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1175. The Worm Mountain(4)
🕑 Added 2024-09-15 15:55:58 +0000 UTCThe feeling of destroying the weak with overwhelming power was a rush. She was carving a path through the darkness, fully focused on the battle when she heard a commotion from the back. Before she acted herself, the Hell Knight leader informed her that a beast had appeared behind them and that they would take care of it.
Submerging herself in the glee of killing a horde of mobs she quickly proceeded down the tunnel. The ecstasy only weakened when she saw the light past the wall of many-limbed creatures. It was actually the excavation party meeting them halfway through, also killing the creatures from their side.
“Take care of the scouts and get everyone out of here, “ she commanded the undead and her subordinates naturally. However, her adjutant looked a little hesitant before he spoke up.
“Your Highness, where are the scouts and undead?” he asked the possessed skeleton, speaking with his master’s voice. Natina turned around with slight confusion, finding the tunnel behind her empty. Indeed, where was everyone?
The mounted troop had gone to deal with the trouble in the back, but what happened to the scouts and the undead guards? Signaling with her hand, she instructed them to follow as they walked back through the tunnel littered with limbs and split golem bodies.
A second light appeared at the end of the hallway and the sound of battle that couldn’t be heard before grew louder. What were they fighting? Had more golems appeared from behind? Their steps quickened and they ran down the tunnel.
Finally, the group of scouts came in sight. Only a handful faced their direction and saw them coming, the rest had all turned their backs to them, desperately firing skills, spells, and magic down the tunnel.
“Your Highness! You finally came back!” the meager rearguard cried out in relief as they greeted the purple-glowing undead and the excavation team. Some of the people in the front turned back, all of them breathing a sigh of relief at the sight of the reinforcement.
“What in the world is going on?” she asked exasperated.
“The creature that followed us is far stronger and more resilient than the other ones! The undead guards were whittled away, and only the mounted knights are holding their ground and only because we are doing our best to support them, “ it bubbled out of one of the rearguards.
Her undead knights were whittled away? Her death knights had a hard time facing the beast and were even forced to get help from scouts? She had not noticed any of this in her battle frenzy, but a quick swipe with her conscious confirmed that less than 80 of her undead were left. It was hard to believe, but It was true.
“Out of the way,” she said harshly and pushed her way through the crowd. The ground was littered with undead that had their heads or bodies crushed. Pushing her way past the remaining scouts, she found her remaining undead locked in battle with an abomination. The searing light that filled the tunnel, was able to burn away the darkness and reveal a rough outline.
Filling the complete tunnel, it was a creature made of hundreds of shadow tendrils, that fought all the remaining undead at the same time. Whenever weapons and tendrils met, there was the sound of metal clashing. Projectiles just vanished in the darkness or repelled with a clank. Magic just vanished in the darkness, without doing any visible damage.
She watched the fight for a moment and had to admit that the scout was correct. The undead left were those with high agility and melee capabilities.
“Out of the way, I will take care of this!” she announced loudly her aura of destruction flaring up and illuminating the tunnel with divine power. The whole battle haled, even the shadow tendrils. All the focus was on her, at least for a fragment of a second.
The next moment the shadow tendrils receded into the darkness beyond the circle of light. With incredible speed, the abomination had simply…vanished? Even Natina stared for a moment, as she processed the situation.
“It ran away?!” she exclaimed shocked and frustrated. Everything in her wanted to give chase, but she knew that she shouldn’t. Just running into the dark tunnels, looking for a shadow sounded and was simply stupid.
It ached her heart, to see how many undead she had lost because of this episode, but undead could be replenished. The imperial family didn’t care for her undead. She had to cut her losses and get the scout out of there. This was a colossal failure but at least it didn’t become the worst case.
This time, it was her taking over the rearguard, while the excavation team to the lead. Finally, they managed to save 350 of the 50 scout teams. They were all battered and exhausted, but alive. A night's sleep and a bunch of potions, and they would be able to continue.
With gnashing teeth, she conceded to have another day of rest, before she continued to Delta. On their third day since arriving on Urth, she gave the mountain a last, mean look, swearing to come back for revenge one day.
....
“The... “Profane Dark” really did a good job... It probably bought us another two days,” she informed him with a wry smile, feeling awkward saying the name out loud. But she still found it preferable to the other one. This time it was Leana who came by the workshop, finding the blacksmith finishing Strix's weapon.
“I didn't expect Arms to be this effective” The blacksmith looked up with a slight surprise, naming it by its nickname. Even when Leana found the “Dark Profane” a little weird, she couldn't call that thing Arms.
The empty Worm Mountain was the first of a handful of traps Minas Mar had prepared to impede them. It was all thanks to the help of Idyllon Mo, the space wizard, that they were able to prepare some things in such a short time.
Thanks to him, Evan's Dungeon Worms had enough time to create a fake nest that looked genuine, at least from the outside. They had created the perfect hunting ground for the Profane Dark and copies of it.
The Profane Dark, Leana mentioned, was the golem Seth created with the soul of the troll. Turning it into a creature of darkness and placing it underground was the blacksmith's answer to overcome its weakness against sunlight. Its design was adapted to moving around subterranean cave systems.
Unlike the copies, which were simply golems created with the golem forge using <Crimson Steel>, the original was made of <Ithildin> and incorporated his experience with the Armor of Lunacy. It didn't just have the 90% resistance to physical damage, but the material and the enchantments of Elufsiv the Ensurient allowed it to resist, weaken, and absorb any magic in its surroundings.
“Is Arms okay?” Seth asked out of curiosity. It had a great defense but its offense was lacking behind. He didn't expect the mountain to be able to buy that much time. Another two days. He had just finished the weapon of Hunger. For a moment he considered working on Nam's and Dowloon's items.
Howeveeeeer~ If they really managed to buy that much time, trying to finish the apocalyptic set had a higher priority. If he was honest, he was way more interested in the quest, than in making some robes or trying to translate the cultivator blueprint he got from Nam into something usable. Finishing the quest also had a much greater immediate impact on their coming battle.
How awesome, would it be, if they managed to stall enough time to finish, and Natina would arrive at Delta, only to face the quartet of fresh legends waiting for her. That was if she managed to get here in the first place.
“Yes, we were able to contact it. The Profane Dark retreated when it faced a dangerous opponent, but it will follow the enemy from behind and look for chances to deal more damage,” Leana explained the situation.
“No, just tell it to return. It's not made for battle on the surface and fighting in daylight is too much of a risk,” Seth said, thinking of the troll soul's weakness. Although its body was surrounded by a light-swallowing darkness, the enchantment had its limits. Especially since daylight was no magic, so a big part of its defense didn't work.
“Is the next stop of our little Odyssey ready?” Seth asked on the side, putting the finishing touches on the weapon.
“Yes, Al'Zalsar finished her formation in time and Haa'Skon also began to move.”
Comments
Beggar of Freedom
Divines bless your kind heart!
