A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 624 Transferring Refugees

The image of Vidal was also worshipped by the dwarves, and now it was time for Him to give back to His people. The giant frowned, and the raging black waves gradually shattered and twisted, transforming into an infinitely tall and ever-changing formless entity that seemed poised to devour all souls and the giants blocking its path.

Fortunately, besides Vidal, there was a second force interfering with and hindering the Mother Goddess's attack. Also originating from the upper reaches of the Spirit River, a pure white-gold light burst forth, weakening the nearby ominous black body as it advanced. The two abstract forces mingled together, slowing down the momentum of the Mother Goddess's attack.

The giant, believing the time was ripe, swung his greatsword at the black monster. However, the invisible entity possessed a strength comparable to the giant's, and took the attack head-on.

As the two sides remained deadlocked, the souls of the dwarves who perished in the catastrophe encountered the gods recorded in their ancestors' accounts and realized that He was fighting for them. These spiritual lights exerted their last bit of will, gathering and engulfing the giant's ankles, gradually merging into His incarnation, wanting to give Him strength.

The silent giant made no statement, merely sensing the growth of its power before suddenly unleashing it—the greatsword slash pierced through its target, while a platinum-gold radiance seized the opportunity to burst forth, breaking through the black entity and together neutralizing the Mother Goddess's attack.

Vidar's avatar, exhausted, shattered its greatsword and dissolved into the form of a young girl. It gazed down at the homogenized spirit and silently vanished from the river's surface.

At the same time, Rorschach sensed the tremors in the Symbolic Realm. However, the other mages were already prepared, the dwarves' starships were anxiously waiting, and the North Wind Corpse could launch a second wave of attacks at any moment. He had to put aside his hesitation and take action.

The other elders, who had formed a circle in the air, noticed that the previously calming environmental magic was fluctuating again, but thankfully it quickly stabilized completely. Furthermore, the snowstorm within the Dwarven Confederation also ceased.

With Dryaz's assistance, Rorschach activated the second long-range [World Weaving] spell. The magma deep within lost its high pressure, cooling and darkening as it descended, no longer threatening the ruins of the main city. Huge roots sprouted from nowhere; they were not creations of the Mother Goddess, had no need to devour flesh and blood, nor did they release deadly poison gas. They simply supported the rocks for the survivors, like the puppets summoned by other spellcasters, but they reached more places and went deeper, and could also transport and secrete sap containing sugar and water to the victims.

The mages responsible for opening the portal clearly felt the magical energy concentration increasing, not over a large area, but limited to the area they had enclosed. Furthermore, this magical energy began to polarize and concentrate in specific locations, outlining complex circuits.

In other words, the original loops within the machine or the magic arrays of traditional teleportation portals are no longer needed; they are simply waiting for you to activate and maintain their operation.

"I'll begin the countdown. When I reach three, all masters, please activate the portal." Rorschach's voice echoed in everyone's heads, but it sounded distant yet omnipresent, without a specific source, lacking inflection, and devoid of any human warmth: "Ten, nine, eight."

"three,"

The spatial membrane in front of the elders began to unfold, spreading and merging in a very short time, spreading out into a portal connecting with the sky.

"two,"

As soon as Rorschach finished speaking, violent ripples erupted at the center of the spatial membrane. At the point of greatest warping, something broke through the portal, revealing a corner of a colossal object.

"one."

A scorching, high-pressure wave of air swept over each mage. Had they not been high-ranking spellcasters with their own protection, resilience, and alchemical artifacts, they would have been instantly roasted to a crisp. The mages could only construct portals level with the ground, so the dwarven starships had to teleport vertically downwards to reach them.

It had only about two kilometers of space to adjust its attitude, and the engines provided violent reverse thrust to slow it down, maximizing the [levitation] circuits throughout its body. The dwarven starships had no streamlined shape at all; they had a mature escalator system from the very beginning, and considering cargo carrying needs and ease of manufacturing, they were almost like super-large iron boxes.

The starship, which had been pointing directly at the ground, adjusted its bow to be parallel to the ground, and the engines on the four short arms extending from the hull and bottom spewed blue flames. However, its descent speed did not decrease, so the hatch at the stern opened, and crates of cargo were ejected from it.

"What's that?" Storm Tower Chief noticed the discarded cargo.

"They're all roughly processed ores. They might contain gold or silver, or other minerals, depending on what's on the plane of existence or on the tiny planets in the astral plane." Feuerbach had learned about this in Byrne: "These ugly boxes are oversized minecarts, and they're said to have tunneling equipment at the front, making them the most efficient and capable in history."

The Storm Tower chief immediately felt the need to retract his previous "useless sweet potato" comment: "Providing timely assistance to our allies was truly the right decision made collectively."

After emptying its cargo, the Starship, or more accurately, the Astral Multidimensional Mining Ship, finally began to slow down. Under the influence of the Prime Dimension's gravity, it barely lifted off the ground by a meter. The heat from the engines melted and evaporated the snow directly beneath the hull, making it resemble a ground-effect vehicle gliding close to the ground. After plunging into extremely thick snow, it successfully came to a stop several hundred meters away.

After confirming the first ship's soft landing, Rorschach reminded the archmages that there was a second one. The portal reopened.

The two ships were anchored at the edge of the collapsed area, firmly supported by their thick, growing root systems. After the meeting, the dwarven leadership had made every effort to restore mobilization, and the arrival of the massive starship gave hope to all the surviving dwarves.

"Women and children first! Damn it, your beard is so long and stiff, get to the back of the line." Ruger joined the order-keeping team at this time. In addition to women and children, the technical experts among the dwarves were also given priority for transfer.

Secondly, there are the materials that have been salvaged, especially those related to history and knowledge. It's a pity we don't know how much can be salvaged.

"Don't panic! The earthquake is over! With the mage maintaining the stability of the earth's crust, there will be no more collapses!"

"More ships will arrive, and survivors from other cities will be rescued! Don't bring too much stuff; people should board first." Even the dwarves, who were usually very organized, were in a state of chaos at this moment, and Ruger's roar gradually became hoarse.

The original ore-carrying hold was a single unit, but now the hull was filled with dwarves. They were immediately sealed off with prefabricated slabs and iron frames that supported the mine tunnels, and then people were crammed on top to create a closed, low, temporary enclosure. The original ore-refining facilities provided cooling and ventilation. Under these terrible conditions, thousands of dwarves were successfully crammed into the massive hulls of the two ships.

"Sir, where are we going? Where can we go?" The tavern owner, who had been rescued by Singhlev, asked anxiously, holding his unconscious daughter.

"Go south, to a border earldom of the Empire. Master Rorschach promised that they would accept us there," Ruger replied hoarsely.

(End of this chapter)