Goddess Kaleidoscope

As their name suggests, the dwarves are indeed much shorter than other races. The average height of an adult male is less than 1.3 meters, but their weight is exaggerated, averaging more than three times that of a human. They are all tall with thick limbs, wide waists and thick bodies, looking like walking barrels.

The dwarves' high body density makes them unable to learn to swim, making them all deep-sea creatures. However, this also endows them with a strong and durable physique, especially in terms of strength and endurance, in which they have an overwhelming advantage over humans, making them ruthless forging machines.

In addition to their physical advantages, dwarfs also have a much longer average lifespan than humans.

The theoretical lifespan of pure-blooded humans in this world is about 80 to 100 years. Some, with proper care, can live to be over 100, and a very small number, blessed with supernatural powers, are said to be able to live past 200. However, such ancient monsters are extremely rare exceptions and are usually counted separately.

The dwarves are different. Although they don't outlive the elves, their theoretical lifespan is over two hundred years, and with a little effort, they can easily surpass three hundred!

The longer lifespan of dwarves gave them greater room for improvement and more time to hone their skills. If humans could also live that long, and possessed an arm as powerful as a dwarf's, they could produce just as many master blacksmiths.

As Lude was recalling information about the dwarves, the main force opposite them stopped about a mile from the village. Only a small group of goat riders stepped forward, escorting the largest dwarf rider towards the village. Presumably, that was Gulig, the chieftain of the Steel Whip Clan.

Considering the dwarf's sturdy weight, his plate armor, and the long halberd he carried, this half-ton "iron-clad meat" straddled his back. The large goat beneath him could not only run and jump but also calmly chew its cud, clearly not an ordinary creature fit only for hot pot.

"I need to find an opportunity to ask them if they can sell both to me."

The small group of knights quickly arrived in front of Rudd and the others. The knight in the lead was wearing particularly magnificent armor. When he jumped off the goat, Rudd found that he was almost a head taller than the other dwarves around him. His actual height was definitely over 1.5 meters, which was already an extraordinary "giant" among the dwarves!

At this moment, the dwarf giant removed his helmet, revealing a handsome and mature face. His sharply defined features made him look like a man around thirty years old. Even by human standards, he was undeniably a handsome man.

The handsome dwarf giant looked around, his gaze sweeping across the surroundings before finally settling on Rudd's face.

"I am Viscount Gulig Steelwhip of the Kingdom, and I am leading my troops to receive the fiefdom bestowed upon me by His Majesty. May I ask, sir, are you Lord Lud, a high-ranking priest of the Medicine God Cult?"

"It is indeed I, Viscount. When did you summon me?"

Upon hearing Gulig point him out, Lud immediately stepped forward and bowed to him with the respect due to a priest. Gulig promptly returned the gesture with an impeccable knightly gesture to the chest, then smiled and spoke.

"I have long admired your name. I have heard that you once participated in an expedition and visited the ancient city in the forest. May I speak with you in private?"

When Gulig mentioned the ancient city in the forest, Lud knew that Gulig must want to ask him for some information.

The dangers of the Void Forest are known throughout the world. Since the establishment of the Duran Kingdom, although it has been sending settlers to the northern border almost every year for the past fifty years, this distance is nothing more than a scratch on the surface of the Void Forest, which stretches for tens of thousands of kilometers.

This vast forest, covering a third of the continent, is fraught with danger, though it holds endless treasures. Not only are there a wide variety of poisonous insects and ferocious beasts, but also terrifying monsters that roam the forest. Even a dragon as powerful as it is must be extremely careful here, or it may still meet its end.

At Lud's invitation, Gulig only brought two of his men with him to the temple, while the dwarven migrating army outside the village set up camp on the spot and did not rush into the forest.

After all, the infamous Void Forest is not a park. Even though the dwarves are all incredibly strong, an eight-year-old child can possess strength equivalent to an adult human. Venturing in without preparation could easily lead to an accident.

Therefore, the dwarves' plan was to temporarily settle the elderly, weak, women, and children on the border for a period of time, and then organize an advance army to explore the route and find a suitable road construction route in advance.

Once the route is determined, the dwarves on this side of the border will work in tandem with the advance party that has already arrived at the ancient city to build the road, aiming to finish it before winter.

In front of Lud, Gulig revealed his original plan in its entirety. After listening, Lud suddenly realized a problem.

Keep in mind that it is already the end of June, and there are only about four and a half months left before winter. No matter how fast the dwarven vanguard moves, they only have a month to complete the route survey and then start road construction. It seems impossible to complete a hundred miles of road construction in four months, especially since it involves crossing such a primeval forest.

Unless these dwarves have some kind of specialized road-building machine!

At this moment, Hamilton, who had been listening in, seemed to have thought of something and suddenly asked Gulig with an excited look on his face.

"Wait a minute! I heard a rumor a few years ago that your Steel Whip Clan was tomb raiding... no, I mean archaeology, and found two giant Koberi war puppets made during the Taylor Dynasty. Could it be true? No way?"

Faced with the bald old magician who suddenly appeared, the dwarf chieftain Gulig instinctively dodged back, while Lud quickly retrieved information about the Taylor Dynasty and the giant war puppets of Koberi from his mind.

The former was the last and most prosperous dynasty of the Dwarf Kingdom, destroyed during the War of the Gods. The country suffered a double blow from severe damage and the complete annihilation of the royal family, causing this once prosperous nation to fall from its peak almost instantly.

The Koberi War Puppet was the ultimate weapon deployed by the Taylor dynasty during the War of the Gods—a giant robot powered by magic!

End of this chapter

If time could be reversed, returning to the heyday of three hundred years ago when various races vied for supremacy, probably no one would believe that humans, an ordinary second-rate race, could one day rise to become the world's hegemon, and ultimately relegate other races to the status of minorities, forcing them to accept the clearly discriminatory term "demi-humans."

At that time, the Skaven were undoubtedly the most powerful people in the world, with their empire spanning three continents and their magical technology being truly awe-inspiring! The only one that could rival the Skaven Empire on a technological level was the Dwarf Kingdom.

Before the War of the Gods officially broke out, the Skaven and Dwarves had been engaged in an arms race for many years. Both sides hoped to develop a decisive weapon. The former attempted to create a god, while the latter followed the personal preferences of the last Dwarf King, Corbell Taylor, and began to tinker with giant robots.

Perhaps due to their height disadvantage, dwarves suffer from a collective inferiority complex, leading to a widespread gigantism where they like to make things as big as possible. Some fanatics have even gone to extremes, amplifying this preference to an unlimited extent, regardless of practicality or anything else, simply making everything bigger and thicker!

It's no exaggeration to say that if the war of the gods hadn't broken out later, causing the dwarf kingdom to fall apart, and if these shorty-looking people had been able to develop smoothly to where they are today, they might actually have achieved "mechanical ascension".

Unfortunately, reality doesn't allow for "what ifs." The once prosperous kingdom was gone, and the surviving dwarves were never able to reunite, becoming vassals of the rising human race. Although they retained their title as the "craftsman race," the loss of vast amounts of technology meant that their civilization had regressed significantly compared to three hundred years ago.

In order to restore their former glory, the dwarves pinned their hopes on archaeology, hoping to find those ancient technologies that had been lost for many years but were still very advanced.

Among the group of "digging party" members, Gulig and his Steel Whip Clan were undoubtedly lucky, having obtained a "Golden Legend" three years ago.

They unexpectedly unearthed the tomb of a dwarf prince, whose owner was the younger brother of the last dwarf king, Koberi. Among the many burial objects in the tomb, two giant war puppets were found.

Gulig, who unearthed the treasure, initially kept quiet and vehemently denied any leaks. Because the dwarven technology regarding war puppets had been completely lost, the Steelwhip clan dwarves neither knew whether the two war puppets were intact nor how to operate them.

Therefore, Gulig was not blinded by winning the lottery; he knew very well that these two battle puppets were not enough to support him in coming up with any "bold ideas."

When the war golems were first created, the dwarves claimed that these steel giants possessed terrifying combat power that was in no way inferior to that of dragons. However, not long after they finished making that boast, a group of red dragons came knocking on their door, forcing the dwarves to admit that they had made false claims.

So, in reality, these battle puppets are indeed quite powerful, but they are far from being invincible. Their real advantage lies in their ability to be mass-produced, allowing them to win through sheer numbers.

Legend has it that after the War of the Gods broke out, the Dwarven Kingdom went into overdrive building at least two hundred Koberi War Puppets, and used these powerful war puppet legions to challenge the gods of the opposing faction. Even though the war ultimately ended in defeat, and all one hundred and fifty war puppets deployed were destroyed, it still left a significant mark on mythological history!

After acquiring the two battle puppets, Gulig kept the news a secret while secretly meeting with King Duran to explain his situation and plans. He promised to present the best-condition puppet to the royal family after repairing it. Through this proactive show of loyalty, Gulig successfully gained King Duran's trust and support.

Upon arriving at the northern border, the Steel Whip Clan brought their own Koberi War Puppet, intending to use this magnificent artifact to build roads. Everyone present, upon learning of this, was filled with intense curiosity about this legendary ancient weapon that had supposedly challenged the gods.

Gulig noticed everyone's thoughts and explained that his battle puppet had been disassembled and transported, and would need two to three days to assemble and test before it could be activated. He added that the thing was quite large and would make a lot of noise once it started moving, making it difficult for anyone to ignore.

Lude could tell that Gulig was quite friendly towards Pine Village and the Medicine God Cult. His speech and manners were very aristocratic, and his tone of voice was gentle and refined. He didn't seem like a dwarf with a naturally loud voice who could make your head hurt as soon as he opened his mouth!

After sitting and chatting for a while, Gulige suddenly expressed his wish to visit the statue of the Medicine God in the main hall of the temple.

Seeing this, Rudd couldn't help but feel puzzled, because in theory, most dwarves worship the Earth Mother Goddess. Although some young dwarves who grew up in human society tried to convert to other sects, the number of such young dwarves was not large, and they were generally regarded as heretics by their tribe.

However, this Gulig and his Steelwhip clan are different. Gulig is probably the first dwarf clan chief in the world to take the initiative to declare "freedom of religion". He even said that the Steelwhip clan welcomes all sects to come and preach in their territory, giving the impression that they seem to want to change their religion.

With this question in mind, Lud led Gulig to the main hall of the temple. When the dwarf chieftain saw two different statues of gods enshrined in the hall, he looked surprised, just like many first-time visitors. Lud then explained the reason to him.

When Gulig heard about the novel religious concepts of "divine realm" and "pantheon," a thoughtful expression appeared on his face.

"High Priest, according to you, this divine realm is the world of gods, and the gods there are as numerous as the mortals in this mortal world, is that right?"

"Yes, it is a promised land flowing with milk and honey, a blissful paradise without any suffering. The supreme beings could have stayed there and enjoyed eternal peace, but they responded to the prayers and faith of us mortals, resolutely leaving the divine realm to become gods to mortals."

"Does this mean that as long as we pray sincerely, a corresponding deity will definitely descend upon us?"

"Yes, but without utmost sincerity and faith, the voices of us mortals cannot reach the realm of the gods, unless... we use some other method."

End of this chapter

Regarding the term "divine realm," Lude wasn't worried that Gulig would misunderstand it.

In any case, the gods of other religions in this world simply emphasize that they created everything in this world, but they are vague about their own origins. Therefore, when Lud made up this set of settings, even Ural, who was present as the bishop of the Cult of the God of War, could not find it unacceptable.

Gulige looked thoughtful, as if he was pondering something.

"That's an interesting point. I'll visit you again when I have time."

Gulig bowed to the two goddess statues enshrined in the hall, then casually took out a pink diamond the size of a pigeon's egg and gave it to Lud as a donation. He then left the temple and returned to the dwarf camp, citing matters that still needed to be dealt with within the tribe.

Seeing this, the others also stepped forward to say goodbye to Rudd. After personally seeing off these guests, Rudd whispered instructions to Fallen Leaves, who was guarding the door.

"There might be visitors these two nights; let them in."

Over the next two days, tens of thousands of dwarves built a temporary camp on the south side of the village. When the villagers looked from afar, their attention was almost invariably drawn to a canvas wall that was over thirty meters high.

The onlookers, unaware of the truth, were curious about what the dwarves were doing behind the wall. The wall was as tight as a chimney, and the black-painted canvas was completely opaque, with only occasional clanging sounds of metal being struck.

Lude naturally knew what was inside the canvas enclosure, and even took the time to visit it in person. Gulig did not refuse his request.

However, after seeing the actual object, Lud was somewhat disappointed. The legendary Koberi War Puppet was indeed very large, nearly thirty meters tall from head to toe, with standard dwarven physique characteristics, appearing very sturdy and somewhat endearing.

The real flaws, however, mainly lie in that enormous, round head. The moment Lude saw it, he immediately thought of the androids in NieR: Age of Extinction, which were enemy units, and both had a round head directly embedded in their bodies, with a pair of round, small blue eyes full of "wisdom."

"How do you feel, High Priest?"

"Uh...it's huge and very oppressive."

Not daring to criticize the appearance in front of Gulig, Lude responded with an awkward yet polite smile, while Gulig proudly introduced this magnificent work that represented the pinnacle of dwarven technology to Lude.

For the past three years, the Steel Whip Clan has been reverse engineering the two war puppets they discovered. They found that 80% of the parts can be replicated with existing technology, and even with better performance. The only part they can't figure out is the furnace core, which is the core component.

The so-called core of the furnace is the power source of the entire battle puppet. Its manufacturing process is more complex than imagined. Many parts use extremely high-end enchanting techniques, and the raw materials used in its production are also exceptionally rare.

Perhaps because he didn't think that humans could understand the magical technology used by dwarves, Gulig not only talked at length in front of Rudd, but also let him observe the internal structure of the battle puppet up close.

Lud was indeed taken aback by the countless gears and drive shafts inside the war machine. Compared to its structure, the Tiger's interlaced road wheels, which were notoriously difficult to assemble and maintain, seemed simple and efficient.

Having witnessed the terrifying structure of the dwarven Koberi war puppets, Lud was shocked and completely abandoned the idea of ​​"stealing their skills." He would rather spend the time and energy he had spent tinkering with such things to develop a Gatling gun that spews blue flames.

It took the dwarves four days to finally assemble the giant war machine, and they proudly took it for a short walk. The towering, imposing steel giant left a very deep impression on the humans.

When Aina saw this, her eyes lit up, and she jumped and danced with excitement like a child, pulling Lude along and shouting.

"Master, I want this!"

That evening, the uninvited visitor finally arrived.

The visitor, dressed in a black cloak, deliberately arrived quietly at the temple gate after midnight, then scaled the wall and jumped into the courtyard. The visitor was quite agile, carrying numerous magical items; his leap over the wall was as light as a feather, landing without making a sound.

However, the gatekeeper of the temple was, after all, the envoy of the God of Thieves. Luo Ye immediately sensed the arrival of the visitor and transformed into a strong man, carrying a battle axe, to meet the visitor face to face as he was about to push open the door.

After a brief silence, Luo Ye remembered Lu De's instructions from a few days ago, so she lowered her voice and asked in a muffled tone.

"Guest, who are you looking for?"

"Uh... I'm looking for your High Priest."

The visitor lifted his hood, revealing the face of the dwarf chieftain, Gulig.

Although Luo Ye didn't know why this guy was sneaking into the temple so late at night instead of sleeping, he didn't make things difficult for him since Lu De had instructed him to let any visitors in at night.

Soon, Gulig met Lud in the temple's reception room. The old priest looked as if he had just been woken up, and he yawned as soon as he came over.

"Chief Gulig, I suggest you choose a different time next time. Whether it's earlier or later, it would be more suitable than now."

"I'm sorry, I'll be more careful."

"Tell me, which deity do you wish to invite?"

In front of Gulig, Lude spoke in the same tone as a marriage broker asking a new client what type of blind date they preferred.