Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 859 - 800: The Unfettered God

Both the Dwarves and the Fire Diggers were affected when the Giant Dragon’s sharp claws gradually solidified, and its gaze filled with murderous intent pierced through space to focus here, causing both sides to fall into a prolonged silence. It wasn’t that sounds ceased, but rather the brain’s ability to process information was occupied by another kind of grander and louder voice, causing every hair and every piece of skin to respond to the arrival of this high-ranking being.

Visergg Firehammer was very excited, he intended to seize this opportunity to shout loudly, gather the morale and crush General Marshim’s remaining troops in one fell swoop, but being suppressed by the aura, he could only tremble as he lifted his hammer, looking like a comical character in slow motion.

The body’s adaptability gradually resisted the dragon’s aura, regaining control over itself, and the King of the Dwarves smashed like a cannonball into a closed store by the street. He stood up clutching his lower back. The solid iron lump walls of the Dwarves inflicted secondary damage to the king, and he removed a damaged sign half-hanging on his beard, with the other half stuck in a human-shaped indentation in the iron block.

Perhaps an order to limit steel production should be issued, having shop owners set up stalls with linen instead. Visergg reflected distractedly, somewhat delirial from excessive blood loss, and a wound on his forehead split open again, staining half of his face the color of a Firehammer Clan member’s beard.

This was bad, General Marshim adapted to the pressure more quickly and dealt a heavy blow. The leader of the Fire Diggers was in a much better mindset than the King of the Dwarves, indicating he was mentally prepared to resist the dragon’s aura. The Worm Tribe had contingencies.

The exclamation of the Red Dragon Priest Freheimer was not pronounced, but the strange phenomenon of the giant energy orb, resembling amber, enveloping the Giant Dragon at the blazing flame portal was clearly visible. The enormous energy orb suddenly burst into a brilliant light, bringing a sun-like warmth to the Underground City, and amidst this, the Giant Dragon’s roar was heard, followed by a chilling scene witnessed by all the Dwarves.

The flame portal inwardly collapsed, pulling the Father of All Dragons into it, stretching into noodle form, his body spiraled into a conical shape as he clawed out trying to forcibly keep open the collapsing portal’s edge with brute strength - but flames were not as handy as spatial rifts. The father of dragons was dragged back by the anomalous portal, and his final breath of furious dragon breath struck the top of the Underground City, blasting fireworks of broken stones.

The Father of All Dragons was banished to the elemental plane.

In the deep darkness of the entrance to the Mackenbert Underground City, several emaciated Fire Diggers shamans put down their tools. Within a rune circle drawn with the remnants of a Worm Mother’s corpse and blood, a spark elemental was held captive, its flames flickering weakly, looking diseased.

"Fortunately, the remains of divine substance in the Worm Mother’s body roughly managed to banish that cross-realm god of betrayal," the shaman of the Worm Tribe rejoiced inwardly. The Fire Diggers were already prepared to seal this space off and expel all foreign reinforcements from the enemy. This guardian Giant Dragon of the Dwarves was their anticipated target, but intel from the Heart Snatcher made them extra cautious, resulting in an unexpectedly correct move.

The unexpected disturbance with the Giant Dragon dealt a significant blow to Mackenbert’s defending forces. Visergg would hardly forget the unique sound emitted by General Marshim at that moment, his insect wings vibrated, producing a knocking sound beneath their chitinous sheaths, his serrated mouthpiece articulated rhythmically. The leader of the Fire Diggers felt a bit smug and simultaneously jealous, causing loathing.

"Master versus master, servant against servant. Don’t you think this is fair, god’s favored child? Don’t be cunning, King of the Dwarves."

Dodging a scythe claw’s jumping slash by rolling to the side, Visergg lifted the Flame Hammer to block another sweeping attack from Marshim, leaping off one leg, the Hammer of the Red Dragon held in his right hand described an arc in the air hammering onto the Fire Digger’s breastplate. The Flame of Life exploded between them, scorching the beetle’s exoskeleton and the wounds on the Dwarf King’s body. The backflow of Life Force made Visergg feel slightly better as he squared off against his towering foe.

"Cunning? My Giant Dragon has granted the Dwarves the miracle of the Flame of Life, you may disrupt the portal, but you can’t sever our connection with the Red Dragon. She watches over us, and the Dwarves, will respond to her."

The twin hammers burst into flames, tendrils of fire climbing Visergg’s arms, the warmth of the flames soothing the Dwarf’s wounds without any sting—only warmth. Wrapped in flames, a form akin to that of a Blazing Flame Elemental quickly condensed above Visergg, and within his hands, the Flame of Life forged a flaming Spirit of the Goat.

With a profound connection of minds, Visergg swiftly understood the Spirit of the Goat. He charged at Marshim again, blocking the Fire Digger’s scythe and shouted, "Get him! Neo!"

Flames flickered through the Dwarf’s body like a phantom, solidifying at his chest and with a thunderous bang, struck right into the Fire Digger’s breastplate. General Marshim staggered backward, gazing at the cracks forming on his chest.

"An attack that’s unstoppable?"

The advantage held by the King of the Dwarves buoyed the embattled Dwarves. Molding Blazing Flame Elementals was no hard task for these blacksmiths. Soon, Mackenbert’s forces doubled, and some experienced Life Warlords even managed to create two Spirits of Life. The missteps of the Dragon King did not diminish the Dwarves’ faith—or rather, their faith in the Red Dragon, Imerte.

After several confrontations, General Marshim was riddled with wounds, his breastplate visibly cracked and blackened. Visergg, on the other hand, had his scars from severed limbs all healed.

The King of the Dwarves was a master blacksmith. Not only did he have insights into crafting, but he also knew how to destroy it. In his eyes, General Marshim’s tough exoskeleton was no different.

Just one more hit, he thought. Marshim’s attacks were no longer fierce; his left scythe was used more for defense, protecting the meshed cracks, the results of Visergg’s repeated strikes.

The burly Fire Digger now seemed somewhat comical in the eyes of the Dwarf, who summoned his Flame Spirits and surged forward with a laugh.

The same tactic as before, the one used a dozen times: stagger Marshim’s movements, pin down his blades with their weapons, and the Flame Spirits would collide.

Marshim sacrificed one of his forelegs, cutting through the flame with his scythe. The burning eyes of the Flame Spirits seemed to mock him as the dispersed flames regrouped and ferociously slammed into that critical spot.

Crack—an opening appeared in the shell, and the Flame Spirit drilled in. General Marshim abruptly burst into flames, transforming into a whole roasted insect. Although his outer shell had excellent resistance, the inside was still fragile and soft. Soon, the Fire Digger collapsed on the ground, his beautiful shell turning to a charred layer from the inside out.

The King of the Dwarves, looking at the extinguished fire, asked, "Is it over?" 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

The sounds from the ashes negated that. The charred shell cracked open, and General Marshim was reborn from the fire, his gaze still fierce, his new exoskeleton adorned with a striking ring of fire patterns.

Without hesitation, Visergg launched another attack, and this time, the Fire Digger did not defend.

With the Scythe folded across his chest, General Marshim gracefully emerged from the fire as if attending a banquet. His dress suit remained immaculate, as pristine as new.

"Multilayered armor, this is the great boon bestowed upon me by the Supreme Being, my armored exterior is forged anew underneath, your attacks, your flames, will serve as the finest anvil for my new body."

General Marshim spread his arms wide and lunged at the King of the Dwarves.

"Compared to the blessings of the master, behold how feeble the blessings of the Giant Dragon are!"

At the last moment, the inevitable Visergg was pushed aside by Captain Paul of the fiery slag, who was then grabbed by those fierce scythe-like limbs and enfolded in General Marshim’s embrace.

The pity in the Fire Digger’s eyes disappeared in a flash. He bent at the waist, delivering Captain Paul into the closed blade feet, and the dwarves’ resistance against fire was futile. Under the watch of all the dwarves, General Marshim coiled into a ball.

"Will your fire heal your wounds? Will it burn anew a dwarf from scratch? I will consume his flesh and bones bit by bit, eating him away, to erase your existence from this world."

The style of the battle had changed. The Worm Tribe seemed to share General Marshim’s gifts, donning tougher shells, grabbing nearby dwarves and curling up, the crunching of the worms, the anguished shouts of dwarf soldiers, casting a gloom over Visergg’s defending force.

The Fire Digger’s shell clinked, but all they could do was watch as blood seeped from the gaps in the worm shells, and the screams gradually ceased.

The soldiers were bewildered.

"Baron of the Garden! What are you doing!" Visergg watched in horror as the tall Elemental Lord half-squeezed into General Marshim’s bodily crevice, the Elemental Lord being the most intense flame, and stuffing it into a narrow space would...

Explode.

General Marshim’s worm-ball unfolded, the re-emerging Elemental Lord held the lone head of Captain Paul in his hand.

"This was Paul’s choice, and I respect his will." At the brink of death, Paul had made contact with the Elemental Lord, allowing it to detonate his flesh. To end the torment of the Fire Digger, and to prevent the morale of the Dwarf Warriors from falling, that was Paul’s decision.

"Oh, surviving with just a head? It doesn’t matter anymore, the time it takes for your wounds to heal is enough for me to take down the city, no different from death."

A gaping hole appeared in General Marshim’s chest, and seconds later, an even larger Fire Digger emerged from the debris, "Come on, dwarves, your nightmare will continue."

The Elemental Lord’s explosion was not enough to kill the Fire Digger, and the Worm Tribe would return stronger than before.

Visergg felt a chill, the figure of Marshim, like a piercing cold wind, caused the heart of the King of Dwarves to waver.

Fire rained from the sky, every fiery stone that fell seemed poised to ignite the steel city-state, the Dragon Kin looked up in confusion, seeing their spiritual totem.

Energy surged, the Baron of the Garden suddenly felt at home, overflowing with power, as if omnipotent, the fully-realized Flame Venerable was just about to give the Worm Tribe a harsher treatment, he looked up at the sky, and the Elemental Lord was so frightened that he almost extinguished.

Below the sky of the Underground City Mackenbert appeared perilous active volcanoes and surging rivers of lava, wild Blazing Flame Elementals clawed through the air.

It seemed a thin transparent film separated the fiery apocalypse in the sky from Dwarf City.

And isolated the madly furious, rage materialized, the Father of the Dragon Clan. He roared, and the volcanoes erupted a fiery rainstorm upon the city, those Blazing Flame Elementals both feared and tried to draw near him.

He has returned.

A disaster doomsday looms over all beings.

The one who descends here, Fire Dragon Father, Elemental Invader, the Giant Dragon Yemotal.