As the carriage traveled eastward, Jack saw something on the road ahead. Amongst the greenish meadows and small shrubs, there was some sort of stone-like structure. Upon closer inspection as the carriage drew near, Jack realized it was actually a tall gray statue depicting two men fighting against each other, one human and one dwarf.

Both men were shown to be wearing armor and wielding weapons. The human was wielding a spear and a kite shield while the dwarf was wielding an axe and a Viking-style round shield. In addition, both men seemed to be wearing some sort of crown that encircled their helmets, giving the indication that these two men may have been kings of some kind.

Jack couldn't take his eyes away from this statue. For some reason, he was enamored with the magnificence of it---of how these two men posed as though they are in a raging battle against one another. It's as though he could feel there was a great story behind this very statue---a tale of epic proportions that is meant to be told for generations to come.

"Ahh, there it is. The Two Kings Monument," Dingo said, pointing his dog-like snout at the statue. "That right there means we're at the border between Halandril and Dorencor. It should be smooth-sailing from here on out."

"Wait, why do you say that?" Jack asked.

"Dorencor is dwarven territory and, unlike Halandril, is not under Elrinthian jurisdiction," Raven said. "That means no more restrictions in the use of magic."

"Wouldn't the Elrinthians just continue to chase us pass this point?" Jack asked.

"Not if they want to antagonize the dwarves," Musashi said. "Any attempt of Elrinthian or Halandrilian troops entering Dorencor's territory without authorization would essentially be a declaration of war. The dwarves are a proud and hardy race. Winning a war against them would not be easy, as the elves have learned from prior experience."

"Suffice to say, the Elrinthians wouldn't take a risk like that, not even to capture us," Dingo said. "You probably shouldn't have to worry too much about Elrinthian troops hunting you down while you're in Dorencor. Heck, that's the main reason why the Crimson Flame set up its headquarters here after all."

"I see." Jack's gaze returned to the statue, which was now moving away from him as the carriage moved onward. "So, what's the deal with that statue over there?"

"You don't know about the 'Duel of the Two Kings'? Well, have I got a story for you," Dingo leaned back in a more relaxed position on his carriage seat as he grinned his wolf-like grin. "You see, back in the day, kingdoms all over the continent were fighting tooth and nail over the rare and precious resource known as divinium, hence the name 'the Divinium Wars'. Demons are weak against divinium, so whoever had the largest supply of divinium had the best chance at fending off against the Demon Army.

"During the last Divinium War, Halandril and Dorencor decided to establish an alliance with each other in order to fight against Elrinthia, which at the time was split into two separate sovereignties due to a civil war. At that time, Halandril was ruled by the human king Helik Arkos while Dorencor was ruled by the dwarven king Ogan Lork. Over time, the two kings developed a strong friendship with one another. A brotherhood bond, if you will. One that could only be forged under the grit of war.

"It was also during this particular alliance that humans and dwarves have started to get along quite well with one another. With these two races together fighting side by side, it seemed as though nothing could stop them, not even the Elrinthian elves."

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Jack stared at the statue and quirked his lip in doubt. "Judging by that statue over there, I'm guessing that alliance didn't last."

"You guessed right. At first, everything seemed to be going fine between the two kingdoms. Relations between Halandril and Dorencor have never been better. But then, after years of fighting together, Halandril decided to call quits first and surrendered itself to the twin Elrinthian Empires, thereby abandoning its alliance with Dorencor. King Helik himself had made the decision to pull Halandril out of the war. Without Halandril to provide support, Dorencor was left to fend for itself against the Elrinthian forces, suffering heavy losses in the process."

Jack reacted with shocking disbelief. "Really?! Halandril just surrendered itself like that?! What a dick move! Why would they do that?!"

"There are a multitude of reasons, depending on who you ask," Raven said. "The most prevalent one is that Queen Doralenne, the wife of King Helik, had died of a sudden illness and that the king was so preoccupied with the war that he wasn't even able to be there when she died. They say he was so distraught by the death of his wife that he was simply too exhausted to continue the war. It's as though he had lost not only the will to fight but the will to live. Perhaps he had justified himself that this surrender could lead to a quicker end to this drawn-out war, thus preventing any more lives from being lost."

"Grief can cause a person to do all sorts of unpredictable things," Musashi said. "While I can somewhat sympathize with him, I do not entirely agree with his decision. It's not as though King Ogan hadn't suffered losses of his own. Two of his own sons died while fighting the Elrintihans. While the lost of a loved one had dampened King Helik's fighting spirit, it had only fueled King Ogan's even further. King Helik wanted to compromise for peace while King Ogan wanted victory at any cost. Overall, I'm not entirely certain which side is the more righteous one."

Jack shook his head incredulously. "Damn. I can't imagine King Ogan being happy about that decision."

"Are you kidding? He was outright furious!" Dingo exclaimed. "He saw King Helik as almost like a brother. They were both highly determined in winning this war before King Helik pulled the rug from under him. This surrender was pretty much a stab in the back to King Ogan. It was the ultimate betrayal. As you would have expected, King Helik and King Ogan had a major falling out.

"This eventually led to a duel between them to determine the fate of the two kingdoms. A duel to the death, no less, where the victor is the one left standing. If King Helik wins, Dorencor would have to surrender along with Halandril and sign the Treaty of Ilvandar, thereby submitting itself to Elrinthian rule. If King Ogan wins, Halandril would have to rescind its surrender and continue supporting Dorencor in fighting the war. You see where that statue was placed? That's exactly where that duel took place almost 20 years ago. The 'Duel of the Two Kings', as it was aptly named."

"A duel, huh? So who won?"

"Neither. They both died at pretty much the exact same time in that duel if the witnesses were to be believed. It was a draw. In the end, nothing was settled. Halandril became a puppet state to the Elrinthian Empire and Dorencor's economy was in ruins. Talk about poetic irony. That duel was as epic as it was tragic and pointless. Countless tavern tales and bard songs were told of the 'Duel of the Two Kings'. Two best mates fighting over a destroyed friendship. And so, after that duel, a monument was built to commemorate it."

Dingo let out a tired breath, almost as though he's feeling sentimental about the whole ordeal. "Since then, human-dwarven relations have never been the same. These two races were pretty much at each other's throats. Dwarves see humans as spineless cowards who would turn their back on their friends to get out of trouble and humans see dwarves as stubborn old fools who don't know when to quit even when it's good for them.

"In fact, some dwarves have such a particularly intense animosity towards humans that they would outright kill any human who so much as look at them the wrong way. So, a word of caution to you, fellow human. If you think prejudice from elves was bad, well...prejudice from dwarves isn't all that better, mate. Just keep that in mind when you're around here, alright?"

"Right, got it." Jack nodded nervously while at the same time being mildly fascinated at all the history behind a simple statue.