At Charles’s shout, Anno leapt out of bed, scrambling to dress herself. She was completely caught off guard by the sudden danger—after all, Rockseeker’s Outpost had existed for more than a century, and aside from wild beasts, had hardly ever been attacked. Who would expect such a crisis to erupt overnight?
But there was no use complaining. All that mattered now was to get up, grab her weapon, and respond.
She reached for her bedside chair, then suddenly rembered she had nothing on underneath, flushing bright red. "Get out, quick."
Charles sighed and backed out of the room. Thankfully, the hostel was Dwarf-built, and say what you will about dwarves being as stubborn as stone—no one could deny the superb quality of their construction.
Despite all the shaking, there was no sign the building would collapse. It was, undeniably, sturdy and reliable.
He stepped into the corridor, just as Hattie, Theresa, and Nidalee exited their rooms, too. Unlike the panicked adventurers, the spellcasters were calm—brows furrowed, quietly observing everything around them.
Charles wasted no ti, gesturing to Hattie, "Hattie, go to Anno’s room and help her into her plate armor. Nidalee, Theresa, with —let’s get downstairs and see what’s happening."
Plate armor, to guarantee its defensive capabilities, is mostly a single interlocking piece. Donning it alone, even for the practiced, takes over ten minutes. With soone’s help, the job is far easier.
Hattie nodded, turned, and entered Anno’s now-broken door, entering to the flustered but relieved greeting from inside. Charles led the other two girls swiftly down the stairs; by now, the hostel’s first floor was deserted—even the Dwarven proprietress had taken refuge outside.
But was it really safer out there?
"ROAR—!"
A bestial roar echoed from outside. A huge shadow swept across the sky, diving down. Fire rained from above, igniting buildings, woodpiles, stables, and fences—the night exploded with flas, the whole town lit up in a searing orange glow!
The crackle of burning wood, bursts of new fires, and distant shouts from would-be defenders blended together in the chaos as pandemonium seized the small town.
Charles’s expression darkened as he rushed outside—only to find flying overhead, breathing fire on the buildings, a flock of three-headed Chira!
And not just one—a whole group!
Chiras were not a social species, yet these ones operated in flawless coordination, targeting inhabited houses and spewing jets of fla!
Fwoosh—
Just then, a Chira swooped over their hostel’s roof, dropping a massive fireball that set the very building ablaze!
Charles hastily chanted, casting Create Water/Destroy Water, summoning torrents of icy water on the roof, extinguishing the flas. The Chira’s goat head fixed him with an evil glare—holding its temper, it turned and flew off, showing none of a typical Chira’s infamous rage.
These Chiras are well-trained—clearly organized!
He felt a cold foreboding, a premonition that was soon confird as a new cry rang out from the distance: "It’s the Mountain People! The Mountain People are attacking!"
"Defend the camp, damn it! Drive those dog-born Mountain People back!"
"Hey, watch your mouth, I’m one of those damn Mountain People!"
"I didn’t an you! Hurry up and get over here!"
...
Mountain People!
Charles’s heart clenched, Danche’s brown face imdiately coming to mind. With Chiras so well-trained, they had to be Chira tribe war-beasts—this was surely a preditated assault by the Alliance of the Mountain Purifiers!
Damn it, Willo and Danche ought to have returned to the alliance by now—why is the battle starting anyway?
Is Willo really not to be trusted?
His expression was grim. At that mont, he heard rapid footsteps behind him—Anno and Hattie, the forr now fully armored, arrived at his side.
Seeing the fire-breathing Chiras, Anno ca to the sa conclusion: "The Alliance of the Mountain Purifiers started an assault?"
She shot a glance at Nidalee, whose heart seed to leap into her throat. "That... shouldn’t be. My father, he wouldn’t start an assault so rashly..."
Her voice faltered—she didn’t sound confident: "Unless..."
She cast an anxious glance at Anno, wondering if the paladin might—out of resentnt that Nidalee was the enemy leader’s daughter and had been flirting with her boyfriend—decide to kill her on the spot.
Fortunately, even if she didn’t like her, Anno wasn’t so shortsighted. "We save people first!"
She didn’t care what Nidalee’s "unless" ant—at this mont, she still viewed this Mountain People druid as an ally.
Charles’s expression grew even darker. He already knew what Nidalee’s unfinished "unless" ant.
Unless the Earth Dragon had completely gone out of control, forcing Ilarode to squeeze out its last value—unleashing it on Rockseeker Camp in exchange for radical support within the alliance.
As he thought this, the ground began to shake anew. The party staggered out of the hostel, struggling to stay upright. Anno gritted her teeth, "Is it Chthonian? Are they working together?"
"No," Hattie said, her eyes sharp. "This isn’t a Chthonian—it’s an Earth elental causing this!"
Chthonians emit intense heat—they love dry places. If burrowing, their burning hides parch the earth above. But now, the ground didn’t feel dry—only teeming with intense elental power, reforming in the distance.
"It’s the Earth Dragon!"
Nidalee scread. As the Mountaineer tribe’s heir, she recognized her people’s elental beast: "Keep away from the open ground where the tremors are strongest!"
It was obvious, even without her warning, to any experienced adventurer that sothing terrible was about to happen in the central town square—the usual place for the market. They cried out and fled for safer ground—
BOOM—!
The next instant, a colossal beast burst out from underground, shaking the earth and spewing clouds of dust and stone. Adventurers caught too close were thrown off their feet or struck by flying debris—many were badly injured.
At their distance, Charles and the others experienced only the outer edges of the shockwave. He steadied himself and squinted through the airborne dust.
That... is that the Earth Dragon?
Through the haze, he could just make out the massive creature behind it. It was less like a dragon than a monstrously enlarged prival crocodile—with massive horns crowning its head.
Even lying flat on the ground, it stood more than five ters tall—almost as high as their hostel itself—and its full length exceeded twenty ters. Its hide was covered in earthy yellow scales, and there were no wings on its back: clearly, it could not fly.
Trailing behind was a tail as long as its body, thick with blunt protrusions—a deadly weapon in its own right.
It opened its jaws wide, emitting a terrifying ululating roar from the depths of its throat. Its eyes glowed blood-red. Earth elentals were typically steady and gentle—unwilling to fight. This Earth Dragon, however, was in a frenzy—its urge to kill burning out of control!
There was no question—its mind was clouded by demonic pollution. Now, in its madness, it had only one goal: to unleash destruction!
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