The dwarven city under Norland.
Thirteen young dwarves from the Frostaxe clan and their Great Elder Frostaxe were all armed to the teeth. Frostaxe was even holding his renowned weapon, the nearly two meters long dual-sided axe, single handedly across his shoulder.
The cold air emitted by the blade of the axe caused the ground below to be covered in a layer of frost. Frostaxe stepped on the frost on the ground and caused it to creak. Through the opening on his helmet, Frostaxe looked toward the depths of the mine.
Before them was an abandoned ore vein. Joshua came to pay a visit to Frostaxe at noon. He hoped for Frostaxe to allow him to establish a teleportation formation in the abandoned vein.
Ever since befriending Joshua through Hearthstone, Frostaxe had already approved this unknown demon. However, the request made by Joshua was still somewhat excessive.
Demons would generally invade other nations through teleportation formations. That was something Frostaxe had heard about. Furthermore, the Sin Demons would serve as the vanguards for the demon army.Their Flames of Sin granted them the ability to travel through space.
It was said that as long as there was a small rune inscription serving as the signal, the Sin Demons would be able to rip through space and teleport into that location.
The City of Magic Norland possesses a magic barrier that no country in the entire world was capable of breaching. However, the dwarves below Norland do not possess such a magic barrier. If Joshua decided to utilize this opportunity to stage an invasion, the lives of countless dwarves living underground would be threatened.
Frostaxe was unwilling to pay such a price for his friend. It was only after Joshua told them that they could arm themselves to welcome his Lifeward, that they could attack both him and his Lifeward should they find any strange movements, that the Great Elder of the Frostaxe clan reluctantly agreed to allow Joshua to carve a summoning rune inscription underground.
Zenarth's summoning ceremony was not difficult. Compared to a teleportation formation capable of teleporting an entire nation, the teleportation formation for Zenarth only required a single low-grade originium crystal.
The originium crystal in Joshua's hand shattered into pieces. The powdered fragments landed onto the ground and activated the magic formation that Joshua drew using originium crystal powder...
Joshua heard the sound of glass shattering appearing beside his ear. Then, cracks appeared in the space before him.
At this moment, Frostaxe was holding his giant axe with both hands. He was in a battle-ready stance. The young dwarves that were together with him also picked up their weapons and placed their helmets on. None of them dared to show any negligence.
From the aura emitting out from the teleportation formation, Frostaxe and the others already knew that the incoming being was not a Crystal Dragon that they could behead with a single axe strike. Instead, it was some sort of powerful demon.
The dwarves had prepared themselves for battle. A black figure close to two meters tall was slowly walking out from the teleportation formation. When it appeared under the bright light from the illumination runes, the dwarves were finally able to witness the appearance of this demon.
A lion standing upright. He was wearing outfits worn by human nobles. The dwarves found those outfits to be extremely pretentious.
As for what caused the dwarves to loosen their guards the most, it would be the fact that the demon was wearing a floral hoop made with some unknown flowers over his neck.
Were the clothes of demons… all that effeminate?
That was the question all the dwarves were thinking about. Zenarth's imposingness had decreased greatly through the contrast created by the floral hoop and his attire.
"Your Highness, what instructions do you have for me?"
The Sin Demon himself failed to realize how unbefitting his attire was.
He took a glance at the solemn dwarves. Flames characteristic to Sin Demons appeared on his hand. Evidently, he was prepared for a battle.
"Zenarth, calm yourself. Retrieve your claws," Joshua said to Zenarth.
Ever since acting in 'Beauty and the Demon,' this Sin Demon had learned a new skill. He was now able to retrieve his claws, leaving behind a hand covered in fur.
Had that not been the case, Zenarth's sharp claws would've torn apart Belle's clothes during the scene of them dancing.
"Yes, Your Highness."
Zenarth quietly retrieved his claws.
No matter what, Sin Demons were a race of combat orientated demons. Back then, Joshua only requested for Zenarth to retrieve his claws while filming the movie. During other times, Zenarth was able to do as he wished.
But, Joshua never requested for Zenarth to learn how to weave floral hoops… Wait, no, with Zenarth's hairy, paw-padded and clawed hands, it should be impossible for him to pick up such delicate flowers.
At the time when Joshua realized that his most prized subordinate was acting strange, a petite figure ran out of the teleportation formation.
That figure was less than 1.2 meters. It might be even shorter than Frostaxe… It was a human, a very ordinary human girl.
From her shabby clothing, her family shouldn't be particularly wealthy.
When the little girl ran through the teleportation formation and found herself in the dwarven underground city, she was immediately stunned.
No matter who it might be, people would all be momentarily stunned should they suddenly arrive at a foreign location. This was even more so for a little girl whose brain has yet to develop completely.
Did a villager from that village manage to enter the teleportation formation by mistake?
But, before Joshua could tell that little girl to return through the teleportation formation, she ran over and hid behind Zenarth.
"Big Cat… where is this?" She extended her head from behind Zenarth. Her jade-blue colored eyes were checking out the rough looking dwarves. It seemed as if she was pondering why the children here would have such long beard.
Big Cat? Hearing the name the little girl called out, Joshua was slightly startled. He looked to the immensely-sized Sin Demon.
At this moment, Joshua seemed to see 'embarrassment' from Zenarth's oppressive face.
"Your Highness, she is…"
Zenarth wanted to explain to Joshua the origin of the little girl.
The Sin Demon felt that Joshua's summoning must have something to do with those fully-armed dwarves.
Even if it isn't to battle them, he must at least put forth an imposing appearance befitting of demons. But, the appearance of this little girl completely nullified all imposingness he might have, rendering him a laughstock to the dwarves.
"You don't have to explain anything. I, more or less, can already imagine what happened. You should send her back first. Her parents might start worrying about her."
Joshua must admit that once Zenarth blocked his scales and the flames emitted from between his scales with the clothes he's wearing, the nickname 'Big Cat' suited him greatly.
Furthermore, there were paw-pads on his hand. If he was to encounter some innocent little girl, he might really give them a favorable impression.
"Rest assured. You will only be staying here for a short period of time. It wouldn't take long."
Joshua could see his Lifeward was worried. Who would've thought that in a short few days, Zenarth would already have his first faithful fan. However, the little girl's interest might be in Zenarth's mane and paws and not his acting skill.
Nevertheless, a real actor would need to interact with more than a single fan. He will now have to interact with Norland's countless fans of the movie 'Beauty and the Demon.'
It must be said that Zenarth had made great success in his 'Big Cat' persona. At the very least, the dwarves did not rush to attack him with their weapons in hand the instant they saw him.
"I… understand Your Highness."
After receiving Joshua's permission, Zenarth, with great embarrassment, brought the little girl with him and entered through the teleportation formation again.
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