The Endless Mountains.
This was a large mountainous area in the eastern part of the Chaos Forest.
It was also one of the forbidden areas in which the majority of the races dare not approach.
In addition to the treacherous terrain and the vigorous activities of magical beasts in this area, the primary reason was the dwarves who had lived here since ancient times.
Although the appearance of the dwarves might seem stubby.
Their combat prowess was even more incredible than that of an orc.
Ironbeard.
He was one of the sixteen chieftains of the Mountain Clan.
The current patriarch, Stormbeard, who was also the lord of Ironheart City, was his great grandfather.
Becoming one of the chieftains at a young age, as well as his identity as the great grandson of Ironheart city's lord should have earned Ironbeard a high status in the city.
However.
The truth was quite the opposite.
Not only had Ironbeard not returned to the city for two years.
He was a wanted individual in Ironheart City.
Every day he was hunted by his former clansmen and had to lead his tribal brethren to hide like rats.
At this moment.
Ironbeard and a dozen of his loyal followers were being entrapped in a valley by hundreds of dwarves.
Ironbeard's armor had been shattered, the battle ax in his hand had also been chipped and worn out, not to mention he had more than twenty injuries on him. He was already at the end of his rope.
The leader of the pursuing dwarves questioned him in a loud voice.
"Ironbeard!"
"You were a son of the mountains!"
"The descendant of the great patriarch, Stormbeard!"
"Why did you betray your clan? Your people? Why did you become a disgraced deserter?!"
Ironbeard furiously retorted, "The true betrayer is Stormbeard! He forced our people to drink the blood of a false god, leading the tribe down a path of no return!"
The dwarven leader angrily shouted, "The strength and prosperity of Ironheart City come from the blessings of the Underground God. Daring to blaspheme against the great Underground God is a capital crime!"
The other corrupted dwarves joined in, shouting.
"That's right!"
"Where is ur traitor brethren's hideout?"
"Tell us now, and perhaps your sins can be alleviated!"
"Dream on!" Ironbeard, defiant to the end, said, "My tribal brethren are safe and sound! You will never find out where they are!"
"Damn it!"
"Kill him!"
"Death to all traitors!"
The two groups of dwarves immediately clashed.
Ironbeard was one of the sixteen dwarven chieftains for a reason - he was incredibly powerful.
But he was also very weakened at this moment.
After a dozen rounds.
Ironbeard managed to cut down tens of enemies in a row.
But he was then cleaved down by the ax of the dwarven pursuers' leader.
He sneered at the dying Ironbeard, "This is the consequence of refusing the blessing of the Underworld God. If you had the power of the Underworld God like me, I wouldn't have stood a chance against you as a chieftain."
"Chieftain!"
Ironbeard's subordinates became desperate.
"Hmph! Do it then! If I ever blink before the face of death, then I'm a coward!"
Ironbeard gritted his teeth and roared out stubbornly, "Even if I die, I won't become a puppet of a false god!"
"Then I'll execute you on behalf of Ironheart City!!"
The dwarven leader raised his ax.
Ready to give the unrepentant dwarf chieftain a final blow.
But at that moment, a bolt of lightning descended from the sky and struck the dwarf's head, instantly blowing it into smithereens.
"What is the meaning of this?"
Ironbeard had indeed not blinked.
He witnessed the scene with an incredulous expression.
It was not just the dwarven leader, but all of the pursuing dwarves had their heads exploded by the lightning bolts.
And yet none of the Ironbeard's subordinates died.
Ironbeard was in disbelief and was somewhat bewildered.
These dwarven pursuers were not weak, so what kind of terrifying power slaughtered them all within a blink of an eye?
What was even more appalling was that this power could identify and strike its targets accurately.
Allowing Ironbeard and his subordinates to survive unscathed.
Such precise judgment and control, very few people in the Chaos Forest could achieve it.
"May I ask which benevolent one came to my rescue?"
Ironbeard was grateful and could not help but feel a sense of awe.
The strength of this mighty savior might even rival Stormbeard.
Just then.
Three figures appeared before him.
The Demon King emerged with his two elven subordinates.
One of whom was a tall, golden haired elven lady, who then exclaimed, "Survivors? Let me take care of them for His Majesty!"
As she spoke.
She raised her bow.
Ironbeard recognized her and was astonished.
This elf was Marilyn, the chieftain of Silver Spring Tribe.
She was a powerful figure capable of contending with Stormbeard.
Why would she appear in this place? And her bow was already aimed at him?
Not to mention his current state of being severely wounded.
Even in his prime, Ironbeard would not be able to last ten rounds against this powerful elven chieftain.
"Stop!" The young Elven King stepped forth to stop her. "These dwarves are different. I didn't sense any daemonic power from them."
Having that said.
She came closer to Ironbeard and casted a healing spell.
Ironbeard could feel all the wounds on his body rapidly healing, and the injuries he had sustained over a dozen of days had greatly recovered in the blink of an eye.
The young elf's healing magic.
It was unbelievable how potent it could be!
Her strength was probably not inferior to that of the Silver Spring tribe chieftain.
However.
Two such powerful elves.
They appeared by the draconian's side as followers and had addressed this draconian as "Your Majesty." How terrifying of an individual was this draconian?
Harnessing lighting bolts to massacre the dwarven pursuers in seconds.
It was probably the handiwork of this draconian.
"I didn't think there were actually normal dwarves."
The Demon King calmly asked, "How many untainted dwarves like you are left in the Endless Mountains?"
Upon hearing this question.
Ironbeard perked up with vigilance.
"Ironbeard, you don't need to worry or conceal anything, because as long as it's something I desire to know, there's no one who can hide it from me."
Being called out by his name.
It was shocking to Ironbeard.
This draconian was really unfathomable.
He hesitated slightly and answered, "Out of the sixteen mountain tribes, only two or three tribes have consistently refused to drink the blood of the false god."
"These dwarves have been constantly persecuted in recent years and can now only live their lives hiding in the mountains. I'm not sure how many are left."
The dwarves remained wary.
But for the Demon King, this piece of information was enough.
"So do you want to save your people?"
Ironbeard was stunned for a moment, "Of course, as long as I can save the dwarves, my people, I'm willing to pay any price!"
"Good, I'll give you a chance. As long as you're willing to serve and follow me, I'll help you eliminate the Underground God. Once the underground god is killed, all the dwarves who were daemonized will be eradicated!"
Hearing this, Ironbeard couldn't help but be dumbfounded, "You want to challenge the Underground God? That's impossible to achieve! We've had people try before, but no matter how many people went, they all end up failing."
Nancilia spoke up at this point, "Hmph, you don't have an understanding of His Majesty. His Majesty can even square up with Evil Gods, let alone a daemon disguised as a deity?"
"That's right!"
"We're not afraid to let you know."
"Your great patriarch, Stormbeard, is already dead!"
"His Majesty decimated him with just one finger!"
Marilyn continued, "The elves of our Silver Spring tribe have already followed the Demon King. Now, in the entirety of the Chaos Forest, only His Majesty has the capability to save the dwarves!"
What?
Stormbeard died?
This crazy old dwarf.
He was the city lord of Ironheart City for nearly a hundred years.
He actually died like this?
Died at the hands of a Demon King!
Ironbeard decisively declared, "Very well, as long as we can eliminate the Underground God, as long as we can take back Ironheart City, we are willing to pay the price of submission and loyalty for generations!"
At this point.
Was there any other choice?
The dwarves of the Mountain clan were facing a crisis.
This Dragon Demon King with unfathomable strength, and these two elven powerhouses, might be the only hope to save the Mountain clan.
Otherwise.
Under the crazy pursuit of the corrupted dwarves.
Their remaining untainted sparks would be extinguished.
Zhang Nu was very satisfied with this result. He initially thought that the whole Ironheart City would have to be purged, but now it seemed that some could still be left alive.
This was great news.
The dwarves were not only impressive warriors.
They were also prominent for their incredible forging and smithing skills.
Owning a fine weapon forged by dwarves was the dream of countless warriors.
If the Demon King could recruit a group of dwarves, even if it was only three or five thousand in number, the value creation would definitely exceed expectations!
Most importantly.
This would not delay any of his plans.
Even without Ironbeard and these dwarves.
Zhang Nu was still going to deal with the Underground God."
Having Ironbeard joining in the operation would be beneficial.
Zhang Nu soon arrived in front of Ironheart City.
Ironheart City could not be seen from the outside. This city was located in the center of the Endless Mountains, and the entire city was built atop of a large mine leading into the underground.
It could be said.
That this was a city within the mountain.
It was also an underground city.
When Zhang Nu was standing before the towering mountains in front of him, he was immediately shown the hidden information prompt.
[Ironheart City] Level 5 overlord area.
Description: This is a forest city established by the 16 major dwarven tribes in the mountains. It is hidden under the Endless Mountains and only dwarves can find a way to enter... However, this dwarf city with a history of thousands of years is now shrouded in an unprecedented crisis. A terrifying monster from ancient times has taken control of it, and almost the entire dwarf race is under its control.
Seeing this, the Demon King was a little surprised.
Because the strongest warrior, the patriarch and the lord of Ironheart City, Stormbeard, only had the strength of a Level 4 overlord.
But according to the information prompt, Iron Heart City was a Level 5 overlord area.
This indicated that the strongest being in this city had already reached the strength of a Level 5 overlord.
Moreover, unlike the Eye of the Evil God in the sealed land, which was weakened to the extreme, this Level 5 overlord had been recuperating for nearly two hundred years since awakening from its seal, which might be a little more difficult to deal with than the Eye of the Evil God.
Although the difficulty was slightly higher.
It was still well within his challenge range.
Nancilia was a little nervous, "The corrupted dwarves are all over the city. How are we going to get in?"
There were too many dwarves.
It was impossible to slaughter one's way in.
Zhang Nu was prepared to use stealth infiltration methods to get in.
Ironbeard suddenly spoke up: "Ironheart City has been established for more than two thousand years. There are various barriers and defenses, and it is almost impossible to break in."
"However, in the past two thousand years, over a hundred secret passages have been secretly built, among which one can bypass the city area and directly lead to the lowest level of the mine."
"The false god is hiding there!"
Zhang Nu was very pleased with Ironbeard's contribution to this information.
Although he also noticed the secret passages through the information prompt of Ironheart City, he did not have the patience to look over them one by one.
The group immediately took action.
This secret passage was very confidential.
Only the high ranking dwarves knew about it.
The guards along the way were few. The Demon King did not even need to take action. The elves and dwarves could easily take them down.
A few hours later, with almost no effort spent, the Demon King and his subordinates quietly arrived at the lowest level of the Ironheart mine.