Chapter 706

The dwarves, having lost their mobile aerial battleship Alvis, retreated, leaving only unmanned weapons behind. The fairies couldn’t chase them. They didn’t have the time.

“Take cover! Take cover!”

The unmanned weapons that descended onto the battlefield, like lifeless chunks of metal, didn’t stop firing until they were completely destroyed.

– KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-BOOM!

The explosions shook the heavens and earth. The ground spewed blood and flesh, while flashes of light and smoke stabbed at their eyes.

The colossal bipedal armored weapon, the Colossus, rained down machine gun fire and grenades, churning the earth. Automatons poured bullets like rain, forming a deadly net.

The noise was unbearable for the fairies, whose hearing was sensitive. They felt the urge to tear off their own ears as they drew their bowstrings.

Spirit arrows, crafted from refined mana, arced through the air and exploded. In retaliation, grenades flew in, blowing away the fairies’ cover.

“Grenades! Fall back!”

Wood, dirt, and rocks shattered into pieces, scattering in all directions.

– FWOOOSH!

Fairies who hastily leaped aside had their heads blown off by the automatons’ sniping. Headless bodies convulsed weakly as they collapsed.

Even the beautiful bodies of the fairies, like works of art, proved that their insides were filled with the same filth as any other creature.

“Sniper fire…!”

Watching their comrades’ heads burst like fruit, spraying eyes and brain matter, the fairies urgently summoned low-level spirits to block the incoming bullets.

– KYAAAAAA…!

The spirits, used as shields, screamed and vanished.

They weren’t destroyed by spirit arrows but simply shattered by the impact, returning to the World Tree.

“These mechanical dolls…! I’ll destroy them all!”

The Fairy Guardians, their ears perked up, summoned high-level spirits once more.

The void twisted strangely as a massive spirit sent by the World Tree materialized, its body composed of elements.

“KUUUUUUU!”

The high-level spirits of fire and stone roared, showcasing their massive forms as they swung their fists toward the Colossus. It was a grand and majestic sight, like a battle of giants from myth.

– CLANG!

The Colossus detached its machine gun and flipped out a blade hidden in its forearm, slashing toward the high-level spirit’s fist.

– KIIIIIIIING!

The alloy blade let out a sharp screech, as if it might shatter.

The blade, equipped with ultra-vibration technology by the ancient dwarves to counter high-level spirits, scattered the elemental body of the spirit upon impact.

“KUOOOOO!”

The high-level spirits, their hands blown apart, roared again, spewing flames and boulders. The Colossus countered with its shoulder-mounted scatter cannons and unguided rockets.

Fire, light, and shattered fragments mixed together, creating a spectacular fireworks display.

‘Even with spirits, it’s too much.’

Tersillius narrowed his eyes, aiming the Bow of the Divine Tree at the Colossus. The bow, made from a branch of the World Tree, a treasure of Alvheim bestowed upon ancient guardians, unleashed a flash of light.

– KWA-DUK!

An arrow, shot at the speed of light, embedded itself in the Colossus’s hip joint.

The next moment, a massive tree trunk, like dozens of serpents, sprouted from the arrow, wrapping around the Colossus.

– CREAK, CREAK—!

The tree trunk squeezed through the joints, constricting the Colossus’s entire body. The internal mechanical parts cracked and twisted under the pressure.

Then, the high-level spirit’s fist, like a divine hammer, slammed into the immobilized Colossus.

The impact was too much even for its metal body. The outer armor shattered, and the internal frame crumpled like a rag.

– KUUUUUUUUNK!

The heavily damaged Colossus collapsed forward.

The crushed power system sparked violently, and an unknown liquid leaked from the broken cylinders. It was completely destroyed, unable to move even a single gear.

“—Αδυναμία ελιγμών. Εκτέλεση Διαδικασιών Καταστροφής.”

Following that, a mechanical voice crackled from the Colossus’s head.

The ancient dwarves’ language. A warning all too familiar to the elder guardians who remembered those times.

Mobility lost.

Self-destruction procedure initiated.

In short, it was going to self-destruct. As the dwarves’ weapons always did.

“Bow your heads! A massive explosion is coming!”

The guardians urgently summoned earth spirits in front of their allies, shouting. The fairies, who had been firing arrows, quickly leaped under the earth spirits, crouching and bowing their heads.

Soon, a massive explosion shook the earth.

—

The fairy army of Alvheim broke through the unmanned weapons’ defense line and advanced relentlessly. It was a swift advance, hard to believe they had lost three guardians.

However, four days later.

The unstoppable advance of the fairy army came to an abrupt halt, faced with an unexpected situation.

“Ceasefire negotiations?”

The Fairy Guardian Ereneisia’s expression twisted strangely, as if she had just been insulted by her long-dead parents.

The order from the Council of Elders, delivered by a messenger, was something she couldn’t comprehend.

“Negotiations with the dwarves? Who suggested such nonsense? And who agreed to it? Have they all gone senile?”

“Well… I don’t know…”

Though the words were disrespectful, since they came from Ereneisia herself, the messenger could only sweat nervously, unable to respond.

Fairy Guardian Ereneisia. A guardian who had lived for fifteen hundred years, even the elders couldn’t easily reprimand her.

Not because of her power or influence, but because most of the elders were younger or the same age as her.

About thirty percent of the Council of Elders were childhood friends who had grown up playing in the forest with her. Even the arrogant and corrupt elders couldn’t treat Ereneisia, who had grown up with them, carelessly.

She was one of the few remaining childhood friends they had.

“Sigh… So, what’s the reason?”

“They say it’s not the time to waste our strength on the dwarves. Something big seems to have happened in the human empire.”

“You don’t know what happened?”

“I’m just a messenger, so I don’t know that much…”

Ereneisia, looking down at the flustered messenger, scratched her head in frustration.

After sacrificing three guardians to destroy the aerial battleship, now they’re talking about ceasefire negotiations? It was both disappointing and absurd.

‘Wait, did they order us to destroy the aerial battleship to force negotiations?’

Thinking about it, it made sense.

Since Alvheim started the war, the dwarves wouldn’t easily agree to a truce. So, by destroying their main weapon and shocking them, they could bring them to the negotiating table.

“Seriously, a truce now…”

Ereneisia looked south toward the horizon with regret-filled eyes.

—

Seven days later, the ceasefire negotiations between Alvheim and Himell were dramatically concluded.

The dwarven great families fiercely debated the ceasefire, but ultimately agreed to the fairies’ proposal.

With the aerial battleship Alvis destroyed, maintaining the frontlines would require mobilizing a new aerial battleship, which was currently impossible for them.

“Peace with those pointy-eared bastards? Does that even make sense?”

“It’s not the time to waste our strength on them. We need to reclaim our ancestors’ reports first!”

Though unknown to other races, the dwarves were not in a position to wage war with another nation.

The monsters, which kept appearing no matter how many they killed, had occupied the area around the ancient treasure vault where their ancestors’ weapons were stored.

The vault’s entrance was tightly sealed, so the relics inside were still intact, but if they wasted more time and the entrance was destroyed…

“They’re just monsters, but… they have intelligence. They’ve destroyed self-destruct devices with dark magic and even captured and modified our weapons. If our ancestors’ relics fall into their hands, what then?”

“…It would be a disaster.”

That was the fundamental reason the dwarves agreed to the ceasefire with the fairies.

If they continued the war with the fairies, they risked being backstabbed by the monsters, who could bring out aerial battleships, Colossi, and even more weapons.

“Maybe we should ask the humans for help…”

“Do they have the strength to help us now? No way. You’ve heard the rumors, haven’t you?”

The head of the Black Hammer clan, one of the great families, shook his head.

“The imperial capital, Exra-shapel, has been half-destroyed.”

The council member who had been loudly opposing the negotiations fell silent.