We agreed to set sail, so you'd become the ruler of the deep sea?

Chapter 308 [Lord of the Rhine]? An Evil God?

The texture of this paper is extremely unique. When you hold it, it feels smooth to you, and you don't know what kind of animal's leather it is made of.

"It can't be human skin, can it?"

The thought flashed through Kur's mind for no apparent reason, but he quickly dismissed it.

However, even if it wasn't human skin, this mysterious parchment still gave Kur an indescribable sense of eeriness and mystery.

The strange craftsmanship, the dark brown patterns, and the invisible mystical power surrounding it all seemed extremely unfamiliar.

It felt so unfamiliar, as if... it wasn't even a creation of this world!

Where did this parchment come from?

"Why are you in my house?"

Kur inevitably had such doubts, but after the doubts, his curiosity was also piqued.

His intuition told him that a huge secret was probably hidden in this parchment, as if a seductive whisper was murmuring in his ear.

"Open it... turn it over... read it..."

So Kur opened the paper and saw the line of text that was cryptic.

[Calling upon the name of the Rhine...]

Although these characters were in a language that Kur recognized, there were subtle differences in their writing style, and it would take him a while to decipher them.

Soon, as Kur began to read the contents of the leather paper, his expression became increasingly strange.

On this parchment is recorded a being called the "Lord of the Rhine".

He is a traveler traversing the [Secret Sea], a wanderer through countless [Secret Realms], and the master of a world!

In that world called "Rhine," there is bright sunshine, abundant water, and dense forests, allowing living beings to roam freely on the land.

What is an extremely scarce resource for the dwarves of the Forge is as readily available and ubiquitous as air in that world.

It is like a bountiful "land of gold".

"Is such a world really possible?"

After reading the description on the leather paper, Kur looked dazed and murmured in disbelief.

"Or is this just a fabricated, fictitious existence?"

Even though the dwarf tribe has preserved its history relatively well, after such a long period of time, the history and legends passed down will inevitably have many distortions.

In addition, there are differences in the environment between the [Furnace Realm] and the [Seven Seas World].

Many dwarfs can no longer understand what "sunlight," "rain," and "forest" really are; they can only glimpse a corner of them from the few books and murals left from ancient times.

Right now, the world described on this parchment is far too fantastical for Kur.

So much so that he subconsciously believed it was a fictional existence.

What intrigued Kur even more was that the latter half of the parchment contained a ritual for invoking the Lord of the Rhine.

You will receive a response from the Lord of the Rhine by simply calling upon Him.

Furthermore, you can pray to Him for what you desire, such as power, weapons... or even beings from other worlds!

If the caller is devout enough, these beings will respond to the call and descend upon the world of Ghana.

"This...this is..."

Kur's eyes widened suddenly, a glimmer of hope appearing in them, and he murmured to himself.

"Gaining...power from another world?"

Kur's situation at this moment was extremely bad.

Because of Bronzebeard's unstoppable rise, the original chance of him succeeding as patriarch has completely disappeared.

His wife was also imprisoned because of the "Barbarian Axe Tribe," and it is unknown whether she will be released in the future.

What terrified him most was that the bronze beard seemed to have regained some of his memories and guessed that the battle against the fire lizard was actually his own conspiracy!
If Bronzebeard wanted to take revenge on him later, wouldn't he be left with no choice but to offer his neck for execution?

Don’t do that kind of thing!
Kur let out a wail in his heart.

In short, because of these factors, he is now in dire straits, and the days ahead will only get more difficult.

With his own abilities, Kur has almost no way to resolve this predicament.

but if……

Shall we pray to this "Lord of the Rhine"?

If we can obtain power from another world, maybe we can defeat Bronzebeard, who has the blood of the God of War?

Perhaps, he can use this power to become the chieftain of the Warhammer Tribe again and become a hero in Mary's eyes!

The more Kur thought about it, the stronger his greed and desire became.

He swallowed hard, and involuntarily reached out his hand...

But just as he touched the leather paper again, and that slippery, eerie feeling entered his mind, Kur suddenly remembered something Hope had once told him.

In this world, dwarves naturally developed primitive and ignorant beliefs.

Among the more common beliefs are those of the "natal furnace" and the "ancestral totem".

This is very easy to understand.

These two factors are the foundation of every dwarf tribe's survival.

Without the protection of the Ancestral Totem and the equipment forged in the Innate Forge, the dwarves would probably have been wiped out long ago in this harsh environment.

Over time, people inevitably develop a sense of worship and dependence on it, thus imbuing it with a "sacred" quality.

Primitive beliefs were born from this.

However, some dwarves have a less common belief: the belief in the incredibly vast underground "Fire Seed"—"Gana".

They believe that all the lava deposits in the world are a gift from Ghana.

Because lava minerals are the only source of light in this underground world, they can resist the erosion and terror of darkness, and thus possess a certain "sacredness".

Then, doesn't Ghana, the source of all [lava ore] and also the source of [fire seed], also possess this kind of "sacredness"?

In fact, if it weren't for the fact that the [Fire Seeds] sometimes feed on dwarves and that there is an irreconcilable hatred between them, some people might even develop a faith in them.

Of course, the dwarves who believed in Ghana only made up a very small portion of the tribe and did not have much influence.

In Hope's words, besides these two objects of faith, there is also an extremely dangerous and extremely bizarre existence.

They may be shadow creatures hiding in the darkness;

Perhaps it was an ominous figure visiting in a dream;
Or perhaps... it is something indescribable that claims to come from another world!
Hope collectively referred to these things as—

Evil God!

They often use various methods to bewitch ignorant dwarves in order to achieve some evil and ulterior motive.

Simply coming into contact with them will bring misfortune, and may also lead to spiritual pollution, physical deformity, and a thorny path of madness.

Ultimately, this brought calamity and destruction to himself, his tribe, and even the entire world of Ghana.

Hope had solemnly warned the members of the Warhammer Horde that if they discovered anything related to the "evil god," they must report it and destroy it immediately.

Because he was very serious at the time, Kur remembered those words.

Upon recalling this, Kur abruptly withdrew his hand from the leather paper and flung it away as if it were a hot potato.

"This...this is an object of an evil god!?"

Based on the contents of the parchment, it is not difficult for Kuhl to draw this conclusion.

At this moment, the best thing he could do was to hand the parchment to Hope and then destroy it completely.

"But, is it really okay to do this?" It was as if a whisper suddenly sounded in Kur's ear.

The whisper, filled with a seductive power, interrupted his original actions.

In fact, Kur knew very well that there was no whispering at all.

That was just his truest thought.

Whether it's a god from another world or an evil god, as long as they can give you the power to escape this miserable and pitiful situation, isn't that enough?

But if it's an evil god, can I really obtain this power?
What if it brings disaster to the entire tribe?

Kur's body trembled slightly, and a fierce struggle flashed in his bloodshot eyes, as if two little people were fighting in his mind, and his brain was almost boiling in this great battle.

Ultimately, he wasn't the kind of particularly intelligent dwarf.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have listened to Mary so readily and come up with such a clumsy scheme to frame Bronzebeard.

At this moment, Kur suffered a series of misfortunes and suddenly came into contact with "the relic that is suspected to be an evil god", which naturally caused a huge mental shock, to the point that his thinking became somewhat chaotic.

To put it more simply, his brain is a bit messed up.

After a fierce internal struggle, Kur suddenly burst into laughter.

"Hehe... Hahahaha!"

"Evil gods, tribes, disasters... none of that matters! Only power is real!"

"The situation can't get any worse anyway. So what if the tribe is destroyed?"

"Nothing matters anymore..."

Kur reached out and grabbed the scroll of parchment tightly, memorizing every single word of the section on the "invocation ritual."

After doing all this, Kur set the parchment on fire, completely destroying any trace of it.

Afterwards, Kur took some materials recorded in the ritual and left the cave of the Warhammer Tribe alone.

The parchment says that setting up the ritual may cause fluctuations in mystical energy.

Therefore, it's best to choose a relatively remote location to "call".

Along the way, some people noticed Kur leaving alone.

However, judging from his pale face, bloodshot eyes, and eccentric demeanor, the dwarves were inexplicably afraid of him.

Considering Kur's recent experiences, people think it's best not to disturb him.

It didn't take long.

Kur then arrived at an extremely remote cave.

The caves and tunnels in 【The Furnace Realm】 are intricate and complex, and this small cave is a hidden space known only to Kur.

After climbing into the cave, Kur immediately set up an extremely rudimentary ritual according to the instructions on the parchment.

According to the text on the parchment, different rituals can bring different effects.

The more complex the ritual, the more power it can attract.

Later on, they could even offer valuable sacrifices in exchange for what they desired.

However, this was the first time the ritual had been invoked, and the authenticity of the ritual could not be determined. Naturally, Kur chose the simplest one to try first.

After arranging the ritual track with several pieces of metal, animal skulls, and powdered lava ore, Kur walked to the center of the track.

At this final moment, he hesitated for a moment.

Once you take that step, there's really no turning back.

But in the end, the desire for power in his heart triumphed over everything.

Kur's eyes hardened, and he used a knife to cut his finger, letting a drop of blood drip into the ritual.

Then, Kur closed his eyes and muttered to himself.

"With my blood, I call your name."

"Great Lord of the Rhine, heed my call..."

As the words were spoken, a mysterious power condensed within the ritual.

hum-

An invisible and subtle vibration spread in all directions.

It is like an anchor deeply embedded in the Furnace Realm, inseparable from it.

……

……

at the same time.

As Xia En walked through the tunnel, a smile crept onto his face.

"So you couldn't resist the temptation after all?"

He could clearly hear Kur's voice in his ear.

“…Great Lord of the Rhine, please listen…”

Moreover, Shane also felt that, in the darkness, a thread connected him with Kur and the [Furnace Realm].

An anchor point has been set up in the Forge Realm.

It also formed a subtle connection with the pedestal in the Rhine Rift.

That's right, all of this was part of Shane's previously envisioned "Anchor Point Plan".

It would be very difficult for him to leave an anchor point for a teleportation artifact in the Forge on his own.

the reason is simple.

For the [Forge Realm], Shane is a stowaway.

Once someone displays any aura from the [Rhine Valley], they will be severely suppressed, and might even lose their identity as "Bronzebeard Warhammer".

On the other hand, Shane cannot stay in the [Forge Realm] forever, nor can he personally conduct trade between the two [Realms] forever.

Therefore, the best approach would be to have the native inhabitants of the [Forge Realm] take the initiative to contact the [Rhine Realm].

But the problem is coming.

Why would ordinary dwarves want to contact such an unknown and mysterious world?

To most people, such a strange and alien world would probably be full of unknown risks.

Maintaining a respectful distance is the attitude of most people.

So, Shane turned his attention to Kur.

Kuer's situation undoubtedly perfectly met his requirements.

His situation is dire, and he's been driven to the brink of desperation—meaning he'll take a risk and try to make contact with the [Rhine Realm].

Limited intelligence and strength—making it easy for Shane to control them.

Most importantly, he has a grudge against "Bronzebeard Warhammer", so Shane will not feel any guilt when he deceives him!

At this moment, Shane could not only hear Kur's calls, but also vaguely sense the scene he was in and his current actions.

Kur murmured devoutly.

"Lord of the Rhine, grant me power..."

(End of this chapter)