Chapter 153: An Underground Invasion

"This is truly fascinating. I never expected that the two forms of the dragon race would be fundamentally identical in some ways. In theory, Mr. Sieg, that means you should be able to use magic even in your humanoid form, right?"

Using a magical lens, Avia carefully scrutinized a faintly glowing patch of skin on Sieg's hand. An intricate magical circuit was embedded within.

The flow of magic within that circuit was significantly less than that within the far larger spell formation inscribed upon his draconic body, but it was still a fully functional magic array.

"I'll establish a direct mental energy link to this circuit for you, Mr. Sieg. Try using it to cast a spell."

Though the primary magic circuit designed to interface directly with Sieg's mental energy was still incomplete, it wasn't too difficult to temporarily establish a direct connection using a spell.

With a flick of her finger, Avia seamlessly linked Sieg's mental energy to the magical array. Sieg offered no resistance, allowing the connection to form smoothly.

Through his senses, Sieg found that, while he still couldn't directly manipulate the magic within the array, controlling the miniature formation was surprisingly easy.

As his mental energy activated the formation, tiny purple sparks of electricity flickered at his fingertips. An invisible force lifted the dust on the ground in the direction in which his finger pointed.

Under the trio's gaze, fine dust particles hovered in midair, clearly visible.

"It worked." Sieg nodded. His mental link with the array was functional. Since the array was so small, the lifting force it produced was weak—just enough to suspend dust in the air.

"Thank you, Miss Avia. The fact that this experiment has worked so well is astounding to me. I'll continue my research to refine this success further."

Given his vast knowledge, Sieg was well aware of the implications of this breakthrough. Countless new possibilities arose from this singular success. Though his current draconic form had reached its limit in certain aspects, this newfound path—though weak and insignificant in the short term—held limitless growth potential in the long run.

"Of course! An opportunity to study a dragon's body isn't something money alone can buy. This has been an excellent chance for me to improve my alchemy as well."

The chance to study a dragon's physical form was indeed invaluable for Avia, and Sieg wouldn't take her help for granted—whether it was gold deposited into Wang Yu's mana crystal card or assistance within the Nightblades, his gratitude always resulted in tangible benefits.

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Miss Avia. Shall we schedule a weekly session to continue experimenting with magic circuit inscriptions?"

At this rate, it wouldn't be long before Sieg became a full dragon.

Since there were still many other matters to handle as far as the Nightblades were concerned, Sieg bid farewell to Wang Yu and Avia as he left the Church of Nightfall's headquarters.

"I'm really envious. The ability to inscribe magic circuits directly onto one's body to enhance strength—I doubt any other race could achieve that." Wang Yu shook his head. Dragons were far too amazing.

"It might work on, say, earth elementals too." Avia poked Wang Yu as she corrected him. "But lower-tier elementals lack the intelligence to control these circuits, and high-tier elemental lords have no need for them."

"They don't count as normal lifeforms, surely," Wang Yu argued. "But Sieg's ability to shift between dragon and human form—that's beyond the scope of what a normal creature should be capable of. Do dragons naturally possess the ability to distort space like that?"

Wang Yu sighed. Given his background on Earth, he often overlooked the existence of strange beings like elementals. As the conversation returned to dragons' unique abilities, he couldn't help but wonder whether this power was simply a result of their immense strength.

But could sheer strength alone grant such abilities? Other similarly "unreasonable" latent potentials existed as well. Were they really all just manifestations of fighting spirit formed into structured matrices?

Somewhere within the underground cliffs of the capital's shadow, rocky walls trembled. Cracks formed across their surfaces as dust and small stones crumbled and fell. The sound of metal tools striking stone echoed from within.

A large chunk of rock broke loose, revealing the tip of an iron mining pick. Shortly after, a rough and muscular arm extended from the hole, groped around briefly, then retracted.

"Should we use an alchemical bomb? We're almost there."

"You wanna get buried alive? That's a horrible excuse for a brain you've got."

"Let's just dig through and be done with it. The pay's good, and I'd rather finish up fast and go buy some booze."

"Fine, fine."

Voices rang out from within the tunnel, gruff, loud, and unmistakable. Anyone would recognize that these were dwarves—or at least, a certain type of dwarf.

With one final strike of the iron pick, the already weakened rock wall collapsed to reveal a pitch-black passage. Several stocky figures emerged from within. They were gray-skinned, red-eyed, with rougher, flatter features compared to normal dwarves: duergar, gray dwarves.

"This should be the place. Take out the cargo." One of the gray dwarves stepped out, tilting his head upward to observe the underground cavern of the capital's shadow. Bioluminescent plants covered the ceiling like a starry sky, confirming that they had reached their intended destination.

These glowing plants had a long growth cycle that lasted for over a decade. By memorizing their positions, one could use them as a substitute for real stars to navigate underground.

"Let's hurry. I really don't want to get involved with those Abyssal lunatics—damn zealots're always one step away from throwing themselves into the abyss."

He turned and urged the others forward before stepping to the edge of the cliff. As he peered down into the abyss below, an involuntary shiver ran through him.

They were deep underground, perilously close to the abyss itself. The vast, unlit chasm filled him with a primal dread, as though something unspeakably horrific might rise from the darkness and drag him down.

Yet, as far as he knew, nothing had ever emerged from the abyss to claim anyone. The only ones who disappeared were those who went mad and threw themselves in.

This was the first time they had dug so deep. Only duergar, dwarves who were even more attuned to underground life than their surface kin, could mine to such depths. The reason they had done so was a commission from the Cult of the Abyss to transport a massive metal container to this location.

"What the hell are they planning? Who's supposed to pick this up?" He glanced around. Aside from the endless darkness below and the sheer cliffs around them, there was no sign of anyone.

"Whatever. Not my problem. Just do the job and take the money. No need to overthink it." Pushing his thoughts aside, the duergar leader refocused on the task at hand. He was here to deliver the cargo—nothing more, nothing less. Whatever the Cult was up to, it had nothing to do with him.

The massive, heavy metal container was dragged out of the tunnel with thick ropes, scraping against rock with a harsh, grating noise. The tension in the ropes made it look as though they might snap at any moment.

With a resounding crash, the iron container landed on solid ground, sending deep vibrations through the cavern.

"Alright, let's go. Our job was just to deliver this thing here. Let's go back and get paid. Make sure to get an image of the delivery, so they can't claim we didn't do our job." The duergar leader waved his hand, signaling his men to hurry up and get away from the abyss.

"Hey, boss, wait a second—I've got an idea."

Just as the others started leaving, one gray dwarf hurried forward and whispered into the duergar leader's ear.

"What? Speak up." The leader impatiently yanked the dwarf's beard.

"Hey, boss, you know I worship the God of the Forge, right? That means I can sense the presence of powerful, valuable artifacts. And this chest? Heh..."

The duergar rubbed his fingers together—a universal sign for money.

The duergar leader raised an eyebrow. He knew this particular subordinate well. Thanks to his faith, the dwarf had the ability to perceive the aura of valuable crafted objects. If he was saying this was something special...

His gaze shifted to the heavy iron chest. The lid wasn't even locked. Opening it wouldn't be difficult, and neither would taking whatever was inside.

"Wait. Let's take a look inside before we leave."

The duergar leader hesitated not at all. He immediately decided to pocket anything valuable within. No one in the capital's shadow survived on honesty alone. They hadn't thought to steal from the chest before simply because they weren't sure whether the contents were worth it, and the reward for the job had already been generous. But now that they knew there was something valuable inside—why not?

The other duergars quickly turned back. Smirks crept onto their faces—it seemed they would be getting another unexpected bonus. They pulled out their tools and returned to the large metal chest.

With a coordinated effort, they jammed their pickaxes into the gap between the lid and the chest, prying it open with ease. The lid wasn't secured, and it popped off with little resistance to reveal what lay inside.

"What's that? One of those alchemical golems the gnomes make?" the duergar leader muttered as he peered inside.

Within the chest lay a towering humanoid figure, crafted entirely of an unknown metal. Its face had two large, embedded crystals, and its overall design exuded immense strength and power.

"No idea, but it's definitely valuable." The dwarf who worshiped the God of the Forge was practically trembling with excitement. "It's practically glowing in my senses! The last time I felt something even close to this was when the Viper Gang was selling top-tier magitech gear... No, wait, this is even stronger! Boss, we're rich!"

"Alright, alright. I'll make sure you get a bigger cut for spotting this. Now hurry up and get this thing out of the chest!"

The duergar leader was in an excellent mood. If this thing was really as valuable as it seemed, he didn't mind giving that perceptive dwarf a larger share of the profits.

The duergar gathered around the chest and prepared to lift the heavy figure from the chest. The moment their hands made contact with it, however, a powerful magical energy surged from deep within the metal humanoid.

None of the duergars were spellcasters, so they didn't immediately sense what was happening. Within seconds, however, they realized something was very, very wrong. The seams of the metal figure began to glow, ever-brightening light spilling from its joints.

"What's going on? Ah!" One dwarf's curious question was abruptly replaced by a scream of terror.

The metal humanoid's crystalline eyes flared to life, shining with a bright yellow glow that illuminated the dim surroundings.

Its oversized metal hand shot out, seizing a nearby duergar's head—then crushed it like a ripe melon.

The remaining dwarves immediately panicked, scrambling toward the tunnel they had dug to reach this place. Two, either braver or more foolish than the rest, gripped their iron pickaxes and swung them down hard on the metal figure's body.

Sparks flew. The impact sent painful vibrations through their arms, nearly making them drop their weapons. The golem's glowing surface, however, remained entirely unscathed.

With two swift, effortless strikes, the golem shattered the skulls of both attacking dwarves, leaving only their gruesome remains behind.

Now fully upright, the massive metal figure turned its head toward the tunnel where the remaining gray dwarves had fled. The light in its crystal eyes grew brighter as magical energy surged toward its head.

A blinding beam of energy burst forth from its face, shooting straight into the tunnel. Everything in its path—rock, tools, and fleeing dwarves—was instantly vaporized. When the beam faded, all that remained was molten rock and a pile of ash.

At the same time the golem annihilated the duergars, its sudden and intense magical signature spread outward in all directions.

In a nearby Nightblades outpost, a detection array abruptly blared in alarm. "Alert! A sudden surge of magical energy has been detected. Analysis complete: 'Destroyer'-class construct. Deploy an ops team immediately! Notify all nearby squads! Possible invasion attempt from the capital's shadow!"

As the detection signal reached all Nightblades in the outpost, the entire station mobilized with unparalleled efficiency...