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

Chapter 345: Chapter 344: The Road to the Peak of Ice and Snow (V)

Chapter 345: Chapter 344: The Road to the Peak of Ice and Snow (V)

Although this dwarf looked rather clumsy, his words were not wrong. Beneath the ground, dwarves indeed possess incomparable advantages.

Under the leadership of a dwarf named “Stonehammer,” Fang Zheng and his companions trailed through underground tunnels, round and round. Truth be told, they were fortunate that Fang Zheng now carried the Time Dragon bloodline, which allowed him to use “Future Sight” to scout the path ahead. At the same time, Nymph had scanned and recorded the nearby terrain. Had they simply blundered in by themselves, they would likely have ended up lost within the innumerable and indistinguishable subterranean passageways.

Even so, they were not a match for that Stonehammer Dwarf, who seemed to possess a special talent. Despite being short and stout, much like a barrel (Molly’s words), this dwarf was in his element underground. He barely seemed to look where he was going, simply tapping with his hammer while moving forward. To be on the safe side, Fang Zheng also cast a spell to determine everyone’s location, because there were far too many caves, and if someone were to take a wrong turn, getting back would be quite difficult.

During the journey, Fang Zheng conversed intermittently with the Stonehammer Dwarf, obtaining more information. Just as expected, while the dwarf was tight-lipped about his own tribe and city, he was willing to exchange information with Fang Zheng about other matters. As a result, Fang Zheng learned why the dwarves had hurried to offer support.

“We received a message from Monolith Tunnel this morning. It said those damn underground mongrels were causing trouble again. At first, we didn’t pay much attention, as these creatures often come looking for trouble—it’s nothing new. But they’re dreaming if they think they could breach the Monolith Gate!”

At this point, the Stonehammer Dwarf seemed somewhat proud, but he quickly snorted disgruntledly.

“However, for some reason, we suddenly lost contact with the Monolith Gate. Fearing something might have gone wrong, our king dispatched me with a team to check the situation, and we didn’t expect…”

Seeing the downcast expression of the Stonehammer Dwarf, Fang Zheng could empathize with his frustration. If elves could be vulnerable to sneak attacks due to their physical frailty, dwarves rarely had such concerns. They boasted robust constitutions and were so resistant to poison that even the deadliest of substances would struggle to have an immediate effect; they exhibited some of the greatest resistance to magic on the continent. Not even Sleep Magic released by a Legendary Mage could instantly affect a dwarf.

Unfortunately, they were unreasonable, but Dragon Might was even less so—akin to the simple and clear fact of 1+1=2, where eagles naturally fly higher than chickens, and elephants are larger than mice. This type of deterrent power, based on the food chain hierarchy and natural order, was the strongest and most irresistible.

“Speaking of which, I have something I’d like to ask.”

Noticing that the Stonehammer Dwarf was beginning to sulk, Fang Zheng swiftly shifted the topic.

“My companions and I have come here for an Order Alliance examination task. We heard that every night, strange flashes of light have been appearing at the Peak of Ice and Snow. Do you have any recollection of this?”

To be honest, Fang Zheng didn’t have much hope for this inquiry; since arriving here, he had asked many people this question, but neither humans nor elves reported seeing any flashes of light, so it was unlikely the dwarves would be any different.

But to Fang Zheng’s surprise…

“What? Those flashes of light are really something you Mages concocted? I thought they were eerie! What on earth is the nature of this bizarre exam for you to go and fix that thing right away? It’s kept us from sleeping well for days now!”

“Huh?”

Hearing the Stonehammer Dwarf’s disgruntled reply, everyone was taken aback, and the girls immediately swarmed around the dwarf.

“Wait, wait, you mean there really are flashes of light?!”

“You’re not lying to us, are you, Uncle Dwarf?”

No wonder the girls were so stirred up; like Fang Zheng, they had asked many people and investigated various places, even carefully observing the Peak of Ice and Snow every night. Yet they hadn’t seen anything more than the slightest glimmer of light, let alone dazzling flashes. Just like Fang Zheng, they believed there might be some mistake with the commission.

But now, they had finally found a clue!

“Eh? Ah? Why would I lie to anyone?”

When the girls suddenly converged on him, the Stonehammer Dwarf was caught off guard, gripping his battle-ax reflexively, nearly tumbling off his underground lizard in fright. Then, with a solemn face, the dwarf spoke earnestly.

“How could I, Stonehammer, ever deceive someone? My words are truer than the mithril I forge!”

Watching this scene, Fang Zheng sighed helplessly and then pulled the young girls apart.

“All right, don’t be so excited, take it slow… I’m sorry, they’re just a bit anxious, they mean no harm. Could you tell us about the sparkling light?”

“That’s no problem, actually, many people have seen that thing…”

According to the Stonehammer Dwarf, the sparkling light was more akin to someone shining a large searchlight and flashlight into a cave. At first, these flashes of light seriously irritated the dwarves, as they were quite blinding and annoying. So the dwarves wanted to figure out what was going on, of course, they had also considered whether this was a trap by the Dark Elves or some new, terrible creature had appeared underground. But when these dwarves followed the source of the light, they found… they couldn’t pinpoint where the light was coming from at all!

It seemed the brightness was just around the corner, but when they hurried there, the source of the light had moved to a deeper and more distant place. After being played in such a way several times, the dwarves also found it bitterly frustrating. Later, they couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to these strange flashes of light anymore; after all, the flashes only appeared for a while during the time they slept, and they did no harm, so the dwarves basically stopped caring about the issue.

As for the location of that mysterious source of sparkling light…

“We don’t know either.”

That was the answer given by the Stonehammer Dwarves.

Although this outcome was somewhat unsatisfying, it at least provided a direction. At the very least, everyone could be certain of one thing: the sparkling light mentioned in the request was not a groundless rumour but indeed existed. It’s just that it was different from what everyone had thought; the sparkling light was “inside,” not “outside,” the Peak of Ice and Snow, which is why neither the Humans nor the Elves had ever seen these lights before.

Because they could only see the exterior of the Peak of Ice and Snow, after all…

Now that a clue for their assessment mission had been found, everyone naturally didn’t need to worry about whether they had gone to the wrong place. Moreover, at present, they had another, even more troublesome matter to deal with.

“… What’s wrong with these creatures?”

Staring blankly outside the cave, even the Stonehammer Dwarf couldn’t hide his surprise. The girls were equally dumbfounded; on the slope not too far from the cave, there was a dense congregation of various kinds of creatures. The Goblins that Fang Zheng and the others had encountered before, as well as the Gnolls and Goblins, were all clearly present, and they had even spotted some Frost Giants!

But what astonished everyone the most was that these creatures, who would normally fight to the death the moment they saw each other, were now obediently gathered together, as if they were an army!

“What on earth is at the top of the mountain?”

“No… There’s nothing on the mountaintop…”

Faced with Fina’s question, the Stonehammer Dwarf scratched his head in confusion. As a member of the Dwarven Clan, he could traverse the whole Peak of Ice and Snow with his eyes closed, and of course, he knew that there was nothing valuable at the summit. So, from whence had these creatures come?

At this very moment, a voice rang out beside them.

“I know why they have come.”

“Eh?”

Upon hearing this response, everyone was startled. They turned their heads and saw Fang Zheng intently staring ahead with a grave expression. In fact, he had just received important information from the Nymph.

There was a massive energy fluctuation reaction at the summit ahead.

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