Prime Originator

Although Lord Rhuvek knew Rainshine was a Paragon, he thought she specialized in speed and lethality.

However, contrary to his expectations, the adorable little thing fought in a very savage and brutal manner that was unlikely of her small appearance.

Lord Rhuvek was completely flabbergasted.

Even the platoon of Transcendent-level dark elves was astounded by Rainshine's way of battle.

However, the dark elves didn't have the luxury of being distracted as they fended off the other Rank 2 Transcendent-level Black Ants. They only sensed what happened.

Nevertheless, Rainshine did not pay attention to the dark elves' reactions. After finishing off the Paragon-level Black Ant, she dashed over to help the dark elves clean up the rest of the black ants.

Upon seeing that, Lord Rhuvek quickly recovered from his shock and also assisted.

A few breaths later, all the black ants were killed.

Afterward, the dark elves started collecting the spoils of their battle, storing the black ants' carapaces in their interspatial storage rings.

However, they did not touch any of the black ants finished off by Rainshine.

"Since the Paragon-level Black Ant and the other few Rank 2 Transcendent-level Black Ants were killed by Rainshine, we won't take any of them. All their carapaces belong to you, Lord Leon," Lord Rhuvek said.

Leon nodded and pocketed all the remaining carapaces into his Worldspace.

"Let us continue before more insects are attracted over by the commotion."

"Alright. Sounds good."

Shortly after reaching an agreement, Leon and the group swiftly left the area and headed toward D Sector. Along the way, Leon found many more tier-4 spirit herbs than he did in B Sector.

However, he had yet to come across a tier-5 spirit herb.

"There are so many spirit herbs in this place. Does the Dark Elf Clan not gather them?" Leon casually inquired.

"We do actually, Lord Leon," Lord Rhuvek answered.

"However, we only take what we need and only when we need them. After all, it's not easy for spirit herbs to grow. Each time a spirit herb is harvested, the spirit energy level in the region decreases, and the time it takes to recover also increases."

Leon quietly acknowledged Lord Rhuvek's point.

Considering the Dark Elf Clan heavily relied on runecrafting, whether it was for everyday life necessity or survival, a decrease in spirit energy was a significant loss for them.

However, spirit herbs were essential ingredients for refining cultivation pills--cultivation pills that make breakthroughs to higher cultivation levels possible.

Nevertheless, both choices had pros and cons, and it was clear to Leon that the Dark Elf Clan took the conservative choice.

Although their conservative choice didn't allow them to produce powerhouses to dominate the Lower Abyss Domain, it was enough to preserve their way of life for the past tens of thousands of years.

As the group approached the entrance to D Sector, they spotted traces of insect blood on the group with several other traces of battle in the area.

However, the insects themselves were nowhere to be seen.

"Looks like the mutants fought some insects in this location," a Late Rank 2 Transcendent-level Dark Elf commented as he swiped the insect blood on the ground with two fingers and rubbed them together with his thumb to study.

"Seeing as there are no remains of the mutants and insects, there are two possibilities. Either the mutants were eaten by the insects, or the mutants assimilated the insects and moved on. According to the readings from our detectors, the latter is more likely to be the case."

"Which means the mutants are still alive and have entered D Sector. This also means that our mission has not changed; we will enter D Sector, find the mutants, and exterminate them all before they get any more chances to grow further," Lord Rhuvek stated solemnly.

Fortunately, they have Lord Leon and Rainshine with them. A Peak Paragon and Late Paragon were reassuring to have on the team.

Even as they were about to enter D Sector, Lord Rhuvek didn't feel as pressured as he would without them.

"Prepare the tools. Since we are entering D Sector, we will also map the unmapped areas for future references."

"Yes, my Lord!"

After Lord Rhuvek instructed, several dark elves immediately took out scribing pens, white crystals, and leather maps.

Evidently, these Rank 2 Transcendent-level dark elves weren't just the city's elites in terms of strength but also proficient runemasters.

Leon was immediately curious how they would update the map using the white crystals, which were semi-transparent and conductive with spirit energy.

However, as they were leaving C Sector, Leon could not help but say, "Although your mission is to exterminate the mutants, are you not interested in finding out where they came from, Lord Rhuvek? If you eliminate them at the source, you won't be bothered by them in the future."

"That sounds great, Lord Leon. I believe the whole Dark Elf Clan and even the dwarven clans would love to do that," Lord Rhuvek said.

"However, no one knows where these mutants came from, nor why they keep coming. According to our detectors, they seem to just appear out of thin air. Furthermore, we've noticed a certain behavior from the mutants' movements in the last few instances they appeared."

"They seem to be trying to enter the Magma Domain, though I have no idea why. Even so, we don't intend to let them do as they please," Lord Rhuvek stated.

"The Magma Domain, huh?" Leon uttered thoughtfully.

Reasons told Leon that it wasn't simple as that. He felt the mutants' destination might be further than the Magma Domain. Gaia's Core seemed like the more likely target.

However, targeting Gaia's Core would require the mutants to have a clear purpose and hierarchy of command within their ranks.

In other words, the higher-ups in the mutants were intelligent, and they knew something about Gaia's Core.

'What do they want from there?' Leon mused. In any case, there was something he needed to do first before figuring that out.

Leon suddenly summoned a fireball and fired it into a specific spot in the high cave ceiling, burning away the plants and uncovering a hidden hole.

"Are you sure you don't know where the mutants come from, Lord Rhuvek? They seem to have come from one of these hidden holes, no?"

"T-this is...!"