At this point, even the second Overlords of the dwarven Clan couldn't help but sit up in their seats, unable to react for a long time.
Did they hear correctly?
"You honestly don't have much time to decide." Dyon said lightly.
The dwarves couldn't wrap their heads around the brazenness of this young man. He stood alone amidst their strongest elders, only three of his wives and his daughter by his side, yet he was essentially threatening them as though they really weren't worthy very much.
However, they knew that they had the right to act this way. Just the act of wiping out the centaurs alone was enough to shake them to their core. Of course, the dwarves could have done this as well, but there was definitely no single one of them who could have accomplished the feat.
But this was only the first. After seeing Dyon fight side by side with a black dragon and essentially wipe out a coalition army by himself, they realized that this young man was already levels beyond them.
Subconsciously, they had already accepted Dyon's story. In addition, technically, Dyon's wife was their leader, though she had lost what made her the Elvin Queen.
"We don't have much time? What do you mean by that?"
One of the three Overlords of the dwarf clan probed. It sounded like Dyon was threatening them to hurry up so that he didn't get angry, but it somehow felt more important than that.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"Whoever orchestrated the attack in both the southern and eastern regions definitely won't wait much longer before continuing to their second step."
"Really? Even after losing so resoundingly?"
"Your thoughts might be valid if the initial attacks were truly their best effort. But, you were attacked by two of the Overlord Clans while we were attacked by three of them. Yet, between five Overlord Clans and ten three facet Overlords, plus what should have been dozens of two facet Overlords, not only did only two two-facet Overlords appear, but not a single three facet Overlord showed their face.
"You tell me, what does this mean?"
"They're probing us? But what could we possibly have to probe…"
Before he could finish the rest of his thoughts, the dwarven Overlord broke out into a cold sweat. Not just his own gaze, but dozens of dwarven gazes slowly looked to meet Dyon's own.
Obviously they had no ability to cause Overlord Clans to treat them so seriously.
The truth was that as a Clan that was once a Pinnacle Race, they should have ruled over this prison as well alongside the other Overlord Clans. However, they couldn't for one main reason: They hadn't been here long enough!
Overlords were extraordinarily rare on the mortal plane. In fact, if one became an Overlord in comprehension or qi on the mortal plane, they would immediately be forcefully sent to the Immortal Plane. At the same time, becoming one in body or soul was incredibly rare.
Simply put, the legacy of Overlords on the mortal plane was incredibly sparse. And, when one enters this dog eat dog prison, there obviously wouldn't be any Clans kind hearted enough to open up their findings to the masses.
This was all to say that the dwarves had to slowly build up their own legacies, which left them lagging behind the Overlord Clans.
What did all of this mean? It meant that there was no way these Clans were probing them… They were not worthy!
That only left one explanation! Five Overlord Clans were moving with the sole purpose of handling this singular young man of not even 1000 years old!
"If I'm correct, the only Clan within your eastern region that didn't move is an unnamed human Overlord Clan. They're the only ones who wouldn't feel so threatened to the point of needing to react like this. It likely won't be long before the two Clans that did attack come in full force.
"You may be unhappy about me threatening you, but the reality is that I wouldn't have to act to destroy you all at all. I would just fold my arms behind my back and watch."
If Dyon was a different person, he'd likely abandon the dwarves all together. Their usefulness in gathering up Faith for him had already been fulfilled. Over the last few years, his actions had completely shaken the Ancient Battlefield. His Mortal Empire's Faith was easily threefold stronger now. It wouldn't be a problem to match up against the Sapientia any longer.
Though it would be helpful to gain more – after all, there was obviously a massive battle looming in the horizon – whether it was worth splitting his forces to take care of them or not was up in the air.
So, Dyon decided against doing so. If they wanted his protection, they would have to join him in the south. Otherwise, their partnership would end here.
"We agree, but…"
Just as the Overlord was about to speak, Dyon turned his head toward a certain direction.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmAs usual, the dwarven meeting place was in the crude lands bordering the oil-like raging rivers. Dyon's gaze narrowed as he looked over the reddish horizon.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The faint sounds grew louder and louder. It was obscenely loud to the point that deciphering what it was, was nearly impossible. That was… Until the first heads as tall as mountains came into sight.
"But what?" Dyon looked over curiously, shifting back from the horizon.
The dwarven Overlords swallowed hard, not daring to finish their words. Dyon wasn't exaggerating at all when he said they didn't have much time to think.
...
"Can we really leave like this?"
The dwarves were inwardly fighting with themselves. Though the dwarfism of the dwarven race was nothing but a myth, their pride was very much real. Even if they knew they wouldn't be able to do much in such a battle, they still felt that they could do something.
"Don't worry." Dyon said with a smile. "Though I'm not a bad person, I wouldn't particularly consider myself benevolent. Since I'm taking you in, it means that I have a use for you… What do you think of this?"
Dyon suddenly took out a massive golden door. Even though it didn't make a single sound coming out of Dyon's inner world, just silently standing in the ground caused cracks to spread out violently.
The splinters in the hard soil raced across the brown lands, crashing into the shore and causing miniature rivers of water to rush out.
"… Heavy!"