113-114

Chapter 113: Dwarves 4

Demon King

Dwarves – 4

[Kohohohohoh!]

"A giant ogre…"

"Damn it!"

Everyone in the lot responded to Cain's yelling as he stepped forward, feeling the overwhelming nature of his fierceness and physical power. At that moment, I extended my senses to the limit to keep an eye on the Elakatra and the One Flag, who were too confused to move properly. Anyone at that moment could see their exchange of glances, noticing the link between them.

The Elakatra reacted violently towards the dwarf, acting as if he had to kill them if it might destroy their image amongst the humans. I thought it was because of their arrogance, but after seeing Lee Minha, I changed my mind a little. They were acting on purpose, taking the villain's role to temporarily make One Flag stand out. He attempted to force the dwarves into a battle where the One Flag had to confront them.

All of this was to be realized through their power, speed, and stealth. If the dwarf's neck were taken before anyone could respond, this place would've turned into a battlefield no matter what. How many times did an accident lead to war in history? The dwarves wouldn't be able to maintain their sense of reason in front of the death of a colleague, and humans were no different. The dwarves were too strong to be ignored, even if they did fall short of the Elakatra. If the humans didn't fight back in such a scenario, some of them would be killed.

Thus, One Flag would intervene as the Elakatra wanted. It was impossible now, however, because of me. They didn't anticipate that their movements would be blocked. Few strong beings existed above ground, after all. The situation continued to be distorted, and the Elakatra's movements fully ceased. Cain moved before the One Flag had come up with an alternative, which made everything simple and clear. Protect the dwarves. That had to be my primary goal here.

[Ooh, oh oh, ooh!]

Cain continued to cry out as if he had lost all reason, stepping forward with a sorrowful voice. Not even the members of One Flag could block his steps, having to withdraw. This was the moment I completely took over the initiative. Cain stood tall, standing in front of the dwarves. Lee Chan-yu waved his hands, monsters popping out of the air to surround the dwarves. The dwarves held their weapons up with expressions of horror, but soon realized they weren't hostile.

"As long as they don't harm us, they have the freedom to do what they want, correct?" I asked Lee Minha, ignoring the Elakatra.

"Yes. So, we need to talk to them."

"Hmm." If I gave them a chance to control the situation with the dwarves, the elves would eventually get the chance to run wild. They would only back down once the dwarves were firmly in the hands of One Flag.

"You cannot be the representative of this country. You aren't even Korean. I don't know where you were kicked out from, but you aren't from here." Was that how he was going to play it? That was my only weakness here. My identity was unclear, but certainly, I didn't look Korean on the outside. So if this were happening on Korean soil, there would be those who felt I had no place here.

"Rebellion is allied with Erkindra!" Han Jia spoke up. The others were overwhelmed by Lee Minha's magical power and strange momentum, but she still spoke courageously.

"He is representing Erkindra's position, and thus belongs here."

"An unknown person representing an alliance…has your pride fallen through the mud?"

"Pride is nothing compared to being unable to protect these people. We have much more precious things than pride." I couldn't help but think how well her words were spoken. Erkindra was a group of people with childish thoughts, starting with my younger sister, its guild master. It was a group of fools with unrealistic ideals. But that's why they could protect and change others. They preserved the values that humans were losing and made them remember what they had lost. They held the potential to change these twisted humans.

"That certainly is the case."

"Considering that One Flag was in charge of the hunt for the fallen, it cannot be entrusted to them."

"I agree."

"Erkindra…"

The air began to change. The people who had been considering the dwarves as something to catch or use were changing their minds. That was in part thanks to the contempt they had against One Flag. However, I didn't think the situation would be resolved so easily. I moved Cain to protect the dwarves, but not specifically to protect them from the Elakatra or One Flag. What would be the best way for them to achieve their goals now that things had become complicated? The response came as if the Elakatra planned it.

[Kiiiaaah!]

That was the intrusion of a third party.

"Chaos Soul?!"

"Fuck!"

Elakatra could control the Chaos Soul at will. It was only natural they would summon one here to reinforce their position.

"At a time like this…!"

"Find out what the other cities are like, and whether they need help!"

The humans began to react to everyone's cries, and the Elakatra fit in alongside them. To me, knowing the whole story, however, their poker faces seemed so fragile that they would break at any time. I could practically see them laughing behind their masks of stoicism.

"I have to protect my home!"

"Move, everyone! Move!"

In front of this crisis was the problem of the dwarves. Lee Minha smiled at the guilds who had to protect Incheon and began to move away. If they ran to face the Chaos Soul here, it meant playing according to the elves' wishes. However, if you didn't move, it left room for criticism that the dwarves had priority over humans. No matter how they moved, they would be playing according to the elves' plans.

[Kiaahhhh!]

Chaos Souls appeared in the air, and I stepped towards it. I moved with Ubiquitous, activating Reaper while creating an alter ego so that the others wouldn't notice my disappearance.

"What do we do?"

"Move! There's more than just one or two of them!"

Rebellion and Erkindra were in a similarly precarious position, as not confronting the Chaos Souls would contradict their beliefs. That was what the Elakatra was waiting for. There was a third Elakatra who appeared without anyone but me noticing. They had an unconventional means of transportation, much like my own probably. While the other two went to the battlefield, the third would move in to finish things off. They moved toward the dwarves that were being protected by Cain and the monsters. I was running with the others, but my alter ego reacted to him.

As I had predicted the intervention in advance, I let the mana flow from me and activated the power of Reaper. Cain covered the dwarves and turned to aid my alter ego. He used his new magical power, flinging his sweat at the elf with a great force.

"Huh?!" The elf's movement stopped temporarily, and his long sword faltered. My greatsword moved in the shadows, and with my newly reinforced magical power, I had no issue in slicing through his neck.

[You gained 1,938 experience.]

[You received 93 gold.]

The role of alter ego didn't end there. If they figured out they failed, they would send reinforcements sooner or later. I had to get rid of their targets here. The alter ego moved, receiving more than half of my mana to activate Lunatic Trickster on itself. I was using high-level magic that only became possible after evolving into a Belkena Predator. It amplified the effect of magic that it came into contact with. A door opened on the ground, pulling in all objects standing on the ground near it. Everyone who was there, except for Cain, disappeared into it.

At that moment, the Elakatra noticed the dwarves disappear, but didn't know who caused it. One Flag was just as clueless, as they left the clean-up to the elves. The other humans were too busy fighting the Chaos Soul to notice them.

[Kiahahahah!]

"Rebellion, it's too strong…!"

I quickly reached the front line, summoning Canis to ride on. As flashily as possible, I swung my sword with enormous magical power, creating a huge hole within the crowd of Chaos Souls. No one could deny I was on the battlefield now. At the same time, my alter ego was elsewhere in front of a different sight.

"You're back, Fate." Rain greeted me as always before turning to smile at the flabbergasted dwarves.

"Welcome to Fate's castle, everyone."

It was my turn to attack the Elakatra now.

Chapter 114: Dwarves 5

Demon King

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."

"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.