Chapter 286 - Rematch atop the mountain (Patreon)

Despite the large numbers, the monsters in the area barely posed a threat. The griffons were weaker than those in the front of the dungeon, going from levels 5 to 7 and much less organized. To top it all off, they would only attack in waves of ten. For Hera and her friends, this was just a walk in the park. After getting out of the makeshift labyrinth made out of stone, they arrived at this open area with 56 Juvenile Sky Rulers. Despite the initial shock, they were having fun during the fight. Even if they allowed the monsters to attack them, the creatures couldn't even scratch their gear, much less deal some damage. One griffon tried to body slam Silah, but the dwarf didn't budge with the impact. The creature, on the other hand, had a cut on its head. It was like it tried to headbutt a rock.

Hera even had enough time to look around. To her left, there was a wide expanse with a mist of yellow particles covering a large area. That should be the part where she used her pollen spell. She was curious about what would happen if someone got close to that, but at the same time, it wasn't a good idea to do so when there wasn't a healer around. If her stone walls, which normally were 2 meters tall at most, turned into those massive barriers that went over 15 meters high, she could only imagine what her harmless pollen could do. However, that wasn't the strangest thing she saw. Close to who she assumed was the Sky Ruler, there was a large red pond on the ground, and behind it some clouds forming a sort of stairway towards the mountain peak. The clouds were easy to understand. Blue created similar formations as stepping stones to reach the Sky Ruler during their fight, but the pond was bugging Hera. They didn't use any water or ice spells.

Before getting too distracted with those thoughts, Hera snapped back to the fight. It wasn't hard, but if she ignored the monsters completely, something bad could happen. Glancing to the side, she could see Helena dodging a few griffons, but the creatures swarmed her. Not wanting to let her mentor get hurt. Hera jumped towards the monsters, cutting off their heads with a single swing and paralyzing a couple who tried to run away.

"Is everything ok?" Hera asked.

"Yeah, thanks for the help. I'm trying to save the mana I have in the stones since I'm not sure what the boss will do," Helena looked at a small crystal on her necklace.

"Don't worry about it. I can tell that this Sky Ruler won't be even close to what we fought just by the size of it. That one was taller than those walls we just passed through."

"Oh, c'mon Hera. You don't have to spice up the story. What you did was already amazing by itself," Helena rolled her eyes.

"She's not spicing anything. The real Sky Ruler was taller than those things," Silah said without looking back. She was focusing on controlling her saw blades. As strong as the spell was, it was also dangerous. Having a spinning blade that could carve an entire griffon in half flying around made everyone feel a bit uncomfortable, but they had to admit it was effective. The spinning metal cut the monsters like butter.

"Really? How did it get so big?" Bonnie asked as two of their fist spells hit the griffons, killing a couple of them with the impact.

"I have no idea. It was supposed to be over a thousand years old, but then again, since the dwarves couldn't even cross the barrier, the title could've passed to a new generation or something," Hera flung three poison needles towards the new wave of griffons who had just  triggered.

"Can you stop talking and focus on the dungeon? This is not a game!" Alex yelled before sending a wind blade that cut two griffons.

"This is not one of your power-leveling sessions. We are just hanging out. Chill," Bonnie scoffed.

"I don't care! We have to keep our guard up all the time."

Bonnie just shrugged. Hera understood what Alex was talking about, but at the same time, this wasn't hard. There was no need to be so on edge. Little by little, they finished off all the Juvenile Sky Rulers until only one monster remained.

The Sky Ruler howled and jumped from its perch, flying around the invaders a couple of times before landing in front of the puny creatures that just killed its flock in front of the red pond. However, as soon as its feet touched the ground, it realized the mistake it had made. It wasn't the one staring down at its prey. No, these invaders were the hunters, and the Sky Ruler was their quarry. The fear became overwhelming, and the monster lashed out, throwing its spells everywhere, trying to push its enemies away.

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Sky Ruler - level 10 (Wind Affinity)
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Hera stomped the ground, creating a stone wall in front of them that blocked all the wind blades, feathers, and blasts that were going coming them. At the same time, Silah controlled her saw blades to arc in the Sky Ruler's direction. The monster was just a bit over 3 meters tall. It was a baby when comparing with the previous ruler of the mountain. Bonnie launched some fists towards the sky, but they changed courses in midair and flew towards where the griffon landed.

During that time, the barrage of spells coming from the monster didn't stop. Silah's blades appeared on the other side, and she sent them back the way they came. It was easy to see that her attack was effective because of the blood splatter that appeared on the snow. Bonnie kept up with her rocket fists, adjusting the direction even without seeing the target. It was hard to tell if her spells were hitting the griffon, but with the number of attacks coming from the Sky Ruler, moving outside the safety of the stone barrier was too risky. Even Alex and Helena couldn't find an opening to attack. Ignoring the danger and being hit by the spells was an option, but at the same time, no one wanted to see how strong those bursts of wind actually were.

Noticing that her stone wall was being chipped away, Hera was about to cast another one to take its place when the wind spells suddenly stopped. They waited a moment before stepping out of cover, only to see the Sky Ruler with three of its legs missing and several broken bones and barely able to keep its head up. Apparently, Silah's saw blade cut off its limbs while Bonnie's fist spells shattered its body.

"Errm… that is a bit much," Hera walked over to the monster and slammed her handaxe against its head, putting the Sky Ruler out of its misery.

"You could've asked if anyone else wanted to do it," Alex said.

"Oh, sorry. Next time I'll stop to talk while the thing agonizes," Hera rolled her eyes.

"It's just a dungeon monster," Alex shrugged and walked closer to the corpse, waiting for the loot.

"So what? We don't have to torture it. It's fine if you need to kill a cow for meat, but kill it before skinning it," Hera replied.

Alex just waved her away, and the drops finally appeared. Where the Sky Ruler once was, now there was a small pile of gold and a bundle of feathers. At the same time, a notification appeared in front of everyone.

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You have completed the dungeon quest inside the Sky Ruler Nest.

By defeating the Sky Ruler, you have stopped their rampage.

Rewards:

30 000 gold

Sky Ruler Eyes
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"That's just gross," Hera said after seeing her rewards. Getting eyes as a reward was way too gruesome for her. Looking at the drops, there were a couple of hundred gold coins and the feathers that seemed to be suitable for crafting some gear with wind affinity.

Walking over to the pond, Silah couldn't understand why the water was red. She tossed a pebble inside, and nothing happened, but the splash sent the water to the snow. Curiously, the wet snow now had the same color as the blood splatter created by the Sky Ruler.

"Oh, crap!" Silah gasped.

"What's wrong?" Hera stopped looking at the loot and rushed to her girlfriend's side.

"Nothing. I just figured out what this pond is," Silah turned to Hera, "It's when I saved you from the Sky Ruler's mouth. Remember how it started bleeding like crazy? It made a pool on the ground."

"Really? Then… is that blood?" Hera asked.

"I don't think so. It looks like red water, but I didn't touch it."

The group tried to figure out what that pond actually was, but even their skills gave them odd answers that couldn't help identify the liquid. For one, this was called Blood Pond, and the description talked about it being rich in iron and other minerals for the griffons to drink, but it never said it was actually drinkable for humans. Not wanting to get sick, the group just started gathering the loot. While doing that, the girls kept praising Hera about the dungeon, and that was starting to go to her head. She felt proud of what she did. Just like Silah said, her actions changed the lives of everyone in the city. It was no small feat. Even if people around the world didn't know, for the citizens of Boothudurn, Hera was a hero.

Even so, Hera changed the subject to Alex's skill, and they started talking about their new abilities and spells, and left the dungeon. There was no reason to stay around with the quest over, and even if Hera was curious about the pollen field, she wouldn't risk going there without a healer in the party.

It took some time for them to return to the city, since there was still the long tunnel that went down the mountain. After all that walking, they stopped at a restaurant to have lunch. In hindsight, that wasn't the best move. Four humans walking around the city caused quite a commotion, resulting in a few guards having to escort the group around. They ended up eating quickly to not disturb the people in the restaurant, even if they seemed to be more than happy to have humans eating there. Hera tried to stop by Risli's, but they called the Shaman for the ambassadors' meeting. As a plan B, she took her friends to the farming fields and showed them the entrance to the Wooly Plains. Alex was ready to do another dungeon, but Helena wouldn't have enough mana. She spent over half of what she had on her crystals, and no one wanted to put her in a situation where she was defenseless, even if the mage insisted she could take care of herself.

Silah accompanied them through the tour. Hera found it a bit odd since her girlfriend said she wanted to stay with her family just to end up keeping her friends company all the time. Hera tried to ask about that, but it seemed like Silah wasn't in the mood to elaborate on that.

As a way to change the pace, Hera stopped by her house and picked up a few extra coats so they could see how the mountain looked from the outside. These small excursions were already common, but anyone who left the city through the main gate had to have an escort. Luckily for them, Hera and Silah were part of the guard, removing the need for more people to join them.

Once outdoors, Alex and Bonnie were in awe to see the mountain itself. Neither of them had ever been to a mountain like this, and the sheer size of it made them forget about anything. Helena was less impressed, but she agreed that it was a beautiful place. Her research made her explore different areas, and a mountain wasn't all that exciting.

They walked around, checking the slopes where, once upon a time, the dwarves built some structures. It was just a shame that there was nothing left. Maybe they could find some marks or ruins after some digging, but that would require a full-blow archeological dig and they weren't about to start that now.

"Hey, who are you, little guy?" Silah was crouching down by a tree.

"Silah?" Hera asked, worried about the type of monster that could be around now that the griffons were gone.

"You are too cute, you know that? But are you hurt? Why are your arms red?" Silah continued.

Hera rushed over, and when she saw what Silah was talking to, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. It was a small, round, four-legged creature. It seemed fuzzy and cuddly, like a panda, but it had red eyes, and its claws and arms were red, almost as if they were stained with blood.

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Wendigo - Level 5 (Consumption Affinity)
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[All In] effects deactivated, the cooldown will now start
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In a flash, Hera crossed the distance between her and Silah and grabbed the creature by the scruff, slamming it against a rock behind it.

"Hera! What are you...?" before Silah even finished, Hera was already slamming her handaxe into the creature over and over again, "Stop! What the fuck?"

"What is going on?" Helena rushed over.

"Lena, don't come here!" Hera yelled without stopping her attacks. Only after she cut off the Wendigo's head entirely that did her striking finally stopped.

"What is wrong?" Bonnie and Alex were already with their buffs flaring up.

"That was a wendigo," Hera replied.

"Fuck…" Alex turned to Helena. The mage was pale and just staring in Hera's direction with wide eyes.

"We need to show this to the king and the ambassadors. Now!" Hera said, without letting go of the corpse.

"Can someone explain to me what is going on?!" Silah gasped.

Bonnie sighed, "It's a long story, let's go back to the city. I'll explain it on the way."


##### Author's Note ####

Does this count as a recurring villain? 

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