Chapter 108: Dwarven Prince Trapped in a Zerg-Infested City! The Hall of Heroes Summons Its First SSS-Rank Hero

Chapter 108: Chapter 108: Dwarven Prince Trapped in a Zerg-Infested City! The Hall of Heroes Summons Its First SSS-Rank Hero

"Are there any other ways to collect Otherworldly Creature Cores around here? I’d like to continue training more units."

Priest Loman looked somewhat troubled.

"My lord, well..."

Before he could finish, a sudden flurry of hurried footsteps came from the entrance to the plaza.

A messenger clad in silver-white light armor stumbled inside. His helmet was crooked, and his face was drenched in sweat.

"High Priest!"

The High Priest, who had been standing off to the side like a mere background decoration, furrowed his brows.

"What is the matter? Why are you in such a panic?"

"Urgent report from the scouts!"

The messenger gasped for breath, the emergency report scroll trembling in his hands.

"The Zerg... The Zerg launched a surprise attack on Anvil City last night! The entire city has fallen!"

The blood drained from the High Priest’s face.

"Anvil City?"

He snatched the scroll and quickly scanned its contents. His expression grew increasingly grim.

"Isn’t that one of the human—"

"What’s more, the Third Prince of the Dwarven Kingdom happened to be studying there!"

The messenger’s voice rose sharply.

"The prince failed to evacuate when the city fell. There’s been no word from him since! The dwarves are already going into a frenzy!"

John’s eyebrows twitched slightly.

Anvil City. A Dwarven prince.

He knew about the dwarves. They were natural master craftsmen. More than half of the elite weapons and heavy armor used by the human kingdoms came from dwarven forges.

A prince trapped in a fallen city could be a serious matter.

"Loman."

John glanced at the High Priest before asking curiously,

"Why are these otherworldly creatures invading our world?"

Priest Loman was also stunned by the news. After recovering from his shock, he looked at John and hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"My lord... To be completely honest, according to the information our Church has gathered, the Zerg in Whitepass City and the fall of Anvil City both have the same force pulling the strings behind them."

"The Underworld?" John supplied.

Loman froze.

"You know?"

"Just a guess."

John shrugged.

He had dealt with the Zerg in his previous life as well.

Those creatures reproduced rapidly and possessed overwhelming numbers, but they weren’t particularly aggressive by nature. John knew that their expansion was driven by the need for survival space, not a desire to exterminate other races.

If they merely needed more territory, expanding into the wilderness would have been enough. There was no reason for them to attack the walls of human cities.

Unless someone had told them, Go to the surface and take what you want. Whatever territory you conquer will belong to you.

Loman gave him a long look before nodding.

"Your guess is absolutely correct, my lord. The Darkborn of the Underworld have formed an alliance with the Zerg."

"The Darkborn of the Underworld wish to return to the surface, while the Zerg desperately need more territory because of their continuous reproduction."

"The two sides hit it off immediately and decided to conquer the surface together, dividing the territory between them afterward."

"Whitepass City, which you visited earlier, was their first target. Anvil City was the second. But it certainly won’t be the last."

"What about the Dwarven prince?"

John fell into thought.

"Anvil City is a famous city of craftsmen. The prince was there to study the art of ironworking."

As Loman spoke, genuine concern crept into his voice.

"The dwarves are different from humans. They possess an extraordinary natural talent for this craft. I don’t know whether the Zerg have some new scheme in mind, but perhaps that’s why they captured the prince."

As soon as he finished speaking, the system notification rang out.

[Ding!]

[Special Quest Triggered: The Anvil City Crisis]

[Quest Background: Copperhammer Forge, the Third Prince of the Dwarven Royal Court, was studying the art of forging in Anvil City when the Zerg launched a surprise attack. The Dwarven Royal Court has issued a call for aid across the entire continent.]

[Quest Objective: Enter the fallen Anvil City, locate and rescue the Dwarven prince Copperhammer Forge, and ensure his survival.]

John remained silent for several seconds before finally responding.

"Accept."

Loman’s eyes lit up.

"My lord, are you planning to rescue the prince right away?"

"No."

John glanced at the sky, then at the 2,600 newly trained Holy Light Acolytes standing beside the altar.

"It’s dangerous at night. We’ll deal with it tomorrow."

The High Priest, who had been listening to their conversation, was speechless.

...

Cloudpeak, Sky Island

By the time John stepped out of the teleportation portal, Sylvie was already waiting for him in the plaza.

"My lord, I’ve finished arranging everything for both territories."

She quickly caught up with him, reporting as they walked.

"We’ve put some of the resources we acquired to use. The twelve Epic Fields have all been upgraded, and Gru has made the necessary arrangements for the villagers. All the tech points we’ve obtained since then have been invested in upgrading the Academy’s skills."

"Good. Just keep things progressing steadily."

John was quite satisfied with Sylvie’s arrangements.

"Understood."

Sylvie nodded, then remembered something.

"Oh, right, my lord. The Hall of Heroes has been completed. Would you like to take a look?"

John stopped walking.

The Hall of Heroes was the divine-grade building awarded to the player who ranked first in points during the Newbie Period.

According to its description, it would automatically generate one Hero Recruitment Scroll every day and grant heroes a fixed five-level increase daily.

"Let’s go take a look."

He had been eager to see it for quite some time. Now, he finally had the opportunity.

The Hall of Heroes stood in the north-central part of Cloudpeak Territory, close to the castle.

The entire building was constructed from translucent, milky-white jade, taking the shape of a gradually narrowing spire.

At its peak floated a fist-sized orb of light, emitting a gentle white glow day and night.

On either side of the entrance stood a faceless stone statue of an angel. They were somewhat similar to the statues in front of the altar in Silvermoon City, though these two appeared far more ancient.

John pushed open the doors and entered.

The interior had an extremely high vaulted ceiling. All four walls were lined with numerous niches of varying sizes.

Inside each niche burned a flickering wisp of soulfire. Some glowed brightly, while others were dim. Some burned gold, others silver.

At the center stood the altar beneath the vaulted ceiling. Floating above it was the day’s Hero Recruitment Scroll, a golden-yellow parchment gently trembling in the light.

"Let’s see who we’ve got today."

John reached out and took down the scroll. A system notification immediately appeared.

[Hero Recruitment Scroll (Hall of Heroes · Daily Generation)]

[Quality: Special]

[Effect: Upon use, establishes a connection with the Hall of Heroes and randomly summons one hero for the Lord’s territory.]

"Use it."

The moment the scroll entered John’s hand, it transformed into golden mist and scattered in every direction. The mist gathered beneath the vaulted ceiling, forming a rotating pillar of light.

The pillar remained for approximately three seconds before suddenly collapsing inward.

A figure emerged from its center and dropped down, landing steadily on the altar.

It was a tall woman with long, pale-green hair tied high with a black leather cord. The ends of her hair fell all the way to her waist.

She wore a set of dark-green lightweight leather armor. A quiver and a shortbow hung at her waist, while a slender double-edged combat blade was strapped to her back.

But the most striking feature was her eyes. Her pupils were a pale golden color, carrying an indescribably cool and detached gaze.

The young woman dropped to one knee in a swift, practiced motion.

Her voice was cool and clear.

"Aelinda greets her Lord."

[Ding!]

[Congratulations, Lord "Tyrant"! You have successfully summoned an SSS-Rank Hero — Aelinda!]

John raised an eyebrow and opened her status panel.

[Hero: Aelinda]

[Race: Half-Elf]

[Quality: SSS]

[Level: Lv. 1 (0/10,000)]

[HP: 20,000/20,000]

[Attack: 4,400]

[Defense: 1,000]

[Skill 1: Void Rebirth (Lv. 1 · Active) — Opens a Void Rift, sending Archer units into the Void Realm for training. By consuming resources, they can be reforged and transformed into the exclusive unit type "Void Hunter (Ten-Star)." Cooldown: 24 hours.]

[Skill 2: Void-Piercing Arrow (Lv. 1 · Active) — Condenses the power of the Void and fires a piercing arrow that deals True Damage equal to 800% of ATK to all enemies along a straight path. Also increases all ranged damage taken by affected targets by 50% for 10 seconds. Cooldown: 30 seconds.]

[Skill 3: Godhunter Domain (Lv. 1 · Passive/Aura) — While deployed in a formation, all ranged units under her command receive a 300% increase to all attributes. All ranged attacks gain a 20% Defense-Piercing effect, and Critical Hit Rate increases by 30%.]

[Background: Has previously undergone training in the Void Realm, where she mastered new abilities and acquired the ability to train Void Hunters.]