Chapter 219: Dwarf (4)
Chapter 219: Dwarf (4)
The dwarves had devised countless countermeasures to withstand the dragons. Among them, their greatest effort had been poured into the construction of the Royal Palace. Since time immemorial, dragons had exerted a form of intimidation befitting their title as the Masters of the Sky. Whenever they sought to threaten the dwarves, they would simply tear away the roof and ceiling of the palace where the king resided, descending directly into the royal bedchamber.
Then, they would do nothing but stare down silently from the sky. That alone was enough to crush a dwarf’s soul with a sense of utter helplessness. It was a silent threat—a reminder that their king could be slaughtered at any moment. For the dwarves, a race that possessed immense pride in their craftsmanship, it was a humiliating realization that the buildings they poured their hearts into could be peeled away like fruit skin.
Thus, the Dwarf Royal Palace was born. Built over many long years, it was designed specifically to shatter the dragons' intimidation. They gathered the hardest iron to forge its bones. To resist the elements commanded by dragons, they hired spirit mages to purge every earth spirit dwelling within the metal. But they didn't stop there. They paid a fortune to the fairies to lace the structure with a forest’s curse. While a dragon could turn a blessing into a weapon, a curse was different.
The principle by which dragons commanded the elements was simple: they were beloved by all elements from birth. However, a curse filled with the power of negation hates everything that lives and breathes. Therefore, even a dragon’s authority cannot bend it. Because of this, every member of the dwarf royal line had died young since the palace's completion. They were born and lived their entire lives in a building steeped in a lethal curse.
Yet, no king ever saw this as a problem.
Iron Blood.
They chose to halve their lifespans and die young rather than suffer such humiliation ever again. Such was the pride of the dwarven kings. No—such was the nature of the dwarves themselves.
And yet.
"That..."
In this moment, the dwarves surrounding the palace realized that all those sacrifices had been in vain. The dragons soaring above the palace did not attempt to rip off the roof or manipulate the elements. The moment the Great Dragons laid eyes on the structure, they saw through the dwarves' trickery. Their innate wisdom immediately produced an answer. They didn't need to destroy it.
"Those... those bastards—!"
The moment the dragons reached the palace, they ceased to be beings of the middle world and slipped into the spiritual world.
Etherealization.
It was a technique that only mages of the highest order or high-ranking priests could perform. For dragons, it was as natural as breathing from the moment of their birth.
"Block them! Block them—!"
"How are we supposed to block that?!"
Boom—!
The most advanced weapons on the continent roared. Explosions fueled by fire and iron failed to wound the dragons. It was only natural. At this moment, they existed in another dimension. To strike them, one would need a mage or a shaman more powerful than a dragon. But a mage more powerful than a dragon did not exist. A shaman? Perhaps three existed in the entire continent, if one searched hard enough. There was no way one was here.
"Move—!"
The dwarves stood dazed, their spirits broken.
Through the gaps in the crowd, General Dwight appeared. Clad in black iron armor, the dwarf charged with thundering footsteps, his hammer gripped tight. They entered the spiritual world? It was a technique that bordered on cheating. But there was a "cheat" on this side as well.
The armor.
Armor possessed of the power of Invulnerability could inflict damage upon all worlds and defend against attacks from all worlds. He could stop them.
Though he didn't know if he could win.
"Hoooo—!"
Dwight kicked off the ground with all his might.
Crack! The steel-paved road shattered under the pressure.
A heroic charge.
And then.
"Look at m—"
Something overwhelmingly faster intervened.
A streak of light flashed past Dwight.
A single line.
A Caravan extending the Path of Steel.
"—e."
Arhan Caravan had arrived.
* * *
「You certainly prepared thoroughly, dwarves.」
Tap.
I take a step forward.
「You've plastered the palace with all sorts of things. All of them devices to stop dragons. Tsk, tsk. No wonder the dwarf kings didn't live long. To do something so ignorant...」
Countless paths extend before my eyes.
Among those paths, I find the most efficient route.
「A waste of effort. A total waste.」
The paths vanish, leaving only a single line.
「Because something like this can't stop a dragon.」
A straight, reaching line.
As my body connects with the line, wings of steel unfurl. With a single flap, I soar into the distance in an instant. It wasn't just my physical abilities that increased after gaining the armor; every facet of my power has become explosively stronger. The output of the wings is the same, but it's no longer just "acceleration." It is now fast enough to truly be compared to a mage's teleportation.
「You should have hung my portrait instead.」
The scenery changes in a flash.
In the blink of an eye, I am before a dragon that has become as transparent as glass. It flies forward, utterly unaware that I have approached. Foolish creature.
「Then those things wouldn't have dared to come near.」
Slice.
With a clean sound, the dragon's head is separated from its body. Before the blood can even spray, I appear elsewhere. Moving as I slash, by the time a single swing ends, another dragon is already dead. That makes two.
'They're much weaker than the one I faced on the sea.'
Even the sensation of cutting them is different. Was that one exceptionally strong? Or are these ones just weak?
「They are all more or less the same, young descendant.」
"..."
「Except for the old dragons—the Ancient Dragons—they are all about the same.」
Well, I suppose it would look that way to Master.
'There are more of them than I thought.'
The number of dragons that launched the surprise attack is quite high. No matter how fast I move, it seems difficult to stop all of them as they charge solely for the palace. Yes—if I were alone, that is.
But.
『The most important things are invisible.』
What if I'm not alone?
'I'll make sure you never forget the name Caravan again.'
The mystery of Radiant activated.
In the next moment, a shower of light fell beside me. The light soon took on human forms—souls holding their respective swords appearing in reality. The aura radiating from them was on a different level than before. That was only natural.
'I'll carve it into their very bones.'
The mystery of Radiant adjusts to the realm of the blade's master. If it's a Sword Walker, then a Sword Walker; if it's a Sword Runner, then a Sword Runner.
Then what about the Radiant I use now?
"This is quite the luxury."
Naturally.
"To think I'd actually get to wear the Armor."
Every single one of them was a Sword Expert. And not just any Sword Expert.
"But does wearing the armor always make you feel this overflowing with power?"
The Armor of Caravan.
They were adjusted to the realm of Immortal.
「Those things will pay a heavy price today.」
Let's all go to hell today.
You lizard bastards.
* * *
"The ride is good. Though not quite as good as my friend's."
The Descendant of Khan.
The dragons carrying him and the conquest army of the Great Land glided through the air. Cutting through the deep blue sky, they flew with incredible speed.
"Charlotte, it's reported that the dragons holding back the fleet of the Black Archipelago have been annihilated."
"I suppose the Master of Gold finally stepped in."
Tsk. Charlotte clicked her tongue.
She had expected it. In the first place, the dragons sent that way were all sacrificial lambs. A normal fleet could never be a match for a dragon; a single dragon could take on an entire fleet. In an environment ruled by nature, humans could never defeat a dragon.
But it was different for a being who had surpassed humanity.
"They must have died happily," Charlotte remarked.
A Swordmaster.
"Since they became the materials to decorate a brilliant history."
Only a Swordmaster can face a Swordmaster.
"Do not pity them. We are flying toward a new era upon their deaths."
A new era!
Yes, a new era would soon unfold. Charlotte looked at the Descendant of Khan and the conquest army riding on the backs of the other dragons. These were beings who would set the world ablaze and plunge it into chaos. The whirlwind would finally begin to blow because of the dragons, just as they had fired the signal flare that destroyed the Free City.
Through the sacrifice of the dragons, the path between the Southern Continent and the Central Continent was opened. The dragons carrying the demons of the plains flew on. In the midst of this, Charlotte spoke.
"What about the dragons that went to the Dwarf Kingdom?"
The Dwarf Kingdom.
Some of the dragons had been deployed there to teach the dwarves a lesson. The dwarves, who were once slaves, now acted as if they were free citizens, hiding away and occasionally even threatening them with the Golden Treasury. When the Old Dragons backed down from the dwarves' threats, the young dragons, including Charlotte, felt an unbearable insult. They had to pay them back. No race could dare to insult a dragon.
And it should have been a very easy task. They were just dwarves, after all. They didn't even need the Great Dragons.
But.
"There is no word."
"Why is there no word from there?"
Something unexpected had happened.
"I do not know. Why on earth...?"
The Dwarf Kingdom. All contact had been cut off from the dragons who had headed there to put the insignificant wretches in their place. In that moment, Charlotte felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding. An undeniable dread, as if the corners of a straight path were twisting and snapping one by one...
'...What is happening?'
* * *
"Ah."
The Dwarf King, Jerome Stone, stared blankly outside.
The palace shook violently, and screams echoed from all directions. Cries of "Dragon!" and "Prepare for battle!" could be heard everywhere. Jerome Stone knew that the moment he had long dreaded had arrived. The dragons, who had been crouching in wait, had once again revealed the ferocity the Masters of the Sky had been hiding.
And Jerome Stone realized that all the pain his ancestors had endured had been meaningless. The dragons had crushed the dwarves' wisdom far too easily. The dwarven fortress, built with every ounce of their effort, was breached in vain.
Desperate groans could be heard from all around.
Jerome Stone thought: I am going to die soon. The bloodline of the dwarf royalty will end here.
Having reached that conclusion, Jerome Stone took his sons, daughters, and beloved wives and went outside. Rather than staying inside to be humiliated or crushed under the ruins of the royal castle, he chose to die under the clear blue sky. He had spent his whole life hiding, looking only at the low places. He wanted to face his final moment in an open space.
And then.
"Ah..."
Jerome Stone saw a sight he had never imagined in his entire life.
"Steel... the Descendant of Steel."
Blood sprayed.
Lines were drawn, and then drawn again.
The dragons that had been flying freely met their deaths without even being able to leave a final scream. Like moths jumping into a flame, a pathetic end was decreed for every dragon flying toward the palace. In the center of that unbelievable event was a young man. A young man who still had a youthful face.
Blonde hair, blue eyes. A young man possessed of a solid, overwhelming aura.
'My son, you must remember what I am about to tell you.'
Jerome Stone recalled the words his father had left him before he passed away.
'One day, the Descendant of Steel will return to this low and humble kingdom.'
A lonely, gaunt face. A trembling voice.
'I do not know when it will be. The former king, the king before him—even if you go back many generations, they did not return. But we must remember. We must keep the promise. For this is our duty.'
Splatter!
Dragon blood scattered like rain.
'The duty passed down through the dwarf royal line.'
.
.
.
'The descendant of Caravan who will appear one day. The duty to guard the Golden Treasury so that the descendant can take the Steel of All Ages and bring back the Age of Iron once more.'
It was something that had happened decades ago. But Jerome Stone remembered. He remembered the location of the Golden Treasury. He remembered how to open it.
And.
"Are you safe?"
The reason why he had to open the Golden Treasury. He remembered that clearly as well.
"...Descendant of Steel."
The Dwarf King, Jerome Stone, raised his head. Then, before the young man who was much younger than him, he dropped to his heavy knees and bowed his head.
"I have waited a long time for you."
The Master of the Golden Treasury.
The Master of All Steel had returned.