Misha Intervenes

Ed dropped into a half-crouch and pressed his left hand against the earth, the royal bloodline surging within him. *Crack!* Strength of Stone! This was one of the Moradin faith's most quintessential divine spells, granting the caster the blessing of the earth and drastically boosting their strength for a short time. In an instant, accompanied by a crisp, sharp rumble, dust filled the air. Soil and stone climbed along his arm and spread over his body, gradually forming a coat of rock-hard armor that radiated a faint brown luminescence, the hallmark of earth elemental energy. Ed lifted his head, glaring resolutely at the wyvern as his aura steadily swelled. "*Roaaar!* It's useless, dwarf! Stop your pointless resistance! I am a vassal of the Cinder Emperor, the very embodiment of flame!" Smaug was completely swollen with arrogance. Even the legendary Lord of the Mountain seemed like nothing more than a clay dog or a straw chicken before him, utterly fragile and inconsequential. With a smug, triumphant roar toward the sky, Smaug spread his vast wings and plunged from the high heavens with irresistible momentum, hurtling straight down at the dwarven king. *Whoosh—* The edges of his wings sliced through the air with a piercing screech. Dragging a torrential trail of fire behind him, the overgrown wyvern swooped violently toward the ground. Yet Ed neither dodged nor retreated. Planting himself firmly in place, he gripped his warhammer with both hands. Muscles bulged across his arms like iron cannonballs, blue veins pulsing beneath the surface, and his knees bent slightly as he built up immense kinetic force. The very moment Smaug was about to crash upon him, Ed finally moved! Pouring every ounce of his might into the swing, he swung his warhammer straight at Smaug's head. Charged with boundless earth elemental power, the metal head tore through the atmosphere— *BOOM!!* Upon that catastrophic collision, a massive shockwave exploded outward, violently wrenching the surrounding space and kicking up a blinding maelstrom of dust and gravel. Immediately following it came Smaug's shrill, agony-laden shriek. Under that monstrous force, the wyvern's head snapped upward violently. Blood and shattered scales sprayed through midair, and his colossal frame was hurled backward across the sky. Ed's hammer strike was horrifyingly potent—it had launched the gigantic wyvern into the air like a blasted golf ball! *Crash—!* The wyvern tumbled several times in the air before smashing brutally against the city wall behind him, causing the stone masonry to collapse inward. Dust and smoke billowed outward as the twenty-meter dragon-blooded frame instantly carved out a ruinous expanse of rubble. "Curse you, dwarf! How... how could you possess such strength?!" Smaug scrambled out of the rubble, his grotesque draconic face—once brimming with smug superiority—now warped with rage, humiliation, and a creeping hint of sheer terror. The Lord of the Mountain's strength far exceeded his wildest imagination. He never could have conceived that such a tiny dwarven frame could house such terrifying power, enough to swat him aside like a pest. Right now, the wyvern's lower jaw was dripping with gore, his scales shattered, and his snout twisted slightly askew. What Smaug did not know was that with the blessing of Strength of Stone, this legendary dwarven warrior's Strength score had breached the milestone of thirty—making him even stronger than an ordinary ancient red dragon. Ed was never one to grant his foes a chance to catch their breath. Raising his warhammer high, he leaped into the air and brought it down in a crushing jump strike, bellowing, "Monster, let me show you the wrath of the mountains!" A fierce radiance burst from Ed's eyes, and the phantasmal silhouette of a mountain range manifested behind him, looking as though a towering peak were plummeting down upon the wyvern. Paling in shock, Smaug frantically beat his wings, scrambling airborne to dodge backward. *BOOM!* Earth flew and rocks shattered. The ground trembled violently as the furious dwarf smashed a crater several meters wide into the flagstones. Had that strike landed on the wyvern's head, it likely would have crushed his skull to powder. Hovering in midair on frantically flapping wings, Smaug felt a chill of relief at having barely evaded the leaping cleave. Every scrap of his former arrogance had evaporated. Yet Ed's assault was far from over. As his warhammer struck, the earth fissured, opening bottomless chasms across the stone like gaping abyssal jaws. *Crack!* In an instant, the ground roared. Amid flying debris, countless jagged stone spires erupted from the earth, shooting toward the airborne wyvern like giant greatswords thrusting from the underworld. Swords of the Earth! Caught completely off guard, Smaug twisted his body midair and flapped his left wing with all his might to veer aside, yet one of the stone spires still caught him. *Rrrrip—* The razor-sharp rock instantly pierced through scales, skin, and meat. "*SKREEE—!*" Smaug screamed at the top of his lungs in excruciating pain. The strike had speared clean through his hind leg, spilling scalding dragon blood across the earth below. Flapping his wings with frantic desperation, he barely tore himself free of the spire, dragging his wounded body away to retreat. *Boom!* *Boom! Boom!* Spires of rock erupted from the earth one after another. Ed bounded across the emerging pillars, swinging his warhammer in relentless pursuit of the wyvern, looking as though he would not rest until he had smashed the beast's skull to pieces. A localized storm of sand and gravel whipped through the air, severely hindering the wyvern's flight, while the dwarf moved through the tempest completely unimpeded. "Dwarf, you push this dragon too far!" Smaug bellowed in indignant fury. The imperial soldiers below and the dwarves of the Mountain Kingdom were all watching this momentous battle, and His Majesty himself was very likely observing every move! To be battered into such a wretched state by a mere dwarf—if word of this spread, Smaug's prestige and reputation within the Cinder Empire would be thoroughly ruined! At that thought, flames of fury flared in Smaug's eyes. He abruptly whipped around, opened his gaping jaws, and shrieked with venomous hatred, "Dwarf, I will burn you to cinders!" *Fwoosh—!* Scorching dragonfire surged from the wyvern's throat, savage tongues of flame rolling like a tidal wave toward the oncoming dwarf. Ed calmly raised his left arm. The surrounding sand, soil, and gravel gathered to his side in an instant, coalescing into a massive, heavy shield. Steadfast Rock Shield! Lifting the great shield with his left arm and gripping the warhammer tightly in his right, Ed charged headlong into the roaring flames without an ounce of fear. His voice rumbled like thunder: "Come, monster! Dwarves are forged from the furnace of All-Father Moradin—we never fear fire!" Seeing the dwarf charge straight toward him, Smaug was seized by a flicker of panic. He beat his wings, whipping up a blast of scorching wind to blow the dwarf away. Yet the dwarf was rooted to the ground as if he were one with the earth itself. He advanced with heavy, earthshaking strides, the ground beneath his feet heaving up like a winding mountain range. Only now did Smaug truly understand what the title 'Lord of the Mountain' meant. It was no mere dwarven boast, but an absolute and literal truth! "Curse you, dwarf..." Smaug gritted his teeth, utterly helpless against this stone-hard adversary. Then, his mind flashed back to the moment he had slain Bren. As a wyvern, he held a unique advantage: he could whip his tail stinger around the shield and skewer this dwarven king from the flank! Reinvigorated by the scheme, Smaug flared his wings and unleashed a fierce roar. The torrent of fire gushing from his mouth swelled even more violently, surging like an apocalyptic flood. "*ROAAAR!*" "I told you—dwarves never fear flame!" Ed's eyes burned with fierce resolve. Facing the torrential flames, Ed showed neither hesitation nor dread. His battle spirit only soared higher, his footsteps quickened, and the warhammer in his hand shone with a brilliant amber radiance. Smaug hovered midair on beating wings, continually pouring more fire into the blast. Yet his eyes flicked slyly. The powerful muscles at the base of his massive tail coiled tight like a compressed spring, and the razor-sharp stinger at the tip gleamed with a chilling glint. Smaug sneered, continuing his provocation: "Come on, wretched dwarf! Let me show you the true flames of the Cinder Empire!" "As you wish!" Shield in one hand and warhammer raised in the other, Ed braved the raging inferno and leaped into the air. The earth fractured beneath the sheer force of his takeoff, launching him nearly a hundred meters high. At the apex of his arc, he began his descent, brandishing his warhammer for a devastating blow. *Good... foolish dwarf.* Smaug's golden slit pupils gleamed with malicious satisfaction. No matter if he was the Lord of the Mountain, he was still flesh and blood. There was no way he could withstand a tail stinger reinforced and refined by the Empire's specialized alloys! The very moment the dwarf reached the height of his leap, the wyvern struck! *Snap—!* The thick tail snapped forward like an unleashed spring. The glinting stinger pierced the air, curving around the Steadfast Rock Shield to strike the dwarf from his blind flank. Suspended midair, Ed had nowhere to dodge! *Crunch!* The stinger jabbed violently into the dwarf's torso, punching through his armor. Yet there was no sensation of impaling flesh and blood—it felt like striking solid granite. "Cassius above, how can this be?!" This time, it was Smaug who cried out in shock. Fine stone chips showered through the air. Ed's armor had been punctured and his clothes torn, but the skin exposed beneath was not flesh at all, but a muscular physique composed entirely of rock! "Damn it, this dwarf is an earth semi-elemental!" Smaug cursed furiously through clenched teeth. Under the force of the wyvern's thrust, Ed's body had merely tilted slightly, without taking a sliver of damage. "Monster, my body is as unyielding as bedrock! Your cowardly ambushes are worthless, and I will smash you to dust!" The dwarf let out a ferocious battle roar, his petrified form radiating overwhelming momentum as he dropped through the sky, bringing his warhammer crashing down toward the wyvern. The surrounding sandstorm whipped violently into a frenzy. Countless stones converged onto the weapon, fusing around it into a hill-sized warhammer dozens of meters long. "No, no... You're just a filthy dwarf! How could you..." Staring at the colossal hammer hurtling down, Smaug was paralyzed with horror. With no room left to dodge, he could only throw up his forelimbs in a desperate attempt to block. Right then, the air warped violently. Boundless flames surged from the empty void, forming a colossal wall of fire that spanned the heavens and cut off the space before the wyvern. *BOOM—!* Sparks rained and debris scattered. The immense energies of fire and earth clashed violently in midair, triggering a massive elemental explosion that unleashed a hurricane across the battlefield. Smaug's face showed the breathless relief of surviving a mortal peril. He knew all too well that if that stone hammer had struck him head-on, he would have lost half his life even if he survived. As for the identity of this sudden reinforcement, Smaug had already guessed it. Sure enough, a rather languid female voice drifted from behind him, and the surrounding air grew stiflingly hot. "The famed Lord of the Mountain certainly lives up to his reputation. Quite formidable indeed." A young woman with crimson hair and golden eyes stepped out from the flames. She wore luxurious robes adorned with imperial medals, slender and elegant dragon horns crowning her head, her long hair drifting behind her. This was the Dragon-Pact Sorcerer who served the Emperor, the master of the Tower of Karmic Fire, revered by the Empire's populace as the Daughter of Dragonfire—Misha. Cassius had long anticipated that Smaug would be no match for Ed, the Lord of the Mountain. After all, in his appraisal, Ed possessed a Challenge Rating of a full 24, backed by an enormous wealth of battle experience. Even though he was heavily injured and far from his prime, he remained a true heavyweight among legends. Smaug, by contrast, was merely a dragon-blooded monster artificially elevated through Bloodline Boons. While formidable, his Challenge Rating barely scraped 19, leaving a wide gulf between him and a genuine powerhouse like Ed. Meanwhile, Misha had fully unlocked her terrifying talent as a Child of the Elements under Cassius's tutelage, already standing as a legendary pact sorcerer with a Challenge Rating of 21. In truth, bolstered by the equipment and boons bestowed by Cassius, Misha's actual combat prowess far exceeded what her stat sheet suggested. Working in tandem with Smaug, the two of them were more than capable of holding their ground against Ed. Upon seeing the young woman, Smaug's draconic face broke into a fawning smile. "Lady Misha, thank you for your timely assistance." The wyvern then bared his teeth, hissing, "With you here, we'll surely blast this wretched earth-elemental dwarf into dust!" Within the Cinder Empire, Misha held a truly unique status. Though she bore no noble title, she had forged a pact directly with the supreme sovereign, serving as the Emperor's proxy. Every faction within the Empire went out of their way to curry favor with this young and powerful pact sorcerer to earn the Emperor's goodwill, and Smaug was no exception. "Another dragon thrall..." Fixing his gaze on the red-haired maiden who had appeared in midair, Ed's expression grew grim. His brow furrowed tight, not daring to let his guard down for an instant. Though she looked slender and outwardly delicate, Ed was not one to be deceived by appearances. To the veteran dwarven king's practiced eye, the flames swirling around this girl were far more terrifying than the wyvern's breath, radiating an elemental density that sent chills down his spine. Moreover, the dragon aura rolling off her was suffocating, rivaling that of an ancient red dragon. She was practically a true dragon wrapped in mortal skin! What was more, she had effortlessly blocked his all-out strike moments ago—a feat far beyond the capabilities of any ordinary spellcaster. Looking down at the dwarf from above, Misha narrowed her eyes slightly and spoke: "My master, the great Cinder Emperor, has always valued true talent. "If you crawl before his throne and kneel at his feet, my master may consider sparing your life, allowing you and your subjects to linger on in this world."