From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 417 Transaction Completed
"Nine is a cowardly jaluk (Elf language: bastard)," Minsara shared the information he got from Sergeant Slin after the adventure team regrouped. "He was once my follower and a wizard advisor to the Baenre family. When I led the family's army to the Moonrise Tower, he was just a flatterer who spent every day trying to make up lies to please me. But after becoming a true soul of the Supreme God, he was on an equal footing with me and was given such an important task by Catheric."

"What does Catheric Thom hope to find in this temple?" Shadowheart asked with a frown, "Some kind of artifact of Lady Shar?"

"Keserik was once a believer of Selune," explained Halsin, who had participated in the fight against Keserik Thorm's army of the Night Judge a hundred years ago. "Later, he turned to Shar's arms and raised an entire army of the Night Judge from Rasven. This temple might be the place where he received the power of the Night Goddess."

"Whether he is trying to find some lost artifact, an unknown power, or the adamantium furnace itself, we can't let him succeed." Ivy glanced at the Eye of the Supreme God that was circling around the evil thoughts. Ever since the magic eyeball saw the evil thoughts, it has been following her.

Xie Nian is best at moving in shadows and ruins. This half-abandoned temple is like a playground to her. After bypassing several stone pillars and iron gates, Xie Nian quickly took the Magic Eye of the Supreme God away from the crowd. Although he couldn't see the specific situation from where the team was talking, Ivy knew that the magic eyeball would soon be killed. In addition to his duel sword and dagger, Xie Nian also took a Whispering Flower from Zhuo Er. For magical creations, the Whispering Flower that can absorb magic power completely restrains the Magic Eye of the Supreme God in all aspects.

"The sergeant of the gray dwarves provided some interesting information..." Minsara continued, "The passage where the jaluk (Elf language: bastard) of Nin is located is not entirely a cliff, but a lift connecting to a deeper temple. He hopes to find a way to make the platform below functional so that he can complete Keseric's mission."

"Besides that, there is a larger space behind the stone wall and the lava lake on the left. These gray dwarves are trying to find a way to get around it via the metal conveyor belt above their heads. My advisor told me that the adamantium furnace is most likely to be in a place with a lot of magma, because the forge relies on the heat of magma to function."

The metal conveyor belt that Minsala mentioned was right above everyone's head. It looked like a suspended mine cart track, with the upper part used as a plank road and the lower part suspended by metal rollers to hold the loading bucket. A facility similar to a hoisting platform was suspended near the track, connected to the tower above through a sophisticated mechanical structure. Although the surface of these metal facilities looked rusty, they were still very solid. It was unknown whether their functions had been damaged.

All the structures in the entire temple reflect the busy scene here many years ago. Through these silent steel behemoths, everyone can imagine how many magical weapons the forge could produce in its heyday.

According to Ivy's perspective, the feeding part of this forge already has the prototype of the industrial age. If the heat of the magma not only provides the forging fire for the adamantium furnace, but also provides power for these ancillary facilities, then the design concept of this entire building can be called an industrial wonder even on Earth.

Ivy looked up and saw that the gray dwarves sentinels at high places had been replaced silently. After the evil thoughts led away the magic eye of the Supreme God, Elder Blissval gathered all the gray dwarves who had been branded with a simple slogan "For the Supreme God and her glorious true souls" and went to replace the deep gnomes to dig stones.

"Sergeant Major." Elder Blisval led the gray dwarves closer to the collapsed stone pestle. "These dwarf slaves are too slow! At this rate, I don't know how long it will take to rescue the True Soul. Perhaps we should think of a way to boost their morale - what do you think of the method of beating them to death?"

Slashing is a popular collective punishment method in the underground world, often used against ineffective troops or slaves whose work efficiency has dropped significantly. Minsara has used this method many times in the goblin camp to deter those lax and undisciplined goblins.

In terms of specific implementation, it means selecting one person from a group by drawing lots or voting, and then having the entire group inflict violence on that person until the unlucky person dies completely.

When executing the killing, the officers or slave owners in the underground world often do not provide weapons, because they hope to prolong the victim's suffering as much as possible to achieve the purpose of deterring others. Therefore, those unlucky people who draw the death lot or are voted out by their companions are often beaten to death by their former companions with stones or tools.

The deep gnomes were also a race that originated from the Underdark, so when they heard Elder Blissval say the word "smash to kill," many of them couldn't help but tremble.

"Fear is indeed an effective way to improve work efficiency..." Sergeant Major Silin hesitated, "But..."

"But the task of rescuing the True Souls cannot afford any delay." Elder Bliswal immediately took over the conversation, "So I brought all the good guys of the Supreme God! Before the dwarf slaves recover their ability to work, they can take over the excavation work. This is a good opportunity to offer loyalty to the Supreme God, right?"

"I have seen your loyalty to the Supreme God, Elder." Sergeant Major Slin's sad expression relaxed a lot. She had already put all her thoughts on rescuing Nina, and not only did she not find anything wrong, she even nodded approvingly.

Elder Blisval smiled cruelly and ordered the gray dwarves behind him to snatch the digging tools from the deep gnomes. "Put down the things in your hands, you lazy bastards, and follow me. Soon, we will know who is the lucky one."

The sundernags trembled all over, and dropped their tools in despair. It was not that they did not want to resist, but those who stayed here were only craftsmen and scholars, not proficient in fighting. Even if they really used the tools in their hands to attack these gray dwarves, it would only speed up the countdown to the demise of the clan.

The gray dwarves gathered the deep gnomes together with curses and kicks, picked up the tools they had thrown on the ground, and began to work enthusiastically.

The deep gnomes followed Elder Blisval through the hall and the half-broken gate with trepidation.

They all knew that after a few more flights of stairs, they would reach the dock below, and on the right side of the dock was where the gray dwarves imprisoned the deep gnomes. More than half of the Iron Hand clan died there, and the gray dwarves piled their bodies on the shore, but had not had time to throw them into the Ebony Lake.

But the horrific scene that could be imagined did not occur.

Waiting for the deep gnomes and Elder Blisval near the dock was a group of adventurers.

They gathered here in advance, on the one hand to eliminate the believers of the Supreme God guarding here, and on the other hand to wait for the "cargo" from the gray dwarf elder.

"The goods are here, boss." Elder Blisval glanced at the body lying on the ground. It was the youngest member of the Huoyin clan, but he had also accepted the mark of the Supreme God under the instigation of Sergeant Major Slin.

This psychic brand can use the mind flayer tadpoles in the True Soul's brain as a transit station, expand the psychic power of the main brain, and thus enslave more servants. Once branded, these unfortunate people are no longer their previous selves. They will love the Supreme God and her True Soul with all their hearts, even if they jump into the magma just to make them laugh. "You bought these dwarf slaves?" Minsara cast an admiring look at Ivy, "They look like a group of craftsmen, not hard laborers. It's a waste to let the gray dwarves use them! They will bring new vitality to our city, which is good, DOOM."

"These dwarves should be free! They are no one's slaves!" Gale warned, "Don't forget that we have promised Tula to rescue her companions, and the Iron Hand dwarves have also promised to pay a reward."

Mingsara obviously didn't want the labor force she had obtained to fly away. Just when she was about to have a debate with Gale, the gray dwarf elder waved his hand to interrupt their conversation.

"I don't care what kind of treaty you have reached with these slaves, but I have brought the goods. It's time to show your sincerity, surface people." The old dwarf looked back. He knew that the excuse of beating and killing would not buy much time.

"Ruling the surface and ruling the underground have completely different political logics, Minsara." Ivy comforted, "Let's focus on the Supreme God. The elders have provided us with great convenience. Now those supporters of the Supreme God only have pickaxes and shovels in their hands. We can take them down without any effort, and then deal with Nine in the tunnel."

Blood soon splashed in every corner of the hall. The heat from the magma evaporated the stench of the blood into the air, making the already turbid air even more filthy.

Sergeant Major Slin's feet were frozen to the ground by Gale's frost magic. She tore off her flesh with great difficulty and angrily scolded the traitors in the hall: "Blisval! You traitor! You betrayed the Supreme God!"

The gray dwarf warriors are called Stone Guards. These guys are all wearing solid scale armor and chain mail. Years of training have enabled them to master the use of a variety of weapons, and the gray dwarfs' tough physique also allows these warriors to ignore the external injuries caused by ordinary swords.

However, without weapons and caught off guard, most of the Rock Guards loyal to Sergeant Major Slin were killed in just one encounter.

Not only were they at a disadvantage in numbers, but also in their fighting spirit.

Apart from the drow elf Ninna who was trapped in the passage, the only person who was still loyal to the Supreme God was the lame Sergeant Major Slin.

She leaned desperately against the jagged surface of the rubble, waving her weapon in the hope of a miracle, but the rubble did not stir except for a handful of dust.

"Betrayal? You are not qualified to say betrayal!" Blisval raised his warhammer and walked in front of the sergeant-major. "It was you who betrayed the Fire Shadow Clan! You let the poor guys fall into the conspiracy of the Mind Flayer!"

The hammer collided with the Sergeant's forehead repeatedly, and the gray contents quickly splashed onto the surface of the rubble, filling up the dent that Sergeant Slin had smashed out in despair.

After finishing everything, the elder leaned over to look at his masterpiece, hoping to find the mind flayer tadpole that Ivy had told him about.

He needed to prove to the remaining members of the Huoyin Clan that what he did was not wrong.

“Oh my God…” Elder Blisval took two steps back, his throat tightening involuntarily. An ugly insect was crawling out of Sergeant Major Slin’s broken eye socket with its fangs and claws bared. Judging from its mouthparts covered with spikes and the short tentacles on its head, it was undoubtedly a Mind Flayer tadpole. “This shouldn’t be… It… It’s too big…”

Although they are called Mind Flayer Tadpoles, in fact, all these small worms born in the brain pool have the potential to continue to grow. As long as the conditions and food are right, they can even grow into a brutal giant worm. However, all the masterminds will strictly control the growth of the mind flayer tadpoles and will not let them grow more than a few inches. Once the mastermind finds an overgrown mind flayer tadpole, it will use it as food for itself or other mind flayer tadpoles.

Compared with the mind flayer tadpoles in the minds of the true souls, the tadpoles cultivated by other mind flayer masterminds hiding in the Underdark are simply underdeveloped.

As soon as Ivy thought about it, the invisible wizard's hand picked up the fat worm from Sergeant Major Slin's broken head.

Everyone in the hall witnessed the hideous and ugly bug. The lava river flowing under the hall couldn't even bring a trace of heat when they thought about how this thing would completely replace a person's existence after drilling into their head.

"The Mind Flayer is the scourge of this world!" The gray dwarf's words were filled with cold hatred. "Let that bastard Nin be completely swallowed by Shar's poisonous smoke! We can wait until he dies and then take the gold from him."

"Please... please save my Bedron! He's about to die in there!" It was an underground gnome who broke the silence in the hall. After the gray dwarf elder sold them, they had been hiding in the dark and observing the development of the situation.

Seeing the gray dwarves who had tortured them for a long time killing each other, these Iron Hand Dwarves from Baldur's Gate quickly figured out who was the real boss at the scene.

"One of our companions ran away, Phillomin, and she carried a huge bucket of smoke powder with her! As long as we can find her, we can definitely move these stones!" said another underground dwarf.

(End of this chapter)