Chapter 796 - Cracks already appearing (Patreon)

Hera walked back to the command center with Flint and Vash in tow. It was late already, and their shift would start in a bit under half an hour. However, her snakes were still moving around the room, preparing the Pool of Styx. To be activated. Ideally, she would be there to trigger the spell when it was ready, but she was worried this wouldn't happen. That's why she set up a secondary nexus in the area they were protecting, sector 3B floor 87. That way, the spell could be activated either in the command center or down there. 

For now, the Empress was coming back from a supply run. Getting some water and food to leave behind the reinforced door. During their last shift, they didn't do that. Luckily, Neria and Vash had some power bars that they shared with the group. Now, however, they would have the option of making a stew or eating a few sandwiches. Everything would be inside an enchanted container that stopped it from spoiling, but it didn't affect the temperature. That would require too much mana. That's why Vash decided to add cheese to almost everything. Since they were, in essence, inside a volcano, they might as well use the heat to melt the cheese.

The people who were walking along the streets seemed tired and sad. A few even resorted to drinking in the middle of the afternoon or whatever time it was. At least it looked like those who were intoxicated would be taking over their shifts. But still, it was a rampage. Everyone needed to be aware of the danger at all times. The blacksmiths and crafters responsible for repairer people's gear were clearly overworked. A few looked like they hadn't slept since this all started. Hera frowned as she noticed the cracks she saw in people's morale. Were things really that bad already? Or was this normal, and her mind just focused on the bad? It was hard to tell. This was only the third rampage she participated in, and the situations were all wildly different. 

As they got back to the meeting room they were using, Vazor and Sapphira, the commanders during this rampage, met the rest of the group. Everyone was following the snakes around in their sensors. It wasn't a hard thing to do, especially since Hera called the constructs in that room. Most of them were more than halfway through their path already, but a few would still take at least an hour to complete their part of the spell circle. The Ophidianite got a bit too confident in her snake's hiding capabilities. Because of that, she didn't tell them to hide as a monster passed by. As a result, a few of the constructs were destroyed, forcing Hera to ask them all to stop and reorganize their paths. 

"Do you need to be here to cast that spell?" Sapphira asked the Empress.

"No. I made it so I can cast it either here, in this room, or in an area where we have to defend." 

"That was some good foresight," Sapphira nodded with a smile, the first time the elf smiled at her.

"And did you decide how you are going to target those involved?" Vazor asked.

"Yeah. I think it's better to target every person as the receiver of the buff. Even if there are noncombatants. If their attributes are stronger, they might be able to help with other things or survive an attack if something bad happens. Also, I saw a few ants in the street. Is that a common thing?"

"Ants?" Vazor asked, "I mean. Yeah. It's hard to find a place that doesn't have ants."

"Do the spire, or the city, have other bugs too? Roaches, flies, bed bugs, maybe rats," Hera asked.

"I think so. Not a large amount. We are not infested, but it's hard for any city that size not to have vermin. And here, well, it's a farming place. Bugs are part of the course. There is even a bee lab. Some people are trying to see if they can make a type of bee that can thrive in this temperature," Vazor replied.

With a smile, Hera continued, "Then we might be getting a bigger buff than I expected."

"That spell works on bugs too?" Sapphira's eyes went wide.

"Yep. I had a dream/vision dungeon thing I was a part of. Like I was there, but I wasn't. In that dungeon, I used this spell in a nest of bugs. Every larvae was affected by it. And I was the only one being buffed by it. The buff capped in an instant. I'm kind of hoping you all missed some nest of bugs down there. If we have a few dozen ant nests, we might be able to get close to 100 thousand points in our attributes as a buff. Distributive among everyone who is being affected, of course." 

Vazor stared at the map hologram. The spell was very complicated, and considering the shape, it would need a very good mage or a researcher to replicate the effects. But if it was possible, "Say, do you have any interest in sharing the spell? I can only imagine how helpful this could be in other situations."

"I'm not opposed to the idea. But I need to check with a few people first." 

"Why?" Sapphira frowned, "This is clearly something that would help us. Imagine if we could use this on the battlefield. And someone who was really high-level used it. Not only would the other side get a massive debuff, but our side would be extremely more powerful. All we need is to have a few million bugs in crates, and that's it. We would win this war in days." 

"Only until humans figure out what we are doing," Skyler replied.

"And imagine if a spy or someone else figured out how to use the spell first? Then we are the ones in trouble," Roan added.

The Empress nodded, "Exactly. I didn't think about this before today, but if I am ever able to share this spell, it will be when I can do it safely. When I can either encode it enough to make it viable to be used in front of humans, or when I can make it hidden enough to be used without being seen. Also, it would only work for ambushes, if that. You can't expand the area of the spell to beyond the circle itself. And a smart enemy can see that the effect will be over if they leave the area. So they will just retreat."

"Right… I didn't think about all that," Sapphira admitted.

"I know. And don't worry, you were only thinking about helping the alliance. It's just more complicated than that," Hera sighed.

An alarm rang from Flint's tablet, "That's time. We should be going to our post."

"Good luck. I'll keep an eye out and let you know when the spell circle is ready," Vazor told Hera.

"Don't worry about it. I can sense it. My snakes can tell when the spell circle is ready." 

The team left the command center and headed to their post. They didn't run or hurried towards it. Instead, make sure to walk at a slow pace so as not to overexert themselves. That's why they were leaving so early, not that it would make any difference, considering how long the snakes would still have to travel.

As they were getting closer, they started hearing the bangs and the sounds of battle. Filled with yells and roars. The team rushed forward, all worried that the other group might be in trouble. When they arrived, the door was still closed, and they still had to knock and wait for someone to open it. 

More yells and screams of pain followed, together with sounds of magic being flung around. Hera could hear lightning crackling as it hit different targets and smell the flower petals and the cold mana from ice shards on the other side of the wall. Roan was the first to knock. A moment passed while the noise from the other side continued, and then Flint slammed his hand against the door, scintillating that pattern to let people know they were the next team. More yelling followed, and the dwarf started to get anxious. He constructed his metallic fists and slammed them against the wall. If it was anyone else doing that, they would likely break the door. However, a crafter like Flint knew the amount of force this material could handle. 

Finally, this seemed to attract the attention of the people on the other side. One of them, an elf who was heavily injured, with one arm severely burned and blood gushing out of his leg, opened the door, revealing the madness on the other side. 

There were dozens of corpses all around the cave, with even more living monsters attacking. The team, which also had 5 people, was on the back foot. Aside from the elf who opened the door, there was one more person who wasn't fighting. A harpy that was just lying on the ground in a pool of blood. It was impossible to tell if all that came from him or from the surrounding corpses. 

Smoke Weavers, large tortoise-like creatures with several chimneys on top of their shells, slowly approached. The smoke lashed out like whips. Bend them, there were some Whispering Crystals, flying gemstones that used mind-based attacks to force their enemies to make mistakes and stop attacking them. The scariest part of their attacks was the fact that those attacks were completely invisible. There wasn't any way to realize you were being targeted until you felt the effects. Among them, there were a few Cinder Hounds coming from the tunnels, together with several Gloom Bats. 

"Lurize, the harpy! Livy, block the monsters. Viper, Crimson, go for the crystals!" Hera ordered as she dashed forward, summing her entire court. The other team was caught off guard, especially when seeing the new kinds of people who arrived. But they understood that everyone was on the same side.  

Hera jumped at the Smoke Weavers, brandishing Chris and using [Grasshopper Stab] aimed directly at their heads. Following that, the rest of the blades appeared as arrows, aiming for the remaining tortoises. 

At the same time, Viper and Crimson jumped over the shorter monsters, grabbing the crystals. Hera's command was able to supersede the mental magic of the creatures. Livy went straight for the cinder hounds, cutting them like butter with her massive axe.

"Hera, can I go wild? Please!" the Leviathan asked after her third swing, finishing off the eight hounds.

"Fuck it. Go for broke. Just don't leave the cave or hit us. Also, be careful. Try not to get hurt," the Empress was a bit worried. Livy only asked for that once before while they were stuck in the Pinnacle Mountain dungeon. The result ended up being a bloodbath that rivaled the ones Hera created when grieving. The difference was that Livy did all that by herself and ended up seriously injured in the process. Still, this was a bit of a different situation, and she could tell the Leviathan understood that. 

Flint, Roan, and Vash joined her fight a few seconds after Livy's request. They first helped the other party get out, only to then jump into the fray. After killing the last of the tortoises, Hera jumped back to take a small breather, letting the rest of the team take care of the new wave of monsters. She saw Neria and Skyler close together, preparing a few buffs, and asked.

"Is the other team ok?"

"Yeah, they left. They should be able to reach the Core Spire without a problem," Skyler replied.

"What about the harpy? Are they in a bad shape?"

Neria just shook her head, "He was their healer. A Skystone Watcher sneaked by when they were dealing with the crystals and fired that piece of obsidian at him," she pointed to the wall close to the door. There was a large piece of rock stuck to the wall, going almost half a meter deep. It was a long piece of obsidian, but not that wide in comparison, having a similar circumference to a soccer ball.

The triton confined, "That thing hit their healer on the chest and went right through him. He was dead before even hitting the ground."

"Shit," Hera grabbed Neria's hand and used a large amount of mana to give her an earth elemental armor. Using that spell on others made it considerably less powerful, and it would have a set duration depending on the amount of mana used, "Don't let that happen with you. If you see a Skystone Watcher hide," the Ophidianite turned to Skyler, "I don't think I can use this defensive spell on more than one person. Sorry."

"Don't be. I agree with you. Protecting the healer is more important."

"I have ways of protecting myself, you know," Neria huffed.

"Better than this spell?" Hera asked.

"No, but-" the triton was interrupted by a loud roar coming from Livy.

"COME HERE! STOP RUNNING!" the Leviathan yelled before using her [Leviathan's Torrent] to flood an entire tunnel with high-pressure water. 

"We can talk later. If that spell runs out, let me know to cast it again. You can feel it, right?" Hera started walking towards the fight once more.

"Yeah, I got this. Go," Neria cast a couple of barriers around the group just as more monsters came running from the two tunnels that were not blocked by Livy. This was going to be a long shift.