128 A careful approach (1/2)
TICK TONK TOK TLUNCK
The sounds of metal against stone was easily heard from a great distance. Surrounding the ten or so men that were panting while visibly scared, many men and women in robes were watching carefully the giant gate nearby. Not a single soul dared to get close to it, and even the excavation ground was a few hundred meters away. Thanks to the reports of the adventurers, they could guess the general direction of the ominous tomb in front of them. And therefore, planned accordingly.
But, even then, no one was truly enjoying the fact that they were close to those demons. Very, very close. Whether it was the magicians and magus or the miners,they tried to act as silently as they could. All feared the moment when the statues will begin to move and come forward. They were not alone, actually, just that the army was a bit behind. The day before, they had finally heard the news of the General Avirus being defeated, making them even more panicked. But they couldn't do as they wished since they had orders.
Looking at the notes nearly incomprehensible, Sarah handed them to the magus near her, Artour. That was the advice of his twin, Arthar Rodil, and it was at that moment she understood why the latter had so many assistants. Because he couldn't write correctly at all. After a minute where they both read it a few times, they could finally decrypt what was written on it. But when they looked at the gate, they wondered if they were truly understanding the situation in Ronta.
”Do we really need to do that now? Can't we wait a day or even their arrival?” The jovial botanist was no longer smiling anymore, and many wrinkles could be seen on his face. After all, the two brothers were very old, and in recent months, they had been put under a lot of pressure. Even now, he could not help but worry about his two grandchildren, that were supposed to be safe and secure.
”No, Lord Darkwater will not arrive before two three, and the full army before a week. And from what we understood of that paper, the two statues in front of us needs to be destroyed and analyzed before his arrival.” Sarah Meridil was not pleased by that. Especially since she was one of the two living beings that saw the Dark God with the shape of a little girl. Looking around, at her peers from other nations, she couldn't help but be disappointed. None seemed to be able to match the power of that demon.
”Pull the workers out. Who knows if those ghosts won't be able to pass through the stone and attack them directly.” The old magus nodded at those words and approached the officer that was nearby. Seeing the face of the soldier getting completely white in a matter of second, she could only shake her head. But soon, a troop of hundreds of veterans stood in formation and began to walk. Not in a straight path at all, but made a circle clearly avoiding the entrance of the tomb.
It could have been a funny sight if it was not such a necessity. From afar, they could see the workers jumping out of the hole the moment the officer spoke to them and immediately seeking shelter in the middle of the squadron. It took a dozen of minutes, but they could see the relieved face of the strong miners, with some even thanking the gods to be out. No one thought it was overreacting, showing how pessimistic everyone in the vicinity was.
”Magus Meridil, magus Aradil.” A handsome, but visibly worried magus approached the duo, accompanied with a few others magicians. Even as he spoke, he couldn't help but sneak a peek at the impressive gate. Nowhere was found the previous arrogance he had in the desert. ”Magus Khala” The two mages from Massalia returned the greeting to their peer of the Synnada Empire.
”Is it really time? Right now?” He was not thrilled at all by the perspective of bothering those living under the mountains, not happy at all. But from the moment he arrived, a few days ago, he had not seen the now deep hole above the tomb being empty. Even in the middle of the night, workers and soldiers were digging a way to enter the tomb without breaching the front door. After all, if something wanted to exit the tomb, it had to face thirty full-fledged magus and magicians, with the less experienced being of the 4th Circle.
It was apparent by now that even as large and lengthy the gate was, it was only one entrance after all. The coalition could not be overwhelmed by huge numbers of undead, but likewise, could not use all their troops at the same time. In that regard, Lord Darkwater wanted to open another path, from above. And during the process, if something came out to attack them, the important number of mages will take care of that.
After the initial report of the defeat of Avirus that was only describing the outcome for Archet, the White Hand provided a very detailled description of what really happened. A little more than 100 undead, all wearing an armor sturdier than the very swords of the soldiers from Avenio decimated the humans. But past that point, it did make mention that no mages were present in that battle. After all, the latter could travel far more quickly than the important troop of soldiers, visible by the fact that even near Sarah Meridil, a few could be seen.
Because of that, it was uncertain if the result could have been avoided if someone of the 4th Circle or above was present. After all, each magus was an army by itself. Furthermore, the new Hero Avirus had also said the same thing, albeit in other words. However, after the escape he made, he was so tired and hungry that they haven't heard anything else yet from him. Looking at the sky above, Sarah counted that it was already three days since they received the news, and with the delay, the Hero had probably slept two entire days. Otherwise, Arthar would have spoken about it.
”Magus Meridil?” The voice of the man from the desert broke her thoughts, and she realized that they were still looking at her. Staring at the gate, she nodded, making them visibly scared. ”Lord Darkwater wants those two statues and what is hiding inside to be destroyed by the end of the day.” She didn't even have to turn to hear the massive sighs of relief behind her. At first, they had imagined something far worst, but if it was only that, it would be fine. They hoped.
Soon, the numerous siege weapons that were already deployed began to turn slowly to aim at the two stone monuments. The unworldly creature displayed and its weapon were still as menacing as the first day they put their eyes on them, maybe even more. However, because the targets were very small, if we could talk about a nearly 5 meters tall statue that way, only some balistas were truly concerned.