Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Bricks of stone fell like rain drops. When the lightning disappeared and he regained his sight, Harold finally realized that the vampires were all gone and the hall itself was also on the edge of falling apart.
“It was just a… silver coin…” murmured one of the dwarves.
Harold quickly calmed down and scolded. “The coin was possessed of the power of G.o.d! The Almighty G.o.d of Steam is not only the G.o.d of Machinery, but also the Lord of Life and Death, the King of Lightnings, the Lord of Punishment!”
“Why a silver coin then?” asked another dwarf.
Harold wasn't good at explaining this kind of stuff. He squeezed the words out with great effort. “That shows the Almighty G.o.d of Steam is also the G.o.d of Wealth, the King of the kings, the G.o.d above all G.o.ds!”
Everything could be explained by the almightiness of G.o.d.
The dwarves nodded under the convincing words. All of them, including Harold, put their hands on their chests and bowed deep in front of the gate,
“Steam Above!”
They then walked in the gate in pairs. Within half an hour, they had all left the underground hall.
As soon as they left, the power supressing the s.p.a.ce instantly disappeared, and the s.p.a.ce started shaking fiercely. Pieces of starlight fell from above, and soon the entire gate disappeared together with the collapse of the underground palace.
……
After quite a few days, Sanelson's “father”, a vampire duke, arrived at the ruins following the blood connection between Sanelson and him. He came to figure out why Sanelson had gone missing for days.
A s.p.a.ce joint! The vampire duke was shocked.
Staring at the collapsed underground palace, he now cared no more about what happened to Sanelson. In great anger, he turned around and was ready to teach Vlad a good lesson — Even if he had fallen asleep to recover, Vlad still must be responsible for this.
An unreported s.p.a.ce joint in his territory! The Church might find it and launch an attack at any time!
Another few days later, a deafening noise burst out in the direction of Count Vlad's castle. The vampire count's anger surged right into the air,
“I will kill that b.a.s.t.a.r.d who trapped me!”
However, Vlad had no idea who did this to him and had no clue to trace him, not even with Horoscope.
……
Lighting up the torch, Augustus saw an abandoned city; there were thick chimneys, metal pipes, bolts, springs, and gears everywhere. The civilization of Steam was right in front of them.
He immediately understood. Tears gushed out. He cried in great excitement and sorrow. “This is our homeland, where our ancestors worked and lived!”
Augustus kneeled down onto the ground and kissed the cold land overgrown with weeds. “We're back! We're finally back!”
The dwarves all followed him, kneeling and kissing their land of origin. Bitterly they cried, shedding tears for what they had lost.
After Harold and the rest of the dwarves came and the gate disappeared, Augustus took a deep breath and said to the over twenty thousand of dwarves, “this isn't our final destination. We shall go back to the ground, and start our new life! There shall be no more slavery, no more painful deaths, no more suffering!”
His eyes were s.h.i.+ning with hope and determination. “Grab your torches and follow me! Don't hesitate. Don't be afraid. This is the revelation of the G.o.d of Steam!”
“Steam Above!” Answered aloud the dwarves together.
The torches were lifted. Following the command of the instructors, the dwarves marched forward in order, in units of families and villages, through the abandoned city of steam. The Mechanic Knight was divided into four, safeguarding in four directions.
The city was huge. Eveloping the light of the torches was the endless darkness. In the darkness, the only light came from the dim green s.h.i.+ne emitted by noctilucent moss, but it wasn't a comfort for the dwarves at all. They were afraid of the darkness, and the green light seemed to be the blood-thirsty eyes of countless monsters.
What was in there? They didn't know.
Silence seized them, only the sound of their own steps could be heard. The journey seemed to be getting longer and longer, as if they could never leave this place.
When the dwarves started getting lost and panicking, Augustus's voice came again.
“Don't hesitate. Don't be afraid. Follow me!”
“Yes!” Answered the dwarves together, although not too confident.
Augustus raised the staff high,
“The G.o.d of Steam is with us! No difficulty, no danger, no suffering can conquer us!”
Hearing the name of the G.o.d of Steam, the dwarves became braver. Saying G.o.d's name silently in their mind, they were equipped with the courage for scattering the darkness. Gradually, they walked faster and faster.
Bang, bang! The rifles shot together, throwing the monsters leaping from the darkness to the ground in blood and flesh.
They had the power of steam, thus, they were invincible!
“The Almighty G.o.d of Steam, the Lord of Life and Death, the King of Lightnings, the Lord of Punishment, the G.o.d of Wealth…”
“You're the G.o.d above all G.o.ds, the King of the Kings…”
The dwarves sang forth the names together. Their voice joined into this force driving away the creatures hiding in the darkness.
Finally, this huge troop walked out of the city through the tunnel and came to the caves connected like spider webs.
“This is the last test. Only true followers can walk out from the maze. Don't hesitate. Don't be afraid. Follow me!”
“Yes!” This time, their voice was much louder and full of confidence.
All the forks looked identical, and the dwarves were very afraid of getting lost. However, their leader Augustus had closed his eyes, walking following his heart.
Seeing what their leader was doing, the fire of hope lit up in the dwarves' hearts again.
They should have faith in the Almighty G.o.d of Steam, have faith in His chosen exarch. Here, eyes and ears should not be used to seek the path, but hearts and faith!
They dwarves walked on, panicking no more, confused no more.
After a long time, they saw a dim light in front of them and a broad forest in the far end.
They did it!
They were on the ground now!
Suddenly, Myrna pointed at the sky and said, “look!”
The far end of the sky was partially lit up, where a bright star was hanging. The star was quiet but twinkling, directing the path eternally.
“Morning star…?”
“Is dawn coming?”
Those dwarves were born on the Night Highland and they had never seen daylight. They had only heard about morning stars from the stories pa.s.sing on through generations and knew that it represented the arrival of light.
“You're the Lord of Life and Death, the bright Morning Star. You connect night and day. You bring us new life!” said Augustus devoutly.
The morning star was replaced by the orange light in the east, and then, a fireball slowly rose above the horizon.
The dwarves had never seen anything like this. Now, they started to actually feel the arrival of their new life!
Augustus raised his arm and cheered aloud. “Our new life has commenced. We'll strive for the prosperity of Atlantis! The Atlantis on the ground!”
“Strive for the prosperity of Atlantis!” The more than twenty thousand dwarves responded at the same time, their loud voice disturbed the flocks of birds hiding in the forest.
At this time, a melody full of pa.s.sion arrived from faraway.
The dwarves turned their head and, to their great surprise, they saw a fat man wearing a long black windbreak and a beret walking towards them, followed by a group of human. The melody came from the small box engraved with strange black patterns in his hand.
Before the dwarves reacted, Augustus told them, “he's the guide. I received the words of the G.o.d of Steam. He'll be leading us to our brand new life.”
The dwarves were no more afraid. Belief had given them the power for conquering fear. They quietly stared at the fat man and his companies, who studied them like how they looked at buckets of ale and how the vampires look at blood.
“I am Arthur Adol, the one who will lead you to your new life, a life much, much happier than the previous one you had on the Night Highland.” Arthur grinned broadly at the dwarves.
In his eyes, the troop of dwarves was the symbol of a large amount of money. With so many skilled dwarves, the ma.s.s production of the alchemical products could be realized.
Following Arthur, the dwarves walked all the way down to the station. On the platform, when they saw the long magic steam strain, they burst out into tears again. They were convinced again that this place was their homeland, the paradise of steam.
The dwarves stared at the magic steam train out of great curiosity, wis.h.i.+ng that they tear it down and check every part of it, until they got on the train.
“Why is the guide sent by the G.o.d of Steam a banker?” Myrna just learned the word ‘bank'.
Harold said proudly, “I said it. The Almighty G.o.d of Steam is also the G.o.d of Wealth. It makes sense.”
Then he said longingly, “I saw the small silver coin turn into a powerful bomb with powerful electric currents… I wonder if the Civilization of Steam picked the wrong side for studying huge wars.h.i.+ps and cannons. Maybe… maybe we should invent new cannons using the power of electricity…?”
“Here you are, the new book from the Lord.” Smiling, Augustus handed a book to Harold.
Harold picked it up and saw the name: Basic Electrical Engineering.
Later, Arthur walked to the last carriage of the train and sat down in front of a young man wearing a double-breasted suit. He said to the young man like an old friend but also respectfully, “Evans, I can't believe you can find this many skilled dwarves!”
Lucien Evans was probably the next grand arcanist. Arthur had to show respect.
Holding the teacup in his hand, Lucien said, “treat then well. Give them enough salary and freedom. After all, they left that place because of me. When they have acquired basic electrical engineering skills and knowledge, they'll be able to train more workers.”
Because the vampire princes and the most powerful vampires on the Night Highland had left for the mysterious dimension, searching for the Primordial Ancestor, Lucien's rescue plan carried out rather smoothly. He achieved the guidance using the power for awakening the dead of the Immortal Throne magic robe and a new electromagnetic spell, Lucien's Electromagnetic Gun – Although this spell was not that powerful yet, when Lucien reached a higher level, its power would also grow.
“You have my words. I'll treat them well,” said Arthur without hesitation. He did not ask a single word about the so-called G.o.d of Steam.
The magic steam train was approaching Rentato. In the early morning, the lights in Rentato were still on, as brilliant and bright as constellations in a sweet dream.
The dwarves were so surprised that they could not close their mouths. It was as if they had come back to Atlantis.
……
“Evans, since most sorcerers in the school of Electromagnetics and Light-darkness — Sorry, I have to say this — dislike you quite much, for your safety, we are giving the public another excuse for holding this banquet rather than telling people that it is your award-winning party. I hope you understand,” said Joaquin, the president of the Moonsong League, a level-nine arcanist ND ninth-circle archmage, while smiling.
Since Brook just confirmed the change in momentum several days ago, which verified Lucien's light quantum hypothesis, no matter how reluctant Moonsong League was, they had to accept it.
Following Joaquin, Lucien grinned. “We can save the trouble. You could just give me the prize. I'm worried that my presence might be too much of a surprise to the guests.”
“No, this is the tradition. We got to have a decent banquet when awarding you the medal.” The president shook his head seriously.
Otherwise, the public would look down upon Moonsong League, accusing them of being too narrow-minded to properly recognize Lucien's great contribution.
