Chapter 124 Chapter 121: The Rodent Tide and Dimensional Stone Bombs
The squad, led by a dwarf, walked for nearly an hour, during which they bypassed and took down several teams of ratfolk scouts and finally arrived at their destination next to a large concave area.
It resembled a mine, with many openings dug below, as slave rats emerged carrying baskets of soil and stone. On the overseer’s platform, a ratfolk engineer was distributing sparkly, green-glowing dimensional stones.
None of the ratfolk detected the secretly concealed Savior Squad.
Jima said, “There are many holes and many rats. Are you sure this opening leads to Dulong City? If that’s the case, the dwarves should either block the entrance or the ratfolk would have conquered Dulong City through this hole long ago.”
“Those rat brats are looking for a secret passage,” Butcher Gaitrek said. “We escaped through a secret opening; when we came out, we sealed that passage. The dwarves know which direction it is.”
“How big is the secret passage?”
“Just big enough for my head.”
“Then our whole squad will have to crawl,” Jima said. “It’s like jumping into a trap.”
“Devil brat, if you’re scared, then don’t come along.”
“I’m not scared; I just think things through better.”
Butcher Gaitrek glared at Jima.
George quickly smoothened things over, saying, “How about this, we take one step at a time; let’s sneak in first. If there’s a trap up ahead, we’ll retreat.”
Jima countered, “What if the enemy collapses the entrance? We might not die, but it would take a lot of time. The shards of the Demon King’s crown might fall into the hands of the eternal chosen Marus sooner than we expect. Who knows if he has found the lair of the two-headed dragon with the help of the Four Gods.”
From the intel obtained from the ratfolk command center earlier, Jima learned that the shards of the Demon King’s crown were likely the treasures of the two-headed dragon. She couldn’t understand how it ended up in the northern mountains of the Old World after she personally tossed the shards into the deep sea while sailing across the vast ocean all those years ago.
How did it come to be in the hands of the two-headed dragon?
George asked, “What do they use to explode?”
Jima’s gaze focused on the ratfolk engineer, whose subordinates were handling the green-glowing dimensional stones, which had wires and metal casings, resembling bombs. Jima blinked and quickly divined, seeing the words “Dimensional Stone Bomb” pop up.
“Those green things,” Jima raised her chin. “They’re called dimensional stone bombs, with a lethal radius of ten meters. The closer you are, the more horrifying the impact. The means of destruction is likely not just a simple shockwave; this is what I just divined.”
“A bunch of little gadgets,” the dwarf engineer interjected. “These are worthless trinkets recently developed by the ratfolk that have been blowing up endlessly in their labs. They strap dimensional stone bombs to cannon fodder and send them charging in, but these things are always unstable, killing more ratfolk than dwarves.”
“At least collapsing the entrance isn’t too difficult,” Jima said. “And having something is better than nothing. Even if they can’t make it proper, they can improve it gradually.”
“Nonsense!” The dwarf engineer waved his hand excitedly, nearly knocking his engineering glasses off his nose. “An invention that doesn’t care about the user’s life is a good invention? A creation that kills its users is nothing short of an engineer’s disgrace!”
Jima felt a bit of a headache. During the nights when the dwarf engineer worked on modifying and creating weapons for her in the Dream Palace, he sought safety above all, delaying work hours. Even when Jima said that it was fine if the weapon exploded, as long as it just delayed the explosion, the dwarf engineer turned red with anger, thinking she was mocking him.
But Jima didn’t need a ratling that could fire ten thousand shots without exploding.
“I have a battle plan—a quick and decisive strike,” George said. “First, we try to remove their dimensional stone bombs, then we enter the cave, reaching Dulong City before the ratfolk can react.”
Jima asked, “Didn’t we just say to sneak in? How did it turn into a kill mission?”
George said, “We need to adapt. Alright, Jenna, can you create darkness to envelop this mine?”
Jenna nodded, “Yes.”
“Wait, aren’t you a priestess of the God of Dawn?”
Saint Jenna patiently explained, “I merely manipulate light so it won’t serve our enemies.”
George said, “Okay, that’s settled. Jenna creates widespread darkness, and we go in to eliminate the enemies’ evil bombs quickly. This way, even if there are survivors, they won’t understand our intentions, extending their reaction time. Is there anything else to add?”
“This sounds like a statement from a criminally insane murderer,” Jima said, her eyes fixed on the “Dimensional Stone Bomb.” “I want to collect such fun gadgets; they seem way more advanced than dwarven weapons.”
The dwarf engineer, grumbling nearby, said, “This thing has no practicality; it’s of no concern to us dwarves.”
Meanwhile,
In the underground mine of Dulong City.
As the leader of the dwarf suicide squad, the long-bearded dwarf in a ram’s horn helmet stood up from the aftermath of an explosion, cursing, “Damn ratfolk! This little explosion can’t kill me; I’m a veteran who has survived against long-ear spells!”
At that moment, from the dark space behind a rock up ahead, a frenzied ratfolk came leaping out, its eyes red, foam at the mouth, tongue flailing; its body was strapped with “dimensional stone” bombs, running on all fours toward the long-bearded dwarf in a ram’s horn helmet.
The ram’s horn helmet long-bearded dwarf shouted, “Bomb! Bomb!”
Around him stood more than twenty dwarves, tightly packed to brace against the rat tide. If the dimensional stone human bomb charged into the crowd and exploded, the consequences were unimaginable.
However, the aftershock from the previous explosion was still buzzing in many dwarven heads. Moreover, although the ram’s horn helmet long-bearded dwarf was the first to spot the dimensional stone human bomb, his mind couldn’t turn fast enough to report its location.
Hearing the warning, the dwarves instinctively looked around, searching for the dimensional stone human bomb.
In that short time, the dimensional stone human bomb was already within ten meters. In a panic, the dwarves shot two crossbow bolts: one went wide, while the other grazed the target’s scalp.
The ram’s horn helmet long-bearded dwarf thought of his trusty friend that had accompanied him for many years, gritted his teeth, and threw his rune axe, hitting the dimensional stone human bomb squarely in the face, smashing a dimensional stone bomb.
Immediately, a burst of green light erupted; the ratfolk’s body shattered into bits, scattering across the surroundings with the explosion wave. The shockwave knocked down the dwarves, including the ram’s horn helmet long-bearded dwarf.
He fell to the ground, feeling the world go silent, only the sound of unknown birds chirping echoing in his ears. He took a deep breath, his lungs burning, his throat like fire, wishing to remain on the ground. But thinking that even a mounted shot from high elves couldn’t make him yield, he also considered that this mine was a testament to his family’s honor.
Thus, the ram’s horn helmet long-bearded dwarf pushed himself up from the ground and stood again. Nearby, several young dwarves lay fallen; their helmets were off, their long beards singed, staring with open eyes. Just one glance made him furious; he kicked one hard, shouting:
“Truly, this generation is weaker than the last! At my age, I wouldn’t have laid on the ground for anything. Get up, stand up already!”
A kick sent the young dwarf motionless, his body limp, eyes wide open.
The ram’s horn helmet long-bearded dwarf was stunned, his eyes dampening, knowing the young dwarf was most likely dead. He knelt, closing the young dwarf’s eyes as he had done for thousands of fallen comrades.
He stood again, smoothing his ram’s horn helmet and raising his round shield. The remaining dwarves stood gathered around him, now numbering less than twenty.
Around them, a circle of dead ratfolk lay scattered; excluding those that were lost in the explosion, the intact ratfolk bodies outnumbered them four to five times.
But that still wasn’t enough. In the dark spaces around, there were rustling sounds, and in the dim light of the mine lamps, countless pairs of red eyes were watching the dwarves. Emerging gradually into the light were endless ratfolk silhouettes.
“Youth! Hold on!” the ram’s horn helmet long-bearded dwarf shouted. “Stand back to back against this rock wall! The sturdy stone is the best support!”
A shrill voice shouted, “Don’t let them rest! Charge! Charge! If you don’t charge, you won’t have food to eat.”
The ram’s horn helmet long-bearded dwarf understood the despicable language of the ratfolk; he knew the commanders were directing them. If they could kill the commanders, the ratfolk might retreat. He looked around but couldn’t spot the ratfolk commander.
Countless ragtag slave rats surged from all directions, pressing against each other, shoulder to shoulder like a torrent, charging toward the heavily armored dwarves.
“Hold on! Youngsters!” the ram’s horn helmet long-bearded dwarf shouted. “For the glory of our clan!”
“Glory!”
The dwarves bore some wounds; they formed a shield wall with round shields and wielded battle axes, hacking away at the relentless ratfolk. They wore heavy armor, making it difficult for the slave rats to kill them. Moreover, with the dwarves’ resilience and discipline, when one dwarf fell, another immediately dragged the wounded away to replace them.
Many slave rats fell to the ground. After twenty minutes of the rat tide assault, many dwarves were panting heavily, their stamina waning.
The slave rats suffered heavy casualties, and just as they were about to retreat, several smoke-filled glass bottles smashed among them, releasing pink gas. As the slave rats inhaled it, they went mad, continuing to charge at the steadfast dwarves.
One young dwarf next to the long-bearded ram’s horn helmet dwarf said, “I’m sorry.”
He was covered in wounds and exhausted; after speaking, he collapsed to the ground, and the ratfolk pulled him into their swarm, where countless daggers struck from all sides.
The long-bearded ram’s horn helmet dwarf gritted his teeth and swung his axe, killing a slave rat with a heavy chop.
The ratfolk bodies piled upon each other layer by layer.
The innate fear of death gradually overcame the effects of the potion, and the remaining hundred or so slave rats eventually squeaked and began to withdraw.
The long-bearded ram’s horn helmet dwarf gasped, his throat wheezing like a broken bellows, and he forced a laugh, “Ha! Even the ratfolk have a day when they’re wiped out.”
“Ahhahaha, little dwarves!” From the back of the rocks, a heavily armored ratfolk leader climbed up, brandishing a shield and speaking fluently in dwarven, “These slave rats have no food to eat in the first place, thanks to your help. Look around—how many little dwarves are left?”
The long-bearded ram’s horn helmet dwarf looked around and saw that besides himself, fewer than ten dwarves were still standing, gasping for breath.
Surrounding them were clan rats, wielding triangular shields and spears, their bodies bulkier than the slave rats, surrounding them layer upon layer like onions.
The ratfolk leader laughed heartily, “Now, the real battle begins. You little dwarves won’t be able to collapse this mine. The rat tide will drown your pitiful city. And if you think we have too few ratfolk, I have reinforcements backing me.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the roof above him cracked open, and several figures dropped down.
One of the figures, fluttering its wings mid-air, complained, “Crawling through this tunnel is giving me claustrophobia.”
