Mythology: Ragnarok

Chapter 116 The Crisis of the Dwarf Kingdom

Unfortunately, the headless fire demon did not die. In the blink of an eye, blood gushed out like magma and reformed its head. It was clear that its physiological structure had long since transcended the definition of a species and had no vital organs. The only way to kill it was to destroy its divine core.

Once the Balrog recovered, it immediately swung its hand at the dwarf king who had attacked it. The massive hand, as large as a small mountain, struck the dwarf king, whose body was covered in runes. The dwarf king swung his hammer to meet the Balrog's attack. With a loud bang, the Balrog's hand was shattered once again, but at the same time, a huge fireball followed, blasting the dwarf king into the city.

The Balrog then rampaged through Ifiltar. Just as the Balrog was about to continue its carnage, the Dwarf King appeared as a streak of light, his giant hammer unleashing a burst of lightning and fire that shattered the Balrog's chest. Unfortunately, the huge hole in the Balrog's body healed itself at an astonishing speed.

The Balrog ignored the Dwarf King, its body ablaze with flames as hundreds upon hundreds of enormous fireballs indiscriminately bombarded the entire city. Left with no other option, the Dwarf King rested his forehead on the symbol of Asgard, murmuring a plea: "Great Thor, please protect this place once more and grant the dwarves peace and stability." Then, the Dwarf King's hammer shone brightly, and the Dwarf King raised it high as endless lightning bolts appeared from the sky, striking the Balrog. The scattered fireballs were extinguished by the light emanating from the hammer.

Endless lightning bolts struck the Balrog as if they would never cease. This attack clearly caused the Balrog to feel pain, and it rolled on the ground in agony, howling incessantly.

Ten minutes later, the Balrog had lost all its flames and lay on the ground like a huge lump of coal. The lightning had also completely dissipated. After that, the Dwarf King also collapsed to the ground due to exhaustion. The activation of the Asgardian mark had drained most of his life essence. Now, the Dwarf King's beard was white, making him look like an old man in his twilight years.

The dwarf king stood up shakily, raised his warhammer, gathered his last strength, and hurled it at the wrecked body of the Balrog to ensure its complete demise. But before the warhammer could even strike the Balrog, a burst of flames erupted from its body once more, and it was resurrected!

The Balrog stood up again, slapped the Dwarf King's hammer away, then pounced on the Dwarf King and stomped him into the ground. Then the Balrog used his meteor-like fists to frantically strike the Dwarf King who was stuck in the ground.

Even though the armor worn by the Dwarf King was the pinnacle of dwarven craftsmanship, it couldn't withstand such an attack for even a minute. Fortunately, the Dwarf King hadn't lost his ability to think. He seized the opportunity, reached out, and summoned his weapon. The Dwarf King's warhammer flew back at its master's command and smashed into the Balrog's head. The Balrog was knocked to the ground by the sudden attack. The Dwarf King then picked up the warhammer, leaped up, gathered all his remaining strength, and slammed it heavily into the Balrog's abdomen.

The violent lightning and flames intertwined, instantly leveling the area within a hundred meters. Fortunately, the dwarves had already taken refuge in their shelter; otherwise, the loss would have been enough to keep them struggling for decades.

Although the attack was incredibly powerful, the Balrog was not dead. However, the severely injured Balrog finally retreated, howling as it ran out of Ifiltar and disappeared into the Hundred Thousand Mountains. The Dwarf King lay motionless on the ground.

……

Five days after the Balrog incident, the mountain range chosen by Agreed suddenly split open neatly in the middle, as if someone had cleaved it in two, and from the suddenly appearing crack, a golden skull strode confidently out of the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

Now, Agred has successfully entered the Golden Bone Realm and raised his magical skills to the level of a legendary mage. Agred's skeleton is now more than twice as thick, his skull has become thick and angular, and there is a huge dark purple crystal ball inside his chest that envelops and protects his soul fire.

Argreed's bones have now become an extremely fine alloy material. Of course, the alloy does not actually appear golden. The gold color on the skull's exterior is actually due to useless impurities called 'gold' that were absorbed during mineral processing. These impurities were applied to the bone surface as a gold varnish. This was a design Tutankhamun specifically created to enhance the overall appearance of the Golden Bone Realm.

The idea that gold is an impurity sounds like a fantasy, but it is true. Even in the early years of the Dwarf Kingdom, the gold mined by the dwarves was discarded as useless waste. After all, in the dwarves' applications, gold only served as an auxiliary material to provide toughness and ductility in some alloy formulas. The demand was not very high, and it was usually only used to make some decorative and patterned frames.

However, the dwarves, who had been mining for many years, had unintentionally accumulated a very large amount of gold, making it a very common and cheap metal among them. This situation only changed after nearby orcish empires, dwarves, Skaven, halflings, and even human caravans traveled long distances to trade with them.

Gold's excellent monetary properties—limited practical use, small size, corrosion resistance, heavy weight, and good ductility—made it the best medium of exchange for other races and dwarves. When gold was linked to food, spirits, and warm clothing, its status instantly rose, making it a highly sought-after commodity among dwarves. At the same time, even the junk weapons that dwarves made for practice could be sold for very high prices by merchants. Of course, those junk weapons in the eyes of dwarves were actually very rare and powerful weapons for other races.

The dwarves don't easily sell their truly fine weapons. Unless you gain the trust and approval of a dwarven master blacksmith, no amount of gold or fine wine can buy them. The legendary sword that Argrede once possessed was bought by the royal family of Avalon from a halfling who received it as a gift from the dwarves. But to be honest, the legendary sword was only a mediocre item among dwarven creations; otherwise, it wouldn't have been given away as a gift.

However, the Supreme Sword in Agred's hands is a genuine top-tier weapon of the dwarves, a masterpiece that Milton earned with his skill and life.

Now that Agred has finally returned to his peak, his strength has completely surpassed that of his human form. Afterwards, Agred flew to Ifiltar in high spirits, ready to say goodbye to the Dwarf King and Master Larry before continuing his journey to find other opportunities to become stronger. But who could have imagined that when Agred arrived, he would see only ruins and a city draped in mourning?

Agreed first used disguise magic to make himself look like a human, then landed and ran into the ruins of Ifeltar. Agreed saw Master Larry and a group of dwarves kneeling and bowing around a coffin and instantly guessed everything.

Argreed walked over, knelt down on one knee with the others, bowed and expressed his condolences. He didn't say a word during this time; he just quietly stayed with the dwarves until they properly buried their...king!