Chapter 75: The Ancients's Temple

Idmon and his group had arrived at the ancient temple that Granpa had mentioned.

Idmon's group is Lina, Bon, Granpa, and two Dread Knights.

A colossal gate covered with vegetation stands in front of them. Its height was at least three times higher than theirs, which makes it intimidating.

Who knows what kind of creatures rest inside?

Granpa said that the golems came from where, and when it was still operational, golems would come out of the gate, ready to take orders from the dwarves.

Even though they used the golems, the dwarves didn't know much about their creators.

They weren't allowed inside the temple. The dwarves could only peek through the entrance when the golems returned to their temple.

Idmon(t): "Granpa, you said that the dwarves fell from their power long ago. How did that happen when you had golems by your side?"

Granpa's described the golems as monstrous, indestructible giants that can take any damage from construction accidents to powerful cannon shots. They also can't turn undead from negative energy exposure.

Granpa: "I will tell you a tale of how the greed and ignorance of dwarves became their downfall."

The "Ancients" would sometimes converse with the dwarven kings and master smiths; however, the contents of their dialogue are kept from the public.

A few centuries of using the temple's golems sped up the construction of the great dwarven empire of old, and this put them on top of all the races in the south region of Haven.

They were unbeatable, their forts were impregnable, and no one could match the quality of their equipment, which was superior to all others.

Humans and other humanoid races have tried to set up trade and alliances with the Dwarves. But they were a proud race and looked at all others as inferior.

The amount of power, wealth, and prestige they had and their refusal to make alliances were the harbingers of their downfall.

A great war between the human race had erupted some time in the reign of the Dwarven empire.

The Dwarven King and his advisors thought of them as petty squabbles of undeveloped creatures. They looked at them and mocked them for fighting with sticks and stones.

A year or two passed, and the war still wasn't over. The fighting was gruesome, and thousands of dead bodies littered the battlefields with no one to take care of them.

Things started to get annoying for the dwarves because some of the dead humans would wind up right in front of their walls.

The wind will then blow the smell of the rotting corpses straight into their cities.

Something had to be done about the war.

The Dwarven King sent out a 1000-strong army to destroy the human forces near their territory, and this will be a warning to them to stay away from Dwarven lands.

Unfortunately, even after a month had passed, the forces never came back.

(Old) Dwarven King: "What is the meaning of this!? The humans wiped out our army. They were equipped with the best armor and weapons we could make, and they even had cannons! Something humans cannot create themselves!"

Dwarf Advisor: "We don't know what happened, my king. None of them came back, and our scouts couldn't find their corpses because of a thick mist that engulfed the human lands.

The Dwarven King then sent his most elite forces, the Kingshammer, to vanquish whoever killed his army.

This force consisted of 5000 veteran soldiers, 500 elite captains, ten generals, and 200 cannons.

This force deploys when the dwarves encounter an enemy that threatens the entire city or invades a powerful neighbor.

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Both of which were not seen in a couple of centuries.

A week passed, and a harrowing revelation came to them. They saw their elite army marching home. However, their number was a lot smaller than before.

Only 100 of the elites, along with one general, survived.

Their terrible appearance drained the blood from the faces of the Dwarven King and his advisors.

Their armor was broken and tattered. The damage looked like it came from the claws and bites of monsters.

Some of their skin had fallen off too. The bones were even visible in some parts of the bodies of the soldiers.

The legendary army became like this. The King and his advisors couldn't believe it. In fact, no dwarf nearby could believe what they were seeing.

The lone general of Kingshammer stopped in front of the beautiful and sturdy gate of the dwarven city.

The gate guards called to him, but he didn't answer.

Guard: "Oi! General! What happened to the rest of Kingshammer?"

There was no response from the general. The soldiers with him were the same. They had this blank look on their faces, and the color of their eyes was white.

What happened next was the most mind-boggling thing they had ever seen in their lives.

The lone general and the soldiers started attacking the gate. They weren't using their weapons to attack, but they were clawing and biting the gates.

The Dwarven King, who was present at the gate, asked for an explanation from his advisors and the guards.

But no one knew what was happening.

Dwarven King: "W-w-what is this!?"

Guard: "My King! Should we attack them!? They will damage the gate if this continues!"

Although the gate was very sturdy and was built to last, the strength of the general and 100 elite dwarven soldiers was enough to make a small hole in the gate if they went at it for a long time.

The advisors were silent, and some of them were panicking. No one was able to provide counsel to the King, and it was up to him to decide the fate of the general and 100 of his elite soldiers.

Dwarven King: "S-shoot them. Shoot them! They attack us and require evil magic or an unknown trick to control us. We cannot allow them to damage the gates!"

Guard: "Yes, My King!"

The dwarven cannons and ballistae open fire on the enemies in front of the gate.

Crossbowmen didn't shoot their weapons. They were too shocked and could not understand why they would kill their fellow dwarves.

These Kingshammer soldiers were the heroes of all dwarves. All soldiers aim to be a part of the mythical army.

Now they are being ordered to shoot down their childhood heroes and role models.

A few minutes passed, and the dwarven army wiped out the lone general and his soldiers.

Nothing but ashes and dismembered limbs remained.

The King points at his advisors and yells at them.

Dwarven King: "You lot should find out what the reason is for their sudden change of allegiance! Check all our records for what kind of charm spell or trick could control the minds of our elite soldiers and a general!"

Charm spells were uncommon in the dwarvish textbooks and spellbooks. Most dwarves don't even use magic.

They like technology more.

And these spells require the caster to be a lot stronger than their targets for the magic to be effective.

A dwarven general could be considered as strong as a juvenile land dragon in terms of strength. Given the right equipment, they could even face an adult dragon and win.

Dwarven King: "What kind of wizard or monster could have done this to them?"

Their scouts couldn't gather useful information on surveillance missions.

Advisors: "M-m-m-m-m-y K-king..."

The advisors were terrified and frozen in fear. As if they were looking at a terrible nightmare.

Dwarven King: "What are you guys stuttering about?"

The Dwarven Kings looked at where the advisors were pointing.

Silence.

That was the only response they could give.

The mist that was covering most of the territory outside the Dwarven lands was coming closer.

Dark clouds blocked the sun, and suddenly there was nothing but darkness.

Lightning strikes now and then revealed the horrifying army that was walking towards them.

It was the rest of Kingshammer. There was no doubt about it.

Their equipment and generals' signature magic weapons could not be mistaken for the shabby items of other races.

Dwarven King: "Shoot fire arrows to illuminate them."

His voice was soft, like a whisper from a scared child.

Their fears were even greater when they saw the entire army. It didn't only include the Kingshammer soldiers; hundreds of soldiers were also from their previous armies. And thousands, thousands of human soldiers too.

What happened next was something the historian described as the first appearance of Undead in the known world.

The dwarfs resisted until the very end. However, they cannot win without the strength of their mythical army.

If only the Kingshammer fought within the city walls, maybe they would've won against millions of Undead.

The Dwarves survived by hiding in caves, and they could stop millions of Undead if they came only by the hundreds since the cave was too small for them to fit in.

The Dwarven King and his royal guard went to the Ancient's Temple to ask for help from the golems.

Unfortunately, no one answered. The gates were closed.

And it's still closed to this day.

Idmon: "That's a tragic tale, but how do we open this door now?"

Granpa: "I've said to you before that my ancestors had some success researching the ancients. The Oldbeards created this."

Granpa took a silver locket from his pouch.

The locket looks like any locket you could see in a flea market. However, when Granpa brought it near the gate, it opened.

Granpa: "From here on out, I can't guarantee your safety. But if you're willing to accompany me, I will be speaking on your behalf with the Ancients."

Idmon: "(t) Let's go in. There's no other way to beat the full power of the humans without the strength of the golems."

The fact that the Ancient Creators of the golems abandoned the dwarves bothered Idmon, but if they are willing to make a deal to help fight against the humans, then it will be worth the risk.

Once they entered the temple, two Dread Knights immediately crumbled.

Bon: "Our control over negative energy is gone."

The sudden loss of control severed the Dread Knights' link to Idmon, their summoner, which resulted in their crumbling.

Bon: "I suggest you head back, Lord Idmon. I cannot assist you without my magic."

Idmon never relied on his magic alone. He was confident in his spear skills, so he wouldn't be at a disadvantage.

Idmon: "No, we push on. Stay close to me. I will protect you."

Lina: "I can still produce ice when I touch things, and I can cover my body in ice. That's the extent of my remaining power."

Idmon: "(t) That is acceptable. And-"

Granpa: "You also have my axe!"

Idmon: "(t) Good point."