Ember Dragon

"boom--"

I saw a pillar of blazing white fire tearing through the sky, emitting a thousand-foot-long light, descending like a divine punishment, rushing straight towards the chest of the Dwarf King.

"For the glory of the shield dwarves!" Ed swung his warhammer and let out a heart-wrenching roar, releasing all the remaining vitality in his body.

"rumble!"

In an instant, the earth trembled, countless dust and rubble flew up, and a small mountain range suddenly rose from the ground, blocking the dwarves like a giant shield.

"boom!"

The pillar of fire bombarded the giant rock shield. The extreme fire element and earth element, these two completely different forces collided and intertwined with each other, causing an earth-shaking explosion.

Misha, or more accurately, the pillar of fire released by Cassius through the air, was like a hot knife stabbing into a block of butter, instantly piercing through the rock. The reddish lava flowed slowly, making crackling sounds.

And under this explosion, thick smoke and fierce flames enveloped everything within a radius of hundreds of meters.

No matter whether it was the dwarf warriors defending the fortress or the soldiers and officers of the Empire, no one could see clearly what was happening and could only sigh from the bottom of their hearts.

"Moradin above"

"Oh my God, this is simply a punishment from heaven!"

"No, Your Majesty Eddard will not die. We, the shield dwarves, are a great race born from the furnace. Even an explosion like this cannot destroy us!"

The dwarves watched the explosion nervously, arguing with each other as they fended off the Imperial attack, fearing that the king they served would die.

"Misha-sama!"

"This is the great power of His Majesty Cassius! Dwarves, your king is dead. Give up the meaningless resistance!"

"Long live the Empire!"

Warm cheers broke out again in the imperial army, and the soldiers waved their weapons and showed off their might.

They had witnessed such scenes countless times, and the ending always ended with the enemies who overestimated their own strength and dared to stand in the way of the empire being reduced to ashes.

The lava cooled, making a crisp crackling sound. The smoke dissipated under the blowing of the strong wind, and only a huge hole with a diameter of several meters was seen pierced through the uplifted mountain range, like a tunnel formed by brutal blasting.

Behind the mountains, the Dwarf King knelt on the ground, motionless, his rocky body charred and devastated, like a burnt stone sculpture.

The left side of his chest where his heart was located was also empty, leaving a dark hole, which had obviously been pierced by the pillar of fire.

"call--"

The strong wind blew through the gap in the dwarf's stone sculpture's chest, and a wailing sound like a mournful wail was heard.

Suddenly, on the wall of Avendeldan, the hammers and axes in the hands of the dwarves fell to the ground one after another, making crisp "clang" sounds.

They first looked at each other, feeling extremely confused and at a loss, their heads buzzing, and it seemed as if a taut string in their hearts suddenly broke.

His Majesty Ed died just like that?
The dwarves either stood there in a daze, or shook their heads slightly, or muttered to themselves: "No, no, Your Majesty Eddard."

"This is impossible."

"No, no"

Then, the dwarves looked at the broken stone sculptures in the distance, and they began to tremble all over and burst into tears. They even knelt on the ground and banged their heads against the ground, splattering the city wall with blood.

Dwarves have always been a straightforward race that does not hide their feelings.

At this moment, great sorrow struck the hearts of the dwarves. They couldn't even believe that the invincible king had died like this.

"Do not--"

"Your Majesty Ed!"

"He won't die. He is the Lord of the Mountain!"

It was not until several minutes later that the remaining shield dwarf warriors finally accepted this cruel fact:

The Lord of the Mountains who had always protected them, the King of Avenderdan, the Dwarf King whom they followed and trusted, Eddard Crane, died under the flames of the evil dragon.

At this moment, the dwarves lost their most solid support.

"Damn evil dragon followers!"

"I want to avenge His Majesty Ed! I want to die with you!"

"For His Majesty Eddard!"

The remaining dwarf warriors were furious. They let out furious war cries and rushed towards the imperial soldiers like crazy. Some even jumped off the city wall, trying to bring back Ed's body.

"boom!"

"Bang! Bang!"

"Hahaha, go to hell with your rotten stone king!"

However, what greeted the dwarves were the cold muzzles and merciless ridicule of the imperial soldiers. The imperial infantry dealt with this disorganized attack with great ease.

Under the whistling gunfire, the dwarves fell to the ground one after another.

But even before they died, these loyal dwarf warriors were still staring in the direction of Ed's body, struggling to stretch out their bloody hands, with warm tears flowing from their eyes.

"His Majesty."

"Your Majesty Ed."

Seeing the dwarf king completely dead, the shadow of the giant dragon in the sky slowly dissipated and turned into flowing flames.

Misha's body relaxed and she snorted. Her pupils returned to their normal golden color, and the majestic dragon power suddenly disappeared.

Apparently, Cassius ended the "possession" and Misha regained control of her body.

The wyvern was extremely envious, even a little jealous, of Misha's "exclusive favor".

——As a veteran of the Burning Embers Nest, it is obvious that his qualifications are far greater than Misha's and he is more qualified to sign a contract with the master.

But seeing this, Smaug didn't care about anything else and came forward, with a flattering smile on his face and sticky saliva dripping from the corners of his mouth: "Miss Misha, you are worthy of being the master's agent."

"You are wrong. This is not my credit, but the grace of my master." Misha shook her head slightly and then pointed to the sky.

After regaining control of her body, Misha was extremely excited and her heart was pounding - being controlled by the great Burning Emperor was obviously a proud and incomparable honor.

After calming down for a while, Misha looked at the remains of the dwarf in the distance and couldn't help but sigh: "This is the great power of my Lord. Even if it is just a thought, it can produce such a terrifying power."

"Yes."

Smaug echoed beside Misha, flapping his wings and wagging his tail.

"Very good, clean up the battlefield and prepare to enter the city." Misha turned around and saw that the progress in Avenderdan City was also quite smooth.

The imperial soldiers were marching in an orderly manner, forming neat formations, easily killing the crazy dwarf warriors with guns and cannons, and were about to complete the final work and completely occupy the fortress. Suddenly, a desolate elegy echoed over Avenderdan, the voice was hoarse and revealed endless sorrow.

"When you no longer open your holy eyes and remain silent."

The surrounding imperial soldiers looked up with some curiosity, and saw an old dwarf standing at the top of the palace, chanting in a low voice.

——He is Bjorn Reilly, an old minister who has followed three generations of mountain lords for more than three hundred years and is known as the living fossil of the dwarf race.

At this moment, the old dwarf was disheveled, ragged, and his body was covered with traces of war, but his eyes were extremely firm, as if he had made some kind of determination.

Bjorn is a follower of Dumathoin, the "Silent Keeper", and in their customs, funerals representing death are the most important.

The priest presiding over the funeral must compose a song honoring the life and deeds of the deceased dwarf, a song that is never sung aloud in honor of the ever-silent Dumathoin.

At this moment, Bjorn was singing in a low voice, holding the final funeral for the dead Ed.

According to the original custom, the personal symbols of the corpse, the clan symbols and beliefs would also be woven into the deceased's beard, but surrounded by enemies, Bjorn was unable to do so.

The old dwarf could only tremble on his crutches and continue to sing: "Holy hero, you dedicate your soul to your subjects and your body to the earth."

The imperial soldier asked: "Sir, should we take that old guy?"

The officer made a gesture of wiping his neck and said in a cold voice: "Kill them! These priests and pastors have many strange methods. They must be executed as soon as possible to prevent future troubles."

Throughout the city, other imperial soldiers received almost identical orders.

The imperial soldiers obeyed the order, raised their rifles, aimed at the old dwarf on the top of the palace, and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

"boom!"

"Bang! Bang!"

Chaotic gunshots rang out, Bjorn staggered a few steps, and several blood flowers suddenly appeared on his chest.

Soon after, bleeding holes appeared on the old dwarf's head, abdomen and even legs. He collapsed to the ground powerlessly, with blood all over the ground.

But even so, with a smile on his face and a mouthful of blood foam on his lips, he continued to dutifully hum: "Hero who sacrificed everything to protect the kingdom, the mountains will be yours."

The dwarf's voice grew fainter, gradually turning into a slight hum, and finally falling into complete silence.

Until his death, Bjorn never closed his eyes. His head tilted, facing the direction of Ed's remains. His bloody mouth was slightly open, as if there were thousands of words he had yet to say.

At the top of the city wall of Avondeldan, the hobgoblin Dror folded his arms, overlooking the devastated city of Avondeldan with a satisfied smile: "It's finally over here."

However, at this moment, the cold wind blew through the remains of the Dwarf King, and blew through the gap in his chest again, making a sad sound.

"Whoosh-"

"Hero who sacrificed everything, the mountains will become your tombstone, and all things will mourn for you——"

The melody of the voice was exactly the same as the elegy sung by Bjorn!

Suddenly, Dror's face changed drastically, and he quickly turned around and looked at the remains of the dwarf king in the distance.

Smaug let out a questioning howl, flapped his wings, and took to the air again, ready to fight at any time.

Misha also frowned, staring at the stone-like corpse, and whispered softly: "Could it be..."

"Shh-"

A light as deep as the earth descended from the sky, covering the remains of Ed Klein.

In an instant, gravel flew, dust filled the sky, the surrounding rocks gathered together, and the figure in the light became taller and more burly.

An unprecedented pressure spread out, and even Misha felt like a mountain was pressing down on her shoulders, making it difficult for her to fly.

"Damn, what the hell is that?"

"Could it be that the Lord of the Mountain has been resurrected?"

"How is that possible? He was clearly burned to death by Lady Misha's flames. I saw it with my own eyes. Even his heart was burned clean!"

When the light faded, a dwarf with a broad chest stood on the ground and appeared in everyone's sight.

He had hair and beard that looked as if carved from gray stone, earthy brown skin, and eyes of silver fire. His shoulders were as broad as most barns, and his arms were knotted and swollen with taut muscles.
Even the war hammer in his hand turned into a mattock made of solidified magma - the Lava Hammer.

From his facial features, people can still vaguely recognize Ed's appearance, but his temperament has changed drastically.

“He is really resurrected!”

"Casius is above!"

"What's the big deal? If Lady Misha can kill him the first time, she can kill him the second time!"

"These damn dwarves are as hard as rocks. They should all be burned to ashes!"

Seeing such a miraculous scene, the soldiers and officers of the empire talked a lot, with surprise on their faces, but they were not too afraid.

However, Misha, Dror and other high-ranking officials of the empire who knew the intelligence looked solemn and serious, and even sweated profusely.

The hobgoblin Dror couldn't help swallowing his saliva and tremblingly revealed the identity of the dwarf: "That is definitely not Ed Klein! That is the Silent Keeper, Dumathoin!"

Dumathoin, the silent keeper, the keeper of the secrets beneath the mountain, the shield of the mountain, and the protector of the shield dwarves.

Dwarven legend has it that when Moradin appointed him protector of the shield dwarves, Dumathoin created a paradise for them beneath the mountains.

He fashioned natural caves of extraordinary beauty and inlaid them with rich and beautiful deposits of glittering metals and sparkling crystal gems.

He felt delighted and honored to see the magnificent works of art the dwarves created from the ore they mined.

This silent guardian seldom spoke, but communicated with gestures, and no one had ever seen him do more than mutter or sigh in the presence of mortals.

As the guardian of the shield dwarves, any killing of shield dwarves would also anger Dumathoin.

The dwarves in the distance, or Dumathoin who descended on Eddard's body, looked around. Wherever his gaze went, a violent sandstorm would be set off.

"Shh-"

At this moment, Dumathoin looked at the devastated ground and the piles of shield dwarf corpses. He sighed and looked sad, as if he was mourning for the earth and the shield dwarves.

Then, He suddenly raised his head, with uncontrollable anger in his eyes.

"Casius is on top, run!"

The imperial soldiers who saw him felt suffocated.

"boom--"

There was a dull roar from the deep earth and the ground was shaking violently. The "silent keepers" did not speak, but they were expressing their anger through the earth and mountains!
The entire Blackrock Mountain was shaking. It was a real earthquake! Buildings in Avenderdan collapsed one after another, and bricks and stones fell on the imperial soldiers, causing them to wail. (End of this chapter)