Mythology: Ragnarok

Chapter 117 Crusade

After the burial, Agreed leaned close to Larry and asked, "The Balrog is back?"

Larry nodded, his eyes dimming as he looked at the graveyard and said, "He donned the Dwarf King's armor and temporarily repelled the Balrog with his life."

The atmosphere suddenly fell silent, as if despair had silenced all sound. After a long pause, Agreed asked again, "Have you thought about... what you're going to do next?"

Larry sighed and shook his head, replying, "I don't know, I don't know... Maybe a new king will be chosen to lead his people away from here, abandoning everything we've built up over the years and leaving."

Agreed walked up to him, looked him in the eyes, and asked, "I ask you, if you became the next king, what choice would you make?"

Larry looked at him, then suddenly laughed, his voice trembling with tears, "What choice are we going to make?! Look around you, we have no choice anymore. We overestimated our strength. It's all gone, everything is gone!"

Agreed gestured, and several jars of fine wine appeared in his hand from his private space. He opened the jars, handed them to Larry, and said, "Interested in having a couple of drinks? We might need to have a good chat."

Larry took the wine and started gulping it down. In no time, he had finished several jars of wine. Larry's face turned rosy again. Seeing this, Agreed took out a few more jars of wine and said, "Don't be in such a hurry. Nobody's going to take it from you."

“Back then, he (referring to his brother who became the Dwarf King) and I weren’t master blacksmiths. We used to use our last bit of money to buy drinks at the tavern on the street and fight over them. Sometimes I couldn’t win against him, so he would laugh and pour half of his drink for me. Those days were far less comfortable than they are now, but there was always an indescribable sweetness in those bitter days.” Larry choked up as he spoke and took another big gulp of wine.

Agreed replied, "It sounds like you miss him a lot."

“Think? I don’t know, Agreed. Am I cold-blooded? Just like when Milton died in front of me, I couldn’t shed a single tear. Everything was so calm, as if they had nothing to do with me. I only realized they were gone when I thought of them occasionally.”

I don't understand why tears started flowing uncontrollably then, just as I don't understand why they died so suddenly and inexplicably. I'm a useless person, Agreed. They stood in front of me like heroes, but I could do nothing. I hid behind them like a coward, thinking that hiding would prevent all of this, like a foolish ibex. Larry kept chugging his liquor, not knowing whether he was laughing or crying.

Larry soon collapsed to the ground, babbling incoherently, sometimes delirious and sometimes weeping. Agreed looked at him and said softly, "At least this time, I'm still here. I'm sorry, my friend. If I had been here, perhaps the story... would have taken a different turn."

The next day, all the dwarf masters were gathered together. They had to discuss who the next dwarf king would be and let the dwarf king decide what to do next.

Based on his strength and achievements, Larry naturally became the successor to the next Dwarf King. With the support of the dwarves, Larry became king in a daze. Just when everyone was looking forward to their king deciding their next choice regarding their fate, Agreed suddenly stepped forward and shouted loudly.

"What is your decision, Great Dwarf King?"

Larry announced, "Let's leave and rebuild another Iffield in a new place."

Agreed asked again, "Where can we retreat to? The Balrog still lives in the Hundred Thousand Mountains; there's no escaping it."

Larry looked at him and shouted, "But what can we do? We can't beat it!"

“Perhaps,” Agreed replied, “but I want to choose another path. Great Dwarf King, I choose to kill the Balrog and restore peace to the world. If you still have the courage to pick it up, then come with me and fight your way out for the dwarves!” With that, Agreed placed the fully restored Dwarf King's armor set on the ground.

After doing all this, Agreed walked into the Ten Thousand Mountains without looking back. No matter what Larry chose, he would enter the Ten Thousand Mountains to eliminate the Flame Demon. He came here just to tell Larry that he would fight against this fate to the end, even if he was destined to be destroyed.

Before Agred had even fully entered the mountains, a figure suddenly flew down from the sky and landed in front of him, shouting, "Don't underestimate the courage of dwarves, you bastard!"

It was Larry! He caught up with him, dressed in his dwarf king's armor. Agreed looked at him and asked, "Aren't you going to organize your people to move?"

“You’re right, where does it end? I made them move away, but I’ll go with you. I made them evacuate because I’m the king, and I came here because I… am the king of the dwarves!”

"And we are here too!" A shout suddenly came from afar, and thousands of dwarven knights riding rams galloped in. The leading warriors shouted, "Do not underestimate the glory of the dwarves, proud guests! We are willing to follow our king, simply because we are the last shield of the dwarves. We are willing to defend the dignity and hope of the dwarves with our lives. My king, please allow us to join you. We are willing to fight for a future for our people with our lives."

Looking at the dwarves before him, Agreed was momentarily moved. Even as an undead, he could still sense the future of this race and their touching courage. Agreed looked at them and said softly, "It seems that the sacrifices of the previous dwarf king and Milton were worthwhile. You deserve to be saved."

Agreed then turned and walked into the mountains, followed by all the dwarves who had come there. This time, it was time to put an end to everything.

Argreed quickly sensed the Balrog, who was recovering its strength in the ley lines using the energy of magma, using nature magic. Argreed did not lose his mind; he ordered the dwarves to set up an ambush nearby as he had planned. At the same time, Argreed also set up magical traps around the area while the Balrog was asleep.

After all preparations were complete, Agreed stood directly above the mountain range where the Balrog was located and began to cast buff spells on himself.

Accelerated Chanting, Wind Walk, Mystic Protection, Danger Sense, Substitute Evasion, Nature's Protection, Earth Armor, Levitation Magic, Increased Fire Resistance, Force Field Resistance Magic, Might Amplification, Elemental Summoning Delayed Trap...

After casting dozens of buffs on himself and setting up magical traps, Agreed took out the Supreme Sword and used its stored magic power to fully restore his mana. Then, Agreed raised the sword high and declared, "Now, the battle begins!"