Chapter 24: Varanus’ Mercy [3]
The air beneath the eastern smelting pool was hot enough to blister skin.
Thicker than the slums, the damp heat carried the heavy, choking stench of sulfur and burning coal from the vents above.
Alpha Eurenia moved like a specter through the low-hanging steam, her slender frame staying low against the wet stonework.
Behind her, Argo and Hedro led a dozen of the Great Luna Pack’s finest warriors, their heavy boots stepping precisely where the condensation muffled their footfalls.
These warriors were summoned by Alpha Eurenia after creating a path through an underground tunnel, sneaking her soldiers into the city.
According to the mysterious map, the reinforced iron gate at the end of the maintenance tunnel led straight into the primary holding pen.
"The scent is getting stronger," Argo whispered, his nose twitching under his hood. "Our kin are definitely behind that wall. But something is wrong. The air is too still."
Eurenia raised her hand, signaling the pack to halt. She closed her eyes, trying to sense the spiritual flow of the sector.
Before she could pinpoint the anomaly, a sudden, blinding flare of crimson light shattered the darkness of the tunnel.
Boom!
Runes etched into the ceiling slammed downward in a wave of crushing gravity, shattering the stone floor.
Out from the hidden alcoves stepped a dozen elite Orc sentries, their heavy iron greaves clanking against the masonry. But they weren’t alone.
Emerging right behind them were six Sun Tiger Men soldiers, their gilded armor reflecting the ambient heat of the smelting pool, their broadswords already humming with the distinct aura of low-tier Martial Warriors.
Although they weren’t cultivators, their weapons were crafted with mana, temporarily granting them a Martial Warrior’s strength.
"It’s just as Lord Manuses predicted!" one of the Tiger-men growled.
"The Tiger Lord knew a leak would draw you rats out!" the lead Tiger-man snarled, his fangs baring in a feral grin. "Form the bottleneck! Cut them down where they stand!"
"Shit! They figured us out!" Hedro and Argo instantly drew their dark-iron blades, their muscles coiling to force their way through the trap, but Eurenia’s heart sank.
Caught in a narrow maintenance shaft with temporal low-tier Cultivators blocking the exit and runes draining their speed, a frontal clash would mean heavy casualties before the rescue even started.
The lead Tiger-man raised his heavy broadsword, channeling his mana for a horizontal cleave.
He never got to swing.
Thwip.
A thin, fluid line of liquid shadow shot out from the dark ceiling vent directly above him. It wrapped around his throat like a steel wire, yanked backward with a sickening crack, and dragged his heavy body straight into the darkness of the rafters.
His sword clattered uselessly onto the stone.
"What—" the nearest Orc captain turned, his eyes widening.
Before he could raise his axe, the shadows beneath his own feet rose like a pair of black jaws. A slender, midnight-cloaked figure materialized directly behind him.
A single, clean flash of a drow-steel dagger slit his throat from ear to ear, his armor muffling his final gurgle as he fell.
The tunnel descended into a silent, one-sided slaughter.
The steam became a playground for a ghost.
The Orc sentries turned frantically, swinging their axes at empty air, only for black blades to pierce their armored visors and the weak points of their collars.
Another Tiger-man tried to retreat and activate the secondary alarm array, but a spike of solid shadow shot out from the wall, impaling his chest and pinning him to the stone.
It took less than forty seconds.
The twelve Orcs and six elite Sun Tiger soldiers lay in a heap of blood and iron, their throats cleanly severed, their life force completely extinguished before they could even trigger the city-wide alarm.
The heavy silence returned to the tunnel, broken only by the steady dripping of blood into the drainage grates.
Hedro and Argo stood frozen, their dark-iron weapons raised in defensive stances, their golden eyes darting around the blood-soaked corridor in sheer disbelief. Even Eurenia felt a cold sweat break out across her neck.
From the deepest patch of darkness near the reinforced iron gate, the shadows melted away.
Alisa stepped into the dim light. Her traveling cloak didn’t have a single speck of blood on it, though her silver-ringed eyes still held the residual glow of her shadow arts. Her long, midnight-tipped rabbit ears flicked once, dismissing the tension in the room.
She walked past the pile of corpses, stopping directly in front of the giant wolf-woman, and bowed her head in a calm, respectful greeting.
"Don’t be scared, Lady Eurenia," Alisa smiled, her voice quiet and even. "Master Jarden figured you might run into a bottleneck. The path to your people is clear."
"Who and where is your Master Jarden?" Eurenia asked. Alisa’s lips curled faintly, she turned, "I cannot answer that question."
"Master Jarden will pay you a visit when the time is right. But you should understand we are not your enemies," Alisa stated.
"Is that so?" Eurenia’s eyes narrowed, "How should I believe that? Just because you helped me take down these things?" She pointed at the fallen Tiger-men.
"No," Alisa chuckled, "You should believe me because after all.... we are children of Lord Varanus!" she stated.
"W-What did you just...." Before Eurenia could complete her sentence, Alisa was gone.
She had vanished into the shadows.
"Children of Lord Varanus?" Eurenia clenched her fist, "To think Lord Varanus is this benevolent. Whoever they are..."
"If they follow the God of Beasts, they truly are here to help us."
***
"You’ll destroy us, huh?" Lord Manuses questioned. He wasn’t angered by the young wolf-man’s tone.
He has a god backing him after all.
Lord Manuses understood how dangerous the gods of this world were. He has fought against soldiers blessed by these gods.
"You don’t just understand, young man." Lord Manuses rose from his seat, he turned his back on Jarden.
Staring into the sky from the window of his office, "Everything I’ve done is for the sake of my people, the Sun Tiger men."
"I know the Trolls are evil, I had no choice but to give in. The Troll King is strong...." Lord Manuses stated.
"How strong?" Jarden calmly asked. "He is just like me, a cultivator of the Martial General’s realm..."
"But he has the divine blessing of his god, making him powerful." Lord Manuses sighed deeply, "If I must reject his grace... then will your god guarantee my people’s protection?" the Tiger Lord asked.
"Yes," Jarden answered, "You just have to pray to the God of Beasts!"
"Those who serve him shall never be oppressed," Jarden stated, "And besides..... the Troll King has been marked for death!"
"Lord Varanus shall guarantee the safety of your people by taking the soul of that cursed Troll King," Jarden declared.
"That is his holy promise!"
"..." Lord Manuses stared at Jarden for a moment before sighing deeply, "I need some time to think about this," he sighed.
"Two days," Jarden spoke, "That is the time the God of Beasts gives you. Within this time.... do not stop resisting."
"I’ll guarantee the deaths of your Tiger-men and the Hyena-men be reduced, for they are my brothers under the banner of my god."
"But the Orcs, the Goblins, and the Trolls.... they must all die." Jarden’s eyes flickered, "Turn a blind eye, for they will be slaughtered by the vanguard of the God of Beasts."
"I’ll pay you a visit in the next two days." Lord Manuses turned to see Jarden was gone, his presence completely erased
