Chapter 435 - The Mountain
A fleet of dragons and an army of Adventurers were flying south to find the Ruby Maiden. The Rogue Maiden who instructed Frederick and the others on her movements lied to them.
She woke up the Ruby Maiden a day too early, delaying the Adventurers by doing so. This was a huge problem for them, especially since Licht and DuDu had airships who could travel as fast as the dragons.
Not to mention how they covered every single inch of the East. Every part of the continent, they have patrols in. When the red beacon was fired, Frederick knew that an unit was dispatched.
"Stop thinking about it," Lance said to Elliot. He was currently riding with Elliot and Ed on Hope while Connor rode his staff, flying close to them.
"It's just…" Elliot sighed. "You know how disoriented a Maiden is when she wakes up. We've seen Junko look like a fool. What if the Ruby Maiden was also just processing everything when suddenly, she was being captured. Lance, you can't possibly–"
"I'm sure the Rogue Maiden has her plans," Lance said, trying to ease his friend.
Elliot sighed again. "What plan? We were delayed. She delayed us. Now if the emperors get to the Ruby Maiden first, then it's game over."
"Elliot, listen," Lance said, massaging his friend's shoulder. Elliot was sitting in front of him while Ed lingered in the back, just listening to them.
"Think about it for a moment. If the Rogue Maiden did indeed lie, she could've made up another order for the Maidens she'll awaken," Lance explained. "But she didn't. She warned Frederick about the awakened Amethyst Maiden, and now she told them that the next one would be the Ruby Maiden.
"I'm sure she has her reasons why she did it a day earlier. But the fact that the order was correct, that's something we should reconsider before thinking that she's an enemy," Lance reassured. "We'll get to the Ruby Maiden first, I assure you that."
Elliot had no other choice but to nod. He smiled at Lance and the older man ruffled his hair. "I think I'll just stop thinking negatively. We still have a lot to do."
"We do," Lance smiled. "Now, let's go rescue the Ruby Maiden."
Hope heard this and released a dominant roar in the air. The sound erupted from the leader of all the dragons made their speed almost double.
It didn't take long for the fleet to arrive at the spot. It was a large mountain that had a ninety degree cliff on one side, a coned peak, and a curved other side.
"Isn't this an obvious place to hide a Maiden?" Elliot snickered. "This place is rather eye-catching that everyone should've been this place."
"That's what you think," Hope said. Growling while pointing his snout at the ground.
Elliot's eyes widened after seeing a giant moat around the mountain. The moat was filled with a sticky black liquid that bubbles up like it was lava.
From the nearest ground to the moat was approximately a hundred meters all around, meaning there was no way a normal human to cross it.
"I-I mean, there are airships from the East," Elliot said. "Couldn't they use it."
A dragon hovered close to them. In this dragon rode Kaminari, Guan Yin, and Kusa who was forces to ride a dragon instead of his giant wooden elephant.
"The wind pressure here is something we should consider before trying to cross the moat," Kusa said.
Elliot tilted his head to the side when Guan Yin pointed at the edge of their fleet. Elliot breathed out in shock, "Wow."
Their fleet was now forming a sphere. At the outer parts of the sphere, the dragons with air affinity were assigned. They were controlling the air around them, carefully not letting any strong winds to pass through.
"Wow," Elliot repeated. "They really are something."
"Our airships couldn't possibly carry as many wind elementals in a ship," Guan Yin said. "This was the reason why we couldn't get through this mountain. It's covered with a black moat a hundred meters from the ground and a strong sphere of rotating air halfway."
"I could still remember when my unit tried to cross here," Kaminari said. "We were just fifty meters from the forest because this wind was like a fortress."
"The dragons are really amazing," Elliot grinned. Tapping Hope's neck. "Hope, you're amazing!"
"Dragons are the closest to affinities among all the races," Hope said. "This is nothing."
A few minuted have passed and they had passed through the air barrier. Hope was the first dragon to look at the hole in the flat side of the mountain. He roared, signalling his people to land on the curved side.
"Have you found any clues?" Frederick asked once they got to him. "What's the matter with that hole?"
"It's just a hole," Lance reported. "I think it leads to a cave, but it looked man-made."
"Man-made? How?" Zeus asked.
"It was square shaped," Elliot replied. "It looked to perfect to be formed naturally, so I'm pretty sure someone carved."
"Okay, good work," Zeus said, nodding to them. He raised himself off of the ground so everyone can see him. "Alright, I will be bringing the original diplomats with me along with Fredrick, Luck, and the Top Five Adventurers.
"We will explore the cave while the rest of you stay here and keep watching," Zeus said. "If we don't come back in two hours, use all your might to destroy the mountain. Go back to Avancia for some help afterwards."
"You're seriously letting us just stay here?"
"What if something did happen? What will out kingdom do without you?"
"I don't think this is a good idea. Who's with me?!"
"The black liquid looks so weird."
…
The Adventurers started having second thoughts about the decision. They were talking against Zeus, and their voices started to get louder and louder.
"Zeus–"
"Silence!" the man with the lightning powers yelled. A giant bolt of lightning struck nearby, creating a massive crater that cleared the trees and all inhabitants of that area. "I said what I said, you should stay here and never come to rescue. We're here for a war, not stupidity competition."
His rage silenced everyone. They all looked at the ground, ashamed for acting like how they did not a minute ago.
"Okay," Daniel was the first one to step up. "We will do as you like, commander. We will wait here for two hours and return to the kingdom when you don't come back."
"Exactly," Zeus said. "Was that so hard to understand?"
"No, sir," Daniel bowed slightly. This earned him a snicker from Tanner who was at the back.
Zeus just nodded. He left with his team to explore the cave while the others stayed at the foot of the mountain.
"What's it like being a leech?" Tanner walked forward, grinning at Daniel. "You're a leech and you want to suck brownie points for your own goal."
"I did not think of such thing," Daniel said, glaring at Tanner. "If that was your interpretation of what happened, then you're wrong."
Tanner scoffed and pushed Daniel away, rolling his eyes after. "You can't fool me. You only rose through the ranks because of your method.. You're a pathetic piece of sh*t."