Alex released their bindings and began to question them.

“Where are you from?”

“We are from the Mage Association of the Southridge Republic, specifically from the Yellowrock City branch, as one-star mages.”

“Why did you come to the dwarf kingdom?”

“We were ordered to investigate because we received information that the dwarf kingdom has fallen.”

“What do you know about Nori?”

“We’re not sure. It’s very likely that he was the one who spread the news of the dwarf kingdom’s demise. He informed higher-level mages and accompanied us here to assist with the investigation.”

Alex paused her questioning and began to ponder, while the two mages stood motionless, caught in their thoughts.

Nori’s mysterious identity seemed to confirm that letting him escape had been a wise decision. These two mages were at the Monarch level, and anyone capable of commanding them must be at least at the King level. Therefore, killing Nori outright could have drawn unnecessary complications; it was better to gather more information first.

The Republic seemed somewhat different from an Empire, but Alex suspected it was just a matter of terminology; in reality, their scale and power were probably comparable.

What truly intrigued Alex was Yellow Rock City. From the name alone, she deduced that the Mage Association’s branch in this city likely specialized in earth-based magic.

Since these two mages were unclear about Nori’s origins, Alex decided not to probe further and instead shifted the conversation to gather some information about the human race.

From their discussion, Alex learned that the Southridge Republic was located north of the dwarf kingdom, at least ten thousand miles away—a considerable distance. The buffer zones between them were inhabited by relatively weaker races that posed no threat to either humans or dwarfs.

Even a Commanding level bone dragon would need several hours to cross such a distance.

It seemed unlikely that the events in the dwarf kingdom would attract human attention, as a power without even a King level presence wouldn’t be taken seriously by the humans.

Through further questioning, Alex discovered that the president of the Yellow Rock City branch was a seven-star Archmage, a level of power even weaker than the Vice President of Nytheria Continent. Eldrin, a nine-star Archmage, was a half-step Emperor level being.

“By the way, do you know where Stone Pillar Mountain is?” Alex suddenly asked. She had previously inquired about this location with orcs, dwarfs, and even Lilith had asked the elves, but none knew of its whereabouts. Perhaps the humans had some information.

After reaching the maximum city level, Alex was even more eager to locate Raphaela, as once her city reached max level, she could relocate it at any time, making it difficult for Alex to find her later.

The two mages remained silent for a minute without speaking. Alex felt somewhat disappointed. Could it be that even the humans didn’t know the exact location of Stone Pillar Mountain?

“It was originally called Mount Halo, wasn’t it? Stone Pillar Mountain is just a later name given by the beings,” one mage finally spoke.

“It’s said that Mount Halo is located at the very center of the continent, where the elemental forces are incredibly dense. It’s a place where various races go to seek blessings from their deities, hence it’s called a sacred mountain.”

“There’s also a belief that only those with sincere hearts can reach the sacred mountain, but we in the Mage Association don’t believe in deities because we have our own gods.”

“Senior officials once investigated and found out that the Angel race was manipulating things to gather faith power. After an unpleasant negotiation, the matter was dropped.”

“Once the truth was revealed, the so-called sacred mountain became a joke and was later referred to as Stone Pillar Mountain by the beings. It’s actually located on a rocky wasteland north of the Republic, not at the center of the continent as previously thought, roughly equidistant from the Holy Court and the Republic.”

The two mages took turns adding details, recounting the legend and the unveiled truth of Stone Pillar Mountain to Alex without missing a beat.

Unexpectedly, the humans indeed knew the location of Stone Pillar Mountain! It seemed a visit to the Southridge Republic was in order. To reach Stone Pillar Mountain, bypassing the Republic was not an option.

With her status as an Honorary Mage, Alex felt confident. In the relatively weaker Yellow Rock City branch, her two-star Magus status would certainly hold more sway than most mages there.

Alex had no intention of revealing her plans to the humans. The identity of the Angel Lord required cautious handling. Moreover, although there were no angels on the Arsen Continent, there was a Holy Court. If they learned that one of the extraterrestrial visitors was an Angel Lord, the outcome could become unpredictable.

One possibility was that they might kill Raphaela outright, which Alex would prefer; another was that she could be accepted by the Angel race, after which Alex would lose any chance to eliminate her.

The Holy Court was also human; what if they had insiders within the Mage Association? To be safe, Alex decided to take matters into her own hands.

“You saw nothing today. The dwarf kingdom has not fallen; Nori tricked you into coming here to incite a war between the humans and dwarfs, understand?” Alex’s left eye flashed with a white light as she spoke to the two mages.

“Understood,” the mages nodded, and then Alex released them, allowing them to return to Yellow Rock City. When Nori next encountered these mages, he would surely be in for a shock.

Since Nori was acquainted with higher-level mages, Alex decided to create some trouble for him. After manipulating the mages with her soul magic, they now harbored intense hatred for Nori and would not hesitate to kill him upon their next meeting.

These two mages could not be killed; doing so would only bring trouble for Alex, and with her already vast number of undead, these two low-tier Monarch level mages were not essential.

For Alex, these mages were far more valuable alive.

“Well done. Increase surveillance in the area, and report any information on other races immediately to the Death Spirit,” Alex instructed the gathering of dwarfs and liches.

“Yes, leader (queen),” they responded.

Soon, the two Monarch mages flew away from the dwarf kingdom. As they moved further from Grimstone, the confusion in their eyes faded, and they regained their senses, remembering nothing of what had just transpired.

“Damn it, that scoundrel Nori dared to set us up!” one mage fumed.

“Let’s report back immediately. I want to personally execute him!” the other declared, and they hastened their pace back to Yellow Rock City.

As for why they thought they had escaped, they didn’t dwell on it, assuming it was due to the prestige of the Mage Association and their own strength.

How could a bunch of non-flying dwarfs possibly hold them?

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep