Dwarves – 5
Cain joined the frontlines, easily recognized by everyone there. He expressed his anger by jumping in particularly violently as he joined the fray.
“The dwarves are gone?!”
“Damn, we hadn’t finished talking…what are you doing?!”
It didn’t take long for the humans on the frontlines to learn that the dwarves had vanished. But right now, no one was able to pull their attention away from the Chaos Souls, and that was true of the Elakatra, as well. Bringing out the Chaos Souls was effective, but it kept them busy too.
“Cain!”
[Oh, ahhhhh!]
Cain exerted an absolute power before the weaker mobs. The monsters were shattered by his powerful rush, and the blackmines spewing out of his open mouth in all directions.
“Is Rebellion really letting such a monster free?”
“This nonsensical power…don’t get caught up in it!”
“This’ll end quickly.”
If any group stood out aside from Rebellion, it was One Flag. All of the escorts were using melee abilities, but the officers, including Lee Minha, were using magic. They were thoroughly bombarding the thousands of Chaos Souls at once, swallowing them up in the magic. They certainly had enough power to contend as the strongest in Korea. Their strength and sheer scale were incredible.
“Ooh, I still hate them.” Mireina, who had been on guard against the Elakatra and One Flag, was now astride Canis’s back. It was a smart tactical decision since she used the bow, but Lee Chan-yu let out a whistle as he watched her. I felt kind of bad.
“From now on, he’ll get a little faster.”
“Isn’t he fast now?”
“I need him to jump around a little bit, for emphasis. Here goes.”
[Groahhhhh!]
“Ahhhhhh!”
Canis completely smashed through a large shopping mall building and slammed onto the ground. His target was a group of Chaos Souls flocking towards a defense team. The Chaos Souls and humans’ screams harmonized in my ears, forming the sweetest sound in the world. I would hand nothing over to the Elakatra or One Flag. I owned this battlefield now, and would imprint my moment in these humans’ minds.
“The Chaos Souls aren’t even able to approach us.”
“They’re different from us…”
“Maybe they’re stronger than One Flag?”
I laughed bloodily as I listened to the words of the survivors, clearing the rest of the Chaos Souls in the area. I wasn’t a big fan of some of their impressions and turned to look at a group belonging to One Flag locked in battle. Canis turned his head in search of other prey, finding them easily enough. The Chaos Souls were crowding here in numbers large enough to destroy an entire country. I sat on the fast-running wolf, looking back at Mireina, who was hugging onto my chest.
“From now on, keep your eyes open and keep firing arrows. Only aim at what I’ve caught.”
“Yes!” My goal was to have Mireina and Lee Chan-yu evolve today. Thinking about the number of enemies here, it might just be possible. I had such hopeful thoughts as I encouraged Canis to keep moving.
“What the hell is this about?” Meanwhile, in the underground castle, the dwarves were blatantly disregarding Rain’s greetings. Alec stared at my alter ego, and around him, thirty dwarven warriors stare at me with a similar question burning in their eyes.
“This is the underground, where you were before.”
“It is similar…”
“The sky is the same.” They gossiped as Rain stood back, smiling lightly at the situation.
“I will wait inside.”
“Alright.” After dismissing Rain, I corrected my posture and faced them. Although it was an alter ego, I could think and act separately, thanks to Ubiquitous. So, communicating with them now would pose no problem.
“Let us start with the situation you were in. Did you figure out that the elves were trying to kill you?”
“It was weird. They were not only trying to provoke us, but also were calling the humans to gather against us. It felt thoroughly planned.” They had seen through it surprisingly well.
“How much do you know about the Great Fusion?”
“I know a bit. Since awakening as a dwarf, I’ve been making spears and fighting in the underground, but I’ve met helpers from time to time. They’ve given me information.”
“Helpers?”
“Humans in the form of monsters.” I nodded, recalling Lee Chan-yu’s words.
“Then you know how the fallen are treated.”
“I didn’t believe it, but I saw it myself today.”
“I wanted to go outside, but to be hunted just for having a dwarf as my partner…” Dwarves other than Alec began to speak up, blaming the elves’ obvious hostility and swearing about their fate. I gave them a supplementary explanation as I listened to their complaints before turning back to Alec.
“I’m sorry I broke your weapon earlier.”
“It’s okay…I know why.” He nodded reluctantly.
“You were trying to protect us. It happened so fast that I didn’t even know what was happening…”
“Can humans be this fast and strong?”
“But what happened to us? Why did you bring us back here?” I explained to them about the Chaos Souls, the Elakatra, and my castle.
“You’re not human.” Alec said sharply, and I admitted it. There was no benefit to hiding it from them.
“Right, and that’s why I moved to save you.”
So that explains this feeling I had about you…well, you saved my life. Thank you.”
“No, I’m afraid I’m not that nice of a guy. I couldn’t let the elves get away with what they wanted, and I also have something I want from you.” The dwarves flinched together, and Alec looked at me with narrowed eyes.
“What do you want? We have no artifacts, or would you gain experience by killing us?”
“I don’t need either. The level difference between us is too great for me to achieve anything by killing you, anyway.” My honesty seemed to instill fear and trust in them in equal measures. Alec responded to me with a pout.
“What would you ask of us with such a great difference in level?”
“Simply, to form an alliance.”
“An alliance?”
“Yes.” The elves were trying to kill them. However, the humans hesitated against them, unlike they did with the fallen. I felt disgusted by that, but it suggested a possibility. The dwarves could still cooperate with humans.
“How?”
“With a few of you, it may not be possible, as even one Elakatra is dangerous. But what if there was a huge group?”
“Of dwarves?”
“Yes. Not thirty but say three thousand or even thirty thousand of them.” If a dwarven legion exceeding level 100 appeared, perhaps it would be possible to incite the humans and slay the Elakatra. No, it would still be difficult, given how spread out the Elakatra was.
“Is that possible?”
“I intend to bring all the dwarves that have appeared in the world down here.” This was the conclusion I had found after meeting them.
“You must have grasped that my mobility skill is decent. Now that I have a grasp on your energy, it won’t be difficult to locate them.”
“You’re talking about an enormous scale of work so casually.”
“I’ll be giving them the same explanation, as I intend to form an alliance. Until there are more dwarves gathered here, I hope you will stay here and block the monsters that sometimes attack.”
“Yes. Your life will be at risk. However, your abilities will enormously increase as long as you are here, much more so than anywhere else.” Just like my other allies had during the last Devil’s Night.
“If we refuse?”
“I’ll take you back, but your chances will be grim.”
“I think so too.” Alec sighed.
“Their attractive conditions, given we’re in a situation where we can’t refuse. But that doesn’t mean we’ll follow you forever.”
“That is fine, it is unlikely you’ll be hostile to me in the future.” I had decisive reasons not to bind them to me. They had to stand among the humans without relying on me, unlike the fallen. And, admittedly, it would be difficult to bring such a large number of dwarves under my command, especially when I was already planning on taking three powerful entities under my command. But, more importantly, was that the elves were sensitive to the dwarves. They wouldn’t be able to escape their fate of fighting the elves. They knew it well and would cooperate.
“I need to talk to the others for a while, but I think that will do fine.”
“Take as much time as you like.” I answered leisurely, as I knew they had only one answer. My predictions were correct, as the dwarves had fewer worries than Alec had. Maybe it was from their recent encounter.
“Okay, we will make an alliance with you. As long as our alliance stands, I will stay in this castle and protect it.”
“Please take care of me in the future, Alec.”
As the two shook hands, my main body cut through the last Chaos Soul. At the end of it, even my terrifying magic had been exhausted. The monster troops we were leading were still behind us, however. One Flag’s title of Korea’s strongest guild was in jeopardy.
“What the hell happened?”
“The dwarves suddenly vanished…what the hell is going on in the underground…”
“The other one…” The knights of Elakatra were talking quietly in the place where the dwarves had vanished, now enjoying an opportunity to think calmly. They soon realized it was useless, they would catch the dwarves, and I cleared away my alter ego in the underground.
“What do I do now? What do I report to the guild master?”
“Just tell them they disappeared underground again.”
Only
“Whew…where are you going? Exploring the neighborhood?”
“Would they go back down? I hate wasting time.”
I dismissed Canis. Lee Chan-yu and Cain approached me, nodding at each other before looking back at Han Jia.
“We’re going back. Can you make it back on your own?”
“I see… and yes.” Of course, I could tell what they were thinking.
From now on, however, we would be rescuing the dwarves from all over the world.
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