Chapter 103: The Temple Destroyed by a Divine Strike
After leaving the allied army's camp, the party traveled west along an ancient road. At first, the air was thick with the stench of battle. It was clear that, before their arrival, the allied army had been in a constant retreat, pushed all the way back to the Elven Kingdom. But the further west they went, the thinner the stench became.
Along the way, Rhodes saw many villages that had been destroyed by magical beasts, even a few human ones.
Serie walked at the front of the party, a special elven map, provided to them by the Elven King, in her hand. Unlike before, when they had been wandering aimlessly, they now had a clear destination and needed a map to find the fastest route.
Rhodes had suggested using the residual energy in the teleportation circle on the stone slab to just transport themselves to the dwarven ruins, which would have saved them a great deal of time. But Serie had rejected the idea. The magical residue was too unstable. If something went wrong with the teleportation, they could all be crushed by the forces of space. She had been willing to take that risk to save him, but now, it wasn't worth it.
"According to the map, we're about halfway to the Godfall Land."
The elven map was written in an ancient script that only she could read, so she was their natural guide.
"Are there some dangerous areas up ahead?" he asked, walking up beside her.
"Yes. We'll have to pass through several monster nests."
"Into the lion's den? How exciting," Eirik said. He was carrying everyone's baggage on his back, a task he had volunteered for to improve his physical fitness, and his forehead was slick with sweat.
"There shouldn't be too many of them. Don't worry," Rhodes said, reassuringly.
As the sun set, they made camp in an abandoned village. It had once belonged to the dwarves, but had long since been deserted for some unknown reason. Only a few broken walls remained.
Eirik skillfully started a fire, and Norne began to prepare dinner. Olivia took to the sky to scout for any nearby monsters.
That night, they took turns keeping watch. When their party had been smaller, he and Serie would just cast an enhanced detection spell and then go to sleep, without a second thought for any monsters that might be able to conceal their presence. It was only after they had been ambushed once that they had learned to be more cautious.
The next day, they packed their things and continued west.
As they went, they came to a dense forest. The air was thick with a discomforting aura, and they were all on high alert.
"Be careful. There's a residual mana in the air," Serie warned.
"Should I fly up and scout ahead?" Olivia asked, flexing her wings.
"No need. We'll just have this guy use his detection spell."
As Serie spoke, Rhodes cast his spell, then immediately raised a hand to signal them to stop. "Something's coming," he said in a low voice. On the magic circle in his hand, a number of small red dots were approaching.
As soon as he had spoken, dozens of magical beasts burst from the woods.
"There are still so many of them here!?" Eirik exclaimed. They hadn't seen a single monster on their journey so far. He had thought all the monsters on the continent had been called to the front lines by the demons.
"It's not surprising. There are always a few stragglers that aren't under their control," Serie said calmly. "Prepare for battle."
Rhodes stood at the front of the party. "I'll clear a path. You all follow me," he said.
The battle began in an instant.
The monsters let out a piercing shriek and lunged at them. Rhodes and Serie simultaneously unleashed a volley of light arrows, and the first few to reach them were pierced through. Olivia cast her own holy magic, a spell imbued with Rhodes's severing-magic, and the monsters she struck were purified into nothingness. Norne, Eirik, and Somme were not to be outdone, and they all unleashed their own powerful attacks, quickly dispatching the rest of the beasts.
In a matter of minutes, the last of them fell to Norne's sword, its body turning to ash without a trace.
"So it really is impossible to sever their connection to the goddess by just killing all of them. We have to use a magical solution," he mused. Even after the demons had gathered such a massive army, there were still so many left. It was hard to imagine just how many monsters there were in this world.
Serie dispelled her magic and nodded. "We need to pick up the pace. There should be an abandoned temple up ahead. The residual power there should be enough to deter some of the monsters. It should be safe."
They didn't delay and continued on.
The forest was larger than they had expected, and the sun was beginning to set by the time they finally reached the temple ruins in its depths. Most of its tall stone pillars had collapsed, but the main structure was relatively intact. Even from its dilapidated state, they could see that it had once been a grand and magnificent building. But the most striking feature was a large, circular hole in its roof, as if it had been pierced by some immense power.
"Is that...?" Norne said, looking up at it. He felt a familiar aura from the hole.
"You're right," Serie confirmed. "It's the aftereffect of a Divine Strike."
"Then shouldn't the whole temple have been blown to bits? Why is so much of it still standing?" Eirik asked, confused. The dwarven ruins had been completely obliterated by a Divine Strike, leaving only a crater.
"Because this was a temple of the Goddess of Procreation. It was protected by the power of faith," Olivia explained. She had been born only a few hundred years ago, and although she had become a member of the Council of Thirteen at a young age, she had not participated in that war. "The race that worshipped her was completely wiped from existence by our people, and even her temple was destroyed in a Divine Strike. All that is left are these ruins."
"You wiped out an entire race? For real?" Eirik looked at Olivia in disbelief. It was hard to imagine the gentle Miss Olivia doing such a thing.
"It's true. I wasn't there, but the head of that race's strongest warrior is on display in our museum," she said.
"Haha," Eirik laughed nervously, and said no more. You Sky-Winged are a brutal bunch, he thought, taking people's heads as trophies.
(End of chapter)
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