Caesar waited in the fortress of sighs.

Less than a decade after its establishment, the Fortress of Sighs has become one of the most important fortresses on the border of the Blackwing Empire, and the Empire's largest war fortress to date.

As relations with the southern part of Eladia grew strained, so did the military power of the fortress, and today, this unremarkable-looking crude fortress had amassed an army of 100,000, including 80,000 well-equipped human standing armies and more than 20,000 clan monsters.

At the same time, if war breaks out, the seven clan groups responsible for patrolling the southern border area can react quickly and enter the fortress to provide support at the first time, and at that time, this place will gather more than half of the military force of the Black Wing Empire.

It is not only a fortress, but also a floodgate. When the floodgates open, the Blackwing Empire's armies can sail down the Sighing Mountains, allowing blades and fangs to penetrate any city in Eladia.

But Caesar is not a madman who has lost his mind, and although he has recently been upset by the Empire, this small anger is not enough to justify him and the other party's life.

The war has not begun, this time arriving at the Fortress of Sighs, the Black Dragon Emperor has another reason in addition to his daily patrols of the territory and the inspection of border defenses: to wait for others.

Wait for the dwarven prince Atas Ambition, and the dwarves of the Grey Keep under his command.

Although the dwarves of the Grey Keep are mostly ignorant and obsessed with the ascent of forging technology and the research and development of advanced materials, they are not much less intelligent than humans in other aspects, and as the leader, Atas is unlikely to be an idiot who does not understand anything.

How many pretenders will a dwarven tribe with heavy losses and mastery of forging attract the prying eyes of pretenders on its long journey? Attath knew very well that he still held the heirloom halberd and all kinds of sophisticated armor and weapons in the hands of the rest of the clan, even if they were cautious and disguised, it would be almost a fool's dream to get all the way to the Northland without encountering danger on the way.

Therefore, as early as the decision to set off on the Northlands, Atas wrote a letter to the Black Dragon Emperor in the name of the Ambitious Clan King, recalling the friendly exchanges between the Northern Empire and the Kingdom of Stuart (the dwarves' self-proclaimed name for the Grey Keep), affirming the inseparable trade and solid alliance between the two sides, and then describing in detail the course of the Battle of the Three Castles and the current crisis and dilemma faced by the Ambitious Clan; In the end, Atas sincerely asked for the help of the Black Dragon Emperor.

The Emperor of the North quickly sent a letter in reply, calling Atas a "friend" and claiming that the Empire would immediately begin a plan to protect the Dwarves of the Greykeep to ensure that they would eventually reach the Northlands safely.

However, in the south, it is difficult for the Blackwing Empire to directly send troops to protect the Grey Keep dwarves, so it can only give the Grey Keep dwarves various support such as economy, intelligence, and routes in other ways, for which Caesar even paid a price, exposing a lot of black shirts and shapeshifters who have been disguised and infiltrated.

This situation quickly improved after Atas and his clan reached the area north of the center, and within the influence of the Black Wing Empire, the attitude of the kingdom and clan encountered by the dwarves of Grey Keep had taken a hundred and eighty degrees, so the time they spent on the entire second half of the journey was even less than one-third of the first half.

Finally, after a four-month journey, the Greykeep dwarves finally arrived at the Sigh Fortress on the border of the Blackwing Empire and stood in front of the Black Dragon Emperor Caesar Targaryen.

The world's best forging skills alone would have allowed the Dwarves of the Grey Keep to gain Caesar's attention, but Caesar had gone to such great lengths to assist them for another reason - in a sense, it was also a political show, showing the countries of the South that the Blackwing Empire valued its trading partners and allies, and was willing to be their backing and retreat.

As for whether the Blackwing Empire and the Greykeep Kingdom had an alliance in the first place, as long as they both admit to each other, it is.

"Attath Ambition, on behalf of the Kingdom of Stuart and the Ambition Clan, has taken the liberty of visiting you, Your Majesty Targaryen, Lord of the Dragons and Emperor of the North, your friendship is unforgettable to me."

Artas, the legendary master forger, was now standing in front of Caesar and bowing, just like the orcs clenched their fists, the dwarves did not bow down, they bowed in respect.

"Welcome, loyal dwarves."

Caesar, who remained in his own form, had a hard time making friendly faces, but his voice sounded quite gentle.

The black dragon looked at the unmasked dwarven king, the ruler of the Stuart kingdom, who was half as tall as a human being, but he did not feel small, he had a strong body like a warrior, his muscles wrapped in armor engraved with mysterious patterns, he was not wearing a helmet, and he carried a dark golden trident two meters long in one hand, and his black wavy curls were scattered.

There was silence for a while, and Atas decided to take the initiative, even though language was not the dwarf's strong point, and it took him a long time to come up with the opening phrase before, but it involved the continuation of the clan, and he had to open his mouth. "Emperor Black Dragon, on behalf of my remaining clansmen, I sincerely ask for your protection as the fragile alliance of dwarves has been wiped out in the flames of war, and the Ambition Clan has been displaced by the destruction of their homeland."

"The North is not a Promised Land, and our enemies are just as eyeing it." Caesar lowered his head when he heard this, and asked, "What do you want to do, what do you want?" ”

"We want you to treat us like elves, giving us a piece of land you don't need, and giving dwarves equal rights and dignity to live." Atas bowed his head and said, "You will earn honor and respect from all the dwarves for this, and the Ambition Clan will always remember your first and last name." ”

Prince Atas's words displeased Caesar, and it was not the result he wanted to hear.

When receiving the news of the dwarves in the Grey Keep, Caesar subconsciously thought that the other party wanted to move to the north to join the Black Wing Empire, so he spared no effort to help, but in fact, this was not the case at all, the dwarves just wanted to get a piece of land in the north, and then rebuild their home under the protection of the Black Wing Empire.

They don't even think about paying for it, all they pay is promises, just lip service "honor" and "respect".

It's good, it's very much in the style of the Middle Ages.

"Honor?"

The Black Dragon Emperor cracked his mouth and smiled, and the huge bare fangs made the atmosphere change: "What is the honor?" What is respect? Since when did that trick of humanity start to work on dragons? ”

He said cruelly, and suddenly the words changed, and his thoughts jumped out: "Dwarf, I think your halberd is quite interesting. ”

As these words came out, the faces of all the dwarves, including Atas, changed, the greed of the dragon was known to the whole world, and they knew very well what the black dragon was thinking, but the "Halberd of Atas" was not just a legendary weapon, it was the symbol of the current banner of Stuart, the symbol of the existence of the Stuart Kingdom for nearly two hundred years, and the spiritual pillar of the Ambitious Clan.

At the beginning, the banner of the Three Castles Military Alliance was also composed of the Ambition Clan's halberd, the Warhammer Clan's Iron Hammer, and the Thunder Roar Clan's staff.

The black dragon looked down playfully, and the dwarves were silent.

After a long while, Prince Asta's uncertain face finally stopped, and he paused, and said in a deep voice: "For the continuation of Stuart!" ”

This sentence seemed to be used by him to convince himself, and as soon as the words fell, Atas raised the dark gold trident horizontally and held it up with both hands: "Powerful Black Dragon Emperor, this is a gift from the Ambition Clan. ”

"Good." Caesar nodded, reached down with his big paws, and picked it up unceremoniously.

The Halberd of Atas has five weapon traits, five ability blessings, and two different types of spell-like abilities, which is much more powerful than the "Asaacus Thirst for Blood" that Caesar gave Hogg in the first place. The dwarves watched the movements of the Black Dragon Emperor and saw him put the heirloom halberd in front of their eyes, looked at it, then stuffed it into their mouths and bit it.

Unexpectedly, the collision between the Halberd of Atas and the dragon's teeth did not erupt with sparks or a cacophony of friction, and the dwarves heard only a continuous, buzzing trill, like a metallic whimper.

"Bang!" The halberd was thrown back.

"The Empire gives shelter and support, and the Elves offer loyalty and friendship. Do you want to have the same dignity as the elves? But did you know that they fought for the Empire and shed their blood for the Empire? ”

The Black Dragon Emperor turned and left: "Outside the fortress is all land. Inside the fortress, think clearly before coming. ”