Chapter 708

After recognizing Costa Gold* Ironbeard, Ren saw a few more acquaintances.

Both Zoltan and Blestein were on the list. In the crowd, he also found Master Grunus who had met once.

This rune blacksmith is the caster of the "Thunder Hammer" in his hand. Since he got the Thunder Hammer at Mrs. Xia Lanwei's trade fair four years ago, he has never seen Grunus again. lava castle.

Grunus is not only a master-level rune blacksmith, but also a legendary middle-level Wildhammer warrior. His seat is near the front, and he obviously has a high status in Lava Castle.

When he saw Ren, his eyes lit up slightly.

Ren nodded slightly to Grunus, followed Magna through the aisle among the dwarves, stepped up the steps step by step, and boarded the throne platform at the foot of the statue of the patron saint of the dwarves "Mahal".

In the past, there was only one throne on the platform that belonged to King Magna.

Today there are three large rock-carved thrones side by side, the middle one is larger, and Thorgrim and Dann are already sitting on smaller thrones on both sides. There is also a tall stone chair next to Dan, which is Ren's position.

Magna stepped onto the throne, turned and sat down.

"I have seen His Majesty."

The dwarves saluted the three kings on the platform, all bowing and shouting. After Magna responded, the dwarves sat down one after another.

"You sons of the mountains, may Mahal be with you."

Magna spoke loudly, and the majestic and loud voice echoed in the palace, so that every dwarf could hear it very clearly. He raised his hand to signal Ren to stand up, and said, "Many of you already know, this Lord Wren Augustus, Earl of Glamorgan of the Orienth Empire."

The eyes of the dwarves focused on Ren again. Some were surprised, some were curious, some were puzzled, and some dwarves who had heard of Ren's name opened their eyes wide.

Ren simply saluted and responded without speaking.

Magna continued: "Your Excellency came to Lava Castle at my invitation this time. There is an important matter to discuss. This matter is related to the three kingdoms of Lava Castle, the highest mountain and Dufeng, and even the mountains of the world. The future of all dwarves."

There was a little commotion among the dwarves, and there was a murmur in the palace.

It has been two days since Ren arrived at Lava Castle, and the three kings also gathered in Lava Castle, but only a few upper-level dwarves knew the inside story.

"Your Excellency the Earl will build a new city on Shield Island in the New World." Magna said loudly: "This project is jointly undertaken by the mason guilds of the three kingdoms, and our cooperation with Your Excellency the Earl will go one step further. After the city is established, a dwarf area will be set up in the city to accept the people of the mountains. A dwarf army will also be stationed in the city forever."

In the middle of King Magna's speech, many dwarves could not sit still.

Whispers turned into loud uproars.

"Mahal Asylum!"

"Earth!"

"Are we finally on the road to restoring the glory of our ancestors?" The dwarves shouted excitedly, and the solemn palace turned into a vegetable market in an instant. Together, there were tears in the eyes.

Ren on the stage suddenly looked like the most precious gem in the world in the eyes of the dwarves. The dwarves looked at him with shining eyes.

If it weren't for the presence of the three kings, some dwarves would have rushed up to talk to Ren.

"quiet!"

"quiet!"

Magna yelled several times, finally calming down the excited dwarves. No one spoke, but the palace was still full of warm atmosphere.

"My two majesties and I have already negotiated the terms of cooperation with the Earl." King Magna did not say the details of the contract, but after a brief introduction, he said: "In the next half month, the three kingdoms will recruit five thousand artisans and five thousand dwarven warriors."

"People of the mountains, the opportunity to restore the glory of the ancestors has come!"

Magna's highly provocative mobilization made the dwarves below respond enthusiastically, and dozens of legendary dwarves immediately recommended themselves to the king, willing to join the legion.

Some people shouted to Rennes loudly to show their strength.

The reaction of the dwarves reassured all three kings.

Obviously, everyone in the kingdom understands the current difficult situation. The naturally brave dwarves are stuck in the underground fortress, with nowhere to display their strength, and they have long been unable to hold back. Therefore, the plan to open up a new continent has received overwhelming support.

Ren observed the dwarves with the eyes of the soul, and almost all the dwarves were very happy.

Those powerful kings of the hill also fully supported, with only one exception, that is Costa Gold Ironbeard. The king of the hill had mixed emotions, and he wasn't completely against it, but he thought more about it, and seemed to be worried about something.

"He should have guessed Thorgreen's intention." Ren thought to himself.

This is not difficult to guess. Kerstakin will definitely not obey Thorgreen's arrangement, and may be ready.

Magna nodded to the side, and two dwarf guards brought a stone table up and placed it in front of the throne.

Blestein held a scroll of dragon skin in both hands, stepped forward and placed it on the table.

Spread out the scroll, on which the terms of cooperation were written in Dwarven and Orion languages. The red ink is made of dragon's blood. It is not afraid of fire and blisters, and can be preserved for thousands of years. Blestein said loudly: "Your Majesty, Your Excellency the Earl, the contract is ready."

Magna got up, and the other two kings came down.

The three dwarf kings stood at the table, chanted the honorable name of the dwarf patron saint "Mahal" loudly, and swore in the name of the gods. The eyes of the gods shone with light, and the vast divine power enveloped the palace, allowing the audience to sign The dwarves of the ceremony were awed and delighted.

This means that this cooperation has the support of Mahal.

Under the watchful eyes of the gods, the kings solemnly signed their names, and then Qiqi looked at Ren, and Magna said seriously:

"Your Excellency, please."

Ren stepped forward, read the contents of the dragon skin scroll for the last time, and signed his full name after confirming that there was no problem.

The moment he finished signing his name, he felt his eyes move away from the distant void.

Mahal, the Guardian of the Dwarves, is a very ancient deity, one of the most powerful of the gods of Arrenus. In the myths and legends of the dwarves, Mahal is the consort of the mother goddess of the earth, who co-created the dwarves, and the other dwarf gods are the offspring of the two gods.

Because of this relationship, the Mother Earth has many dwarf followers, second only to Mahal in number.

However, several dwarven gods fell in the last era, including Moradin, the god of blacksmithing and crafting. Today, the vast majority of dwarves only believe in three gods, Mahal, the Mother Earth, and Grimnir, the dwarven warrior god.

After the signing ceremony was completed, the dwarves cheered loudly, and the applause was like a wave that did not subside for a long time.

Magna put away the contract scroll, put it in a strong magic alloy box, and sent it to the treasure house of Lava Castle for storage.

Thorgrim pressed his hands, and the dwarves quickly fell silent.

"Now announce a few important things." The prestige of the King of the High Mountain is obviously higher than that of Magna, and the dwarves listened carefully, "The dwarf army headed to the New World will stay in Gotham City for a long time, which is the city of the Earl , obey the earl's order, and must be loyal to him."

The expressions of some dwarves changed, and they couldn't help whispering.

"Sworn allegiance to a human?"

"He is not a citizen of the mountains, how can he be entitled to our allegiance? Only a king can command a dwarf."

The whispered discussion reached Ren's ears.

He immediately noticed that the enthusiasm of some dwarves had subsided a lot, and they were obviously resistant to allegiance to him, and even very disgusted. However, most of the dwarves don't really care about it. As long as they can leave the world mountains and join the battle to prove their strength and courage, it doesn't make any difference whether their allegiance is to the dwarf king or to humans.

Thorgreen seemed to have expected this situation, he ignored the hesitation of a few dwarves, and continued: "This dwarf army comes from the three kingdoms, so we named it 'Three Hammers'."

"The Legion of the Three Hammers will be led by a King of the Hill."

"This king of the hill shoulders the important task of guarding Gotham and the residents of the city. In the future, he will be the leader of the dwarves who set foot on the New World again. Such a crucial position, after discussing with the two majesties, I decided appointment……"

Thorgreen paused at this point, looking at the several hill kings below.

Today, in addition to the three kings, there are four kings of the hill. They were full of expectations when they heard Thor Green's words, but after hearing what happened, the kings of the hill seemed to realize something, and their faces changed.

Kerstakin's gaze instantly became sharp, and lightning flashed in his eyes.

"We have decided to appoint Costakin Ironbeard as the head of the Legion of Three Hammers." Thorgreen announced loudly: "Kerstakin will lead the Legion of Three Hammers to the New World and obey the earl's orders."

Immediately, all the dwarves' eyes fell on Kerstakin, and the palace, which was still noisy, suddenly became silent.

Even the dullest dwarf understood Thorgrim's intentions.

Two years ago, Kerstakin was promoted to King of the Hill, changed his surname to Ironbeard, and announced that he would revive the glory of the Ironbeard clan, causing a sensation in the five dwarf kingdoms.

The dwarves worship their ancestors and heroes. Even though the Ironbeard clan has been silent for thousands of years and is on the verge of extinction, the clan's fame and deeds are still passed down from generation to generation among the dwarves.

Kerstagin holds the Ironbeard Clan's Book of Hate, confirming that Ironbeard's blood is flowing in his body.

He is like a banner, attracting many dwarves who also have the blood of the Ironbeard clan to join. Although there are only more than a thousand people at present, they have formed a considerable momentum. In the past two years, the reappearance of the Ironbeard clan was the most eye-catching thing in the dwarf kingdom.

Some wise dwarves had expected that His Majesty Thorgrim would never let him go.

Now, at last, he bared his fangs on Kerstagin.

Under people's gaze, Kerstakin stood up slowly, and said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, I refuse to be the commander of the Three Hammers Legion. Your Majesty, please find someone else."

Thorgreen looked at him coldly, "Are you going to disobey the king's order?"

Costakin looked directly at Thorgreen, did not speak, but clearly expressed his meaning, that is, to disobey orders.

"snort."

Thorgreen looked displeased.

He said lightly: "The Three Hammers Legion shoulders the important task of restoring the glory of their ancestors, and will be equipped with the best weapons and armor of the dwarves. Therefore, a rune lord and a group of rune blacksmiths are needed to accompany them to maintain and repair the legion's equipment. Are you The only rune lord among the kings of the hill, for the sake of the overall situation of the dwarves, you must assume the position of leader."

Some dwarves nodded slightly, thinking that this made sense.

Indeed, there is no dwarf more suitable to be the leader of the regiment than Kerstakin. Some dwarves even thought that His Majesty Thorgrim might not be out of selfishness.

However, Kerstakin remained unmoved and simply did not respond.

"What?" Thorgrim raised his voice a little, and a huge thunderbolt erupted, suffocating the dwarves sitting in the front row, and reprimanded loudly like a violent storm: "Kerstakin, for To restore the glory of the ancestors, how many dwarves are willing to sacrifice their lives, this is an opportunity that the clansmen dream of, but you want to refuse?"

Kerstakin finally responded: "I have important things to do, and I don't want to leave Mount High."

"Is there anything more important than the future of the dwarves?" Thorgreen asked sharply.

Costakin opened his mouth.

Thorgreen's breath suddenly subsided, he stared at Kerstakin closely, and said, "This is the king's order. Don't tell me I'm not your king in your eyes?"

His voice was not loud, but it sounded like thunder to the dwarves' ears, and they held hands nervously.

Kerstakin was shocked.

"Your Majesty is naturally the king of the highest mountain. I have no doubts about this." After a few seconds, he answered with difficulty.

Thorgrim snorted, "Since I am your king, why do you disobey?"

"I……"

Kerstakin looked at the three kings on the stage, looked around, and found that all the dwarves were paying attention to him, which made him feel great pressure.

He knew that if he agreed, he might never come back after going to the New World.

The New World is more than a hundred times more dangerous than the mountains of the world. Perhaps before Thorgreen died, he would have been killed.

The great wish of revitalizing the Ironbeard clan has also become a fantasy.

Kerstakin was very anxious, but could find no reason for his refusal. If he disobeyed the king's orders in public, Thorgrim would be able to punish himself openly, and then charge himself with the crime of selfishness and disregard of the overall situation of the dwarves, then his reputation would be completely ruined.

In anger and unwillingness, Kerstakin saw Ren on the stage.

A flash of inspiration flashed in his mind, and he immediately said loudly: "Your Majesty, I don't want to disobey orders, but I also don't want to serve the weak. This is the right that Grimnir gave me."

With a clatter, the dwarves looked at Ren.

The faces of Magna and Dan also changed. Kerstakin's meaning was very clear. He is a follower of Grimnir, the god of dwarf warriors. One of the dogmas of this god is not to bow to the weak. Nor is it allowed to serve the weak.

The so-called weak are naturally based on the believer's own strength.

Those who are weaker than themselves are weak.

The strong are respected, and the dwarves also believe in this principle, and not being loyal to the weak is another interpretation of this principle.

The vast majority of dwarf kings are the king of the hill, which is also a manifestation of the respect of the strong.

In dwarven society, the doctrine of not being loyal to the weak has not been strictly practiced. There are still a few superiors who are weaker than their subordinates, and not all dwarves believe in Grimnir. Therefore, when it was mentioned that the Three Hammers were loyal to Rennes, the dwarves did not think of this, and Rennes was a legendary high-level, stronger than almost all dwarves, which did not violate the doctrine.

However, there is a problem with the king of the hill.

The King of the Hill is a powerful man of the holy rank, and his strength is obviously much stronger than that of Rennes. Kerstagin refused to appoint him for this reason, and Thorgreen had nothing to say.

The expression on Ren's face, which became the focus, did not change at all, as if it had nothing to do with him.

Thorgreen was stunned.

He looked at Kerstakin, then at the calm Ren, his expression quickly returned to indifference, his snow-white beard shook, he sneered, and said, "Kerstakin, do you think your strength is stronger than Your Excellency the Earl? In my opinion, you are the weak one."

"I don't believe it." Costakin dismissed, "Unless he beats me."

Before Thorgreen could speak, Ren already knew what he was going to say, shook his head and said, "I refuse."