Chapter 300 A City Razed

Chapter 300 A City Razed

The next morning they were moving with the first light, before proper dawn, so that they could get to the city before the Frost Giants could see them coming. Hawk had been sent out early to scout their route, and had informed them to stay further from the ash, as the heat was increasing, and the areas closest to it were becoming muddy as the snow melted.

That was bad news for the Giants, but there weren't any of them out at the moment. The flow of reinforcements had entirely stalled, and the only enemies that Hawk could find were patrolling around the city's perimeter.

There was no sign of activity in the city, and the signs of previous occupancy were fading as the wind blew the snow over the roads and paths.

A few hours after dawn, Bob gestured into the distance. "Turn right a little, but stay out of the slush. The valley that I was referring to should be over there, and I'm curious to see if it's still frozen."

Karl led the group forward, with the less physical members all mounted, though that meant that the Spider Golems had to take passengers to bring their travel speed up to standards.

Ty was a Ranger, not a warrior, and while he was quick, he didn't have the sort of stamina for an all morning run the way that the warrior classes did. So, he needed a ride, and Doug was more than happy to take a place on the other Spider Golem, so that Thor wasn't overburdened.

The Lightning Cerro had hit a minor growth spurt after reaching Commander Rank, and he could easily accommodate four on his back with a suitable harness, but it was better to just have Tessa, Dana and Tori, so their bodyguard didn't get too tired to fight.

Karl slowed the group as they got close to the valley that Bob had mentioned, and had Hawk circle the area.

[That place isn't right. It's all melted now.] Hawk reported.

[What's there? Just slush?] Karl asked.

[A small lake.]

Karl led them cautiously forward, in case there were still more Magma Elementals or other servants of the Dragon around. The temperature was rising rapidly as they approached, and Lotus was getting excited.

"I know what this is. This phenomenon is common after a volcanic eruption. There was an underground fissure here, and now the frozen lake is a volcanic hot springs." The little nature cleric declared.

Ty whistled in appreciation from his spot on the back of a Spider Golem.

"No wonder everyone said that your team were monsters. Even without the advantage of numbers, your attack power is just stupid. What sort of skill one hit kills an Ascended Frost Giant?" The Ranger asked.

"The maul lets me stack layers of the same skill on it before I attack. That first hit was five layers of Flaming Body at the same time. Even if he was a Commander, taking that hit square to the chest would have killed him." Karl explained as the group ran for the wall of the city.

The blast went outward, so whatever had attacked had already been inside the city. That was not a good sign for the residents, who were sensitive to even normal heat.

Their entry point was a small secondary breach, where something had melted the stone and caused it to run in liquid form.

The blast went outward, so whatever had attacked had already been inside the city. That was not a good sign for the residents, who were sensitive to even normal heat.

The team made the wall without being detected, and paused just inside the city to take in the level of destruction that had come for the residents.

There were bodies everywhere, and not just Frost Giants. There were Yetis, some sort of Satyr species, and even Mountain Ogres, who lived in the hills before the border expanded.

Each and every one of them showed signs of fire damage, and they were all long dead, likely two days, as they were frozen solid and covered by a layer of snow.

"The Dragon wasn't holding back." Karl whispered as he looked over what used to be a residential area of the city, and now didn't have a single standing building.

Not even the little ones had been spared, everything had been levelled as the invaders had passed through. From their entry point, they could see the main breach, so this was the start of the fighting, but that meant that the destruction didn't make much sense. If they had seen the attack coming, they would have at least evacuated the vulnerable to the other side of the city, so there wouldn't be many noncombatants near the walls.

Tessa looked over the destruction, and drew little lines in the air with her finger, as she worked to recreate the battle in her mind.

"They attacked from the other wall first. A diversionary attack that breached the walls, and made the Frost Giants retreat. Then they breached this wall, probably from the hot springs valley, where they wouldn't have been seen. This side of town should be nearly completely destroyed, and the number of bodies might be more than everyone is prepared for." She explained.