Chapter 499 Who is the mastermind behind this?

The next day, early morning.

Fragmented sunlight shone into the messy house. Lorne pulled apart the limbs that were wrapped around him like an octopus, looked at the lingering tear marks on Galadriel's face and the bruises on her body, and couldn't help but cast a healing spell with pity, and carefully covered the corner of the quilt for her.

Ever since coming to Northern Europe, he has consciously avoided developing an overly close relationship with the goddesses here, so as to avoid being unable to bear the consequences when he really wants to take action against the Nordic gods.

Therefore, the desire that was released this time had been pent up for many years.

Although he tried hard to control his emotions and body, this was not something Galadriel's small body could easily endure.

It was really hard for this girl to be able to hold out until he had released his sexual energy before fainting.

Luo En placed a gentle kiss on the smooth forehead, then stood up, put on his clothes, opened the door, and looked towards the corridor:

"If you dare to mess around again, I'll break all eight of your legs!"

"Yes, sir."

Rose looked very terrified and nodded repeatedly, but she was muttering to herself in her heart.

So, permission doesn't count?

For example, this time?

When she thought of this, Rose couldn't help but licking her cherry lips, and her eyes stole a glance at the male god in front of her who exuded the scent of masculine hormones.

How about I try it while the drug still has some effect? I can also teach that little princess of the light elf a lesson in bed!

However, just as this thought came to Rose's mind, a cool breeze spread through her brain, instantly extinguishing the evil fire in her mind, and the cunning and charm that originally permeated her eyes were replaced by purity and gentleness.

Eilistraee, you've ruined my plan again~!

Rose was depressed and complaining, but she could only keep her consciousness quiet.

After all, without help from outside the field, she can’t do anything to this “good daughter” now.

As the pure and gentle aura returned to the dark elf's body, Loen felt a little relieved:

"Galadriel isn't feeling well today, so don't run around. Just keep an eye on her."

"Yeah, okay!"

Iristria nodded vigorously, her bright smile filled with joy.

As an elf matron, she had not taken care of elves for many years, especially the light elves. This rare experience made her long-lost maternal love overflow, and she was extremely happy.

Watching Eilistraee quickly run to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for Galadriel, Lorne couldn't help but smile, and left the backyard with peace of mind and came to the front hall.

At this time, Belldandy was already waiting here, and there was a bronze carriage with the Chamber of Commerce logo outside the door:

"I've been to the library in Turin several times. Let me drive."

"Thank you for your help."

Loen nodded in thanks, then leaned over and got into the carriage. As the carriage moved steadily, it headed towards the Turin Library.

On the roof, Holo was chewing an apple, swinging her feet, and looking at the carriage going further and further away, her eyes flickering faintly.

~~

The Turin Library is located in a hollowed-out mountain, where the air is dry and less humid, making it easier to preserve books. The architectural style is also in line with the sturdy and durable simple aesthetics pursued by the dwarves. Thousands of storage niches are scattered and carved in the mountain, showing wildness.

However, since the dwarves have little interest in literacy and culture, the book collection here is far less rich than the formal libraries of humans and elves, and the content mainly focuses on forging, winemaking, digging, and other knowledge that is easy for the dwarves to accept or is interested in.

However, Loen's trip was not specifically to learn about the dwarven culture, but to take the opportunity to investigate the origin and first discoverer of the gold mines in the North, so as to infer where the [Dragon Disaster] and [Dragon Disease] against the dwarves came from.

Unfortunately, he searched the bookshelves in the mining area but still couldn't find what he wanted.

"How about we go to the palace and ask? This is about the survival of the seven dwarf tribes. The dwarf king might be able to reveal some inside information."

Belldandi was about to make a suggestion when the corner of his clothes swayed and knocked down a book that was only one-third filled in.

"etc!"

Loen looked at the words "Summary of Rare Mineral Deposits in the North" on the cover and couldn't help but pick it up. He flipped through it quickly and soon found a name that was very familiar to him.

——Fafnir!

Seeing Lorne holding the book on the ground and excitedly returning to the table to read it, Bellandi suddenly felt depressed.

Her original intention in following him was to interfere with this guy's investigation, but she unexpectedly provided him with clues inadvertently.

I am obviously the goddess of destiny, why do I feel that fate always favors this guy?

That's not right...

While Belldandy was confused, Lorne quickly browsed through the records about Fafnir.

A few months ago, a pair of brothers named Fafnir and Regin fled to the North and lived in secrecy.

After being arrested and interrogated by the guards, they confessed their crimes:

Patricide and the plunder of gold.

Just like the original legend, Otto, the eldest son of the dwarf Hreidmar, was murdered while fishing in the form of an otter. Hreidmar demanded compensation from the murderer in the amount of gold that could cover the otter's skin. The murderer fulfilled his promise and gave Hreidmar huge wealth.

But the old dwarf's second son Fafnir, out of greed, murdered his father together with his third son Regin. They stole the treasure and fled all the way to the North.

However, while they were having fun, they were caught by the suspicious guards.

According to the laws of the dwarves, such a villain who committed the felony of parricide should be sentenced to death.

But they asked for the treasure in exchange for their lives.

Not only do they have a large amount of gold, they are also proficient in the family's ancestral Transfiguration, which is very suitable for mining and treasure hunting. This time they came to the North because they sensed the breath of gold veins and wanted to make another fortune.

Their thirst for gold seems never to be satisfied.

But they were willing to exchange half of the treasure for their lives, and continue to search for mineral veins and dig for gold for the Durin family.

In the end, the presiding judge could not resist the temptation and agreed to this condition.

The grand gold rush in the North thus began.

This endless greed and the covering up of evil eventually brought about terrible consequences:

——【Dragon Disaster】 and 【Dragon Disease】.

If I'm not mistaken, the three dragons in Lonely Mountain should be Fafnir, Regin, and... the Inquisitor?

Loen turned to the end of the manuscript, but found that the identity and name of the presiding judge were not mentioned at all.

What is even more bizarre is that according to the original trajectory of fate, the person who killed the son of the dwarf Hreidmar and found the "Rhinegold" should have been "Loki".

But Loen knew very well that he had never met the Heredemar family, let alone had any opportunity to commit the crime.

So, who was this murderer who killed the son of Hreidmar the Dwarf?

Luo En used the authority of the [Chamber of Commerce] to look through the relevant case files, but only saw a brief description of the murderer from a corner:

——It was an old man wearing a wide-brimmed hat and accompanied by a long-legged stork.

The old man... the stork...

Luo En's eyes flickered, he gently closed the book, and walked out of the library.

"How's it going? Did you find out?"

Belldandy chased out of the library and asked anxiously.

"No, there is no clue I want here."

Lorne shook his head in denial, then raised his hand to block out the glaring sunlight, and said to Belldandy casually:

"Let's go back first. We have to leave tomorrow morning and there are some things we need to prepare in advance."

"good!"

Belldandy heaved a sigh of relief, a look of joy on her face.

In order to hide her happiness, she quickly brought the carriage and drove to the Chamber of Commerce headquarters with Loen.

The car speed was as steady as ever. Loen sat in the car, rubbing his sore brows and sighing silently.

It better not be what I thought...

At the same time, neither of them noticed that the golden flame ring between Bellandi's eyebrows had been completed with the final stroke.

~~

On the last day before the battle, Lorne did not choose to go out to investigate more clues, but patiently taught Ciri.

The overall level of a team's performance sometimes does not depend on its strengths, but on its weaknesses.

As the youngest of the six members of the Midgard, Ciri is undoubtedly the weak link.

Once she gets into a tough battle, she will inevitably hold her teammates back.

Therefore, if we want this girl to play a role on the spot, we must give her some extra lessons.

Fortunately, after seeing the gods and heroic units walking around in the venue, Ciri realized her own weakness and was almost eager to learn combat skills from her mentor, Lorne.

As time was too tight and there was no time to lay a solid foundation for Ciri and build on it, Lorne could only play to her strengths and avoid her weaknesses. He created a magic tailor-made for Ciri to complement her swordsmanship and create unexpected results.

Ciri also studied very hard, and with her extraordinary talent, she quickly mastered the essentials of this [magic].

On the third day, the sun rose at dawn and the sky was cloudless.

Along with the loud and powerful sound of the horn, the earth roared violently, and waves of earth hundreds of meters high rushed into the sky. The falling rubble blocked all the tunnels leading to the outside world from [Gushan].

"roar……!!"

At the same time, angry and violent roars came from the sky. Everyone climbed up the city wall and looked up. They saw spots of black, green, brown, red and other colors rapidly approaching the city of Turin.

As the UFOs flapped their wings and rapidly closed the distance, their iconic lizard-like bodies, snake-like vertical pupils, ferocious bat wings, and hard horns and scales made the dwarf warriors in Turin City look nervous:

Here comes the wyvern!

And, a lot!

Seeing hundreds of wyverns roaring towards them, almost completely blocking out the light in the sky, the dwarves' bodies began to tremble uncontrollably.

“Ah~~!”

At this moment, a low and solemn wolf howl echoed over the city of Turin. The fragrance of fruit wine and the scent of wheat ears made people feel relaxed and happy, and instantly dispelled the dragon power emitted by the dragon species.

The battle-hardened dwarf soldiers on the city wall reacted quickly. After leading the demolition team members back to the city, they used all their strength to turn the winch and slammed the gate shut.

The elven wizards chanted difficult spells to protect the entire city from the impact of the wyverns.

At the same time, the dwarves pushed their carefully crafted crossbows, machine crossbows, and magic cannons to the lookout, activated and fired, and the powerful black arrows and strong magic beams instantly swept down a large area of wyverns.

The elves were not to be outdone. Teams of elven wizards chanted spells and rows of elven archers shot secret arrows, clearing out an area just as neatly.

But although both sides achieved great results in their first battle, this little damage was just a drop in the bucket for the huge number of dragons.

Fortunately, their mission is not to completely annihilate these flying dragons, but to be responsible for the external containment and lure.

At this moment, the five elite teams responsible for completing the feat of slaying the dragon and destroying the [Rhine Gold] have taken advantage of the chaos to sneak into the belly of Lonely Mountain.

Everything depends on them!

~~

At the same time, in the dark and narrow belly of Lonely Mountain, each team also faced a wave of attacks after the breakthrough.

To their surprise, it was not only dragons that attacked them, but also a large number of hideous humanoid monsters with green skin, tall and burly bodies, and protruding fangs.

Even weirder is that these monsters seem to reproduce through spores. When their hair and skin fall into the soil, as long as there is a rich magical element in the surrounding environment, those "seeds" will begin to grow something like mushrooms. And underneath the mushrooms (under the ground) will grow eggs, and inside the eggs is a new monster.

As the dragon's lair and the intersection of several major mineral veins, there is no doubt that the magical elements here are abundant.

Therefore, the deeper you go into the mountain, the more the sides of the cave will be covered with smooth and sticky liquid, as well as monster embryos that are maturing and moving rhythmically.

"What is this? It's disgusting!"

Ciri, who was leading the way, was slashing at the green-skinned monsters that were charging at her, cutting the embryos, and dodging the green slime that was spraying all around, with a look of disgust on her face.

"[Occitans], that's what the Warlock Brotherhood calls them. The reason for their formation should be that the souls of the dead who still have resentment and obsession are unwilling to enter the underworld, and are forced to stay in the world. Eventually, they are infected by the power of darkness, and half-human, half-beast monsters are born from the depths of the earth..."

Gandalf, who was following behind, puffed on his cigarette holder, looked at the green monsters that were hacked to death along the way with pity, and then added,

"There is another kind of undead. They have no physical body, roam the battlefield, love war and killing, and are rarely seen underground. They mostly appear on the ground. We call them Wild Hunt."

"Could [Nibelungen] be referring to them?" Galadriel asked with a frown.

According to Norse legend, if the souls of the dead cannot enter the underworld of Helheim, they will wander in the foggy country of Niflheim. Niflheim and its residents are also synonymous with the Nibelungen.

So, Galadriel couldn't help but combine the two.

"It's possible!" Gandalf nodded and looked at the kind-hearted elven princess approvingly. "We in the Warlock Brotherhood also think that this dragon disaster that swept across the entire dwarf kingdom is not simple, so they hope that I can investigate the real cause."

"Could it be that something went wrong in the underworld?"

Ciri was surprised. Galadriel, Rose, Gandalf, and even Belldandy did not say it explicitly, but the looks they exchanged proved that they had reached the same conclusion in their hearts.

The black dragon king Nidhogg who rules over the dragons; the orcs who were bred by the undead of the Land of Mist; the revenge from the depths of the earth...

All of this points the finger at Hela, the goddess of death who lives alone in Helheim.

If she was really the one causing the chaos, then the severity of this dragon disaster would be extremely serious.

Everyone looked at each other and nodded, and at the same time, they became extremely cautious and moved forward with a more careful attitude.

However, Loen, who was walking at the end of the team, said nothing from beginning to end. He just looked at the green-skinned orcs on the ground and fell into deep thought.

This place doesn't seem like a dragon's treasure trove, but more like a man-made arsenal.

What exactly do you want to do?

Loen looked up at the sky, but everything in front of him was blocked by the dark rock wall.

(End of this chapter)