Chapter 40: It Isn’t One Rare Squad—It’s an Epic Palace
The twelve Ridgewardens gave no second warning.
The four Dwarves in the front rank stepped forward together.
The next instant, their bodies swelled.
Frames that had only been normal Dwarf height surged upward. Shoulder plates and arm guards were forced apart as muscle expanded beneath them, and within moments the four were nearly three meters tall.
[Battle Stance]
[Enter a temporary giant combat state. Physique +50%.]
[Duration: 10 minutes]
Cassian read it once.
Not a Core Trait.
Not something he needed to reserve the final blow for.
"Eira."
"Here."
"Stay beside me."
Eira already had her short spear in hand. She paused, glanced at the twelve enlarged Ridgewardens, then back at Cassian.
"I’m protecting you?"
"Yes."
"Then what about them?"
Cassian looked toward the other five Stormlance.
"They’re enough."
Five Stormlance lowered their spearheads at once.
The five Gloomhoof spread onto the slopes on both sides, bowstrings already drawn.
The four Blackfang did not charge the front.
They slipped along the rock walls to circle behind.
Fourteen against twelve.
But only five streaks of lightning met the shield wall first.
BOOM!
The first Stormlance smashed straight into the formation.
The Ridgewardens’ enlarged bodies were genuinely stronger than the battle record had suggested.
A broad shield the size of a tower shield took the spearhead head-on. The Dwarf’s boots carved two short lines through the stone, but he did not go down.
He had barely started to swing his axe when a second flash of lightning cut in from the side.
A spear shaft tapped the shield edge.
The shield turned.
The third spear drove straight up beneath his jaw.
THUNK!
The Ridgewarden fell backward.
[Ridgewarden killed | Rare | Level 14]
[Obtained: Rare Chest ×1]
The first chest had barely entered storage when the formation behind him broke rhythm.
The Gloomhoof did not waste arrows on shield faces.
Five shots landed almost together on the backs of knees, ankles, and axe wrists.
Two Ridgewardens on the far right tried to shift positions, only for the Blackfang to burst from behind the rock wall into their rear flank.
Not to kill them.
Just to make them turn.
Their rotation slowed by half a beat.
Half a beat was enough for the Stormlance to rip the opening wider.
Lightning flashed again and again through the narrow mountain road.
Before the Ridgewardens’ Battle Stance had even reached its third minute, the last shield crashed onto the stone.
Eira had never moved more than two steps from Cassian.
She watched the final Dwarf fall and clicked her tongue softly.
"You really didn’t need me."
"I told you."
Cassian condensed the ordinary kill notices into one settlement.
Once the squad was fully cleared, the summary appeared.
[Ridgewarden Squad: 12 / 12]
[Battle Essence +16,800]
[Rare Chest ×3 | Includes the ×1 already added to storage]
[Primary loot: Intact Dwarf Heavy Shield ×8 / Rare Short Axe ×7]
Cassian checked it once.
He did not stop to open a single chest.
Twelve Level 14 Rare troops were valuable.
But right now, they proved something more important.
The mountain was producing the same high-grade Troop line consistently.
"Deeper."
The road stretched on.
Over the next half hour, the Blackfang marked more and more signs.
Pick marks carved into stone.
Wheel ruts from repeated heavy transport.
Drainage channels cut by hand into the walls on both sides.
This was no trail that wild monsters happened to use.
It was an active road.
Farther in, the Troops changed too.
The second organized force Cassian encountered was no longer made of Ridgewardens.
Heavy-armored Dwarves came charging down the slope on thick-horned mountain rams.
[Ironhorn Ram Cavalry]
[Quality: Rare]
More than ten cavalry bore down the incline, built for open-ground impact in a way the Ridgewardens were not.
Cassian did not let the Stormlance meet them head-on at the bottom of the slope.
The Gloomhoof pulled the formation wide first.
Stormlance cut through the middle.
Blackfang severed the retreat.
In under two minutes, the second Rare squad was down as well.
The system compressed that battle into another short report.
[Ironhorn Ram Cavalry: 14 / 14]
[Battle Essence +21,000]
[Rare Chest ×2]
[Primary loot: Intact Rare Lance ×6 / Rare Heavy Armor ×5]
Cassian did not open those chests either.
Ridgewarden.
Ironhorn Ram Cavalry.
Two stable Rare Troop lines were enough.
Whatever Building lay inside this mountain could not be some low-tier camp.
They continued for another half hour.
Then the narrow road suddenly opened out on both sides.
The wind changed first.
Coal smoke.
Iron filings.
The hot smell of a forge that had been burning for hours.
All four Blackfang stopped together.
Cassian stepped past the final slab of black rock blocking his view.
The mountain ahead had been hollowed open.
Walls were built directly into the stone strata.
Massive pillars supported high arches. Bronze braziers climbed the cliff face in rows. At the center stood an enormous palace-like structure built directly against the mountain.
System information unfolded in front of him.
[Dwarven Royal Hall]
[Type: Wild Troop Building]
[Quality: Epic]
Cassian stopped for half a beat.
Epic.
Elara’s people had only touched the outermost Rare patrol.
What was actually hidden inside the ridge was an Epic Troop Building.
The next instant—
BWOOOOOM!
A heavy horn sounded from inside the Royal Hall.
Stone doors opened one after another.
Dwarf Miners carrying pickaxes withdrew from the lower passages first.
Higher up, gunners formed ranks.
Long-bearded warriors in heavy armor took the main gate.
Ironhorn Ram Cavalry—the same line Cassian had just fought—appeared in formation along the side slopes.
Ridgewardens came last.
Not twelve.
Squad after squad.
The Gloomhoof behind Cassian raised their bows again.
Eira did not move.
Her attention was fixed on the bronze door opening at the very center of the Royal Hall.
Heavy footsteps came from inside.
Thud.
Thud.
A Dwarf nearly three meters tall stepped through the doorway.
Bronze heavy armor protected only his chest, abdomen, and shoulders. His exposed arms looked like blocks of metal cast in a forge.
A massive warhammer dragged from his right hand across the stone.
Sparks skipped behind it.
Twelve Ridgewardens automatically moved aside.
A system panel lit in front of Cassian.
[Hill King — Haldor Stormhammer]
[Race: Dwarf]
[Level: 18]
[Quality: Legendary]
Cassian’s gaze stayed on the final line.
This time, he had found the door.
The one standing in front of it was the bigger problem.