People in Xumi: I am really not the Dragon King

Chapter 223: Apep, the Self-Respecting One
On the north side of the Pillared Sand Plain, billions of grains of sand gather together.

On the vast sand dunes, yellow sand is flying all over the sky.

Around Nashida and the three mushrooms,

Violent tremors continued to come from deep in the earth.
The awakening of some giant creature caused the golden sand on the surface to retreat to both sides like flowing water.

Immediately afterwards, a huge ochre-colored monster slowly emerged from under the yellow sand.

——It was a head as huge as a mountain range.

Even if only a tiny part of the entire body is exposed above the ground,
But when it rose from under the feet of the crowd, it still exuded a suffocating and intense sense of oppression.

In a few brief blinks,
This ancient dragon, standing at the pinnacle of all elemental creatures, revealed its full appearance with an agile posture that was totally inconsistent with its huge body.
- A sturdy body, huge sandy yellow scales, and rhizome-like horn-like protrusions all over the body.
Just by appearing on the ground, it flattened the surrounding sand dunes and rocks, and completely changed the topography of the area.

Inadvertently, it showed everyone the majesty and glory that once belonged only to the original rulers of this land.

——Apep, whom Lin Feng and Zhongli had been searching for for a long time, finally showed up.

The extremely large grass dragon immediately used its huge elemental power to disrupt the surrounding earth veins after it appeared.

When it determines that there are no living creatures in the short term, it can use the ground veins to achieve rapid movement.
Apep bought himself and the weak god in front of him a lot of alone time.

Looking down at Nashida standing in front of the three mushrooms, he spoke in a condescending tone:
"——Little god, the outsider you relied on has been led away. Now there is no one who can protect a weak being like you."

"—hand over the fire in your hand and leave,

I can, for the sake of justice, not pursue your entanglement with me over this period of time."

"."

Do not rashly attack living beings protected by the laws of nature. This is the consensus of all ancient beings.

Therefore, out of fear of the rule maker,

Even though Apep was very annoyed at the extremely weak god in front of him who was still chasing him at the risk of his life, he still did not intend to use violence at the beginning.

"——You should know that we have no ill intentions and are here to seek cooperation, Apep."

Under the absolute power gap,
Nashida, who was originally in a weak position and should have been trembling in fear in Apep's opinion,
Facing the Grass Dragon's show of strength, he showed no sign of fear at all, but continued to speak with full confidence:
"In the history that has been preserved today, it is clearly recorded that you and the Great Compassionate Tree King have both contributed to stopping the spread of forbidden knowledge."

"Even though that may not be your original intention, now that I have inherited the throne of Grass, I still have the responsibility to fulfill the promise I made back then."

"—I know you hate gods and humans, but we are here to save you, Apep."

The size difference between the two sides was so huge that Nashida was like an ant in front of the other.
He was not intimidated by the other party's momentum at all, and stated the core purpose of his trip very sincerely.

"."

"Haha, stupid god, even though he has evolved, he is still as innocent and naive as he was back then."

"—I don't need to be saved, especially by despicable thieves like you."

Among the seven ancient dragons, Apep was the most steadfast follower of the Dragon King.
Unlike those who have become too close to the gods,
Even when it was at its weakest, it never truly trusted those who had stolen the power of the ancient dragons.

And Amon, who had plotted against it and caused Apep to fall into its current situation, made it completely lose the intention to communicate with these guys.

"Humph, there's no need to say any more useless nonsense. I have no intention of cooperating with the gods."

"——Hand over the elemental crystal in your hand, or you will pay a heavy price. Don't think that I really don't dare to take action."

The green light in Apep's vertical pupils, representing the elemental power, became brighter and brighter.
It is obviously not just talking about the constant worry about the outsider's return.

".You are just like Amon. You only existed for a short time, but you relied on the glory of heaven to claim to be the lord of this place."

"Weak god, do you think you have any chance of defeating me?
Or do you still have some unrealistic expectations, thinking that someone can save you in this desolate and dead land?"

I originally thought that as long as I made a request, the weak god in front of me would be tactful and hand over the crystal.
But facing Nashida's obviously abnormal reaction,

No matter how much Apep threatened, he was still worried and checked the surrounding environment again.

——No problem. Apart from the gods in front of me and my three followers, there are no other elemental reactions. There is no way anything could happen.
!!!

No! Why did two more elemental reactions appear behind me?
Suddenly, he realized that his "follower" had never communicated with him since he appeared. This was completely different from the previous state where he was always trying to transmit information.
Thinking back to the fearless attitude of the god in front of him and the "we" she mentioned, Apep instantly realized that he might have been fooled!
as predicted,

After confirming that even face-to-face communication would not lead to cooperation,
The blue mushroom that looked like a floating bubble beside Nashida gradually lost its disguise and turned into a black-haired boy.

The figure holding the green chess piece-shaped God's Heart just appeared.
An aura that was a mixture of various powers and whose strength was even not inferior to it spread around the opponent.

"."

".Sure enough, you weak gods, even after thousands of years, still only rely on the power of outsiders."

"——You cunning fellow, that's all. Don't think I will surrender."

Apep, realizing he had been tricked, was extremely angry at the despicable nature of the gods.

Even so, it didn't think there was any point in fighting with the other side, so after saying the harsh words, it immediately turned around and prepared to hide under the yellow sand again.

"Hey, the power of outsiders? Old man, it seems like someone is looking down on you?"

"——Who said we can't stop you by ourselves?"

"."

Just as Apep was about to turn around and retreat, he heard two auras of authority coming from behind him.

Listening to these words carried to my ears by the breeze,

It had been active since the Demon War, and it instantly remembered to whom such power belonged.

"——Barbatos! Morax! Why are you also helping this outsider?!"

At first, when he saw Nashida alone, Apep felt that he had an overwhelming advantage in strength.
At this moment, I have realized that I am the real loner.
Looking back, it originally thought that there were only two gods in Xumi, and at most one of its followers had been replaced.
Desperately, I discovered that the other two stupid mushrooms had also lost their disguises.
Transformed into two young men surrounded by cyan and gold elements,

They each held a chess piece called the Heart of God, and in the gathering of countless elements, they revealed their true form as gods.

——It was during the conversation that Wendy and Zhongli moved little by little behind Apep and completed the encirclement work silently.

At this moment, although the two gods have not yet completely transformed into the fighting postures that have completely released their power as shown on the statues,
But it is obvious that he is ready to communicate with the Throne of God at any time and fight against this ancient dragon king in full condition.

"." "Haha.. So that's how it is. Your so-called cooperation was a complete trap from the beginning."

"——They actually used those followers who had appeared before as disguises. Amon's people are really a group of cunning guys!!!"

"——Our king will return one day. Even if he disappears here, I will never bow down to God!"

All of his followers were replaced, and Apep, who felt betrayed, became even more angry under the influence of forbidden knowledge.

Knowing something about these two ancient gods,

Surrounded by four auras of authority, it knew that it would be difficult for it to escape given its current state.
The extremely unfavorable situation, coupled with the constant whispers in my ears,
Apep, who was in a desperate state, resolutely decided to give up suppressing the forbidden knowledge.
——Release all your strength, follow the footsteps of the Dragon King, and fight these damn outsiders to the death!
"."

Feeling the visible erosion of forbidden knowledge on Apep,

Lin Feng, Zhongli and Wendy looked at each other from a distance.
It is believed that the other party's mental state has been greatly affected at this moment, and it will be difficult for him to communicate normally before being subdued.

Because in the next period of time, there will be continuous turmoil and changes.
Lin Feng and Zhong Li, who still had many things to do, could not afford to waste too much time here.
——Since the battlefield is in such a remote desert, there is no need to worry about the aftermath of the battle causing serious impact on the surrounding areas.
Then forcibly holding down the other party to dispel the forbidden knowledge and help him wake up is the best option at the moment.

——After the communication is completed, the policy of convincing the other party before negotiating is determined.

Including Nashida, who was assisting the flank, the four gods who had been prepared for this long ago mobilized their own strength.

The converging torrent of three-colored elements expressed their attitude towards the threat of Apep.

"——You outsiders who took away the world, even if you follow the Dragon King today, I will make you pay the price!"

Amidst the emotional agitation, Apep, who was increasingly eroded by the forbidden knowledge,

It directly accepted the power of the abyss that had already merged with it over the past thousand years.

Allowing these dark forces from the outside world to blend with one's own elemental forces created a very distorted state that was almost impossible to exist in the outside world.

——This is a power harmony that can only be achieved by a Grass Dragon that has exerted the "power of adaptation" to the extreme.

This is a further step in accepting the abyss than its followers who are so twisted that their only instinct is survival!

This is the great power that the "Dragon King" once possessed!

Just like the choice made by the Red King and the Nibelungen,
With the help of the power from outside the world, Apep felt that he was stronger than ever before.
Even if it has to pay a huge price later, at least it has bought it the possibility of escaping from the encirclement of four gods!
——At this moment, it is invincible!

Lin Feng: "."

Zhongli: "."

Narcida and Wendy: "."

The crowd was originally very vigilant.
After discovering that Apep had actually decided to merge with the power of the abyss,

For a moment, everyone was in a state of not knowing what to say.

——Didn’t Apep know from the information passed on by its followers that there was a special attack force against the power of the abyss on their side?

A dark green force like a tidal wave rushed towards the four people present from the direction of Apep.

But when this force touched Lin Feng who was in the front,
But it was like water hitting a sponge, and he absorbed it all.

It didn't even create a single wave, and it became just a snack to replenish the energy consumed.

Seeing this scene,
Not only the four gods on their side, but even Apep who thought "I can fight back" fell into silence.

This legendary forbidden power that is said to be able to rival the laws of nature is different from what I imagined.

It raised its head:

"."

".It seems that you are not lying to me that you can purify the power of the abyss. I think there may be something between us..."

I realized that I had underestimated the peculiarity of this outsider.

Apep felt that he could consider accepting their proposal to treat him.

But before it could say half of its words, it was hit on the head by four oncoming forces of power.

"etc."

"——wait for you, damn it."

"You want to negotiate peace after the fight? That's impossible!"

After failing to stop the attack, he took the initiative to merge the power of the abyss.

I did some tricks myself and turned the somewhat threatening Apep into a baby-level player.
Suddenly I realized that even the whispers in my ears that had always promised to give it strength had disappeared.

In despair when his elemental power was directly banned and his strongest attack was rolling on the spot, he was beaten up by four people.

After a moment, because there was no power to resist,
Completely honest.

Even Apep's eyes became clear.
Although he was lying on the ground with sore body, his mind, which had been affected by the abyss before, had become somewhat clearer.

Lin Feng, whose all elemental resistance has reached level nine and who also has a special attack against the power of the abyss,

I even feel that beating Apep, who has deeply integrated the power of the abyss, is much easier than clearing the weekly levels in my previous life.

The group had made a lot of preparations beforehand, but they never imagined that this battle would be so easy.

Looking at Apep who was pinned to the ground and unable to move, he decided to send Zhongli, the God of Contract, to negotiate for cooperation.

In front of the huge, dragon-like and snake-like head,

Zhongli, who was not much bigger than an ant to the ancient dragon, stepped forward and said:
"...At this point, you should know that we are here to cooperate sincerely."

"——I am willing to use the name of the God of Contract as a guarantee. The deal we proposed before is still valid. You have one last chance to consider it."

"."

Having heard the name of the God of Contract, Apep was silent for a moment.
A large amount of the power of the abyss was devoured, and its mind had become much clearer.
Considering the four gods standing before him,
And now he was pinned to the ground by the other party and couldn't move, and it seemed that he might be killed at any time.
Finally, he nodded politely, indicating that he was willing to join this mutually beneficial "cooperation".

(End of this chapter)