Chapter 859 - Frostmare Peak (Patreon)

Hera really wanted to stay with Alex and Bonnie. Especially now that they were actively helping the Alliance. But they were just a bit above level 40. Even if both had legacies now, with the Ophidianite tagging along, it would just end up as a one woman show. Well, one woman plus her army of floating weapons. That wouldn’t help anyone. The alliance would lose someone strong, and her friends wouldn’t practice enough to become stronger and properly learn how to use their new abilities.

That’s why they left on the next morning without any fuss. Hera had taken a smaller villa for her and her friends, so she they could talk more and have a proper goodbye. In addition, she also sent some texts to Lena, her dad, Shane, and a number of the dwarves from Boothudurn, who were now in Zaxalam. It was nothing big, just some mentions that she was doing well and that she would likely be unable to contact people for a few days. This room was the limit of possible communication. Beyond it, the mission asked them to activate the ‘stealth’ mode in all of their electronic devices. That would be more effective than putting a phone in airplane mode, and cut off any connection with any other device. The only devices still online were the communicators, and that was only because they used mana stones instead of radio waves. However, to keep the footprint of those messages to a minimum, they could only cover a distance of a bout 1 and a half kilometers.

Two uneventful days later, the Harmony Guardians arrived at the Frostmare Peak in the middle of a snowstorm. That wasn’t great, since the infiltration team was waiting for them to arrive before leaving. And they were supposed to be staying at a cave near one of the lower peaks. While looking at the map, Vash mentioned that the location they were supposed to meet at could be a problem. If there was an avalanche in one of the surrounding mountains, that would trap anyone who was currently in that cave.

“We should move quick then,” Flint replied and started to walk into the snowstorm. He quickly made some rope for the group and snow shoes that would attach under their boots. Vash couldn’t handle this kind of weather very well and, because of it, Hera was currently carrying the harpy.

Wanting to help, the Empress called Livy out and had her attempting to clear the way. Oddly enough, she was moving faster than one would expect and was able to go well beyond her regular range. Even Hera was surprised. After a few moments, they understood what was going on. Livy’s [Inheritance of Cerulea] was buffing her a little. Increasing her movement speed when she was in the same body of water as Hera. They had a feeling the effect was weaker than if they were in actual water, but it seemed like snow also counted for the skill. With that in mind, the Leviathan shifted to her sea serpent form. Unlike Nimbus, who could only carry two people, Livy could do that with 10 without losing speed. Then again, when on the ground, she was slow, but here, that could give them some help. Especially for Roan, Flint, and Vash. The harpy couldn’t fly, and his legs were not exactly made to tread snow. While the Dwarf and the Beastmen were both short, standing at a bit below a meter and a half.

Skyler and Neria also jumped on Livy’s back since it didn’t make sense for someone to move by their side if they had a better way to cross this snow. Following the directions on the map, it didn’t take long for them to arrive at the cave where they were supposed to meet the other team. However, the lower peaks were slowly being covered in snow. If they took too long to get out of there, they might end up trapped inside the cave. There were also a few monsters around, but they seemed worried about their own circumstances, not about the large group moving around the room.

30 minutes after they arrived in the room, they reached the meeting point. However, the entrance of the cave was already half buried due to the snowstorm. Still, the Empress could tell that there were some people inside it. Livy quickly moved inside, which caused whoever was waiting there to scream and get ready to attack.

“The fuck is that?” a small harpy with sky blue and storm gray feathers gasped, a spear being held by one of her talons as she took flight.

“I don’t know, but I don’t want to know what it’s like inside its stomach!” a tall beastmen put out his claws. Black fur covered his skin and his yellow eyes seemed to glow in the darkness, like a panther.

“Wait. Wait,” Skyler called, “We don’t want any trouble!”

“Yeah, this is Livy. She is not going to eat anyone!” Hera jumped from the back of the Leviathan and sent her back to the legacy. Just in case.

“You have a tail… and scales… Oh! Are you the Ophidi? Are you guys the other team?” an elf with emerald green eyes stepped forward, her silver hair coming from the sides of her neck from under her cloak. Oddly, the hair would change back and forth to leaf green as she moved.

“It’s Ophidianite, but yeah. And what is the name of your group? We are the Harmony Guardians,” Hera asked, following the protocol to confirm that information before saying anything else. Then again, being recognized should already be enough to confirm their identity. The existence of another species was, despite everything, somewhat of a secret.

“Shadow Talons,” a stout dwarf replied. He had short gray hair with a long beard of the same color that was braided with silver bangles. The man had blue eyes and broad shoulders, even for a dwarf.

Skyler nodded, “Ok. That checks out,” she glanced back, “Where should we go now? We were just told to meet you and the destination, now how to get there. I would like to talk a bit to know what the plan is, but I don’t think this is the right moment.” The snow continued to pile up, covering up more and more of the cave’s entrance.

“We are kind of screwed. Without any information about the weather here, there was no way to predict this storm. Now, both doorways we could use are too dangerous for us to get to,” the elf sighed, “I’m Liraelle, buy the way.”

“But why is that?” Vash asked.

“Hi. I’m Korrin,” the panther beastmen walked forward, “The first doorway had a lovely view of the room, but it was also near the peak of one of the mountains. In this storm, we will end up as kites without a string.”

Vash nodded, and the other harpy continued, “The other one is closer, but it’s in the middle of a Sleyti nest.”

“And why is that a problem?” Roan asked.

“Because I don’t want to become their food for the winter. If you want to go there, that’s fine,” the harpy shrugged.

“Right, and what’s your name? I’m Neria,” the triton asked.

“Syrinx,” the harpy replied.

“What’s the level of those Sleyti?” Hera asked.

“60. And I’m Borin,” the dwarf said.

“Oh? Ok. Where is the cave, then?” Roan asked.

“Didn’t you hear what we just said? Those monsters will eat our bones. Even if you are closer to their level, there are just too many of them in a nest.” Syrinx huffed.

“Hundreds?” Flint asked.

“Dozens,” Borin replied.

“Yeah, then I think we are ok. Just point us to the cave. We’ll send a signal when we are done,” Hera nodded. After the fight against Delta she, like Livy, was itching to face someone strong but that she still could beat. Even if those monsters were level 60, she could take them. After all, even humans that were above level 60 struggled to fight against her.

“Are you sure?” Liraelle asked.

“If they want to die, let them,” Syrinx flew to the back of the cave where they had a small fire going on.

“We kind of need them to help to get to the lab. We are great for going in, taking stuff out will be the problem,” Korrin sighed.

“You said dozens, right? If you are worried about the difference in numbers,” Hera snapped her fingers, summoning the entire court. All 5/6 titled blades, and the 8 floating weapons, “It won’t be that great.”

“What are they?” Liraelle rushed over.

“My backup. Each of them can take a level 60 human on their own,” the Empress boasted a little.

“Besides, the whole idea was that you were the spies, and we are the muscle. Let us show how much we can lift,” Vash smiled.

“I wanna see that. Can we go along? Maybe we can help,” Liraelle moved towards the Harmony Guardians. The rest of the Shadow Talons sighed and followed her.

The cave where the next doorway was located wasn’t that far. Just a 10 minute sprint to the east. Unfortunately, due to the storm, they took almost 30 minutes to get there. Livy couldn’t carry everyone anymore, and splitting the groups wasn’t the best idea. Especially since the visibility here was absolutely terrible. Syrinx had some spells, or skills, to control air currents, but even her abilities were not enough to fight off against the snowstorm.

When they arrived, they saw how the entrance of this cave was completely clear. It was located on the side of the mountain that was directly opposite to the direction of the wind. Inside, were large white fluffy balls that could be clearly seen even from the entrance. Their sizes varied wildly. From tiny ones that were close to a watermelon, to one massive all the way in the back that should be at least 3 meters tall.

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Sleyti - Level 55
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Baby Sleyti - Level 35
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Sleyti Patriarch - Level 60
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Flint glanced back at Borin, “I thought you said they were all level 60.”

“The one that matters is,” Borin replied and got closer to the walls at the entrance.

Every member of the Shadow Talons did the same, grouping up before starting to blend with the shadows. It was clear that they had no intention of participating in the fight. Which wasn’t a problem. Especially when the big one was the only at level 60.

“Anyone wants the patriarch?” Hera asked the Harmony Guardians. Livy was already begging to take on the beast herself.

“All yours, Empress,” Neria said with a smile and the rest of the team nodded.

Hera smiled back and turned to her court, ‘Let’s split off. Livy and I take the patriarch, everyone else is free to go for whoever they want. Pyro, Storm, come with us too.’

‘Fuck yes!’ Livy cheered.

“Actually. How about an opening salvo?” Skyler suggested.

“Sure,” Vash smiled.

Understanding the idea, Neria pulled yellowish water from her staff. It was, in essence, juice. An extremely concentrated citric acid that could burn the skin and be quickly absorbed by the body. It was also lemony fresh. Skyler and Vash prepared a combo attack using sound waves that would bounce around the cave, overlapping with itself. It would likely be over soon since there was a lot of fur in the area, but even so, it was enough damage to give them an edge. Hera also prepared an Elemental Poison Storm that would be firing the projectiles horizontally. Just because she wanted to focus on fighting styles lately, it didn’t mean she was going to give up her poison spells. Especially since she could then shift the rain to be just on top of her and her target when she didn’t have to worry about other people getting involved.

Flint and Roan didn’t have any attacks like that, so instead, they counted the group down.

“3…2….1…Fire!” they said together.

The spells exploded inside the cave, killing almost all the babies and damaging most of the adults. A few that were close to the entrance also perished without being able to react. And before the others could even move and reveal themselves. The Harmony Guardians jumped inside the cave, ready to wipe out all of these monsters.