Chapter 830 Chapter 829: Journey To The Grottos
"What a sight to behold... never would've thought that beneath that beautiful landscape that seems far too gorgeous to be real, there are hundreds and thousands of blood thirsty, flesh hungry monsters waiting to tear my face off my skull."
I let out a sigh as I turned away from the window of our carriage, focusing on Jahi and Anput, the Demoness who said that getting a nod of agreement from our Jackalkin lover, both of them staring at the tall, sky scraping moutnaintops covered in snow and forests that were illuminated by a soft golden light and almost ruining the natural beauty that rested right before our eyes.
Towering mountains stretched out as far as we could see, holding back the horrors of the Labyrinthian from spilling over into the rest of the world, whilst a luscious forest of green, red and orange sprawled out over the sides of those snow capped mountains.
At their base, the mountain range was covered in those same trees, whilst the brilliant blue waterfalls and rivers that occasionally cut through the forest could be seen from afar, albeit only if one was looking for them.
All in all, the giant landscape in front of us made you feel small and insignificant, a startling reminder that no matter how strong you might be, you were still mortal at the end of the day; the rock that made up these pillars, the trees that lined said rock, all of it was far older than we could possibly imagine, and behind it lay something far more ancient and deadly than we could ever hope to become.
Our goal, however, lay beneath these beautiful forests, beneath that ancient rock; what we were looking for were the myriad caverns that dotted the insides of these mountains, laden with treasures and perils alike, even more so now that they had the privilege of basking in untouched, raw mana for the last few months, which was both the blink of an eye in nature as well as an eternity.
"Must you ruin this moment of wonder and awe by speaking about such things? Can you not just appreciate what is there, on the surface?"
Jahi focused on me with a smirk, the Demoness tilting her head as she said "But I did appreciate it. I see its beauty, its wonder. I have taken in its serene landscape and picturesque appearance already, however I can't help but think on the things waiting within its beautiful appearance. The monsters that lurk within, the land formations that threaten to trap one inside. In its own way, does that not add to its beauty?"
I rolled my eyes as I shook my head, with Leone adding "Not entirely, no. You highlighted the worst it has to offer and somehow are trying to twist that into being a positive? When it already has so many positives to offer at just a glance?"
"And that in and of itself is a negative, isn't it? A false sense of security thanks to the utterly gorgeous view that we are currently able to take in, which would eventually lead to our guard being down as we bask in this impeccable display of natural beauty? Besides, to me that makes this an even more perfect location; I get to kill things that are dangerous and do so in an astounding paragon of nature's brilliance?"
"Yeah, that's right! Think about it Kat; you're fighting a... Giant or something, wielding your Khopesh expertly and dancing around it beneath a sea of emerald leaves, before going in and landing a swift slash across its stomach. Splotches of ruby join that emerald beneath the sun, sparkling such a vibrant red and painting the area around you... Is that not appealing?"
I turned my dry gaze towards my mate, who only grinned at me as she tried to utilize my... 'quirks' against me in an argument, something that wasn't going to work so easily, though I had to give her some credit for understanding me so well.
"That's... not the point. Anyways, we should be approaching the first entrance soon. A small outpost marked down on the map as Outpost Epsilon, I believe? If I remember correctly, this is the fifth guarded entrance, following the human's variations of the runic language. Their 'runic alphabet', I believe its still called. There are 26 outposts for the 26 runes."
"Fifth... of just over two dozen. And that's only of the entrances that they deemed the most in need of guarding, correct?"
I nodded, my eyes glued to the mountains that were gradually growing taller as we approached, the perspective making itself known even more with each foot we traveled.
"Far too many to count, actually. The amount of caves and crevasses inside these mountains is almost innumerable, with new ones forming yearly and old ones closing as well. The estimates place it just around a hundred or so per mile of mountain, and with the mountains being so... mind bogglingly ginormous, well..."
The carriage fell silent for a few moments as we all took in the target of our desires, the mountains containing the Grottos slowly encompassing a majority of our vision as we rolled into Outpost Epsilon, which was a slightly crude, yet efficient and well camouflaged wooden base in the midst of the forest, its only giveaway being the well trodden path leading straight towards its gate.
Our convoy approached slowly and carefully, with two Demons taking point to check and see if there was anyone still living inside the outpost, but as we got closer it became increasingly clear that if there was something living inside the outpost, it wasn't a human.
The wooden walls had been torn down and splintered with great force, whilst the stone buildings and fortifications that lined the inside of the outpost were laid bare and turned into rubble; the earth it was built on was churned up and fresh compared to the compact dirt around us, while the most obvious signs of this being an 'unoccupied' outpost came from the ghastly groans that sounded out from the buildings.
Nothing mortal lived here any more, since all of the mortals were dead and turned into undead, causing us all to unsheathe our weapons in preparation for a fight.
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