bookbashuk Page 293
Page 293
Manuel stopped in his tracks.
The dim, murky light and the surging flames vanished, replaced by a pure golden light, as bright as the sun and as gentle as moonlight, that bathed the entire land.
"This is... the Golden Tree."
Erwin's eyes widened as a massive tree trunk, more than ten times larger than the ancient tree at the entrance, came into view.
The bark, like gold, reflects a metallic luster through its cracks, and countless veins in the leaves above flow with a golden aura, as if rooted in a sea of gold, causing the verdant leaves to cascade with an exceptionally majestic and magnificent radiance.
On that enormous tree trunk, as tall as a mountain, the magnificent palace seemed to have grown there naturally, carving the entire middle section of the trunk into a masterpiece of art.
In the most central and prominent position, on a huge golden throne, sat a dwarf clad in golden armor.
"Welcome, human emissary, to my workshop."
A deep, resonant voice emanated from the throne, amplified by the vibrations of the surrounding pages until it seemed to tap against the earlobe, conveying an overwhelming sense of majesty and awe.
The dwarves do not pride themselves on palaces and towers; for them, the most prized possessions are their own magnificent workshops.
Erwin shuddered, then his gaze instinctively fell upon the roots of the tree... a deep, endless, enormous void was shrouded directly beneath the golden tree.
The lights that occasionally flared up inside were even more dazzling and brilliant than those seen from the outside, as if a bottomless void was open before our eyes, but it was only the tip of the iceberg.
The Golden Tree, the Holy Glory Workshop of the Dwarf King Turu, is also a magnificent building rooted in the endless dungeon!
The entire Savage Forest, centered around him, is like a vast warehouse where he crafts weapons, resembling the entire dark and dangerous underground city!
This is the venerable one whom the entire dwarven bloodline worships, the one who occupies the highest position in terms of bloodline and skill... the Dwarven King.
Erwin felt as if the blood in his body had been replaced with gold, becoming sluggish and heavy, and even his throat felt blocked, unable to utter a sound.
As if they had been waiting for this moment to embarrass him, a gaze, imposing yet carrying a hidden meaning, descended from the throne, and the indifferent voice of the Dwarf King Turu resounded once more:
"What's wrong? Are you afraid to come forward, envoy of the kingdom?"
Turu's mocking smile was hidden beneath the golden light filtering through the leaves. His fingers tapped lightly on the edge of the throne, and at that moment he even activated several mind-altering techniques, all to give these human delegations a taste of their power.
Although it was a pity that the human king was not present, the captain of a royal knight order and the newly appointed hero were still worth suppressing a bit.
"What is there to be afraid of, King of Pure Gold? Do you still have the heart to sit comfortably on that throne...?"
A fiery female voice pierced through the golden light in the arena, and Tulu suddenly felt a sharp gaze pierce right through him!
He was slightly surprised and instinctively sat up straight... Could that red-haired hero see through these layers of gold craftsmanship?
Tulu's heart skipped a beat. He lowered his head and saw the young hero at the head of the group striking a seemingly intimidating pose. His bandaged right hand covered his face, revealing a broken, scarlet eye. His voice was deep and resonant:
"King blessed by pure gold, I am the only true red light in this world, an unruly being blessed by chaos and goddess, and wherever I go, disaster follows. Facing me, 'Hero of Disaster' Shana Rek, are you truly prepared to accept our entry and bear the calamities and calamities from the abyss?"
"King of Gold, answer me!"
The sound was like a rolling heat wave, instantly suppressing the golden light between the leaves and reflecting back at Tulu on the throne.
The savage blood within him was stirring, and Tulu gradually narrowed his eyes, gripping the golden seat tightly.
Although I couldn't understand some of the gibberish they were saying.
But that hero doesn't seem like a simple character...
Chapter 424 Three Major Tasks, Completed in One Go?
Turu's human language was not rudimentary; in fact, it was quite good—no matter how much he despised humans, as the king of dwarves, he still needed to master the more common languages on the continent.
But while each word spoken by the red-haired hero was easy to understand individually, the combination of words was somewhat incomprehensible.
Turu knew there must be some deeper meaning behind this, and it might even be a counterattack by this wise and courageous man. Naturally, he couldn't show weakness now.
After a moment's thought, he quickly grasped Shana's meaning: she was implying that her title among the heroes was "Calamity," meaning she was prone to bringing disaster to those around her... Hah, how could he, the king of the dwarves, possibly fear such a baseless and feigned threat?
"It's alright. No matter how great the disaster, it won't cause any trouble in the Savage Forest, and it certainly won't make an echo in the dungeon."
Tulu stood up, his words bold and confident:
"A mere hero of calamity is perfectly acceptable to the dwarven kingdom! They would welcome him with their entire tribe!!!"
After the other party mentioned the name "Rek", Tulu knew that he could no longer pretend to be deaf and dumb.
As expected of the strongest hero in human history, the sister of that glorious warrior Mino, her potential is truly immeasurable...
Turu slowly descended the steps from the roots of the Golden Tree. No matter what, the hero Mino was a great benefactor who had saved the entire dwarf race. If he didn't treat his sister with the proper respect, he would only become a laughing stock on the continent.
He is the king of the dwarves, the ultimate victor of this continent. Strength, skill, fame, fear, praise, power, treasure... he wants it all. To subdue everything as a victor is the most glorious and great achievement.
At this moment, this is only the initial step in achieving his goal.
"A hero, a knightly order, and accompanying adventurers... a combination completely outside the realm of diplomacy, heh, that king isn't stupid... It's a pity that without his personal presence, the contract is destined to be destroyed today..."
For some reason, Turu did not receive Erwin and his companions at the Golden Tree.
He then led them to a smooth, flat area paved with mithril, where they sat cross-legged, with Manuel guarding their side.
Seeing this, Erwin and the others followed suit and sat down on the ground. Shana sat at the front, while Erwin and Jenny sat down a little further back.
On the Mithril Plains, diplomatic activities that would determine the future of both races officially began.
Turu looked at Erwin and the others, a warm smile tugging at the corners of his mouth:
"Welcome to the dwarf kingdom, you have traveled a long way. Please do not be too reserved. The Kingdom of Kur is a reliable ally of the dwarves. Your arrival represents the kingdom. If you need anything, please just let me know."
Erwin relaxed. He was fine with the silver-helmeted dwarf, but he hadn't expected even the dwarf king Turu to be so easy to talk to.
"Your Majesty, the Golden King."
After exchanging glances with Shana and Jenny, Erwin cleared his throat and spoke. "Dwarf King Turu" was his title on the continent, but within the dwarf race, he used a more respectful, internal title:
"The primary purpose of this trip is to establish a friendly cooperative relationship with the dwarves. You may not be aware of this, but the kingdom is currently facing a significant shortage of ironware, therefore, we want to—"
Following Ota's instructions, Erwin first revealed the entire contents of the deal.
I thought there would be several rounds of bargaining and concessions, but as soon as Rupp heard the offer, he immediately made the decision:
"This isn't a big problem. The dwarves have no shortage of excellent craftsmen. According to your needs, the longsword can be forged within three days. In addition, the Savage Forest will also provide a batch of high-quality iron ore. I think this is a good compensation..."
Tulu spoke so fast, it was as if he was urging the group to get to the point as soon as possible.
Erwin was also stunned, but after Jenny's perfect translation, he slowly came back to his senses and revealed a genuine joy.
In any case, the dwarves' attitude is much better than expected! This is a good sign!
Elvin and Jenny didn't quite understand the compensation Tulu mentioned, but they didn't care much about it.
Only Shana frowned slightly, her shattered red eyes staring intently at Tulu's face. For some reason, she could "see" a faint ominous aura emanating from him, even a hint of malice. She didn't know if it originated from Tulu or was due to the influence of that ominous aura.
"Then, we won't waste your time, Golden King." Erwin coughed a few times and got to the real topic of their trip:
"In fact, we also mentioned in our letter of visit that we also wanted to take this opportunity to confirm... the progress of the development of that secret weapon that the dwarves and the Mino Warrior agreed on. I wonder if it is progressing smoothly."
"If needed, the kingdom can also provide corresponding assistance."
"Will you help me...?"
Turu smiled knowingly. Help was indeed needed: once the weapon was completed, he still lacked a suitable test subject and a target to deter the mainland.
"No need for help. I recently acquired some excellent materials, and the weapon will actually be completed very soon—"
"Really?!" Erwin was overjoyed.
"That's wonderful! To be honest, the war between humans and demons is currently at a fever pitch. With the deployment of that secret weapon, we're sure to achieve a breakthrough and rescue the Mino Hero who's far away in the Demon King's Castle!!!"
"Save Mino?"
Tulu finally couldn't suppress the smirk, and a hint of mockery appeared in his eyes:
"According to your kingdom's foreign treaties, shouldn't Mino... be a traitor you'd be eager to get rid of?"
Erwin blushed and said, "You misunderstand, Your Majesty the Dwarf King. This is all due to our helplessness in the face of the dragons' tyranny."
One of the purposes of our trip is to inform you that the hero Mino is by no means the culprit who threatens the human kingdom, or even the dwarves!
“That’s right.” At this moment, Shana, who was sitting at the very front, also spoke up, her eyes extremely serious:
"I swear by the name of the hero who was once a hero of sin and evil, and is now the hero of calamity, that my brother is not a traitor who surrenders without principle! It is all just slander from the demons and dragons!!!"
"Wait a minute, Shana the Hero... don't use that kind of reputation as a guarantee, right?" Erwin instinctively wanted to complain.
"Don't worry, I know."
On the Mithril Plain, Turu nodded naturally, which perfectly confirmed his prediction and proved how hypocritical and insincere Callest's words were ten days ago.
Based on his insightful deductions and the clarifications from the two key figures in the human camp, the last trace of doubt and risk was dispelled from his mind.
Turu finally made up his mind and revealed his most radiant smile:
"In that case, I will never hand over that secret weapon to you under any circumstances."
Chapter 425 A multitude of Kingdom's Glories! The Perverted Prince and the Unsmiling Knight!
"If you're willing to cooperate... wait, what?"
Just as Erwin was about to nod in relief, his eyes widened in surprise.
He could hardly believe the dwarven language he was hearing. He turned to look at Jenny and saw that her eyes were also filled with confusion. Erwin knew that his understanding was correct, and his heart skipped a beat.
"Golden King, what do you mean by this? If we understand correctly, you want to... break the contract?"
Erwin's expression gradually darkened. Tulu's unrestrained smile confirmed his judgment; the other party was so domineering that he offered no explanation whatsoever.
"So what?"
At this moment, the arrogance and contempt in the dwarf king's tone were unmistakable, making the group realize that they were not facing an ally who could take whatever they wanted, but a tiger hiding its claws and teeth!
Erwin's mind was in chaos. Before coming here, Prince Ota had considered several scenarios, all of which could be resolved through verbal negotiations. However, he had never considered the situation where the other party was forcibly denying the contract.
For the dwarves, whose orders span the entire continent, contracts and trust are almost more important than life itself.
Even Prince Ota would find it hard to imagine that Tulu, the shrewd dwarf king, would do something that would seriously damage the reputation of the dwarf race.
Thinking of this, Erwin, unwilling to give up, reminded him:
"Dwarf King, although that contract was originally made between the Mino Warrior and the Dwarf Clan, he made the agreement as the Kingdom's Warrior, and the weapons were delivered to the Kingdom of Kur."
Although the Mino Hero is currently trapped in the Demon King's castle, that doesn't mean the contract can be broken... You should understand that, right?
What Erwin presented was the most crucial point of the entire contract. He thought to himself, if even the Dwarf King Turu denied this point...