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Chapter 473 - Volcano day
🕑 Added 2022-06-24 13:01:04 +0000 UTCHera's Status
Hera was talking to her friends, discussing things about this fight and how they could reel the volcano army back so they wouldn't just die out before even reaching the city. Suddenly, her blades almost screamed inside her mind.
'Watch out!'
'Behind you!'
'Empress!'
She also received information regarding the position and trajectory of whatever was going to attack her. Instinctively, she swung her glaive to kill the attacker. For a brief moment, she forgot that she was facing people and just remembered that she was in a dungeon and there was danger surrounding her. Maybe it wasn't her fault. Maybe what actually made her forget was the urgency that came from her blades and not her own feelings. Regardless of the reason, Hera was now watching as a decapitated human head spun in the air before hitting the ground together with a headless body. Seeing that, she stepped back and fell to her knees, still holding the glaive with the blade pointing to the sky.
"Hera!" Alex gasped.
"Did he hit you?" Blue stepped in front of the explorer, waiting for another attack.
"N…no. I didn't get hit," Hera replied with her hands still shaking. She had killed someone. No, it wasn't a person, it was just a dungeon construct, something made by the system and the MAZE. They were not alive. It didn't matter how much they seemed to be. She was not a murderer. Well... She was, but her body count didn't increase because of this.
"Do you want to stop? We can leave. There's no problem if we don't finish the dungeon," Alex knew that in this dungeon, they had the option to go back to the center of the volcano and leave through the same door they came in.
"No, no, I need to do this," Hera replied, still shaking but forcing herself to get up.
"If that's the case, we should move. I don't think the lava tribe will wait for us," Blue gestured to the road, and most of the army had already passed them by. Even worse, they didn't seem to stop or show any signs of slowing down.
"Crap. Are you sure you can keep going?" Alex turned to Hera once more, who just nodded weakly in response.
They continued following the army. Alex dashed to the front to try to reassemble any semblance of actual vanguard or strategy. Destroying the outpost was only that easy because the assassin spent most of her mana to clear the area. Thanks to that, the volcano tribe only suffered a couple casualties in the attack, not counting those who were left behind in the traps. The problem now was that doing that again was impossible, especially in a place with more people.
While that was happening, Blue did her best to support Hera even if she had no idea what to say to help in a situation like this. Daskka, who mainly was quiet during the dungeon, was doing the same thing.
"Mum, they are not real. You are not killing people, just monsters inside a dungeon. Don't think of them as humans or elves or whatever. Think of them as you would think of the griffons inside the sky ruler's nest," Daskka said.
"That's easier said than done," Hera took a deep breath, trying to push that fear away from her mind or find something else to focus on. She realized that Daskka was speaking very clearly, and she wasn't mentioning anything about the legacy, "Since when can you speak like that? You're doing amazing. I'm proud of you."
"Oh, thanks. But this is a bit unfair. Since you are not doing well and I'm trying to help you, the legacy is helping me. It feels a bit like cheating, but as long as I can help you feel better, I don't mind," the herald explained.
"I wouldn't call it cheating, but I get your point," Hera and Blue were still walking along with the army. The explorer looked forward and saw the hundreds of fiery humanoids walking down the mountain path. It was almost like watching the lava flow of a volcano. Even with the countless pieces of ice spread everywhere, the fire and the flames were starting to devour everything.
They kept moving and as they got closer to the city, Blue turned to the captain of the range battalion and double-checked the distance. In a few meters, they will be able to reach the city without harming the army in front. The controller had more or less figured out how the archers and mages of the tribe behaved, and they were much more willing to accept suggestions than those in the front. Still, it seems like Alex managed to convince the vanguard to return to a semblance of formation. The front of the army was no longer just some lonely embers moving forward but instead a solid line of fire advancing steadily towards Bonpei.
"How about you focus on dealing ranged damage?" Blue suggested.
"That might be a good idea, mum. That way, you are killing them but not directly in front of them. Maybe it's a good way to ease into what you're trying to do," Daskka nodded.
"Yeah. Yeah, that might be a plan," Hera agreed, she stil was not feeling great about the idea of killing the people of Bonpei, but this was the whole point. The reason why she came here.
About 10 minutes passed before the volcano army stopped. They were now very close to the city of Bonpei. The ranged battalion could even start their assault, yet everyone was waiting for their orders.
"My brethren, the time has come. We shall remove those vermin from our Holy Land, the land responsible for our forefathers' birth. The land these people sullied with their greed. They have seen the sunrise on this land for the last time. After today not a single one of them will still leave to tell the tale. We will not allow anyone to spread the news of the city, of this land to others who might be blinded by greed. So come, my brethren, let us cleanse this land of this scum!" Releon spoke in a loud and commanding voice that echoed through the entire field. The people of Bonpei didn't seem to make any speeches, and it seemed that the chieftain's speech affected the morale of the opposing force. Even from this distance, Hera could see some people within the walls of Bonpei trying to duck and hide from the attackers.
Releon turned to the city of Bonpei and raised a single arm. There were a few long seconds of tension before the chieftain lowered his arm and yelled, "CHARGE!!"
There was a loud rumbling noise as the volcano tribe's army ran forward. They were not yelling, but their mouths were open, and there was a sound of roaring flames coming from them. Just as the warriors started running forward, Blue commanded the range battalion to strike, aiming at the city. It wouldn't matter if they hit something or someone. As long as they were doing some damage to Bonpei, that was all that it mattered. Hera and the others were still feeling conflicted about this, but if they wanted to complete the dungeon, they would have to do it like this. The goal was to win the war, and no one gave any Ideas about how they could win in a different way.
After taking a deep breath, the explorer decided to continue with the original plan. She was going to attack and get rid of her fear of killing. To start, she tossed poison needles toward the city. It didn't matter who she was hitting since she was aiming at a place where no member of the volcano tribe should be. If she hit a wall or a building, nothing would happen, but if she hit a person, her naga poison would let her know. Even if with Lurize out she couldn't use poison mana, the skill would still work normally, allowing her to sense her poison wherever it might land.
A couple minutes after the assault started, Hera already sensed about three or four people being affected by a poison, and it didn't take long for them to die. When that happened, she didn't feel anything. No panic, no fear, no anger, no disgust, nothing. It was as if she was simply watching someone die in the background of a war movie. The hypocrisy of the situation did not escape Hera. Even with all her higher-than-thou attitude about how she shouldn't kill people and how all life was precious, when she didn't see what she was actually killing, it felt easy. Way too easy.
"Are any of you doing anything to make me feel like this matters less?" Hera asked both her court and Blue, that was by her side.
"What? What matters? This is the dungeon quest, is it not?" Blue wasn't able to grasp the subject in question.
"We didn't do anything, mum. Your feelings can affect us, not the other way around," Daskka replied.
"Don't worry about it, Blue. This was about something else. And thanks for the answer Daskka," Hera petted the snake just before sending all her court out towards the city.
She realized that the army was already starting to push Bonpei's defenses. If she wanted to keep helping, she would need to either accept that there would be some friendly fire or do something to allow her to send her spells deeper into the city. The best way for her to do that was to use her court as an extension. Doing that would allow her to effectively be a hundred meters in front of her current position.
This time, Hera used her flaming poison rain, wind blades, and her spore field to create an area that could incapacitate anyone who got close. She wasn't able to see it, but according to the messages from her blades, those who were not killed by her own spells were found by the volcano army, who quickly finished them off. The barrage of attacks started to slow as the arrows, and the mana from the ranged battalion started to run out.
"Where is the logistics team?" Blue looked back, trying to see if anyone was coming. The controller had sent word that they would need more ammo just after they crossed the first outpost. She figured it was better to have a few battalion members carrying the supplies so the logistic team could be ready to restock, but they were still nowhere to be seen.
"Captain!" Hera called, and the leader of the ranged battalion came running to her side.
"Yes?"
"Did the logistics team send any messages or anything?" Hera asked.
"Not as far as I know."
"Do we have a way to contact them?" Blue asked.
"You don't, but I have. What do you need to know?" the captain replied.
" If anything happened. I asked for supplies a while back, and they still haven't arrived. We need to know when the ammo and those weird lava things you guys are eating will be here," Blue replied while blocking some arrows with her clouds.
"Those replenish our magic reserves. You are unable to do the same since you are not made of fire," the captain explained before turning to the volcano. His form changed slightly, and a large plume of flame came out of his head before rising to the skies.
A few moments passed, and another large ember appeared near the top of the mountain. To Hera and Blue, that was just something coming out of the volcano, but for the captain, that came with answers, "The logistics team has been attacked. It seems like the people of Bonpei are targeting our supplies and potentially our village. My battalion cannot leave this place. Otherwise, we will be abandoning our troops," the captain spoke solemnly, almost as if accepting that the people they left behind would be gone.
"Crap. I can't move either. If I go, the arrows from the city will become a problem," Blue clenched her fist. This could be just a dungeon, but leaving the villagers to their deaths felt wrong.
"Alex, send the scouts to me. Tell them to go up the mountain back to the village. They're trying to attack us from behind, and I'm going to intercept," Hera quickly replied and turned to Blue, "Tell them to use the supplies at a steady pace. I don't know how long it's going to take for us to come back, but you can't keep going at that speed; otherwise, you're just going to be sitting ducks later."
"Okay. We got this. Do you need a ride up?" Blue asked, but Hera shook her head. The explorer pulled out a whistle from her pockets, and suddenly Nimbus, the cloud griffin, was in front of her. She jumped on top of her mount and recalled her blades. All of them should be in front of her since they wouldn't be able to keep up with the mount's speed, and Hera had no intention of wasting more mana to call them back. The inconsistency of her reaction baffled her. When she was just attacking a city, every fiber of her body was hesitating in trying to find ways not to do so. But now that she had to protect people who were being attacked, she moved so quickly and with such a drive that it was like her mind had forgotten the concept of hesitation. Still, before she could even process those conflicted feelings properly, Nimbus promptly dashed towards the mouth of the volcano with Hera on its back, hoping they wouldn't be too late to help.
