The Prince of Heaven's Gate - Last Stand At World's End

Due to the battle happening at the lower layers of the Kobold’s Nest, Lux had no idea that the reinforcements he had been waiting for had already arrived.

Led by Thoram, the Commander of Norria, the Dwarf Warriors used brute force to blast their way through the Kobolds, which had detected their advance. After the incident of the other’s escape, the Nest was on high alert, so the Kobolds immediately noticed the arrival of the uninvited guests in their domain.

The Kobold Chieftain frowned after hearing his subordinates’ report. Right now, their strongest warrior, the Kobold Champion, was currently leading their main force to subdue the Goblins that had built a large settlement near their territory.

It would take their reinforcements a full day before they could return to the nest, so the Chieftain was contemplating his choices about what they could do for the time being. Just like the Kobold Sorcerer, the Kobold Chieftain was at the peak of a Rank 3 Monster.

Their Champion, the Draconic Kobold, was at the peak of Rank 4 and was only a step away from breaking through to Rank 5. The other Draconic Kobolds, which ranged from Rank 3 and Rank 4, had accompanied him to battle, leaving only the Kobold Chieftain and the Kobold Sorcerer to look after the nest.

Because of this, only seven thousand Kobolds remained inside the nest. Although Kobolds weren’t afraid to fight to the death, they still didn’t like meaningless deaths. After knowing the strength of their opponents, the Kobold Chieftain estimated that they wouldn’t be able to beat the Dwarf Warriors who had come to raid them.

Since that was the case, he decided to personally handle the issue and came out to have a dialogue with the invaders.

—–

Thoram and his men brute forced their way against a horde of Kobolds. Although the majority of them were rank one, there were dozens of Rank 2 Kobolds mixed within their group. The battle was bloody as both sides fought tooth and nail against each other.

After two hours of non-stop battle, blood dyed the ground making Helen’s expression very pale. Although the dwarves were stronger, they still lost over a hundred men as over a thousand Kobolds fought them with a ferocity that made even the most arrogant of dwarves feel respect towards their enemies.

After the battle ended, Thoram and the Dwarves took a short rest as they tended to their injured. They knew that there would be more battles up ahead, so they decided to recuperate for a short period of time before continuing their rescue mission._-.

An hour later, they once again formed their ranks and braced themselves for another hard battle.

Thoram and his men noticed that the Kobold Nest was surprisingly empty after they explored the middle levels of the Nest.

They didn’t know that the Kobold Chieftain had issued a command for all the Kobolds to retreat to the lower levels, in order to prevent them from dying needlessly.

Word had also been sent to the Kobold Sorcerer about the new threat, so they decided to pull their forces, which were currently raiding the Dump Site, to regroup with their Secondary Force.

Just as the Warriors of Norria arrived near the end of the Kobold Nest’s middle level, they noticed seven Kobolds standing in a spacious cavern, as if waiting for their arrival. None of the Kobolds were carrying any weapons, but they did hold wooden sticks with a white cloth tied to them.

Thoram frowned, but he made a gesture for his men to not do anything reckless.

After seeing their reaction, the Kobold Chieftain briefly nodded its head and spoke using the universal language of the realm.

“What is your reason for coming here, Dwarves?” the Kobold Chieftain asked.

Thoram took a step forward as he faced the Kobold’s Chieftain’s indifferent expression. “You terrorize our lands and capture our people, yet, you still dare to ask why we’ve come?”

The Kobold Chieftain’s expression remained calm as he eyed the Dwarf who seemed to be the leader of the raiding party.

“Dwarves kill us Kobolds, and steal the treasures we mine underground,” the Kobold Chieftain stated. “Naturally we kill them back. It has always been like this, and will always be in the future.”

This time, it was Thoram’s turn to frown. To the Dwarves, the Kobolds were a race that liked to mine. Although Dwarves liked to mine themselves, their passion didn’t come close to what the Kobolds felt about mining.

There were times when these two races met underground while they were creating mazes in the depths of the Earth. Wars between them were very common, and Thoram would not lower his dignity to refute the Kobold Chieftain’s words.

Since that was the case, he decided to get to the point and see whether both he and the Kobold Chieftain could reach a compromise.

“We’ve only come here to rescue our people,” Thoram declared. “If you give them to us and promise to not attack any more Dwarves in the territory of Norria, we can have a non-aggression pact between our parties.”

“Do you have the qualifications to make this pact hold true?” the Kobold Chieftain asked. Right now, their priority was to wage war on the other monsters in the area in order to secure the safety of their Nest.

Also, they were patiently waiting for their Draconic Champion to Evolve into a Rank 5 Monster. Once that happened, there would be very few creatures that could threaten their existence in the territory of Norria.

“I am Thoram, the Commander of the Stronghold of Norria,” Thoram replied. “This territory is under my jurisdiction, so yes, I have the authority to make this pact binding.”

Thoram didn’t want to lose any more of their men in a fight against the Kobolds because they had more pressing issues at hand. The Beast Tide Season was nearing, and they would need every Dwarf Fighter to protect the walls of Norria from the Beast Invasion.

They simply didn’t have time to deal with the Kobolds at this point. If the Stronghold of Norria could form a non-aggression pact with them, that meant that they could focus all of their attention in other areas that required their assistance.

“Very well.” The Kobold Chieftain nodded.

Since both sides didn’t want to wage a full blown war against each other, a compromise was a welcome topic between the two forces.

“Make an Oath to your Earth Goddess,” the Kobold Chieftain stated.

“And you make an oath to the Dragon King,” Thoram countered.

To the Dwarves, the Oath to the Earth Goddess was a sacred oath. Although the Dragon King was not a God, for Kobolds it was the ultimate existence they would offer everything to, even their lives.

After the two sides made their oaths, the Kobold Chieftain asked one of his Elite Warriors to escort Thoram, and his subordinates to the lower layers, where Lux and the other Dwarves had holed themselves in.

—–

Lux and the other Dwarves were in a state of tension as they waited for the Kobolds to continue their attacks. The Half-Elf didn’t know why the Kobolds’ relentless assault had suddenly stopped, so he merely advised everyone to be on their guard.

Two hours later, the Half-Elf heard some noises that seemed to be heading towards their direction. When the Half-Elf stood up and went towards the exit, all the Dwarves prepared themselves to fight once again.

However, before they could even raise their fighting spirit, Helen’s voice echoed down the tunnel.

“Big Brother! Colette! Matty! Axel! Are you guys alright?” Helen shouted as soon as she appeared in the narrow tunnel leading to the Dump Site.

“Helen?” Lux couldn’t believe that the little Dwarf girl would appear on the lower floors of the Kobold Nest looking practically unharmed. “What are you doing here?”

“We’ve come to rescue everyone!” Helen shouted as she ran towards the opening of the cavern, and hugged Colette.

The red-headed teenager glanced down the tunnel and saw several Dwarves wearing armor. Clearly, these were the reinforcements they had been waiting for. However, he felt that something was off.

“Helen, did you meet any Kobolds along the way?” Lux asked.

“Un! The Kobold Chieftain came to negotiate with the Commander,” Helen answered. “We now have a non-aggression pact with the Kobolds. We can all leave this place safely.”

When Lux and the Dwarves heard Helen’s words, most of them didn’t believe it at the start, but after seeing that no Kobolds were attacking the Dwarves, they finally understood why the attack on their location had stopped.

Lux breathed in a sigh of relief after confirming that Helen’s words were true. Although he kept on showing a confident expression on his face to prevent Colette and the other Dwarves from panicking, deep inside, he was standing on pins and needles.

After losing the tension in his body, his legs buckled and he almost collapsed on the ground. Fortunately, Diablo was standing beside him and managed to support him in time.

“Big Brother, what’s this? Getting soft all of a sudden?” Colette teased. Now that they had been saved, the little girl’s cheekiness had returned.

The Half-Elf only chuckled and ruffled Colette’s hair in order to get back at her.

“Let’s go back to Leaf Village,” Lux said softly. “I want to take a long nice rest and a few days off from adventures.”

Colette and the other Dwarves felt the same way.

With the protection of the Warriors of Norria, all of them left the Kobolds Nest safely.

Thoram had sent fifty of his men to accompany Lux, Colette, and the rest of her party to escort them back to Leaf Village.

Along the way, Nevreal and Lux had a private talk. The middle-aged dwarf had directly asked the Half-Elf what kind of reward he wanted for his help in guiding them to the Kobold’s Nest, where Robin was held captive.

Lux didn’t plan to play the goody-two-shoes and reject the free rewards that were being offered to him.

“I want weapons and armor,” Lux stated. “The higher the quality, the better. Of course, if you plan to give me a Mythical Weapon, I will gladly accept it with open arms.”

Nevreal stared at Lux with a hawk-like gaze before leaving the Half-Elf’s side. The red-headed teenager watched him go with a smile on his face. He was just teasing the middle-aged Dwarf about the Mythical Weapon, but he wasn’t lying when he said that he wanted weapons and armor.

His summoned minions had gained the Equip Item Skill, which meant that they could equip weapons, armor, accessories, and other miscellaneous items. If Lux could arm all of them to the teeth, then the forces he could wield would not lose to a Dwarf Party who had broken through the Apostle Rank.