CHAPTER 12: THE DWARF SAINT'S BELOVED

**Kuro**

While there was chaos and death in the city of Hemelin, the temple complex of the Golden Hammer was in a ‘different’ world. I mean, even with all the dogfights and explosions happening, the official residence of Equality’s demi-god was untouched by the violence. The guards posted on several towers watched the events outside with anxious anticipation for the worst, but that’s it.

The armored cars that brought us in dropped our group into the very entrance of the main palace, where hundreds of the Golden Hammer’s warriors and attendants waited. Of course, judging on the information the chief of the Golden Hammer’s security detail had in her hands, it’s not rocket science why they’d be that wary. Lily’s reputation as the Iron Princess was unmatched, and I guess my fame as the ‘Rock of Chersea’ and other ‘heroic titles’ followed as well.

So yes, Chersea’s most lethal warrior and the ‘living hero’ of the four races are there. The threat level is just unprecedented.

Any case, honestly, I was in no mood to get violent. It’s not in my nature, and really, I prefer diplomacy over wars. Besides, who would want to destroy this place?

“…”

Look, the interior of the Golden Hammer’s temple could be described in one word: ‘grand’. The dwarves surely made this place a monumental testament to their love for their craft…including construction. The intricate details that filled every pillar, walls and window frames were unmatched, even in the Saint’s Cathedral of Chersea. Those were also gilded, and it was matched with velvet carpets and tapestries narrating the history of the dwarves. Each hallway we passed had extremely high ceilings, also filled with colorful paintings akin to the renaissance artworks of the Italian masters, Michelangelo and Raffaelo da Urbino.

If maybe I’m a normal tourist in this place, I might’ve learned about those events depicted in the paintings…

“…”

Escorted by the Golden Hammer’s security, we were led to his court, where the other dwarves had already congregated. As we walked towards the presence of their church leader, those dwarves threw us piercing, angry stares, silently telling us that we were not welcome there.

“…”

For her part, Lady Hughes was silent, though I could tell from her face that she didn’t like being here. I had no idea of what happened between her and her grandfather, but for sure it was a heavy one. That expression of hers supported my hunch, after all.

When we reached the foot of the dais where the Golden Hammer sat, we were told not to look at him directly. So, we bowed our heads to avoid seeing him, but the dwarf guards went further by forcing us to kneel.

“Your Most Holy Guide, Father of All Wisdom and Freedom,” Miss Koh began introducing us. “May I present you, the fugitives from the human land, the Duke of Maverny, Lord Kuro of Arles, and his partner, the Iron Princess of Nerfes, Lilyhaven Tamriel von Leese.”

“I know who they are,” came the booming voice from the dais. As my head was looking on the floor, I could only imagine that the guy was a tall, imposing human. After all, when Lady Hughes described him earlier, I got the impression that he was an American, or from a similar race from my world. “The Lord Kuro of Arles, Duke of Maverny. The Rock of Chersea, Eternal King of Cherwind, the Greatest Head Scholar of the Demons, and Beloved of the Elf Saint. The lady, the Iron Princess of Nerfes, and the Bane of the Imperial Legions, Princess Lilyhaven Tamriel. And I know why they are here: they wanted the god-powers of the Dwarf Saint, Lady Helgath.”

Upon mentioning that, the entire court erupted in disbelief. I could hear some of the dwarves demanding that we got shot, or stoned to death, or even ‘cancelled’…

Heh, as if ‘canceling’ us will do anything.

“Silence!” the Golden Hammer bellowed, and to enforce his wishes on everyone, he hit the floor with his cane. “I allowed no one to think for me! Why can’t you understand that? Fuck these stupid dwarves!”

Those last words surprised me. He blurted those not in the usual Chersean tongue, but in full, American-accent English. Of course, I couldn’t help myself; I forgot that I shouldn’t raise my head to look at that man’s ‘glorious, holy appearance’. As such, everyone froze when they witnessed me violate one protocol after another.

However…

“…”

Amidst the shouts and screams demanding for my execution, I saw a man at the very end of the dais. The line of his thin grey hairs had already receded past of what used to be his forehead. Wrinkles brought by age had filled his face, and though his voice was really intimidating, his withered body contrasted to our initial ‘powerful’ impression of him. But, yes…one look and I could tell that he’s a human from a different racial background that I.

“Hey there!” I called out to the Golden Hammer in English. In my desperation, I drowned the yells of the dwarves and focused on that man, “So you’re also from Earth like me! Are you an American?”

Before I could hear his answer, the raging dwarves restrained me, trying to drag me off their ‘demi-god’s’ presence. Nevertheless, I glimpsed at his face; his pair of glazed, ‘dead’ eyes suddenly gleamed when he heard the word ‘American’. While I was being pushed and shoved, I saw the Golden Hammer stood up, much to the shock and horror of others who were just watching the scene unfold.

“Am…American?” his voice had significantly become gentler. “American…”

“Lord,” it was Miss Koh, who rushed to his side, pleading. “Please return to your throne! You can’t keep exerting yourself like this!”

“American…it’s been long…” the Golden Hammer’s voice grew louder, though this time, it’s because of excitement rather than anger. “American…I am American!”

Even I was surprised at his reaction. It’s as if the Golden Hammer remembered something that had been in the depths of his mind for a long time. Though he was old, and thin, the man leaped from where he stood down at the foot of the dais. But even before I could process what’s going on, I heard Lady Hughes call out to me…

“Kuro!”

“!!!” At that moment when I turned to her, I nearly got hit by a flying revolver, which I barely caught in my hands. However, the mere seconds between that and the next weapon thrown to me stopped my mind from trying to know what’s happening. I just grabbed whatever was flying towards me.

“Argh!” By this time, the dwarves restraining Lily were also thrown off to the walls. I saw the Iron Princess in her ‘Bloodbath’ form once again, breaking free from the cuffs we were locked with.

“Kuro,” it was Lady Hughes, who had a steam-powered war hammer on her hands, yanked from one of the nearby guards. “Grab that man and let’s get out of here!”

Following her directions, I was shocked to realize that the dwarf lady was pointing at the dais. “Wait,” I blurted out, “You mean the Golden Hammer? We’re going to take him hostage?”

“Well, it looks like it…” Lady Hughes’ face was serious this time; the ‘battle junkie’ self that she had when we previously fought was gone. “But, if you want to get out of this place alive, and save Equality, you have to follow me.”

“H-Huh? Save what? I did not promise any saving—”

“For fuck’s sake, shut your trap and do as I say,” the dwarf lady bellowed before swinging her war hammer, knocking away the holy guards trying to kill us.

“Kuro,” it was Lily, holding my hand and smiling. “I’m really confused in this world, but this is the only thing I know of. Let’s cut through them!”

Well, with her blood-red eyes and powerful ‘iron’ grip, I could tell that these dwarves were more than a match for the Iron Princess. But, of course, the guards of the Golden Hammer would not let that happen, having formed a formidable line of defense bristling with guns to protect their ‘demi-god’.

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There were about a hundred dwarven guards in the court of the Golden Hammer, all armed with automatic guns powered by steam, as opposed to our gunpowder ‘bolt-heaters’. To add to these, they also carried steam-powered war hammers or battle axes, not to mention, their thick body armors and ballistic shields made of metal. However, what we lack in numbers and equipment, we could make up through speed, maneuver, and magic…which the dwarves had none.

“!!!”

Lily chanted a magic spell that summoned a barrier as I advanced towards the line of guards protecting the Golden Hammer. The dwarves, knowing that they could wear down the magic barrier, poured withering fire against me, but as I closed the gap between us, they quickly changed into their melee weapons.

“Lily!”

“Yes!”

It was at this point that the Iron Princess dispelled her barrier, crashed into their formation, and wreaked havoc. The dwarves, though their bodies were muscular and possessed considerable physical strength (to wear the heavy armors), were flung like stones in the air. Lily was only using her bare hands to cut through them.

Heh, good thing we practiced this tactic before, back in the days of the Imperial War. We make a good team, huh?

“!!!”

However, when she removed the threat of the guards, Lily and I were surprised to find that the Golden Hammer had another set of ‘inner’ guards protecting him, led by Miss Farah Koh herself. This time, they were armed with semi-automatic guns—we only had a small second to dodge the hail of bullets that followed. I pulled Lily to the nearest pillar to protect ourselves, but soon, we realized that we’re pinned down by their near-continuous fire.

“Where’s Lady Hughes?” I asked, trying to search for the Prince Uhrian’s niece amidst the smoke and the carnage.

“I saw her holding the others guards by the door,” Lily replied. “Do you think she can get us out of this?”

“If we can tell her,” was my answer. All she needed was a distraction, but if we couldn’t coordinate our movements, we’d get mowed down by the gunfire.

“Kuro,” the Iron Princess pointed towards the other end of the hallway. “It’s the Lady Hughes! She’s looking at us!”

Indeed, when I followed Lily’s hand, the dwarf lady was there. She stared at us like she was just waiting for my instructions. Now, if only I could make her understand what I had in mind…

“!!!”

Much to my surprise though, it didn’t even take me a second to ‘tell’ her of my plans. She just nodded, and flashed a ‘thumbs up’ sign. I was confused at first; she couldn’t possibly understand what I intend to do. The distance between us was far, and the court of the Golden Hammer was wide enough for the echoes of gunfire to drown any communications. But then, she threw a rock at us, with a crude note that says ‘Dammit, do what you plan to do, I’ll finish them!’

What, the Lady Hughes can read my thoughts?

Another rock. ‘Hurry, dammit!’

Well, here goes nothing…

Using the power of the Beastman Saint, I called forth a storm over the palace complex, combined with hailstones that crashed through the colored windows. That took care of the other guards trying to reinforce their comrades inside the court of the Golden Hammer. However, I was not yet finished; with the rainwaters coming in from the broken glasses, I summoned the power of the Elf Saint to create a flood that swept through the dais. Not only did that cause the guards of the Golden Hammer to lose their footing, it also allowed Lady Hughes to come out of her hiding spot and brought her war hammer crashing down on any resistance.

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***The Albatross, Paula Cole’s fighter plane, over the skies of Hemelin, a few minutes earlier…***

“My warriors are getting decimated in this suicidal attack!” the queen of the Cole Miners’ Guild told her passenger, the Overseer Saint herself, Seirna Stephanie. They watched the progress of the battle, as the squadrons of fighter planes from her rebel army threw themselves in a futile assault against the defenses of the holiest city of Equality.

“The Lord Kuro of Arles is inside the temple of the Golden Hammer, anyway,” Seirna remarked. “You may signal your dwarves to pull out.”

“How did you know?”

“After all the miracles I performed for you, you’d still ask me that?” the Overseer Saint chuckled. “In any case, your warriors already did their duty; it’s time to cut your losses and prepare for the counter-attack of the Church in Montserrant.”

“Well, thank you for slimming our chances to succeed,” Paula snarled at her. “We’re reserving those planes we lost for the eventuality we’ll be discovered; you made us reveal ourselves.”

“It’ll end that way, so what’s with you getting angry? Besides, now that the Lord Kuro has sneaked inside, he’ll increase your chance to win.”

“What are you saying? He’s not even my employee!”

“No need for him to be under you!” Seirna removed her seatbelts, unsheathed her rapier and stood up. “He’ll be your next god, so it’s the other way around!”

“Huh? What?”

However, the Overseer Saint did not answer her, as Seirna let herself fall out of Paula’s plane. Then, she spread out her black wings, as the dwarf queen looked on with awe. Deep inside, she told herself, she could never get tired of such a spectacle. With that, Seirna also attracted the attention of the gunners from the military dirigibles, who began shooting their machine guns at her. However, the Overseer Saint wasn’t there to impress; skillfully evading the bullets, she put an end to the warriors of the Golden Hammer. As if that was not enough, Seirna destroyed a few fighter planes on her way, perfectly slicing the powerful machines as if those were made of butter.

Paula could only watch and be impressed at the Overseer Saint’s movements. It was calm, yet calculated. In Seirna’s every turn, something—or someone—would be cleanly destroyed. The exhausted dwarf rebel squadrons cheered at the sight of their enemy dirigibles and planes exploding or dropping like dead birds from the air.

“!!!”

The Overseer Saint was not yet finished, though. She headed to the two largest dirigibles present. Then, with her rapier, she quickly erased the existence of those airships, which was providing devastating fire on Paula’s rebels. There was no explosion, nor flames, in just a wink of an eye, two floating fortresses disappeared before everyone’s sight!

But there is no time to celebrate the victory…

Seirna stopped her aerial maneuvers when she noticed the skies over Hemelin being covered by dark clouds. Like the retreating dwarf squadrons of Paula’s rebel army, she retreated from the city as far as she could, covering the withdrawal from the pursuing fighter planes of the Golden Hammer’s forces.

“!!!”

As the flashes of lightning and peals of thunder made it obvious to everyone that it was not safe to fly near the city, Seirna called out to Paula, “Look at your new god, Queen of the Miners! Stand in awe of his power!”

“What the hell are you saying?” was the dwarf queen’s answer. But the Overseer Saint never heard her, for just as she spoke, the powerful hailstorm summoned by Kuro bombarded the temple complex, breaking the shield protecting the place. The lightning also hit the soldiers of the Golden Hammer in open ground, and those who survived was killed by the large hailstones. As the wind from the storm began to hit the rebel squadrons, Paula signaled a complete retreat from the area. Nevertheless, just as she and her forces headed back, the dwarf queen took one last look at Seirna, who remained at her spot in the air, admiring the death and destruction of Hemelin.

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**Kuro**

When the fight was over, only the Golden Hammer remained standing. I purposefully controlled the waters to avoid the old man, for…well, he’s already frail. I was afraid that if I let the floodwaters sweep him, he’d hit his head on the floor and we’d kill him. That would leave a bad taste in my mouth; we came here to look for the missing dwarf saint, not to kill a demi-god. Or an old guy.

Besides, I’d like to ask a few questions to this fellow…he’s another human brought here, from my world, after all.

“…”

However…

“It’s been a while since I last saw you, Louis,” Lady Hughes quipped as she approached him, reaching out to the Golden Hammer with open arms. “I can’t believe you’re still alive even after the long years we’ve been apart. And damn…what did they do to you? It’s like you’ve lost your ability to think for yourself!”

“Ah…ahh!” was what the Golden Hammer could only say as the dwarf lady touched his hand and stretched out to hers. What’s even strange to me was the tears that started to flow from his eyes, it’s as if he was meeting an old friend, rather than seeing his niece. Lady Hughes, for her part, let him fall into her arms, and caressed the man to sleep.

Lily held my hands as we witnessed the reunion of the grandfather and his grandchild…

“Kuro…” it was Lady Hughes; her voice was somber.

“Y-Yes?”

“Let’s get out of here, and bring him with us.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” I couldn’t believe that she was really serious with that.

“Yes, I am serious,” the dwarf lady said, though contrary to her statement and her declarations before about not seeing the old man, her face had a gentler expression to it. It was filled with love, though I couldn’t say if it’s filial, or a friendly, one. Then, she took hold of the Golden Hammer’s hand, carefully pressing it against her chest, as if feeling if there’s any life left to it. Nevertheless, a few moments of silence, and the withered, wrinkled hand of the Golden Hammer started to glow green. “As you can see, the dwarf saint’s god-power was passed to this man.”

“Eh?”

“No,” she chuckled, but quickly returned to her serious tone. “It’s not what you think it is. Kuro…no, I should call you by your original name, Greg Santos. Greg, this man’s name is Louis Fabelle, a human from your ‘Earth’, from a place called California. He may look like this now, but he’s gone through lots of hardships in his life, like you do…though, his years in your old world ended in a ‘shooting where scholars gather to learn’. And really, he is the Dwarf Saint’s beloved.”

Honestly, I didn’t know what to say to that revelation. The way Lady Hughes looked tenderly at him, and how she held the man against her…I was flabbergasted; there were a lot of questions that immediately sprung in my mind, but the most pressing was…

“Yes,” Lady Hughes nodded. “Your suspicions are correct. I am Martelle Hughes…but that is my ‘dwarf name’. In truth, within me…slumbering, is the Lady Helgath of the Underground Caverns. The Dwarf Saint of this land, whose name was long forgotten.”