from an average human. When Clyde and Cynthia first saw the arrogant Insect Monster King, its back had faced them in a completely unguarded state. When all was said and done, against the concealing effects of Clyde’s dark magic, even the Insect Monster King was no different from a blind person.
“That bunch of damn rats! I thought they would suffer losses together with the human army after they ran above. Unexpectedly, they only suffered some superficial injuries. Braund, that old bastard, must have schemed against me! I lost several areas again this month!”
Ignorant of Clyde and Cynthia, the Insect Monster King stared at a map of the underground world on the wall and cursed his old opponents, the underground ratmen. He mentioned a name many times, which Clyde suspected was the name of the king of the underground ratmen. However, Clyde still couldn’t figure out a matter. Since the insectmen monsters had the leader of the insectoid monsters as a behind-the-scenes supporter, the insectmen monsters should have easily dealt with their old enemy, the underground ratmen. However, the latter had suppressed them for over two hundred years. Thus, he somewhat doubted the commanding ability of the Insect Monster King.
Beside the Insect Monster King were several imprisoned female prisoners who trembled in fear. They wore nothing besides iron collars around their necks. Their hands and legs were bound with handcuffs and legcuffs. They were forced to kneel on the ice-cold ground. Looking closer, Clyde found they were writing information about the human city above ground. The wild ambition of this Insect Monster King was not small: it actually wanted to occupy the human world.
Originally, these white lambs had been adventurers or mercenaries of the Human Race. They had been to many places and seen many things. After being captured, they were then forced to write all kinds of intelligence on the Human Race. They had no way to get away and no other choice. If they refused, then like their companions in the iron cages, they would be treated as sacrificial offerings.
The Insect Monster King could speak the human language. Its study of the Human Race seemed to be quite thorough. On a table near it were maps of several human cities, including a map of the entire Needham Plains. The prisoners didn’t dare to hide anything since the Insect Monster King would send someone to check the map. At that time, if anything turned out wrong, their endings would be much worse.
Taking advantage of the Insectmen King’s efforts, he noticed that on the map of the Needham Plains, Marquis Charles’s basecamp was marked in great detail. Even the deployment of his 120,000 human soldiers was clearly marked. Marquis Charles had probably never expected that while the adventurers and mercenaries he had hired were still unclear about the humanoid monsters hiding underthe Needham Plains, those humanoid monsters already knew his circumstances inside out.
Clyde didn’t care about the other things, but he was determined to get that detailed map of the Needham Plains. Upon seeing that the Insect Monster King had yet to notice him, Clyde put down Valkyrie Cynthia and walked forward. However, as he approached the Insect Monster King, it seemed to sense danger with its sixth sense and immediately activated a dark magic energy barrier.
However, this dark magic barrier was useless in front of Clyde. Several dark-energy hands sprang from the ground and grabbed the king’s legs, instantly shattering the barrier. By the time it came back to its senses, its legs had already been pulled underground, leaving behind only the upper half of its body as if it had sunk into a marsh.
The Insect Monster King had absolute confidence in its own strength; therefore, it had posted no insectmen guards in this palace hall. As a result, Clyde successfully carried out a sneak attack without creating any disturbances. The Insect Monster King hadn’t even had the chance to shout for the insect monster guards outside the palace. The situation was already under Clyde’s control.
“Don’t bother! Enjoy your trip to the abyss!”
“Wait… Lord Deity, don’t… don’t kill me! We can discuss whatever you want…”
Insect Monster King knew that it was not Clyde’s opponent and immediately surrendered. Since Clyde had applied a gravitational pressure field and pressed the Insect Monster King to the ground, it had basically no way to counterattack. It could only beg to discuss conditions with Clyde.
“You just need to tell me about the fellow secretly supporting you. Is that fellow in the mage tower or the shrine?”
“This… I can’t say! Lord deity, I would die; please change the condition! If I die, Master will sense it.”
Hearing Clyde’s question, the Insect Monster King trembled. It seemed to have misgivings towards the means of its behind-the-scenes master. Therefore, it played a petty trick, claiming to have a secret contract connection its behind-the-scenes master. If Clyde killed it, its master would know. However, this kind of petty trick was useless against Clyde.
“Since that’s so, there is no need to discuss anything. Goodbye!”
“Wait, if I die, Master will sense it! You… you can’t do this!”
“No problem! I’ll banish you into the dark abyss for ten thousand years; you won’t die.”
“In the shrine…”
Facing Clyde’s threat, the Insect Monster King finally opened its mouth. After obtaining the answer, Clyde reached out his hand and made a few gestures in the air. Then, the black energy hands holding the Insect Monster King suddenly changed into a black liquid similar to a slime and completely engulfed it. The Insect Monster King didn’t even have time to scream before dissolving. In an extremely short few minutes, the nameless Insect Monster King, the humanoid monster that had dominated the underground world for a few hundred years, was exterminated. After the black liquid spread, only the golden crown and scepter on the ground proved that the Insect Monster King had once existed.
The black slime shifted into a humanoid shaped form. This fellow was actually an abyss devourer; it usually disguised itself as an ordinary slime and duped unsuspecting human adventurers and mercenaries before devouring them. At Clyde’s level, he could easily summon this kind of dangerous abyss monster.
“Lord Clyde, you actually…”
“Cynthia, I didn’t kill that fellow. It was just my subordinate, so it can’t be considered going back on my word. Besides, a promise with a devil should never be believed. Do you still think it’s improper?”
“No… no, Lord Clyde, I overstepped just now.”
“That’s fine. This fellow actually dared to lie to me. It claimed to have a contract connection, but that behind-the-scenes backer hasn’t come.”
“Eh, Lord Clyde, you… you were trying to determine whether it was lying or not!”
“Of course, that behind-the-scenes backer is not my opponent. I was looking forward to that fellow delivering himself to my doorstep so as to save my efforts.”
Cynthia felt that Clyde’s method was too mean. However, after reconsidering, with Clyde’s real identity, it would be strange if he truly kept his promises. In any case, the Insect Monster King Clyde had killed was also a bad fellow. Cynthia treated this as saving God Race the trouble of sending armed forces to suppress the troublesome Insect Monster King.
“Take this crown and scepter to the Divine Realm and use them as proof the Insect Monster King’s death.”
“Eh, Lord Clyde, are you saying I should return now?”
“Of course, you have been bathing for so long. Won’t the other goddesses feel that it’s strange?”
“But, after I go, they…”
Clyde made Valkyrie Cynthia wear the Insect Monster King’s crown and scepter and instructed her to return to the Divine Realm to report on her task. He had forcibly made her stay here for too long. The Divine Realm must have already discovered that she was missing, so he wanted to make Cynthia return as soon as possible using the God Race’s teleportation magic. As a Valkyrie, Cynthia was somewhat worried about the human female prisoners imprisoned by the insectmen monsters. However, she could only probe Clyde to see whether he would help them.
“I like obedient lambs, but their future is in their own hands.”
“Got it, Mas… Master.”
After receiving his answer, she finally withdrew, but before leaving, she intentionally raised her voice, letting those female prisoners hear her address Clyde as her master. Now, Clyde and Cynthia had already removed their stealth magic, so those white lambs could see them. After hearing the Valkyrie address that handsome young devil as her master, their fragile hope shattered.It was useless to ask that Valkyrie for help, the goddess was unable to protect even herself. They could only submit themselves.
Heavenly Divine Realm
When Valkyrie Cynthia wearing only a white bathrobe came to the God King Hall to present the Insect Monster King’s golden crown and scepter, the other Valkyries and the God King looked at Cynthia with inconceivable expressions. They couldn’t believe in the miracle in front of them, but it was real, without counterfeit.
“Cynthia, how did you accomplish this? Just wearing a bathrobe, without any equipment, you killed an existence whose strength rivaled a Demon King’s!”
“Your Excellency the God King, this… it was just by coincidence.”
“Cynthia, modesty is a virtue, but there is no need to be too modest. I have decided to reward you with a temporary commanding power. You can dispatch one valkyrie to fight in coordination with you without my approval first. What do you think?”
“This… no. Never mind, we are all sisters. There’s no need to be so polite. I… I will not harm…” Cynthia stammered.
Everyone, however, thought that she was being modest, nothing more. However, Cynthia was recalling the promise she had made with Clyde. This simply was the will of Heaven. Originally, she had wanted to delay helping Clyde capture the other valkyries, but now, the God King had directly given her the power to make things convenient for the plan. Cynthia could only sneak a gaze out of the corners of her eyes and size up the other Valkyries, secretly looking for the next “victim.”
