Throne of Magical Arcana

“The Almighty God of Steam, the Lord of Life and Death. Your devout servant, Augustus, prays to you.”

“… Under your lead, we have spread out your grace across the land of Vlad, into all the middle-rank vampires’ castles. Now, we have twenty-three thousand seven hundred and eighty-six dwarf brothers and sisters praying in your name and following your words…”

“… Two thousand six hundred and nine brothers and sisters of us have devoted their lives to the fight against vampires and blood servants. The attention of the senior-rank vampires has been attracted. Our actions are getting increasingly dangerous…”

“I beg your guidance. I beg your mercy on all devout dwarves. I beg for help to break the chains and for new lives away from the Night Highland…”

“Steam Above.”

The holy statue in front of Augustus looked very strange. In the shape of a round, tower-like cone, it was engraved with countless unique patterns — The dwarves made the statue based on the beyond destructive weapon they saw in Atlantis.

In Lucien’s eyes, they were praying to a nuclear bomb.

Prostrate on the ground, Augustus was praying with all his heart. It had been three years, and the God of Steam never gave them any guidance again. But his belief was still solid. Augustus regarded this as their trial.

This did not mean that he was not worried. Several years ago, before their troop expanded, because Madam Tess had died and Count Vlad had fallen asleep, the Dwarf Rebellion grew fast with ease.They had the knowledge and had won the control of some mines and forges, thus their weapons and armors had been greatly improved — High-pressure steam rifles, vampire-killing bullets, mythril-mixed chain mails which were effective against the claws of vampires. And they were finally able to fight back.

However, as they started having more followers, and when they had reached the territory of the middle-rank vampires nearby, the situation suddenly became intense. It would cost the lives of over a hundred dwarves to hurt and back off a middle-rank vampire. Even the explosive bullets they invented later whose power did not differentiate vampires from dwarves did not work very well.

According to Harold and Aquinas, their only hope was to remake the huge warship from the ancient Steam Civilization, which could probably be very efficient for killing middle-rank vampires.

“But based on what we have — the knowledge and the techniques — there’s no chance for us to build such a thing…” said Aquinas, the leader of the Dwarf Rebellion, a bit desperately over the meeting.

Augustus, the leader, said with even greater worry, “now we’re only fighting against the middle-ranks. If the senior-ranks wake up, if Count Vlad wakes up… even the warship will become useless, unless…”

Augustus did not finish his words, but his listeners all understood. What Augustus was indicating was the ultimate weapon they saw in Atlantis, the one whose power was enough to temporarily create a new Sun and destroy the entire Night Highland.

Thinking of this, Augustus’s prayers became even more sincere. Their God was testing them, Augustus believed.

“You dominate everything, Life and Death. You’re the King of the kings, the God above all gods.”

Finishing his prayers, Augustus was about to stand up when suddenly heard a remote, powerful voice in his brain,

“The future has arrived. Take your staff, and guide your people to the new life.”

His eyes suddenly opened wide. Out of the ecstasy, Augustus trembled when he hurriedly mumbled the words. “In your name. As you command.”

He saw bright light blooming before his eyes, lighting up the entire underground cave. The light was an illusion resulted from his ecstasy.

After calming down a bit, Augustus asked very humbly, “Almighty God of Steam, how shall I guide them out of Night Highland?”

Although the tales passed on for generations said that the ancestors of the dwarves were from another place, Augustus had no idea how to leave the Night Highland.

“Do as I say. Do not ask why.”

“We shall sing forth the honor of your name. May we get out of the pain and sufferings under your blessing and glory,” said Augustus, his head lowering deeply.

Then he walked out of the altar and opened the gate in extremely high spirit. Full of confidence, he exclaimed in front of the dwarves,

“Command to you all! And all dwarves devoted to the God of Steam. We shall gather in three days! The Almighty, the God of Steam, has given us words — WE SHALL LEAVE THE NIGHT HIGHLAND!”

After a short silence, under the lead of the young dwarf lady Myrna, all of them present cried out loud.

“Steam Above!”

Joyful tears ran across their faces.

…

Three days later.

In the huge underground cave located within the territory of Count Vlad, close to twenty-one thousand dwarves were gathering here.

Some of them were carrying high-pressure steam backpacks and holding big steam rifles, guarding the entrance of the underground caves connecting to each other, while some wore only ragged cloth bags and their bodies were covered with wounds left by whipping. However, they had one thing in common — Their eyes were shining with bright hope.

“It’s the time. I’m very encouraged by the fact that we have all of us here. Your devotion deserves the blessing.” Augustus walked across the crowd, wearing the dwarf robe and holding a missile-shaped staff. “and I, Augustus, the Speaker of God on the ground, will lead you forward.

“On our way out, we shall have no fear and no hesitation, no matter what is waiting for us in the front. Because, we are blessed!”

“It’s time to hit the road!”

“Steam Above!” the dwarves cried out loud together.

Joining the teams they belonged to, the dwarves followed the instruction in the book, Military Training, which was left to them by the God of Steam, and walked in the underground caves quietly.

They all understood it. Staying here on the Night Highland only meant death and shame. The landing of the God of Steam gave them the only belief in the boundless darkness. Death, or fight. They chose to fight, although they were afraid.

Going through the caves, the path elevated, and countless tombstones appeared beside.

“Here sleep our heroes, who died for our freedom. Some of them were warriors, and some were just common men and women who died protecting us. At this moment which decides the living or death of us dwarves, every one of us is a hero!” Augustus said aloud in great respect, while leading the troop to salute the dead.

The two thousand six hundred and nine tombstones watched them march forward, and the atmosphere became rather solemn. Suddenly, a sharp scream penetrated the silence from behind — Two to three senior vampires, leading seven to eight lower-rank vampires, chased up them in the air!

“It’s Sanelson!” The dwarves screamed. “They’re here!”

Sanelson was a level-five vampire knight who had killed hundreds of dwarves.

Did anyone betray them?

Was it because the vampires had caught some dwarves on the way?

Panic and despair spread out. The dwarves knew how powerful those vampires were. The vampires were already close to senior-rank. In such a crowded place, many of them would die, without a doubt.

Harold stopped his steps, looking at his brothers and sisters helplessly screaming and running in panic. He made his decision within a second. He spat on the ground and commanded,

“Warriors from Mechanic Knight, stand out! We die for the God of Steam! It’s time for us to devote everything for our brothers and sisters!”

Damn it! They would rather die standing than die for nothing!

At this moment, he conquered his fear of death.

Holding the huge rifles in their hands, the warriors were also afraid. Despite that, some still stood out with great determination. They shot at their best, but only hit a lower-rank vampire, who roared in pain and rolled back and forth on the floor.

When Harold had no idea what to do, Augustus’s voice arrived,

“On our way out, we shall have no fear and no hesitation, no matter what is waiting for us in the front. Because we are blessed!”

“Hold your weapon, keep moving! We are blessed!”

It was the command!

Harold did not understand. If they kept fighting, there might still be hope, while they all would die if they followed the command. However, Augustus’s severe eyes could not be disobeyed.

“All, keep moving!” Harold had to obey.

The dwarves did as asked, marching forward slowly in great fear.

To their great surprise, all of a sudden, the surrounding tombstones started shaking fiercely. The dead dwarves climbed out: Some had turned into bones, and some were half rotten.

At first, they thought that it was the vampires who were manipulating the bodies. However, the over two-thousand tombstones all started writhing, and the over two-thousand bodies stood up one by one, as the world of death had befallen.

Silently, the bodies rushed to the vampires in great numbers. And then —

Bang! Bang! They exploded.

Were they still protecting their people after death?

Were they still clinging to the hope of freedom?

The dwarves recalled that another name of the God of Steam was — the Lord of Life and Death.

Tears in his eyes, Harold looked at the dead dwarves exploding together with the vampires, and his fists tightened — He must complete the dream left by those heroes; They must free themselves!

For over ten thousand years, this was the solid belief shared by dwarves!

Harold lifted his arm and cried, “Steam Above! Keep moving!”

Through the cemetery, the dwarves left the underground cave, and they saw a giant rock in front of them.

Following the instruction of the God of Steam, Augustus opened the gate of the underground palace. He walked in leading the troop and saw a mysterious gate in the middle of the hall, on which bright starlight glimmered.

“Behind the gate is the new world. The world of redemption.” Augustus pointed at the gate. “If you have made up your mind, go through it.”

At this moment, no one would hesitate anymore. Under Harold’s organization, the dwarves walked through the gate and disappeared. The space shook because of the teleport. However, none of the vampire princes were here on the Night Highland as they were all rushing towards the dimension for the Primordial Ancestor. As for the senior-rank vampires, they were not as sensitive. The only senior-rank vampire living nearby was Count Vlad who was still trying to get out of the trap in great fury.

When only members of the Mechanic Knight was left, Sanelson and the rest of the vampires finally got rid of the dead dwarves and arrived.

“What should we do?” the warriors exchanged a look with each other. Some of them were ready to cover the rest to make sure most of them could leave.

Harold put his hand on his chest and said, “don’t be afraid. Don’t stop.”

As soon as he finished the words, a silver shiny coin appeared above the gate, rolling upward.

As the coin rolled, distorted magnetic field and silver electric currents appeared in its surrounding. They twisted and wound around the coin, forming a giant, thick snake of electric currents.

Sanelson’s scarlet eyes opened wide out of great fear as he watched the lightning filled the hall.

The horrible power devoured the vampires swiftly. There was no chance for them to run away.