136 Battle of the Wild Mountains : Part 4 (1/2)

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.