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Chapter 274 - Roaring Flames
🕑 Added 2021-07-09 13:01:03 +0000 UTC##### Author's Note ####
Now I see fire
Inside the mountain
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The first thing that Hera and Blue did was to try to get some information from someone, anyone. As the people were running around, they tried to stop them to ask some quick questions, but this close to the palace, no one seemed to be willing to stop. Here, there were only guards that were rushing to help the royal family or nobles who only cared about themselves.
Oddly enough, Hera and Blue weren't freaking out with the situation. Not that they weren't in danger or that this wasn't scary, but there was only a single building on fire in their vicinity. The venue for the wedding. Aside from that, this seemed to be the safest place in the entire city, and the highest as well. This gave them the best possible view to find any locations that were not threatened by the flames. Even if this was a race against the clock, planning their steps was a part of it. Going in blind without a plan was a sure way to get themselves killed.
The first place that Hera considered to be safe was the orchard. Since it was farther away than most buildings, it seemed logical that the flames weren't able to reach it. Not to mention the large hole in the ceiling that could be an exit. However, when her eyes went in that direction, she didn't see the small green patch. Instead, the area had turned into a massive bonfire, with the flames going high up to the cavern, even licking the opening to the outside.
After thinking for a moment, Hera turned to Blue, "Can you do that microburst thing on the venue?"
"Sure, but why? Do you think anyone is still alive in there?" Blue looked at the ballroom. The fires were so intense that she couldn't even see the building, just the gate and the massive flames where once was the entrance.
"Maybe, but I'm more interested in how much that cloud will help against the fire."
Blue nodded, and the two hurried over to the wedding venue. To avoid wasting too much mana, Blue had to get closer. In theory, she could start making clouds that moved through the entire area, but since the hot air created by the flames changed the currents, just holding the clouds in place would be an issue. If she intended to use her legacy to put out the fire, she couldn't waste her mana for no reason.
After triggering her armguards, Blue moved her hands, using the mist created by her gear to help fuel a light blue cloud that was shaped into a ball. After a few moments, she held the cloud in one hand and tossed it almost as if it was a baseball towards the top of the ballroom. The small sphere grew and spread until it covered the entire building, or at least what Blue thought was the building. Suddenly, the cloud spilled out water and heavy wind, almost like it had opened a drain. It was a violent show as the microburst slammed against the flames, both trying to overwhelm each other. The waters pushed the fire back, but the hot air attempted to shove the cloud away. This small battle lasted for a while, but just as the fire seemed to be retreating, the microburst storm vanished. Hera turned to Blue and saw her friend heaving with some sweat dripping from her face.
"Are you ok?"
"Yeah, this just…. Takes a lot of me…." Blue was trying to catch her breath. That cloud was much more potent than the ones she used to fight the Sky Ruler. However, using the complete legacy was much more taxing. These new clouds required mana to be created, but it wasn't just that. The magic used Blue's stamina and mental strength to increase its effects.
"Do you need some water?" Hera offered her bottle.
"I have mine, thanks," Blue sat for a moment, just to recover her strength. The fire roaring in the wedding venue was already regaining its strength, but at least it wasn't spreading. It seemed to be focused only on the building itself. Even the surrounding garden was unscathed for the moment.
"If anything happens, just yell or use the comms. I want to see if the back looks like that too, but you stay here. We need to start moving soon," Hera said, before going around the building. She was worried that she couldn't see the vines. It could be nothing, but worst-case scenario, they could help spread the fire.
She hurried over to where the pots were during the normal mode but couldn't find them or the vines. In this version of the dungeon, it looked like the roots were never an issue. There weren't any markings or ashes that could have come from the vegetation. To be sure, Hera walked around the venue, trying to see if there was anything different. The back of the building was the same as it was before, aside from the flames, since here they were much weaker than those on the front. However, as she walked around to the other side, Hera noticed a noise coming from somewhere in the building. Getting closer, she saw a basement door with some flaming rocks on top of it. There was some banging on the door and some muffled screams coming from inside it.
"Hang on! Move away from the door!" Hera waited a moment, and the screams stopped. Using a stone pillar spell to push the rocks away, she ripped the door from the ground, revealing a small staircase and a group of people. Even more surprising, the princess was in front of the group, "Here," Hera put out her hand and helped the people inside get out of the burning building.
All the dwarves that came out were either the servers or the cooks working on the wedding. The princess was the only noble among them all.
"Is everyone ok? Is there anyone else inside?" Hera asked.
"We are, thank you. And it is just us. When those people started burning everyone, I called over as many as I could to the kitchen to come here. I just wasn't expecting this door to be stuck, and by the time we got here, everything behind us was in flames," Asta explained.
"At least you are ok," Hera glanced at the flaming rock. She didn't think about it before, but there wasn't any wood in the building's structure, and the stone itself was burning. She hoped that this was just an effect of the dungeon, and not that they had somehow created something that could actually burn rocks. Shaking her head, she turned back to the princess, "We need to find an exit. Do you know where the doorways are?"
"I know of two. One on the other side of the city, and another behind the castle, but the guards will never allow you, or them, to go there," Asta said.
Hera knew that the exit behind the castle probably would collapse before anyone could get out. According to Rutigan and Ogryn, only some of the commoners were able to leave the city while the rest perished in the fire.
"Can you take us there? Not to the one behind the castle, to the other one," Hera asked.
"I can't. My father will be searching for me. If any guard sees me, they will believe I'm being kidnapped, and if any of the people responsible for the fire see me, they will try to kill me on sight. They seem to target nobles. They burned Lord Rimmok alive before we hid in the basement."
A small part of Hera was glad that Vetek wasn't around anymore, but no one deserved to die like that. Pushing those thoughts aside, she pulled up her tablet and opened her map. It only showed the areas in the city where she had already been to, but it was the best option she had at the moment.
"Can you point where the exit is here? I know that is mostly empty, but anything can help," Hera looked at Asta.
"Of course, it should be around here," the princess zoomed out and touched a point in the corner of the map as if she had always used those types of tools, "And please, could you take them with you?" Asta gestured towards the servers.
"Oh, yeah. Of course. You don't even have to ask. I was already planning to," rescuing people was part of the quest, and since it didn't have a number, it probably meant that the more people they saved, the better the reward would be.
"... Thank you. Now I must go to the palace. Please take this," Asta put a brass token shaped like an anvil in Hera's hand, "Show this to any guard and they will let you pass, but be careful. The rebels might have a different reaction to it."
"Thank you. It will help a lot. Now let's go. It's getting way too hot here," Hera guided the group to the entrance of the venue, where Blue was waiting. After a quick explanation, Blue nodded and checked the map. They couldn't go straight in the direction Asta pointed. There was a large area in the middle of the city that was in ruins, and smoke kept rising from the debris. Those dark clouds made it impossible to see what was happening on the other side of the cavern to make things worse. Hera, Blue, and the server were in the middle of a crossing right now, with one path leading to the warehouse by the right of the venue, and another heading down a hill and around the large fire.
"I apologize, but I must return to the palace. My father should already be panicking, and without me by his side, I'm afraid he will send guards to search for me. If that happens, lives may be lost without need," Asta told Hera.
"Is there anything I can say to convince you to come with us?" Hera asked.
Asta shook her head, "There isn't. I must convince my father to send his men to save as many commoners as possible."
"I see. Thank you for all the help, anyway. I hope you stay safe," Hera gave her a sad smile, understanding that the princess wouldn't survive this.
"You too, and please hurry," Asta replied before running towards the palace.
"Having a guide here would be too easy for a hard mode," Blue sighed.
Hera just nodded, wondering if she could call Kul Dorul's guide with her skill. Then again, she would need to be alone to do that, and it wasn't like she could just vanish for a few minutes. Blue tried asking the servers about a path to where the princess pointed, but they all lived nearby and didn't know that part of the city.
Suddenly, the massive bonfire that once was the orchard became the epicenter of a large explosion. The shockwave was strong enough to collapse some structures and make the dwarves fall to the ground. Ash and flaming debris rained down from the black cloud, and almost as if that had triggered a chain reaction, several houses in the city burst into flames, tinting the entire room in hues of red, yellow, and orange. When it stopped, the column of fire in the orchard shoot out to the hole in the ceiling, but it wasn't enough. The roaring flames hit the top of the cavern and started spreading behind the black smoke. That wasn't all. In the lower part of the city, a large hole filled with fire appeared amongst the rubble. In comparison with the destroyed area, the opening was tiny, but staring at it was like staring at the mouth of a volcano.
"Everyone, get up! We have to move," Blue called. Even if they were more or less relaxed until now, that changed things.
Hera looked over at the city. Before the explosions, there were a few localized fires, but nothing that would cause too much trouble to avoid. Now it was hard to see a path that could lead them to the exit. Everything was on fire, and the screams of the people grew even louder.
"Where should we go?" Blue asked.
"Do we have options?" Hera turned to her. As far as she could see, they had to push through that hellscape.
"We can try the other side of the cavern. Going around the lower city. The explosion might not have reached there since the cave wall is on the way."
"But we will be going in blind! We have no idea if that's going to be better or worse."
"We either take a chance or deal with that," Blue pointed to the burning city.
"I don't know what's the best option," Hera sighed. If they made a mistake, they might get seriously injured. It was one thing to fight against monsters, another to survive a fire like this. They didn't have enough information to make a good decision, and it wasn't like there was a written guide about the dungeon… But there was something else that could help.
Hera pulled Yarnball and let the string loose, "Where is the path that has and will have less fire?"
She felt some of her mana be drained. A few months ago, this would be enough to tap her out, but now this question only required a third of her max. The string started dangling between the path to the warehouse and the path downhill. It seemed like even her dowsing rod was having trouble deciding. After a moment, the string pointed towards the lower city. The yarn didn't simply point and went away but kept twitching as if it was telling them to hurry. Hera quickly opened her [Explorer's Map], and there was a small trail that followed the road showing in an area that she had yet to travel. Unfortunately, it didn't go all the way to the other side, but Yarnball was even more helpful than usual.
"Let's go around," Hera said, and gestured to the dwarves to follow. This was a very high-risk gamble, and as they ran down the street, a thought crossed Hera's mind. In a hurry, she only asked about the path with the least amount of fire on the way, not the path that would be safer. Sadly, all that Hera could do was hope that this phrasing didn't come back to bite her in the ass.
