Green Monster Epic

Chapter 890: The Distant Northern Mountains

Deep within the mountains, the colors of lush green, withered yellow, and pale gray intertwined. The once-prosperous mountain road was now rarely visited, and many of the solid surfaces sprouted clumps of weeds due to the lack of disturbance.

Thump, thump!

The sounds of hurried footsteps grew louder as they approached. A large group of robust, tall argali sheep were galloping along this mountain path, completely unafraid of losing their footing and falling into the steep cliffs on the side of the road.

Riding on the backs of the argali were sturdy, well-built dwarf warriors, each wearing helmets and armor, their faces solemn. They were unmoved by the treacherous mountain terrain, occasionally kicking the soft underbellies of their mounts with the horned spurs on the heels of their boots, urging them to run faster.

After the sizable argali cavalry passed, a vast dwarven infantry legion appeared behind them. The continuous ranks nearly covered the entire road they had come from, stretching for over ten miles.

Leading the vanguard was a gray-skinned dwarf commander clad in brilliant crimson chainmail, with a double-bladed battle axe strapped to each side of his waist. He rode atop a Komodo behemoth from the Underdark, constantly surveying the surrounding terrain as he advanced.

"General, once we cross this mountain, we'll enter the territory of Blood Fury Fortress!"

A bronze-skinned dwarf riding an argali closely followed behind the gray-haired dwarf, pointing towards a distant mountain peak still capped with white snow.

"Tell everyone to speed up. We must all reach Blood Fury Fortress before nightfall!"

"Yes, sir!"

The gray-skinned dwarf was named Guleit, a member of the gray dwarf lineage from the Underdark. He was also the only gray dwarf commander in the current dwarven kingdom capable of commanding a hundred thousand troops.

In recent years, branches of the gray dwarf clan had gradually migrated from the Underdark to the surface. Now, the gray dwarves had gained a certain amount of power within the dwarven kingdom and formed their own dwarven clan—the Gray Iron Clan.

After the Gray Iron Clan, with a population of over two million, migrated to the surface, a series of power struggles and compromises eventually led to Guleit's opportunity to become an army commander.

Of course, this was also due to the incompetence and inflexibility of the current generation of noble sons in the dwarven kingdom. During the years of fierce battles with the elven armies, they continuously lost cities and territories, and squandered the kingdom's soldiers, even the dwarven royal family and the church, who had always favored them, couldn't stand it anymore.

Unfortunately, dwarves were inherently stubborn and inflexible, and the influence of their cultural heritage only deepened these characteristics. This manifested in their daily affairs as inflexibility, simplicity, and so on.

Even if a rare dwarf talent broke free from these inherent traits and displayed excellent critical thinking skills, they would often feel out of place due to being incompatible with their clansmen, eventually fading into the crowd.

After all, the stubborn and rigid personality also brought benefits to the dwarven ruling class. While they didn't have to worry about the lower-class dwarves opposing their rule due to various grievances, it also formed the most stubborn ruling class. The fact that almost no new clans had emerged in thousands of years, and the kingdom's nobles had always been the same group, was the greatest proof.

A stagnant pool of water, without the emergence of new things, ultimately resulted in a large group of mediocre officials. In peacetime, this naturally didn't matter much, as the clansmen were content with their current lives, and there were vast tracts of undeveloped land and mines.

However, when war descended upon them, the mediocre officers and generals encountered the vibrant and ambitious elven generals, and the ultimate result was that the dwarven territory was constantly devoured by the elves, and countless dwarven soldiers died unjustly on the battlefield.

The dwarven kingdom's upper echelons and the dwarven church also had insightful individuals who recognized the huge problems within their ranks. However, the old noble forces were too powerful, and making changes was extremely difficult.

The last time the dwarven kingdom opened the passages connecting its territory to the Underdark, introducing the drow and the gray dwarves as reinforcements to help fight the elves, was actually an effort made by the dwarven royal family and the church.

The drow mercenaries were just a bonus; what the dwarves really wanted to introduce was another branch of the dwarven bloodline that they had banished to the Underdark. By introducing such a clan, they ultimately hoped to create a catfish effect, bringing a breath of fresh air to the rigid and outdated dwarven ruling class.

In fact, the guardian of the gray dwarves, Laduguer, had originally taken the initiative to leave the dwarven pantheon to protect the banished gray dwarf lineage. Before his self-exile, he was the right-hand man of the dwarven god-king "Soul Forger" Moradin, and even the overseer and judge of the dwarven pantheon.

A deity who was once synonymous with order and justice took the initiative to protect a dwarven clan of sinners. There must be secrets involved, but over the long years, information about this aspect had long been lost to the world. However, the kingdom's upper echelons and the church must still possess information about the gray dwarves' past.

Now, as the kingdom and civilization faced a life-or-death crisis, the god-king Moradin first thought of strengthening the power of the dwarven pantheon and civilization. As a sinful clan banished for tens of thousands of years, the gray dwarves and their guardian god naturally became Moradin's preferred choice.

Laduguer certainly resented what the god-king Moradin had done in the past, but since he could coexist and ally with evil beings like the Spider Queen Lolth to protect the Underdark gray dwarves, then he would also put aside his grievances with the god-king Moradin for the sake of the entire dwarven bloodline and return to the dwarven pantheon.

Since the guardian god had made his choice, the gray dwarf clan, who had been sheltered by him for tens of thousands of years, even if they harbored many grudges and resentments against their surface blood relatives, could only put down their hatred and follow in the footsteps of their god.

Living with the insidious and cunning drow for many years, constantly scheming against each other, if they couldn't make changes, even with the protection of a god, the gray dwarves would inevitably be unable to survive in the Underdark.

Now that they could stand up to the drow, although they were mostly at a disadvantage, it at least proved that the gray dwarves' abilities and intelligence were excellent enough, far more suitable for the current era of competition than their surface brethren, who had been worn down by a long and peaceful life, losing their fighting spirit and ambition.

With the support of the Gray Iron Clan and the god Laduguer, Guleit gradually squeezed into the power structure of the dwarven kingdom, bringing a touch of new life to this decaying empire, and also bringing a glimmer of hope for the kingdom to resist the elves.

Back in the Underdark, Guleit, as the commander of the Gray Iron dwarves, was an excellent general who had made great contributions to the clan in the struggle against the drow and local natives.

Putting aside everything else, in terms of strategic planning, command, and other military aspects, he was definitely several streets ahead of the current military generals of the dwarven kingdom.

It's a pity that the dwarven nobles cannot fully accept the Grey Iron dwarves, a clan they have ostracized and detested for countless years. At the same time, their rigid beliefs do not allow newcomers to bring changes to their current status and power. Therefore, they always target Grey Iron dwarf talents like Guleite overtly and covertly.

In addition, the dwarven royal family itself has some concerns. Although they want the Grey Iron dwarves to bring changes to the kingdom, they are also afraid that the Grey Iron dwarves, who have been in contact with the Drow for many years and whose words and deeds are always seven parts false and three parts true, harbor evil intentions and seek revenge for their clan's exile of tens of thousands of years. They have never dared to truly reuse the talents of this dwarven clan.

Guleite's ability to independently command the Northern Front Legion and formulate a plan to deal with the elves is an opportunity to prove the value of the Grey Iron dwarves to the kingdom and his own military leadership skills.

Having seen the beauty of life in the surface world, the Grey Iron dwarves naturally look down on the life and environment in the underground world, which is forever shrouded in darkness and danger.

For the future of the Grey Iron dwarves and the bright future of his own family, Guleite will not allow any mistakes in this plan. He must give the invading enemy a painful lesson.

Blood Fury Fortress is built in the middle of the Mazha Nu mountain peak. At the foot of the mountain, there is a continuous valley that leads directly to the kingdom's hinterland. For countless years, this relatively easy-to-walk and transport valley has formed an important transportation corridor.

The existence of Blood Fury Fortress is like a solid gate, which can block the entry and exit of this corridor at any time.

With the arrival of this new legion of the dwarven kingdom, the guard leader stationed at Blood Fury Fortress, Odes from the Wild Dwarf clan, felt a huge stone fall from his heart. He rarely left the fortress and took the initiative to welcome Guleite and his men.

"I thought General Guleite and your men would arrive half a month late. I didn't expect you to march so fast. When I received the news from your vanguard cavalry this afternoon, I was shocked."

"However, the accommodation in the city is limited, and I am afraid that there is no way to accommodate so many soldiers under the general's command. I hope General Guleite can understand."

Although he was happy about the arrival of this new force, Odes also felt a bit of contempt and resistance towards this army, which was more than half composed of Grey Iron dwarf warriors.

Even if he is the commander-in-chief appointed by the kingdom and has been recognized by the leaders of several major clans, the reputation and image of the Grey Dwarves have been there for a long time. Which dwarven general can truly treat them equally!

This time, it was only because the other party brought reinforcements to help Blood Fury Fortress resist the elven army that was about to arrive here that Odes made a low profile and took the initiative to leave the city to greet them. But that was all. If the other party's army wanted to enter the city, they would have to wait until he and Guleite clarified the primary and secondary relationship before there could be a result.

"Huokela! !"

Guleite did not respond to the smiling Odes, but turned his head and shouted loudly to his adjutant.

"Here! !"

From the ranks behind him, a young Grey Iron dwarf wearing silver-gray armor rushed over and stood firmly in front of Guleite like an iron barrel.

"I asked you to notify General Odes of the arrival time of our army a month ago. Did you forget?"

"Reporting to the general, I am sure that I sent three teams of men to inform Blood Fury Fortress of the arrival time of our army in batches. The latest time was ten days ago, announcing that our arrival time at Blood Fury Fortress would be today!"

"Then is General Odes fooling me? He said he didn't know the time when our army arrived at the fortress, and he didn't prepare the barracks for our legion's soldiers to rest in time! !"

" . "

The young Grey Iron dwarf adjutant named Huokela stopped arguing when he heard this. Anyway, he had already explained the exact information clearly just now.

" . "

Odes himself was silent, and the smiling face was slightly stagnant.

"Get down, I'll deal with you later! !"

Guleite glared and reprimanded sternly. After his adjutant returned to the ranks, he refocused on Odes: "General Odes!"

"Regardless of whether it is the dereliction of duty of my adjutant, today the officers and soldiers of my army must enter the fortress to rest. I hope you can arrange it as much as possible!"

"Of course, if the barracks in the city really can't accommodate our soldiers, you can also directly arrange for them to rest in the open air on the city wall. They are not so delicate and have no problem enduring hardship at all!"

"This seems to be a bit neglectful to everyone!"

"General Odes, I am ordered to take over the defense command of Blood Fury Fortress. Now the elven army is only a few days away from our fortress, and it may break through the last line of defense in front of the fortress and pounce on this place at any time."

"Therefore, we must seize the time to adjust the deployment and make adequate preparations before the elven army arrives!"

"I need your support, and the soldiers under my command need to understand the environment of the fortress in the city even more!"

Guleite knew very well Odes's discrimination against him, and he also knew his little tricks in his heart. However, he had finally won a stage to show his talents, and for this war, their Grey Iron Dwarf clan had also paid a lot and made a lot of preparations. He had no time and energy to play tricks with the other party.

He had already subtly exposed the other party's small actions, and now he still politely expressed his goodwill, and at the same time had the orthodox power granted by the kingdom. If the other party was still ignorant, then he couldn't blame himself.

" . As long as you generals don't mind! "

Although Odes was unwilling, he glanced around at the dusty team behind the other party, and felt the fierce malice in the eyes of the soldiers in this army. He could no longer pretend to be stupid and temporarily lowered his posture.

"Come on, open the door to welcome the soldiers into the city! !"

Blood Fury Fortress is no different from the construction style of other important cities in the kingdom. The main area is still placed in the hollowed-out mountain. The tens of miles of wide city walls outside are like a whole connected to the entire high mountain. Even the foundation is made of the residue of molten ore mixed with the dwarves' secret materials and directly poured on the mountain.

Such a fortress is integrated with the mountains. It is almost as difficult to break through the fortress's defenses head-on as it is to cut off a mountain of several thousand meters high.

This is also the reason why the elven army's progress is slow even though the dwarven army is very passive in the face of the elven army.

The long army slowly stepped into the open gate of the fortress, while Guleite stopped Odes, who had lost some face and was preparing to leave, wanting to have a good exchange with the other party and understand the specific situation of this city and fortress.