An enraged Dumathoin raised His hand. With a single, simple gesture from the Silent Keeper, the entire mass of Blackrock Mountain obeyed His command, trembling violently.
The earth rumbled deeply, and the peaks roared like colossal beasts. Even the soldiers of the imperial army felt a profound, instinctual horror and helplessness.
The sky grew sullen under dense, churning black clouds. Gales howled across the crags as though heralding an impending apocalypse.
"Cassius above!"
"What is that dwarf doing? How... how did he get this strong?! That's impossible!"
"Look! Look up there!"
A half-dragon officer lifted his head in stark terror. Shivering all over, his mouth half-open, he let out a hoarse shriek.
"Look above us! The mountain—it's coming down!"
*Rumble—!*
Accompanied by an earth-shattering roar, Blackrock Mountain bellowed in fury. It was as if the mountainside had been cleft by a titan's axe; countless boulders and masses of earth tumbled downward, cascading like stampeding armies and whipping up a storm of dust that choked the heavens.
The mountain collapsed!
Soil and shattered stone rushed down like a violent torrent, instantly submerging nearly a thousand imperial soldiers stationed within Evindeldan.
This was Dumathoin's wrath! This was the vengeance of the Silent Keeper!
Yet this was far from the end. Dumathoin raised the Magma Hammer high, swinging it back and forth. The surrounding earth resonated with His every motion, releasing dull, seismic groans.
*Boom!*
The ground abruptly ruptured, and scalding magma welled up from the depths, as though poised to consume everything upon Blackrock Mountain.
This was merely the beginning of the catastrophe. In His incandescent fury, the patron deity of shield dwarves intended to drag tens of thousands of imperial troops into the grave alongside the fallen dwarves!
Torrents of wrath flared within His eyes of silver fire, exuding an overpowering divine pressure that sent beasts and birds fleeing in panic for a hundred li around.
"Damn it, magic isn't working either! The Weave and space itself have been sealed!"
Imperial wizards cried out in alarm. High above, an ochre hemisphere several li in diameter had manifested, directly encasing the main peak of Blackrock Mountain. In His fury, Dumathoin had used His divine power to lock down the Weave and space for several li around, leaving only pure earth elements in the environment.
Such was the authority of a deity. Even a mere avatar could effortlessly crush countless mortals.
Dror pointed his saber at the distant dwarf, ignoring the being's divine nature as he roared, "Damn it! Stop him, at all costs!"
Tens of thousands of elite imperial troops and over a hundred tanks were stationed here. If they were wiped out in this miserable ruin of Evindeldan, his entire career would end here as well!
When that time came, Dror might not even save his own neck; he would almost certainly be dragged before a military tribunal.
Moreover, amid a catastrophe of this scale, even he would struggle to escape alive and would likely perish right alongside the imperial army.
*Bang!*
*Bang! Bang!*
A scattered barrage of gunfire erupted. Over a hundred sniper rifles fired from multiple directions, hurling lethal antimagic, antimateriel high-explosive rounds toward the stone dwarf's vital points.
Immediately after, more than a hundred tanks fired in unison, while hundreds of heavy artillery pieces roared. Wyverns swept through the skies, and shells rained down like a relentless downpour, heavily battering Dumathoin's burly frame.
Violent blasts threatened to flip the bedrock. The area where Dumathoin stood was swallowed by fire and smoke, the concentrated imperial bombardment carving a crater dozens of meters wide into the ground.
Yet when the smoke cleared, Dumathoin remained standing proudly at the center, completely unharmed, while scorched shrapnel and spent shell casings lay piled in heaps around Him.
"How is that possible?"
"Cassius above... He doesn't have a scratch on him?!"
"Those are our highest-yield high-explosive rounds! They could blow a heavy tank to smithereens! How could flesh and bone withstand that?!"
Imperial officers and soldiers stared in disbelief, gasping in horror. As military men, they understood the terrifying destructive power of their arsenal better than anyone.
None of them could have imagined that anyone could emerge from such a baptism of fire utterly unscathed.
Dror's face was as dark as ink. Gritting his teeth, the hobgoblin snarled, "Don't stop! Keep increasing the firepower!
"I want to see just how much bombardment he can take!"
Under Dror's command, the imperial barrage grew even fiercer, rending the already battered landscape into utter ruin.
Yet the dwarf remained unharmed. Seeing the earth being desecrated so wantonly, the fire in the eyes of Dumathoin—the Shield of the Mountains—burned even hotter. He was determined to make these wretched draconic minions pay the price.
The dwarf's gaze hardened. He raised the Magma Hammer and brought it sweeping down.
In an instant, countless flaming boulders plummeted from the sky, raining down with pinpoint accuracy onto the imperial positions.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
Amid concussive shockwaves, over a dozen steam tanks were blown apart on impact, over a hundred heavy cannons were smashed to scrap, and snipers lurking in various vantage points were pulverized into paste without mercy.
What was even more terrifying was that after smashing into the ground, these fiery boulders instantly sank into the earth along with the wreckage, like clay oxen diving into the sea. Metal fragments and severed limbs alike were absorbed, turned into nourishment for the soil.
Dror's eyes turned bloodshot, his teeth grinding together. "Damn dwarf! Even if you are a high-and-mighty god, I'll blow you to pieces!"
Misha's expression was grim. Turning to Smaug, she commanded, "At a time like this, our only choice is to pray for Master to intervene. Smaug, do your best to stall that dwarf..."
"*Awoo?*"
Looking from afar at the raging dwarf who could obliterate an imperial army with a wave of his hand, Smaug let out a terrified yelp.
After a moment's hesitation, however, he flapped his wings, coerced over a dozen of his wyvern subordinates, and braced himself to charge. Yet he did not lead the assault; instead, he hung back behind his kin, letting them serve as cannon fodder.
Misha closed her eyes, chanting a prayer with utmost devotion. Channeling every ounce of her strength, she activated the ultimate ability of a Dragon-Pact Sorcerer: Planar Breath.
"Supreme Cinder Emperor, Sovereign of calamity and fire, great red dragon who symbolizes glory and victory... Your people face an insurmountable foe, a dwarven deity from the Outlands..."
As if sensing the ripples generated by Misha's supplication, Dumathoin snapped His head up, His silver-fire eyes glaring into the distance.
*Roar!*
A few mindless wyverns bared their fangs and claws, scrambling forward under Smaug's command to lunge at the dwarf. Yet before they could draw close, they detonated midair, bursting into clouds of blood.
The remaining wyverns showed terror, but under the bloodline suppression of Smaug, they wailed and continued to dive toward the dwarf.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
Several colossal boulders rained down from above, slamming violently into the ground and turning those wyverns into fodder for the earth, while the surrounding sandstorm grew even fiercer.
Without even sparing them a second glance, Dumathoin slaughtered over a dozen wyverns, leaving only Smaug trembling in the distance.
"D-Dwarf, stay back!" Seeing this, Smaug beat his wings frantically, desperate to flee this slaughterhouse.
Beholding this twenty-meter-long atavistic wyvern, Dumathoin finally seemed to take a sliver of interest. He raised the Magma Hammer.
At once, an ochre glow saturated the area, and an overwhelming pressure bore down from above. A dust storm swept through the sky, nearly swatting Smaug out of the air. The wyvern pushed his ancestral bloodline to its limit, struggling with all his might to resist.
Yet as Dumathoin gave the Magma Hammer a gentle flick, the ground surged upward, jagged rock spires rising to impale Smaug.
Right at that moment, Misha finally completed her prayer. Her eyes snapped open, endless flames radiating from her golden pupils.
"Supreme Master! I, Misha, in the name of your humble pact servant, hereby beseech Your arrival!"
Misha's voice was impassioned, blazing like a roaring inferno.
In that breath, the power of the pact erupted completely. The potent bond reconnected, tearing through the confines of time, space, and the Weave to summon her patron ten thousand li away—Cassius Claubau Norixius!
*Riiiip—!*
The ochre canopy of the sky was abruptly torn asunder. Across it opened a jagged, crimson fissure, like a fresh scar across the heavens, billowing with scalding flame.
*Whoosh—!*
A blistering gale howled through the mountains, and an immensely potent, domineering dragon fear swept out, rivaling Dumathoin's divine pressure in every respect.
Everyone looked up in unison. Through the fissure emerged a majestic dragon's head crowned with four horns, its pale golden pupils resembling spheres of flowing magma.
Next, sky-blotting dragon wings extended through the rift, followed by a hill-sized, colossal torso, and finally a massive tail winding like a mountain ridge...
*Roaaar—!*
The red dragon looked down upon the avatar of the dwarven deity, fury blazing in his eyes. He unleashed a thunderous, bellicose roar and beat his wings, sending a scorching tempest scouring across the earth.
In an instant, Dumathoin's earth-element domain began to retreat step by step. Half the sky was dyed orange and crimson once more, transformed into a realm of fire.
"Cassius above..."
"Th-That's His Majesty the Emperor!"
"Long live the Cinder Emperor! Long live the Great Red Dragon!"
Seeing their emperor arrive, the imperial soldiers, who had just been gripped by panic and terror, erupted into cheers. Their eyes shone with fanaticism and joy.
In their hearts, the Cinder Emperor was the very embodiment of victory; his appearance meant the war was already decided.
As for the terrifying calamity just now?
Compared to the exhilaration of witnessing the emperor's advent with their own eyes, it wasn't even worth mentioning. This was the dream of every subject of the empire!
Taking advantage of the distraction, Smaug, who had narrowly escaped death, flapped his wings and fled in haste. Feeling extraordinarily lucky to be alive, he let out a triumphant hiss: "Dwarf! His Majesty is here! You're finished!"
Dumathoin paid no mind to the mortal's insolence. Raising His head with a solemn expression, He fixed His silver-fire eyes upon the red dragon in the sky, confronting him from afar.
At the same time, basic information regarding this dwarf surfaced before Cassius's eyes.
*Dumathoin, the Silent Keeper (Possessing Avatar)*
*Challenge Rating: 33*
Cassius swiftly reviewed the intelligence concerning the dwarves in his mind: Dumathoin, the Silent Keeper, the god of shield dwarves and underground riches—an intermediate deity.
Before deciding to launch the war against the Mountain Kingdom, Cassius had anticipated that the dwarven pantheon would react; after all, this was one of the few remaining dwarven realms on the Material Plane.
Even so, Cassius had not expected Dumathoin to descend in person to stand against the Cinder Empire.
Yet at this moment, Dumathoin was possessing the battered remains of King Ed and was also being hindered by the orc pantheon. His strength was vastly diminished, even slightly inferior to Cassius's true body.
What was more... Cassius held the dwarven pantheon's vulnerability in his grasp: the tens of thousands of shield dwarves within the Magma Secret Realm, as well as the Eye of Gruumsh.
With that in mind, Cassius feigned outrage and roared, "Dumathoin—you overstep your bounds! Deities of the Outer Planes have no right to meddle in the affairs of the Material Plane!"
The Silent Keeper did not open His mouth, merely keeping His gaze fixed on the red dragon in the sky as He slowly raised the Magma Hammer.
Though Dumathoin did not speak, by virtue of His divine authority, Cassius clearly understood His intent as a deep, resonant voice reverberated within his mind.
*"Red dragon, you and your minions slaughter and plunder the shield dwarves at will, occupying their cities. You have crossed the bottom line of the dwarven pantheon!"*
Cassius sneered. "You dwarves no longer had the strength to defend Evindeldan against the orcs! Only the empire could shoulder that burden!
"Had your people handed over control of Evindeldan early on, there would still have been room for discussion. But your descendants were obstinate and intractable; we had no choice but to resort to this."
*"Sophistry!"*
A voice like rolling thunder boomed inside Cassius's mind. Dumathoin's expression grew fiercer, wrath flaring anew within His eyes of silver fire.
The heavens trembled, and the earth groaned.
The entirety of Blackrock Mountain shook under Dumathoin's fury, looking as though it might topple over toward Cassius at any second.
Faced with such immense momentum, Cassius showed no fear. He simply held his head high and roared, "You dwarves are as stubborn as ever! Since that's the case, force is the only way to persuade you!"
Almost in an instant, with a sweep of the dragon's wings, countless magical auras flared across the red dragon's scales.
The sky behind him was completely transformed into a sea of blazing fire, warping the air as scalding gales swept across the land.
Drawing upon the divine power of the sun and the authority of the Elemental Plane of Fire, the dragon crystal embedded in Cassius's chest shone like a miniature sun, radiating blinding brilliance and dancing with terrifying embers.
From the red dragon's maw, plumes of white smoke billowed forth, tongues of fire flickering between his teeth as his breath weapon built toward eruption.
Dumathoin's expression remained steady. With a low grunt, He raised the Magma Hammer once more, swinging it in measured sweeps.
*Boom—!*
In an instant, the entire earth answered His summons. Countless boulders rose and adhered to His frame, assembling into a colossal stone dwarf a hundred meters tall, towering like an imposing mountain.
The stone dwarf possessed overwhelming presence, heavy as the earth itself and radiating the unmatchable majesty of divine sovereignty, resembling an ancient titan out of myth.
Occupying sky and earth respectively, the two behemoths prepared for an earth-shattering clash.
Chapter 654