novelhk Page 288
Page 288
"And now, the deadline for weapons delivery is approaching, but the key issue is that Mino... has been captured."
At that moment, Erwin understood completely.
Logically speaking, dwarves are not a race that breaks its word, but Ota, as the king, was still somewhat uneasy.
Therefore, sending him to the Savage Forest served two purposes: firstly, to make an appearance and strengthen relationships; and secondly, as a form of unspoken understanding, a warning, and a test.
For example, during the cooperation between the two chambers of commerce, when the head of one chamber was injured and had to step down, the other chamber sent someone to visit and offer condolences. It may seem like just a casual greeting, but it was also to get a sense of reassurance from the other party that "there is no need to worry and the transaction is proceeding normally."
This is an invisible contractual continuation, cumbersome but necessary.
"This time, you should go to the Dwarf Forest under the pretext of 'checking the progress of weapon development.' It would be best if you could get them to deliver the weapon ahead of schedule. If it's not finished yet, you can still convey our message—that the Dwarf King Turu may look rugged, but he is actually very wise. He will understand what we mean."
"Your Highness has a far-sighted vision."
Erwin wholeheartedly agreed.
After some discussion, the itinerary to the Savage Forest on the mainland border was basically finalized.
The first objective is to request the dwarves' assistance in crafting a batch of weapons and armor to fill the current gaps; the kingdom may even offer some concessions to further strengthen its relationship with the dwarves.
Secondly, it is to confirm the development status of that secret weapon. As the current "client," verifying the schedule is a perfectly legitimate right.
Of course, both of these purposes were simply to send a signal to the dwarf king and the dwarf race behind him: that they hoped this cooperation would not end badly.
That's why Erwin, the Grand Master of the Knights, was sent instead of the Minister of Foreign Affairs; it was clearly a deep exchange that was outwardly gentle but inwardly firm.
“Besides that, there is a third purpose.” Ota suddenly spoke as he tapped his fingers lightly on the edge of the long table.
"The third one?"
"Don't forget, Erwin." Thinking of this, Ota fell silent for a moment.
"The Mino Pact that we signed with the Frost Dragon King Callest... has now spread throughout the continent, and I think the dwarves have also received that prank on Mino."
"Although King Turu of the Dwarves probably wouldn't believe such a contract that distorts the truth, we should still step forward as soon as possible to clear up the misunderstanding for Mino."
"At the same time, as a close ally of ours, we must also remind Turu: Beware of traitors within our ranks!"
A hint of apprehension flashed in Ota's eyes: "That mole, deeply rooted in the kingdom, is becoming increasingly difficult to guard against—I'm worried that it will extend its rampant reach beyond us to other allies. Just to be on the safe side, it's never wrong to remind the dwarves."
"Maybe I'm being too pessimistic, but... it's necessary nonetheless." Ota shook his head and gave a self-deprecating smile.
Erwin smiled knowingly: "Indeed, Your Highness, you are still too worried."
"That despicable traitor, though difficult to eliminate, is ultimately just a traitor within our kingdom... It couldn't possibly be so powerful as to know the secrets of the dwarves and cause them such damage."
"Wouldn't that be even more powerful than the Holy Round Table?!"
Hearing his knight commander's agreement, Ota gradually felt relieved.
This is true...
After all, this time, even he hadn't grasped the details of the intelligence regarding the secret weapons of the dwarves and humans.
Only his close friend Mino, who was trapped in the Demon King's castle, knew the truth.
Chapter 415 Ambassador of Natural Disasters, Shana's New Sword Technique
"Then, Your Highness."
"Whom do you intend to send as your representative to accompany me to the Dwarf Forest?" Erwin asked at the opportune moment.
He knew he couldn't carry out this mission on his own. If it were just a simple transaction or visit, he or Tus would have been enough. But this mission, though simple in content, involved communication between the human kingdom and the dwarven tribe. He couldn't handle it alone.
Theoretically, it would require a king of Ota's caliber to personally meet with the Dwarf King for it to have sufficient practical significance.
However, Prince Ota is currently unable to attend to all matters at once, but he still needs to find someone of similar status to him who is qualified to represent the kingdom.
"Could it be that you intend to send Princess Kalia in your place?"
The first person Erwin thought of was Princess Kalia, the younger sister of Prince Ota, who also possessed noble royal blood and was the jewel of the kingdom.
But he soon realized that this was impossible.
As expected, Ota, sitting at the long table, shook his head: "The road to the Savage Forest on the edge of the continent is long and arduous. Although Kalia's health has improved, the long journey will be exhausting, and she is prone to problems both in terms of safety and physical health... Besides, how can we let Kalia suffer like that!"
Erwin scratched his head, thinking to himself: Sure enough, his prince was known for doting on his sister. He would rather suffer ten times the hardship himself than put such a heavy burden on Princess Kalia.
At present, Prince Ota clearly has no intention of stepping forward himself, nor does he have the time or inclination to do so.
Erwin understood immediately. There were very few people qualified to serve as the face of diplomacy. Apart from Princess Kalia, the most suitable candidate was... that one person who now held a position of equal prestige to His Highness Ota.
“I understand!” Erwin said confidently. “You’re planning to send Queen Astrid in your place, right?”
Unexpectedly.
“What are you talking about…” Ota immediately gave him a disapproving look.
"I wouldn't even let Kalia go, how could I possibly send the great scholar Astrid! Erwin, don't you have any sense of propriety?!"
Otta's stern rebuke fell silent.
This left Erwin completely bewildered. His large, bell-like eyes widened in confusion: "Judging from Prince Ota's tone... the great scholar Astrid's status in His Highness's heart is even higher than that of his own sister?! Are you kidding me?!"
"The selection is not a problem; I've already finalized it." Without further ado, Ota stated directly:
"Don't forget, there is another person who can represent the kingdom... bearing the gaze of countless citizens and goddesses, and sharing the same bloodline as Mino, the diplomatic stepping stone for the dwarves—the hero Shana!"
“Heroine Shana… I did indeed overlook that.”
Erwin understood that all that was needed for this diplomatic mission was a representative of sufficient stature; he would handle the specific actions. Therefore, there was no need to worry about the risk of Shana exposing her weaknesses; all she needed to provide was the identity of the hero.
"But is this really a good idea—" After hesitating for a moment, Erwin finally asked:
“Your Highness, after all, Hero Shana’s current title is the Hero of Calamity…”
"No need to worry about such details; we don't have many other options right now," Ota waved his hand dismissively.
"It's just a title of hero. Just like you said, an insider couldn't possibly harm the dwarves outside the kingdom. The title of 'Disaster' for Hero Shana was something we made up, let alone bringing natural disasters to other countries... King Turu of the Dwarves isn't a superstitious person, he wouldn't be that sensitive."
"I understand."
Erwin nodded slightly, gripping the sacred wooden sword at his waist, his palms sweating involuntarily.
However, although.
The current Shana Warrior could kill herself with a single blow—
Carrying such a bomb, which even he couldn't control and which was about to explode, on this long journey... For some reason, Erwin seemed to have a premonition that this trip would not go very smoothly.
……
"O sharp will shrouded in black flames, you are the chaos that destroys everything, and the standard that rejects everything... The flames surround me, shattering the darkness at dawn..."
"In accordance with the pact of fire... transform the sharp longsword... into a barrier that burns the world... Sword Intent - Reversal!"
The Knights, training ground.
A loud female voice echoed across the open space, and the next moment, a dark longsword fell straight down from the sky.
The energy, powerful enough to tear apart wooden stakes, did not unleash terrifying force. Instead, it transformed into an invisible barrier of blades, wrapping around the blindfolded girl like raging fire, causing her cloak to flutter wildly behind her!
After a while, the wind and waves subsided.
"It's a success, my lord!" The holy sword in her hand trembled with excitement, and her voice echoed in the red-haired girl's mind.
"Finally complete... This advanced technique completely transforms offensive sword energy into a defensive sword barrier! You will be able to selectively convert the sword energy into pure offensive or pure defensive power the instant it is unleashed!"
On the field, Shana lifted her blindfold, revealing her broken red eyes, the emotions hidden deep within them unreadable.
"Calm down, Darkfrey. It's just a relatively advanced technique... you're still far from it," Shana said calmly.
Judging from her hands clasped together in front of her chest and her long-prepared, cool pose, it's clear she's imagined her declaration of success countless times.
“That’s different! After all, you are a hero who can ‘slay with one strike’!” Darkfrey exclaimed with great emotion.
"Once you enter combat mode, your power can only surge uncontrollably, transforming into a single, pure, destructive strike... But with this technique, it's different—"
"You can unleash all the power within your body in an instant, delivering a powerful strike to protect yourself!!!"
"Your combat skills have doubled!"
Hearing this unique way of describing combat power, even Shana couldn't help but twitch her lips: "Now that you mention it, I suddenly feel that this technique... is a bit lame."
Wiping the sweat from her brow, Shana, having completed the advanced development of her sword intent, looked up at the sky, revealing a belatedly enlightened state:
"To be honest, this technique isn't exactly useless, it's more like it's completely ineffective..."
Shana knew that if she could use that powerful attack, which could now severely injure a demon official, as a defense, she could also withstand a considerable number of attacks. But the key was—under what circumstances should she use this attack: a normal attack would be enough to annihilate any threatening attack.
To transform sword energy into pure defense, one must encounter a force several times greater than one's own strike.
What happened in that situation?
Did Mino and she have an affair?
Chapter 416 The Tragedy of Crimson Eyes, The King Who Reached the Pinnacle
“That’s not how it works, my lord.”
After being momentarily speechless by Shana's sharp comment, Darkfrey finally said, "In any case, it's always good to have more options, especially since you're still young and your strength is far from its peak... Besides, this also opens up a possibility for you."
"What if we could develop a technique to cut the condensed blade within our body into two halves, or even a tenth of a blade?"
"In that case, you can be considered to have normal hero combat strength, right?"
“That’s meaningless…” Shana shook her head very clearly: “What I have to defeat is that unfathomable and terrifying demon king. Even my full-force strike back then couldn’t have harmed him.”
"Moreover, the blessing is driven by the power of the hero's mark, and there is no way to take shortcuts: the 'One Slash' divine prayer is based on the concept of one slash. This is a hard rule, just like a rule-based curse: as long as you accept a kiss, you can turn the frog back to its original form. Behind such a simple way to remove the curse is a rule that can never be broken in any other way!"
"Therefore, developing the current 'Sword Intent - Reversal' is already the biggest progress. Going further would be against rules that even goddesses would find difficult to change."
“Yes…that’s true.” Darkfrey said with some regret.
"Breaking the rules is already a realm of miracles. Many heroes cannot do it even once in their entire lives, but some can do it in a flash of inspiration."
"If only we could unleash the same miraculous power you had when you slashed the second time in the Demon Realm—"
For some reason, the power of your One-Sword Style technique within you overcame the three-fold barrier and surged to tenfold! Perhaps it was due to the excessive amount of energy consumed from the crystals.
As they were talking, Darkfrey suddenly felt Shana's hand tremble slightly as she gripped his.
"My lord, what's wrong?"