Chapter 651 - A Threat from the Past (Part 1) (1/2)
”I think we should contact our commanding officer.” Phloria said. ”As a person, I just want to run away from this nightmarish place. As a soldier, however, I think we should at least make sure that by opening Kulah's gates we haven't unleashed some ancient horror upon the Griffon Kingdom.”
Lith nodded. He really hoped to receive the order to retreat. In the case that happened, he would only need to have Solus assume her tower form above the mana geyser once to be able to return there anytime he wanted.
'If it works.' Solus said. 'The ground has been enchanted so that it will not be affected by earth magic and even if the mana geyser has not been claimed, most of its energy is drained by Kulah.
'There might not be enough world energy left to assume my tower form, let alone to perform a Warp.'
Phloria took her army amulet out of her dimensional amulet and tried to contact headquarters. Unlike a civilian device, the army communication amulet had green mana crystals supporting the blue crystal and amplifying its signal.
Yet all the runes carved on its surface were inactive. She had to infuse it with her own mana to get even the emergency rune to light up.
”Dammit, I don't know the reason but now the signal sucks. Give me a hand, please. I can't speak and focus so much all at once.”
With Lith's help, the hologram of commander Berion soon appeared between them. Phloria reported to him everything that had happened and the losses they had suffered.
”Dammit! You should have called me the moment you realized it was a military compound! Your expedition isn't suited for that kind of recon. Historians are a must, but you need many more Master Forgemasters and Wardens.” Berion slammed his fist against his desk.
Lith had never seen him angry, not even during the events of Othre. Once he looked more carefully, Lith noticed that he was wrong. The Commander was worried, not angry.
”With all due respect, sir, the creature attacked the moment we stepped inside Kulah, despite not having provoked it. There is no way to tell if the creature would have attacked us regardless of whether we entered or not.
”It was controlled by a slave item, so despite the fact that its will was restricted, it was far from a mindless creature. Also, I think that your first order would have been to assess the danger the compound poses to the Kingdom.” Phloria replied.
”You are right.” Berion sighed. ”Those Odi were cunning. If you didn't destroy the arrays, they would have killed you as soon as the door was opened, whereas removing the arrays let that fungus thing free to murder you on the first occasion it got.
”Normally I would order you to get out of there and wait for reinforcements, but we have no idea what other contingency measures the Odi might have set in place. On top of that, now that the gates of Kulah are open, we can't risk that someone coming from the tunnels might trigger the gods know what traps or steal the Odi's secrets.
”Even worse, something could follow you to the surface, and if the fights break out inside the mines, our losses would be incalculable. For now, your task is to guard the compound and make sure that nothing gets in or out of it.
”I'll inform you as soon as the Royals make their decision. This is too big, even for me to decide alone. Commander Berion out.”
The moment the conversation was over, Phloria put her amulet back inside her dimensional item and conjured a Hush zone to prevent he others from overhearing her.
”At least now we have our orders. Can you see something out of the ordinary in the tunnels?” She asked.
Lith's eyes flared up with Life Vision and then he looked around before replying:
”Nothing, but it doesn't mean much. When the Teks attacked, I had no notice of it until it was too late and I can't see inside Kulah's buildings due to the arrays surrounding them.”
”Ugh, I hoped to receive some good news.” Phloria said. ”Quylla mentioned how the Odi used slaves and golems to do their scut work. Unless they managed to imprison another eternal being, we are bound to face golems.
” Kulah being a military compound, there must be a lot of them, and they are most likely all armed to the teeth. Can Life Vision see them or are they invisible to it?”
”They have no life force, but I can see their mana flow so I should be able to warn you in time. Unless they pull some stunt like the Tek, of course.” Lith replied.
By the time the remaining members of the expedition team woke up, it was already noon. Old age was an unbeatable enemy and some of the Professors had suffered great damage, forcing them to rest for more than a day.