Chapter 887 Chapter 886: Revelation
"So they were making their terracotta inside the building... does the dirt look different or feel different besides just being of a finer grain? Mana, texture, anything at all?"
Jahi made her way over to Leone and I after she perused the Golems for a few moments, the towering Demoness walking carefully inside this factory lest she damage one of the Golems on accident and break them.
"Not... particularly, but you also have to remember that this building, these Golems... they are really, really old. Decades at the minimum since they were last seen and touched, maybe even centuries. This soil could have been so drastically different back then, or it really was just the same soil as the rest of the Dungeon, just... ground down and turned into clay."
Leone nodded, the Vampire crouching beside me and scooping up a handful of the dirt as well, before her hand froze for a moment as she reached back down and brushed away the soft dirt, revealing the rougher, coarser grains beneath.
"It really was an excavation pit of some kind... this top layer turned into this fine grain, then it was harvested and mixed with water - likely over there, on that set of workbenches. See the pots and containers? Might've held the dirt and the water, which they mixed into the clay before transferring over to any of the other workbenches to be shaped and moulded, then taken to those furnaces to be fired. Though... this is nowhere near enough dirt to produce more than one of these Golems, so..."
"Perhaps they dug out this pit first and used it to store what they wanted to smash into that finer, smoother dirt? Create a working area for themselves? I mean, the dirt is everywhere around us, so they could've just dug outside and brought it inside. That way any monsters that did find this place would need to come into the building first before attacking."
"Plausible. On the other hand, these Golems could be here to be repaired. Mended. Restored. The workbenches hold random parts of the Golems; hands, arms, legs, heads... And all of these Golems have sustained some form of damage. Minor. Inconsequential. But still damage."
When Ammit joined us, the Cimeriesa observed the shallow pit for a brief second before heading towards the furnaces, which she peeked inside of and looked for any other clues.
"That's not a bad theory either. If this is closer to the surface than we think, it could very well be a repair station for these Golems. Somewhere to bring them after a battle and repair what they could. Rearm them with new weapons depending on the fight. Curious..."
"This is curious. Come here."
Ammit waved us over, and as we rose from the pit and approached her, Cali appeared, the Arch Fiend humming to herself as she floated over and nodded, saying "I was wondering who would find it first. It's a very old, very weak mark, but... it is still here. Interesting."
The sudden appearance of the Arch Fiend made me frown, but as I peeked inside the center furnace with Ammit, I understood why she was here; carved into the roof of the furnace was a rune I hadn't seen before, etched into the stone and very faintly glowing red.
It radiated the scent of blood and pulsed with anger, though both were so weak I wasn't sure if I was imagining things or it was really giving off those smells and feelings.
"A 'Rune of War' or something like that? Something that belongs to the Ka Fiends? Which means we have two different Fiends lurking around inside the Dungeon now?"
"Something like that, yes... It's a Rune of Blood, to be exact. War is but a single part of their domain, and while it used to be abundant, well... murder and anger are far more prevalent than war ever will be. Anyways, yes, there is a chance its lurking down here, but this mark is rather old... So unless it was either a newly risen Fiend or one that slipped free from its chains far before the rest of us, you shouldn't need to worry about it. Though... it does beg a few questions, doesn't it?"
The pink skinned Arch Fiend just grinned at us as she floated around, taking in all of our expressions as we contemplated her words and the sudden appearance of this rune, which undoubtedly threw a wrench in our plans going forwards to a certain degree.
"Now, I will admit that the abilities displayed so far from all of you are able to take on most typical Fiends, but I wouldn't say you're entirely ready to battle against two at the same time... though the fact that its a Ka and a Nua does make this a bit easier. Ka Fiends are simpletons 99 times out of 100, while Nua Fiends are just absurdly resilient but also rather slow, both physically and mentally. So if there were to be a pair to go against, it would be these two. But again, it would be a really difficult fight. For just you mortals, anyways~! I am here still, and unless you want me to fight alongside you or you are in need of saving, I will only watch. Unless asked, of course~!"
Her ramblings made me and the others frown, unsure of what we should do now and how we should act going forwards; us leaving doesn't change the fact that Fiends are here, inside this Dungeon, and on one hand we should hunt them down and kill them, but on the other, that was a rather substantial risk for us...
I could tell that Satanya, Jahi, Leone and I were struggling with the same thought, while Anput only shrugged and Ammit was staring at the rune still, studying it closely; the others were willing to leave the decision to us, confident that whatever we decided would be the right option.
And I wasn't worried about them not agreeing with us or having objections of their own; so far, none of the Demons have ever had any qualms voicing their thoughts, even if that could be taken for insubordination by their superiors.
They were a free spoken, unbothered people who would let you know if they thought differently, so if they were silent now and had nothing to offer at the moment, that meant they were just as conflicted as we were, weighing the pros and cons at the same time.
Having this revelation that there was a Fiend of Bloodshed and a Fiend of Decay roaming around inside of this already bustling Dungeon wasn't one to be taken lightly, and we gave it even more thought before reaching a decision.
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