Once they agreed that this really was a place for their first attempt at making an outpost, Hera, Bonnie, Allison, and Zephyr prepared some loose layouts for the structures that would be staying here. They didn't go too hard on construction, making only some loose outlines and general ideas of where they could start putting things once this place actually became important for their mission.
There was another benefit on finding this place to rest for the night. The ability to properly protect themselves. Oriko was making a makeshift barrier and bunker by the side of the wall in order for them to hide if needed. Then again, Hera knew that those ideas were more to calm everyone's nerves than to actually benefit them in the long run. If the Spirits came by, there wasn't going to be much they could do to stop them.
But they were not the only problems that they were facing in this place, as there were actual monsters roaming the area. When landing, the group had seen a few movements down below. And from the small glimpses of the source of the movement that they managed to see, it truly was one of the monsters that inhabited the room.
However, it wasn't enough of an issue for them to decide to go after the creatures. Because using an outpost such as this would require them to at the very least coexist with the nearby fauna. And if they were only safe here because they hunted down some monsters, then they would need to continuously hunt those creatures down even after the outpost was created.
Once the makeshift fortifications were completed, Hera unraveled her tent, which, while it was made for a single person, was still spacious enough for the group to use during the night. But there was no need for them all to sleep in the same tent, as Vash also had a similar version of the tent that he could use to share with the other harpies. In addition, part of his circus Legacy allowed him to make circus tents for people to stay in at night. It wouldn't be as well equipped as the inflatable tent, but it would be more than enough for a night's rest while they confirmed that this was truly the best place for them to stay.
Beyond that, Allison and Bonnie also started to prepare a few traps at the entrance of the cave. The reason for that was twofold. First, it would be a way to stop any monster from approaching. Second, it would reveal the presence of any creature if it tried to pass by.
The Empress, on the other hand, had a different idea. She summoned the snakes from her bracelet and told them to spread out, both inside the cave and outside, forming a perimeter so they could properly understand the lay of the land.
Hera realized that she was underutilizing the snakes from her bracelet and was making a point of trying to use them more often, especially now. After all, one of the things she discovered was that if she wanted, she could summon the snakes in a room and leave that room and those snakes would still keep moving.
Of course, they would not give her the same ability to see through their eyes if they were in a different room, and the area they uncovered would not be updated in her map until she herself went back to the room in question. And even then, she would only be able to acquire the information gathered by the snakes that were still alive. The ones that had been destroyed would vanish together with all the area they uncovered.
This was even something that Hera wanted to do as soon as possible in the Fields of Elysium. If she was able to start the scouting operations without risking anyone, it would be much more beneficial to the entire expedition than starting things off with risks.
The Empress made sure to share her plan with the rest of the team. The idea was that she would in the morning go to the Fields of Elysium, let her snakes out, and come back right away. She would wait a few hours before jumping back to the Fields of Elysium and then acquire the information of the remaining snakes.
It was a bit of a long shot, and she had no idea if the snakes would even survive for a long time in there, but any small extra information they managed to get like that would be beneficial in the long run.
Allison liked the idea and said she was going to join Hera on the first go-around. That way, she could cast a few scouting spells just to make sure the area around the doorway wasn't completely infested with undead or something else.
"Hang on, that sounds like a bad idea. You're going in, coming back, then going in again? You'll be stuck there or here if you come back," Alex protested. "I mean, it's very rare for crossing a doorway four times to bring up any issues, but it still can happen. And you've been stuck in a room before. What if this time you're stuck in here for years? I think that's too risky, especially considering the expedition we are about to go on."
"You're not wrong, but I'm worried that if I take too long to go back to the room, all the snakes will be dead and I wouldn't be able to get any information out of them."
"Even if that's the case, it's not worth the risk, not unless that's our only option. While we still have another possibility in mind, we should focus on that," Bonnie added.
There was a part of Hera who wanted to argue, but she knew that her friends were right. It made no sense for her to risk herself like that, especially on a first attempt. Even if only a single snake survived the ordeal, it would still be extra information, so there was no rush.
And the fact that she could send her snakes once a day meant that waiting for just 24 hours wouldn't matter that much in the grand scheme of things. It wasn't like they had a fast-approaching deadline to solve all these issues.
Still, it was pretty obvious that Hera wasn't thrilled with the idea of not following through with her plan. Even if she was still going to do it, it wasn't going to be just what she initially planned.
It was already night when they were discussing that, and no one noticed when the clock hit midnight. What allowed them to realize that there was something going on wasn't a sound coming from outside, the sound of something large moving at high speeds.
Everybody froze and looked at each other before carefully moving closer to the entrance of the cave. Arrowhead made sure to cast a stealth spell on everybody just in case something were to happen. No one had any idea what they were about to see, but at the same time, no one was expecting what was outside.
Hera had discovered that the undead were more active after midnight, only leaving when the sun would rise. But for some reason, the Coiled Serpent didn't seem to follow that rule. They could find undead there in the middle of the day. It seemed like the existence of more of them at night was still a reality.
From this location, they could see the Coiled Serpent. That was one of the reasons why they decided to pick here specifically, because it gave them a good vantage point to anything that might be coming from the city. But no one expected the situation to be so much worse.
The undead were not simply existing in the city. Even that horde that Hera had seen before felt like nothing in comparison to what they were watching. They couldn't even see the buildings, as there were so many zombies, skeletons, and specters crawling everywhere that they buried the city itself.
If that wasn't bad enough, the Naga were not the only things being affected by whatever was coming from the Fields of Elysium. They could also see monsters roaming in the forest. Hundreds, thousands, even more, moving around, attacking anything that was living as if they were full of hatred for those who still had a heartbeat.
But the worst of all was not on the ground but in the sky. Flying in a circle around the Coiled Serpent was a massive wind snake. It had 10, maybe 20 meters in length, wings that spanned another 15 meters at the very least, and its scales were all a pale shade of blue, as most of the ghosts were. But there were still some clear-to-see reds and yellows forming rings around its body that likely meant that its visage when alive had such vibrant colors that even in death it remained.
The mouth of the giant snake hung open, revealing a tongue that, despite being several hundred meters in the air, almost reached the top of the Coiled Serpent, showing that very few things wouldn't be within its grasp. Its eyes kept looking down with a pale stare, which seemed to be both lost and unable to perceive anything, and scanning the ground for new prey or something that could be a danger to the Naga homeland.
Hera was sure that this was a guardian beast, one of the creatures that the Naga raised to be their protectors and level up together with them. One of the monsters that could cross doorways, level up just like a person, and should be considered either a great allied or a devils.
Which meant that the undead Legacy was not just capable of creating a devil on its own or creating creatures that could cross from one room to the next, but also could reanimate monsters who could do the same. And the Naga were a people that apparently made it a part of their culture to create those kinds of monsters, guardian beasts that would follow them along as they walked through life.
The Empress looked around, feeling that the location of their outpost might not be the best option. After all, they could see all that with ease. And there was a chance that any Naga Spirit that had good enough eyesight would be able to see them. Not to mention that in the future, when more and more people come here, it could be harder and harder to hide their tracks.
But at the same time, its location was perfect. It was less than an hour away from the Coiled Serpent, gave them a good view of the entire city, and seemed to be protected enough to be defensible in case something were to happen, as long as they were able to defend themselves, of course.
She wasn't the only one with some doubts about their location, and the group quickly gathered to discuss the possibilities while still keeping an eye outside. There were a lot of arguments made for both sides of the idea, both about looking for a new place or staying here. But eventually, they agreed to stay for now.
Tomorrow they would try to see if there were any other better places, and if not, they would come back to the Aerie of the first Flight and report the situation to Typhera. The queen had access to an entire branch of her military dedicated to strategy and finding the most optimal location for any operation.
But even if that didn't work, and they now had to spend another few days looking for a better place to create their outpost, they already had gained vital information about this. Information that no one truly wanted to have, but they had nonetheless.
The undead Legacy was powerful enough to bring back devils from the dead.