~ Chapter 100: Departure from Trindania ~

[Mush’Nomv’Azer’s point of view]

 The word of Andu’Yang’Ores’ success in retrieving the Hammer of Umidaba had reached the ears of all the tribe leaders. Upon finding out that he was aided in this quest of his by the two dragonesses who recently passed the Nundaba Ritual, the dwarfs began to see them as one of their own.

Now, no matter what any other outsider declared, Sir Kataryna and Sir Seryanna as well as Princess Elleyzabelle, to the dwarfs, they were all citizens of Trindania, my citizens. As such, the completion of the Trade Agreement and Alliance Agreement was hastened with support coming from some of the biggest tribes in our nation.

These three had basically made my job as an Emperor a lot easier, and to be completely honest here, before they came along, I was a bit unsure on how to expand dwarf influence outside of Trindania. For the most part, we were all just a bunch of recluses who could rival ascetic monks.

“With these two agreements signed, we hope to begin a long-lasting friendship between the Trindania Empire and Albeyater Kingdom.” said Princess Elleyzabelle as she placed the two documents in a golden box.

“The Trindania Empire will see to it that the way our generation and those that follow us will look at the dragons as friends and allies from now on, especially those coming from the Albeyater Kingdom. Today, you made the dream of this dwarf Emperor come true and opened the gates to the outside world for us.” I declared with a broad smile on my lips.

“Emperor Mush’Nomv’Azer, I shall depart now together with my companions, and I hope we will be able to meet again in good augur.” she said and then bowed her head by just a palm.

For me, this gesture of respect and acceptance meant a great deal. It was nothing but the beginning of a wonderful future for Trindania.

I watched as she turned around and walked up to the door, but before they left the room, Sir Seryanna told her something, and the Princess replied with a nod. This conversation piqued my curiosity, and I waited to see what she was going to do next.

Sir Seryanna approached the throne and took out a blacksmith hammer from within her [Purse] ring.

“Your Majesty, my husband wished to offer this gift to the Dwarf Empire as a sign of good will and to further increase our relationship. Initially, we thought about trading it for the Celestium-Zaradin alloy dust infused with ancient dwarf magic, but with the recovery of the Hammer of Umidaba, it became unnecessary.” so she said and then looked towards Andu’Yang’Ores, who stood next to me.

That old dwarf was carrying that Legendary hammer with him everywhere, even to the bathroom. I was beginning to worry about his mental sanity.

“A blacksmith’s hammer? Was it made by your husband?” I asked.

“Yes, your Majesty. I hope that with it, you will forge the blades and armors that will one day come to our aid in battle if ever we will need it.” she knelt on knee, lowered her head and then presented the hammer to me.

I nodded and signaled Andu’Yang’Ores to get it.

“The Trindania Empire accepts this gift, and I will remember the name of your husband, Alkelios Yatagai. Both Andu’Yang’Ores and I have become increasingly curious of this human fellow who could stir the Dragon Continent so much. May the Gods bless him with good luck wherever he may be, and we shall pray for his safe return to you.” I told her with a soft smile.

This dragoness, no matter how good she was hiding it, her heart was aching from the longing of her husband.

“Thank you, your Majesty.” she got back up on her feet and then returned to the others.

With this, the dragonesses left my palace and headed back to Port Nefer. From there, they would sail all the way North towards the Elf Continent, at a reasonable distance away from the Human Continent. They were going to debark on the El’doraw Peninsula, and hopefully, with that one last trip, they will finally be able to return home to the Albeyater Kingdom.

About half an hour later after they left my audience room, Andu’Yang’Ores was still in the same spot looking at the hammer he was given with a look that could have scared children. His eyes were nearly popping out of their sockets, his forehead was furrowed, and his jaws were clenched.

“Andu’Yang’Ores, what’s the matter?” I asked.

“Hm?” he turned that gaze towards me, and I nearly had a heart attack, but I was strong, I did NOT flinch.

“This hammer, your Majesty. Is it... alright for me to use it?” he asked while puffing his nostrils.

“Yes... but why do you look like that? Did you eat a rotten spiderling?” I asked.

“NO! NO! NO!” he said shaking his head like a Hanba after a torrential rain.

“Then?”

“Your Majesty, do you know what I am holding?” he asked as he showed me the hammer that the dragoness gifted us.

It was of wonderful craftsmanship, true, but I could not tell, so I shook my head right to left.

“Your Majesty, this is the most amazing and wonderful hammer I happened to get my hands on! It’s so great, that I have no words to express it!” he declared with a passionate gaze in his eyes.

“Oh? Is that so? What about your beloved Hammer of Umidaba?” I asked.

He looked at his waist, where the hammer was dangling from his belt.

“Your Majesty, comparing the Hammer of Umidaba with this... Hammer of Alkelios, is like comparing a blunt copper sword with a perfectly enchanted zaradin alloy sword!” he declared.

“Huh?” I blinked surprised.

“This Hammer of Alkelios is beyond perfection, your Majesty! If with the Hammer of Umidaba I could forge up to Legendary level weapons and armors, with this one I can craft even Godlike ones!” I declared.

“What?!” I was so surprised I got up from my seat.

“Yes, your Majesty. This is that sort of a crafting tool... it’s a Godlike Blacksmith Hammer, a whole class above the Hammer of Umidaba.” he declared.

I slumped back into my seat as I looked at the tool he held in his hands. When I thought about the ease with which they gifted us such a precious thing, I began to feel sick to my stomach.

That Princess Elleyzabelle... she’s a crafty one. I thought and then began to laugh out load.

The others tossed me strange look, but I ignored them.

With a smile on my lips and a hand on my face, I looked through my fingers at the hammer in Andu’Yang’Ores’ hands.

“There’s no way we can ever become the enemies of Albeyater... no, of the dragons in general.” I said and then closed my eyes for a moment.

I thought about what I was about to declare carefully. I thought about it well so that I would not end up bringing destruction to the Trindania Empire, but no matter what, I could not see this as anything but a god-given opportunity.

Standing up, I looked at all the dwarfs in this room with a serious look on my face and then shouted as loud as my lungs could bear.

“FROM THIS DAY ON, THE HAMMER OF ALKELIOS WILL BE REGARDED AS A NATIONAL TREASURE! AND AS YOUR EMPEROR, I DECLARE THAT THE TRINDANIA EMPIRE SHALL DO EVERYTHING IN ITS MIGHT TO REMAIN ALLIED WITH THE DRAGONS AND MORE SPECIFICALLY THE ALBEYATER KINGDOM EVEN IF IT MEANS STARTING A WAR WITH THE HUMAN CONTINENT!”

There was no backing down from this. If a time ever came when the Albeyater Kingdom would request our help in battle, we dwarfs will gladly offer it, because now... now we would have with WHAT to fight. Our Enlightened Ones could finally wield Godlike Weapons and Armors forged by our own dwarf blacksmiths.

[Seryanna’s point of view]

 About one week after we recovered the Hammer of Umidaba, we set sail from Port Nefer. Captain Mathew was quite pleased to see us board Scorpion Dream Galleon. They had been waiting for us all this time, and it appeared as though there had been some changes that took place while we were gone.

First of all, two of our dragon sailors fell in love with two dwarf women who were native from this port town. They chose to follow them back to Albeyater, and to make it easier for them, they had a double wedding ceremony a couple of days ago. If this was a rash decision or not remained to be seen, but when the four heard that we would be leaving Trindania soon, they made their choice.

While onboard of the Scorpion Dream Galleon, the two dwarf women would have the job to learn to act as maids for Princess Elleyzabelle, and she would be the one to train the two. Apparently, she needed something to play with to stave off her own boredom and making Tanarotte go fetch a stick across the ocean wasn’t enough.

The other big change that occurred was in the fact that one of the dragon sailors died more than a week ago. He had an accident when hunting for a wild monster outside of Port Nefer. The cause of death was impalement through the chest. This one surprised me the most, since I was not aware that the local wildlife could kill us dragons that easily, but when I inquired further about it, it appeared as though the fool didn’t wear any protective armor when he went on the hunt, and he was a bit tipsy too. The dragon rushed out into the wilderness before his friends had the chance to stop him.

It was an unfortunate accident, but now Captain Mathew found himself with one less sailor, so he had to hire two dwarfs to take his place. They were both young and eager to set sail across the wide ocean. With the new Emperor vying for opening the borders to the outsiders, they didn’t need to worry about never returning again.

As for me, I kept thinking back at Alkelios. The longing in my heart never ceased, and I often dreamed of him. How silly it was that I once was so full of hate and anger towards the humans only to have one of them sweep me off my feet.

But it did not matter to me how the human species was in general, I only had eyes for my Alkelios and no one else. Lately though, I have been seeing a similar longing in Kataryna’s eyes, and I began to wonder if maybe something happened back at the temple that made her change her mind about a certain someone?

I knew she had feelings for Alkelios, but I could never figure out how deep they went. It was like she was shielding her own heart with an impenetrable ice barrier. I always thought that maybe deep down she was afraid of going further.

As a dragoness, she was beautiful, charming, attractive, but she was also a decent person with a soft spot for Alkelios. She always declared that she wanted to have a child with him, and that did not really bother me. With how much she had helped us and supported us, it was not such a bad deal.

But what if she wanted more?

For some reason, this thought was the one that bothered me the most. What if Princess Elleyzabelle took her political marriage with Alkelios further and began to embrace him as a dragoness would a dragon? What if Kataryna would now want to do the same? Would he end up being stolen from me? Would he forget about me?

Such thoughts were rushing through my mind now and then, but they never stuck around. Something deep within my heart told me that Alkelios was never going to abandon me, that our bond was far stronger than maybe even I dared to give it credit.

Two weeks after we set sail from Port Nefer, we came across a fleet of battleships belonging to the Akutan Empire. Their flag was fluttering in the wind up on the mast. Their boats were big and colored in blood-red paint.

“There they are the self-proclaimed ruler of these seas.” said Captain Mathew.

“Have you encountered them before?” Princess Elleyzabelle asked as she opened her fan and covered her mouth with it.

“Several times, yes.” he replied with a nod.

“How did you go past them?” she asked.

“I didn’t. I went around them. My boat was always the fastest one, but this time, a detour would take another week off our schedule.” Captain Mathew frowned.

“That’s unacceptable. Sir Kataryna, Sir Seryanna, can you two do something about it?” she asked us.

“It depends if they have any Awakened ones onboard.” I replied.

“Or Human Heroes.” added Kataryna.

“Hm. Try to go around them Captain Mathew, and if they dare to at...” she wasn’t able to finish her words because we heard the sounds of cannons going off into the distance.

“I’ll take care of that!” declared Tanarotte as she dashed off the deck.

The moment she was above the water, a giant fish of more than 30 meters in length jumped out from underneath her and ate her with one gulp.

The cannon balls then struck the fish from one side, and Kataryna punched it from the opposite side so that it would not fall on top of the ship. The fish, who acted as a shield, died from the double strike and barfed out Tanarotte.

The dragoness fell on the deck alongside the contents of the fish’s stomach. Her eyes were spinning.

“Ugu~! Why me?!” she cried.

“Sigh... Seryanna, let’s go.” Kataryna said, and I nodded in reply.

We swiftly equipped our weapons and armors and made our way towards the enemy ships. Kataryna jumped overboard and ran on top of the water while drastically lowering the temperature around her. Wherever she stepped, a small patch of ice was left.

Meanwhile, I took the aerial way and spread my wings to fly high up in the sky. Archers from the enemy ships were already aiming their arrows at me while the mages were trying to stop Kataryna. A rain of ice spears, fireballs, lightning strikes, and explosive Magic Energy were flung at her in a rain of death and destruction. Just like a dancer born to the rhythm of music, the silver-scaled dragoness dodged all of their attacks and didn’t even let a single drop of water touch her skin.

With chaos consuming the surface of the water, I flew free through the skies, a simple wind shield was all that I needed to stop their arrows, while the cannonballs were dodged with aerial maneuvers.

In return to their onslaught, I released my own fireballs, which were infused with my powerful Magic Energy. My target was not those onboard of the ships but rather the ships themselves. My fireballs released powerful explosions on their hulls, right at the floating line. The result was a large enough hole to threaten the safety of all those onboard.

Kataryna’s attacks were similar to mine. The moment she reached the first ship, she unleashed an ice spike that formed right under the vessel itself. The sharp spike pierced through its armor and even lifted it up above the water by about two meters. When she pulled back the spike, the ship was flooded with water.

In total, there were 34 ships in this fleet, quite an impressive number. If I did not know any better, I would say they were preparing to invade a foreign nation, but I couldn’t think of a possible target.

With our powerful ice spikes and fireballs constantly attacking them, their battleship quickly sunk one after another. Countless humans drowned when the ships went down while many others died because they were too close to the impact location of our spells. As for their counter-offensive, it was almost non-existent. Maybe they never thought they were going to meet two dragonesses of Breakthrough-er level so far away from the Dragon Continent?

After her seventh ship sunk, Kataryna dashed in the middle of five of them and before they could attack her, she cast a spell that sent five sharp ice spikes in each of their direction. Once the projectile was impaled in the side of the ship, she detonated them, causing a powerful explosion that ripped through their hull.

I couldn’t allow myself to show an inferior performance, so I charge up my sword, and then sent a flying cutting blade made out of fire towards four ships aligned one after another. My magic cut through the hull like it was made out of butter and then set them all on fire. Humans who were covered in flames were jumping overboard in an attempt to put off the flames, but the monster fish that got lured in by the scent of blood were picking them up one after another.

One of those critters tried to grab a bite off of Kataryna, but she froze it solid and then kicked it towards the bottom of the ocean. I was too high up to worry about attacks from below.

We continued at this rate until only five ships remained from this entire fleet. At that time, I saw a human jumping off the deck and heading towards me. He was wearing a red hood, and his entire armor was painted red, but his Magic Energy felt weak. This human was definitely no match for me, but I wasn’t foolish enough as to let my guard down.

The moment he was in range, I poured Magic Energy into Drachenkrieg and then flew towards him with the intent of taking him on with my full strength.

“In my name, the Human Hero Kennyard, I shall slay you fiends for this transgression against the Akutan Empire!” he shouted and prepared to attack.

The one to make the first move was me. My sword’s blade cut through his armor as easily as it would through a sheet of paper, and his body was then sliced in half. The remains of the Human Hero were gobbled up by two fish as soon as they hit the surface of the water.

“Those bastards! They killed Kennyard!” shouted someone from one of the ships.

I aimed my palm at them and then released a fireball. The explosion sent the humans scattering, and in the middle of the confusion, Kataryna sent an ice spike through the bottom of the ship, sinking them like she did the others.

By the time we were done, the entire fleet had been decimated and only the lifeboats remained on the surface. Most of the crew that was unlucky enough to have landed in the water were eaten by the giant fish. As for why the boats themselves weren’t attacked, I had no clue. Maybe I was going to ask Captain Mathew about it at some point.

“Let’s go back, I’m hungry.” Kataryna called out from below.

I nodded and then flew back towards the Scorpion Dream Galleon. Unfortunately, I was never going to find out where such a big fleet of ships was heading.

[Captain Bugpuke’s point of view]

 “Those blimey land lubbers turn me fleet into toothpicks!” I shouted at the top of my lungs.

I was so angry I nearly strangled one of me crew, but there was nothing we could have done to combat such a devastating force. This fleet, after all, had no Hero among us, and that Human Hero counted as nothing but a silly joke! So what if he had a skill that allowed him to transfer his own wounds on the enemy if the enemy was protected against his silly trick or even worse, they were faster and more powerful than him, resulting in him being defeated before he even got a chance to use it?

“Blasted shrimp on a donkey’s tail, this entire operation had just turned into a big failure!” I shouted in anger.

I had a good right to be angry too! After all, this year, a big rebellion took place within the Trindania Empire, and those recluse dwarfs were now in a state of crisis. Their combat ability was limited by their weapons and armor, which allowed our Heroes to easily topple the best of their Enlightened Ones, as for the army itself, we would have held a numerical superiority if our fleet reached their shores.

Those dragonesses probably had no idea how many soldiers we were transporting, but just for reference, one of these liner battleships was carrying at least 2000 strong men. The fleet was running on minimum crew with soldiers taking up the extra roles. It wasn’t easy, but like this, we could have easily conquered half of Trindania before the backup fleet from Akutan arrived, which would have been the one bringing Heroes.

Unfortunately, now we had to return home and tell them of our failure. The big plan of the Second Prince just went up in smoke.

“Blasted flying lizards and their rotten luck...” I grumbled as I glared at the dragon galleon as it was sailing away.