Cassius slowly flapped his wings, stirring up a scorching hurricane, and in just a few breaths, he arrived above the Brass Fortress.

He looked down at the empire's army and the fire dwarves, with fire surging in his light golden vertical pupils.

Serkan finally reacted. He quickly walked to the red dragon, knelt on the hot ground, and shouted excitedly:

"Your Majesty Cassius!"

"I really didn't expect that you would come here in person!"

The adjutant also stammered and said fanatically: "This, this is the supreme honor for all the members of the Fire Elemental Plane Vanguard Team!"

No wonder they lost their composure like that.

Although they were all dragon-blooded nobles of the empire, they could only admire the majestic figure of the red dragon from afar on the battlefield. The awarding ceremony was the closest they had ever been to the emperor.

But now, the emperor was personally present at the battlefield where they were, and it was possible that they could even have close conversations and contacts.

This is something that many dragon-blood nobles could only dream of!
Even the emperor's dog can't get a number. This is not just empty talk, but a real fact.

Cassius glanced at the half-dragon kneeling on the ground, and suddenly remembered that he should have seen this man in the investiture ceremony, and he was awarded the title of Viscount - his name seemed to be Serkan.

Cassius now has a good memory, and his intelligence of 17 points makes his mind clearer than most mages.

Then he said, "You must be Serkan Wood, Viscount of the Burning Empire."

Your Majesty, remember me!
Even wrote down my name!
Serkan, who was kneeling on the ground, suddenly felt his heart pounding. In addition to being excited, he also felt flattered.

But not everyone is qualified to gain the emperor's attention!

The red dragon in the sky looked around, his eyes swept over the soldiers, and then he spoke again.

"You are all great! I am proud of you."

Cassius' voice was loud and firm, echoing across the vast elemental plane of fire, as if it could dispel the rolling heat waves on this scorching land.

"You have dared to come to such a dangerous place as the Fire Elemental Plane. You have not only demonstrated your courage and determination, but also your loyalty and responsibility to the Empire."

"The empire needs warriors like you! Your existence is the empire's most precious asset."

Cassius flapped his wings again, slowly descended from the sky, raising clouds of dust.

"In this challenging land, you will use your swords and your strength to write a glorious chapter for the empire."

Remember, no matter what difficulties and challenges you face, the Empire will be with you, welcoming every dawn and victory together! "

"Stand up, my warriors."

After hearing this, the eyes of the thousands of elite soldiers of the Imperial Vanguard surrounding them suddenly surged with fanatical and determined power.

Serkan was the first to get up from the ground. He drew the imperial silver sword from his waist, raised it, and shouted loudly.

"Fight for the Empire!"

"Fight for His Majesty Cassius!"

"Long live the Empire, long live the invincible Majesty Cassius!"

The soldiers' cheers and shouts rose and fell, like waves, echoing across the scorching wasteland.

Their faces were filled with fanaticism and excitement, and there was even something called "faith" in their eyes.

Green looked at the cheering soldiers and felt a little surprised and even a little scared.

"Moradin above"

"They...are just like those fanatical efreeti warriors and their sultan."

As a race that adheres extremely to order and tradition, such warriors are rare among the fire dwarves.

Cassius was looking down at the imperial soldiers on the ground, looking at those fanatical faces, a smile appeared on his face.

"As the empire expands, the people's faith in me grows."

"Perhaps, becoming a god is no longer a luxury, but a not-too-distant future."

He thought so.

As temporary military allies, the fire dwarves were terrified by Cassius's arrival.

They were happy about the arrival of reinforcements, but also worried that this powerful dragon would do something terrible.

But after some discussion, they decided to welcome this monarch from the material world, and many fire dwarf nobles came to greet him at the gate of the Brass Fortress.

Under the gaze of the imperial soldiers, Green stood in front of the red dragon, trying his best to remain calm. He forced a smile and stretched out his hand.

"Your Majesty, please follow me." "On behalf of all the fire dwarves, I welcome you to the Brass Fortress. It is our great honor."

"it is good."

Cassius nodded slightly, and tiny magical lights flickered on the surface of his scales.

Transfiguration

The huge dragon body suddenly shrank and eventually turned into a young man with black hair, golden eyes, and dressed in a gorgeous robe.

The fire dwarf Green led the way, while Serkan and other imperial officers followed respectfully.

Cassius asked casually, "Serkan, how did you get into the Brass Fortress?"

Serkan quickly replied, "Half a year ago, Lady Misha acted brazenly, and the Fire Giant Emir of the Iron City issued a wanted order for us."

"So, we fled to the territory of the Fire Dwarves, who have a feud with the Fire Giants."

"It was at this time that we discovered that the Salamander Raiders sent by the Fire Giants were attacking the Brass Fortress, so we helped them."

“You did a great job,” Cassius praised.

"To set foot on a land that has never been touched before, we really need the help of local residents. The advance team in the south needs to learn from you."

Green turned around and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, this is the entrance to the Brass Fortress."

In front of me is a building made of brass, like a hemisphere hanging on the ground, and it looks extremely solid.

Its thick, shiny brass shell was covered with scratches and traces of spell bombardment, as if it had suffered many attacks.

Green's proud voice came: "We fire dwarves have always had the most advanced skills - even those fire giants can't break through the fortress we built."

However, the entrance was only six feet high, which was considered spacious for the fire dwarves, but extremely narrow for Cassius and the imperial soldiers.

Green was the first to enter.

But Cassius took a step forward, penetrated the space, and came directly into the fortress.

Serkan bent down and entered it with great effort.

"This place is quite large. It is indeed a fortress that the fire dwarves spent thousands of years to build."

Cassius looked around, somewhat surprised by the scene around him.

This brass fortress does not look very conspicuous from the ground, and is even a little short, but it actually houses a different world.

The underground part is huge, it is a huge cave with a spiral road extending downwards.

From the ground at the bottom to the ceiling at the top of the rock wall, the height is probably nearly a hundred meters.

And looking forward, there is no end in sight, all you can see are the exquisite buildings made by the fire dwarves.

According to Cassius's estimation, the area covered by this Brass Fortress would definitely not be smaller than northern cities such as Borean Fort and Stratford Fort.

Exquisite cottages made of clay or metal, lifelike bronze sculptures.

The rock walls on both sides are covered with large and small mines.

Everywhere there were fire dwarf miners carrying copper hammers and ores.

They traveled between the mines and the roads, working hard and appearing extremely busy.

"Dang! Dang!"

"Hey! Hey!"

Crisp knocking sounds were heard, mixed with gasps.

In those houses, fire dwarf smiths swung their copper hammers vigorously, slamming them onto anvils, creating clusters of sparks.

In the center of the fortress in the distance, a huge bronze dwarf statue a hundred meters high stands tall.

The statue has a solemn expression. It holds the giant hammer high in its hand and presses the hammer head against the ceiling, as if supporting this huge underground world.

That is Moradin, the patron saint of the dwarves and the original forger of the fire dwarves.

Further away, one can see tall palaces made of brass, which are probably the residences of the fire dwarf nobles.

This is not a fortress.

This is clearly the city of the Fire Dwarves! It is the crystallization of their civilization! (End of this chapter)