In the banquet hall of the Forge City, the long table is laid with various delicacies, including whole roasted Rock Lizard, honey-soaked ribs, and the essential Dwarven strong ale.
The dwarves attending the banquet tear into chunks of at, clutching barrels of ale, rrily stomping out steps mimicking a Charge to the beat of drums, their laughter rough and hearty.
Inanna sits quietly at the center of this whirlpool of revelry, an odd match for her surroundings.
The previous conflict was ultimately resolved without escalating into a battle, thanks to the diation of the Dwarven King’s envoy.
Upon returning to the Forge City, the Dwarven King generously announced, as Bardur had said, that the Restriction Ring belonged to the victor as a trophy, and should rightfully be Inanna’s.
If Lin Jun wasn’t aware that the envoy had been observing the situation from the shadows all along, she might have truly believed the Dwarven King was as genuine and heroic as Bardur.
The current raucous banquet was both a celebration of reclaiming the Molten Fire Dungeon and a farewell for the delegation.
Bardur had long cast the dispute aside, his eyes now only on the strong ale.
He downed a cup, while beside him, No. 4 mimicked him by pouring a cup over its mushroom cap.
Whether Puki would get drunk was uncertain, but the stool and floor were certainly soaked.
Half-drunk, Bardur embraced the soaking No. 4, praising its "good capacity for alcohol" with slurred speech.
He also wanted to clink glasses with Sword Saint Puki.
Elvyn had a certain fondness for his straightforwardness but had no interest in having ale poured over his head, so he deftly dodged.
Bardur could only sway over to Inanna, raising his glass high: "To warriors! Let those... hic... cowards all get lost!"
Not far away, several mbers of the Deep Furnace Clan were glowering in silence.
Seeing this, Bardur laughed even louder.
Inanna gently clinked her glass with his.
Noticing Inanna’s glass contained juice, Bardur shook his head regretfully and muttered, "Such a brave warrior, pity she’s a woman who can’t hold her drink."
Then, Bardur picked up a nut-like fruit from the mountain of food on the table.
"Here, try this! Truly good stuff from our mountains, Lava Chestnut!" He stuffed the fruit into Inanna’s hand, urging her to taste it quickly.
Inanna peeled off the hard shell to reveal the flesh inside and put it in her mouth. Her eyebrows slightly lifted; it was indeed good stuff, its taste probably reached the level of Delicious Level 4!
"Very tasty." She politely praised.
"Isn’t it! Haha!" Bardur proudly shook his glass, "I’ve also tasted your delicious mushroom; it’s indeed good, but to our mountain-essence-infused chestnut, it still... hehe, falls a bit short!"
At that mont, a mycelium tentacle still dripping with ale lightly tapped Bardur’s shoulder.
Turning as if dazed, Bardur faced No. 4’s mushroom cap.
Inanna didn’t really care about Bardur’s comparison, but No. 4 wasn’t having it.
No. 4 picked up a dining knife to cut its own tentacle but struggled for a long ti without success, then had to run to Sword Saint Puki hoping to borrow its sword.
A quick flick from the Sword Saint, and though those nearby hadn’t even noticed him drawing his sword, No. 4 had already had a layer sliced from its tentacle tip.
It imdiately rolled up this mushroom slice and directly handed it to Bardur’s mouth.
This absurd maneuver shocked Bardur enough to sober half his drunkenness.
"What... what are you doing? Want to eat this?" He stared at the mushroom slice, his face all furrowed.
No. 4’s tentacle pressed forward a bit more, adamantly.
With a curious yet suppressed laughter watching from so dwarves nearby, Bardur, with a "I’ve eaten everything" look, picked up the mushroom slice and stuffed it in his mouth.
The next mont, Bardur’s eyes widened like Copper Bell, as if struck by the lightning nad "Delicious," his entire body stiffened, and his throat emitted a series of nonsensical sounds.
"Ugh! Oh! Oh-oh!"
Then, unexpectedly, Bardur’s foot slipped.
In full view, this dwarven war hero stumbled backward and fell directly into a large ale barrel, ale splashing everywhere.
Glug glug glug... The barrel tipped, amber liquid gushing out. When the ale was spent, Bardur was seen with most of his body wedged inside the barrel, just his legs sticking out, while thunderous snoring rhythmically resonated from within.
Puki—
No. 4’s short leg stomped on Bardur’s behind, puffing up its rounded mushroom cap, several tentacles akimbo (if that counts as a waist), in a triumphant posture.
Inanna, who had been observing all along, finally couldn’t resist and covered her mouth, chuckling lightly.
The dwarfs around her were initially stunned, then erupted into even louder laughter, and the raucous atmosphere of the banquet reached a new peak at that mont.
By the ti Bardor awoke from his hangover, the delegation had already left the Forge City and embarked on their journey ho.
Though the people had departed, the aftereffects lingered.
The entire Forge City was bustling, with the craftsn and laborers of all clans busily preparing for the full recovery and redevelopnt of the Molten Fire Dungeon.
During this period, a small incident occurred—the residence of the Deep Furnace Clan’s leader was burgled.
The thieves didn’t break into the heavily guarded treasury, but they completely ransacked the outer hall and the clan leader’s private study.
Valuable jewels, rare rune tablets, and even the clan leader’s magic staff inlaid with a small, pure S-Class Demon Crystal... all vanished.
The scene left only a disheveled cabinet and the clan leader’s face, livid with anger.
On a normal day, this would be enough to make headline news across the city.
But now, everyone’s attention was focused on the redevelopnt of the Underground City, so aside from the chaos within the Deep Furnace Clan, few outsiders truly cared.
...
Inside Inanna’s carriage in the delegation’s team.
Knight Puki extended its mycelium limbs, probing into a crevice where its mushroom cap connected to its torso, rustling for a mont. Afterward, several items were sequentially tossed onto the cushioned seat.
A finger-thin S-Class Demon Crystal, a luminous pearl emitting a soft glow inside the carriage, two ingots of unknown but evidently high-quality tal...
"Where did these things co from?" Inanna widened her eyes, curiously picking up the warm-lit pearl.
"Found them." Said Lin Jun, who hadn’t attended the banquet.
...
This trip was rich with rewards.
Of course, not referring to the scraps picked up from the Deep Furnace Clan.
The clan leader’s magic staff only had a tiny S-Class Demon Crystal—such a miser!
The real rewards were the sealing and the Fire Elental Lord.
Needless to say, the Fire Elental Lord now resembled Inanna’s Pokémon; it could be partially released by activating the confinent ring.
Although once released, the Fire Elental Lord couldn’t be forcibly controlled, as long as Inanna sought its help, this core tainted with pink couldn’t possibly refuse.
Of course, given the indiscriminate high-temperature domain of the Fire Elental Lord, which only the blessed Inanna could currently withstand, careful consideration was needed on how to avoid harming allies during combat.
The other was the seal of the confinent ring.
This trip was originally aid at acquiring a sealing thod to return and control the Frost Elental Lord in the Northern Territory, to prevent the temperature from further dropping and affecting the developnt of Fungus Castle.
Who would have thought the dwarfs didn’t have any sealing skills, just a manual on so functions of the confinent ring.
But fortunately, Lin Jun happened to have an extra confinent ring.
That Water Elent from Tide Sanctuary vanished into the mist before ever being seen, leaving behind a damaged confinent ring on the spot, which Lin Jun picked up.
The damaged area isn’t large; it might be checked against the Fire Elental Lord’s ring for repairs. Once fixed, the Frost Elental Lord can be tucked inside.
Then...
Holding two great Elental Lords, with the Sword Saint already "fallen," Inanna’s power might just be vying for the title of "strongest human force!"
Looking at Inanna, who was cuddling Puki against her face, barely reaching the Diamond Level threshold thanks to the life-giving water’s nourishnt.
In a different perspective, humanity’s future... seems a bit bleak.
...
Slightly rewinding ti, when Inanna was still in the Underground City.
"Are you serious?" Vera, with Puki on her head, clutched the adventurer’s shoulders tightly in front of her.
"I am, I am! An elf of that beauty, I wouldn’t mistake it! Uh... Vera, calm down a bit, you’re hurting ..."
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