Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Chapter 934: Chapter 730: The White Dragon Confronts the Main Target

Hill looked over curiously. In the Dwarves’ power structure, actually, the priestesses of the family goddess are the true backbone… Most Dwarves, no matter how unruly, will be tamed by the ‘gentle’ gaze of their mothers.

So, he wasn’t really surprised that a seemingly low-level priestess was sent to observe things in Luskan… They are the mistresses by the fireplace, the guardians of the Dwarves’ homes… more adept at using the Hardhead Hammer to stop thieves and buff the warriors’ defensive power… Although they can also heal and detoxify, they are actually better at treating burns. Of course, their greatest ability is more akin to that of a kindergarten teacher.

Their duties include preserving traditional Dwarven culture, weaving the family together, educating and nurturing young Dwarves, and maintaining orderly management within Dwarven society… Most of the short-tempered and impulsive young Dwarves grow up under the gentle words of the priestess Belennie, so these priestesses, despite having no formal leadership position, hold extraordinary status in every Dwarven clan.

Only she could decide when to bow to other races for help… If it weren’t for the Magicplague, Belennie herself would be the last hope for these small tribes.

The ‘honorable mother’ of the Dwarves often sends incarnations to protect threatened Dwarven clans, especially those small tribes facing events beyond their control.

Hill tilted his head in thought. If things really were as William suspected, all orchestrated by that Great Liche of Sel, then he could understand why these Necromancers would target the Mirabar Dwarves.

Normally, most forces wouldn’t attack these small non-human races; the Mirabar mines aren’t particularly rich and are located in a rather remote corner of the World’s Ridge, allowing the Mirabar Dwarves to live comfortably with the Crystal Dragon at their backs.

But Sel is different. The people of this nation have a strong prejudice against non-human races, particularly targeting Dwarves and Gnomes. They are often given racially derogatory nicknames and subjected to violent provocation. Moreover, due to their small frame and bones being sturdier than human children’s, these two races’ corpses are the most frequently used materials for creating laboring Undead.

In other words… Dwarven bones can be sold for money in Sel.

On the other hand, Elves, though also looked down upon, are generally avoided and shunned… Conflicts usually arise only when enough profit is at stake.

The main reason is that the Elven Force is relatively strong and, regardless of the type of Elf, even those within the Evil Faction, they would all choose to engage in a fight to the death over their compatriots’ bodies being defiled. So Sel people actually avoid operating within the Elven Force.

Just like when dealing with Luskan, they would take care to hide their presence and use the defeated dogs of Santarin as scapegoats.

The Beastmen and half-orcs, however, are quite well accepted in Sel, often serving as law enforcers and soldiers in the Sel Legion.

Centaurs are even frequently used as guards for Sel’s slave plantations.

After all, these are beings that can be fed with slave corpses… and slave bones can also be used to make Skeletons.

Yet even this Sel had not yet reached its most intolerable point… Once the Necromancy Sect stands openly, and Bane becomes the national faith, the status of the living will be worse than dogs.

Therefore, Hill completely agrees with William’s idea of considering Sel as the Undead Tribe’s next target… He doesn’t think that far, never even considering having the Undead Tribe cross the Ferun Great Land to fight in the South.

Of course, it could also be because he subconsciously avoided the critical plotlines of Toril World… The Great Liche Sazzastan of Sel loves to simultaneously plot multiple conspiracies and has always sought to complete a peculiar apotheosis ritual: capturing nine Demigods or Chosen from different factions to absorb their power and ascend to godhood.

Logically speaking… the Toril Gods shouldn’t be so disgraceful. One can see how strong a Chosen is just by looking at Laila… Hill often observes this Chosen of Mystra out of boredom; Laila isn’t even one of the top two strongest but isn’t so easily killed… Of course, defeating her is still quite easy for Hill, but the powerful Life Force filling Laila makes her really hard to completely eliminate.

Nevertheless, whenever Hill thinks of AO and the Tablets of Fate, he feels that Sazzastan’s grand dream might actually not be impossible.

He paced slowly on the terrace, yet history had already changed the moment the Weave shattered.

Hill doesn’t know if William didn’t think of this difference… after all, the Deity of Mages, Azuth, isn’t dead yet.

If a deity were to fall, even complete severance between Toril and the Stellar Realm wouldn’t hide it… This time, however, there wasn’t an unlucky fellow who fell alongside Mystra.

According to the original timeline, that unfortunate old man with a white beard was directly catapulted out of Toril the instant the Weave shattered, crashing into The Nine Hells of Baator… and then killed by the Lord of Hell, Asmodeus.

But this time, the premature murder lets him escape such a tragic fate… Of course, this might also be because grudges accumulated with Mystra weren’t that deep yet, so she didn’t think of cursing him before dying?

This ending makes Hill understand: AO indeed is acting so casually, not really intending to update the Toril Deities; his actions are still for the betterment of Toril’s future… though this ‘betterment’ is somewhat hard to comprehend.

But AO indeed has been observing other worlds, trying to incorporate others’ strengths into Toril, but encountered adaptability issues leading to mutations… Yet, as many feel, he instead appreciates the chaos-makers like Cyric and Bane… after all, they provide him more opportunities to remodel the world.

Hill didn’t care what kind of mess Toril might be turned into by this suspected Chaos god guy. He was just thankful for this result: the things that happened wouldn’t result in the same way in different times… To be honest, that’s the reason Hill seemed so relaxed lately, at least AO just likes to stir things up and isn’t the kind of control freak who has to have everything in the palm of his hand.

Hill exhaled softly, so ever since the world was reorganized, he hasn’t been that strict with himself about minding more of his own business, and he dared to slightly interfere in some matters a little.

Otherwise, the first moment he discovered Edna, Hill would have gone crazy trying to find a way to send her away.

But now he just quietly watched as the undead tribe rushed out from various guard huts, summoned mounts, and rode directly towards the eastern Ice City, smiling genuinely: It seems William had already negotiated a cooperative alliance with the Mirabar Dwarves.

Dwarves are a very stubborn and oddly-thinking race… Even if William wanted to cooperate with them, he absolutely couldn’t bring it up himself… If he did, even if he saved their lives, they wouldn’t be grateful; they’d only think he had ulterior motives.

So although the Elf Deity System and the Dwarf Deity System were on relatively good terms, their followers were not so harmonious.

The proud Elves couldn’t stand such humiliation.

Of course, this situation led to the current scenario, where, although the Dwarves’ crisis was so obvious, even nearby neighbors wouldn’t take the initiative to help before they asked for it.

Even though the undead tribe dispatched quite a few people in front, in reality, they would just stand by and watch. Without William’s orders, they wouldn’t act, at most dealing with those half-orcs fleeing towards Luskan.

The night slowly rose again, Suren’s brilliance rising with the colorful fireworks in the sky above Luskan, presenting a unique sight.

Hill slowly appreciated the beautiful night, although these brilliant fireworks actually heralded the formal start of the battle on the other side.

The matters in Mirabar weren’t worth much of the undead tribe’s effort… The undead who could use spells didn’t care about those messy underground tunnels.

They had enough Earth Mages to directly open these tunnels.

So at the moment of dawn, the undead tribe, accompanied by the morning light, embarked on their journey back to Luskan, which was actually just the frozen Mirar River.

Hill turned his head towards the World’s Ridge, and the half-orcs had already begun to retreat.

The undead tribe stayed back in Luskan, and began to set vast fires to burn those remaining corpses… The surviving half-orcs already knew about the undead tribe’s habits, secretly cutting a lot of meat before leaving.

This time, they left millions of lives in Luskan; the old, weak, sick, and disabled had been exhausted. Although they hadn’t seized better food, every half-orc now had enough stored meat to stay alive, with some having enough to support a female to have a few cubs for them.

Although such a life made humans and elves feel disgusted, this was their lifestyle for thousands of years.

If not for cooperating with those Necromancers, they would have already returned to their mountain peak strongholds. Unfortunately, those undead, who only knew how to boast, were useless, leading the tribe to lose more warriors.

Many orc priests regretted that when faced with a choice between necromancers and the white dragon, they stupidly chose the useless ones!

They shouldn’t have tried to threaten the white dragons just because they kept grabbing lone orcs as food!

From now on, they should try to reconcile with the white dragons…

The resentful orc priests despondently led their men away… Luckily, they left early.

Otherwise, they would have been as confused and at a loss as Hill.

Elvia Tulais suddenly landed outside the city, presenting Edna, who was helping the ‘Old Age Striking King’ clean up the battlefield, with a bouquet of pink flower branches: bell-like flowers layered upon each other, decorated with beautiful spots and patterns.

The little girl wasn’t afraid at all, taking the bouquet directly with excitement. She looked up at the White Dragon Queen: “Beautiful Lady White Dragon, how should I address you? What can I do for you?”

Elvia Tulais elongated her neck, opened her wings gently, revealing her most beautiful smile: “Hello, I am Elvia Tulais.”