Chapter 1008

Grey departed from Vayun the following day.

In the next heartbeat, he could be seen stepping out of a shimmering spatial gateway.

The moment he emerged, he found himself enveloped in the cool, damp interior of a cavern.

Without wasting a single moment, he flew forward, exiting the cave and emerging into a completely new environment. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Outside the entrance, it became clear that the cave was situated on a high elevation, almost like a ridge or a series of hills.

Numerous other cave openings littered the landscape, each placed on high stone daises similar to the first.

Further ahead, a lush, verdant forest stretched out, appearing to extend farther than the eyes could perceive.

Scanning the horizon for a few seconds, he picked another specific cave and flew toward it with maximum velocity, propelled by his wind element.

Reaching his destination, he abruptly halted in the air.

A heat like no other washed over him, threatening to draw sweat from his pores, but he remained resolute.

A massive boulder blocked the cave entrance, serving as a rudimentary door.

’Opening a portal to Bronzeland consumes nearly all my mana, leaving me with only a tiny fraction. It usually takes a few minutes for me to recover my reserves completely. Twenty minutes, to be precise. If I managed to evolve to the next mage star, that duration would be significantly reduced.’

He paused, contemplating the boulder.

’... That is the cost just for me to open and close the portal. Now, imagine keeping that gateway active for thousands of men to troop through.’

Rubbing his chin, he began a mental calculation.

’My journey from Vayun to here took less than three minutes, and yet my mana is already depleted. If I have to keep the portal open, I might not be able to sustain it for more than a minute before I’m forced to replenish my mana core. This transportation process could take several weeks to finish. Sigh... this is going to be time-consuming.’

A faint smile creased his face as the rhythmic sound of a hammer striking steel echoed from deep within the cave.

’The good thing is that transporting them from Bronzeland to Arondale won’t require nearly as much mana or time. For some reason, the dwarven continent is geographically closer to the mage world than the warrior’s realm.’

Silence!

The routine strike of the hammer against steel stopped immediately.

After a minute or two, the boulder rolled slowly to the side, revealing a dwarf drenched in sweat, a heavy hammer clutched in his hand.

"Grey? You are here again? Don’t you ever rest? You have been using my planet like a bus stop during your inter-world travels. Catch a break, dude."

Grey chuckled, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "How can I rest, Randin? War is on the horizon."

Randin lifted a brow, wiping his damp temples with the back of his hand. "War? What war?"

Grey’s eyes lit up with realization. "Oh yeah. I haven’t told you yet."

"Told me what?"

"That the Otherworlders are planning a full-blown invasion of my world in exactly three months."

CLANG—!

The hammer slipped from Randin’s grip, striking the earth with a heavy ring.

A look of pure shock instantly washed over the dwarf’s face.

He was so flustered that he began to stammer incoherently until he sharply slapped his own cheek, snapping himself out of the stupor.

"The Otherworlders...? A full-scale attack? That means—that means their leader will be present as well."

Grey nodded, a weary smile playing on his lips. "Yes."

Randin bent down and retrieved his fallen hammer, his expression darkening into a deep frown.

"The time they assaulted my world, only a single Zodiac was dispatched, and yet all dwarves were wiped out except for me. And now they are coming for your world with their full strength?"

"Right?!" Grey chuckled dryly before peering into the glowing warmth of the cave Randin had just exited.

It looked like he was working on a weapon or something.

"Say," The mage began, drawing the dwarf out of his thoughts.

"Would you mind if hundreds of thousands of men use this place as a camp?"

"....?"

"I’m the leader of a faction in the warrior world."

"I know that."

"I have managed to get all my men to agree to help in this war, but transporting them from the warrior world to the mage’s realm on the day of the battle will be impossible. Hence, I wanted to use Bronzeland as a bridge between both worlds so transportation would be easier."

"Okay?"

"It might take weeks, so this place will be bustling with activity as I will be transporting them batch by batch. I wanted to know if that is going to be okay with you. This is your home, so I need to ask for permission before doing this."

Randin paused for several seconds in deep thought.

"How many men?"

"I have about five hundred thousand under my command, but only four hundred thousand will be coming, as I can’t leave my faction completely unprotected."

"So, four hundred thousand men then?"

"Yes." Grey nodded.

"And these men will help in the war against the Otherworlders?"

"Yes." Grey nodded once more.

Randin smiled.

"Then you most definitely have my blessings. Bring them over. As long as they help send those blasted Otherworlders to hell, I accept. But on one condition."

Grey’s face fell slightly. "What is it?"

Randin thought for a moment before replying.

"Actually, two things; Allow me to join this battle against the Otherworlders."

Grey lifted a brow. "Why?"

"When they attacked my world, I was still young and inexperienced; I was unable to do anything. Not like I could have done much anyway.

But now, I’m stronger—even if only by a little. If I can at least reap the souls of a dozen Otherworlders before I die, I will be happy, and so will the spirits of my people."

Grey looked at Randin for several seconds, considering his words.

He didn’t have any real reason to object to this, so he accepted.

"And the second?"

"These men are warriors, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then allow me to forge magical weapons for them. If I can slay a dozen Otherworlders with my own hands and others slay them with weapons created by me, it will put me at peace knowing I crafted something that took those bastards down."

The corner of Grey’s lips twitched as he held out his hand.

"I will agree to this on one condition."

"Which is?"

"Allow me to help in the weapon creation."

"Why?"

"I have some experience in crafting magical weapons now."

Randin looked at Grey’s hands for several seconds before shrugging and taking the offered hand.

"Deal."