Your Majesty's money, why don't you engrave my name on it?

“If you can solve it, then our cooperation can continue. If you can’t,” Philna said calmly, as if she wasn’t worried about the consequences of this “if,” “someone will replace you.”

“You are simply choosing between me and ‘me,’ Your Excellency Grand Duchess Philna,” Quassema sneered. “But there’s nothing we can do about it. If your understanding and control of the Abyss were truly as you claim, everything would have been resolved long ago, wouldn’t it? I’ve heard that His Excellency Asmodeus once tried to solve the problem of the chaos once and for all, but it ultimately failed.”

“You should be more polite when you’re with your elders, demon,” Philna looked down at it and snorted, “especially when you’re talking about her superiors—this is the Ninth Hell, do you know what the consequences of your reckless words will be?”

Although the King of the Nine Hells, like Philna and the others, is in some ways the ruler of one level of Hell, all the demons are well aware that the authority that lord holds in the Nine Hells is far beyond their reach!

“You can rest assured,” Quassam chuckled coldly. “How could he—no, how could He—be dissatisfied? He’s more than happy about this.”

"Now, allow me to be a little out of place—I need to do some preparations to welcome my, uh, 'half-body'."

"I will become whole again."

Chapter 740 The Gates Open

On the territory of the Half-Church clan, Raslaufer and his men waited for almost a month.

If the East Sea Dwarfs weren't a race that lived entirely underground like the Grey Dwarfs, everyone would almost be back in the City of Chou Li. It wouldn't be so dull and boring, though it would just be worse than Zebrech's home.

But there was nothing they could do; the door to Vondar's forge remained closed, and they could do nothing to help, only patiently waiting for their dwarf friends' final results.

However, von Dahl's skills remain reliable.

There were no explosions, no roars, not even much noise. It was the same morning that Haidong welcomed its first snowfall of the year. A dwarf with a sallow beard stood in the corridor, knocking on his friends' doors one by one.

"Vondar! When did you finish this?"

Looking at the dwarf standing before him, Leslaufer instinctively rubbed his eyes, thinking he was dreaming: "I remember last night you were—"

“That was the most crucial moment. In the latter half of the night, we could finally relax,” von Dahl said with a smile, though his eye sockets were as black as if they had been smeared with soot. He took out a pair of heavy metal objects from his waist. “Here, this is my achievement.”

Reslaufer took it; it was a pair of metal gloves, much lighter than he had expected. He knew these were generally called hourglass gauntlets, usually worn only by knights or heavy cavalry. The gauntlets narrowed at the wrists and then expanded outwards at the cuffs in the shape of an hourglass, all molded from a single piece, with raised metal embossing at each joint and fingertips, just like the Broken Halberd that Vondar had made for him before.

“The gate won’t take away the items used to test your skills like it would take away a sacrifice, so once it’s all over, this thing will be yours,” von Dahl chuckled. “You always lose your weapons and other equipment, so this time I made these mithril gloves separately and imbued them with magic to prevent disarming or your weapons from falling off—let’s see how you lose your sword now!”

Leslaufer's forced smile was somewhat awkward, but von Dahl didn't seem to care much. He peeked into Leslaufer's room and said, "Is there anyone else in there? Let me go in and get some sleep. Once I wake up, we'll head to the gate immediately."

Without waiting for Raslaufer's agreement, von Dahl squeezed past Dobler and plopped down on the bed. In less than three seconds, the dwarf's tired and relaxed snoring began.

His nerves had been on edge the whole time, but now he could finally relax and put the pressure on others.

“Uncle Vondar…” Angelita and Bella peeked out from the next room, but only saw Leslaufer standing in the corridor. There was no need to bother searching for the dwarf; his snoring clearly indicated where he was and what he was doing.

“Let him get some sleep,” Leslaufer waved his hand and closed the door. “He looks really tired.”

“For you, Old Rae,” Daisy suddenly appeared, looking at the gloves Raelaw was holding with some envy, “look, another new one. Old Feng has made the most equipment for you, but what’s the result? You still seem to be unable to differentiate yourself from us—you really need to reflect on this.”

“That’s not what I’m hoping for,” Leslaufer rolled his eyes, ruffling the poet’s hair, which was now even more disheveled than a bird’s nest. “Am I supposed to go and tell those guys: Don’t hit me, because my armor and greatsword were gifts from friends?”

“But don’t worry, this time it shouldn’t be like before. Vondar has taken full consideration for me.” He put on gloves, casually tore a decorative short sword off the wall of the corridor, and as he tossed the short sword, the entire mithril glove lit up with intricate patterns, “pulling” the short sword, which was still in the air, back into Raslaufer’s hand.

"To prevent disarmament?!" Daisy bit her fingertip. "You can still eat so well, I'm so jealous!"

“You’re not even willing to bring a weapon. I really don’t know what you’re jealous of,” Mary appeared quietly behind Daisy, reaching out to lift a strand of her flaxen hair. “Besides, even if Lord Raslaufer’s gloves are made of mithril, they won’t be that light. If you wore them, you probably wouldn’t be able to play your piano for days.”

“However, Your Excellency Raslaufer…” As the poet lady looked dejected, Mary skillfully tidied her hair while giving Raslaufer a somewhat resentful look, “Please, you’d better not… at least not mess up your hair in the morning, it’s such a hassle to fix.”

This guy could easily use magic to do it himself, but he insists on having her help him every day! Mary couldn't help but sigh again.

Does her braid look easy to manage?!

Vondar slept much longer than anyone expected, lasting until late into the night. If it weren't for his continuous snoring, they would have almost thought something had happened to Vondar. But just as everyone was starting to worry, the dwarf opened the door again, looking at them energetically.

"Oh, it seems I've kept you all waiting, haven't I?" Vondar stroked his beard and let out a hearty laugh. "Alright! There's no more time to waste. We must head to the gate immediately and see how my new creation will react to that terribly heavy behemoth!"

The news that Vondar was preparing to challenge the gate again quickly spread throughout the clan. Even in the dead of night, it still attracted countless dwarves to get up and prepare to witness such a grand occasion, including Vondar's father, the chief of the Halfhill clan.

Feng Daer is not only his pride, but also the pride of the entire Banqiu clan and even the Haidong dwarves. For many years, he has been one of the few craftsmen who could shake the gate that separated them from their homeland. Tonight, he may become the first pioneer to open the way!

"Maintain order. No matter what happens, we must prevent any disturbances—don't let those troublemakers cross the cordon!" Osk was also in the crowd, but unlike the onlookers, he had a more important responsibility—Fondal's previous footage had revealed the existence of monsters behind the gate, and he had to ensure the safety of his people.

At the very least, we must not allow those who slipped through the net from the Kingmaker and his companions to harm any of our people.

Leslaufer stood behind von Dahl, casually holding a greatsword—finding a suitable weapon in dwarven territory wasn't difficult—and his companions were also on high alert, waiting for the gate in front of them to change.

Vondar was also fully armed, with a battle axe tucked into his waistband and a cork shield on his back. He took two steps forward, took out the equipment he had used last time from the container of the prosthetic hand, and then placed the newly forged mithril gloves on it as well.

"Clang clang clang clang—"

The gate, which had been shaken not long ago, immediately reacted. The heavy alloy slowly rose under the pull of the hinges, revealing a gap large enough for a person to roll through from underneath—the same gap from which von Dahl had last explored the other side.

This time, however, with a loud bang, the gate only stopped a few centimeters higher than before, and then remained unchanged.

"Failed?" Daisy stared wide-eyed in disbelief. If even the Nine Hells' craftsmanship couldn't open it, what level of skill could possibly allow this door to open? A divine artifact?

“It’s more like it’s stuck.” Raslaufer strode forward, and Dople’s body swelled up, revealing all sorts of strange features, transforming him into a monster. Now, this monster stood before the gate, its hands gripping the lower edge of the gate that had already been raised, its muscles and blood surging and bursting like magma.

"Open it!"

"boom--"

With a roar from Raslaufer, the heavy gate moved again under his brute force, revealing the dark world behind it to everyone!

Chapter 741 A Massive Attack

"Scatter! Everyone scatter!"

Osk's roar echoed through the passage, and the fully armed dwarves began to quickly evacuate the rest of the clan.

Last time, von Dahl only opened a crack, and they still had the luxury of staying to watch the show. But now, Raslaufer has forcibly opened the gate. Although it opened the road to the Forge City, it was tantamount to opening the gate to the abyss!

Almost at the same time the gate rose, a noose-like tentacle had already crossed a distance of more than ten meters and was heading straight for Dubul's neck to strangle him!

"court death!"

Angelita's eyes sharpened instantly. Her long poem sliced ​​through the air, clashing with the tentacle in mid-air with a resounding metallic clang. Bella and Mary followed closely behind, rushing through the gate. The light and shadow of the Flame Blade and the Sea Song Blade flickered in the darkness, carving out a relatively safe area around Leslaufer.

"I really miss this feeling!"

"Boom!" A smoke bomb unleashed a terrifying shockwave in the darkness. Vondar, protecting Daisy, rushed behind the gate. Unlike Inathas or the Empire, the dwarves here had as much smoke as they wanted!

"Don't be so wasteful, Old Feng!" Daisy quickly stopped Feng Dahl, who was clearly getting excited. "Besides, this is your hometown. Aren't you worried about blowing up even a little bit?"

"Let me show you my new trick, this thing really works!"

The colossal beast they had seen in the footage leaped out of the darkness, eager to deal with Reslaufer, who was still holding the gate, as if this mortal possessed something it desperately desired. Angrina and the other two tried to stop its approach, but the sheer force of its massive size made it difficult to halt.

But at that moment, Daisy stood before Raslaufer, and the mattour, repaired by the dwarves, flowed with joyful music from her fingertips, manifesting as a halo of dim, ethereal light around the poet.

The companions were completely unaware of the power within, but as soon as the giant beast charged in, the tiny human woman before them suddenly seemed to transform into a majestic and terrifying figure. With her blue face and fangs, she appeared like a vengeful angel descended upon the world, coldly preparing to pronounce its death.

"Stop!"

A fleeting glimpse of a miniature crown flashed above Daisy's head. Her words were the highest decree to the monster, which refused to be bound by such rules. Its fur and scales stood on end in protest, but the next moment it seemed to have used too much force and tripped and fell to the ground during its leap. Its massive body flew backward and let out a miserable screech upon landing.

The rest of their companions immediately seized the opportunity, raining down scimitars, half-swords, rapiers, and battle axes. Even if the monster tried to struggle to its feet again, it was no longer an option.

"What the hell!" Vondar cleaved open the giant's head with an axe, and was shocked when he looked inside. "Its brain is almost half melted away! Daisy, did you do this?"

“It’s not my fault the exemption didn’t go through,” the poet lady shrugged, seemingly innocent. “Would you believe me if I said I just planned to exercise some control?”

Even if the immunity is granted, Yolande's Kingly Majesty will still result in half the damage.

"I lied to my friends, how about that, Ching Ling? I'm such a bad girl, aren't I?"

The devil in the spiritual connection ignored her.

Although the devil remained silent, the monsters behind the gate responded eagerly to the arrival of the group. More and more blind humanoid creatures, wielding bone clubs made of some unknown skeleton, swarmed towards them, howling as they went. Meanwhile, the gigantic throat-locking monsters and other unnamed creatures charged and weaved through them, unabashedly devouring their "allies" along the way.

“Damn it, did our ancestors dig through the Abyss Plains?” Oske shouted from the other side of the gate. “Line up! They need help—”

“No need for this,” Leslaufer said, releasing the gate from his arms and hands just as the dwarves were about to rush in to help. “I thought you had a better way!”

He wasn't going through all that trouble carrying that iron thing just so these dwarves could charge in and die. If the only solution was to fight, why didn't he go in himself?!

"Make way, the cavalry are about to charge!" With a spur from the back of his boot, gray-white flames instantly wove a suit of heavy armor onto Raslauver's body. Nightmare neighed and appeared beneath him, traversing space. His docility meant Raslauver didn't even need to use one hand to control the reins; he could wield the greatsword with one hand and conjure a three-meter-long lance in the other!

When this gift is carried under his arm, he leaves only death in his wake!

Bella and the others quickly spread out to the sides, letting Raslaufer go first to meet the giant beasts whose shoulders were slightly taller than Raslaufer on horseback. Faced with the flames of hell, these creatures corrupted by the abyss clearly showed resistance and hesitation, but a deeper ferocity and chaos overcame them, driving these moving chunks of flesh to fearlessly rush toward Raslaufer's horse's head.

Let the lance penetrate their bodies as easily as butter.

"Come on, come on!" Raslaufer charged forward with his gun in his right hand and swung his sword wildly with his left, carving a bloody path through the almost endless tide to reveal the long-neglected and rugged road below.

"Fondal! Which direction is your city in?!"

"Head east!" The dwarf, no longer bothered by Leslaufer's methods, shouted urgently, "Forget about these things for now, we'd better get to the west gate first, and hopefully the protective magic array there will still be working!"

Raslaufer did not answer, but he did turn his horse and charge eastward. The tide of monsters parted behind him, and his companions hurried to catch up with the horses as quickly as possible, continuing their advance before the tide closed in behind them again.

The remaining dwarves stared in disbelief behind the gate. No monsters approached, as if they hadn't noticed the large number of living people here, and that they were much easier to deal with.

“Don’t you have a feeling, Oske?” The Half-Hill Chieftain, who had been crouching behind the crevice observing, stood up, his body swaying slightly.

Osk hesitated: "It's like... a kingmaker. It's like they're chasing after him!"

"But isn't this our lost territory, the land of us dwarves?"

Chapter 742 The Protective Magic Array on the City Gate

Perhaps it's true that bystanders see things more clearly, but while Osk and the others noticed this situation, the people on the other side of the gate were oblivious. They simply followed Raslaufer as they charged forward until they gradually disappeared from the dwarves' sight.

As the monsters were sent to their deaths one after another like moths to a flame, their pressure gradually lessened in the latter half of the journey. And at this time, the once dilapidated but still magnificent city walls slowly emerged from the darkness.

"Even a fortress fortified with molten iron cannot ultimately withstand the erosion of the abyss..."

Feng Daer slowed his pace, somewhat lost in thought, and stared blankly at the darkness. With his dark vision, he saw more clearly and more precisely than the others, realizing just how different the reality he saw was from the legends they had passed down.

Perhaps that's too far in the past for humans, but for dwarves, it's only a few generations. Yet, even at such a "close" distance, such a large discrepancy has arisen.

"Stop looking here, let's go inside and talk!"

Daisy slapped the dwarf on the back from behind: "Once you open that protective magic circle, won't you be able to say whatever you want?"

"Yes, yes, you're right..." The dwarf, regaining his senses, quickened his pace, wishing he could rush to the foot of that once magnificent fortress and slip through the safe city gate in just a few strides.

However, what blocked his path was not those strange and ferocious beasts, but the hooves of the horse held back by Raslaufer.

"Reslaufer, what's going on?" Vondar was clearly very unhappy about the sudden stop. He tried to go around the former, but he dared not touch the grayish-white hellfire. He could only helplessly pat the protruding city wall next to him. "We're already at the foot of the city wall. What's wrong with you? Why do you have to stand here?"

“It’s not that I have a problem,” Leslaufer’s voice sounded strange, but he still suppressed the flames on himself and Nightmare, turning to the side so the dwarves could see him more clearly. “Did you tell me before that the protective array of this fortress… was still active?”

"This is impossible!"

The dwarf almost jumped up. Forge City was an immortal fortress forged from the essence of the ancient dwarves' last skills, with energy distributed from a central hub and four to seven (depending on legend) regional hubs. If the protective array was still active, it meant that at least half of the West City had been under its protection for a long time—so why did their ancestors run away in the first place?!

The dwarf eagerly passed through the scorching air around Leslaufer, intending to witness it firsthand, but when he actually saw it, von Dahl was dumbfounded.

Reslaufer is right... not entirely right.

The protective array was indeed activated, completely isolating the inside from the outside world. However, the spiritual light on the barrier erected by the array was a mixture of black and red, and the corrupting aura made Feng Daer feel nauseous and disgusted.

That's definitely not a defense that creatures in the material world could normally construct.

in other words……

"Boom boom boom!" Several explosive rays bombarded the protective array one after another. Reislaufer and von Dahl turned their heads to look and saw Daisy just putting away her fingers that were still glowing.

“Well… I wanted to try and see if I could just blow it up,” she shrugged. “It doesn’t look like it’ll work.”

“Someone has repaired it,” Von Dahl said, his face grim. “I don’t know to what extent it has been repaired, but it is clear that this work could not have been done by creatures that do not even have eyes.”

"Could it be..." Angelita thought for a moment and offered a hypothesis, "When we evacuated back then, some of the dwarves didn't leave with us, but instead stayed here?"

Neither these remaining guardians nor the magic array could withstand the abyss's invasion, but they did not lose their lives; they merely changed the way they existed...

“That would be the last thing I want to see,” Vondar said, his hand gripping the battle axe so tightly that his knuckles were almost white.

"Do you think there might be someone inside?" Bella asked curiously, examining the barrier in front of her. "If there is, wouldn't our commotion have been noticed?"

But so far, no living creature has emerged from the top of the city wall or behind the city gate.

“I’ll give it a try,” Leslaufer said after thinking for a while and then speaking in a low voice to Nightmare for a moment. “Anyway, there aren’t many monsters outside now, so you should be able to hold out for a long time. I’m going to go in first and take a look—Nightmare said it should be able to take me in from the Aetherial plane.”

“This is a place corrupted by the abyss, and the etheric plane will likely reflect it as well,” Vondar disagreed with this approach. “Besides, this is our dwarven homeland. How can we let you risk it all alone?”

“No matter how dangerous this place is, it can’t compare to a corner of the bloody battle,” Raslaw waved his hand. “Besides, it would probably be too dangerous for you to go in and explore for the first time.”

"I'll call you back if I find nothing wrong after I get there—don't argue with me, there's no room for negotiation on these things."

Seeing von Dahl turn his head away angrily, Raslaufer nodded to the group. The next moment, Nightmare raised its front hooves high and stomped on the barrier in front of it with a burst of flames. Raslaufer and its figure also became somewhat illusory and distorted. The next moment, the surrounding mist shrouded them, and the matter of reality began to overlap and become hazy. They entered the ethereal plane again.