episode_0162

Thump thump!!

Thump thump!!

A minecart moving forward at a considerable speed.

This minecart, running at a much faster speed than ordinary minecarts, has been modified to run faster than existing minecarts. Of course, the dwarves in the satellite city that we helped took the trouble to make this modification.

It’s still slower than me running, but it was fast enough compared to before.

“First of all, let me explain a little about the place we are heading to now, the pride of the dwarves and the giant kingdom located underground. .”

“Nidavellir?”

“That’s right. Nidavellir is a place where all the satellite cities scattered underground gather, and it is a hidden haven for us dwarves. Basically, you can consider it impossible for anyone who is not a dwarf to enter.”

Dain said in a proud voice.

However, Sullin looked at the dwarf with drowsy eyes.

“But it’s been breached.”

“…Ahem.”

First of all, we breached it, and then breached it, too.

It doesn’t seem that great.

Isn’t the reason why the dwarves’ underground city is not attacked in the first place because there’s no reason for any of the races living here to bother the dwarves?

I had such thoughts, but I didn’t say them out loud.

“Ahem! Anyway! The only way to enter the city is by minecart. But even minecarts have to go through a gate before entering the city, so they are thoroughly preventing other races from entering. Of course, no other races have ever come here before.”

Having said that, Dain shifted his gaze to the front of the running minecart and said.

“But… the satellite city is in such a situation, so it doesn’t seem like Nidavellir would be any different.”

“You’d have to see it that way. After all, the dwarves in the satellite city testified that the number of those who lost their minds and went berserk increased due to the dwarves from Nidavellir. Even if we don’t know where the source of the mark is, we have to assume that at least Nidavellir is also under the control of the .”

…Even the satellite city boasted a size equivalent to the capital of a decent country.

But if it’s the center of such a satellite city… I can’t even imagine how big it would be, and how many dwarves would be there.

And in order to calm the dwarves there… we needed Levia’s power to erase the marks.

“Levia. Can you do it?”

“Y-Yes, I’ll work hard!…”

“…No, if it seems too difficult, we’ll find another way. You don’t have to force yourself.”

I shifted my gaze from Levia, who was holding her hands tightly and answering, to Lucy.

“Lucy, you…”

“Yes. I don’t think I can find the mark with my abilities. Of course, I don’t think I can erase it either. I’m sorry to the Saintess, but… at this point, the only way to solve the dwarves’ mental problems is the Saintess.”

“I see… It’s like a curse placed by the fragment of the Demon King. It won’t be easy to solve.”

Conversely, it also means that Levia has that much potential, even if she is immature.

If I hadn’t brought Levia, it seems like the dwarf race would have been wiped out…

Regardless, Dain, who was moving the minecart, quietly opened his mouth.

“It seems like we’ll be arriving soon. Everyone, get ready.”

At Dain’s words, Baekryeon and Sullin grabbed their respective weapons and prepared for battle.

If you think about it simply, the ones who will appear in front of us are dwarves, but… the might have set up some kind of trap.

At that moment, Sullin frowned as if she had discovered something.

“Hey. There’s something up ahead?”

“What do you mean… H-Hey, everyone, jump out of the minecart!”

With those words, Dain hurriedly jumped out of the minecart.

I couldn’t fully understand the situation, but I understood that I had to get out of the minecart.

“Baekryeon! Sullin!”

“Got it!”

I hurriedly picked up Levia.

Then, almost at the same time as Baekryeon and Sullin, I jumped out of the minecart.

Me, stopping in the air using .

And Baekryeon and Sullin, who landed lightly with a cat-like landing.

At the same time, the minecart continued to move forward.

The minecart moved quickly to a certain distance and then…

Kwaaaaaang!!!!

“!!”

With a spectacular explosion, the minecart burst.

“…What was that just now?”

“That’s an explosive to break hard rocks when we build underground cities.”

“….”

There were explosives in this world too.

If I hear the story, it seems to be a technology that only dwarves have, but…

“No, more than that, is that kind of thing originally installed there?”

“How could that be! That’s the path the minecart goes through! Who would install something like that to kill someone!”

To my question, Dain shouted, bursting into anger.

The fact that something like that was not originally installed means…

“…That … told me to come to the World Tree with confidence, and then played this kind of prank on the way?”

In the distance, beyond the flames of the explosion, shadows of something began to appear one by one.

Small shadows.

Yes, shadows that look just like dwarves.

“They’re already coming.”

“Levia. Pray.”

“Ah, yes! S-So…”

Levia, who was flustered by the spectacular explosion, hurriedly put her hands together and began to pray.

Gathering divine power and detonating it to erase the mark. But it takes some time for divine power to gather.

“Just in case, Baekryeon, Sullin, protect Levia. I’ll go head-on… and blow them all away.”

“Okay.”

“Leave it to me.”

“W-Well, you know they’re all just being controlled. So…”

Dain spoke carefully at my words that I would step forward directly.

“Don’t worry. I won’t kill them. Machina, you know, right?”

[Yes~!]

As before, I dulled the blade and took a step forward.

At that moment, a white light flickered from the dwarves’ side in the distance.

“Huh?”

Shwaaaaaaaak!! Kaang!!

“!!!”

W-What, what was that just now.

Arrows? Are they arrows? But the speed is no joke?!

“W-What was that just now!!”

“W-Well, it seems like a crossbow… Our dwarves make our own weapons, so… maybe that’s one of the weapons that dwarf made…”

The power was quite considerable.

If that kind of thing is poured out indiscriminately, it seems quite troublesome…

Flash

“…Ah, damn it.”

Shwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak!!!

At least dozens of shots…

If I take it lightly, a barrage of arrows pouring down at least about 100 shots.

If I blocked that kind of thing one by one, the people behind me might get hurt. I put mana into my sword and swung it as it was.

I don’t fire sword energy. Instead, I infinitely stopped the sword energy itself to create a wall.

Tatatatatatatang!!!

Arrows blocked by the mana wall and bounced off.

Something heterogeneous was seen among those arrows. And at that moment, the explosion that had mercilessly blown up the minecart earlier occurred.

Kwaaaaaang!!!!

“!!”

“Kyaa!”

“Kuh?! This is the same as before!!…”

“An explosive weapon?!”

The explosion broke the mana wall.

Thanks to that, the power itself was greatly reduced, but Levia’s prayer was broken due to the shock.

“Do dwarves use those kinds of weapons!”

“T-That’s illegal to use as a weapon!! That’s just a self-defense weapon for the very last resort!!”

“Anyway, they use it!!”

Damn it, explosive weapons in the Middle Ages, it’s absurd!!!

“Baekryeon! Lucy!!”

“Yes~ I understand.”

“I’ll block the arrows as much as possible!!”

“Sullin!!”

At the same time as kicking off the ground and moving forward, I called Sullin.

Sullin answered my call and immediately came out and ran in step with me.

“Subdue them all. Any poison is fine as long as they don’t die! Do it!”

“Okay, poison skills and hidden weapons are my specialty.”

Once again, the light of the arrowheads flashed, and the dwarves put me, Sullin, and even the people behind me all within range and fired.

I knocked down a considerable number of arrows by firing a sword pressure mixed with mana once.

“ ”

Hidden weapons that are difficult to distinguish with the naked eye are scattered.

The hidden weapons, which perform a two-stage propulsion like a rocket through subtle mana manipulation, overcome the limitations of distance and are stuck in the dwarves’ bodies.

“It’s acute paralysis poison. It’s dangerous if you don’t detoxify it in time, but… if they die, it’s fate.”

“Let’s try not to let them die.”

I reached the dwarves’ location.

“ ”

I dulled the blade.

I didn’t even put mana into it.

If they die even in this state… it’s their fate to die.

“Mountain Split”

A line drawn horizontally.

The dwarves were all slammed into the ground by the sword pressure emitted from that line.

And to the enemies outside the range of the strike…

“ !”

Sullin’s sophisticated hidden weapon is stuck.

“Leon!”

“I know! I’m watching!!”

Answering Sullin’s shout, I looked straight ahead.

Behind the dwarves we subdued, countless dwarves were walking, equipped with their respective armaments.

Frankly, even I was a little scared by the sight.

“I knew it would be like this…”

I thought that the number of dwarves in the city would be no joke, and because of that, I tried to sneak in secretly first, but…

In the first place, the premise that you can only move by minecart made it impossible to sneak in secretly.

And that’s the result.

It would be easier if I could just kill them…

I want to kill them, but I can’t kill them…

‘Looking at the divine power felt from behind, it seems like I can’t erase all the marks on those guys.’

“What are you going to do?”

“…I have to do something. I can still… hold out for now.”

“When you can’t hold out?”

“…Then there’s no choice.”

If that moment comes, I have no choice but to kill the dwarves and push them back.