Demon King: Hero, don’t run away!

Former Demon King Army cadre.

It was unimaginable to come across such a title here.

The Maze Guardians Yang Yu had encountered before either had exaggerated attributes or possessed some special ability.

But with only Level Eighty-One, extremely poor other attributes besides strength, and no special abilities...

Clochi Doron was an anomaly amongst the Maze Guardians Yang Yu had met.

If Hero Lox had created a group chat with all the Guardians in his maze, Clochi would probably be the one urged to leave the group to avoid shame.

However, upon further thought, perhaps Clochi Doron was simply what an ordinary person would look like after putting in serious effort.

The fact that a Hero would choose a mundane ex-cadre of the Demon King Army as a Guardian of his maze must hold some deeper significance.

Could it be...

Clochi was no ordinary person after all.

Usually, he could maintain his combat strength at five hundred, but in an explosive state, it could break through ten thousand.

Or could it be...

He was some kind of extraordinary strategist?

Hiding one’s real power in games wasn’t really something to cause a fuss over.

Yang Yu couldn’t confirm whether Clochi was intentionally concealing his power.

From his last encounter with the Hero, Yang Yu had seen, to some extent, the limitations of the System.

If not just the name but also the attribute values could be hidden, many plans would have to be abandoned and rethought.

The very thought that a situation he believed to be almost a sure win could be overturned due to the enemy intentionally hiding their strength gave Yang Yu a headache.

Not knowing if there was a way to see through a person’s true power, if there was one, Yang Yu was determined to learn it.

But that wasn’t what Yang Yu should be concerned with right now. What he needed to focus on was how to pry some meaningful information from the mouth of this man who sported the hair of a strong individual.

”You let us choose our opponent, so are we to pick one out of those four Demon Statues as our opponent?”

Clochi shook his head and pointed towards the four distant Demon Statues,

”If you want to obtain the power of this maze, you have to defeat all four of those Demon Statues. If... you only wish to simply clear the maze, I will be your opponent.”

Yang Yu didn’t make a decision right away. He could tell that Clochi’s temperament was somewhat similar to Dongmu’s, suggesting that there might be a chance for communication.

”Don’t rush; we just dealt with so many Mud Giants, and our bodies are a bit overwhelmed—we’d like to rest a bit longer.

We also happen to have some questions we’d like to ask the Guardian of this maze; I’m not sure if this Guardian here would take the time to resolve our doubts.

That way, even if our strategy fails, we can still go to our graves in peace.”

Yang Yu’s gaze remained fixed on Clochi’s eyes, ready to drop the subject the moment Clochi showed the slightest impatience.

However, the calm in Clochi’s eyes was unexpected, not betraying any superfluous emotion, and he spoke:

”Ask whatever you want to know.”

Without the slightest hesitation, Yang Yu asked his first question,

”Are you a companion of the Hero?”

Clochi crossed his arms, ”If you’re talking about matters related to Lox, I can clearly tell you that I’m not.”

”Then can you tell me what your relationship with the Hero is?”

”Well, we’re from the same hometown.”

”The same hometown, are you both from the Village of the Sage?”

After Yang Yu asked this question, Clochi distinctly fell silent and did not reply for a long time.

”Isn’t that so?” Yang Yu prodded tentatively.

”How should I answer this question?” Clochi raised his hand to his chin, furrowing his brows, and countered, ”How much do you know about Lox’s story?”

”The story of the great hero who defeated the Demon King and saved the world is known to everyone.”

”Known to everyone...” Clochi sighed deeply and then showed a somewhat relieved smile.

”You seem a bit surprised, as if you’ve never heard of the great name Lox,” Yang Yu said.

”How should I put it…” Clochi paused for a long while before slowly saying, ”You see, I died a long, long time ago. So, I did not witness the end.”

”When Hero Lox summoned you, didn’t he say something to you?”

Clochi’s brows lifted slightly,

”You know a lot.”

Taking out the key obtained from the strategy of the maze, Yang Yu dangled it in front of Clochi, ”Heard a bit about it elsewhere.”

”No wonder.”

Pulling aside the thick fur, Clochi drew a necklace and revealed the key at its end,

”I don’t know how the others he chose are, nor do I know if they are aware of some inside information, or if they even asked Lox why he created the Underground Maze.

All I know is that I know nothing.”

”...”

Yang Yu fell into a brief silence.

You say you know nothing and yet you agreed to be the BOSS in the Underground Maze for Lox, you were, after all, an officer of the Demon King Army; did you agree so readily to the hero’s request?

Maybe you turned over a new leaf before you died.

That was the only possibility Yang Yu could think of.

”I know what you’re thinking. The reason I agreed so readily at that time was partly due to my guilt toward him.”

Clochi closed his eyes, and many past events flashed before him,

”It was I who completely destroyed the village we once lived in, staining my hands with the blood of countless compatriots, including Lox’s parents.”

With a stern face, Yang Yu asked,

”Why?”

Clochi let out a long sigh, scratched his head that was void of hair, and awkwardly changed the subject,

”In summary, if you ask me about the setup of the Underground Maze, I have no clue.

Understanding the workings of this Underground Maze has exhausted most of my effort.

I’ve never been particularly smart since the beginning.

Hearing you talk, I am somewhat interested in what Lox has been through.

Can you tell me his story? After all, you and your companions are tired, aren’t you?

Just consider it a good rest for your team and a way to gain some time.”

Yang Yu couldn’t continue to press the question as the other deliberately avoided it,

”That’s true. However, a lot of what I know about Hero Lox is hearsay.

Is that also okay?”

”Mm. No problem, I will judge the truth of the legends based on my understanding of Lox.”

Clochi sat cross-legged on the ground, adopting the posture of a listener, not fearing that Yang Yu and his companions might attack him suddenly, simply sitting there.

Just like an illiterate old man, waiting for someone to read him a letter sent from his son in a distant land.

Taking a deep breath, Yang Yu sat face-to-face with Clochi on the ground and began to recount the legends of Lox that he knew.