"Intruders! We will not tell you anything!"
"Yes! Torture us all you want! You won't get your ugly hands on our family's children!"
"I would rather die than to reveal anything!"
"Monsters! The matriarch will avenge us!"
Bariohl and Renriohl were kneeling on the ground screaming until their voices were hoarse. Bariohl even grabbed his dagger with trembling hands, placing it against his heart. Meanwhile Renriohl gestured secretly at the two winged snakes, ordering them to bring the children to safety.
Opposite of the two cultists the party landed on the ground, the joy on their faces quickly replaced with bewilderment.
"Torture? Threatening to die? God, they really think we are some unredeemable villains!", exclaimed Cyclone, exasperated.
"Have they lost their minds?"
"Hey, you two! It's a misunderstanding! A misunderstanding!"
The situation was chaotic as the cultists screamed themselves into a rage and the friends tried to convince those two blockheads.
"Please listen, noble heroes! We are not on different sides! Curb your emotions! We only arrived here per coincidence after assisting someone by the name of Bafra!"
"Bafra…?"
Radiant Shield's words finally seemed to have some effect. The cultists' eyes cleared up slightly. They realised that after such a long time the intruders truly didn't attempt to beat the location of the children out of them. Could it be that it was indeed a misunderstanding? Bariohl frowned as he whispered to his brother:
"Be careful! This might be a clever method to gain our trust! Don't reveal anything. Let's stall for time until reinforcements arrive."
"Allright!"
The friends didn't stand far from the two brothers. They clearly heard their whispers. Sighs of frustration escaped their mouths. But at least the two cultists now stood up and pretended to smooth things over.
"Haha, so it was all a misunderstanding…"
The two groups began to talk, and it quickly felt as if the cultists were stalling for time. Luckily this awkward situation didn't continue for too long as a terrible rumble suddenly echoed through this part of the temple.
Everyone instinctively stared at the door. The heavy wooden gate reinforced by strong magic bulged and shook. Booming noises came from outside. Cracks slowly spread along the gate. Everyone held their breaths and terror appeared in the eyes of the two cultists. They had a clearer understanding of what force was necessary to break through this gate.
Boom!
Eventually, what everyone feared happened. With a dramatic bang the gate burst apart, shooting wooden splinters through the room. Everyone averted their eyes. When they turned their heads back towards the door, their bodies froze in shock. Outside of the room it was teeming with infernals. Skeletons, demons, and other monsters stood tightly together, forming a black ocean of bodies, the evil, chaotic aura it emitted threatening to overwhelm Liam and his friends.
At the front of the ocean stood a tall four-armed demon wearing devilish gauntlets on his fists, letting out a boisterous laugh.
"Hahaha, now you have nowhere to hide!
"This is bad…"
Bariohl murmured and even the players had to nod in agreement, their eyes trembling as they stared at the dense mass of demons.
"What's going on? Are we back in the war?"
Balm's voice was filled with disbelief. Unfortunately no one answered her. Only Liam knew that the infernals were here for the Dragontear as well. This tonic was just too precious, even for the chaos faction.
While everyone was shocked, unsure how to react, the leading demon made a step forward cracking his knuckles. Just as he was about to beat up the order faction dogs, a blinding, green light filled the entire room. The players instinctively closed their eyes and the infernals screamed in pain. The light only lasted for a moment before disappearing.
When the party opened their eyes again they were not surprised to realize that the cultists had disappeared together with their winged snakes.
"Loot!"
Cyclone immediately focused on the most important issue. She scanned the empty space in front of her and quickly found two bags lying on the floor.
"No time to sort through it! Grab the loot and jump on your mounts!"
No one ignored Liam's instructions. Even Cyclone didn't dare to inspect the loot. She placed the two bags in her inventory and jumped on the back of her dignified hawk, ignoring the itch in her hands.
Riding their mounts the friends took to the air. One gaze at the door made everyone understand why Liam was in such a hurry. There, the demons previously standing around the gate had been thrown to the floor. Some green light still lingered on their bodies. Some of the infernals had not survived the blow. Others were slowly dragging their bodies up, their eyes searching for anyone they could take their revenge on.
The friends felt the cold glares, chills running down their spines.
"Copy me!"
Liam didn't wait for an answer. He rose until he was close below the ceiling before suddenly changing to a nosedive. His speed increased quickly. His body turned into a blur. In no time at all he was close to the ground. His horizontal flight turned into a vertical one and he rushed out of the safe room with the speed of a bullet.
The others swiftly followed. They entered a large corridor which was teeming with infernals.
"Hehe, order faction dogs!"
"Come here!"
"Stop for me!"
Demons and skeletons let out ugly cackles, staring at the players shooting across them. Swords were waved, spears thrown, flames conjured. Liam and his friends held their breath as the danger came from all sides. They didn't dare to slow down even the tiniest bit. Only at their current speed could they escape all attacks before those landed on their bodies.
Everyone narrowed their eyes. They were taken back to the previous levelling session above the lake. If they weren't so focused on surviving, the friends would surely be amazed that Liam had already prepared for the current situation, killing two birds with one stone.
In front of everyone the demons turned into a large lake, the attacks into piranhas snapping at the players. The friends immediately felt as if entering familiar territory. They nimbly dodged right and left, avoiding all that was coming for them.
Liam couldn't help but grin a little noticing that his friends were doing well. He felt as if he was one with his mount. For other players, who weren't very familiar with flying mounts yet, this part of the dungeon might be one of the most difficult ones. But Liam felt it was a breeze. He even enjoyed the rush, sometimes flying lower just to provoke the infernals. At first his friends even copied him in doing so until they realized that there was no benefit to it. After that only Silver Blade did so, competing with Liam in who could be more daring.
The friends continued through the seemingly endless corridor. At some point everyone felt strange as there was simply no logic to this path. It seemed to only exist to contain the endless tide of demons. Liam turned left and right. Even if the corridor split, he didn't slow down for a moment, always advancing confidently. At times the space became narrow, at times extremely large with multiple paths in all directions. Yet nothing could confuse Liam.
However, after a while a brief mishap occurred when Liam and Silver Blade passed through a gate. Right behind them a demon suddenly unleashed a wall of flames, blocking the path. Liam was shocked but he reacted instantly.
[Bleary Mirage: Take the path to the right! I will come find you! Whatever you do, just make sure to never slow down!]
[Quickstep: Allright!]
Quickstep was the closest to the wall of flames. She barely managed to swerve to the right, avoiding the danger and shooting along another path. The others followed behind her, carrying Liam's reminder to never slow down. If there was another split in the path they simply advanced at random.
It took Liam quite some effort until he finally managed to regroup with the others. The map of these labyrinthian corridors unfolded in his mind. He swiftly reoriented himself and returned to the correct path.
Afterwards there were no more mishaps. The group soon reached the end of the labyrinth. They raced along a straight corridor towards the wide-open windows at the end. Some infernals desperately tried to stop them but their attacks were too slow. Ignoring everything else the friends finally reached the window and left the temple.
"Haha, eat my dust!"
Cyclone laughed brightly as the group slowed down. However, she noticed that her friends all had quite solemn expressions. Confused she looked at her surroundings and instantly drew a sharp breath.
The friends floated outside of the majestic temple. The sun shone brightly but it couldn't disperse the gloom as a dense army of infernals was surrounding the temple. The vibrant, green mountains had turned black. The smell of blood and fire rose to the sky. Chaotic noises shook the formerly peaceful world.
"Welp, I guess returning to the ground is out of the question."