Star Forge Titan

Despite questioning Ivan, the unknown Bloodsworn Avenger took the initiative to take over the defense. His movements weren't particularly experienced, but he was clearly well-trained, and he quickly completed the temporary defense.

"Find the guy who did this behind the scenes."

After speaking concisely, Alvin, who understood something from the details of the other party's movements, did not say anything more. He just closed his eyes and focused most of his attention on perception.

"That's what I thought. There's nothing going on, but everyone's acting like crazy all of a sudden. Sure enough, some of the Kobolds' pets are behind this!"

The dwarf was so angry that his beard was puffing and his eyes were glaring. He vented his anger and smashed the back of his axe on the knee of a guy who was rushing towards him. The guy wailed and hugged his leg, rolling on the ground in pain like a fart who had kicked his little toe.

On the other side, Alvin couldn't help but smile when he heard the dwarf's curse.

Kobolds are a savage subhuman race with low intelligence but a primitive tribal civilization. They unexpectedly also possess the skill of mining ore and can even find mineral veins through their innate keen sense of smell.

However, the Gnolls' actual hands-on skills are very crude and backward. Whether it is mining or smelting, it is a complete waste of the mined minerals.

In contrast, the dwarves' mining techniques are both efficient and economical. Furthermore, they place a premium on high-quality ore, believing it to be the earth's most precious gift.

To the point that every dwarf particularly disliked kobolds, and the sight of them would infuriate them, believing them to be nothing more than a bunch of stupid beasts that wasted minerals. Later, all the nasty curse words in dwarven society were basically related to kobolds.

Alvin didn't care about the love-hate relationship between the gnolls and the dwarves because he had already found the culprit who caused the chaos at the scene.

Following that particularly secretive wave, the black-haired boy suddenly opened his eyes and looked towards a secluded alley connected to the street.

There stood a stranger dressed in black clothes and armor, his head and face carefully covered by a turban.

The other person was holding a small silver incense burner suspended by a thin chain. From the incense burner, which was hollowed out and carved with intricate patterns, wisps of inconspicuous smoke kept wafting out, mixed with the hidden fluctuations of magic.

Ivan's golden eyes, protected by divine power, penetrated the surface and saw the bright magical glow inside the incense burner.

Wow, it’s actually a magic item of at least rare level, and maybe it even uses some very luxurious potions and incense.

That is a disposable consumable. Once used, it is gone and cannot be reused.

No wonder he could influence so many low-level transcendents at once.

"Found it." Alvin patted the Dwarf Avenger's shoulder and motioned him to look in the direction he pointed.

"Did that guy do it?" The dwarf did not rush over rashly. Alvin was somewhat accustomed to his caution.

After all, every ethnic group has individuals who are different from the mainstream. Maybe this is a very cautious and careful dwarf avenger?

"It's actually very simple to confirm whether it's true or not."

Ivan smiled slightly, and with swift movements he flipped over and jumped onto the back of the Mountain King.

The next moment, a loud roar suddenly sounded on the long street.

Mountain King—Charge!

Chapter 13: Demon Sword Soldiers

The sudden appearance of clues and the inexplicable madness of the crowd, all of this seems to be a complete trap.

As the hot wind from the sand blew past his ears, Alvin confirmed this in his heart.

However, he still didn't understand the target of this trap.

Is it the extraordinary being lured here by the Witch King's secret magic? Or is it the young dwarf Thorin who absconded with the Witch King's secret magic?

It could be both, or it could be both at the same time.

Although items like this that can subtly influence others and even affect the thoughts of extraordinary people are rare and precious, they do exist.

Including the condition that it could affect lower-level transcendents of the first and second ranks, Ivan alone knew of no fewer than twenty types. Not to mention the number of similar items he didn't know about, which could only be even greater.

The vast majority of these magical creations can be resisted with a strong will, but this presupposes that the recipient's will is strong enough. Some races are naturally adept at this, such as the dwarves who endure the oppression brought by loneliness and darkness and dig for minerals deep underground for years.

As for Alvin himself, to be honest, he didn't feel like he was affected by anything outside.

Taking into account several related enhancements in the Elrond Arcane Transformation, such as the filtration of highly toxic gases obtained through the Arcane Transformation of the 'Third Lung' organ, and the high immunity value against toxic substances after strengthening the internal organs and internal circulation system, plus the powerful vitality brought by the two-way conversion of magic blood from the job talent [Phoenix Blood].

Maybe, perhaps, he had unintentionally become immune to the magic potion incense that was spread through aerosol.

The time for thinking is often faster than the time for action. While others were still in a daze, Ivan, who was riding his horse at full speed, had already completed his review of the whole thing. At the same time, he rushed to the unidentified man in black at a tremendous speed, with no intention of slowing down at all!

Shanwang, who fully understood his master's thoughts, blew out a large amount of white mist from his nostrils. The mist was essentially high-temperature water vapor and could even burn people. The horseshoes, whose composition had been replaced by metal, stepped on the solid stone road with a few rises and falls, leaving cracks.

The giant horse, more than three meters tall, was like a living tank made of muscle. Coupled with the powerful inertia brought by running at high speed, the powerful momentum made Alvin vaguely think that he was driving a heavy dump truck and crashing into the scarecrow target across the road.

Although this does not conform to the actual situation, the two things are essentially not much different.

You know, in ancient times, when heavy cavalry wearing heavy armor launched a charge, the greatest source of the power of the entire attack wave was often the powerful momentum created by the horses running.

Considering that the size of the Mountain King is far greater than that of a normal horse, the impact force it generates when charging will only be stronger than that of a professionally trained horse, dozens or even hundreds of times stronger!

The unidentified man in black robe was obviously stunned by the scene and did not react immediately.

It was not until the continuous sound of horse hooves in his ears turned into a surging wave like the sea that he quickly dropped the silver incense burner in his hand and rushed to the right side of the road with all his strength, trying to avoid the head-on collision with the Mountain King.

So far, this person's performance wasn't particularly outstanding, but his reaction was much faster than that of a completely frightened loser. A horse running at high speed couldn't easily turn around, so as long as he could avoid the first wave of head-on collisions, he would have enough time to calmly deal with the second wave of attacks.

But he obviously underestimated Sanwang, a mechanical monster that was very different from an ordinary horse except for its appearance.

"Hi Lu Lu!!!" The tall and huge horse with a shiny black body opened its mouth, revealing two rows of large steel teeth shining silver (literally).

An electric current so weak as to be inconspicuous was wrapped around its four horse legs, and the internal mechanical device, which was completely different from its appearance, showed a truly powerful driving power.

As if catching a high-precision anti-missile system, Sanwang stretched his neck and bit the black-robed man accurately!

"As expected of you!" Alvin couldn't help laughing when he saw this scene, and let the Mountain King hold the black-robed man in the air and swing him around, playing a humorous little game that might shake the other person's brains.

After a while, he patted his mount's neck, signaling the tall, strange horse to look at the overturned silver incense burner on the ground. Honestly, he would not even bother to pick up such a single-purpose and sinister thing, at most he would reshape it and recycle the materials.

The Mountain King understood what he meant and immediately glared. Two red beams shot out. Although it was a magical device, the incense burner was not used for combat. It was melted into a pool of silver liquid metal in an instant. Only some parts made of special materials remained solid, which made Alvin look sideways.

"Is it Mithril? Oh, that's right. It's a rare magical device after all, so it's not surprising that the core components use this material."

Liquid silver metal with a temperature of over 900 degrees is enough to burn flesh and blood into charcoal, but Alvin obviously doesn't have to worry about this little heat. He just bends down slightly and fishes out the remaining unmelted part of the mithril from the hot liquid metal.

It could be used to repair the diplomat ring that Frey gave me, so that my height doesn't attract too much attention.

As Alvin thought this in his heart, he skillfully threw the mithril into the spiritual space.

At this moment, the black-robed man who was being swung around by Sanwang in his mouth like an electric fan had already launched a counterattack.

However, when the scimitar in his hand chopped on the mountain king's neck, apart from the crisp sound of tinkling and a few sparks, it did not break the defense at all.

It's no wonder. You have to know that this tall and strange horse has thick skin and flesh. After being transformed into a shell species by the mysterious power in the giant ruins, it has become a copper head, iron skin and steel bones. Ordinary weapons have no chance of breaking its defense.

"Damn it!" The man in black roared hoarsely and took out a red dagger from his arms.

As soon as the dagger was unsheathed, it emitted a very obvious magical fluctuation.

Enchanted weapons?

No, it's the magic sword!

Different from ordinary enchanted weapons that are enchanted with magic or strengthened with magic power for a short period of time.

The so-called magic sword often refers to a rare magic weapon like 'Burning Justice' that has a powerful magical effect.

Considering the entry threshold of at least 'rare' in terms of production and the extremely high upper limit that can reach 'immortal', most ordinary extraordinary people rarely have the opportunity to obtain such magical weapons. Often, only those extraordinary people with powerful forces or schools behind them can be equipped with them.

Although this is not absolute, it can also show that the identity of the man in black robe is extraordinary.

At this moment, dazzling arcs of electricity leaped back and forth on the dark red blade of the dagger, showing the amazing power of this weapon that surpassed ordinary metal weapons.

But neither Alvin nor Shanwang showed much surprise. The latter even snorted and looked disdainful.

The black-robed man angrily thrust out the magic sword in his hand. The magic dagger, which cut through the air with an arc of electricity, slowly sank into the mountain king's neck. It could easily resist the surface composite defense of most ordinary weapons. This time, the magic part played a relatively limited role, and the defense almost entirely relied on the material itself.

however……

That's it?

The man seemed to see such doubts from the pair of round horse eyes that looked at him sideways.

What the hell! The dagger had struck the horse's carotid artery. A normal horse would have bled to death from such a blow.

However, since the day he was born, this evil beast, Sanwang, has had little to do with the noun "normal horse", which is limited by the prefix adjective.

After becoming a machine-type, Sanou's camouflage form, while maintaining a horse, resembled a normal horse, but at least a third of his neck was composed entirely of stacked metal armor. While the short sword's length was sufficient to penetrate the outermost layer of defense, it failed to inflict any damage.

For example, if Sanwang had a health bar like a game boss.

The black-robed man's move probably slightly reduced the orange bar on the surface that could be seen at the beginning of the boss battle.

However, for the boss, who actually had seven or eight health bars, that was just the first bar of health, representing the remaining durability of the outer armor. This attack had no effect on the red health bar of the mountain king itself, hidden below the armor value.

"How is this possible! This is..." The man in black robe suddenly realized something and quickly stopped talking.

He raised his head in a cold sweat and saw a strong figure riding on the back of a three-meter-high giant horse, with a height of two and a half meters.

The tall figure was facing away from the sun, and in the shadow created by the backlight, only a pair of golden eyes were watching silently. The muscles that perfectly matched the golden ratio were majestic, toned, and full of heroic spirit, making the visitor look like an ancient and majestic statue of a god, calm and terrifying, silent and majestic.

Ivan maintained a calm expression, and at the same time silently activated his talent [Perfect Appearance] to manually maximize his presence.

Feeling the boundless and huge presence like the sky above his head, the man in black robe made a quick decision and bit his back teeth without hesitation.

Along with the crisp sound of the hollow dentures shattering, the highly toxic powder that burst out from the broken dentures first melted into his saliva and then immediately flowed into his blood. The pain of being unable to breathe lasted only a brief moment, and then everything was over.

"Death warrior..." Ivan, who didn't expect that there was a death warrior hidden among the wild superhumans, looked at this scene with some surprise, and then quickly patted Shanwang.

"Spit it out quickly, it's so dirty... Oh, wait, you probably aren't afraid of poison anymore." The black-haired boy just finished speaking when he realized that his mount, which had become a shell species, was most likely not afraid of poison. He awkwardly but politely retracted his hand that was slapping Sanwang's head.

After being slapped for no apparent reason, Shan Wang looked back in shock, and let go of the black-robed man's rapidly stiffening body.

He twisted the head of this strange horse back and pulled out the dagger stuck in the surface armor. While playing with it, Alvin narrowed his eyes and began to think.

If he had known that the other party was such a stubborn and determined warrior, he would have known how to guard against those means of suicide, but it was too late now.

But it doesn't matter, even if it's a dead person...

It can also 'speak'.

Chapter 14: Lady at Night Party

"I said……"

The female mage, who was approached by a man riding a giant horse, looked at her as if she were looking at a rare item.

"We've been apart for an hour? You seem a bit efficient. Are you so eager to see your sister again?"

Heidi leaned against the door frame, slightly tilted and a little sleepy, wearing only a thin pure white linen nightgown.

"I didn't, I didn't, don't talk nonsense." Alvin immediately crossed his hands and gestured in denial.

To be honest, it wasn't long before they reached a preliminary cooperation intention.

Based on very simple logical reasoning, since someone is secretly instigating the extraordinary people to fight each other, the probability that the explosion that attracted everyone was a conspiracy is obviously far greater than the probability that it is truly related to the secret magic of the Witch King.

Therefore, Alvin left the place where the explosion occurred early and is now at the headquarters of the Golden Sand Chamber of Commerce, a quiet desert-style manor.

In addition to various warehouses for storing goods, the main body of the manor is a two-story house with a considerable area.

This building also has distinct desert characteristics. The walls are built with layers of local drought-resistant plants, soil and seemingly endless sand. There are a few narrow windows to reduce the loss of water vapor in the house and reduce the heat caused by the sun.

Of course, the narrow windows made the interior of the building appear dim, but the luxurious number of candles and a few exceptionally bright magic lamps still illuminated the entire mansion.

"Let's just call it an unexpected gain. Although it may not be directly related to the real treasure, at least there is a chance to get some information, some information about some people hiding in the shadows behind the scenes." Ivan shrugged and motioned Heidi to look at the first floor.

The inner hall of this mansion connects the first and second floors, and a large magic lamp hanging from the top emits bright light.

The rooms on the second floor are built around a U-shaped corridor, and in the center of the corridor is a Y-shaped branching staircase connecting the two floors.

As the hostess, Heidi's bedroom is naturally on the second floor of the mansion. There is a spacious terrace outside the door, from which you can overlook the hall on the first floor.

At this moment, a young dwarf with a bright green Mohawk was sitting at the reception area in the lobby on the first floor. Feng Ling, who had become more and more courageous since being rescued, served him tea and looked at the rare hairstyle curiously.

"What about the dwarf who came with you?" Heidi's eyes fell on the hall below.

"I met him by chance. He helped me a little before." Alvin paused, his eyes becoming a little subtle.

"He calls himself Grippy Parrett. While he doesn't have much combat experience, he's likely received decent training. He claims to be an occasional adventurer and is willing to accept any employment requiring force. I figured he might need some help soon, so I didn't refuse him outright."

"A young dwarf." Heidi's eyes became subtle, and then she came close to Ivan with a scent of flowers, and whispered another reason that the young fellow in front of her did not say, a more important reason.

"You doubt him?"

Being approached by the fragrant older sister, Ivan instinctively took a half step back. Seeing this, Heidi immediately showed a look of disapproval. Ivan had no choice but to pretend not to notice and looked at the young dwarf who called himself Grippy Parrett.

"I can't say it's completely impossible, but the possibility is probably so low that it can be ignored. After all, the process of our acquaintance was quite... dramatic."

Thinking of the Mountain King picking up the equally confused dwarf with a silly look on his face, Alvin couldn't help laughing when he recalled the scene, and he really didn't find any signs of deliberate arrangement.