136 Battle of the Wild Mountains : Part 4

The rest of the day and even a big part of the night were peaceful. The disciples of the Archmage tried everything they could to pierce the magic shield Malakov created, and one even injured himself after the lich played a trick. The undead momentarily allowed something to pierce through but reactivated when one magus tried to do the same. Kardel laughed at that sight, especially because of the pathetic face the human harbored after that.

A few hours before the sun was up, the most advanced team of miners managed to finally stumble upon a room that hadn't been destroyed. After entering it, they soon realized that it had become a maze. Dozens of tunnels were leaving from this place, most diving deeper into the ground with a few going upward. Making sure to not go where the polished stones were present, many groups of soldiers explored those tunnels.

One came back in a hurry, signaling they had found where the hole had crumbled. The wooden ladders were still laying on the ground, in the same position they were previously in. Besides this, what they could only see were huge piles of rocks and well-maintained tunnels. Even after 30 minutes, they could only say that the Dark Gods were better at digging than them. Standing in front of the last place they hadn't check, someone threw a torch that was quickly swallowed by the darkness as it fell.

Looking at the light disappearing, they still heard the sound of wood hitting the ground. One more courageous than the others approached the entrance and bypass the dark wall, only to see that it was stairs. Finally knowing why the torch had made that sound, the magicians destroyed the weak magic. The fighters surrounding them could only shake their heads when they saw those usually proud mages running away as soon as their task was finished.

Deciding to wait for the sun to be up, the rest of those that worked that night began to check every stone, wall, and ceiling, searching for a trap. They did not hesitate at even using heavy hammers, only to realize the walls were less damaged than their own weapons. The few adventurers that did not manage to escape before being requisitioned also did the same. Even if they were told to be rewarded at the end, none of them wished to be present.

When the army stayed at Ronta, the adventurers began to quickly disappear one by one. Only know some soldiers realized that the rumors they heard were actually true, just that they were the ones that kidnapped them. After all, the adventurers were the most experienced at dealing with monsters and searching for lairs and such. But this time, no one was too scared of the Adventurer Guild behind them to not use those living beings as they wished.

So, when Lord Darkwater woke up, he could see the depressed thief in front of him reporting everything that they had not found. Or, in other words, explained that it was not their fault for being too bad, but that there was truly nothing. Glancing at the man that was trying to find any excuses, Remi Darkwater was not doubting his words. He was just doubting the fact that nothing was prepared for them at this location.

"Even the ceiling?"

"Yes, nothing at all. And if something was there, I can assure you those brutes with their hammers would have activated it, killing us all. Do you have any idea ..." Glancing at one of the guards that was inside the tent, the old general used his eyes to convey his message. "... how dangerous it was? I was there yesterday, I saw what ... HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING! GET OFF ME! OK, I WILL WORK, EVERYTHING WAS FINE!" The shouts of panic of the thief did not draw a single look of sympathy. It was not like they will kill him for that, what was the point of screaming like a pig being slaughtered?

Shaking his head while thinking about the thief with a too vivid imagination, the old man still asked the disciples of the Archmage to take a look before continuing examining that portal. Some minutes after the first troop was ready to descend the stairs, all he could hear from the scout was that they also had not found anything weird. Just that the room was slightly hotter than its surrounding.

The next room was awfully similar to the one where they had lost thousands of good people. Only that, in addition to the normal skeletons, a few dozens of liches were also staring at the incoming humans. And to make things worse, the hidden threat that injured Avirus was still present, verified by the death of a careless magician. As for the magic shield that previously protected the human bowmen from the skeleton archers, it was mercilessly destroyed by the liches.

Thinking about the situation they were in, Lord Darkwater could only reach one conclusion. "We should all pray the gods. Before we have to sacrifice everyone." Right after saying this, they could all see the most rewarded general of Massalia calmly get on his knees and pray in silence. Feeling a bit baffled by that, more and more joined him, while ordering the entire army to do the same.

"Pray, pray even more. Do they really think it will work?" The duvodiad was mocking the pitiful action of the humans. Relying on another race to survive was never a good idea, especially when it involved beings like gods. Meridiana was also laughing a bit, agreeing with Kardel. On the other hand, Davion was even more impassive than usual, something Leilade noticed.

"You think it will really work, don't you?" Nodding at the words of the Empress, the orodil was far more inclined to believe the gods will finally start making their moves. The only thing he couldn't predict would be the scope of their actions, how many Heroes will appear. They hadn't wait for a long time before a beam of light reached the encampment.

"Malakov, do it now!"

"It will be my pleasure, Empress!" A black tentacle left the chest of the little girl and entered the body of the lich, violently shaking the undead from its inside. If the duvodiad and the succubus were mildly affected by what was happening, Davion couldn't help but fell to a nearby chair. Even as he and Kardel ranted about getting more undead, Malakov had always conserved a huge amount of mana in reserve. Now, they knew why.

It was not visible from where they stood, but from the humans outside, the beam of light they were seeing began to dim, reflected away from its initial target. At the same time, another beam appeared in the sky, only to not even being able to touch the ground before dispersing itself. This sudden disruption shocked everyone even more than the fact the crazy idea of Lord Darkwater worked. Because they realized their enemy could counter the very power of the Gods they venerated.

Sensing the light slowly leaving his body, Idhrenil Gwendhir was left with a feeling of weakness. Putting his hand on his chest, he took a step forward, before throwing up blood. His condition was extremely severe, as many priests and magicians immediately rushed toward him. Seeing the familiar bear man falling like that, Amdir rushed to see his condition. With this, many left the tent and looked at the sky, trying to know where the light was going.

In Ronta that was not that far away, a little mouse was patiently waiting above the door with a bucket full of water. The impressible tower she was using to be that high was shaking like crazy, but still did not fell. Hearing the footsteps of someone, she dropped what she was holding the moment she noticed something red.

SPLOOSH

"KABOOOOM!" The shout of victory of the little girl did not match the dejected face of the young magician. His red hair, his robe, everything was wet. In the last week, he couldn't help but find that it was often him that was targeted by that little imp. As for what she was playing, all he could get was that the name was "SPLOOSH KABOOM!" It was extremely obvious why it was named like that, unfortunately, he was the one on the receiving end.

"STOP RIGHT HERE! I WANT TO PLAY TOO!" Casting in his hand a small waterball, he found out that the little girl that should have been right behind the door had already disappeared. Not even a trail was visible, leaving him hanging like that, still drenched. "Got caught again?" A cute girl approached from behind, making him smile.

But while he was doing so, he noticed that not even the corners of her mouth were lifted. Even after all those weeks, Istuienn was no longer smiling like she used to. If before, she would have found out that Ronald was tricked like that, she would have been on the floor, laughing so hard that her stomach would have hurt. But now, even her voice hardly expressed any emotion.

"Yes, she truly is the granddaughter of Lord Darkwater. Catching by surprise her enemy, leaving no choice but to be helpless." As he was speaking like that, she could see how high was the esteem of the population for the old general. The man that protected Massalia for so many years, the most cunning man alive for some. After all, Massalia was a kingdom surrounded by enemies, making the military play a huge role in the daily lives of the citizens.

Those sentiments were widely promoted, with often a son or even a daughter of a family enlisting themselves. Without the support of Genablum, it wouldn't have been possible, but it was nonetheless the current reality. Thinking about those grave things, she did not react in time when a beam of light fell on her. Fearing the worst, Ronald quickly pushed her away, to protect her.

She could see the young man tortured under the light, his nose beginning to bleed. "RONALD!" Screaming as much as she could, the rest of those living in the big manor ran at full speed. Only to see the crying Istuienn a few meters away from the red-haired boy, that was visibly in pain. However, to their surprise, the fear disappeared from his face, letting place to joy. And when the light finally faded, he managed to stay on his two feet without falling.

Looking at his two hands, he closed and opened them a few times, before turning his sight toward the bystanders. They were still shocked by what they were seeing and having a hard time understanding what happened before their eyes. "I feel ... great." Trying to take a step forward, he found out nothing unusual. "I feel really great." Still repeating the same sentence, he began to hear a voice in his head.

"Eh... Hello? You hear me?"