Chapter 44
On the fifth day, Charlotte and her cousin's guild team finally reach the base camp; the meeting with the two guilds went smoothly. Natasha Sokolov sent out messages to her trust guild members as they awaited the ten teams to return after that day. Charlotte made sure to hide their presence as she waited until he saw the person she assumed was the person that intoxicated her with the bewilderment toxin. Charlotte knew that confronting the traitor would be risky, as she still needed to know who was backing the person's actions and what their plans were.
She knows that players and under guilds will do anything just to protect their own interests, so she must proceed with caution and gather as much information as possible before making a move against the traitor. This would require her to be patient and strategic in her approach to uncovering the truth behind the betrayal and related conspiracies connected with the quest to finally open the path toward the second floor. The first team to return safe and undetected was the seventh team; the person Charlotte was looking for came and casually did what he normally does since they started the hunt. Charlotte can't just act indiscriminately as the rest of the team was still returning one team at a time.
The hunt was successful; the numbers of the enemy were going down. They were all hoping they could stretch this tactical approach as long as they could, but they could only hope. The person Charlotte was suspecting walked back to his tent with a few Lazarus members; he was Astor Gascal, 26 years old, a level 22 male whose main skill is protection barriers that could stop a tier 3 attack for 2 minutes. The other mages were also inside the allocated tent for them; all twenty-two mages that participated in the hunt could finally rest and relax, as the second batch would prepare their task. Ten mages were waiting outside the tent as they gained all the equipment next to the battle wagon that was parked in between the large tents.
The two guilds set up five big tents, kept the battle wagon safe, and got caught in a protection artifact that only the guild team leaders can access. Charlotte with Mary Kaye finally came out and asked a Lazarus guild personnel to invite Astor Gascal out of the tent and inform him that Jacob wishes to talk to him privately.
As soon as the Lazarus guild member the large tent instantly burst into flame followed a ear piercing thundering sound and a blinding hot burning light came out. the blast was to fast and powerful those who where near the tent were like rag dolls as they all got thrown into the air, as the force tore their skin and broke their bones .
the rest of the tents and parked battle wagon all Toppled over, the players that were casually talking among each other fell backward
those who were near were severely wounded as the mage tent exploded as a tier 2 wide-range bomb exploded, destroying the killing all the mage members from both guilds who were inside the tent . The explosion took out the illusion spell , including and sound barrier that was protecting their base camp from the monster at the Lúthien city.
While the empire representatives were inside the enchanted battle wagon that was brought to the quest, the senior members of each guild were spared because their tent was only a few meters from the blast. The other tents were burned and torn apart by the force, and many mages who were gathered outside their main tent suffered serious injuries. Fortunately, the healers, who were extremely cautious, were on the other side. All fifteen healers fell from their folding beds and felt the hot force of the explosion that was fifty feet from where they placed their large enchanted tent.
the scene was in full view as those who were watching the hunt saw everything s the transmitter bug directly feed information to the projector mirror, it was a chaos as player scramble to save those who were wounded at the same time the Lazarus blood kin who were able to fight took their weapons as the remaining monster heard the massive explosion and the spells that blocks their presence was also taken out. The remain monster that were curios seeing that their number was going down as actually the fault of the players who were hiding from their sight .
Chaos engulf the basecamp, the blast was focus upward is if it was cast that way to attract the enemies near them, Mary kaye panic as she was skilled in relation to the gourd soil and rock , the vibration from the soil was now normal; something huge was moving.
The information about the evolve drake was not near the number they told her. What ever was moving underground was now bigger. The hole at the center o f the city was small.
The two guilds had no choice they were exposed the ten teems comprised with 5 member, now lacks mages to help them with long range attacks and cast spells, Bonnie ran toward the first battle wagon under the east Lazarus guild to secure it as the enemy was running toward their direction one hundred forty plus players what remains from their attack force. Cody took out a small pouch and took out five gold coins and summon a pixie messenger and as soon one appeared, Cody gave the coins and the letter Mary Kaye wrote and asked the Pixie deliver the letter to the main North Sub guild temporary base located at the tip of The forest of Rithakwood.
Based on the geographical location of the holy main empire of Álfheim, the sub-cities under the wing of the holy empire, Lady Riad-dûm Laenaria has agreed to let the North Lazarus Guild establish a small stronghold on their land in return for their help if somebody treats their land.
Sebastian Lazarus made a contingency plan and told Mary Kaye to send a pixie messenger as they are ready to help, as everyone was monitoring the quest unfold. The transmitter bug signal can be intercepted by other cities, so many are now seeing what just happened to the two guilds.
Sadly, Sabastian was sleeping beside Lady Riad-dûm Laenaria when this chaos erupted. Meanwhile, the pixie messenger flew at its fastest speed to deliver the message to Sebastian. The monster stampeding run toward the camp basecamp, was closing fast; roughly two thousand monsters rushed toward them The east Lazarus guild and the white Devil,
Astor Gascal, dressed as a human bomb, detonated himself and simply killed all the mages, including the person he was romantically involved with ,without hesitation or second thought. He instantly killed twenty mages and mentally crippled five others while screams were heard. Both guilds were prepared to handle anything, but this was something they never expected.
As Bonnie clutched a Lazarus female member and screamed in agony, her hand tore off, and she dragged the injured as Charlotte Lazarus and her family hurried out toward preparing a defense wall, as Bonnie screamed and cried for assistance as her thoughts went into panic mode. The healers frantically cast healing play; the ten who were severely injured here recovered in a matter of seconds, but the mental anguish they endured was unbearable. The fifteen healers used up all of their mana until the wounded were safe, but their power was limited because the twenty dead mages were gone and could never be saved because nothing was left and their bodies were dismembered.
Jacob and Oliver were with their leader Charlotte while Natasha Sokolov was with her twenty strong tankers, all steadfast, as the horde was rushing toward them. Farrah was with Cody with a few attackers and two remaining mages to help in replenishing Farrah's and Cody's mana as they cast wide-range attack spells to slow the horde, but it was like putting cardboard boxes in front of the stampeding
A few long-distance archers were using all available arrows at their disposal; the White Devil Guild came with 500 different arrows with different types of elemental enchantments to provide support from a distance. The horde seemed relentless, but the group was determined to hold their ground and protect their camp at all costs. As they scramble to move and save those who were wounded. The members of the High Strategy guild understood that going into panic was not a viable option. They needed to remain calm and focused in order to effectively strategize and overcome the stampeding horde. With their experience and knowledge, the few spellcasters on their ranks used the opportunity to follow Mary Kaye instruction, and that was to secure the battle wagons with all their supplies. They knew that losing these enchanted wagons filled with potions and weapons ,
The healers and all guild hunt participants that exhausted their mana could easily regain it because the mana potions each guild brought with them were enough to last them two weeks. The battle wagon was protected with a barrier spell as a safe precaution; many failed because they forgot to secure their supplies. The two guilds were aware that anything could happen, and they still fell short as many mages died on both sides.
While this was happening, Dane had already woken up and hunted a few monsters roaming while on foot. The receiving transfer sack that was on Siglorr Bouldergrove was constantly getting filled with raw material as Ward made sure to harvest all of Dane's kills. Dane was a proficient hunter; he made sure that Miko would coordinate his prey and inform him of the status of the target and the manner of attack he needed to execute. While Ward made sure to extract the mana cores and increase both their levels, within just a few days, the two' AIs doubled all their stats and capabilities.
Ward's current snake form can now multiply to twenty with an attack distance of thirty feet per viper; a single bite can paralyze a victim, but more than three bites can be fatal. Miko's owl form can fly farther and faster; her needle feather was upgraded to blades, and these sharp blades are coated with toxin of corrosion to penetrate thick and hard skin.
But at the same time, Ward and Miko gradually made sure to increase Dane's skills; his fire bullet now has a damage of ten, while his lightning has 15 damage points. His healing capability was significantly increased to 20, upgrading the formless armor by feeding it all the mana cores Ward could extract from the dead corpses it was able to get. Having the transfer sack bag was a true game changer.
The receiving sacks were overflowing with monster corpses; the bulge was five times its size. The enchantment that was placed on the item was created to ensure no matter how big the item was, it could fit inside. The largest the Bouldergrove clan got was a manticore that was 5 feet tall and weighed about 500 kg.
Siglorr Bouldergrove and his clan saw this as an easy way of transferring items to shorten the travel distance in the past, but when his late father got it appraised at the magic guild. Many high-ranking mages saw it as a failed item considering it can only be used on lifeless items, so Siglorr's father planned to mass-produce it but never gained light until his passing a few hundred years ago.
Siglorr Bouldergrove just hid the sack and casually used it to transfer a few items when he was a traveling merchant , but when his clan fell from grace, he had no choice but to go back from being a blacksmith and reclaim his clan's fallen name in the forging community.
Thus the sack remained with him like the rest of the artifacts his family created, giving in to Dane was received with great joy as his family was able to see firsthand after traveling two days from the capital of Solnara Cererindu to where he camped out.
At the same time, Dane was a day late compared to Charlotte; instead of taking the road that led to the city, he was following a trail that wound through the forest, out of sight. However, he was close since he could see the bright explosion coming from the area close to Lúthien. Even the thick plant life covering the wide but isolated and forgotten place where it was once part of the empire of Solnara Cererindur.
The thundering explosion was not a good sign; Dane wanted to increase his attack damage before joining the hunt as the Lazarus Benefactor, knowing that Charlotte was a capable leader and he knew what his blood kin could actually do, gaining the title of the best hunting guild by actual merit rather than simply by reputation. But seeing the light that far from where he was was not a good omen.
His plan has changed the moment the light flashed; Ward and Miko adjusted their task as they both knew their master had to engage the enemy and play his part. Ward managed his strategic attack and defense, while Miko prepared to provide support through information and healing as needed. The sudden change in plans added an element of urgency to their mission. He can't use the transmit spell, as he might need to use his mana wisely in the upcoming battle. Ward and Miko knew they needed to be efficient and effective in order to ensure their master's success against the enemy.
"Miko, activate the core engine. Adjust mana replenishment based on consumption and output of the attack and healing."
"Ward, please create strategic positions for us to maximize our effectiveness in battle."
"We shall approach the battle in both melee and magic attack; could you chance the mask to look more intimidating to strike fear into our enemies?"
Ward and Miko nodded in agreement, ready to execute their master's orders with precision and skill.