Demon King

Dwarves – 2>

Dwarf. It was a term referring to the dwarven race, commonly found in fantasy novels. They were known to live deep in mountain ranges and known for their excellent metal handling skills. When Earth and Hater were connected for the first time, dwarves became known to humankind just like the elves.

“But after the Great Fusion, their appearance of partners between elves and dwarves couldn’t be confirmed. Elves appeared as an advisor and supporter of humanity, but not as peers. Dwarves, and the other intelligent races, have kept themselves secret.” Jia Han, the high school girl who had been slightly depressed to not hear news about the goblin fallen, told me this.

“So the dwarves that appeared this time are unusual. Were any of them humans in the past, or are they like the elves? I need to know why they’re appearing now, and how it’s related to the dungeon outbreaks.” Erkindra’s thoughts on the matter were obvious. They worried about nothing but how the dwarves were accepted by humanity. If there was someone among them who was once human, it would get more complicated.

Would they be accepted into the new human society? If that happened, it would go no further. They would gain a companion against the threat of the elves, and the dwarves would as well. Elakatra viewed everything other than themselves as disposable; the dwarven race would be no exception. But if humans couldn’t accept them… I’d like to believe that it wouldn’t happen, but it was hard to, given how I had seen the way they treated the fallen.

‘No.’ I thought that would go too far. It was too different to compare them to the fallen.

“Should we pick up speed a bit?”

“More than this?” I stopped running down the empty mountain path. When Cain’s thumping footsteps stopped, everything went quiet. I activated my Belkena Spell, casting invisibility on all of us. Following that, I activated Lunatic Trickster to set a trap that would spread the effect to people around us when magic or a skill was activated.

“Go.” With Ubiquitous, the surrounding environment changed in an instant. Thanks to the trap, all of us were able to move together.

“What is that?!”

“It’s magic. Continue.” Though it had improved, moving more than three kilometers at once was too difficult. Going from Seongbuk-gu to Incheon took me twenty-eight uses of Ubiquitous.

“Uh, how is this possible? It took us only three minutes…”

“I know. Go.” We were only at the entrance of Namdong-gu, Incheon, but I already could feel an extreme flow of mana. I looked back, but none of the others seemed to notice it.

“Cain, I apologize, but I have a favor to ask.”

[Ask. My will moves according to the will of the captain.]

“…” Jia Han stared at Cain, the gears turning in her head.

“I wasn’t really paying attention to it, but that’s Cain Russell, right…?”

“Yes.” Perhaps she had also received a request from my sister to look into how we treat Cain. Perhaps she was trying to justify how I used my power to save the fallen. However, for Jia Han’s honor and pure heart, I decided not to show I knew of her secret mission.

“So you said that you were sick of it!” A rough crackling sound filled the air, two minutes after we continued moving.

“We’re not hostile to you.”

“What are you talking about? They’re inhabitants of the underground, an evil to be eliminated.” I knew the owner of the voice right away. It must’ve been Elakatra. Mireina also noticed it, touching her ears anxiously.

“What if they scold me? They’re scary.”

“They’re an enemy, but we’ll take care of them.”

“If Fate says so, then it must be true.” If only those with a peaceful mind like Mireina were more common among the elves, things would be much easier. I sighed and hurried my pace. At a glance, it was surprising to see the situation hadn’t exploded yet.

“Hm…”

“Unbelievable.” The surprise of the Elakatra was natural. We arrived on the scene, landing in a vacant lot without any interference among the gathered people. It looked to originally have held a large department store that had collapsed.

“Who are you?”

“The guild Rebellion, from Seoul, Seongbuk-gu.”

“Seongbuk-gu? That would take at least twenty minutes…” It seems that Erkindra’s information handling ability had reached a special level. It was a worthy alliance, after all.

“Leave. What happens in Incheon will be solved here.”

“No.” There were a whopping two Elakatra here, followed by hundreds of people. In the middle of them were the dwarves. They were just as I had read about, probably only about a meter tall at best, with arms covered in thick muscle. They were also armed to a fair degree.

“Did you say you’re Rebellion?” A younger-looking male Elakatra spoke up, wearing that same red scarf. His outfit resembled a merchant’s more than a warrior’s, but I intuitively noticed that he was disguising himself. It was meant to give humans a sense of comfort, the idea that they could trust this man for help.

“I’ve heard of you. You were taming the fallen, correct?”

“Yeah.” He was talking to me, but his eyes were focused on Cain. They stayed there a long time before sliding over to Mireina. I was confident I could protect them, but nothing was absolute in this world. If things went wrong, at the very least, killing all of the Elakatra here should solve the worst of it. But that was the last resort. Fortunately, and a bit surprisingly, he nodded.

“You are quite beautiful. Humans sometimes surprise us, they have countless possibilities.” I wondered if this was a play to appeal to the humans, but it didn’t appear to be. His voice was sincere. He honestly believes in the possibilities of a human, which is why he hated them. It scares them. Cain and I could sense his mana changing according to his emotions, revealing hostility.

“Who are you again?” This time, a dwarf spoke up. The oldest looking among them, a middle-aged dwarf in the lead, was staring straight at me. However, before I could respond, the humans who felt they had been deprived of the initiative came out—specifically, ones who were from guilds here in Incheon.

[Kwoooo.]

Cain cried out loud as if he had given in to his anger, extending his fist forward only slightly. The effect was great, however, as none of those gathered here had reached the higher system. No human here could match Cain’s power. Even now, humans knew to be frightened of powers they couldn’t grasp.

“I should’ve arrived here sooner…”

“How the hell did you come so quickly in the first place? Have you mastered that level of magic?”

“Seongbuk-gu…no one should be here from there yet, but these Rebellion guys are?” The humans clicked their tongues, realizing that this monster was under my control. Of course, they didn’t back down completely.

“I ran as soon as I heard that dwarves had appeared, but what the hell is this?” I penetrated through to the heart of the situation, playing the best hand I had available.

“I will explain. Dwarves are inhabitants of the underground, which means they come from the same place as the monsters.”

“This elf says some annoying stuff.” The dwarf, who was still staring at me, seemed to have a bit of a temper. I decided to be blunt.

“Were you a human?”

“I’ve been saying I’m an Earthling over and over! Call Mikhail, he knows!”

“This is Korea.”

“I’ve heard that already!” The place fell into chaos. I had forgotten about the existence of dwarves. After all, more than 99% of Earthlings were connected to humans from Hater, and most of the remaining 1% were connected with elves.

“It’s a lie. In the Great Fusion, Hater was subjugated by Earth. All Earthlings synchronized in the place they were born and raised. These are just intelligent monsters trying to deceive you.” The purpose of Elakatra was so clear I couldn’t even laugh. I turned toward the dwarf.

“My name is Fate. What can I call you?”

“…Alec.”

“Alec, do you know the total number of dwarves?”

“How would I know? When I opened my eyes, I was in a small village. The only ones I know are my colleagues here.”

“But now, other dwarves are appearing in the world besides you.”

“Their numbers are at least…”

“Shh.” I cut off the Elakatra from speaking, which the guilds in Incheon seemed happy about. It was easy to see who had been taking charge here until I showed up.

“I see.”

Only

“Hopefully, we could form an alliance…” I ignored the humans too. No one moved, but tensions were building just under the surface. It would only take one spark to set it off. Cain was doing his best to suppress all of them with his terrifying size. It was a funny situation when I thought about it.

“Ah.” The dwarf, Alec, tilted his head and let out a short exclamation.

“I felt the underground opening. We got out of it, so maybe the same happened with others. It was a big gap, as if someone tore down the wall. The land that we couldn’t reach before opened right up to us.” I let out a laugh. The dwarves, who hadn’t even been aware of us, seemed to have been affected by my realm’s expansion last night. Lee Chan-yu quietly messaged me with an awkward smile.

[Captain, the underground battlefield.]

[Yeah.]

I let out a sigh and looked up, noticing a huge plane floating above us.

It was the appearance of the guild One Flag, the last to arrive on this stage.