Ch.240Chapter 240 – Request for Salvation (2)

In an underground village a short distance from Ferarius.

The village chief Dodo was looking outside his house with a worried expression.

Outside, numerous dwarves were sprawled across the streets.

“It’s been eight days now.”

Eight days ago.

Dwarves living both within and beyond Ferarius’s borders had flocked to Dodo’s village.

Few among them were uninjured.

“A large-scale monster invasion, they say.”

Dodo muttered in disbelief.

Of course, it wasn’t impossible in theory.

Monsters did occasionally migrate in large groups.

But when that happened, it usually affected just one region.

This time, the scale was entirely different.

“They say monsters attacked almost the entire nation.”

Not just a province, but the entire nation.

News had arrived that many dwarves had fallen victim to rampaging monster attacks across the country.

This was no ordinary disaster, and since Dodo wasn’t the type to abandon his kin, he immediately opened his village and accepted as many dwarves as possible.

The villagers unanimously welcomed the refugees and treated their wounds.

Craftsmen from various homelands used their skills to build barricades and repair weapons.

Warrior-class dwarves, regardless of their origins, took up arms to protect the barricades and their kin.

The village had become an excellent refuge and continued to accept refugees.

However, now on the eighth day, a serious problem was beginning to emerge.

‘We’re running short on food.’

Being an underground village, food had always been scarce.

While they had stockpiles for emergencies, those were calculated based on the original village population.

Naturally, with far more dwarves than usual crowding in, food supplies were starting to run low.

After eight days, food reserves had significantly diminished.

‘A few days at most.’

And that was with strictly rationed portions.

After that, there would be nothing left.

That’s why Dodo, despite knowing the risks, had asked the warrior-class dwarves from his village to scout the area.

In the worst case, the warriors would need to venture out to find food.

But there was no good news.

“There are still many monsters roaming about, and the sky remains red.”

This made movement difficult.

Moreover, when Dodo heard about the red sky, he showed genuine dismay.

He had seen that sky himself.

‘It was ominous, pure and simple.’

The foreboding red sky that appeared a day after the monsters’ mass movement.

Instinct whispered that nothing good would happen under that sky.

No, more precisely, he felt that under that sky, there would be no peaceful death.

Feeling even more unsettled, Dodo tapped the wall in frustration.

“Is there nothing we can do?”

By midday, he would need to gather the warrior class and some elders to discuss venturing outside for food.

Just as he thought this, with impeccable timing—

A dwarf was running urgently through the village.

“Monsters are attacking!!!”

At the young warrior dwarf’s cry, the other dwarves sprang into action.

Doors throughout the village flung open as dwarves ushered as many non-combatants as possible inside.

Warriors who had been resting quickly rose to prepare for battle.

Craftsmen swiftly checked weapons and handed them to the warriors.

And those who weren’t warrior-class but confident in fighting formed a reserve unit, each taking up their weapons.

Dodo, putting on his helmet, called out:

“Stay well hidden inside the house!”

“Yes!”

After quickly shouting to his wife, Dodo rushed outside.

He questioned another warrior dwarf who came running:

“What’s the situation?”

“More monsters than yesterday are coming! It seems they’ve definitely discovered our village!”

Normally, this underground village wasn’t exposed to monster attacks.

There was no reason for monsters to venture deep underground, and the dwarves had carefully concealed the entrance.

But monsters had animal instincts.

Occasionally, one or two might wander into the underground village out of hunger or simple curiosity.

So this clear influx was definitely not common.

At least, Dodo had never seen anything like it in his lifetime.

‘I must stay calm.’

Though chaos surrounded him, he had a duty as village chief to remain steady.

“Stay calm! They’re just dregs!”

Reassuring himself that no high-tier monsters would come to such a village, Dodo shouted:

“They’re probably just fleeing from food competition or power struggles above! If we stay focused and hold them off, we can win!”

“That’s right!”

“Let’s charge!”

Other dwarves echoed his sentiment, and warriors rushed forward.

Just as Dodo was about to head to the battlefield—

“Danger!! Don’t come!!”

A desperate voice rang out.

With the sound of the village barricade collapsing, some dwarves began to fall.

And at the sight of the massive shadow that emerged, Dodo was left speechless.

“…Good heavens, why is that…”

In appearance, it was a gigantic gorilla.

Its name was Mountain King.

A large monster that usually dwells deep in the mountains.

The true king of the mountains, with few rivals in its domain.

Watching such a formidable creature demolish the village barricade, Dodo was aghast.

“Why would a Mountain King come to a burrow like this…”

He almost lost his will to fight.

But he couldn’t turn his back now.

If he fled, it would affect everyone’s morale.

And if everyone’s morale collapsed—

It meant all the dwarves in the village could die from the invading monsters.

‘…Still, I should prepare for the worst.’

He couldn’t tell how many warriors would need to engage the Mountain King.

It wasn’t called the king of the mountains for nothing.

It possessed incredible strength, easily crushing armor and shields crafted with utmost care by dwarf artisans, and was agile to boot.

Warriors might be able to take it down if they sacrificed themselves, but the problem was that the Mountain King wasn’t the only monster invading.

Common Red Wolves and trolls were also visible at the entrance.

‘…They’re not attacking each other?’

Seeing monsters that would normally fight or eat each other approaching together, Dodo gripped his weapon.

-Bark!

“…So you’re my opponent!!”

A Red Wolf charged toward him.

Declaring it as his with a hearty shout, Dodo raised his dwarf-made axe.

Like him, many dwarves raised their weapons with battle cries, ready to fight the monsters.

“Reverse Gravity!”

The next moment, some monsters suddenly floated into the air.

While everyone was startled by the monsters suddenly levitating due to the changed gravity, someone landed in front of Dodo.

It was someone Dodo knew—Beatrice, if he recalled correctly.

“How…?”

As Dodo struggled to speak in surprise, Beatrice placed her hand on the ground and shouted:

“Ice Needle!!”

Suddenly, a cold aura surged around them.

Soon, ice spears erupted from the ground, impaling monsters.

Red Wolves and other mid-tier monsters died instantly upon being pierced, while creatures with strong regeneration like trolls began to heal even while impaled, but the ice soon froze their wounds, preventing regeneration.

“…She didn’t seem that reliable…”

Dodo inadvertently muttered something that would have offended her had she heard.

It seemed the witch’s hat wasn’t just for show—most monsters were finished after just two spells.

The defense was practically over.

Of course, one opponent remained.

-ROAAAR!!!

The Mountain King beat its chest with its fists, smashing through the ice spears and the corpses impaled on them as it charged forward.

Its eyes, showing high intelligence, had clearly identified its target.

“Hey, miss, danger…!”

Dodo shouted as the Mountain King suddenly extended its fist toward Beatrice.

But Beatrice simply reached out her hand and easily blocked the punch.

-BOOM!!

“…Hmm, is this all I can do for now?”

Beatrice murmured with a hint of disappointment.

Above her hand floated what looked like a hexagonal metal plate.

And the Mountain King’s fist couldn’t penetrate that hexagonal plate.

-Grr?

Looking at the confused king of the mountains, Beatrice grinned.

“Well, that’s something I can improve on my own.”

Soon Beatrice waved her hand, and simultaneously, the Mountain King’s fist was forced upward.

Then Beatrice immediately shouted behind her:

“Helmet!!”

With Beatrice’s voice—

An armored man flew down over the dwarves.

The man swung his halberd at the Mountain King.

The Mountain King blocked it with its arm but couldn’t withstand the impact, stepping back and shaking its arm. Not missing the opportunity, the man slashed at the Mountain King’s waist.

From then on, it was one-sided.

Easily deflecting the king’s punches with his halberd, the man began inflicting wounds on the Mountain King’s skin.

The thick fur-covered skin quickly became covered in wounds, and finally, a light of reason and fear appeared in the eyes of the raging Mountain King.

But by then, it was too late.

The man was already mounted on the Mountain King’s shoulders.

“That’s one.”

-Slash!!

The halberd swung like a guillotine.

The Mountain King’s head flew through the air, separated from its owner, and the man on its shoulders quickly jumped down before blood could spray, kicking the headless body over.

“…Already finished.”

Two humans who appeared suddenly had annihilated the monsters.

While the dwarves were still in shock, the helmeted man dusted off his halberd and approached Dodo.

Then a voice came from inside the helmet:

“It’s been a while.”

Looking at the jaw-dropped Dodo, the helmeted Kei smiled and spoke.

+

The first place we went to offer aid after accepting Lirina’s proposal was Dodo’s village.

‘We should probably enter from the outside first.’

In the capital’s case, they were already being defended with help from adventurers and other forces from outside.

So there was one thing to be wary of:

‘The Emiris Order might be there.’

It would be troublesome to head to the capital without accurate information and end up confronting the Order.

That’s why we decided not to go directly to the capital but to secure an outpost outside first.

Of course, the fact that this was Lara’s hometown played a significant role in choosing this village.

‘Still, it was unexpected.’

I thought there would be dwarves everywhere, but I didn’t expect monsters to be swarming too.

At least, I thought monsters would have to travel far to invade a dwarf village located outside Ferarius’s borders.

Because of that assumption, I was greatly surprised when we arrived through the warp created by the hatchlings and saw the monster army in the distance.

Beatrice and I hurriedly went ahead, leaving the others in the village as a precaution, telling them to come when they were ready, but…

“I didn’t expect just the two of us would be enough.”

“Indeed.”

We had repelled the monster invasion with just the two of us.

We must have grown much stronger at Rubrum’s lair.

I felt a bit sorry for the others who were rushing here now.

While I was thinking this, Beatrice looked at me briefly and quietly asked:

“Helmet, is your heart okay?”

“It’s fine for now.”

As long as I didn’t summon and wear the dragon armor, my heart maintained a surprisingly normal condition.

Of course, I couldn’t guarantee its state during prolonged battles or right after wearing the dragon armor, but it was fine now.

‘She’s being uncharacteristically concerned.’

I’m almost afraid the sun might rise from the west tomorrow.

“Um, excuse me, but how did you two get here…”

“That would be a long explanation.”

After briefly responding to Dodo, I raised my halberd.

“Helmet.”

“Yeah.”

We heard rushing sounds from the village entrance.

Soon, wolf-like monsters began charging toward us.

“There are so many of them.”

Beatrice remarked incredulously as monsters filled the entrance.

Stepping forward as I looked at her, I said:

“Let’s save the village first.”

After saying that, I slashed with my halberd at a monster charging toward me.

Soon, the village entrance was filled with the sounds of flesh and bones being cut and pierced.