After the old woman left, the Dwarf brothers remained anxious in their Tent until midnight.
Stonebrow suddenly stomped her foot hard, jumped up, and prepared to rush out.
Redbrow grabbed him, "What are you doing?"
"Tell the Warden the truth, or I'll go crazy!"
"No!"
"Let me go!"
The two brothers started pulling at each other, which quickly escalated into a physical fight.
Both of them were seething with anger, and perhaps to vent it, they acted without any restraint.
The fight quickly alerted the night watchmen. Stonebrow struggled and shouted that he wanted to see the Warden, Redbrow couldn't cover his mouth at all.
More and more people were awakened by the commotion. An old woman not far away saw this scene and cursed the fools and traitors in her heart. She immediately slipped away quietly towards the rocks on the outskirts of the camp, but she did not expect that several dark figures were blocking her way.
A quarter of an hour later, the three Dwarves were brought before the Warden.
Before Unas even began the interrogation, Stonebrow told him everything in detail.
It turned out that after the Teleportation Array between Venomspider Gorge and Blackrock Depths was opened, the Bronzebeard Dwarves in the stronghold would occasionally visit Shadowforge City, Redbrow Stonebrow brothers were no exception.
One day they suddenly encountered a mysterious man who claimed that a Bronzebeard Dwarves was in trouble and needed their help.
The two kind-hearted brothers were naturally willing to help, and as they guided her step by step, they gradually learned the identity of the person seeking help: Moira, the princess of Ironforge and Bronzebeard of Thaurissan.
After eliminating Moira's unborn child, Rendaen felt the threat was gone and simply imprisoned her in the palace dungeon, leaving her to fend for herself.
Taking advantage of this oversight, the Dwarves who remained loyal to Thaurissan secretly infiltrated the palace and gradually devised a plan to rescue the queen.
The Stonebrow brothers became the most crucial part of this plan—hiding Moira among the refugees and using the chaos to send her out of Blackrock Depths.
They even received a handwritten letter from the princess pleading for help. The tragic situation described in the letter was so heartbreaking that the two brothers were moved and decided to join the effort to save the princess.
It wasn't just out of sympathy, but also because he wanted the benefits promised by the princess and the wealth and status offered by Bronzebeard King.
Rescuing the princess was such a great achievement that it would at least raise Redbrow's rank as a lord by one level. Stonebrow also wanted to earn a reward to rebuild his caravan.
The two were blinded by greed, and once they got involved, it would be extremely difficult to extricate themselves.
And so things have developed into what they are now.
Stonebrow, with tears streaming down her face, recounted her experience of being deceived. Redbrow lowered her head and remained silent, while the old woman stared intently at the Warden, as if trying to etch his image into her mind.
"I noticed something was off about your behavior during the meeting this morning, so I sent someone to secretly monitor the Dwarf camp just in case. I didn't expect you to actually do it...!"
Natasha angrily denounced that it was her people who stopped Moira from trying to escape.
Unas was furious and a little sad; being betrayed by someone you trusted was a terrible feeling.
He never dreamed that the seemingly honest Dwarf would do such a thing right under his nose.
"Do you know the consequences of doing this?" Unas roared. "I will lose Rendaen's trust! What you've done will all be blamed on me!"
Compared to the rebels, this is the most troublesome thing: if we antagonize Rendaen, many things will become difficult.
The Dwarf trembled under the Warden's wrath, involuntarily recalling a Paladin's nickname: the executioner.
We'll never do it again!
"That's all," Unas called to the guards at the door. "Drag them away and tie them up. I'll deal with them later."
Huoye pleaded, "They have voluntarily confessed their mistakes, sir, their punishment should be reduced."
The others echoed his sentiments, Unas roared, "I haven't decided how to punish them yet, so shut up!"
Everyone immediately fell silent, no one wanting to invite trouble at this moment.
Unas then questioned the old woman, "Princess Moira Thaurissan, do you remember me?"
"I will never forget your face, human! You saved that traitor Rendaen, you knocked me unconscious, and I heard you were the one who sparked the city-wide riots! You are the one who killed my husband!"
Moira tore off the disguise from her head and face, revealing her true appearance—a plump, fair-skinned Dwarf woman, who, of course, was a beauty among beauties in the eyes of the Dwarves.
"There's only one reason a king is overthrown: incompetence. Unfortunately, your husband is not only incompetent, but also an incorrigible idiot. Even without Rendaen, someone else would have dethroned him!"
"You're talking nonsense! I, Thaurissan, am the greatest emperor of the Dark Iron Dwarves! I was simply betrayed by you despicable beasts!"
There was no point in arguing, so Unas stopped refuting and asked directly, "Which rebel groups did you notify?"
"Hmph!" Moira snorted, not bothering to answer at all.
"It seems you'll have to suffer a bit before you'll behave. Guards, bring the whipping!"
You dare!
Unas shrugged. Anyway, the two sides had already formed a deep-seated hatred, so he wasn't afraid of the itch that came with the lice.
Two burly guards rushed in, tied the Dwarf Princess to a pillar, and then lashed her back hard with a long leather whip.
With a "snap," the fabric on her back tore open, revealing a bloody gash the length of a hand.
Moira had never experienced anything like this before. She was born the most noble female Dwarf and had always lived under strict protection. Even when she was imprisoned by Rendaen, no one dared to touch her.
The sudden, excruciating pain caused her eyes to bulge out, and she opened her mouth wide but couldn't make a sound; even her screams were swallowed back down her throat.
The guard raised his hand again, but before he could swing it down, Moira fainted from the pain and shock.
But Unas had no intention of letting her go. The guards brought a bucket of cold water and poured it all over the Dwarf's head. She shivered violently and woke up.
"So, this process can be repeated a hundred times until you have no intact skin left on your entire body, including your 'pretty' face."
Moira trembled, staring venomously at the human Paladin.
The guard raised his whip again, and the Dwarf screamed in despair, "Stop!"
Then, through gritted teeth, she uttered the names of several unfamiliar Dwarves.
Natasha quickly wrote it down and compared it with the intelligence she had gathered about the rebels to estimate the size of the enemy force.
"The three rebel groups together may have a strength exceeding five thousand."
Upon hearing this number, Unas felt a headache coming on and said, "Immediately send someone back to Shadowforge City to inform Rendaen of the situation here and make sure he sends troops to rescue us!"
Moira is here, and as long as Rendaen doesn't want to let her go, she will definitely come. Moreover, this is a good opportunity to wipe out the rebels.
"A futile struggle!" Moira cursed viciously. "You'll be begging for mercy soon, but don't worry, I will never forgive you!"
"Shut up!"
Unas snatched the leather whip from the guard and lashed it out fiercely.
With a snap, another bloody gash appeared on the female Dwarf's shoulder. She screamed in pain, her eyes glazed over, and she showed signs of fainting again.
Unas ignored her and shouted, "All hands on alert! The enemy could attack at any moment!"
Luther and his men immediately sprang into action, and the entire camp began to stir, with sleeping people being woken up and put on alert.
Stepping out of the Tent, the Dwarf brothers were each tied to a log. Unas couldn't kill them immediately, so he could only threaten them, "Do you know what crimes you've committed?"
Redbrow remained silent, while Stonebrow stammered, "Treason... betrayal."
"Good to know. How should treason be punished? I think it's pretty much the same in every country."
"Burning at the stake, hanging... there are many kinds, but it's all basically the death penalty."
"So which one do you want? Out of consideration for our past relationship, I can let you choose for yourselves."
Stonebrow, her face contorted with grief, wailed, "We were truly deceived, Lord Unas! We absolutely did not betray the Argent Dawn!"
"Is that so? But your actions have betrayed me!"
Huoye then advised, "My lord, we are facing a formidable enemy now, and this is the time when we need capable men. Let them atone for their crimes through meritorious service."
Stonebrow quickly replied, "Yes, sir, I can also Charge for you!"
Redbrow, who had been silent for a while, also spoke up, "Rather than die at the hands of the lord, we'd rather fight those Dark Iron bastards. I beg you, sir, to give us a chance to kill them!"
"Hmph!" Unas shrugged it off, "If I didn't agree, it would seem like I'm heartless. Fine, you'll join the Charge as death row inmates..."
"That's wonderful, thank you so much, sir!" Stonebrow cried tears of joy. "I knew you wouldn't..."
"But!" Unas interrupted him forcefully, "You two need to be punished beforehand. Men, shave off their beards and eyebrows!"
"Ah?!" the Dwarf brothers exclaimed in unison, their expressions suggesting a willingness to sacrifice their heads for their hair.
Dwarf consider beards a symbol of their appearance; without a beard, they are like being naked and cannot hold their heads high in front of others.
"What? You don't want to accept it?"
No, no.
Although they kept groaning, they dared not refuse, after all, losing some face was much better than being burned or strangled.
After dealing with the Dwarves, Unas mounted King Kong and led his cavalry towards the outskirts of the camp, his mind filled with doubts: the scouts couldn't all be incompetent; they hadn't found a single trace of the enemy in the past few days, there must be something wrong.
He gazed at the desolate, dark earth and suddenly realized what he had overlooked—the underground.
Dwarves are masters of digging tunnels. If the enemy digs tunnels in advance and hides inside to ambush, the scouts will find nothing at all.
A sense of crisis rushed through me; perhaps we were already surrounded!
Coincidentally, at that very moment, large swathes of torches suddenly lit up from afar, and the flames from all directions quickly merged into one, completely surrounding their camp.
War drums and shouts rang out simultaneously, and the circle of firelight began to tighten, seemingly aiming to devour the human camp in one fell swoop.
Unas didn't have time to return to the camp to organize the defense; he left that to Luther. He raised his sword high, with only one thought in his mind—to fight his way out!