Chapter 294: Chapter 294

Ophelia, Tanda, Nessa, Valora and Ruby walked through the halls of the Wind Grand Temple, the god they worshiped called “The Breath of the World” to them. Wind moved through the hollow, crystalline walls, playing a whimsical song as the breath passed through it.

The halls were nearly empty, the many disciples and clergy away on a task that the high elf wasn’t that open about, despite allowing them into the temple and allowing them to tour the place without many restrictions.

The people appeared to be following a practice that somewhat mimicked their floating temple, which was closer to an airship than it was a building. They hollowed out their bones to lighten their bodies, allowing additional wind mana to be stored and to empower them. Their entire body became like giant mana lungs, and the sylphs with their diaphanous wings could actually fly incredibly fast.

The high elf man was tall and slender, and while he looked fragile and weak, Ophelia’s magical senses told her that he was filled with supernatural power and grace, dense wind mana flowing through him.

The man in question frowned at them as they finished their pass through the whole temple. Unlike the Fire Grand Temple, this place didn’t have a central vortex or Core Sanctum. They found nothing out of order, not even using Ruby’s ability to smell and feel tainted blood or Nessa’s ability to see the truth and pierce any illusion, as well as their Divine Sense which pierced through walls.

“Are you not satisfied with your search yet? We do not have any interlopers, as we’ve told you–none of our clergy have died or have gone missing from within this temple. We would have noticed this taint long ago within, the wind speaking to us of any plot.” The high and mighty wind elf sneered, his sylph companion’s wings buzzing in irritation.

Ophelia gave Nessa a look, and she gave the all-clear message in her mind. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝※𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖※𝕟𝕖𝕥

“I understand you feel superior to those who worship the Great Flame, but they were confident and believed the same thing as you–that none could desecrate their sacred halls. And yet, the enemy hid right under their noses. Take a look.”

Ophelia took out a chunk of the evil god’s statue from her Storage Ring, which, while purified a bit from being destroyed, still reeked of miasma and taint. The two clergy recoiled immediately, backing away from the object.

Ophelia added, “While difficult, that didn’t mean it was impossible for a villain to hide, even here. Observe.”

Using the camouflage cloak tool Jake had created, they demonstrated how even in their temple, it could be hidden. Combined with going deeper about what they found from their investigations and interrogations, the sylph and high elf truly changed their tune.

The sylph woman said, “How…terrible. I understand now. I still have faith that The Breath of the World would have warned us within these sacred walls, but…”

Nessa picked up on a thread from before, asking, “So you’ve never lost a clergy member inside this temple. What about outside?”

The high elf grimaced. “Unfortunately, our…grand task to restore the world has…had a few of our clergy go missing over the years; there is no doubt about that. The winds near the temple are rather dangerous, so… I suppose some assassinations could have been carried out under that guise.”

Tanda said, “They have sought to weaken you for years, just as they did the others. Tell us more about this grand task, and have there been any anomalies lately?”

The sylph replied, “When our world became unbalanced with the loss of The Great Well, The World’s Breath spoke to us. While we don’t hear words, exactly, our strongest acolytes divined its desire. It wished for us to maintain balance, to restore the wind of the world, and to protect life. We have prevented calamitous storms and more.”

The sylph woman added, “But…recently, there has been a large storm building, and we’ve failed to slow it down and stop it. It’s gotten out of our control, and the Rifts only make our task even more difficult to achieve.”

Tanda frowned at them. “And…you didn’t think to tell anyone else? To warn them?”

The high elf shook his head. “The storm’s landing is not yet imminent. We have contained it toward the nearly empty continent of the Great Well. Just who do we warn when it may change direction and arrive on another continent entirely? We have been…weakening, containing, and redirecting it. It has taken all our efforts to slow it down. But… I am afraid that it might not be enough soon.”

Tanda noted, “The winds were dangerous and turbulent. I’m not so sure that we’d have been able to arrive so easily if not for Valora here.”

The sylph smiled at the creature and nodded, and Valora whinnied proudly and tickled Tanda’s cheek with one of her long, ribbon-like whiskers.

Ophelia asked, “Is there a way that we can help?”

The high elf man looked at Valora and then back to Ophelia. “No offense to you and your strength, but I find this rather doubtful–we have hundreds of clergy out in the winds as they continue their worship to change the path of the storm. I suppose if…at the very least you close these Rifts that are pestering us, and you had some means of controlling the wind, you may be able to help us change its course and weaken it.”

Nessa asked, “Do you have a map of the leylines or special wind currents?”

The high elf snorted. “The Breath of the World is free-spirited and capricious. It is not bound by a constant path like leylines. However, we do have a map of our more static floating isles, and we do track the number of the smaller isles that move. We often coordinate our efforts to alter the storm from these locations.”

They walked over to a room filled with maps, and he eventually handed them some and gave a small amount of information about where their efforts were taking place. Even with the storm on another continent, their efforts to influence the Breath of the World largely occurred nearby, altering the paths of the great currents and tempests that shaped the floating wind continent.

Eventually, they bid them farewell. The few clergy from the Fire Grand Temple had already been sent home to the Alliance HQ through the Refuge portal after they had helped them earn entry. They were waiting at the HQ city for now and would likely have to wait to be ferried back to the Fire Grand Temple at a later time.

The party arrived outside, just about ready to travel.

Ophelia reached up to her ear and pressed the button on her headset and interacted with the Menu that appeared in her mind. Because of the many array flags they planted, which acted like a repeator, they could reach the HQ and also reach their war coordinators. Thankfully, these coordinators could be on any world in the Sector and the communication could arrive nearly instantly, like a phone call.

“Valtor, Amara, can you hear me? This is Ophelia on The Burning Steps.”

Valtor answered from the headset, “Loud and clear, Champion Ophelia. How can we serve?”

She tapped some options in her Menu, providing the detailed maps that they just imaged. “I’m sending you some details–we could use your assistance. There’s a powerful storm brewing, and we need to take measures to weaken it or slow it down if possible and deal with the Greater Rift forming at the same time.”

Valtor replied, “One moment. Let us review this information.”

Amara was the one who replied less than a minute later, the super-intelligent constructs able to parse through the data extremely rapidly, “The maps are helpful; we only have about fifteen percent of the floating continent mapped out; very few of these floating cities have Nexus Nodes. The giant storm on the devastated water continent is certainly alarming. Give us a few more minutes, and then we will update you on where we’d like those flags planted. We’ll coordinate with the Ravenwolf Tribe. Is there anything you would like us to focus on, Ophelia?”

“We’re not clear on the situation just yet, but from the sound of it, this storm is rather dangerous. Mapping out the wind mana’s paths and discovering the enemy’s plot is paramount. We plan on focusing on the known locations of the Wind Grand Temple’s clergy and their efforts, searching for betrayers and otherwise.”

Valtor replied, “Good. Then this strategy should cover us well. Be aware that the Ravenwolf Tribe is already making excellent headway in closing some of the Rifts in the area. What they’ve already noticed is that the storm of the floating isles is already more turbulent and dangerous than expected. They’ve encountered a few devastated villages from errant debris and more. But we’ll increase the focus on travel and placing additional array flags to map out the mana in the storm and to potentially control it.”

Ophelia nodded, a little alarmed by the news. They had taken a mostly straight path to the Wind Grand Temple and may have missed the sheer amount of activity occurring in the isles. “Helpful, thanks, Valtor and Amara. We’ll speak with you soon.” She leaped up onto Valora and patted the saddle behind her. “Let’s start moving out, girls.”

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Nessa and Tanda then hopped up behind her, and Ruby hopped up onto the back of Valora too. Thankfully, as Valora gained levels, she had gotten even larger–the four girls had no problems fitting on her large back.

Ruby’s claws grasped the air repeatedly, and a frown marred her expression, with her ears flat on her head. “Good. I do hope we get into a fight soon. Felt so useless at both of those temples.”

Tanda chuckled and smiled at her over her shoulder. “Me too. Nessa is much better at finding these kinds of schemers! But don’t worry about it, Ruby. That’s just how it is sometimes, especially with Jake, Ira, and Faye around solving all the issues that can’t be smashed, usually. But when we need some blades and some muscle, we’ll definitely value your help!”

Nessa added, “You aided us well against the Aspect and the cultists, Ruby. I’m sure you’ll get your time to shine.”

Ophelia nodded, adding, “It’s only the five of us here, counting Valora. Your strength could easily mean the difference between victory and defeat. Let those who excel at other tasks show their worth, and you will be able to show yours on the battlefield.”

She grinned as she looked back at Ruby and tapped Valora with her feet, getting her to begin her jog into the air at their first target–an island in the distance. “It won’t be long until we get into a fight, that I am sure of. Valora here will make sure of it, won’t you, girl?”

Valora replied, [For glory, we ride!]

The wind picked up around Valora, the wind mana wrapping around her in a vortex. She dashed through the air, her gait continuing into the sky, lightning starting to gather around her.

They’d plant more flags and close some Rifts and see about finding any betrayers among the Wind Grand Temple clergy for now. They only had roughly one more day before Cassius and much of his guild respawned, and they intended to make it count.

“You better hurry up, Ava, or Bree will get away!” Berri teased, flapping her three sets of wings as her tail undulated like a kite tail behind her. Fhesiah and Bloodberri flew, and Bree and Avalara ran over the vast mountain range that was the earth continent.

Avalara laughed in their minds, the Battle Avatar otherwise busy. [I’m working on it! I’ll catch up soon, just watch!]

Bree was a few miles ahead, her dinodog body much better at a long run and even climbing compared to the bipedal, oversized treant beastkin. Ava ran more like a gorilla than a human, her long arms and large hands able to grab the ground and propel her forward. This made her a rapid climber despite her massive size, but just not fast enough on the usual terrain compared to the strong dinodog that had a much more efficient running gait.

Slowly, her hoofed, digitigrade feet extended with plant growth. Her gait shifted, her strides becoming longer. Her arms pumped rather than dragged on the ground, like a human person running. It now almost looked like her feet became long, green blades, almost like skis but not quite that bowed as weight pressed down on the straight blade. Or perhaps, it was like a bow.

The strides became longer, and her speed picked up. She was now running in a much more efficient manner and began catching up to Bree.

[Hehe, it really works! I’ll catch you in no time now, Bree!]

Fhesiah narrowed her eyes on the blades. How strange. “That was Jake’s idea, wasn’t it, Ava?”

[It was! He said it was worth a try. That there were people who lost their legs, and with these odd blades they could run even better. I just have to compensate for the different terrain with my plant flesh.]

Blood noted, “Those legs don’t look good for fighting though. What is your plan when we get into one?”

[I think it’ll be fine! But if not, I can ditch them and grow them back–that’s why you can see it’s all made of tree and plant flesh, though, I’m just not as good at molding flesh as you girls are. Now that I’ve already done it, it will be quicker next time.]

Their pace picked up, and now Bree had to work hard to stay ahead. She, too, tried to introduce changes to her body, and she only had some mild success. What worked a little bit for her was making another set of legs and decompressing much of her body further, which lengthened her body. Her hindlegs did much more of the work, bulking up, and the gait looked a lot more like a cheetah’s.

Berri said, “Now we’re really moving. It’s still quite a ways to that temple, but this is at least a little fun.”

“Thank goodness the trolls don’t much live underground beyond carving out their caves with magic, or we’d have to be going underground too. Or worse, digging.” Fhesiah shivered.

Blood asked, “But you’re at last scanning beneath us with your Divine Sense, aren’t you?”

“Course. I’m looking for anything strange that we can find while we set up these flags. There’s not a lot underground, just the usual beast lairs. There have been no Rifts but a few Monster Dens, but I just mark them on the map for our allies to handle once they arrive.”

It was still going to be the better part of another day before their alliance members landed.

Blood sent a mental nod. “That’ll give them something to do. Plus, the flags should help detect any of the Rifts, underground or not, once we have enough of them placed.”

Bloodberri still kept up but only stayed ahead thanks to not needing to slow down to scale a mountain. The party planted numerous flags over the course of several hours and closed numerous Rifts rather quickly.

However, a shift eventually came from the enemy, and they started seeing spawned, roaming bosses as they came close to the Fortress Assault. It was not exactly near the Earth Grand Temple, but it was like they had to pass through its area of influence on their way to it.

Their party made short work of any bosses and their force of supporting creatures. Ava and Bree were both like boss monsters themselves, able to tank any of the large monster’s blows, allowing Fhesiah to charge up and dump large flames onto the enemies.

Meanwhile, Bloodberri dismantled them with her powerful chimeric axe, cleaving heavily into the monsters. Her Twilight Monarch Aura was more than enough to protect them, provide healing, and slowly weaken the enemies. They faced several in a row, which closed Rifts off in the distance.

Ava hummed as she spotted another boss monster stomping across the mountainside. This one was like a lava golem of some kind, and some floating fire elementals followed the massive creature. “Another one coming straight for us? This feels like someone must be leading them.”

Bree chuckled. “Looks like someone doesn’t want us to get to that Earth Grand Temple. These things only barely slow us down.”

Blood said, “Likely the case. We know there could easily be some enemy Champions at large since we’re here; they may be leading the way.”

Like the Champions of the Alliance, Tartarus also used Champions like generals. Without them, most monsters just swarmed in a vague direction or objective, such as conquering a city or village; their destination was chosen before the Rift even spawned. It could only change their direction if they were successful in accomplishing the chosen objective.

With the generals, they could make coordinated assaults of boss monsters and a tide of beasts. This was one of the advantages of spawning an incursion race, as they could accomplish something similar to directing the flow of the monsters from the Rifts.

However, the cost was usually great, and this was not often seen below the third Tier. Establishing an invading race such as the Bloodwrought came with advantages and disadvantages, and Tartarus did not have that many of them, it appeared.

It typically just consumed worlds it conquered or weakened their value by so much that its resources in people were limited compared to what the Alliance would bring to bear. It did not value life; only the Evil Divine kept some stronger races of people to strengthen their Divinity with their Conquests, focusing on the higher-Tiered worlds.

Fhesiah noted, “Bree’s right; it's clear that they don’t want us heading in the direction of the Earth Grand Temple now. They are actually peeling protection from the Fortress. It’s too bad we can’t just go for it now, but split up as we are, it’s not likely a great idea.”

Blood nodded. “And yet whatever Champion or Aspects they might have on their side, it seems they’re too scared to take us on even with our reduced numbers. Strange. If they don’t like where we’re going, we’re going to the right place.”

Even though the lava golem wasn’t really going to intercept them if they ignored it, they took it on–just as they closed any Rifts they didn’t have to go far out of their way for. Bree and Avalara altered their pace to arrive at the same time, their charges creating a devastating opener.

Covered in flaming auril, Bree’s horn pierced deeply into the golem’s left side, and Ava leaped with her large club to strike on the other shoulder simultaneously, causing the monster to stumble even further than Bree did.

Bloodberri dove from above, her tail whipping and smashing powerfully downward as they gathered their holy light and dark energy around the target.

A surge of bronze light wrapped around her as she used Twilight Divide, her powerful axe splitting deep into the wound Bree created. Giant hunks of earth and magma splashed onto the ground as they began their dismantling of the Boss-level monster.

The fire elementals rained flaming spheres of destruction onto their party, but they just washed over their fire-resistant bodies. Opting to take a more physical approach, considering their enemies also had similar levels of fire resistance, Fhesiah boosted her strength with her draconic flames. This enlarged her and grew dragon scales all over her body. With devastating speed and power, Fhesiah focused on cleaving into the fire elementals’ cores, flying from one to the next.

With the Boss destroyed in mere moments by the three large girls, Bloodberri and Ava added their baseball hits, taking down a few of the fire elementals in the sky. Bree also managed to throw a large bundle of vines using her tail, propelling it with flames and crashing into one of the monsters. The living vines then tore it apart, but she only took one down while each of them took down three or four, with Fhesiah cleaning up the rest.

Bree frowned at Bloodberri and Ava, who were laughing. “Damn, maybe I should learn that attack too. I’m confident in my ranged attacks from fireballs, but that does seem…situationally useful.”

”Yes! You should definitely join us for baseball. You have a permanent club there on your tail too!” Berri frowned as she looked down, checking out the end of her tail. “I wonder…”

Blood groaned. “Please… I get we’re chimeric, Sister. But surely there should be limits? We don’t need to grow new things for everything to become a Swiss Army Knife of tools. I would rather not become some weird abomination.”

“What’s a Swiss–Oh! That thing. Now that is an even better–”

Blood scowled at Berri with a glare, a difficult challenge to do when sharing a body, but she somehow achieved it and stopped her silliness.

Fhesiah chuckled. “Let’s get moving. I don’t see any other monsters coming yet, but if we don’t get a move on, they could delay us further.”

Ava’s feet blades began growing again, and Bree chuckled as she started to decompress her body once more to continue her run. “They paid a lot to slow us down three minutes and nothing more. Heh, if anything, it was convenient of them to bring the enemies to us.”

Berri and Blood cycled their Auril and Nethril through their wings, preparing for takeoff as they flapped and took to the air. Blood replied, “We’ll see just how convenient this was when we discover their real plot. Let us hurry.”