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MAZE - Chapter 1118 - Anxious
🕑 Added 2025-10-18 02:56:12 +0000 UTC"You really need to relax a bit," Daskka peeked from Hera's shoulder.
The Empress was pacing back and forth in a meeting room inside Typhera's palace. The Harpy Queen had promised that today was the day when the scouts would arrive. And since they were just one room away from Deakoshara, they could start their journey right now, which was something they would very much need. After all, before reaching the Fields of Elysium, they also needed to find a proper campground in Deakoshara. Only from there could they start their expedition into the Fields of Elysium and hopefully find the undead king.
Meaning that before even starting to solve this issue, there was still a lot of preparation to be made. Yet the scouts who were supposed to have arrived were twenty minutes late. Sure, something might have happened, but Hera expected Typhera to be warned or something if that was the case. After all, these scouts didn't seem to be passing through any uncharted rooms.
But there was nothing that she could do instead of walking around.
"Mum, seriously. You need to chill out," Daskka tightened her body around Hera's neck and tried to pull her towards a chair nearby.
The Empress coughed at the sudden lack of air and stared at the Herald with an annoyed expression before letting out a sigh.
"I know you're right, but I just really want to go solve this. It feels like too much of a coincidence for me to have fought both Gwendolyn and the Emperor. It's like the MAZE was somehow preparing me for this since the beginning."
Daskka just gave her a blank stare. "Are you listening to yourself right now? Do you really think that the MAZE was setting you specifically up for all this?"
Hera opened her mouth and closed before slumping down on the chair. "I know it's stupid. I know it doesn't make any sense, and I know that there's no such thing as fate. After all, I wasn't the only one who had to deal with all that. I know plenty of explorers who also fought King Gwendolyn in his undead form. And I know that plenty of explorers also got this hidden skill for the assassin role. A third of them said they also had to kill the Emperor. I know it's not really a coincidence. After all there are millions of people who are in the same situation that I am. But I don't know. It feels like something is moving behind the scenes."
Daskka shook her head and sent a mental message to the Empress, as it was a topic she shouldn't be speaking out loud.
'Did you ask Peaches and the others?'
Hera nodded and also replied without speaking up, 'I did. They agree that it's not fate. It's just a coincidence. The MAZE never and the System can't interfere with free will. While they also said that this is something they are trying to solve, they know that I was not the only one who could find that place. I mean, Peaches even confirmed that there are a couple of other rooms with the same undead problem that are much easier to find. The only reason why no one found it yet is that the range of influence of that magic is not reaching the areas where people live.'
"Doesn't that mean that all those Naga that we saw in the capital are buried there?" Daskka tried to change the subject, going back to speaking out loud.
Hera nodded, "We know that the Emperors had their own tombs back in the Waiting Valley, but we also know that the Naga in general had large catacombs where they put their dead. Shane and I agree that there's a good chance beneath the Coiled Serpent is an area maybe just as big as the city itself filled with dead bodies. Kind of like how it is in Paris. "
"And those are the bodies that are being reanimated?" Daskka continued.
"That's what we are assuming. Maybe because the doorway is there, the undead that are on that plateau can reach the doorway and gather in a place with a lot of that energy." Hera paused for a moment, "You've been very quiet the last couple of days. Is everything ok?" Hera turned to Daskka with an expression that was a mix of confusion and worry.
"I was just thinking. I know that I kind of help deal with the Court and everything, but that's it. I haven't been able to do anything in a fight. That last one only confirmed that I couldn't help. Even without trying I knew that it was all too much for me. So, I'm trying to find out how I can help."
"You have been struggling with that for a while. Sorry, I'm not being of much help. Did you come up with any ideas?" the Empress asked.
Hera remembered that Daskka had talked about this issue a while back, but there was just so much happening that the Empress forgot to check up on the Herald.
"I still don't know. I was thinking about focusing more on healing, but then Filigree showed up, and nothing I do really matches up with what she can do. So maybe I should try something else. I just don't know what."
Hera stopped to think for a bit. She could see the attribute screen of her necklace by heart. The biggest problem was the fact that Daskka didn't really have any attributes to speak of. The only thing that the necklace said was that the Herald would have the same speed as the user. And that was true. After all, if Hera started to run, Daskka could keep up at the same exact speed. But she also could move on her own and had her own mana pool, including her own mana regeneration, which was something only her title blades had.
The big difference was that now that Daskka was the Herald for her Legacy, it meant that she had access to Hera's Legacy, including the skills that she gained from it. And not just that, but because of how her Legacy worked, Daskka had access to every single skill that Hera had.
Suddenly, the image of Tara appeared in Hera's mind. That tiny snake with a giant witch's hat.
"What if you start focusing more on being a mage?" the Empress suggested.
Daskka frowned. "What?"
"Since the whole snake form fighting is not working, what if when we are fighting, you just stay on my neck and cast spells? I mean, you can use the same spells that I can. Quite literally part of the necklace is that I can use spells through you. And if I'm fighting with someone, I'm usually focused more on my attacks. So if you use the spells instead, we could probably cover the one base that we're missing."
Daskka listened to the idea, somewhat wary at first, but the more she heard, the more excited she started to look.
"Yeah, yeah," Daskka almost jumped from Hera's neck. "I can even have Viper helping me, maybe come up with new spells. And since I'm the Herald, I can also use any of the spells that the Court has."
"Yeah, try using the spells Nimbus can use."
Daskka opened a big smile. "Maybe I can even take care of the buffs."
The Empress nodded. "Let's take it one step at a time. For now, try to see if you can handle the attack spells. I'll handle the buffs since we still don't fully know each other's rhythm."
"But the Court kind of makes us understand each other, doesn't it?"
"It does," Hera couldn't help but nod. "But correct me if I'm wrong, but it's always a bit harder for the two of us to share our intention, isn't it?"
Anytime she wanted to talk to Daskka, it felt more like she was talking to someone who knew her very well, someone who understood her ideas quickly and could respond to them fast. But it was still talking to a different person. With her Court, things were more instantaneous. Hera didn't even need to think about what she wanted to do, and the Court was already doing it. If she wanted to attack a specific enemy, she didn't even had to look in the enemy's direction and the Court was already going to attack. It was like moving a part of her body, not so much as trying to ask for someone's help.
But with Daskka was different. It was closer to having Blue, Alex or Bonnie by her side. Yeah, they could understand each other without speaking, but it wasn't as natural.
Maybe this was because Daskka was the Herald, or maybe it was because the snake was not an actual weapon but a summoned creature that came from a necklace. As a matter of fact, that sounded very correct in Hera's mind. After all, according to everything she knew about Legacies, usually the Herald was just a disembodied voice that talked to them. While Daskka had an actual physical body. And maybe that minor difference was enough to cause that slight delay in their connection.
But at the same time, it meant Daskka could act together with her Legacy. She wasn't relegated to the background as other Heralds were. That's exactly why Hera wanted to be sure that they would have some time to get used to this new idea, especially since Daskka was going to be casting spells from Hera's neck. If she used the wrong spell at the wrong time, she could end up hurting them both. And that would only make the Herald feel even worse about herself and her current position in the Court, which was something that neither of them wanted.
The two continued talking for a few more minutes, coming up with different ideas and different things that Daskka could do as the resident mage of the Court. Hera was even willing to leave the bigger spells, such as [Pool of Styx] and [Shroud of Tartarus] to her. After all, those required a lot of concentration to make them work. That's why every single time the Empress tried to use them, she had to prepare them beforehand for a big fight. If Daskka was taking over that role, then maybe those spells could be more present.
And considering what they were about to do, going after a horde of undead, those two spells were likely to be very beneficial to the group, no matter who was a part of it. That is, if the undead were affected by it. Since they didn't have any levels, it was also possible that neither of those two spells would make any difference.
They were deep in that conversation when the door opened. A harpy with light gray feathers and parachute pants, a sleeveless black tank top, and a silver sleeveless fishnet jacket stepped forward.
"So it wasn't the war making you talk to yourself?" he asked.
"Vash!" Hera gasped and quickly got up. Even Daskka looked in the direction of the harpy. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, Typhera said that my Legacy could help here. Specially if I put on the backstage suit," Vash waved his wing, and a small tent appeared. He dashed inside and came out wearing a transparent raincoat over his clothes.
"That doesn't look very stealthy," Hera tilted her head.
"What about now?" Vash asked as his entire body became translucent. He still was very much there, but it was as if someone had turned down the opacity of an image. After a few moments, he dropped the effect. "It just sucks that if I use anything else, a spell or a skill, while like that, the effect vanishes."
Hera nodded. "Can you just turn it off, cast a spell, and then turn it on again?"
"That's exactly what I've been doing," Vash nodded.
"That's some good stuff!" Hera smiled. "Just before we start talking, let me give you a head's up. I'm waiting for some people who will work as scouts on a thing I'm doing. And they might show up at any moment, so we might need to cut this conversation short. But we can go grab something to eat later if you want. Then again. I think you might be here to talk to them too since you are using that skill on them."
Vash stared at the Empress for a moment before laughing. "Seriously? How can you be this dense? I'm part of the scout team. We just got here, and they went to rest a bit while I came to talk to you and let you know everything."
"What?" Hera was taken aback, but it was a happy surprise. Vash was already on her mind when thinking about who would be a good fit for this operation. Now, if she could only get a few more powerful people to join, this expedition might not be as complicated as she initially thought.
Comments
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Thanks for yet another amazing chapter. I'm looking forward to seeing where this is going. Hopefully another l legacy to become part of Hera ❤️
