87: Bait
Lightning Valley was a beautiful place that was filled with greenery. There were trees as far as the eyes could see.
Even though the place looked like this now, it wasn't always like this. There was a time when it was just a barren land with not even a speck of green. It was said to be a cursed land that was so dirty that the Heavenly Thunder fell on it every 2 days to cleanse it.
There was a time with the Greatest King of the Dark Elves; King Baron Elvian, came here. He felt bad for the land and what it had to go through. It was said that King Baron stayed in the Lightning Valley for 200 years as he prayed to the heavens to stop this torture. Ultimately, the Thunder stopped.
King Baron established his Dark Elves Kingdom on the Lightning Valley later on. The Lightning Valley that was entirely barren, was soon filled with greenery.
There were trees and grass everywhere. It was said that the Elves were blessed by nature. Even though the Dark Elves prayed to the dark gods, and they were not as beloved by nature as the general elves, they still had the blessing of nature. They were more powerful than their other counterparts.
The Lightning Valley kept growing. The clan that King Baron Elvian established became known as the Royal Elvian Clan of the Kingdom of Dark Elves.
With the passing of each generation, the Royal Clan kept changing. Each ruler had different thinking than the last one. It was said that First King Baron Elvian loved all species, and that's why he allowed everyone to come to his kingdom and make it their home, but the 5th King Rakul Elvian had a different mindset. He didn't like the other species as he felt like they didn't respect nature as much as them. He also felt like the other species were impure.
He ordered the other species to leave the Kingdom of Dark Elves and to never come back.
Even though he forced the other species members to leave, he didn't kill anyone amongst them. He was said to be the Fierce King that never killed.
The 6th King Marki Elvian also followed the footsteps of the 5th King and didn't let the members of other species establish their homes in his empire, but he didn't stop them from visiting the Empire of Dark Elves.
The
It was the reign of the 10th King Regil Elvian currently, and he maintained the same rules. No other species members were allowed to enter the Kingdom of Dark Elves.
Ryder knew that the Dark Elves didn't allow anyone else to enter their land, but he felt as if he had no other choice. He had to sneak inside.
The Demons flew high in the sky along with Ryder, but fortunately, they didn't attract much attention as they were still in an empty location. Also, not many people looked high in the sky even if they were flying above a crowded place.
"That should be the Lightning Valley. Let's get down," Ryder commanded Rale. He didn't want to take the risk of getting shot at by bows and arrows.
It was said that the Dark Elves were great archers that could even shoot a little bird flying high in the sky. If they weren't careful, they might be hit by the arrows as well. He knew that Rale and his men wouldn't die from an arrow. They were too high level to die from such weak damage, but he was still weak. If he were killed, he would be thrown back in time by a day, and he would have to repeat everything again. He didn't want to waste time just because he was careless for a moment.
The Demons landed on the ground some distance away from the Lightning Valley.
"Alright. Now let me tell you some things. Our intentions are not to go there and slaughter everyone. It's better to be careful as we still don't know how strong their king actually is. All I need is to get the object I'm here for. A battle would be the last option, and it should be under the conditions in which they won't see our attack coming," Ryder said to Rale.
"The first thing we need to do is to get information about the kingdom, and we need to catch a dark elf for that. That's why I have come up with a plan," Ryder said.
"What Plan, Your Highness?" Rale inquired.
"My plan is quite simple. I would enter the Lightning Valley and pretend to be a lost human. That should make the hiding guards come out because of their curiosity. At least most will come to me out of their curiosity. They wouldn't even be worried as I look quite weak," Ryder replied.
"No! I can't allow that to happen. How can I let you act as bait! It should be us who act as bait. The Prince should never be the bait!" Rale opposed the suggestion.
"Oh, Believe me, I myself don't want to act at the bait, but that's the only option I have. Even if you guys hide your aura, you guys still look like intimidating opponents. There's something about you that gives the feeling of fear to others. I believe that if one of you goes as bait, most of the guards will attack you, and one or two of them will leave to inform the king. It would be troublesome if the King is informed as he might hide the thing," Ryder said as he shook his head.
"But, You might die if anything goes wrong!" Rale said with concern.
"Don't worry about me. I'm not going to die anytime soon. I'll be perfectly fine one way or another," Ryder replied.
'I'll just be bored to death if I had to repeat my last 24 hours again, though,' He thought.
"Think of it as an order. You guys just have to make sure that none of the guards manage to escape after I get them at once place. That should be all," Ryder added.
"Alright. I'll follow your orders. I'll make sure that not a single person manages to harm you!" Rale said in full determination.
"Good. Now use your stealth and get ready. I'm going in," Ryder told Rale before he started walking towards the Lightning Valley.