Starlight fell silent and didn't respond. To be honest, he didn't really care about Stark's speculations; what truly worried him was Noah's current state.
If he remained like this, how was it any different from being dead? Master Carlos had already left him; he absolutely could not stand by and watch Noah leave him too.
Stark seemed to sense his mood. He hesitated, adjusted his cracked wind goggles, and let out a soft sigh.
“Starlight, don't worry too much. Once we get back to the lab, I'll make it my top priority to try and repair him. If I can't do it, I'll go beg the elder master smiths of the clan. There's always a way.”
“Yeah... once this blizzard passes, let's head back immediately.”
Starlight nodded, took some food from his storage space, and handed it to Stark. He then went back to staring blankly at Noah.
Neither of them spoke again. The firelight cast their shadows onto the ice wall, where they swayed slowly.
...
Several hours later, the wind and snow outside finally subsided. The first light of dawn pierced through the clouds, scattering fine golden specks across the snow.
Starlight pushed open the exit of the snow hut, which had been buried by the accumulation, and helped Stark walk out.
The young dwarf’s face was still pale, but he could at least manage to walk with effort. Starlight’s own condition wasn't much better; his internal mana had only recovered to a barely usable level.
The two of them trudged through the thick snow. Just as they crested a snow-covered ridge, the crisp sound of bells suddenly drifted from the distance.
“It's the signal from the search and rescue team!” Stark smiled and began waving his arms.
At the edge of the snowfield, several figures were rapidly approaching. Leading them was Xia Duo, who had spotted them first, her emerald cloak exceptionally striking against the white snow.
Close behind her were Po Kong and Moen, as well as the Copperboot Patriarch, whom Starlight had met once before.
“Starlight! Stark! Thank goodness you're alright!”
While they were still hundreds of meters apart, Po Kong’s loud voice boomed from afar.
“Shut up, you idiot!” Xia Duo snapped, kicking him in the shin. “An avalanche just happened yesterday, and you're shouting that loud!”
Po Kong belatedly covered his mouth, but it was too late—his shout had already caused snow to rustle down from the nearby pine trees.
Everyone looked up nervously. Fortunately, most of the snow on the steep slopes had already collapsed the day before, so the shout didn't cause any danger.
Soon, the rescue party reached Starlight and Stark.
Moen didn't say much, only giving Starlight a look that said “I’m glad you’re safe” before focusing on examining the two of them.
During the gaps in his treatment, Starlight finally learned about the current situation in Cinder City.
Because the dome of Cinder City had been reshaped by the Fire God statue, it was temporarily safe from being buried by the mountain. Shortly after the Stone Troll Emperor had snatched the two of them away, Maela and the several controlled patriarchs had returned to normal.
Although they wanted to follow and provide support immediately, before they could reach that vertical shaft, the entire mountain began to shake violently.
Massive amounts of snow and debris poured down from the opening, blocking everyone's path. To protect the safety of Cinder City, the patriarchs, with Maela's cooperation, were forced to collapse the upward passage.
Consequently, the search and rescue team had to divert to other exits leading to the surface. Unfortunately, the nearest exits had been damaged to varying degrees during the initial battle, and with the impact of the avalanche, they were completely unusable.
By the time they finished scrambling and finally found a passage that could still be used normally, several hours had passed.
Furthermore, because the massive avalanche had altered the mountain range's original topography, the search effort had become exceptionally difficult. While dwarves had a powerful sense of direction underground, they weren't as skilled in the wilderness.
Fortunately, the sisters Moen and Xia Duo were there. Moen used her spells to summon many snow ferrets and rock sparrows, using them to conduct a thorough search of the entire mountain range and successfully pinpointing several possible locations. Then, Xia Duo followed the tracks of the small animals to track them down, finally finding the two of them in the snowfield.
“When you left the city, did you see the battle in the sky?” Starlight asked Moen softly while she was treating Stark.
“Hmm? What battle? When we came out, we could still hear some stray thunder in the sky, but there was no one fighting nearby,” Moen said, frowning slightly as she shook her head.
At this point, Po Kong and Xia Duo overheard their conversation and joined in.
“Little Star, where's that Stone Troll Emperor everyone's talking about? I didn't even get a chance to see it. I don't know how strong that guy was, but it's making me itch for a fight~”
“You battle maniac!” Xia Duo delivered a knife-hand strike to the back of Po Kong’s neck, but her fingers went numb from the impact against his solid muscles. She shook her hand and added, “But we really didn't find any signs of battle. However... the elemental flow in the sky was very wrong. It was as if... something had completely overwritten the air in this area.”
“That's strange...” Starlight fell silent, his brow furrowed deeply as his gaze instinctively drifted toward the distant clouds where purple lightning still flickered.
He found it hard to believe that a clash between two Half-God level entities could leave no trace at all.
Take the battle in Dragon Valley some time ago, for instance. Not only was the area around the core of the Dragon Nest destroyed beyond recognition, but even after several days, the energy that had leaked from Desdoraka still hadn't dissipated.
Unless...
A terrifying thought suddenly flashed through his mind. Unless that couldn't even be called a battle.
The Stone Troll Emperor... no, even if the Fire God Ignis was at his weakest, he was still a peak Saint Rank being who had transcended that level. What kind of existence could deal with him in such a short time and erase all traces? And who exactly was this so-called “Judge”?
Faced with the somewhat odd looks from his companions, Starlight didn't say much. There was still too little information, and they needed to consider it carefully. Besides, given the current situation of the dwarves, it wasn't suitable to delve too deeply into this matter.
A short while later, the group successfully returned to Cinder City.
Looking at the scarred main city of the dwarves, Starlight sighed again. “Looking at this, I really am a walking jinx!”
Although the main pillars and the dome supporting the underground space had been repaired, the Great Furnace in the city center wouldn't be so easy to fix.
The overflowing lava had destroyed a large portion of the city center, and combined with the damage from falling rocks, nearly half of the residential buildings in Cinder City were now in ruins.
Even with the assistance of magic and superior craftsmanship, such a loss was undoubtedly a heavy blow to the already struggling dwarves.
Fortunately, in the midst of this crisis, the dwarven army and the patriarchs hadn't suffered any major casualties, which was one of the few pieces of good news.
After returning to the city, the four members of Starry Moon Shadow were immediately received with great ceremony by several patriarchs. Due to their active performance, they had saved many dwarven warriors.
Since the City Hall had also been severely damaged by the lava, the banquet held for them by the dwarves was set at the Iron-Heart main workshop, which was near the Craftsman District.
The Craftsman District was designed for long-term high-temperature work, and most workshops had much better protection than average houses, though the conditions... might be a bit lacking~
However, none of this hindered the dwarves' enthusiasm.
The hall before them was clearly converted from a forging room. A massive rectangular oak plank had been placed directly onto an anvil to serve as the banquet table.
The table was covered with dwarven delicacies: dozens of charcoal-roasted rock sheep legs were sizzling with oil, deep red stews bubbled in specialized stone pots, and mounds of rye bread emitted an inviting aroma of grain.
“A toast to our heroes!” The Silver-Beard Patriarch raised a mug as large as a human head, the amber-colored liquor rippling under the firelight. “Without you, Cinder City's losses would have been at least three times worse!”
The dwarves present echoed in unison, raising their weapons to strike their shields—the traditional way they expressed their respect to Starlight and the others.
Rate on N.U.
