A few days after appraising the orb, Eri called for a strategy eting, which she forced to attend. It took place in Dalius command tent, where a big scroll was unfolded, revealing a map of Agratos.
Several major cities were marked, Agratos included, and the locations of the five statues were scribbled on. Two had already been crossed off, leaving us with the final three, which were spread across Alterians southern coast in a triangle pattern, strangely.
Why a triangular pattern? Wouldnt the church just keep them all in the capital, in the first place? I mumbled to myself, not really paying attention.
The statues cant be moved by mortal hands, Arthur. That was how their legitimacy was proven, in the first place. The church was forced to build around them. Eri whispered helpfully, before gesticulating that I was supposed to listen to the debrief, in less polite form.
To humor her, I decided to give it a shot
Our supplies cant handle another raid like that, sir. Specifically, were running low on dicine. The alterian variants of urea simply dont hold up to the efficacy of our native-
Dont start with that nationalist crap of yours again, Chulain. You keep causing delays, simply because you refuse to acknowledge anything unrelated to Neru!
Ill have you know that-
And promptly gave up. Argunts like these were mind-numbing, causing to zone out. Looking around the room, I theorised that one of the people present might have been the famous teleporter, Dalius ace. To be honest, I had a hard ti guessing who it could be.
Among those present, most were lieutenants, including the violet witch that I had fought previously. Unlike in proper armies, however, Dalius people didnt bother showing off that rank visually. In fact, they didnt have any set uniforms at all. That resulted in a blast of colour, as each of the underlings tried to compete over who could make a tailor go crazy first.
A few fit the bill of what I was looking for. Silent, unassuming yet captivating. Unfortunately, it was impossible to tell which of them it could be. Oh well. I had only started looking to pass the ti anyway
Eventually, the talk progressed to the actual plan, which started with a description of the next church that harboured the next statue.
Alright, so the one were going for is on top of a giant pillar of natural stone. Its here-Dalius began, pointing towards the south-western part of Alterian, hidden in the middle of a mountain range, unassuming and well-guarded. The city nestled in a nearby valley acts as another part of the sheeps pilgrimage.
Hold on a minute Eri interrupted, This isnt the next step of the pilgrimage! This church holds the fourth statue, not the third-
Listen girlie, we dont have the opportunity to go by the book, okay? After our most recent fight with those old bastards, theyre gonna expect us to go for the third one, see? I cant afford to run into an ambush like that a second ti. That ans were forced to go off-script and hit these churches in a different order, keep them guessing. Youll just have to piece your clues together afterwards.
I see. Very well. Eri relented, seeing Dalius point. A good thing, too, because the church had more than a few tier 6s, which Dalius, as an admittedly powerful tier 5, still couldnt handle. The church was forced to guard many locations at once, of course, but it wasnt too much of a stretch for them to station at least one cardinal at our next presud target.
So anyway, as I was saying, were gonna skip the city entirely and teleport straight into the church. Well, right outside of it, anyway. We take out the guards while you two- he said, looking over at us, run right to the statue and do your thing. Well buy you ti until youve had your vision, before all of us retreat together. A simple and straightforward plan, just how I like it. Now, lets talk specifics
Are you sure this is going to work? What if this is another trap? I asked Eri, still a little scared from how close we had gotten to dying just a little while ago.
Sure? No, Im not. But this is the best chance we have.
All right Shouldnt I wait next to you while you have the vision, though? Technically, I dont need to be there
I I would like for you to join . She said rigidly. I wasnt sure what she was getting at, but hesitated to prod her further. I didnt need to, because after a few seconds of silence she explained why.
I gave you the short version of what happened during the last vision, didnt I? I Im not sure I can watch more of that horror Not alone, anyway. Just do a solid, okay? she asked quietly.
Ill be there. Count on it. I replied, attempting to give her a smile. She returned with a hesitant one of her own.
Suddenly, the chatter around us died down. A purple circle had appeared in the center of the stone chamber. That was our signal. The signal that started off the mission.
Credit where credit is due, Dalius people knew when to be silent. Dozens of people flooded through the doorway-sized teleportation gate with little struggle and no chatter, allowing us to get inside quietly. Soon enough, Eri and I were up. The portal shimred, as if inviting us into its painted world.
With no ti to hesitate as more classers drumd in behind us, we ran through and found ourselves in a nice courtyard.
What had once been a delicate garden stood encircled by marble arches and golden statues. Now, though, the flowerbeds had been trampled by our strike team. With a determined glint in her eyes, Eri led the way into the church attached to the courtyard, even as screams and shouts erupted behind us. The large and excessively opulent cathedral had already been secured by Dalius and his n ahead of our arrival, allowing us to run right up to the statue at its centre.
The stone art piece depicted Helios standing in yet another heroic pose, emphasizing the trend.
Ready? Eri asked.
Always. I responded, trying to calm her down.
Eri pulled out her dagger and brought it up to the statue. However, nothing happened.
Uh Eri? Everything going okay? I asked after a while of her fidgeting with the statues base.
Theres no keyhole! she suddenly exclaid.
What?! But how?!
Dalius had heard the commotion and ca over to check.
Whats the problem?
Again, Eri responded: Theres supposed to be a key hole, but there isnt one on this statue! This cant be! Unless
Unless what? Out with it, girl!
Unless this isnt the real statue!
Thats impossible! Even the old records state that- wait a minute You might be right! But it should be hidden near here, at least. Guard while I use a skill to look for it! he commanded, plopping down into a lotus position where he stood. A subtle purple glow emanated from him as he activated whatever skill he had decided to utilise in the mont.
Truthfully, I didnt see how we would even need to guard him, seeing as all of the guards were currently occupied by Dalius forces. Unless the church had a teleporter too, one they were willing to reveal, anyway, reinforcents were a long way off, regardless.
Unfortunately, my overconfidence acted as a jynx, because after a few uneventful minutes, the ground beneath us rumbled. I rushed out into the courtyard, leaving Eri to guard Dalius while he concentrated, and found the entire corps in the middle of a hectic battle with was that a giant covered in a suit of armor?
No, that golden glint where its eyes should be That was a golem! An artificial one, to boot! Even worse, my mana sense was going bonkers, telling that I was staring at a tier 5. Truthfully, even my rough mana-sense could tell that sothing was wrong with this behemoth. Instead of a single solid core, its mana felt like a ball undulating grains of sand, which pulsed in waves.
Unfortunately, we had no tier 5s on our side, apart from Dalius, so the lieutenants and their subordinates were stuck in a heated battle. Unsure of whether to intervene or not, I watched for a few monts as the golem treated its opponents like toys, breaking them just as quickly.
I recognised a purple bolt that arced at its head as one of the violet witchs attacks, though it didnt even leave a mark. Co on, just buy a few minutes so that Dalius can finish his task
More and more classers rushed into battle while I just stood there, unsure of whether to intervene or not. More and more of them died, too, leaving bitter. Surely, I could distract this beast, at least for a little while. Besides, it was unlikely to squash in one hit and leave unable to recover, right?
My mind made up, I drew my sword and watched as a body catapulted past and slamd into the marble wall, both breaking under the impact. I looked over my shoulder, and found out that the violet witch had been the one to die this ti, her body becoming difficult to recognise as it lay crumpled in on itself, only her hat told her apart from the other classers.
Gritting my teeth, I stopped wasting ti and apparated right onto the bastards shoulder, before digging my two-hander into its eye socket. Surprisingly, the golem felt the pain and roared like a wounded animal, before slamming its palm onto the spot where I had been monts earlier. By then, I had already apparated onto its other shoulder, where I was about to stab its other eye when I had a sudden brainwave.
While this thing was wall into the fifth tier when it ca to mana and base stats, it didnt have any essence! Therefore, it would have no resistance to mine! With this epiphany, I decided to test my theory my manifesting my essence.
A black do enveloped before spreading out beyond my body, covering the top half of the golem neatly. My essence manifestation muted others senses while leaving mine intact, leaving sowhat safe on the creatures shoulder. For a mont, I expected it to swat like a fly, but it seed like it couldnt sense anymore. It didnt even consider that I had teleported to its other shoulder!
Instead, the monster grew enraged and used a skill on the earth below, making marble spikes shoot out of it at frightening speeds. If Dalius n hadnt been smart enough to keep their distance once the black orb had erupted, they would have been skewered.
From there, the golem continued to slam the ground and buildings below it, turning all of it into rubble but failing to actually kill anyone. This enraged rampage continued for a few more minutes, until the church doors opened and Dalius stepped out, his face twisted into a snarl. I promptly apparated away as Dalius shot at the golem in full force, seeking revenge for his dead comrades.
I stalked back into the church, hoping that Dalius could defeat the creature, and found the place to a ss. For a mont, I wondered whether another golem had appeared inside as well, because a giant crater had appeared where the statue had previously stood. I peered over the edge and found an even deeper hole, though its bottom was lit by a few torches that were out of view.
Down here! I suddenly heard Eri yell. Evidently, she was already down there.
I slid down the crater into the hole, dropping into a small stone chamber with no other entrance but the hole Dalius had created. Eri stood inside, a confident smile on her face.
Looks like the church tried to hide their own heritage What a sha we found it in minutes, right?
At the rooms edge, the sa statue from before peered down at . Only this ti, a little hole at the base shone, while Eris dagger pleasantly humd in response.
Ready? Eri asked for the second ti.
Always.
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