## Chapter 1166 – Confrontation
The library, which I hadn’t visited in ages, hadn’t changed a bit.
“Oh my…! It’s you!”
More people recognized me than I expected, but since it was a library, there wasn’t much I could do in terms of fan service.
I quietly raised a finger to my lips, and they all nodded with smiles.
This is truly the life of a celebrity.
With that feeling, I climbed the library stairs.
“Shit.”
Honestly, coming here isn’t exactly pleasant.
Didn’t I see that Archmage here last time? It wasn’t a great encounter, nor a beautiful one. There’s no need to be associated with someone like that, so I’d been avoiding this place.
But more than that, I just haven’t had a reason to come lately.
Anyway.
I looked for books about dwarves. Finding them wasn’t too difficult since everything was well-organized. I picked out a few that seemed relevant and sat down at a table on the first floor.
I chose about six books.
The titles all had something to do with dwarves.
Good.
Now, shall I gather some information about these dwarven bastards? With this many books stacked up, I should be able to figure something out.
With that in mind, I opened a book.
“Dwarves are located in the far west.”
Starting with information I already know.
I quickly flipped the page, absorbing the content.
Apparently, dwarves settled in the west after the races began reconstruction following the end of the Idol War. Information about their history before that is unlikely to be found in human libraries.
Anyway, these dwarven bastards living in the west.
They aren’t exactly engaged in a full-scale war with humans now, but they used to fight tooth and nail with the human kingdoms in the west.
Wars are inevitable when races are different.
Even humans fight each other, so it’s even worse with different races. It was only peaceful during the reconstruction period before and after the Idol War. Until about a hundred years ago, they were glaring at each other, ready to smash each other’s skulls.
The reason for the fighting wasn’t anything special. There are quite a few rare metal mines in the western region, and that’s why they fought so fiercely.
But it wasn’t like all the human kingdoms were united in attacking, and more importantly, dwarves are generally stronger than humans. Dwarves are fewer in number, but their strength and skill allowed them to hold out against the human forces.
That’s why the dwarven kingdom still exists.
The author of the book expressed concern that if a full-scale war were launched to destroy a race of warriors armed with rare metal weapons, the elves might stab them in the back.
That’s a valid point.
I continued reading the book.
“The name of the god worshiped by dwarves is Karakrak, who is known as the god of fire and iron.”
The god of fire and iron.
Most dwarves believe in this god, and dwarven artisans especially love him. In other words, dwarven artisans are practically priests.
To survive against the overwhelming number of humans, it was essential to produce good weapons in large quantities, so artisans are considered the same as priests… according to the author of the book.
“What the dwarves, who are few in number, could rely on were artisans, training, and high-quality weapons. It was none other than humans who created the stereotype of a strong warrior race with high skills and fiery tempers. The dwarves became even stronger because the lacking kings and lords of the western kingdoms failed to overwhelm them.”
The author seemed to have a lot of grievances against the dwarves.
But skill.
This skill of handling fire and iron.
They say that the god Karakrak took pity on the dwarven race and bestowed upon them the power to handle fire and iron, but in reality, they didn’t gain any fire resistance or anything like that. It’s just something they say among themselves.
Still, they are proud of their skills. And this Karakrak faith is also somewhat prevalent in the western human kingdoms.
It doesn’t seem to be considered a pagan religion.
“Hmm.”
Anyway, those obsessed with fire and iron can’t have a normal mental state. It suddenly occurs to me that fire means arson, and iron means murder with swords. So, fire and iron together? It’s like a crazy killer who sets fire to a building and then stabs the people who are running out with a knife.
—Chills.
Thinking about it made me shiver…!
These dwarven bastards! They were even crazier and more psychotic than I imagined! Like a bunch of cruel serial killers!
That’s right!
From the start, those bastards who are good at handling iron and fire couldn’t be bad at handling the human body! Those who make knives well are bound to be good at making death! What reason is there for those bastards who forge hard steel not to manipulate the transience of life!!!
Therefore, these bastards can be said to be bloodthirsty murderers…! Literally a highly skilled arsonist and killer race!
“Also, the dwarves, who are a professional warrior race, worship Gertgeiger, the god of hard bones and justice.”
That’s right! This book also says they are a professional warrior race!
“Gertgeiger is the god worshiped by dwarven warriors.”
Well, well!
A warrior god, huh!
Following fire and iron, even a warrior god?
My interpretation that these bastards are a cruel butcher race is gaining more and more strength.
“Dwarven warriors love to crush and cut the bones of their enemies with their superior weapons. But at the same time, they also love to protect their own bones from enemy attacks with their superior armor. Dwarven heavy infantry are strangely obsessed with bones and have a custom of collecting the bones of their slain enemies. Skulls containing brains are considered the highest-grade trophies.”
I felt like screaming…!
These crazy bastards!
They’re not normal!
“There’s no end to explaining each and every one of these cruel dwarven warrior customs. The most representative is a custom called ‘Maker,’ which is used to execute death row inmates or enemy prisoners.”
Maker… Maker, huh.
So, they are the ones who make death?
The name itself is ominous. I turned the page, trying to guess what bizarre method this killer race uses to kill people.
“To summarize the method, they use the person being executed to make ‘furniture.’ Whether it’s a chair or a table. Dwarves, who are warriors but also possess the soul of an artisan, willingly use fire and iron tools to create their own works.”
“Fur…!”
Furniture!
“Rumor has it that some dwarven villages hold contests using these works. It is said that something so terrible and shocking happens that it is impossible to even imagine.”
“Terrible…!”
Shock! There was nothing but shock! Dwarves are not normal! It’s not good to have prejudices based on just these scraps of books, but I can’t help it! Dwarves are not normal!
I took a moment to calm my shocked mind and opened another book.
I won’t be able to sleep alone tonight.
The content of the book was so scary that I think I’ll have to sleep with my mom.
I’ll sleep with Claudia and Risha on either side of me.
“Screw it.”
In that way, I perfectly organized the information about dwarves.
These skilled and strong dwarven bastards were a race specialized in serial killings, comparable to elves. Especially the execution method called Maker. Seeing that there are quite a few records of them doing such things to demoralize humans during wars with human kingdoms, it’s impossible to have a good relationship with them.
But strangely enough, they don’t seem to be engaged in a full-scale war now. They even have some exchanges, and there are dwarves living in human lands, so that says it all. There seem to be some cases of the opposite as well.
Of course, there are local disputes, but that’s the case everywhere in the world, so it’s not that special.
More than anything, there are human looters and local lords who are after rare metal mines, but other than that, there doesn’t seem to be much friction.
“Okay.”
The information is perfectly organized.
But what’s strange is that other races like elves and dwarves have higher average physical specs than humans. The average specs of dwarves are also considerable. They are said to be surprisingly strong for their small stature.
Anyway, I know that they are a warrior race, but how the hell am I supposed to visit the kingdom of these bastards?
If I go digging around in dwarven lands looking for the fragment of God, they won’t look kindly on it. Dwarves don’t exactly believe in the Verde God, so the title of Paladin isn’t very useful either.
* * *
“So, you’re saying that dwarves are a race of murderers?”
“Yeah. They’re really terrifying. I was tearing my hair out and crying while reading about them. I even made a puddle of tears on the library floor.”
After returning home, I told them that I had been reading about dwarves in the library and explained what they were like.
“You’re really exaggerating again.”
“What do you mean exaggerating? It’s true. Do you want me to show you? I’m not lying, I was so scared that I cried a lot.”
I was a man who had never imagined that dwarves would be such a terrifying race. It’s only natural that I was shocked.
“Ugh, you bastard. Don’t exaggerate so much.”
Even so, Karin just scoffed as if she couldn’t believe me.
If you keep not accepting my jokes, you’ll have to pay the price with your pussy at night… I won’t let you go even if you cry and beg me to stop.
“You blackie, you’re really exaggerating.”
“I’m telling you, I’m not exaggerating. Those bastards were a completely crazy professional serial killer race.”
Following Karin, even Winia didn’t seem to believe me.
You too, Winia.
I might just hold you tight so you can’t move and pound you for two hours straight.
“Be quiet. Blackie, you were saying that elves were some kind of professional serial killer race, but you ended up going there just fine. Karin Unnie, you should filter out what Blackie says when he says things like ‘murderer.’ He has a habit of strangely exaggerating things.”
“I know. I’ve seen it once or twice.”
Damn it.
“Um… Father seems to like words like ‘professional’ and ‘serial killing.'”
“Ari, even you…!”
“But it’s true. There’s no way a race like dwarves is a proper race.”
“You know it well!!!”
“Yes. They only see plants as firewood… so I don’t think they’re normal.”
“They say that they’re a race that can’t live without burning something. They’re natural arsonists.”
I can’t be friends with Alaune.
“Anyway. I’m a little late in saying this, but the World Tree appeared in my dream today.”
“What?”
“It seems like it was because of the crystal ball.”
Everyone was convinced by that.
I say everyone, but Hilde, Claudia, and Risha weren’t here.
“Well, the World Tree didn’t tell me anything specific, but it seems like I’ll have to go to the dwarven kingdom soon. If I go there, I’ll be able to find out about the fragment of God.”
Then we have to go.
“The fragment of God… that was it, right? That power.”
“This?”
At Liztina’s words, I immediately reached out my hand.
—Fwoosh.
I created a pure white flame with the slightly recovered power of God.
—Tsupat.
I extinguished the faintly burning flame again.
“Yes. That’s it. You can say that it’s a completely different energy from mana. It’s also different from divine power… If you collect the fragments of God, you can strengthen that, right?”
“That’s what I know for now. It certainly seems like this power originated from there.”
Until now, I couldn’t release this divine power externally. I could only consume it within my body and use it to do things like the Heavenly Demon Descent.
But after drinking the sap, I greatly increased the amount and was able to release it externally like this. And through a brief experiment, I also learned that it has tremendous power.
More than anything, this was a completely different power from mana and divine power. It’s Kim Kat’s divine power that only Kim Kat can possess and wield. Truly the power of the Heavenly Demon.
Whatever it is, if I increase this destructive power, I’ll definitely…
—Become super strong.
“Hehe, that’s great. Then shall we go look for it? If we develop that, we can definitely become super. No. We can become incredibly strong.”
“Yeah!”
That’s exactly it.
“Hmm. Well. If you can use it properly, I don’t think even I can beat you. Anyway. If there’s a chance, we should go quickly. It would be nice if there was something else as well, but right now, the most important thing is to raise our husband.”
“Karin Noona.”
Let’s start preparing to leave.
“But Noona. Do you happen to know how to cross the border?”
“The border?”
