VOLUME 14: CHAPTER 11

VOLUME 14: CHAPTER 11

For more than an hour, Master Gorovir discussed what he knew regarding adamantite.

He discussed the results of his researches and experiments – the recorded differences between adamantite’s purity, hardness, luster, and mana conductivity. 

According to him, unlike mithril, purity wasn’t the absolute basis when determining the quality of adamantite. 

“Your Majesty, purer doesn’t necessarily mean better when it comes to adamantite.” 

“Is that so?” 

Lark, who’d been attentively listening, manipulated the adamantite cube floating before him to shoot toward the darkmantle hiding behind a large boulder. 

The adamantite cube spun, pierced the boulder, and killed the darkmantle hiding behind it. A split-second shriek was heard, followed by silence. Once again, only the footsteps of the expedition army resounded in the Gorge. 

Although Gorovir had seen this move of Lark several times already, it still amazed him every time. 

Gorovir continued, “After numerous experiments, I found out that although purity plays an important role in adamantite’s ability to conduct mana, its strength is determined by the kind of mana it is exposed to during the creation process.” 

“The stronger the mana it is exposed to during the formation stage, the stronger the adamantite,” said Lark.

“Exactly, Your Majesty,” said Gorovir. “Numerous records say adamantites are tears of the gods, but I beg to differ. Rather than the tears of the gods, adamantites are more fit to be their blood.”

Tears would always look purer, but they lacked strength compared to blood. It may be a strange analogy to others, but Lark agreed with Gorovir on this statement.

“Well, there are exemptions to this rule, in theory at least,” said Gorovir. “It should be possible to create the strongest adamantite if you combine the purest adamantite that could be found in this world with the solidified mana from a dragon vein.”

Hearing this, Vulcan looked at Lark, particularly at his bracer. The description fits the Sword of Morpheus perfectly.

“Combining the purest adamantite with solidified mana from the dragon vein below would give it the highest mana conductivity possible, while at the same time granting it strength incomparable to any weapons.”

“But—,” Gorovir shook his head, finding even his words absurd. “—It’s impossible to achieve. As I’ve said, this is only possible in theory. Adamantite is always tainted, no matter the source. Finding adamantite that is absolutely pure is impossible. Moreover, dragon veins are even more rare. And even if you find one, solidifying its mana is an entirely different matter.”

Agnus noticed that Arcturus was also looking at Lark’s bracer. Although he’d never seen it in its sword form before, their father must have told him about it.

Agnus smirked. It felt a bit refreshing to think he’d seen something his older brother hadn’t.

Arcturus said in draconian, “That smirk. I normally don’t get this urge, but I feel like punching you right now. What are you being so smug about?”

Agnus rested both hands behind his head as he walked. He whistled, “Kekeke. You’re interested in King Lark’s sword, aren’t you? Heh. I’ve seen it several times before. It’s truly an amazing weapon, brother.”

Agnus made sure to emphasize the words ‘several times.’ 

“You… what’s with that manner of speaking?”

For a moment, the image of Agnus and the Scylla overlapped. Arcturus realized that his little brother had been influenced by the seven-headed creature without even being aware of it.

“Hah? What’s wrong with the way I speak?”

Hearing the hatchling brag about something that wasn’t really his, Arcturus’ brows twitched. He couldn’t explain exactly why, but it felt really annoying. He breathed in and out, and after calming himself, decided to ignore Agnus.

Agnus clicked his tongue. “Tch. You’re no fun.”

“Shut up, Agnus. Stop bothering Arcuturus,” said Shahaneth. “Continue walking.”

“I know. I know.”

The expedition army continued marching through the Bottomless Gorge for a couple of hours more after that. Strangely, aside from the occasional monsters that fearlessly blocked their path, no one attacked the army.

Everything had been smooth sailing thus far.

“It’s strange,” said Crown Prince Hafnir. “We’ve already entered the heart of the Abyss, but we’ve yet to encounter any abyss lurkers.”

Crown Prince Hafnir could still vividly remember the events that had transpired during the Trial. He could still recall how tens of thousands of his men were slaughtered by the abyss lurkers after they fell into a trap.

He was certain they’d already entered the heart of the Abyss, but why weren’t the monsters coming out?

Were the abyss lurkers rendered frozen by the dragon fear being exuded by the Ancient Fire Dragon tribe?

While Crown Prince Hafnir was wondering about this, Agnus stepped forward and took the lead, “It should be around here.”

Agnus had been here before, back when he was ordered by his father to confirm the existence of the adamantite vein. That time, he was also ordered by Vulcan to secure numerous corpses for King Lark’s essence animation spell.

After searching the area for a bit, Agnus finally found it.

“There.”

Agnus created numerous balls of fire and willed them to hover to the wall to their left, revealing a massive protruding ore with a platinum sheen.

Finally, they’d arrived at their destination. This was the adamantite deposit they’d been looking for.

“This is the adamantite vein,” said Agnus. “King Lark, father.” 

Everyone in the vanguard stood still for a moment, admiring the massive adamantite deposit that stretched throughout the walls of this part of the gorge.

Master Gorovir shuddered.

“This….”

Looking at the amount of adamantite deposit before him, he estimated that the visible ores alone would be enough for him to create the core for the floating castle. If they dug deeper, he was certain they would be able to uncover more adamantite.

It was a treasure trove.

He’d never seen so much adamantite before.

It was so surreal that for a moment, Gorovir’s went blank.

“Good heavens….” muttered Gorovir, “to think that this adamantite deposit has been sitting here in this place all this time. Just the visible part of the vein should be enough to craft a hundred swords…” 

Had they discovered it earlier, he was certain that the dwarves would do anything in their power to mine all of this metal, even if it meant mobilizing the entire army to annihilate the monsters of the gorge.

Even Master Gorovir himself would have dived into this Forbidden Region just secure the metal, no matter how dangerous the place was.

“Brother,” Gorovir said to King Lerenon. “Let’s secure the adamantite.”

The dwarven king nodded. Even he couldn’t suppress his excitement. Although King Lerenon was no blacksmith, he knew very well the value of their discovery. No amount of money in the entire dwarven kingdom would be enough to buy all of these adamantite.

King Lerenon roared, “We’ve found the adamantite deposit! Everyone, to your positions! From now on, our priority is to secure the pathway leading to this place!”

The various units in the expedition army replied fervently, “Yes, Your Majesty!”

In an orderly manner, the expedition army moved to secure the perimeter of the adamantite deposit. Numerous soldiers were also sent out to secure the pathway leading all the way to the adamantite vein. Power suits were deployed, and defensive formations were installed. 

Knowing that mining adamantite was a long, tedious process, the dwarves prioritized securing the area first.

The dragons and the human king were escorting them right now, but what would happen once they left?

Knowing how dangerous it would be once these people were gone, the dwarves made sure everything would be in order before they start mining the adamantite.

Hours passed by.

Under the command of Crown Prince Hafnir and King Lerenon, the expedition army tirelessly moved to secure this part of the Bottomless Gorge.

“How boring,” said Vulcan. “The abyss lurkers didn’t even dare attack us, huh? Those monsters are quite intelligent. I was really looking forward to securing their corpses for you, King Lark.”

Vesta wrapped her arms around Vulcan’s chest. She said softly, “Want me to look for the abyss lurkers, King Lark? Their lair should be nearby. I can hunt them and present their corpses to you.”

Hearing such dangerous words come out of the dragons’ mouths, the nearby dwarves looked away, afraid of being accused of eavesdropping.

Lark pondered over the dragons’ offer.

Although he didn’t like pointless slaughter, he was indeed in need of corpses for the essence animation spell. Without powerful corpses, it would be impossible for him to create the undying legion he’d been envisioning for years. 

Moreover, although the abyss lurkers didn’t attack their group, hunting them would help the dwarves in the long run. Not only would it enable the dwarves to mine the adamantite deposit more safely, it would also lessen the casualties on their part.

The abyss lurkers were the apex monsters of the Bottomless Gorge. Proactively hunting them would save lives later on.

While Lark was thinking of his next move, they heard shouts coming from the vanguard’s rear. The horrified shouts of the soldiers reverberated together with the shrieks of several monsters.

“Aaah! Abyss lurkers! They appeared!”

“It’s them!”

“T-The abyss lurkers are here!”

“W-We’re surrounded!”

Vulcan, Vesta, and Lark locked eyes with each other. At the same time, they grinned.

There was no longer any need to think about it.  

Unlike the dwarven soldiers who were terrified by the appearance of the abyss lurkers, Lark’s group happily welcomed their presence.

“Hoh~ What a great timing! They appeared just when we were talking about hunting them,” said Vesta.

“This saves us a lot of time, my dear wife,” said Vulcan.

“As much as possible, I need their corpses intact,” said Lark. “So please don’t damage their bodies too much.”

The three turned in the direction of the shouts. With their eyes imbued with mana, they saw a few hundred abyss lurkers latched on the walls, surrounding the unit assigned to assess the adamantite deposits. 

With just a glance, Lark knew that each of those monsters was powerful enough to kill a platoon of soldiers on their own. These were monsters capable of tearing through plate armor as though they were butter. The same monsters capable of destroying even the dwarven power suits.

Lark felt thrilled thinking about the quality of the blackstone knights he would be able to create once he returned to the kingdom.

Noticing Lark’s desire to collect the abyss lurkers’ corpses, the Scylla’s seven heads immediately volunteered to hunt them. They didn’t want Lark to fight those monsters. They were worried that Lark would push himself to the limit again. Just the mere thought of seeing him collapse again horrified them.

“There’s no need to hunt them yourself, God Evander!” 

“Please leave it to us!”

“We’ll do a better job in collecting their corpses!” 

“That’s right, God Evander!” 

“We’re better at controlling our strengths, unlike those lizards!”

“We’ll make sure to preserve the corpses as much as possible!"

“Haah? What did you say, snake!” snarled Vulcan. 

Whether intentional or not, that comment ignited the spirit of competition between the fire Dragons and the Scylla.

“Kakaka! Why don’t we see who’ll collect more corpses then?” said the first head.

“Kehehe, are you afraid, snake?” taunted the seventh head.

Vulcan sneered, “A dragon is never afraid. You’ll regret this, you damn worm.”

“Bah! Just start! The corpses of those monsters are ours!” shouted the second head.

The seven heads and the dragons immediately confronted the abyss lurkers. Lark, on the other hand, stayed behind and watched the battle unfold before him.

The Dragons easily fought against the abyss lurkers, but surprisingly, the seven heads of the Scylla were struggling.

“Eh, what’s going on?” said the first head.

“Fuck! This gorgeously handsome body is so hard to maneuver!” said the fifth head.

“I can’t gather enough strength!” said the second head. “I feel so weak, brothers!” 

“Ah, damn maggot! This monster! Get off my perfectly symmetrical body!” roared the seventh head.

Out of all the seven heads, only the fourth head, who was considered the strongest magic user, didn’t struggle when fighting against the abyss lurkers.

The Scylla was horrified to find out that they’d lost more than half of their fighting prowess after polymorphing into humans. No, they’d probably lost a lot more than that.

For the first time, they understood how fragile the human body was.

“Kyaak! My arm! It’s bleeding!”

“These damn monsters!”

“Get off me!”

If they were in their original form, these abyss lurkers would hardly be able to put a scratch on their scales. But in their polymorphed state, they needed to dodge if they didn’t wish to be injured all over. Thinking of this vexed the seven heads even further.

How frustrating!

They’d never felt so weak and helpless before in their entire lives!

“Hahaha! What’s wrong, snake?!” laughed Vulcan as he slaughtered the abyss lurkers one after another. 

Agnus chuckled, “They’ve become so weak, father!”

Vulcan pierced the head of an abyss lurker with his sword, before kicking its dead body to the ground. “This is the difference between dragons and a mere Scylla, my son. They may have succeeded in polymorphing, but they do not know how to control their bodies. How pathetic.”

The Scylla was so busy defending from the abyss lurkers’ attacks that they didn’t even have the time to retort to Vulcan’s mocking remarks.

Still, despite this, the Scylla refused to back down.

This would have been easier if their goal was simply to slaughter these monsters, but they needed to make sure they left the corpses as intact as possible to increase the chances of the essence animation spell.

“I’d rather die than let those snakes gather more monster corpses than us!” spat the first head. 

“Me, too! Let’s show them the difference in talent between us!” said the sixth head.

“No one will back down! Continue fighting even if we die!” roared the third head.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Injuries kept accumulating as the fight went on, and after over an hour, the abyss lurkers finally retreated, leaving behind hundreds of corpses of both monsters and dwarves in their wake.

Numerous dwarves also died from that attack, and the seven heads of the Scylla were so injured that their entire bodies were covered in blood. 

Lark deliberately didn’t help the Scylla during the fight. He believed this experience would greatly benefit Blackie in the long run. They needed to experience such struggles in order to become stronger in the future.

After polymorphing, the Scylla had never encountered opponents as strong as the abyss lurkers. With this, they should finally realize the difference between fighting in their original bodies versus fighting in their polymorphed state.

“Haaah… Haaah…”

“We’re back, God Evander….”

“We’ve secured fifty-three intact corpses for you—”

“—Hahaha! Only fifty-three?” laughed Vulcan. “How pathetic! King Lark, look! Our tribe has managed to secure a hundred and nine abyss lurker corpses for you!” 

The eyes of the seven heads widened when they heard this. They’d struggled so much, yet they couldn’t even secure half the number of corpses?

It was so shameful their minds went blank for a moment. 

“Hahaha! Father, that was fun!” said Agnus.

Arcturus fixed his glasses and nodded happily. “Indeed. Hunting them while making sure the bodies remained intact was a bit hard, but we pulled it off.”

Shahaneth dusted off the dirt that had clung to her clothes.

Vesta smiled broadly. “As expected of my children. Ah, no one in our family has any injuries?”

“Of course, mother,” said Agnus. “We’re unlike those snakes who couldn’t even properly fight when polymorphed!”

“Hehehe, look at how pathetic they look,” said Vulcan.

“A red snake is a good snake,” laughed Agnus. “Look at all the blood on their bodies, father.”

Unable to take it any longer, the seven heads roared:

“You damn hatchling!”

“You’ve become fearless, huh!”

“Want to make us order you to bark in front of everyone here?”

“Why don’t we fight it out! Right now!”

Sensing that this would blow out of proportion if he let it be, Lark decided to step in.

“Blackie, that’s enough. Remember your promise.”

After being reminded of the promise they’d made to Lark before coming here, the seven heads had no choice but to back down. In the end, they lowered their heads and turned silent.

“Vulcan, Agnus.”

“We know, King Lark.”

The dragons snorted in satisfaction upon seeing the Scylla back down.

Vulcan said, “It’s a shame more than half of the abyss lurkers retreated, but don’t worry, King Lark. I’ll order the dwarves to deliver their corpses to you whenever they kill one.”

“That would greatly help me. Thank you, Vulcan.”

It was a great day for the Ancient Fire Dragon tribe. Finally, they showed the Scylla who was superior when it came to the polymorph spell.

So what if the Scylla managed to successfully polymorph? At the end of the day, the ability to utilize their polymorphed bodies mattered most. 

Until their return to the dwarven kingdom, the dragons were frequently seen chuckling and grinning.

For the first time, the Scylla had been utterly defeated by the Ancient Fire Dragon tribe.