Chapter 760

Chapter 760

I guess I’ll have to do that. (1)

A brief silence fell over the conference room.

The mayor opened his mouth while maintaining a polite smile.

“Is it perhaps... because of the recent rumors about the Salvation Church? We are aware of it to that extent.”

He waved his hand gently and smiled softly.

“That is why the Lord has agreed to reinforce this city’s military presence. We are also putting considerable effort into maintaining public order.”

At those words, I lightly shook my head.

“That’s not enough. We need to concentrate a large force in this city as quickly as possible.”

“For what reason...?”

“Because the High Priests of the Salvation Church will directly attack the dwarven fortress.”

Once again, silence flowed. Then the mayor burst into loud laughter as if he had heard a joke.

“As I said, I’m aware that the Salvation Church is causing trouble here and there. I hear they’ve been stirring up commotion by colluding with black mages in some regions. However...”

The mayor stood up from his seat, pointed toward the massive mountain range outside the window, and continued.

“The dwarves built their fortress halfway up the mountain and then dug further inward to create a massive city. Unless monsters from the Demonic Abyss lead a large-scale frontal assault, it’s absolutely impossible to capture.”

I clicked my tongue. The mayor wasn’t wrong. I, too, was well aware of Valskrum’s might.

‘Impregnable’, ‘Fortress of Steel’, ‘Unyielding Kingdom’. None of those praises were exaggerations.

But...

In the future I remembered, the dwarves no longer existed.

That great fortress, those mighty warriors, their brilliant reputation had all vanished without a trace.

And the likelihood was extremely high that this very war was the cause. The elven forest, too, would have been destroyed had we not intervened.

But reasoning was pointless. As always, I tried to push forward according to my thoughts, but there was very little I could do in this era.

Of course, the mayor had no desire to openly clash with an envoy dispatched by the Empire.

Still wearing a good-natured smile, he nodded.

“I fully understand your concerns. I will relay your message to the Lord for now.”

I took a slow breath instead of answering.

Then I clenched my fist and slammed it down onto the solid table before me.

Kwaang!

The table instantly shattered into pieces.

In that moment, the knights standing by in the corner of the conference room simultaneously drew their swords.

But I didn’t even glance at them. Staring at the mayor, I spoke firmly.

“This is an order from the Holy Empire. Immediately summon all the forces from the surrounding territories to this place.”

The air inside the conference room froze.

The mayor realized that neither jokes, nor laughter, nor diplomatic speech would work.

Although every kingdom possessed autonomy, there was a law requiring compliance with the Holy Empire’s summons.

He didn’t know whether such authority was something a mere envoy could wield, but once it was declared as an imperial order, it was beyond his power to handle.

The mayor spoke with an expressionless face.

“Understood. I will deliver the order to the Lord.”

As I exited the conference room, I slowly shook my head. A short sigh slipped between my lips.

“They never come to their senses unless they get beaten first.”

It seemed unlikely that the army would be assembled easily this time as well. The prideful lords would undoubtedly stall under the pretense of verifying the authenticity.

I looked around. The city appeared peaceful.

No one sensed the approaching catastrophe, simply going about their busy daily lives.

I immediately went to find the dwarves’ Foreign Affairs Officer.

The dwarven Foreign Affairs Officer was, like most dwarves, short in stature but with shoulders as broad as a mountain.

Several rings hung from his thick beard, and a stubborn gleam shone in his eyes.

“Hmm, the Pope’s envoy, you say?”

The dwarven Foreign Affairs Officer, Dorgan, looked over at us and asked.

“Could it be... you’re here to request our ‘Guardian Stone’ again?”

As expected, the sacred stone was called differently by each race. It could be said that even the name was tied to their pride.

I nodded briefly.

“That’s correct.”

Dorgan shook his shoulders as he laughed heartily. Deep wrinkles formed on his forehead, and the smile hanging from his cheeks was rough and clear.

“It’s a matter we’ve already refused. No point in begging again. Once we dwarves make a decision, it’s as firm as stone and never overturned.”

His tone was firm but not emotional like the elves’. It was simply a statement of fact.

I accepted it calmly.

I had expected to be refused from the start. The elves were no different.

So, I went straight to the point.

“Then I would like to meet the king.”

Dorgan narrowed his eyes for a moment. Then he shook his head.

“That won’t be easy. Our king isn’t fond of humans. Especially the Pope.”

“Why?”

“Says he despises him for being a sly human.”

“Hmm, I see.”

The evaluation of the Pope was harsher than I expected. Well, I could understand that sentiment to some extent.

After all, the Pope always concealed himself behind a veil, never even showing his face.

But I wasn’t here to obtain the sacred stone for the Pope’s sake. It was solely for Deneb.

Dorgan took a small metal seal out of his pocket and handed it to me.

“It’s a pass to enter Valskrum. You might not be able to meet the king, but since you’re here, take a look around our city. It’s quite something.”

His words were filled with pride for Valskrum.

I slightly bowed my head and received the seal.

The fortunate part was that the dwarves were less closed off than the elves.

Sylarn, the Foreign Affairs Officer of the elves, had been extremely wary of humans. He had even lied that the Great Chieftain was male when asked about their gender.

It seemed that dwarves were somewhat different due to frequent trade with humans. Their arrogance was matched by a certain forthrightness.

With the seal in hand, I gathered my resting companions and led them up the mountain range.

After a long ascent, a wall that seemed fused with the mountain itself came into view.

The outer wall was a part of nature, with the immense power of the land serving as the fortress’s foundation.

The ramparts and towers carved into the towering rocks resembled fangs of stone sprouting from the heart of the mountain rather than man-made structures.

“Wow...”

“This is definitely something to be proud of.”

“Even the Salvation Church might struggle with this one.”

The group gazed in awe at the massive citadel.

Even I couldn’t help but let out a quiet exclamation.

“...The fortress itself is a mountain.”

Valskrum was not a simple city. It was a massive, multi-layered city carved into the cliffs and rock, cutting deep into the mountain itself.

At this scale, any army would have a hard time breaking through. That much had to be acknowledged.

Even after entering Valskrum, we had to walk for quite some time toward the royal palace.

The group continued to marvel as they walked. Every few residential zones we passed were guarded by towering walls.

In other words, even if the outermost perimeter were breached, several more layers of walls would have to be broken through to reach the royal palace.

No wonder Dorgan had confidently handed me the pass and told us to take a look around.

Though we finally arrived at the royal palace with great difficulty, the King of the Dwarves did not grant us an audience immediately.

Even after delivering the message that the Salvation Church was targeting this place, they merely provided us with lodging and repeatedly told us to wait.

“Sigh... Nothing ever comes easy.”

I let out a deep breath. As time passed, my worries only deepened.

Seeing me like that, my companions began to grow cautious.

‘Please, don’t cause any trouble here.’

‘This isn’t like with the elves. This fortress is no joke.’

‘If there’s no trouble, let’s just leave it that way.’

Contrary to their thoughts, I had no intention of causing trouble right away.

Normally, I would have created a problem somehow to force negotiations. But with the Salvation Church’s attack imminent, I couldn’t recklessly stir up any trouble.

I had never caused trouble without reason, as people seemed to think. There had always been proper reasons and grounds.

The companions, unaware of this, simply continued to worry.

I kept thinking, devising possible solutions.

‘They’ll be here soon for sure... If they get hit unprepared, the damage will be much worse.’

Even now, the city should shift to a wartime footing and gather all its warriors into one place. Only then could they face the Salvation Church.

‘They’re far too confident.’

This wasn’t just the stubbornness of a single king. It was the deeply ingrained pride flowing through the entire dwarven race.

They knew the grandeur of the city they had built, and that belief was as heavy as a massive boulder.

I didn’t fail to understand their pride. In fact, even I had to admit that Valskrum was absurdly impressive.

But the enemy was the Salvation Church. There was no way they were unaware of Valskrum’s strength.

They would surely find some way to bring this place down.

‘If I were planning to take this place...’

There were many ways. The easiest would be to use airships to secretly infiltrate.

Elite soldiers could be deployed to launch surprise attacks throughout the fortress and secure entry routes. That way, even the fortress’s mighty walls could quickly be neutralized.

There were other methods as well. The dwarves, relying solely on their fortress, would be isolated and defeated one by one without even being able to gather.

The Salvation Church was highly likely to attempt something similar.

‘The dwarves have no intention of listening to me. I can’t force them to act either. In the end, it means we’ll have to buy them time.’

It was the same with the elves. Thanks to me buying time, the elves had been able to assemble.

There was no real difference this time. Only the enemy’s tactics would be different.

The Salvation Church couldn’t concentrate all their forces into one assault like before. It was obvious they would launch multiple raids to sow confusion.

But I only had one body. My companions were highly skilled, but far too few in number.

“How can I buy them some time...?”

While pondering, I sat on the balcony of the lodging and looked down.

In the commercial district, a good number of human merchants had gathered. They had come all the way to this city to trade for dwarven-made goods.

‘Hmm...’

I kept watching the scene. It seemed a fairly large merchant guild had arrived, as several wagons loaded with goods stood lined up.

The one who appeared to be the highest-ranking person in the guild was giving instructions to others, and the people scattered in various directions.

They carried alcohol, gold coins, and various other goods as they visited the dwarven shops.

It looked like they were moving to purchase goods from the dwarves.

I watched the scene closely and nodded a few times. A decent idea had come to mind.

“I guess I’ll have to do it this way.”

Muttering to myself, I soon gathered the group.

With an unusually serious expression, I spoke.

“It looks like we’ll have to prepare for battle ourselves. The dwarves are so stubborn that they won’t move until they see blood.”

I carefully explained the plan I had come up with to my puzzled companions.

Everyone listened with doubtful expressions. They still couldn’t fully believe whether my plan was really feasible this time.

But it had always been this way. There was nothing to do but trust and proceed.

“We need to get as many runestones as possible. Don’t spare any money. Buy up everything.”

The mercenaries who had followed me scattered with money in their hand.

They visited various shops, buying up every runestone they could find. They even went down to the trade cities outside Valskrum to purchase more.

I handed over all the money I had stored in the subspace. They bought so many runestones that the market price of runestones in the trade cities suddenly skyrocketed.

In addition, I bought a large number of metal rods. Such rods were very easy to obtain in Valskrum.

Once enough materials were prepared, I rented an entire lodging that had a very large open space.

Then, I began drawing a massive magic circle in the open area.

I didn’t bother drawing the magic circle myself. I entrusted that task to Astion and yielded my body.

I could have done it myself, but for something as meticulous as drawing a magic circle, Astion was much more suited for the job.

Breathing in the fresh air after a long while, Astion excitedly greeted his friends.

“Julien! Deneb! Kyle! It’s me, Astion!”

However, the three of them looked at Astion with suspicious eyes.

They had already fallen for my tricks before and had been thoroughly scolded.

“It’s really me! I came out to draw the magic circle! Aren’t you glad to see me?”

“Uh... yeah... glad.”

Kyle answered reluctantly on behalf of the group. He was very cautious, wondering if I was up to some prank again.

Julien and Deneb also forced awkward smiles and waved hesitantly.

The three of them slowly distanced themselves from Astion. The other mercenaries also kept their distance.

“...”

Astion stood still for a moment before quietly starting to draw the magic circle.

“Sniff... You meanies. Just wait and see.”

He felt like tears were welling up for no reason. As Astion was sniffling while drawing the magic circle, Ereneth quietly approached.

“Ghislain?”

“Noona! It’s me, Astion!”

“...”

Ereneth took a step back with a rather displeased expression.

She could clearly tell. This was definitely a different being from Ghislain.

‘What is this? What’s going on? How can a person change so drastically?’

The atmosphere he exuded was completely different. Especially as a spirit-wielder, she was more sensitive than anyone else to changes in a person.

From Ghislain, exuded a wild, savage nature reminiscent of a blood-soaked wolf. But this Astion in front of her now...

‘He’s like a complete kid.’

He simply seemed like an innocent, carefree child. A completely different person from the Ghislain she was used to seeing.

Oblivious to this, Astion started chatting away.

“Noona, I know all about you! I remember you said you’re dating me!”

Astion was excited to be out after a long time, so he got ahead of himself.

“...”

Ereneth had no memory of saying such a thing. She had merely said he was her first human friend.

At Astion’s excessive pestering, she stepped back further and spoke.

“Focus on your work... do your job...”

With that, Ereneth turned around and hurried away.

Her mind was a mess. She needed to organize her thoughts about what was going on.

Astion, sniffling again, returned his focus to drawing the magic circle.

Next to him, Dark clicked his tongue and spoke.

“Now I see why you’re single. Who approaches someone so desperately like that? You need some emotional connection, some communion. For someone who’s so smart in other areas, you sure don’t understand women. Tsk.”

“Sniff... shut up.”

Astion continued drawing the magic circle with a gloomy face.

He wasn’t only drawing the magic circle on the open ground. Dozens of metal rods were also receiving Astion’s touch.

Paaaaah!

Each time Astion waved his hand, beautiful and intricate golden lines continuously blossomed.

The golden lines extending from his fingertips began inscribing complex engravings onto the surfaces of the floating rods.

Straight lines and curves intertwined like a dance, ancient characters threading together to form an elaborate circuit.

The metal rods, now adorned with glowing inscriptions, looked utterly mystical. It was as if magic itself was breathing.

The spectators couldn’t help but exclaim in awe.

“That’s right, he really is a mage.”

“Looks like it really is Astion.”

“I forgot for a moment... he’s not an idiot.”

Ereneth also opened her eyes wide in surprise.

When he spoke, he sounded like a child, but the abilities he demonstrated were nothing short of what one would expect from an Archmage.

Once again, curiosity welled up inside her. Just what was going on inside that head of his?

Sensing the mood, Dark whispered beside Astion.

“See? It’s all about ability. Ereneth is showing interest in you right now.”

“Really?”

Astion’s expression quickly brightened into a foolish grin. Trying even harder to impress Ereneth, he poured more magical power into his work and focused intently.

Seeing that, Dark clicked his tongue.

‘Ah, you naïve fool. You’re that desperate to be in a relationship, huh.’

He was working even harder just to look good in front of Ereneth because of one comment from Dark. Honestly, it wasn’t a bad result.

If he kept putting in this much effort, romance wouldn’t be difficult. After all, he was a 7th-Circle Mage.

‘If he just showcases his ability, countless kingdoms would try to recruit him. He’d be hugely popular with women too. Tsk tsk tsk.’

Astion, lacking confidence, didn’t know what even Dark knew. His lack of external activities had made him timid, and the fearsome reputation he had gained only added to his unease.

He had even once wished that Ghislain would handle his relationships for him.

Thus, he desperately tried to make a good impression on any women around him.

Once the work was complete, Astion smiled gently.

“Noona, how about having some tea with... The operation begins.”

In an instant, his expression changed. As soon as the work was done, Ghislain took over his body again.

The companions quietly breathed sighs of relief.

‘Whew, almost got tricked again.’

They reminded themselves once more never to let their guard down.

Only Lionel tilted his head, still not understanding what was going on.

I divided the group into several teams. Then I handed out the metal rods and dispatched them throughout various locations in Valskrum.

Since the city was often visited by human merchants and travelers, simple maps were easy to obtain.

After spreading the group out widely, I sat alone on the magic circle in the open area.

I closed my eyes and focused on meditation for several days without eating.

The dwarves managing the lodging came by a few times, but upon seeing the sign saying “in meditation,” they simply left.

They knew that a mage’s meditation was an important matter.

Only after a full week had passed did I slowly open my eyes.

‘They’ve finally arrived.’

From a distance too far for others to perceive.

A dense darkness was approaching.

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