The Freed Slaves Are Obsessed-Chapter 170: A Flower Blooming in Winter (1)

"Form an orderly line as you enter!"

Beneath the Heart of Magmar.

Under the command of Hergen, the Immortal Blacksmith, the dwarves moved in perfect coordination.

Non-combatants, unable to join the battle against Skadia, were evacuating into the bunker located beneath Magmar’s Heart.

A massive forge infused with the dwarves’ very soul, Magmar’s Heart was revered as their guardian deity.

It was the final line of defense, fortified with countless protective mechanisms. There was no safer place in all of Doomheim.

“I didn’t even know this place existed. I just found out today.”

“Same here. Who built this thing?”

Despite the looming war, the dwarves’ curiosity flared as usual. Most of them had only just learned about the bunker’s existence.

Though unused for ages and layered in dust, it showed no signs of decay. Even the master craftsmen among them couldn’t help but admire its construction.

It was sturdy enough to withstand a dragon’s assault—

As ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ if it had been prepared specifically for this day.

“Aren’t you coming inside, Father?”

Ferca watched as the dwarves filed into the bunker.

She stood at the heart of Magmar’s core—the central chamber.

It housed the Ember, which collected residual heat and magical energy from the forge to supply power to the entire city.

If the Ember went out, every forge in Doomheim would shut down, and the dwarves would freeze in the underground cold.

This was Doomheim’s true heart.

Only the Ember Keeper was allowed access, making it strictly off-limits to anyone else.

Standing at the entrance, Ferca spoke to Torvar, her father.

Despite her concern, Torvar’s response was as firm as ever.

“And leave the Ember unguarded? I’m the Keeper. I’m staying.”

“But if the dragon makes it this far, there won’t be anything left to do!”

Some Meisters were capable fighters, but Torvar wasn’t one of them. He was a blacksmith, not a warrior.

“Stop ruining the mood and just get inside.”

“You’re such a workaholic... If the dragon comes, don’t even look back—just run.”

“I’ll handle it.”

Ferca grumbled and disappeared into the bunker.

Torvar silently watched until she was completely out of sight.

Then, Karami emerged from behind a pillar.

“I’ve never seen a more frustrating father-daughter duo. Dragging things out instead of just talking it through—that’s almost a skill.”

“Says the one-armed idiot. If you don’t want to lose your other arm and end up a weeble wobble, get inside already.”

Karami shrugged as if he couldn’t argue.

As he passed Torvar, he offered one last piece of advice.

“Remember this—if a parent doesn’t speak up, the child will never know. Not that it applies to me. I always know what people are thinking, even if they don’t say it.”

“...Crazy bastard.”

Ignoring Torvar’s sharp insult, Karami left the forge. Outside, fully armed dwarf warriors and Meisters were gathered.

A rallying speech was underway to boost morale before the battle.

From a distance, Ashies stood watching the scene.

Karami, stepping lightly, crept up behind her and clapped his hand on her shoulder.

“Boo!”

“...?”

Ashies didn’t even flinch.

She simply looked at Karami with her usual blank expression before tilting her head to the side.

By now, Karami could read her gestures without words. She was asking, “What is it?”

“You looked nervous, so I thought I’d help you relax. I was hoping you’d at least flinch, though. Too bad.”

Ashies had never once screamed or shown surprise.

It was part of her emotional numbness.

Karami had hoped to spark some kind of reaction this time, but no luck.

He smacked his lips in disappointment.

“......”

Ashies gazed at him quietly.

What Karami didn’t know—

Was just how shocked Ashies had been when she saw him injured.

How much rage she’d felt.

And the other emotion...

The one that had taken root, growing silently within her.

For some reason, Ashies didn’t want Karami to find out about it.

She didn’t know why—she just didn’t.

“Looks like the speech is over.”

By then, the Meisters’ lengthy speeches had come to an end.

All that remained was the battle cry to lift the warriors’ spirits.

“Go on.”

Karami leaned in, whispered something in Ashies’s ear, and gently pushed her toward the balcony.

Ashies stepped out, almost reluctantly.

Countless eyes turned to her, waiting for her to speak.

With her usual sleepy gaze, she stared down at the dwarves.

Then, she slowly moved her hands—

And formed a heart with her fingers.

Followed by a wink.

“With love... Let’s win...?”

“UWOOOOOO!”

Ashies’s heartfelt cheer, even one coveted by dragons?

Unstoppable.

There was no greater boost than this.

The dwarves’ roar shook the earth itself.

*****

A Night Heavy with Clouds.

Under a sky stripped of moonlight and starlight, shadows deeper than darkness blanketed the earth.

The heavens split open, spilling a blue radiance as fragments of ice scattered like stars with each flap of wings.

The massive form of Skadia descended at Doomheim’s gates, pressing down the atmosphere and stirring storms with her presence.

Waiting for her were the fully armed dwarven legion and three Meisters:

Wulbram, the Warlord of the Battlefield.Hargran, the Berserker’s Hammer.Turntu, the Iron Guardian.

Even as Skadia’s arrival froze the area, they stood firm, their specially enchanted cold-resistant gear shielding them.

The implications were clear—even Ashies could tell.

“So it was you. You dared to steal the princess of Frisian and deceive me? Filthy little moles—you’ve clearly forgotten your place.”

“Haha, we dwarves are unfamiliar with the concept of kicking out guests.”

“Did your ancestors fail to tell you why your kind was forced underground?”

“Of course we know the chains that bound us here. But tonight, we plan to shatter those chains and free ourselves from a thousand years of imprisonment. Ice Dragon, you’ll mark the turning point in dwarven history.”

“Then come and try. Foolish mortals—if you think you can.”

Skadia had let them be before, preoccupied with repairing the Mirror. But now, she no longer needed it.

She had already pinpointed Ashies’s location without it.

The moment Skadia straightened up and spread her wings to take flight—

“Now! Fire!”

Wulbram gave the signal.

All around Skadia, turrets hidden beneath the earth burst upward, launching harpoons.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Hundreds of harpoons, trailing chains, arced through the air and struck the ground, forming a web of interlocking metal.

The layered mesh of chains wrapped tightly around Skadia, pulling taut to restrain her movements.

The ice dragon was pinned like a butterfly in a net. Her eyes narrowed.

“This...”

It wasn’t an ordinary net.

The chains were forged from mithril.

The dream material of adventurers—harder than most metals, highly magical, and worth a fortune.

Karami had advised them on this.

“When fighting a flying creature, your first priority is to ground it.”

The dwarves followed that advice to the letter, seizing the moment Skadia landed to deliver the Mirror.

“Did you really think this would hold me?”

Skadia sneered. With a powerful flap of her wings, the chains shuddered, and the turrets anchoring them trembled violently.

A ripple of unease spread through the dwarves. But Turntu quickly barked out orders.

“Stay calm! Activate the turrets!”

The dwarves moved swiftly, firing up the mechanisms.

Flames danced across the chains, illuminating the net with a fiery red glow.

Steam erupted from Skadia’s body as the heat clashed against her frozen scales.

“Hah! How’s that, you overgrown lizard? Feels hot, doesn’t it?!”

Hargran roared, reveling in the chaos.

The Flame Golem Cores—artifacts recovered from volcanic ruins—powered the chains. Fueled by endless molten energy, they proved devastating against Skadia’s ice.

The highly conductive mithril amplified the molten heat, melting through even her formidable frost.

There was no need for honor in this battle.

Against a dragon, every trick had to be used.

Mithril chains and Flame Golem Cores—

The cost of preparation was astronomical, but none of that mattered.

As long as they took down Skadia, riches would rain like stones.

“You dare mock me...?”

Even for the mighty ice dragon, bound by the masterwork chains of the dwarves, escape wasn’t easy.

But Skadia wasn’t just any dragon—

She was one of the Primordial Dragons, the Incarnation of Winter.

“Did you truly think you could bind me with this?”

Skadia’s roar shook the battlefield.

A northern gale exploded outward, freezing the chains in an instant.

As her wings spread wide and her body flexed—

CRACK!

The mithril shattered like brittle glass.

“ROOOOAAAAR!”

Skadia’s furious cry split the air as she soared upward.

Her chest swelled, swallowing the atmosphere.

“Freeze!”

A blinding blast of icy blue-white light tore through the sky and earth.

It was the very same Dragon Breath that had doomed the Frisian Kingdom to eternal winter—

The prelude to annihilation.

But Karami had anticipated this.

“The moment she flies, the first attack will be a breath weapon.”

A single streak of icy light shot upward—directly into Skadia’s breath.

Her eyes widened.

“Princess?”

It was Ashies—the princess she had kept in her lair and watched for centuries.

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Yet the Ashies before her was different.

Joy.

Sorrow.

Anger.

Fear.

Trust.

Desire.

And lastly—

Love.

Seven emotions painted her once-expressionless face with vibrant colors.

Gripping her sword, Ashies soared with her dress trailing behind her.

Ice crystals illuminated her path, and snowflakes swirled in her wake.

Her blade sliced upward, striking just below Skadia’s chin.

“KRRRAAAAH!”

Skadia’s breath attack veered off course, shooting into the sky.

The clouds parted, and moonlight poured down, making the falling ice shimmer.

“Don’t hurt my people.”

It was like a radiant light signaling the end of a long, dark era.