The old man nodded. I charged up the staircase, with the wizard hot on my heels. The rocky door from before was open this time, and I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing. I ran back into the upper chamber, and then immediately froze, my feet coming to a stop, my eyes glancing at the sight in front of me.
“Oh dear,” Krof said as he climbed up to my side
The men of the Dark Alliance and the Black Guardians all lay on the floor, and between them was a massive pool of blood, connecting the dead bodies everywhere together. For a second I panicked, wondering if this was a result of the dragon roar Nazu had summoned earlier on, but I knew it couldn’t be. I’d seen that attack. All it did was trap a few men in a fissure. What was before me was more like…massacre.
I heard a voice moan from a few yards away, and I looked for the source. My eyes widened as I noticed the writhing form of Jelal in front of me, blood soaking his cloak.
I rushed to him, and knelt down, my face close to his. “Where did you take Nazu?” I grunted, no sympathy in my voice.
“You’re here, Eternal,” he chuckled, his voice hoarse and weak.
“Answer my question, Jelal.”
“You know, we were set on the right path,” he said. “We were going to do it. We were finally going to raise Azmuth back to this world. Properly this time. It was as you’d predicted. We were going to use the kobold to resurrect the Shadow Dragon. The beast’s power would just be enough to summon the Dark Lord to this world once again. It was the perfect plan.”
“I don’t give a damn about what you wanted to do and what you did,” I said. “I have no sympathy for you and your actions.”
“I know you don’t,” he chuckled. “I did not expect you to. It is just amusing how confident we all were. The Dark Alliance. The Black Guardians. Me. My men. The Dark Lord himself. We all didn’t see the threat looming over us.”
“Jelal, I will only ask you this once,” I said. “Where is the Kobold?”
He looked at me, a smile on his face. “The light…” he croaked. “The light took him away, Diablo.”
My eyes widened, the meaning of his words clear in my mind.
All this while there had always been something about this whole situation that had felt off to me, as though there was a small puzzle piece that I was yet to find, that I was yet to put into place. I could tell from the very start that this piece would be crucial when I found it, and I could affirm now, that was indeed the case.
I stood up, my breathing calm, my mind clear of what had just happened here.
“Zoran, are you okay?” Nyx asked. “What’s going on?”
I looked at the chamber, at the blood-stained ice within. “The Alliance of Light have made their move.”
***
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“The Alliance of Light is after the Shadow Dragon as well?” Krof asked.
I nodded, bearing the chilling winds as we headed down the mountain slopes. I’d used Shadow Travel once already, so teleporting out of that chamber was not an option. Instead we took the route I and Freya had taken to get out of there the last time, the small tunnel section that was at the sides of the chamber.
I’d presumed the winds would slow down as we headed closer to the base of the mountain but the opposite happened, with the speeds picking up fast, snow and dust running through its streams.
“Where are we headed now?” Krof asked, following right beside me.
“We need to find the Alliance of Light first,” I said. “If they’ve got Nazu and Freya then we’re just going to fight them to take him back.”
“Mmm,” he nodded. “I still find it hard to see that the Alliance of Light is the one that caused all that death in there.”
“They’ve done worse things,” I grunted.
“Ah,” he paused. “I see.”
I sighed. “Sorry, I’m just pretty biased against them.”
“That’s fine,” he said. “I know a bit of what happened before so I think what you feel is justified.”
“Thanks,” I smiled.
A burst of wind shot at us, plastering my face with snowflakes. I chuckled as I brushed them off my cold cheeks, and continued down the icy incline. The sky above us now had light gray clouds all around, the misty puffs of moisture hiding the sun away from sight, draining the last source of warmth left on the mountainside.
I couldn’t help but wonder what Freya and Nazu were going through right now. A part of me felt annoyed, annoyed that I wasn’t able to save them back then, that all I’d managed to do was go and get myself killed.
A shiver passed through my hands, my nerves recalling the lightning that had coursed through them. That had not been fun. It’d been painful.
Really painful.
Just who was that man? I muttered.
“We’ll probably find out at some point in time,” Nyx said.
Yeah, I know. But still, I said.
“I get what you mean. However, there’s no expedited process for this. You’re just going to have to wait.”
You make it sound like you’re not curious at all, I noticed.
“I’m just not as curious as you are,” the spirit said. “We’ve been through these things enough times to know that such answers find their way to us, probably not in the best or safest ways possible, but they end up coming to us anyway.”
I sighed. That’s true, I agreed.
DING!
You have obtained a quest: Who is the Dragonborn? The identity of the Dragonborn you encountered is a mystery, and it seems who he is will play a great deal into how things will develop in the future. Find his identity to understand what his motivations are. Reward: 1800000 Sol. Reward 1000000 XP.
It’s almost like the Ga’em is taunting me, I chuckled.
“Indeed,” Nyx said, amused.
“Diablo,” Krof hushed and pointed at a looming shadow a few hundred yards away. I looked hard and could make them out against the white of the snow. A large group of horses, carriages, and men, all headed down the slope of the mountain.
“Alliance of Light?” the wizard asked.
“Possible,” I said.
“I’d say ‘likely’ actually,” Nyx said. “Who else do we know that might be patrolling this region. The Ulhur mountains are not that frequent a tourist travelling spot. Actually, they’re never a tourist travelling spot.”
It’s probably the Alliance of Light, I said. Which means Freya and Nazu are in there right now.
“What’s our plan of action?” Krof asked.
“Well we can’t attack head-on for sure,” I said. “We don’t know what kind of warriors they have in there. Moreover, they could just use Nazu and Freya as hostages if we happen to attack them.”
“True.”
“Let’s get closer and tail them for a bit. We should be able to figure out what to do from-”
I heard the rumbling of thunder come from higher up on the mountain. For a second I froze, expecting lightning to strike and the man from before to appear again. But then I realized this was just a normal storm.
You okay? Nyx asked.
I nodded quietly and walked ahead. We picked up the pace and in a few minutes, we were within a hundred yards of the shadowy squadron. Armor of white came into vision, camouflaging them well against the snow. With that, however, we could now confirm this was indeed the Alliance of Light.
I wasn’t sure if it was the Lumina Knights though, and that actually bothered me a lot more than I’d expected. I realized that every time I’d dealt with the Alliance of Light it’d been through the Lumina Knights. That faction had collectively represented the Alliance of Light for me. It seemed amusing now, but in context, it made me realize I had not much insight into what the Alliance itself functioned like, and that cluelessness could mess up my planning.
That was something I really wanted to avoid. There were enough surprises and mystery factors in this situation as is. Adding in a little more uncertainty was not a good thing. I’d rather prevent it than let i
t grow.
“How are we going to get closer to these people?” Krof asked.
“I’d say we should wait for an opening but I don’t see that happening anytime soon,” I said. “I don’t really have any plans on how we should get closer.”
“That’s what I thought,” he said. He pointed his index finger into the air. A thin beam of sharp light shot to the sky, quickly disappearing within the clouds above.
“What was that?” I asked, worried that someone from the squadron might have sensed his magic.
“You’ll see,” he said. “And don’t worry, my magic isn’t that easy to sense. That spell is quite well-shielded for someone to be able to sense it on a whim.”
“Ah,” I said. “That’s good.”
About a minute had passed by when the spell finally came into effect. The light around us began to dull, as though someone had turned the sun down to a ‘low’ setting. I looked up and saw the gray clouds from before had now darkened. Not only that, they seemed thicker as well, as though each cloud had somehow multiplied in mass in that short time.
Rumbling came from the sky and the winds around us picked up, soft snow slowly filling up the air. Our vision began to deteriorate, until the group in front of us was nothing but a faint outline of people. This even though we were but about seventy or eighty yards away from them.
Such an unnatural weather change, I noticed, and then I realized what had just happened. I turned to Krof. “Was this your magic?”
He grinned. “Weather manipulation.”
“How on earth is such strong magic supposed to be not that traceable?”
“My spell doesn’t force a change in the weather but rather sets up conditions that allow it to develop into this on its own. For a spectator, there’s too little forcing of a weather change for them to suspect something. All I did was chill the temperature up there a bit and send a lot more moisture as well.”
“Ah,” I said, impressed by what a clever system that was. There was still a lot for me to learn regarding the ways I could use spells. I was more of a blunt force kind of guy at this point, so learning the subtleties of magic were something I had to delve into soon.
“Very soon,” Nyx chuckled.
Shut up, I smiled.
“We can now head closer to the squadron ahead without worrying about being caught,” Krof said.
“If we can find them first that is,” I said, looking at the snow-filled air. I could kind of see an outline of maybe one or two people, but there was nothing preventing that image from just being my imagination. For the most part however, I did know which way the Alliance was heading down, so just keeping on that path would be more than enough for us to near them soon. And since the storm had now been summoned, their visibility would be down as well, meaning it’d be easier for us to sneak closer to them.
“What’s our plan for when we get close enough?” Krof asked as we headed down the mountain. The terrain had now become rougher for some reason, and we maneuvered through small boulders and rocks as we kept on track.
“Ideally, we want to be able to find out where Freya and Nazu are,” I said. “I doubt we’re going to be able to do it just like that, so there’s probably going to be quite a bit of running around before we actually uncover their location.”
“Are we sure they’re in there though?”
Nyx, check the map, I said.
“Freya is around there,” he said. “I can’t check on Nazu since he’s not a part of your party.”
Ugh, should have added him too, I said. I relayed the info to Krof and the wizard seemed a little more confident that there was a use to what we were doing.
“Worst case scenario, how are we getting out of there?” Krof asked. “My teleportation spell is still recovering from its last use.”
“So is my Shadow Travel skill,” I mumbled. “Ugh, I hadn’t thought about what to do for that.”
“Well,” he sighed. “There’s nothing we can do about it now. We’ll just have to make something up as we go along then.”
“Sounds good,” I said.
We headed down the mountain for another few minutes, slowly inching closer to the group ahead as we did. I could see a few shadows every once in a while, but I was still unsure of whether this was the Alliance’s squadron or just some random image I was conjuring up in my head.
The wind and snow picked up fast, turning into a subtle snowstorm soon. Krof seemed quite proud that he’d managed to do all this without using too much mana, but I on the other hand was worried that the weather change would seem to unnatural to the enemy. The last thing I wanted was for them to think there was something weird going on around them.
“Why are you so wary of these men?” Nyx asked. “If this was some other group of people holding Freya or Nazu captive you’d have charged them down already.”
I stayed silent for a few seconds, listening to the wind howl in my ears. The Alliance of Light is not just another group of people, I said.
“Sure, and this has nothing to do with the fact that you just faced off against a man who killed you pretty effortlessly.”
What are you trying to do here, Nyx? I asked.
“Look,” he said. “You’re the Phantom Lord. That doesn’t mean you’re always more powerful than everyone else. It means you never succumb to strength. There’s a reason all the Eternals went against you and only managed to keep you sealed away. Do you really think all of them put together were still weaker than you were?”
I kept quiet.
“It’s been a while since you had to face off against someone who outmatched you this much for strength,” Nyx said. “But that doesn’t mean you’re automatically the loser just because your opponent is much stronger.”
I understand, I said. Thanks, Nyx.
I heard a whoosh sound beside us, and I immediately alerted all my senses. This wasn’t just the wind. I could tell.
“Diablo, what’s wrong?” Krof asked, obviously not having sensed the presence yet.
“Krof, we need to-”
A shadow charged at me and I went into action immediately, planting my foot in the snow-covered floor and shoving my fist forward, right at the figure. Strands of sleek black hair emerged from behind the snow, and I immediately realized who this was.
I stopped my hand mid-air, and a blast of wind shot from it, just from the motion my fist had gone through.
“Wow,” Freya stepped out of the snow, a stunned expression on her face. “I did not want to get hit by that.”
“What the hell were you thinking?!” I yelled and stepped closer, putting my arms around her and giving her a tight hug.
“It’s good to see you too,” she smiled, putting her arms on my shoulders. “We don’t have time for reunions though. Nazu is still in there.”
“Hello, elven assassin,” Krof smiled. “Glad you were able to get out of there on your own.”
“They never took me captive,” she said.
“They didn’t?” I blinked. “What even happened after I uhhhh…died?”
“I…The moment I realized the man in white armor had you beat, I decided it was important to protect Nazu, because it was obvious he was going to go after him next. With my unsealed form, I managed to get back to the kobold and take him away with me. But for some reason, I reverted back to my normal form much quicker than before, possible because I’d expended a lot of my power in that battle. Anyway, when I and Nazu headed down the mountain, Jelal was there waiting for us, and there was no way I could take him out on my own.”
“What about the Alliance of Light?” I asked as we headed closer to the squadron ahead.
“The man in white and everyone else attacked the chamber in the Ulhur mountains when Jelal had taken us there, and nearly murdered everyone but me and Nazu. I managed to get away during the mass murder, but Nazu wasn’t so lucky. He got taken away while I was distracted with a knight, and by the time I noticed he was gone, it was too late.”
“Fine,” I said. “He’s wi
th the Alliance of Light now?”
“The squadron up ahead,” she nodded.
“Good,” I said. “How many people?”
“More than a hundred easy,” she said.
“Are the Lumina Knights in there?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Not as far as I can tell.”
“Fine then,” I said. “Do you have any ideas on how we can get to Nazu? Where is he being kept in the squadron?”
“He’s in a carriage in the middle,” she said. “They’ve got soldiers all around him.”
“Dammit,” I cursed. That removed the option of a stealth removal. We’d have to go face off against the Alliance if we wanted to take Nazu back.
“Pardon the intrusion, but why does the Alliance of Light want the kobold?” Krof asked.
Oh yeah, forgot to ask that, I thought, realizing I had the same question as well.
“They said something about resurrection, but I didn’t understand what they were talking about.”
I looked at Krof, who was already looking at me, and I could tell we were thinking the same thing. “Acnologia,” we said at once.
“What?” Freya asked.
“We’ll fill you in later,” I said, picking up the pace. “If what you said is true, we need to get Nazu back and fast.”
“This doesn’t make sense though,” Nyx said. “Why would they even want to resurrect Acnologia? And even otherwise, aren’t they supposed to head back to the chamber with the sign if they want to resurrect the Shadow Dragon? Why are they headed down the mountain?”
I’m as clueless as you are, Nyx, I said.
I could make out shadows in front of us now, all of them sharp and clear. We were about ten yards away from the squadron, and all three of us went on silent mode, not speaking a word to one another. The wind howled loud, the accompanying thunder of the storm keeping our footsteps silent in the ears of the enemy.
I could make out the nearest carriage from us, the box-like shadow surrounded by about ten men. I figured this wasn’t the only carriage in the squadron, which meant it was likely Nazu wasn’t in here. A part of me was a little impressed that these carriages were actually traveling down a mountainside, in a snowstorm. That was some good build quality right there.
The Eternal: Dragonborn - A LitRPG Saga (World of Ga'em Book 2) Page 18
