Earth's Greatest Magus

Emery used his Divine Sense to carefully examine the formation, searching for a weakness. He layered his Mark of Divinity over it, tracing the flow of spirit threads woven throughout the barrier. The countless threads appeared before his eyes, overlapping and intertwining in a complex structure that would have been nearly impossible to decipher through ordinary means.

After several minutes of careful examination, he finally found what he was looking for—a different set of runes, subtly out of place, embedded along a slope flanked by rock on both sides.

”This should be the entrance,” he said.

Finding the door and opening it, however, were two very different problems. The formation was far more complicated than it appeared from the outside, and the longer they lingered here, the greater the risk of drawing attention from the Scourge.

An hour passed with no progress.

Emery studied the formation again and again, trying different methods to force his way through. However, breaking through the barrier while remaining in the open was too risky. Every attempt required him to expose more of his energy, and the longer he stayed in one place, the greater the chance that the Scourge would detect his presence.

He couldn’t afford to spend too much time here.

Just as Emery was preparing to withdraw and find a safer way to approach the settlement, the seal suddenly shuddered.

Not from anything he had done.

The disturbance came from the inside.

A voice slipped directly into his mind, soft and measured, unmistakably female.

Emery paused before answering, keeping his tone deliberately polite.

”My name is Emery. This is my friend Soltz. We’re trying to find information to travel safely through the desert.”

A brief silence followed.

Then the woman’s voice returned.

”We’ve been in seclusion for three decades,” Emery said. ”We only recently found ourselves caught up in trouble caused by forces we don’t fully understand. We don’t wish to trouble you. We only seek information about what’s happened since.”

Emery had no choice but to lie. He didn’t know who was on the other side of the barrier, and revealing the true purpose of his mission—or even the existence of the armada—could put both him and the alliance in danger.

To gain their trust, however, Emery deliberately avoided asking for entry. He only asked for information, giving them no reason to believe he intended to force his way inside.

To his surprise, the seal along the walls began to glow moments later. Runes that had been dormant for countless years flickered to life one after another, and a hidden section of the formation slowly shifted aside, revealing a narrow passage into the settlement.

Five figures stood waiting on the other side.

All five were Grand Magus cultivators, and all of them were dwarves. Their squat, heavily built frames were covered in full plate armor, while axes and hammers were already raised in their hands. They clearly hadn’t opened the entrance without being prepared for a fight.

The strongest among them carried an aura no weaker than Soltz’s own. He stepped forward, his thick beard shifting slightly as he narrowed his eyes at the two strangers.

”I am Bragnir Ironvein, Lord of Kharzun Hold.” His gaze swept over them both. ”We need to confirm you’re not infected.”

Emery immediately spread both arms, making it clear he had no intention of resisting.

”Of course.”

Two dwarves approached, holding a set of faintly glowing beads between them. They slowly moved the beads around Emery and Soltz, allowing the soft light to wash over their bodies as they carefully checked for signs of corruption.

Soltz spoke first, his tone carrying unmistakable respect.

”I’ve long heard of Lord Bragnir, the Hammer of the Deep Vein. An honor to finally meet the man himself.”

Bragnir remained guarded, his eyes still fixed on Soltz.

”And who might you be?”

”Just a mere mercenary,” Soltz said simply.

Silence stretched for a beat too long. It was clear that Soltz’s answer was far from satisfactory.

The two dwarves conducting the inspection finally stepped back without a word and gave Bragnir a single nod. Only then did the dwarf lord’s expression ease slightly. His gaze drifted past them, toward the endless desert outside the entrance, as though checking once more that nothing had followed them.

He finally spoke.

”You may enter my domain. But I warn you—cause no trouble here.”

Emery offered a respectful gesture, and the two of them stepped through the passage.

Behind them, the hidden entrance slowly closed. The stone shifted back into place, the runes flaring brightly for a moment before settling into their dormant state once more, sealing Kharzun Hold from the corrupted world outside.

They walked through a narrow tunnel barely two meters wide, its rough stone walls disappearing into darkness ahead. The passage stretched deeper beneath the mountain before finally opening into something Emery hadn’t expected.

A vast underground settlement spread out before them.

It was a genuine hidden city, carved deep within the mountain. Towers and buildings had been built directly into the cavern walls, while countless stone structures filled the enormous space below. A certain warmth filled the settlement, along with a deep, spiritual energy that seemed to permeate the entire place. Dwarves moved through the main thoroughfare in groups, carrying tools, supplies, and weapons, though their movements lacked the usual liveliness of a bustling city.

Fear was written plainly across their faces.

Despair, too.

There were dwarves of all ages among them. Elderly dwarves with gray and white beards watched cautiously from doorways, while younger ones hurried along the streets with children close beside them. Most possessed some level of cultivation, with most reaching the Magus realm.

He quietly spread his Divine Sense across the settlement.

There were about four thousand dwarves living within Kharzun Hold. Yet even with such a large population, the atmosphere remained strangely quiet. No one celebrated their survival. No one seemed happy to see outsiders arrive.

They were simply surviving.

Emery said nothing, following quietly behind Bragnir until they reached what appeared to be the central hall of the settlement.

The chamber was spacious, supported by thick stone pillars carved with ancient dwarven designs. Several more Grand Magus-realm dwarves waited inside, their armor and weapons making it clear that Bragnir wasn’t the only one prepared to defend the hold.

But three figures immediately stood out from the rest.

They were tall and pale-skinned, their long hair the color of ash and their bodies dressed in flowing silver robes. Their appearance was completely different from the stocky dwarves surrounding them.

High elves.

Two men and one woman.

Emery’s gaze settled on the woman standing between the two men, and recognition clicked immediately.

She was the voice from the seal.

Bragnir made the introduction.

”This is Priestess Versa and her companions. Guests of this hold.”

With a flick of his hand, four stone seats rose smoothly from the floor, emerging from the ground as if they had been carved from a single piece of rock. Bragnir took one, while the priestess settled into another, leaving the remaining two for Emery and Soltz.

”The priestess convinced me to let you in,” Bragnir said, turning toward her. ”Here they are, as promised.”

Versa inclined her head once.

Then her attention shifted fully toward Emery.

”The information you’re looking for,” she said. ”I’m afraid there isn’t much we can offer.”