Heralcus and his legion arrived near the arrow that pointed downwards. They glanced at the mountain, and scouts were moving around the region.
There was no Temple standing nearby or on top of the mountain, to their surprise. Heralcus spotted the arrow, but it vanished a few seconds later.
"Is the Temple inside that mountain?" Darako asked.
"Yes. It should be. I saw how he managed to summon and bring the Temple out of nothing." Neteri answered.
"It's the perfect place. We attacked this region, remember? Our Siege Cultivators couldn't break the mountain and cause the mountain to cave in. Unless you Commanders bombard it with several massive spells and attacks, that mountain and the underground region it hides will endure."
"And if we use massive attacks, we'd be falling into their trap as we would have less energy to fight."
"Yes. So we either perform grand attacks that will destroy the mountain or charge right in. But then the path will be narrow, and we will face the full attacks of the Nephilim. In that scenario, we would still be expending energy to defend the attack." Heralcus explained.
"But surely, they can't perform power attacks several times! This could be to our advantage! We lead the charge and take advantage of the small space and use our combined defenses to resist the enemy!" Qara exclaimed.
"That is a good plan. But that's what they want us to do!" Shellcross declared angrily.
"This enemy of ours is a master deceiver. That is what he expects us to do. And then he teleports his team behinds us and shoots that [Holy Beam] or that meteor attack behind us!" Shellcross pointed out the trap.
Qara and Darako realized the horror of such a circumstance.
"Then we ensure that there is none. The Nephilim is also trying to delay us. He knows we will come to that conclusion. Yet we cannot ignore this threat. Even though it will delay our attack, we still have to search the nearby areas for possible ambushes that the Nephilim has laid. He could teleport his forces in a back region, as Shellcross pointed out. So we have scoured the whole area for energy conversion circles. For now, we create pressure and blind them of our sight. Qara, go and scout the area around the mountain and create a powerful tornado that will block their view. Go now."
"Yes!" Qara immediately flew out and flew towards the mountain. Her speed created massive gusts that kicked the dust off the ground. The power of the Wind Core created a strong wind, and a tornado formed right at the entrance.
Qara retreated and watched the tornado. She then flew to see for any possible lookout locations hidden outside the mountain.
At the same time, the armies began to scout around the area.
BOOM! BOOM!
Some areas exploded as the group found energy conversion circles and was slowly dismantling them piece by piece.
Heralcus found an energy conversion circle that wasn't a trap and didn't explode.
"This brat! He has planted several teleportation circles around the area, just as I suspected!"
He then flew up and observed the land.
There was a lone mountain where the ruins of the Alpha Draconis Kingdom stood. Around them was thick vegetation of Dark-Dependent plants of all forms. Tall trees and thick marshes covered the forest around the mountain.
The more he saw, the more Heralcus cursed.
"My Lord?" Neteri asked.
"He is good at making us delay our attacks. Search the area and create a massive formation to seal this place. The area has thick shrubs and weeds that he could have cut, drawn an energy conversion circle on the ground, and covered it up again! I want you to all burn it! Burn all the trees and plants! Burn that entire forest!" Heralcus ordered.
Neteri and Shellcro immediately took action and started to light fires all over the forest.
The flames quickly spread as the group used Balefire to burn the dark-dependent plants and even used a variety of spells, gas, and other flammable substance to burn everything behind.
The great fires began to rage, and soon, the armies of Heralcus began to form ranks at the entrance of the mountain.
The tornado had died out, and they were prepared to charge. But as the winds and dust died out, Kyros was standing right at the entrance.
"Hey! It took you long enough to start the attack."
"Nephilim! Tonight, I shall feast on your bones!" Qara roared.
"Whatever. You guys never learn, do you? So how was it that you acted exactly according to my plans?" Kyros laughed.
"According to your plan? Quit bluffing. I was more careful this time!"
"I was counting on it. We needed time to recover. And we got it because you guys acted so cautiously. You see, if you sent Qara to fly towards this place after I left, you would have known that the Temple was inside the mountain. This means that your little side-trip to see the attacks of my air support wasn't necessary. But you were so cautious, including you, Qara. You never decided to scout ahead. So that delayed your arrival and gave us enough time to recuperate." Kyros mocked.
"Did you find any traps at all, Commanders? After the first hour, you must have thought that there was no trap, but then, that made you feel afraid! Because you thought that I planned that and made traps again. So you continued your paranoia until you reached this region."
Shellcross, Darako, and Qara had furious expressions. It was exactly as Kyros said.
Heralcus had a cold expression but maintained his focused glare.
"A useless taunt. What can mere hours do to help you recover?"
"You'd be surprised." Kyros sneered.
"And even on my doorstep, you still fell into my plan. You were so focused on the possible traps I made and the prepared teleportation energy formation circles that you were willing to burn the entire forest. And your wind dragon even made a tornado right in front of my doorstep, which is the least energy-consuming magic that would block my view. All according to my plan."
"How was that according to your plan?"
"Let me first tell you of this ingenious plan! The annoying thing was your army of shades. Of course, I was fated to have the power to resist it and have the right element to erase the darkness. I used it a lot in the previous battles, which forced you to resurrect your army to have a physical form. That would solve the problem, as they would be more resistant to my light attacks, right?"
"It worked! You had to use more energy and add Brimstone to kill my men on your next attacks."
"Yes. Of course. But as I said, you were so focused on energy conversion circles. As it turns out, I'm a poison expert. I never got the chance to use it in my fights, and when I discovered Fate and Destiny's existence, I decided not to use it against them. Specifically against the minions of Destiny. You see, most poisons available in the Lowlands could easily be resisted by simply holding your breath. But you guys did not do that in this particular scenario I created. Pungent Shackling Poison Fruit. Do you know about this?" Kyros smiled.
Heralcus's expression changed, and it turned extremely ugly.
"No... It can't be!"
"That's right. I made several mixtures. You've seen my work in energy conversion circles. Would you believe that I am equally skilled in making poisons? I placed it in the forest around this area. And you burned the entire forest and placed a tornado at the center, which acted like a vacuum that drew the wind in. Even now, my long speech to taunt and talk to you is to delay your stay in this area. Your weaker leveled men should start getting paralyzed, or killed, right about... now."
And at Kyros's words, several men suddenly fell. Others began to convulse.
More and more men began to fall, and a panic occurred as everyone gasped for breaths.
Suddenly, several bright lights flashed out from the back of Kyros. The power of Kyriachos's darkness disappeared, and it revealed the Emberdon Mages and the skeletons, all aiming with a scepter that formed an energy formation circle at the tip.
The team launched their attacks and shot at different places.
"Shields!" The Champions commanded.
But the disarray from the panic and the sudden deaths and paralysis of their men caused many Force and Magic shields to weaken.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The pitiful shields could not withstand the might of the Champion-leveled attacks, and more of the men died.
"Come and die. But I warn you, Cardinal. Fate is already the winner of this chess match between Fate and Destiny. Walk inside, Cardinal Heralcus.. It is your fate to fall here! No, in fact, it is your destiny to die here!" Kyros laughed as he vanished into the darkness of the cave.
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