The Author's POV

348 Planting the seeds of chaos [2]

BANG— BANG—

A loud metallic sound rang as an energy blast shot towards a large metal door.

The sound rang in the air for a brief moment before it disappeared completely. What followed after was the cacophonous sound of several alarms ringing, completely drowning out the banging sounds that ensued after repetitive attacks towards the metallic door.

"Step to the side."

Seeing that the attacks were not working, a duergar stepped up.

Holding onto a large metallic barrel in-between his armpits, the duergar channeled his mana towards it. Soon, spherical orbs of mana agglomerated towards the center of the barrel, forming a concentrated ball of energy.

The threatening energy expanded in the hall as it steadily increased in size.

Before long, once the ball reached a certain size, the duergar firmly planted both of his feet on the ground and discharged the energy.

BOOOM—!

What followed after was a terrifying blast that shot towards the massive metal door. A colorful trail of mana traced behind the attack.

Once the attack connected with the door, a thunderous sound rang out, and smoke diffused in the air.

"Did it work?"

The duergar who shot the attack wondered out loud as he tried to see through the large cloud of smoke.

"It's no use. The door is designed to withstand the impacts of ranked individuals. All you're doing is wasting mana."

Before the duergar could get a proper look, a cold and apathetic voice spoke from behind.

Turning to the direction where the voice came from, the duergar's face paled considerably.

"L-Lord!"

"Stay put."

Scanning the metal door, the mood of the duergar elder sank.

"Damn it."

Placing his palm on the door, the elder circulated the mana inside of his body towards the palm of his hand and closed his eyes. He was trying to gauge what was going on inside the room.

While the elder was busy, the duergars behind him stood silently with their backs straight, not daring to mouth a single word.

After a while, opening his eyes, the elder's face relaxed a little.

"He's still alive…"

After having scanned the internal structure of the room, although he wasn't able to tell what exactly was going on inside, he could tell that there were two people alive.

Out of the two, one was a demon and the other was Karl.

Recognizing Karl's mana signature, the elder was able to tell that he was still alive. At this revelation, he felt a lot more relaxed. As long as he was alive, all was good.

"Hm?"

However, apart from those two energies, he felt no other energy. This meant only one thing.

Every single researcher inside had been killed.

'Why did a demon betray us?'

The elder wondered as his brows tightly knit in consternation.

For the perpetrator to be a demon, no wonder the Duergars assigned to Karl had failed to protect him. Nobody would have seen it coming.

—How is the situation going on your side?

It was then that a voice suddenly entered the elder's ears.

Completely unfazed by the voice, the elder tapped on his ear and responded in a calm tone, "Karl is still alive. However, he is currently being held hostage inside of the room with a demon."

—A demon?

The voice sounded a bit surprised. It quickly followed up with a question.

—So you're saying that the one responsible for this is a demon?

"That is correct."

The elder darkly replied.

the situation on your

the elder had naturally heard

still chose to pursue his role, which was to find out what was going on with the

we under attack?"

brief moment of silence,

base has been compromised. We're currently under siege by those bastards. We've called for reinforcements, and have set

the elder's face sank

made it impossible

the elder as he turned his attention back towards the Rhimestone

—Unless what?

the

a moment before replying with a

that exposed our location is

—…That's impossible.

after a brief

the dwarves. His hatred runs even more deeply than some of us present in the council. How can it be him? Furthermore, he is also responsible

"…You might be right."

realized the validity of the

and the fact that he hated dwarves with a passion, the probability of him

he had proposed in the past. Each dwelling in the neurological field and memory extraction area. Something that was considered taboo to the dwarves. As such he was treated as an

them, he would've long

deep seethed hatred he saw in Karl when he signed the mana contract with

He was there.

witnessed the whole

fact that he also took down two beacons was a testament to his possible innocence… That was, of

it for so long...the elder didn't want to

the elder massaged his forehead as he tried to think of

who could it

the beacons? Since the dampening system was turned off in

entered that room.' The

already have an

Why are you telling me

surprise, the elder

got a live feed of what

moment. The elder could feel a tone of malice emerge from

for us to let them enter

elder's brows knit

it related

—Yes.

in the

that led the attackers towards our location.

don't think

face

elder trembled with uncontrollable

incompetent

—…BANG!

rang

"What is going on?"

elder instantly

currently under attack. The dwarves have

off, and the elder was left panicked, wondering what had

he trying to say that someone has infiltrated the

in

WIIIIIING—

elder

Clang—

pressurised wind that expanded from the

"Khhh…who!?"

stabilized his body and lifted

look at who had attacked him, the elder immediately identified the perpetrator

"Human…"

narrowed

"Guess that didn't work."

elder, Waylan raised his broadsword and once again slashed down. Not wasting

mana enveloped the body of the blade. What followed after was a terrifying attack that shot out from the broadsword, headed straight for the

WIIIIIING—

the incoming attack, the elder did not panic in the slightest. Raising his hand, a thin arm bracer appeared

the bracer, a thin transparent shield materialised in front

BANG—

formed. Connecting with the shield, ripples formed around its surface as it completely absorbed the energy of Waylan's attack. Before long,

attack, raising his head, the elder did not waste any time. Extending his hand

the handle of the hammer, the