Chapter 567: Vicious Dragon
Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Kurisu
Dark dwarves were also known as the Dark Soya Dwarves. They weren’t natives of the Chaos Abyss, and they had a poor reputation in the other planes.
As dwarves were one of the most ancient species, these descendants of the t.i.tans had just as many subspecies as the elves. Since the entire dwarf species had countless subspecies, they naturally had their own unique dwarven culture.
While elves specialized in art and magic, the dwarves were outstanding in brewing alcohol, smithing, digging, and sculpting. As the children of the earth, dwarves would be born naturally skilled in mining, smithing, and construction.
In most dwarven societies, no matter what subspecies of dwarf they were, no matter if the dwarf was a commoner or the tribe leader, that dwarf would at least have one outstanding talent. If an adult dwarf was incapable of wielding a hammer to support himself, then he would be unable to survive in his own tribe.
Most dwarven leaders and grandmasters were admired by their own tribes for their outstanding products rather than combat abilities. Dwarves were a tribe that often produced grandmasters.
However, there would always be exceptions. The Dark Soya Dwarves were an exception amongst the dwarves. They didn’t excel at creating any type of product or equipment. Instead, they excelled at using their hammers and axes to kill their enemies. In their species, apart from very few smiths who made their weapons, their entire tribe would be warriors.
In ordinary situations, dwarf tribes were capable fighters, but they weren’t a species that enjoyed warfare. The foundational difference between dark dwarves and other dwarves was that dark dwarves lived for warfare.
Dark dwarves typically acted as mercenaries for other dwarf species that fought amongst themselves. After several hundred years of dwarven warfare, the dark dwarves also formed their own culture. However, they were unable to get accustomed to the era of peace that came after the dwarves’ internal conflicts finally stopped. The dark dwarves even constantly provoked other dwarves, which ended up in the entire dwarf species rejecting the dark dwarves.
The dark dwarves were highly militaristic and had a culture based on attacking and invading others. They were pure warmongers who could never get used to peace. It was only natural that they would end up migrating to another dimension like the Chaos Abyss.
In the mortal plane, the dark dwarves had strong bodies and outstanding dwarven weapons that helped them to win far more than they lost. But in the Chaos Abyss, demons and mages were common everywhere. The dark dwarves were no longer considered strong here.
And now, this dark dwarf tribe, which had a black hammer intersecting with a war axe on their flag, was being targeted by the Bloodspear lizardmen tribe.
After pa.s.sing through the inferno dogmen’s defense line, I turned off my Holy Light in order not to attract too much attention. I stood on some high ground and saw a black fortress and its walls.
This fortress was quite simple and crude, but also highly st.u.r.dy. It was crafted entirely out of cube and cuboid stones. Even though the dwarves were known for practicality over looks, this was still quite rare with this fortress focused on only one purpose. Judging from the tree bark obstacles and sharpened wooden spears, these walls and defensive preparations had only been established recently. This also meant that this fortress was fully at war.
I couldn’t see any lizardmen outside surrounding the fortress. However, not far away, I saw lizardmen boldly standing guard at a scouting post. The lizardmen were making it quite obvious that they were targeting this fortress. Their arrogance made many things obvious.
n.o.body would enjoy the sight of enemy scouts boldly standing in front of them. Since these lizardmen scouts hadn’t been eliminated, it was likely that the dark dwarves were unable to leave their fortress. If that was how bad the situation was, it was quite understandable why that dark dwarf had been so desperate to purchase my martial arts techniques.
I looked around and found the lizardmen’s main position. They were indeed quite sly as they didn’t intend to use a direct attack against the fortress. I saw seven to eight groups of scouts, along with an equal number of lizardmen groups in hiding, waiting to ambush. The lizardmen mainly set ambushes along the main road, obviously intending to attack any dwarves or caravans that dared set out from the fortress.
There were a few patches of dwarven farmland outside the fortress, but no dwarves could be seen tending to their farmland. Since the dwarves were in such a poor situation already, the Bloodspear lizardmen likely only needed to wait for the dwarves to run out of food. At that point, the dwarves would be forced out of their well-defended fortress if they didn’t want to starve to death.
“No, you forgot about the dark dwarves’ teleportation portal. The dark dwarves can probably trade for food from another level, so they should be able to hold out.”
“Maybe the lizardmen don’t know about the dark dwarves’ teleportation portal. The lizardmen will probably run out of patience sooner or later…”
“Then, this will depend on how many reinforcements and preparations the dark dwarves can muster by the time the lizardmen attack.”
Harloys and I were both veterans. We slightly went over the current situation and made an a.n.a.lysis that was likely close to the truth.
And so, I was no longer in a hurry. Since this situation was quite obvious, the dark dwarves would become more and more anxious as time went on. I would then be able to access their teleportation portal for a nice, cheap price.
However, what Roland didn’t know was that a certain someone had the exact same idea as he did on the lizardmen’s side. However, she was currently talking to the dark dwarves’ mortal enemies.
“You three. Go help the dark dwarves. Remember to extort some more protection money from them for me.”
The gigantic vicious dragon was as large as half a mountain. Three adult black dragons were currently kneeling down before her.
Although these adult dragons were about ten meters long each, they seemed like young children in front of this vicious red dragon.
These three black dragons were all seriously injured. One had its tail cut off, one had only a single eye remaining, and one was missing half a wing and was no longer able to fly.
Judging from the fresh blood on that vicious red dragon’s claws, it was quite obvious who had injured these black dragons.
Right now, these victims could only listen obediently. However, the one-eyed dragon asked a question. “Um, Your Ladys.h.i.+p, didn’t you have your eyes on the Bloodspear tribe’s greatest treasure? Why do you want us to help the dark dwarves?”
“Tsk, so idiotic. You don’t even understand this much? I guess you’re all just hick dragons after all?”
The outsider red dragon yawned and looked down upon the rural native dragons. She then elegantly yawned while spitting out a burst of fire which sent the black dragons running for their lives.
“You should learn from me. This is a great survival technique for us dragons. If I try to forcefully rob them, it’s easy to meet with unexpected circ.u.mstances as well as miss something valuable. It’s far better to make the other party voluntarily give me their treasure. Ha, you don’t believe me?”
The three dragons kept nodding in agreement with her. Although they only recently became acquainted with this red dragon, they already knew that she was an absolute tyrant. Anything she said was law.
The great red dragon seemed to be quite satisfied with the three black dragons’ respect, so she continued speaking. “If the dark dwarves don’t seem to be a bit stronger, my helping the lizardmen won’t seem as valuable. And, who knows what other great treasures they might have hidden? I’ll never know unless I force them both to the brink. In our line of work, we eat both the plaintiff and the defendant… Cough, it’s quite normal to rob from both the lizardmen and the dark dwarves. You’d better work your hardest for me. Not only do you need to extort everything of value from the dark dwarves, the three of you are going to pretend to fight me on the battlefield. I’ll go easy on you all. When it looks like I might actually lose, those idiotic lizardmen will also bring out more valuable treasures.”
The elegant Dragon Queen explained her evil plan. These black dragons that had been beaten by the red dragon felt like they had truly learned much from her. They felt like their past dragon lives had truly been too simple. They only knew basic scams and extortion for protection money, which seemed now like such an insult to their species’ reputation as vicious dragons.
“As expected of Lady Ein Mezus! As expected of the famous Belon’s Calamity!”
Alright, this evil red dragon could naturally only be Little Red the Dragon Queen. These dirty tactics and seemingly correct twisted logic were the same as a certain Roland’s.
“Ha, you should all learn from me. Outright robbery is so inelegant. It’s the most unbecoming act possible. In this generation, wisdom and intelligence are the most important. You all had better use your brains and do your best to put on an act. Watch how I extort everything out from both sides!”
Now that Little Red had left the mortal plane where she had many things to worry about, she felt similar to Roland, who was feeling much less stress here. Little Red was also having lots of fun as she no longer needed to care about her reputation.