Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 689 - 634 Elemental Riot

The azure sky was dotted with clouds as plump as accumulated snow, torn asunder by the wild and sudden winds like mischievous garden fairies. They laughed and sneered at the attempts of the slow-moving cloudbanks to regather, then began their second onslaught of torment.

The winds here were biting, the dominion of Lord Southwind always filled with the annoying buzz of wind elementals, busy as bees.

Baron of the Garden despised these capricious wind elementals, as well as their pompous Elemental Lord. Wind elementals were nothing but large swirls filled with Elemental Power, their cores relatively calm while their surfaces were as sharp as blade-edged currents. Between these currents, occasional sparks of electricity leapt, and the Baron of the Garden was all too familiar with the feeling of being pricked by a needle hidden in cotton when punching them.

Overall, wind elementals were a most irksome type of Elemental Creature.

The domain of the wind elementals was known as the Storm Sky, occupying all the heavens of the Elemental World. Some stones, catalyzed by the Elemental Power to float, peppered this sky, carved and chiseled by the raging winds and turned into dwellings for the wind elementals.

For instance, where the Baron of the Garden was right now, in the Storm Sky’s southern section, the South Wind Divine Temple. Indeed, the Wind Elemental Lord had constructed a temple, its very own temple.

A corral of orb-like lightning housed Lord Southwind’s collection. Precious magic scrolls and ornaments, remnants of sculptures with various patterns, and a few abducted intelligent beings—humans, Elves, and other minority species.

Wind elementals delighted in thievery and plunder. They were a shameless bunch of thieves, acting solely on whims, without a shred of honor. Sometimes, tornadoes would abruptly appear in the material world, whisking away humans and livestock. Without a doubt, it was precisely the kind of mischief these wind elementals loved to create.

They kidnapped humans out of sheer interest. Their only redeeming feature was that they truly treasured their spoils. Every person seized by the wind was well-cared for, as long as the elementals hadn’t grown bored of their new playthings.

Fickleness was one of the hallmarks of the raging wind. Their fondness for living beings rarely lasted long, ranging from three minutes to several years. And when they grew tired of them, they simply dropped them. The fallen would be torn apart by the chaotic elemental currents in the gaps of the Elemental Plane, with only a few lucky survivors perhaps managing to land on a lower elemental plane.

However, beneath Lord Southwind’s jurisdiction in the Elemental Plane lay the Lord of Flames’ ancestral home, the Land of Blazing Flames.

Baron of the Garden loathed Lord Southwind for his fondness of high-altitude drops, the only common ground between the two Elemental Lords.

Despite inwardly battering the rotund figure of Lord Southwind resembling a Michelin man countless times, on the surface the Baron of the Garden was all smiles, rubbing his hands together gleefully.

Today, he came for business.

"My esteemed Xitul of the South Wind, what have you decided?"

The Wind Elemental Lord rotated its orb-like electric eyeballs, the compressed masses of electricity exchanging currents. An annoyingly frivolous voice buzzed forth.

"I haven’t considered it, I didn’t listen to a word you said. You know, I’ve been thinking about why you would visit my domain. Do you have any idea how ridiculous you looked, knocking on the Elemental Barrier with such restraint? I’ve recorded it with a Projection Crystal. It will become one of my most cherished collectibles," the Wind Elemental Lord boasted, its power amplified in its Elemental Plane, thus widening the power gap in its favor amidst the raving winds.

With fire in his eyes, the Baron of the Garden clenched his fists and then released them.

"Xitul, my humility stems from good intentions. If you were inattentive just now, then let me repeat myself. I wish to spread the faith of the Red Dragon among the wind elementals, and I hope you, as the Master of the South Wind, could accommodate this," he said.

"Spread faith? The Red Dragon? Who’s that?"

"The reborn offspring of the father of dragons, wielding the Life Force—Imelt of the Red Dragon. Should any wind elementals be intrigued by her power, they are welcome to seek my counsel at the Great Forge."

Lord Southwind’s airflow seemed to pause for a moment as it reached out to touch a nearby pillar, rubbing against the stone with a noisy screeching.

"Am I hearing you right? The Baron of the Garden of the flame elementals, known for internal strife, is now bowing down to a freshly born dragon? It’s pretty obvious that the power of this Red Dragon doesn’t mesh well with us, the wind elementals. May I infer that this is a veiled attempt at territorial expansion by your flame elementals? You’re gathering allies in such a stupidly laughable manner. If we worship power, why should we venerate that youngster, when venerating its parent, the former King of the Era, would be far superior? That way, we, the wind elementals, wouldn’t be subjugated to you flame elementals," Xitul sharply pointed out, stumbling the Baron of the Garden who came with conviction in his heart.

Failing to convince by words, a domain not as well mastered by the punch-happy Baron of the Garden as the politically-savvy Wind Elemental Lord, led the Baron to fall back on a secondary request.

"Er...we actually just need the wind elementals to recognize Imelt of the Red Dragon as a revered figure among them. After all, if you adopt the faith of the father of dragons, we’d become brethren in belief, and Imelt would be within your closer circle of deities. We could even facilitate a connection between you and the father of dragons, ensuring greater rewards for your faith."

Lord Southwind’s demeanor changed completely, oozing a playful taunt, putting the Baron of the Garden at a disadvantage.

"You’ve changed a lot, Baron of the Garden. I suspect you’re not here simply to spread faith. You have an ulterior motive..."

A sinking feeling gripped the Baron of the Garden. Had this seemingly transparent fool caught on to something?

"What is so special about that Red Dragon to you that you go so far to protect it, even at the loss of your own interests and face?"

"She is my ward, like my child, she is my treasure. With this explanation, Xitul, you should be able to understand."

"Ah, I completely understand, the sentiment of valuing one’s treasures, I can relate to that," Xitul revealed for the first time an expression the Baron of the Garden found agreeable, "However... to expand one’s offspring’s network and pave their way, one needs to pay the toll, Baron of the Garden, you do understand that, don’t you? What can you offer that would interest me?"

The gaze of the wind element was very discerning, they were opportunists who wouldn’t act without assurance of benefit, and the Baron of the Garden knew that the real negotiations had begun, everything prior was just Lord Southwind’s nonsense. He would never genuinely venerate the faith of the father of dragons, each wind element was a narcissist, they only believed in themselves.

"The power of the Elemental Venerable, does that interest you, Xitul?"

A gleam of gold burst from the Lord of the Wind’s gaze, a keen desire shimmered in his eyes.

"Elemental Venerable? Oh? Have you persuaded the other Lords of Flames, or are you planning on making a move on someone?"

A higher tier of the Elemental Lords, the Elemental Venerable. That was what the Elemental Lords envisioned as a higher rank of existence, the ruler of Elemental Power. Upon further scrutiny, at least a combination of two Elemental Lords’ powers was needed to give rise to an Elemental Venerable.

The cunning Lord Southwind naturally assumed that the Baron of the Garden had seen the light and was planning with him to kill an Elemental Lord or even other Lords of Flames.

The Baron of the Garden made a gesture signaling not to spread the word, prompting Xitul to lean closer.

"Yes, I plan to shape an Elemental Lord, and the unfortunate soul from whom we will seize the power..."

"Is you."

The sky was ablaze, countless fire elements and the Dwarves they carried poured out from the fiery portals opening one after another in the sky. The flames turned the clouds red, the beauty of destruction was breathtaking.

"Liar! You dare deceive the Master of the South Wind in the Storm Sky!!!"

The Baron of the Garden laughed heartily as the South Wind Divine Temple, already etched, was instantly ignited, and the gale was enveloped by intense heat.

"If I didn’t mention cooperation and all that drivel, would you have waited obediently for me to assemble my forces, you arrogant Xitul. You purposely drove away the surrounding wind elements and sealed off the information here, you’ve really done me a great favor."

"Now, my brethren of flames and Dwarves!" The Baron of the Garden pulled out the Projection Crystal he had prepared in advance, which was replaying Lord Southwind’s vulgar remarks towards the Red Dragon Imelt, "Since this wind element has dared to insult our Red Dragon Queen! To turn our esteemed lady into a mere bargaining chip! Can we tolerate this!"

"No!!!"

"What shall we do then!"

"Beat him!!! Burn him alive!!!"

The Baron of the Garden’s fist, covered in Elemental Rings, delivered a satisfying punch to Xitul.

"Your actions will be taken as a provocation by the Land of Blazing Flames against the Storm Sky! Baron of the Garden, can you endure the backlash from the three major Elemental Planes?"

The Baron of the Garden had already completely unleashed his body, a flaming giant over ten meters tall wearing full elemental gear, the flames growing fiercer in the tempest.

"Provocation? You’re mistaken. This is not a provocation, this is a declaration of war."

"We, the Lords of Flames, are tired of your child’s play standoffs. Now, the Land of Blazing Flames declares war on the Storm Sky, the Tidal Abyss, and the Rock Rift Valley. We’re not just against the wind elements; we’re going to beat down all of you."

"Let the flames consume everything! Let every Elemental Creature know the name of the Red Dragon!"

"For the Red Dragon Queen Imelt, we offer a war against all Elemental Creatures."

"This is the Elemental Chaos brought to you by us, the followers of the Red Dragon."