Chapter 584: Chapter 608: Missing Chapter 584: Chapter 608: Missing Before leaving the Iron Ice Plains and eting with Pakos, the party had made a series of preparations, including scouting the terrain around Glacial Fortress, establishing teleportation points, a new gigantic Array Plate, specially commissioned Teleportation Array scrolls, a pure and healthy sheep, and a bottle of poison said to be particularly effective against Dragons—though sowhat cliché, the group still planned to try it.
Pakos was naturally dissatisfied, viewing it as an insult to the Dragon Race. However, when the Dwarf questioned whether he was more concerned that the White Dragon would indeed be fooled by such a simple trick, the Halfling decided to steer the conversation toward why the White Dragon should not be counted among the True Dragons.
“Let’s put it this way, you humans never consider yourselves the sa species as monkeys, right?” the Halfling said in a condescending tone, “The difference is that monkeys are stupider, almost have no intelligence, and don’t have the complex social structures that you humans do. White Dragons are the sa to us; they’re indistinguishable from beasts, dumb enough hardly to speak. How could we classify such creatures along with us?”
“It’s said that Tiamat has five heads,” Bruto said dryly, “One of them is white.”
“That just proves that White Dragons also worship the Dragon Queen, and does not an they are of the sa species as other colored Dragons!” Pakos retorted viciously, “Unless you think Dwarves and Gnos are the sa race!”
“Fine, have it your way,” the Dwarf shrugged, “Anyway, there’s not a single White Dragon here to defend itself.”
“Speaking of which, I have a sowhat inappropriate question…” Kalalin said, holding a soup bowl and speaking hesitantly, “The White Dragon, I an Svafnir’s son, he hasn’t really bothered us, has he? As a Scholar studying the Abyss, I’ve never heard of him venturing to the Pri Material Plane to commit evils. Isn’t it a bit wrong to just kill him like this?”
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“Damn it, how could I forget to cast an alignnt detection on you!” the Halfling sneered, “You’re not one of those who emphasize morality and the presumption of innocence… good people, are you?”
“What’s wrong with being good people?” Bruto scratched his head, “Although I too desire a title of Dragon Slayer, what Kalalin says doesn’t seem wrong. If a Succubus can beco a Holy Warrior, maybe not all White Dragons are… bad dragons?”
“What a pity,” Pakos gazed nacingly at Bruto, “Ladies won’t spread their legs for a title like Slayer of Dwarves…”
“I’ve considered that issue already,” Lancelot said resolutely, “He is a rapist, and as a Knight, anyone who tries to go against a woman’s wishes…”
The Human Knight’s words were cut off because the Pakos in front of him suddenly ‘changed,’ his neck no longer having the innocuous, likable Halfling head but instead a draconic head covered in scales and spines with a mouth big enough to swallow a man whole. Due to the size difference, it looked rather terrifying and yet sowhat adorable.
“If we didn’t also need to deal with Svafnir…” the mouth of the Red Dragon opened and closed, letting small leaps of fla escape from between his teeth, “I would very much enjoy spending a few years slowly torturing him.”
“We will kill that White Dragon,” Lancelot lowered his gaze, “I promise.”
“Good,” Pakos nodded, “The night is still young. Tell about the recent war in this plane. Considering your glorious role in Androlina, don’t tell it had nothing to do with you.”
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Twin Bridges Town.
After nightfall, the tavern was always bustling, even in the Abyssal Plane, especially right after so major event had happened. At such tis, the tavern would be extrely noisy and crowded, but the brawls that were frequently staged on other days were much fewer because nobody wanted to miss out on the latest rumors and news; no one would drink to the point of oozing alcohol through their skin.
Barrend Frostforge was sitting in such a tavern, brooding over his beer mug. Only a sip of beer had been drunk from the glass, and it seed the old dwarf had no interest in lifting his mug again for the ti being. Realizing that Twin Bridges Town was not so safe, he was missing his son and worried he might never see him again.
Beside him were Delg Frostforge, a long-ti collaborator and expert in ore slting, and Takolin Stoneplate, a Gray Dwarf who was a master in weapon edging. Unlike Barrend’s silence, these two dwarves were engaged in a heated discussion, naturally about the events that had occurred earlier that day. Although they had no reliable sources of information, this did not stop the dwarves from expressing their opinions.
“… we all saw it on the city wall today, the fact is as clear as if it were engraved in stone.” After gulping down a big mouthful of beer, Delg slamd his mug on the table as if to lend authority to his statent, “Coward Devils are like rats that only scurry out in a group when the house is on fire, and Volcano Fortress is the house for today’s group of Coward Devils. The demons might be holding a parade there right now!”
“Pah! ‘Destruction Fla’s army might well have suffered a defeat, but the Volcano Fortress wouldn’t fall just like that.” Takolin caressed his smooth, bald head, a characteristic of the Gray Dwarves, “I’ve been to the Volcano Fortress, that place is like a rock wearing a helt, and it is a piece of processed Obsidian that can resist magic effects; we just sent a batch of weapons there last week, Bartez couldn’t possibly have taken that place so quickly!”
“But those Coward Devils…”
“Oh! Throw away that theory about Coward Devils!” the Gray Dwarf farted loudly, which in (so) dwarf culture is a form of punctuation, “Creating Coward Devils for the Demon Lord is no more troubleso than us making arrows, a bunch of fleeing cannon fodder proves nothing!”
“New intelligence!” a shrill voice ca from the entrance of the tavern, turning heads, revealing a smug-looking Quasimodo Demon, “Give a glass of the best Snake Tree Wine, and I’ll tell you the details!”
“You’ll get nothing more than a glass of Razor Vine Beer!” a dark-skinned orc rcenary shouted at the little demon, “Spill it quick, or would you rather taste my fist?”
Like most low-rank demons, the Quasimodo Demon backed down under the threat of violence, possibly also because it saw another competitor erging from a tavern across the street. It hopped onto the bar, snatched the glass brought by the Tiflin bartender, took a big gulp, and began,
“This is all from our gang leader, who crouched outside the interrogation rooms in the barracks area all day; initially, it just wanted to listen to the captives’ screams…” the Quasimodo Demon grabbed the attention of the entire bar with an authoritative tone, “The shaless Bartez played a trick; they dispatched four legions, but only flew the banners of two! ‘Destruction Fla’ Visuvius stupidly chose to strike first, and when it realized sothing was wrong, the battle was already beyond salvageable!”
“That’s just stupid.” Delg whispered, “Can’t they count?”
“You expect too much from the Tanari.” Takolin scoffed, “Maybe the scout assigned to count didn’t even get the flags right and told Visuvius that only one legion was coming.”
“Was Destruction Fla himself killed?” A Brezu Demon shouted at the Quasimodo Demon, “Answer quick, or I’ll skin you!”
“Who knows?” the little demon belched sourly, “but several prisoners witnessed the Fla Demon General being attacked by four Abyss-bred Demon Refinent together; what do you think his chances are?”
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