After defeating the enemies in the room, Unas finally reached level 40. He quickly opened his character panel, and sure enough, the new talent tree appeared—the most important talent for a Protection Paladin:
Ardent Defender - Blocks an attack that could kill you and restores your health to 50%. Cooldown: 24 hours.
In the game, Protection Paladins were once known as "Spring Paladins" because of this talent, which allows them to "resurrect with full health on the spot." Although Ardent Defender only restores half health, it can prevent death once. This single talent made Paladins the undisputed strongest tank in that version.
Unas chose it without hesitation, and the new skill activated the "Fire Resistance Aura"—making all teammates within a 100-meter radius immune to 10% of fire damage.
After learning most of the offensive skills in the punishment tree, he returned to the defense tree, which is a pretty good group support skill, and it's perfect for dealing with Fire Dwarves now.
Entering the next room, it was indeed different. A diamond-shaped Magic Circle was drawn on the ground, and more than thirty Dwarves lay scattered around it, all dressed as servants from the palace.
They woke up a few people and questioned them, but they all claimed to know nothing. It seemed that the person in charge of the Magic Circle had fled in panic when they saw that they were about to attack, and did not even have time to take these unsuspecting victims with them.
Although Unas knew nothing about Magic Circles, and neither of the two mages were with him— Angela was with Erigor's group, and Huoye was with Darian —he could guess from the situation that this was the Magic Circle for transforming Fire Dwarves.
Regardless of whether it's useful or not, let your men copy down the Magic Circle first. Unas continues the pursuit; the person in charge of the Magic Circle can't have gone far, and we should be able to get useful information from them.
Sure enough, they hadn't gone far when they found the corpse of a Dwarf dressed in a robe in a corridor. His lower legs were bent unnaturally, clearly broken, and a short blade was stuck in his chest. They checked his neck; there was no breath, but the slight spasms and body temperature indicated that he had just died.
Unas quickly beckoned the Priest behind him to come forward. Natasha examined the body, shook her head slightly, and said, "He's dead. I can't bring him back. It seems he committed suicide after fracturing his lower leg; he didn't want to die in our hands."
While Unas could be saved, resurrecting an enemy from whom it was uncertain how much intelligence could be obtained would be a huge waste, and he did not intend to do so.
It's best to keep the Resurrection, which can only be used once a day, on hand, so that you can be saved if something happens to a close friend in your team.
"The spirit of a recently deceased person may not have completely dissipated. Could you... obtain some information he might know?"
Natasha nodded. "Let's find a space where I can cast spells alone. I'll give it a try."
Unas picked up the Dwarf's corpse and continued onward, finding a small bathroom in a place that resembled a guest room, allowing the shadow priest to cast spells in peace.
Natasha came out quickly. "It was a blur. His most vivid memory was of a final plan: Thaurissan seemed to want to transform all the Dwarves into Fire Elementals, not just the low-level transformation of his servants, but an evolution towards a higher level of life."
"This might just be a scam by Thaurissan to trick them into working for him. Have they found any news about the slave owners...?"
The slight tremor beneath his feet silenced Unas. He gestured for everyone to be quiet and listened intently. There seemed to be some kind of roar coming from underground, and at the same time, a strange noise came from the bathroom.
They rushed inside to check, only to find the Dwarf mage's corpse spontaneously combusting. The shadow priest behind him was about to cast a spell to extinguish the fire Unas raised his hand to stop him, "Wait, let's see what happens first."
Flames engulfed the corpse, Dwarf's skin began to crack in patches; it wasn't ordinary burns, but rather a transformation into the form of Fire Dwarf.
The two witnessed a Fire Elemental transformation ritual in progress, but strangely, there were no Magic Circles present, and how could a corpse transform itself?
"My lord!" a soldier shouted as he burst in, glancing in surprise at the burning corpse. "My lord, all the Dwarf servants we rescued suddenly burst into flames, just like this guy!"
"Kill them all immediately!" Unas whirled around. "Don't let them complete the transformation!"
Unexpectedly, both the living and the dead began to transform on their own. What on earth happened?
Deep within the king's Bedchamber, in a vast underground hall, Thaurissan was experiencing his new body—completely composed of fire and obsidian, without any trace of flesh or blood, and several times larger than before, practically a giant Dwarf.
When Rendaen breached the Council Hall, Thaurissan finally fulfilled his dream, creating this incarnation of fire.
The price was seven withered corpses surrounding him. They were the kingdom's strongest mages, known as the "Seven Dark Iron Sages." Having sacrificed all their lives, souls, and mana, even if they were resurrected using a transformation Magic Circle, they would only become seven mindless Fire Dwarves.
Their sacrifices were not in vain. They not only provided him with powerful energy and life support, but also summoned the avatar of the Firelord to personally preside over the ceremony for Thaurissan, making his "evolution" a success.
The Firelord's clone wouldn't stay here for long either. After the ritual was completed, it disappeared, leaving only the command to counterattack. The newly evolved Thaurissan was overflowing with powerful energy and had nowhere to vent it, so he immediately launched the backup plan he had prepared.
After the Imperial Palace was besieged, he ordered all his men to drink a carefully prepared magical Potions, claiming it was merely an alchemical concoction to boost their energy, and gave it to them to help them defend the city.
In reality, this Potions is a very brutal transformation method. It doesn't require Magic Circle; as long as it's combined with a spell, it can transform the person who drinks Potions into a half-elemental creature. Of course, the side effect is that their lifespan is reduced to only a few hours.
The Potions's power lies in its ability to resurrect the dead for hours. So when Thaurissan used his newly acquired power to cast the spell, all the Dark Iron Dwarves who drank the Potions —the fallen and surrendered Ironrage Army, and the thousands of servants in the palace—began to transform themselves simultaneously.
This is his last gamble; a few hours will be enough to decide the outcome.
A series of clattering footsteps echoed as a steel giant, no less imposing than the man himself, entered the hall, knelt on one knee, and uttered a metallic scraping sound, "Your Majesty, everything is ready."
This is Thaurissan's most trusted subordinate—the puppet commander Argelmach, whose three hundred Iron Golems will be the final, decisive force.
"Very well! Set out and reclaim my kingdom for me, and I will grant you the same divine body as me!"