Fire Dwarves

At the top of the Istaria Great Altar, Lang Pu, holding a scroll, nodded to Keosius and spoke respectfully.

"Your Majesty, the Plane Shift to the Fire Elemental Plane has been completed."

"You will be teleported to the outskirts of the ' City of Pig Iron,' where the Empire's pioneers have established a base— the Embers of the Burned Empire Fire Elemental Plane Office."

Plane Shift is Seventh-Circle Spell that can transport up to eight beings to other planes, with an error range of 5-500 miles from the destination.

The Embers of the Burned Empire did not originally possess this interdimensional teleportation spell, but the "Empire South Continent Company" sent people to trade with the Court Mage of the Thrace Kingdom and obtained the Spell Scroll for only 17,000 Ginar.

Thrace is now engulfed in Gunsmoke and its military budget is extremely tight. Meanwhile, the Embers of the Burned Empire, a nation that has grown wildly in the Magic Wasteland, is severely lacking in high-level magical resources.

The two sides hit it off immediately.

That's the advantage of being rich.

After months of research, Lang Pu and the wizards of the Magic Department have been able to reproduce the spell in its basic form, although the error is somewhat large, reaching as far as a thousand miles.

"Master, your power is so great that I have no doubt that you will return victorious."

"But to save you a lot of trouble and spare you all that effort, I have found you a native guide from the Fire Elemental Plane."

"The Empire's army held off the fire Fire Lizard Raider sent by the Fire Giant to invade their kingdom, and they owe us a favor."

"Gelin Cardozo!"

"You should fulfill your contractual obligations!"

Lang Pu pulled out a magic contract and called out the name.

The contract radiated a fiery glow.

"Lang Pu, the benefactor of the Fire Dwarf."

"Gelin Cardozo, the forger of the City of Pig Iron, has arrived as promised."

Suddenly, a humanoid creature appeared with fiery hair and beard, and skin that shone with a bronze metallic luster.

He was no more than four feet tall, short and stout, wearing a short skirt made of brass, holding a finely crafted iron warhammer, and with Red Bronze bags hanging on his back.

"Fire Dwarf?"

Keosius stared at the creature, which seemed incredibly small to him, and recognized it at a glance.

They are Dwarf- like beings born in the Fire Elemental Plane, usually highly skilled blacksmiths, and their method of reproduction is quite peculiar.

The birth of a Fire Dwarf requires another Fire Dwarf to personally cast its body in bronze, and then the caster to infuse it with the fire of life.

Legend has it that the first Fire Dwarf was created when the Dwarf God accidentally added the fire of life to a bronze statue, thus creating this Dwarf species whose essence is Fire Elemental —therefore, they are also figuratively called "Bronze-Forged Fire Spirit".

Due to their complicated casting process, the Fire Dwarf have a very small population.

The Fire Dwarf named "Gelin Cardozo" had just adapted to the Material Plane when he opened his eyes and saw the enormous Red Dragon coiled atop the altar. He was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground.

"Moradin, by Moradin!"

"No way!"

"This is not an illusion! There are actually dragons like this in the Material Plane! Red Dragon that are even larger than the Ancient Dragon!"

He trembled as he looked up at the Red Dragon dragon's body, muttering to himself.

"Presumptuous!"

Lang Pu angrily rebuked him.

"Are you Fire Dwarf so rude? It's already an immense honor for you to be here!"

"Standing before you is His Your Majesty Keosius Embers of the Burned Emperor supreme ruler of the Anzeta Great Wasteland, the Breaker of Silver Wings, the Destroyer of Frost Giants, and the Enemy of Abyssal Devils!"

"Fire Dwarf! Is this how you treat your saviors?"

Lang Pu's voice, like thunderclaps, echoed across the altar, jolting Green from his panic and shock.

He simply hadn't expected it.

This empire, located on the Prime Material Plane, had an emperor who was a Red Dragon dragon even larger than the Ancient Dragon!

These Fire Dwarf roam the craters and lava fields, searching for glittering metals and gems. They know little of the outside world and have never heard of the Embers of the Burned Empire, which has only been around for a few years.

But the empire's military strength was real.

Moreover, there was such a ruler.

Thinking of this, the Fire Dwarf quickly turned around, knelt deeply on the ground, first offering respectful greetings, and then repeatedly apologizing.

"Gelin Cardozo greets the great Embers of the Burned Emperor!"

"I'm so sorry, Your Majesty Keosius, I was just... uh..."

Green racked his brains, which were as hard as bronze, trying to figure out how to organize his thoughts, before finally managing to utter a few words.

"I was awestruck by its enormous size."

The Fire Dwarf lay on the ground, like a burning piece of bronze.

"A funny little guy."

Keosius, however, merely watched the strange Fire Elemental creature with interest, exhaling a breath of hot Sulfur Scent air.

These Fire Dwarf are excellent blacksmiths, and in his eyes, they are very valuable, practically walking human treasures.

"These Fire Dwarf created many renowned pieces of equipment in their previous lives; perhaps we can make them serve the empire."

"However, for now, it's best to deal with the Fire Giant's affairs first."

A year ago, he sent Misha and the Empire's vanguard to the Fire Elemental Plane.

His main purpose was to trade with the Fire Giant Kingdom to obtain various rare metals and ores rich in fire energy—as food reserves for his next slumber.

Yes, it's food.

As a dragon species with a bloodline close to its ancestors, Keosius needs to go through multiple periods of slumber from adolescence to young adulthood, consuming an extremely terrifying amount of energy.

Ordinary meat is negligible for the Red Dragon's enormous size and can hardly satisfy its needs.

Thinking this to himself, Keosius casually offered his praise.

"Good."

"Now that everything is ready, let's begin the teleportation."

"Yes, Master."

Lang Pu quickly agreed, then raised his staff, from which the twelve skulls around his neck emitted a faint glow.

"Attention all personnel of the Magic Department, prepare to construct a large-scale Plane Shift model for His Majesty!"

Lang Pu shouted the order.

"Group 1 received!"

"Group 2 received!"

"Group 3 received!"

The spellcasters on each level of the altar raised their staffs in unison, releasing blinding magical light.

The sounds of incantations, the fluctuations of the Weave, and the squeezing of space filled the Istaria Great Altar.

"Whoosh—"

A massive and exceptionally complex spell model gradually took shape, and a portal to Plane Shift, tens of meters high, appeared out of thin air at the very top of the altar.

For a being of Keosius's level, ordinary Plane Shift spells are hardly effective; in other words, "The creature's level exceeds the maximum limit of the spell."

This Plane Shift was led by Archmage Lang Pu, whose intelligence reached 22, and was simultaneously cast by dozens of Imperial Court Mage, whose ranks were approaching the ninth ring.

"Boom--"

The Plane Shift slowly opened.

Even though the portal was unprecedented in size, it was still somewhat narrow compared to Keosius's 36-meter-long frame—but it was at least adequate.

"This is."

"By Moradin, does His Majesty intend to travel to the Fire Elemental Plane in person?"

Green stared in disbelief at the teleportation portal that was tens of meters high.

Immediately afterwards, he felt himself being grabbed and enveloped by a giant claw that fell from the sky, and the surroundings turned pitch black, while his body was completely unable to move.

"Then let's set off, my guide."

The deep, thunderous voice of the Red Dragon came from the "outside world".

"No, no, Your Majesty Keosius!"

"Etc--"

The Fire Dwarf shouted repeatedly.

But the Red Dragon didn't care. He simply tightened his wings slightly, grabbed the Fire Dwarf, and plunged inside.

Due to the demon's curse, he had not been able to unleash his true nature or engage in a thrilling battle for a long time.

It is said that there are many powerful creatures in the Fire Elemental Plane, and he is very interested in seeing them—for example, the Fire Giant in the City of Brass, and the Fire Elemental Lord deep within the plane.