After a few days in the cave, the group determined that the forest wasn’t dangerous. The creatures were of no threat and no humans were spotted nearby. The honey badgers were certain that no scent of humans or races were in the area. Even the scent of the dwarves at the mountain entrance had nearly faded out.

  “We should head inside,” said Dreu. “We either find dwarves and convince them to aid us or we find the place abandoned and acquire plenty of equipment left behind by the dwarves.”

  The young man made the latter point because all indications pointed to the dwarves not operating near them. The race might have withdrawn deeper into the mountain but their whereabouts were unknown. The young man wasn’t even sure if the mountain protected them from the Purificator or not. In the kingdom, nonhumans included all the other races like dwarves so Dreu couldn’t help but think that none were spared. To be certain, they had to delve deeper into the mountain.

  “They can scout out the place first,” continued Dreu as he referred to the bats hanging upside down from the cave ceiling. “If there is no immediate danger, we can proceed down.”

  Having fled the demon realm, Dreu felt that they were without any strong allies. For all he knew, Ragellon and the children might be the only demons left on the continent. The Purificator likely eliminated countless other races that would have dared to challenge the human kingdom. As seen in the forest they were in, no other races could be found within close proximity. The honey badgers were thorough but their searches yielded nothing. Deeper underground might be his last chance of finding allies.

  Once the moon was out, the bats flew out to the cave. Meanwhile, the others waited outside the entrance. The honey badgers remained alert while Dreu, the children and Zraiw sat under a tree, eating some berries. The bats soon returned with news that the cavern connected directly to the main entrance was deserted. There were plenty of random equipment lying around on the ground with no order to their placement. They failed to notice any living creatures except for the occasional bat or rat that called the mountain its home.

  “If the coast is clear,” said Olgron, “then let’s proceed then.”

  “We can explore deeper while the rest of you investigate what happened in the cavern,” offered Bartok.

  With a plan in place, the group entered the cave. Dreu brought out the illumination staff Ragellon gave him before and used it to light his way forward. As stated by the bats, there was a lot of equipment scattered everywhere and no corpses to be seen anywhere. While it was possible for the corpses to have decomposed by then, there should be bones and skulls which were clearly absent in the big cavern. The honey badgers slowed down to sniff the air but they were dumbfounded by what happened.

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  “Do you know what happened here?” Olgron asked Dreu. “Whatever happened here wasn’t natural.”

  “The Purificator,” said Dreu simply.

  The young man was about to venture deeper when he felt the eyes staring into his back. He turned to see Olgron who demanded an explanation. After a bit of back and forth, he learned that Olgron and the honey badgers weren’t even aware of the Purificator as it was a secret kept from most demons and demonic creatures. Even Ragellon never heard of it until Dreu recalled Braglames’ final moments.

  “It’s a superweapon created by the human kingdom to wipe out all nonhuman races. If it succeeded in reaching deep into this mountain, then the engineers must be good at their job.”

  “Why do you humans create these superweapons?” asked the honey badger leader.

  “I don’t know why so you’ll have to ask Xemir about that.”

  Dreu then focused his attention on a set of armor on the ground to distract himself from the guilt within him. He didn't take part in the superweapon's construction but it was still an invention of the humans, indicating the violent nature of the humans he preferred not to be associated with his race. For the time being, it was easier to focus on the task at hand which was to see if any dwarves survived the superweapon.

  The set of armor was like the countless others around him. The armor was a breastplate that was clearly made by an excellent blacksmith. The young man knelt down to pick it up, surprised by how light it was. If it weren’t so small, he wouldn’t have minded an extra layer of defense against incoming attacks. His aegis armor was very well hidden but it wasn’t very useful. At least, it didn’t seem to do much beyond its single ability which had one use per month and only triggered when he was at risk of dying.

  Maybe they made some of their armor in bigger sizes. If not, I wonder if I can make something myself with my forge….

  Dreu spent the next hour not only exploring the cavern but he also placed the equipment in their respective piles. The demonic children and the others helped until they had three big piles. There was one with armor and another with weapons. The final pile had only shields and got the young man’s attention. From studying the shields, he realized how much more work he had to put into his smithing abilities. He then turned to Zraiw.

  “Are there any ways to melt these down into new raw materials? Seems a waste to just let them remain here collecting dust.”

  “Should be possible with the forge,” replied Zraiw who took a closer look at the equipment. “I’m almost certain there is a book provided to you on this matter. Usually, the recycling of material is meant for your failed creations.”

  For the next couple of minutes, Dreu experimented until he was able to send all the equipment to his forge. He didn’t want to get to work until he was certain everyone was safe as he didn’t know how time between the two realms worked. He would rather go at his own pace when he returned to the forge.