Chapter 238: Aftermath and Rumors

"Could it be that I have strangled a genius in the cradle!" Sinuoli even felt a touch of pity for her talent. To have fought her way to this point entirely on her own, the Queen Spider's capabilities exceeded his imagination.

How many intelligent beings would never think to change paths when the road ahead narrows! And there are plenty who think of it but cannot achieve it.

"However, even if I didn't kill it, Wufuruike would have killed it later; he is cursed by the Chaos Four Gods to forever hunt down powerful monsters or warriors. Even if it could have dodged that calamity, the End Times are looming behind it."

Sinuoli shook his head; not to mention whether his collar could control a divine being, the perilous situation at the time did not allow him to hold back.

The crystal in his hand could not yet be considered the Godhood of a fertility god, but rather a crystallization of related Divinity. Therefore, it did not vanish with the death of the Queen Spider. Sinuoli silently tucked it into his bosom; the value of this thing was immeasurable, especially for the Dwarf race, and he did not intend to share it with anyone.

Following the return of the arsonist troops, the casualty report for his side was delivered into Sinuoli's hands; the battle of Zhuwangshan had caused Sinuoli's troops their greatest losses since he began leading them.

Ten percent were killed in action, and another twenty percent suffered severe injuries that made it impossible to continue fighting. Considering that he could perform healing again once the Valaya Ritual cooldown ended, there was still hope for the wounded to return to the ranks.

Most of the dead had met their end under the claws of the giant spiders; once a blow from a behemoth landed solidly, it was easy for disaster to strike without high-quality armor. Giant spider legs as thick as pillars had to be filled with life after life.

Overall, the Slayers had the highest proportion of deaths, with half of the warriors finding their demise. The lowest casualty rate was among the gunners in the ranged units; aside from one group that was hit directly by the spider silk sprayed by the giant spiders, there were no other casualties.

Everyone knew they were the main force in dealing with the behemoths. When the giant spiders charged the closest, the gunners and Nuxhou would pick up their Battle Axe and Shield to protect the safety of the artillery crews.

The Dwarfs stripped materials from the giant spiders; the carapaces of these creatures were tougher than Plate Armor, and their fangs and claws could almost be used directly as weapons.

After being trimmed and reinforced, they should be able to be used to craft exquisite weapons; if luck was good, the limbs of a Demigod might even be used to forge legendary weapons. The Mountain Kingdom had not had a harvest of this level for some time.

At Twilight, the Dwarfs arrived before the main gate of the Zhuwangshan fortress. The damage here was ten times more severe than at Red Cloud Mountain. Looking at the gate opening that had turned into a giant hole, the interesting term "Pan Si Cave" popped into Sinuoli's mind.

It was a pity that the Queen Spider and the other spiders had not evolved the ability to transform into human form. In this respect, the imagination of the Cathayan people from his past life was still richer.

To execute the ritual again required waiting for the cooldown time, and the first round would certainly be used to heal the wounded, so they would have to wait a long time before they could move in. The Dwarfs could only begin cleaning up manually; they destroyed unhatched spider eggs and cleared away the filth left behind by the spiders and Greenskins.

Sinuoli prepared to continue forward after a brief rest at Zhuwangshan; his army still had strength to spare, and Kalake-Zuen was not far off.

Sinuoli calculated the Strength at hand; the troops that could be left behind to garrison were limited, so the larger the area cleared, the greater the defensive pressure.

The spiders had operated here for thousands of years; the orderly underground architectural complex of the ancestors had been modified beyond recognition, and spider holes were everywhere; the ancient maps had completely lost their effectiveness.

Sinuoli organized clansmen with underground work experience to first survey the Earth Vein Network clearly, and then prepared to artificially destroy or block some locations that were difficult to cover. This would reduce the burden on the garrison troops.

It would not be too late to clean those places after the migration was completed in the future and there was plenty of manpower. Wasting a little manpower and material resources was better than having a group of Greenskins pop out from an unknown fork in the road.

Unable to stand the foul atmosphere in the fortress, Sinuoli pitched his temporary camp on land in the forest that had been purified by fire. This forest, covered by spider webs for thousands of years, had long since lost its vitality.

Three days later, Sinuoli treated the wounded through the ritual, but the number of people was large and most had internal injuries; he could only first control the worsening of the injuries, and the subsequent recovery would have to rely on the Dwarfs themselves to take it slow.

Just as he was in his tent looking at the map, comparing it with the information sent back by the scouts, and planning the road ahead, Clan Chief Gelate lifted the curtain and walked in.

"Respected, uh, Master Sinuoli, the survey team discovered some things they aren't sure about, and we must ask you to take a look!" The middle-aged Clan Chief bowed deeply before speaking; Sinuoli saw the change in his attitude over these few days.

It was not just him; the members of the entire Expeditionary Force now felt an extra layer of fear toward Sinuoli in addition to respect—that was the fear of things beyond their own scope of understanding.

Sinuoli had always been highly respected in the Mountain Kingdom, but most of this respect was not directed at him personally, but rather at the Ancestor Gods standing behind him. In the eyes of many Longbeard elders and worldly clansmen, he was merely lucky to have been chosen to pass on messages.

But after he displayed the ability to transform into a stone statue and back into flesh, all of this changed. The Dwarf race was one that respected history, and the Book of Grudges that every Clan possessed also served as a historical record.

Although a considerable portion had been lost in the earthquakes and the fall of fortresses during the Dark Age, the parts concerning the Ancestor Gods and the Golden Age were still preserved intact.

What was certain was that even though Dwarfs were accustomed to exaggerating achievements, there was no record of any Ancestor God or hero having the ability to transform into a large stone statue.

During these three days, Sinuoli knew that the matter of his Avatar of the Gods skill was the hottest topic in the entire camp, and almost the only one. His silence and the inherent traits of the Dwarfs further promoted the fermentation; every clansman in every corner was constantly discussing and analyzing it.

As long as rumors are spread enough, they will become the truth; the clansmen who initially fought alongside Sinuoli went from

"I swear in the name of the Ancestor Gods, I really don't know!"

to

"Yes, yes, yes! Master Sinuoli is..."

It only took at most two days, and at least half a day's effort; now the clansmen had pointed their guesses toward the greatest being they knew—the Old Ones, the legendary powerful beings who created the original ancestors and came from who knows where.

The Amazon of Anagongda also played a role in fueling the flames; this group of women from Lustria was also shocked by Sinuoli's might. When the Dwarfs asked them, these people were vague and only steered the topic toward the Old Ones.

"What is it?" Sinuoli asked, looking up.

"A stone chamber; the Amazon say there are symbols from the Lizardmen side carved on the door. We didn't dare to open it, please go and take a look."