Demon King: Hero, don’t run away!
Chapter 246: Yuanfang, What Do You Think?

Chapter 246: Chapter 246: Yuanfang, What Do You Think?

Stepping closer to the dark lake, the windless surface was eerily still, not a single ripple to be seen.

Yang Yu casually grabbed a pebble and tossed it towards the center of the lake, where it stirred ripples that spread across the surface, seemingly ensuring that nothing strange would emerge from beneath.

But this might just be a superficial appearance.

The number of corrupted beings that Kaka had tallied were only those who participated in the sealing and were infected and transformed fairies, while those devoured by the disaster were unaccounted for.

With over fifty thousand fairies residing in Fairyland, it was too difficult to check each one individually and confirm the whereabouts of those missing.

This also meant that Yang Yu and his team did not know exactly how many enemies were on this land, how many cores needed to be dealt with, but they were certain there were more than just four.

Yang Yu took out the scroll Kaka had given him and handed it to Bai Jin for research.

The scroll provided by Kaka was similar to a magic scroll in that magic only needed to be infused into it to activate the array within, performing the sealing. Its only flaw was that the array was overly complex and contained an extremely immense amount of energy, requiring a certain amount of time to start.

According to Bai Jin’s estimate, at least three minutes were needed to initiate it.

The scroll must be placed at the core of darkness to have the greatest effect. The question was, where exactly was the core of darkness?

Yang Yu could not judge, nor did he have a way to do so.

Even if he returned now to ask Kaka, he did not know if he would receive an equivocal answer.

"Iyas, you have read so many books these past few days. Where do you think the core of darkness truly lies? Is it the massive black bubble suspended in midair, or the lake at the center silently emitting tiny bubbles, or somewhere else perhaps?" Yang Yu asked suddenly, surprising Iyas, in whom a flame of excitement was silently kindled.

After reading so many books and acquiring knowledge, finally there was a chance to put it to use. Today, she would make Yang Yu see her with new respect.

Taking a deep breath, and then another, Iyas collected her thoughts and confidently answered:

"I think the black bubble is the core of darkness."

"Why do you think so?" Yang Yu pressed on.

Mulling over her answer, Iyas continued solemnly:

"The shadowy figures are defeated, reverting into black energy that flows into the bubble, and even the bubbles constantly drifting up from the lake’s surface merge with the giant bubble one by one.

Everything revolves around that black bubble.

It’s suspicious how small black bubbles keep surfacing on the lake, but if you think about it carefully, you’ll realize that is not the center, but the origin.

What we need to find is the core of darkness.

If we seal the origin instead of the core, what do we do about the free-floating black energy?

I don’t think such vast black energy will disappear in a short time; on the contrary, I believe these energies may become uncontrollable without their origin."

"Mm, you make some sense, and your reading these past few days hasn’t been for nothing; you’ve gained some insights of your own. As for whether they’re right or not, that’s another matter."

Hearing Yang Yu’s lukewarm words, Iyas somewhat discontentedly puffed up her cheeks. She had just managed to organize her thoughts and present a convincing point of view, only to find that Yang Yu not only had little reaction but seemed as if he hadn’t listened seriously at all.

How could this not irritate Iyas?

With evident annoyance, Iyas asked, "Then how do you see it?"

"Generally speaking, it’s similar to what you’ve thought. One thing to add: this kind of thing must have happened more than once in the past. The lack of established defenses here means the source could have appeared not just from the bottom of the lake but elsewhere, too.

I don’t know if it’s intentional or not, but these Darkness elements seem to have a certain self-preservation instinct, yet they don’t look conscious at all, leaning more towards pure instinct.

Perhaps, the giant black bubble hanging in mid-air is an instinctual way to prevent anyone from approaching the Core."

"So how do you explain the bursting of the black bubbles?" asked Iyas. "If it’s to protect the center, why choose to explode?"

"Who knows? Maybe the priority of scattering the Darkness is greater than protecting the Core, like how salmon die to spawn."

Yang Yu shrugged resignedly and finally got around to what concerned him most,

"Iyas, tell me now, based solely on your intuition, where do you think the core of the Darkness is?"

"Intuition... I still think it’s that huge black bubble. I can sense the terrifying Darkness contained within it, as if it could devour the entire world."

Iyas spoke her mind, and if it hadn’t been for Yang Yu and Bai Jin by her side, she probably would have turned and fled long ago.

Yang Yu pointed to the black bubbles, "Alright, then let’s decide to place this scroll in the center of the black bubble."

Now, what they needed to think about was how to securely place the scroll into the center of the black bubble.

If there were Mages sent by the All Things Library, they could easily use Flying Magic to reach high altitudes and deliver the scroll into the center of the black bubble.

Yang Yu and his group didn’t have anyone capable of flying, and they couldn’t guarantee they wouldn’t be taken by surprise by any Corruptors emerging from the bubbles as they approached.

They needed to ensure a safe approach...

With this in mind, Yang Yu looked over the placid lake and reviewed the materials available in his System to consider building a small boat.

"We’ll make a boat and try getting close to the black bubble. If anything emerges from within the bubble, we can react quickly on the boat. Even if the boat capsizes, we can swim back—as long as there are no Corruptors in this lake..."

Before he could finish his sentence, a huge shadow with a gaping maw lunged at Yang Yu.

He pushed Bai Jin and Iyas back, grabbed his Shield, and executed a Shield Block against the gaping maw. With a "crack," the jaws instantly shattered his Shield, leaving a sharp red mark across his arm where the teeth had brushed.

Shield Block ineffective? An attack that ignores Shield Block?

The moment of shock didn’t slow Yang Yu’s actions; he thrust his sword into the mouth of the black crocodile, using the gap between its teeth as leverage to pry open its mouth. He then withdrew his bleeding right hand and rolled backward.

While rolling away, Yang Yu’s eyes never left the huge black crocodile, reminiscent of a prehistoric behemoth, staying vigilant of its every move.

Once he felt sufficiently safe, Yang Yu used his sword, now bent into a ’V’ shape, as support to stop his roll and stand up, ready to confront the enormous black crocodile.