Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!

Chapter 342: Chapter 341: The Road to the Peak of Ice and Snow (II)

Chapter 342: Chapter 341: The Road to the Peak of Ice and Snow (II)

Monolith Tunnel was the safest passage to the summit through the Frozen Mountains; it had always been guarded by the dwarves, who had built a grand gate there to prevent invasions by evil races. But now, it had entirely transformed into something else.

“My God…”

As they entered the massive cave and saw the scene before them, everyone was astounded.

There were corpses everywhere!

The bodies of gnolls, kobolds, goblins, and various other creatures littered the area. It seemed as though they had engaged in a major battle with the dwarves here. Clearly, these monsters couldn’t have been a match for the dwarves, so they lay strewn about the ground.

But Fang Zheng knew all too well that things were not as simple as they appeared; during his and Little Angel’s search in the vicinity, they sensed absolutely no signs of life, which itself was telling.

The gate had fallen.

“Quick, it’s just ahead!”

Molly was also anxious; she clutched her longbow and sprinted swiftly through the tunnel while Fang Zheng and the others followed closely behind her. As they delved deeper into the tunnel, the number of monster corpses increased, and as the group turned a corner under Molly’s lead, they finally saw the underground fortress built by the dwarves.

One had to admit, no one could match the dwarven talent in architecture. The fortress gate they constructed virtually sealed off the entire Monolith Tunnel. On either side of the tunnel, two giant statues of dwarven heroes stood tall; the extensive city walls turned into iron bastions, blocking every crevice. In theory, with such thick and sturdy walls, even if the dwarves didn’t come out to fight, just keeping the gate shut would have been enough to repel those creatures.

But now, the fortress had been overrun.

“How could this be…”

Staring dumbfounded at the fortress before her, Molly widened her eyes, unsure of what to say. The fortress looked no different from usual, but the open gate and the thick smoke and flames spreading around already spelled out the fate of this fortress.

“This, this can’t be possible, even if the army of evil elves marched in, they shouldn’t have been able to breach the dwarven gate so easily…”

Molly wasn’t wrong in saying this; dwarves were physically tough and possessed strong magic resistance, even dark elves found it hard to harm them. Since a significant portion of a dark elf’s power lay in magic, which the dwarves’ magic resistance naturally countered. True, dark elves were also adept at using poison, but due to the dwarves’ robust constitution—ordinary poisons were largely ineffective.

As a local resident, Molly was well aware of the threats of the Peak of Ice and Snow; the most dangerous were the dark elves and the Frost Giant Clan, yet neither should have been capable of breaking through the dwarven defenses so easily!

“Let’s be careful and take a look inside.”

Fang Zheng raised his head, studied the dwarven gate carefully, then frowned slightly and lowered his voice to the girls beside him. Hearing Fang Zheng’s command, the others nodded and followed him closely, cautiously approaching the gate.

Because Fang Zheng and Nymph had already sensed the absence of life inside the gate, they were somewhat relaxed, but the others clearly weren’t. They carefully moved their steps while vigilantly watching the city gate. There were no hiding spots nearby, and if enemies were lying in ambush behind the gate planning a surprise attack, there would be nowhere to hide!

“Everyone… there are no enemies here…”

Fortunately, they had Katie, the ever-elusive stalker Young Lady, scouting ahead; her reconnaissance reassured the group, and they entered the overtaken gate.

Looking around, bodies were everywhere.

But different from before, this time, in addition to the creatures’ bodies, there were many dwarves’ corpses as well.

“How is this possible? How could these creatures have killed Big Beard? How did they do it?”

Molly widened her eyes in disbelief at the scene before her, murmuring to herself. Meanwhile, Fang Zheng knelt down to closely examine the dwarves’ bodies, then shook his head.

“They didn’t die in battle.”

“Not… not in battle?”

Hearing this, the others quickly crowded around, and Fang Zheng nodded, pointing at one of the dwarves’ wounds.

“Look, this dwarf’s wounds are spread out, and there is no blood on his weapon, indicating he barely resisted, or rather… he was killed by those creatures without any reaction whatsoever. Not just him, the other dwarves too…”

As he spoke, Fang Zheng extended his hand to point at the other dwarves’ bodies nearby.

“Without any reaction at all?”

“Yes,”

Fang Zheng raised his head and glanced at Molly.

“Does it feel familiar?”

“You mean…”

The elf maiden turned pale instantly upon hearing Fang Zheng’s query.

“Could it be…”

“It seems there really is a problem here,”

Fang Zheng did not specify directly, but he suspected that the dwarves had encountered the same issue as the elves. They probably also saw that shadow and then passed out immediately. However, since the dwarves didn’t possess the elves’ beauty, they weren’t captured by the goblins in the same manner. Instead, they were mercilessly killed by the creatures right where they stood.

With this thought, Fang Zheng sighed and then stood up, looking gravely at the young maidens beside him.

“I have something to say.”

Upon hearing Fang Zheng’s voice, the maidens, who had been checking their surroundings, hurriedly lifted their heads to look at him, with Fina coming closer and curiously gazing at him.

“Is something the matter, Mr. Fang Zheng?”

“It’s something important.”

Upon hearing Fina’s question, Fang Zheng nodded and then looked over the girls again before speaking.

“We need to decide whether or not to continue with the commission.”

“What?”

Faced with this unexpected response, everyone was stunned.

“Do not forget that while we came here for an adventure, this is actually just a graduation assessment,”

As he spoke, Fang Zheng spread his hands.

“However, the current situation has obviously gone beyond a mere graduation assessment. More importantly, up to this point, we have not found a single clue regarding our commission. The situation at the Peak of Ice and Snow is very abnormal. Neither dwarves nor elves had any power to resist. Just relying on the few of you, it’ll probably be difficult to continue. So I want to ask if you’re planning to continue? It’s very likely to get dangerous, and most importantly, this trouble may prove to be more costly than beneficial for you.”

Fang Zheng’s reasoning was not without basis. After examining the dwarves, he was certain that they had encountered a dragon. Due to the dwarves’ near immunity to magic, which made them difficult to influence with any illusion techniques or enchantment school spells, even spellcasters called them “stubborn as rocks,” If Fang Zheng was still doubtful when he saw the elves earlier, now he was almost certain that the dwarves had passed out because they were directly confronted with Dragon Might.

Only that kind of power, which relied upon utter suppression of classes rather than reasoning, could overwhelm the dwarves to the point of unconsciousness.

If Fang Zheng was not mistaken, this could potentially be an evil dragon. If that was the case, then taking these young maidens on an adventure would indeed be incredibly risky.

“My opinion is that we abandon this commission. You should first return to the elves’ village to rest up. Molly, it would be best if you report this matter to the clan leader of the Elf Clan and let them decide. It would be good to get in contact with the dwarven community here…”

Yes, Fang Zheng was planning to back off again.

If you can call a large army to beat them, why bother handling it yourself?

But just then, suddenly, the all-too-familiar mission prompt sound echoed once more in Fang Zheng’s ears.

“Ding.”

“…”

Upon hearing this sound, Fang Zheng knew that the annoying thing had intervened again.

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