"A delegation?"
A dwarf officer with captain insignia on his armor took the transit document Bloom handed over. He extracted a rune-embedded badge and pressed it against the lord's seal, emitting a faint magical fluctuation.
"The transit permit is fine." The officer returned the document. "But this area is currently closed to passage. You'll need to detour along the small path at the southern mountain base."
That meant at least two extra days of rugged travel.
"Why the sudden road closure?" Bloom asked in confusion. "Some days ago, people were still traveling this road back and forth to Forge Ash City."
The dwarf officer's gaze swept across the delegation members. After pondering briefly, he decided to speak frankly:
"Those forge-slag... that is, fire elementals from the dungeon haven't given up yet. Several days ago, we were just forced back by a counterattack. A big one rushed out and self-destructed, scattering quite a few 'fire seeds' around Golden Flame City."
He pointed toward the blackened, twisted wasteland behind him: "Those things have extremely weak magical fluctuations when hidden—very difficult to detect. But once triggered, they can spawn complete fire elementals within a few breaths. We're doing our utmost to clear them and can't spare manpower to escort you through this area."
The officer paused, his tone polite yet carrying a non-negotiable meaning: "If the delegation meets with trouble here, we can't bear the responsibility. So, please take the detour."
Facing this delegation from afar, his phrasing was already courteous, but the subtext was clear: don't come cause trouble.
"We can protect ourselves." Inanna said.
The dwarf officer looked at this pink-haired woman with difficulty.
He naturally noticed those well-equipped guards and mages in the delegation who clearly came from regular military.
This team's combat capability was at least better than their cleanup squads.
But was this a question of whether they could protect themselves?
If they let the delegation pass on its own and any mishap occurred, when responsibility was investigated afterward, they would inevitably be hard-pressed to escape blame.
Who wanted to bear an extra share of risk for no reason?
Just as the officer pondered whether he should use a more resolute, even slightly rough attitude to refuse, the surrounding magic power suddenly gathered toward a patch of scorched earth!
"Fire seed!" A dwarf mage shouted a sharp warning.
Before his words finished, two fire elementals composed of roiling flames had already emerged from the scorched earth. Scorching heat waves rushed toward them.
The delegation's well-trained shield guards immediately stood forth, protecting Ronan and Inanna at the center.
Dwarf warriors also quickly formed up, prepared for battle.
Only the three Puchis remained unmoved.
The fire seeds' so-called "hiding"—in Lin Jun's perception view, they were merely two clear panels floating above the scorched earth marked with [Dormant] status.
He'd already browsed their detailed information.
Though Lin Jun hadn't told others, the Sword Saint through aura sense had likewise discovered these two fire seeds' existence early on. He merely judged they posed no threat to the delegation, so didn't take action.
As for No. 4 lying comfortably in Inanna's arms—since both No. 14 and the knight hadn't moved, why should it be anxious?
Lin Jun was quite interested in this status that dwarves called "fire seed" but displayed as [Dormant] on panels.
Observing the entire panel changes of these two fire elementals from jumping out to forming, he could see they weren't born from condensing magic power from nothing, but through some method, made complete fire elementals enter deep dormancy, transforming into "fire seeds."
However, after carefully reviewing these two fire elementals' panels, Lin Jun found no related skills.
Clearly, what transformed them into "fire seed" status should be another special fire elemental—very likely the big one the dwarf officer mentioned that rushed out and self-destructed.
Lin Jun noted this information, planning to search around later.
He only hoped that special fire elemental could, like the flame demon in the deep zone back then, possess a core entity.
If purely elemental form, Lin Jun couldn't even eat it.
After the two fire elementals suddenly appeared, following initial wariness, the dwarf officer felt a trace of secret delight.
Mere two ordinary fire elementals obviously couldn't pose true threat to them, but this sudden attack undoubtedly let the delegation witness this place's danger firsthand.
This way, they would presumably know to retreat from difficulty and obediently choose the detour, saving him considerable argument.
"Wait!"
Just as the dwarves gripped weapons preparing to resolve those two fire elementals, Inanna suddenly spoke out, halting everyone's movements.
Aside from Ronan who vaguely guessed something, others in the delegation showed puzzled expressions.
Some dwarves even ignored this unfamiliar human and continued launching attacks.
However, they were all blocked by No. 4 jumping out and waving tentacles.
"What are you doing? Looking for trouble?" The dwarf officer turned toward the delegation direction somewhat angrily.
But his questioning just emerged before being choked back by the scene before him.
Those two fire elementals that should immediately pounce on living beings now displayed exceptionally strange behavior.
After completely emerging from the scorched earth, they didn't launch attacks. Instead, with almost cautious posture, they slowly, bit by bit, moved forward. The roiling flames even seemed to restrain somewhat, as if fearing to disturb something.
Then an even more jaw-dropping scene occurred. Inanna gently parted the guards before her and walked alone to the team's front, standing there without any protection.
The two fire elementals immediately reacted. The flames on their bodies again obviously restrained. Even the heat they emitted weakened considerably. Then they actually began slowly circling around Inanna.
They maintained a neither-too-far-nor-too-close distance. Leaping fire tongues sometimes probed near her, sometimes shrank back as if startled. That posture...
Simply like they both longed to approach yet instinctively feared harming her!
The officer rubbed his eyes. These weren't the fire elementals he knew.
Everyone wore puzzled expressions. Only Ronan, who knew more of the inside story, was so excited his hands trembled slightly as he muttered in barely audible voice: "This is... the favor of elemental spirits? Simply like... their master..."
The two fire elementals just tamely circled several rounds like this, finally quietly stopping at a slightly distant position behind Inanna. Their leaping flame light calmed.
Inanna turned around. Amid the fine crackling sounds of flames burning on the fire elementals' bodies, she looked toward that dwarf officer who'd already stared dumbfounded and politely said: "Mister dwarf, you see, I believe these fire elementals aren't dangerous. Now... may we be permitted to pass through here? I guarantee we won't add trouble for you."
"That..." The dwarf officer swallowed with difficulty. His gaze swept back and forth between the docile fire elementals and the calm-expressioned pink-haired woman. After quite a while, he finally recovered his voice. "In any case, please first follow me to see our commanding officer and report..."
...
When General Duvalin, responsible for retaking Golden Flame City's dungeon, was hastily led by subordinates onto the temporary fortress's wall and saw that long line composed of nearly a hundred fire elementals, he nearly thought the forge-slags were coming to raid the main camp...
(End of Chapter)
Comments