Chapter 520 - 519: A Reasonable Guess

Chapter 520: Chapter 519: A Reasonable Guess

"Knowing a great deal isn’t what’s truly impressive. The key is learning how to use that knowledge," Colin said. "Suppose an Aboleth has lived in total isolation. Much of its knowledge would be theoretical and untested, making it largely useless. This is just a guess, of course. Maybe it’s all a coincidence."

"My clan isn’t too far from here," Lanser spoke up. "How about I head back on my own? You all should go back and warn the other Dwarves."

"Let’s do that, then. We have to hurry back," said Dorn.

"Thank you for escorting me this far," Lanser said with a sincere nod. "When I return, I will be sure to persuade my people to get in touch with you. I hope we can build a home together here."

"Wait," Colin said, hesitating. "I was just speculating. While we should be cautious, it might not actually be true."

"Now that you’ve said it, it feels like that’s probably what’s happening," Kase said. "And even if it isn’t, it feels like it’s about to."

’In any case, it’s never a bad thing to be careful in the Undercity.’

With that thought, Colin sighed, then looked at Lanser and nodded. "Well then, goodbye, Lanser."

’Based on his behavior recently, I can still trust him.’

After saying their goodbyes, Colin and the others gathered their spoils, took the raft back to the opposite shore, and started retracing their steps. They planned to warn Donkexes and the others back at the Dwarf Ruins.

The group hurried back through the underground tunnels.

The journey wasn’t as tense as one might expect. In fact, Colin felt a little guilty. ’After all, this is all just my theory. It would be terrible if something happened to Lanser because of it.’

’Of course, if my theory is right, then things are even worse.’

The party arrived at the outskirts of the Dwarf Ruins.

They entered the ruins. After they had walked through a few corridors, the sound of footsteps suddenly echoed from the end of the hallway up ahead. From the sound of clanking metal, they knew it had to be Dwarves.

’Why would Dwarves be in the outer sections of the ruins right now?’

Colin and the others exchanged a look and quickly ducked behind the doors lining the hallway.

"Alright, stop running, Durkin!"

They had barely been hidden for a moment when a familiar voice reached them. Colin recognized it as belonging to one of the Dwarves from their group.

He stood by the door and, along with Dorn, carefully peeked out.

They saw Durkin confronting the thirty-something Dwarves of the Shadow Anvil Clan.

The Dwarves’ condition was strange. It didn’t look like a mutiny or some other kind of incident. Donkexes and Langgrin were nowhere to be seen, and there was no telling where they had gone.

The moment he saw this, Colin’s heart sank.

’Whether my theory is correct or not, we’re in trouble now.’

Just then, Balende emerged from the crowd of Dwarves. His expression was vacant, completely lacking the spirit he’d had just a short while ago.

"Durkin, drop your weapon, or we’ll kill this old bastard," a Dwarf standing next to Balende snarled. He whipped a Dagger from his waist and pressed it to Balende’s throat.

Dorn’s face flushed beet red at the sight. He drew his Dagger and growled, "What are Donkexes and Langgrin doing? What the hell is going on?"

Behind him, Kase acted fast and pulled him back.

"Those Dwarves are definitely being controlled! If we jump out now, we won’t accomplish anything besides fighting amongst ourselves! Calm down!" Colin snapped, then turned back to watch the scene in the hallway.

Durkin, clutching his Hand Cannon, glanced at the Dwarves a short distance away.

He silently released his grip. The Hand Cannon dropped to the ground, scattering into white motes of light that rolled across the floor and slowly faded, as if disappearing into the cracks between the stones.

The Dwarf leader who, upon entering the Dungeon, had declared that "any sacrifice is worthwhile," raised his hands. For the sake of the old Dwarf who had opposed him most, he silently walked forward.

The other Dwarves immediately swarmed him.

Just when Colin thought Durkin was doomed, the Dwarves surrounding him frowned, as if they were being forced to do something against their will.

A few Dwarves from the back then stepped forward, bound Durkin with ropes, and led him away.

The sound of their footsteps slowly faded until it was gone.

"Why did you stop me?" Dorn demanded, annoyed. "We have to save Durkin! We have to get him out of there!"

"There are two ways to snap someone out of Spiritual Energy control," Colin explained. "One is to inflict direct Damage on them, and the other is to subject them to extreme mental shock. The Aboleth won’t want to lose its new puppets, so the Dwarves won’t kill Durkin, at least not for now."

Colin continued, "Right now, the most important thing is to find Donkexes and the others. That’s our only chance of taking out the mastermind behind all this."

Dorn took a few ragged breaths.

He nodded. "I have an idea where Donkexes and the others might have gone."

"Then lead the way," Colin said with a nod.

The group exited the room in silence. Dorn led them cautiously down the hallway.

For a time, the only sound in the corridor was their footsteps.

You could tell that everyone in the group was feeling a mix of complex emotions.

After all, everything had happened so suddenly.

Just yesterday, they had been resting here cheerfully, exploring the Dwarf Ruins. Today, all their companions were under the enemy’s control, and they had lost their safe haven.

Colin walked with his head lowered, mentally reviewing everything he had read in his books, terrified he might miss a crucial detail.

After traversing several more corridors, the group came to a massive pair of stone doors. The doors were inscribed with Dwarven Runes, which pulsed with a faint blue light.

The doors were covered in strange dents, as if they had been struck hard by something like a pickaxe.

Dorn stepped forward and knocked on the door in a rhythm of three long raps followed by one short one.

’Looks like some kind of prearranged signal.’

The great double doors then slowly creaked open, just a crack.

Donkexes’s wrinkled eye appeared in the crack. "Did Durkin send you?"

"We saw the mutiny. What in the world is going on?" Dorn asked anxiously.

Only then did Donkexes begin to open the door wider.

"You haven’t even confirmed they aren’t puppets too!"

"Dorn’s out there. There’s no way he’s been controlled."

The bickering voices of Langgrin and Donkexes came through the opening.

In the end, the door was slowly opened all the way.

Langgrin stood beside him, Battle Axe in hand. You could see that both of them looked grim.