章 30: Ashes and Blood

"...After the event known as 'The Great Fire', which resulted in the decimation in most of the eastern forest territories, the entrance to the mysterious underground domain was laid bare. And true to its name, the Great Tree growing on top of said entrance somehow survived the fire, continuing to flourish. As such, it became the First Miracle of the Dungeon, aptly named 'The Tree of Life'"

-Fragment from 'The Dungeon Chronicles', written in 48 AA.

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Sixteen humans were staring at the burning expanse, long shadows being cast behind them by the light of the flames.

Anna was at the forefront of them all and was staring speechlessly at the wall of flames, where a green paradise stood not so long ago.

'Was this... Really necessary?'

She wondered amidst her thoughts.

A majority of her being, her soul, vehemently disagreed. It was a home for animals, their shelter. The forest was previously teeming with life. A lot of lives were being lost this way, leaving nothing but ashes behind. Onheim and his goons were nothing but foolish arsonists.

One second she was talking with her friend and colleague, the next she was seeing five goons with cans of oil and flint in their hands. As if they were prepared for this. There were unsolved cases of arson in Firefly town, but she now had five suspects.

A small part of her, however, did agree with the pure efficiency of such a method. By burning all of it down, there was a clear path for them to walk unhindered towards their destination. They would not be ambushed on the way either, as all possible ambushers would have either run away or burned down by now.

As she was feeling conflicted with her own opinion, Anna felt a tap on her shoulder. Flinching, she turned around and saw Marilyn.

"Give it a rest. You can't do anything about it now. I know you like nature, but it's too late now. Save your strength for tomorrow."

Anna nodded reluctantly and turned back to where a camp was gradually set up, at quite a distance from the forest fire.

"Haa... Let's hope it doesn't spread to the plains. Running away from the flames would certainly make for a fun night activity."

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Sunrise

Anna walked out of her tent, already geared up. She spent a good part of the night outside, watching the forest fire on the horizon, but eventually succumbed to her tiredness and went to sleep.

Only smoke remained on the horizon, fires having burnt out. Today she would lead the other fifteen people to that Monster Nest, which would probably not take that long to find in this new... Landscape.

It took the camp less than an hour to pack up, and now they were following Anna yet again. After a relatively brief walk, they arrived at the edge of the 'forest' if it could be called that way now.

Before them lay a desolate landscape. The black ground covered with soot and ashes replaced the lush grasses and vegetation. Instead of the tall trees, there were now occasional fragile burnt and blackened trunks, most of them cracked and collapsed. Songs of the birds and cries of animals were no longer present, replaced by silence.

Amidst the grim atmosphere, Anna continued to trudge forward, her boots leaving footprints amidst the ashes where she stepped. She talked along the way.

"...Thanks to the few 'smart people' 'clearing the way' yesterday, it is easier to pass this part than before, now there is no cover, and I've gotta tell you, it's much uglier than it was before."

That line caused a few laughs to ring out, but silence quickly resumed, and the new vibe of the place wasn't exactly encouraging for happy talks. So Anna simply continued leading the group.

Eventually, they crossed a river which was now muddled, full of debris and soot. Unfortunately, it didn't stop the fire, as the desolation continued beyond it. Surprisingly though, more tree trunks were still standing on the other side.

As Anna proceeded, she was more and more surprised as signs of life continued to reappear. Further along, new leafbuds appeared on the trees, new grass was already sprouting from beneath the ashes. All this made her wonder how that place now looked.

And when she arrived at the familiar treeline, she gasped. She saw a beautiful scene. A familiar one, yet not completely.

Anna once again arrived at the clearing with the Big Tree in the middle. And it still stood tall. Its trunk was blackened and covered in ashes, yet mighty as always. What surprised her was the other thing. Its branches looked as if they were on fire. But after looking closely, she understood that they weren't burning, but such was the light reflected off the leaves.

Yes, the leaves were now of colors crimson orange, and yellow, the same as the fire which once burned them, instead of being green like Nature.

The grass was already regrown around it, standing tall amidst the ashes. Some of it which was particularly close to the Tree was of the same colours as its leaves.

The atmosphere the tree gave off was different too. Instead of the gentle breeze as it was on her previous visit, now being present here made Anna feel hot as If she stood before that wall of flames yet again.

The other humans caught up soon, this time Marilyn's party being in the front, Leopold following close behind. Onheim and his buddies were at the rear.

Marilyn also appreciated the beauty for a moment, followed by others. The rest didn't seem particularly fazed, that included Leopold.

"It is quite the pretty place. A shame really. Guess it was better before... All that happened."

Marilyn spoke, standing shoulder to shoulder with Anna. She then asked, pointing her hand at the visible entrance to the underground. While the stone and ground of it were charred, there was healthy vegetation visible from within.

"I guess that's our destination over there?"

"Yes, it is. Hopefully not the final one for us."

Marilyn merely humphed at Anna's joke.

"Don't jinx us. Seriously, bad things happen when you say such things."

Anna then walked forward, leading all others toward the obvious opening in the ground. She stopped right in front of it, turning back to her group, and waiting for everyone to gather. Once they did, she spoke in a loud voice.

"We have arrived at our destination! Beyond this point lies danger which we have arrived to subjugate!"

Her words were met with some brief cheers.

"When we descend, we may not meet with immediate danger, and things may appear as a trivial challenge for you, but do not let down your guard as I did, as you may lose your lives. I have been taught this lesson well."

Hushed whispers could be heard among the group of fifteen, as the story of her party returning from their expedition beaten and battered was well known by now.

"Enough with the yappin', pretty girl."

An unpleasant voice rang out. Onheim and his group were walking towards the front, and then brushing past her once again.

"Instead of scaring us with your ghost stories, how about we go and solve the problem instead?"

Onheim then turned around to his own men and walked past the entrance.

"Boys! Whoever finds me the monster boss gets paid extra! Let's get done with it and get some drinks when we are back!"

Amidst the laughs and snickering, they left the other two parties of five behind. They were looking rather uncertain, wanting to obtain some contributions too, but they listened to their leaders, that being Leopold and Marilyn, who hadn't yet given the order.

Anna was glad that there were still rational people here, so she continued.

"There isn't much left to say. Don't underestimate the local Monsters, and especially the Monster Bosses. You heard me right, there are two of them. Gather together when we reach them."

The two leaders then nodded and decided on the formation. Marilyn's group would be in front, and Leopold's would be in the back, as they were stealth-focused. Anna would stay in between the two parties as an additional Ranger and a guide.

Without any further discussion, the formation of eleven people went in, following the Onheim's party, which wasn't all that difficult, to be honest.

A path of carnage marked where they passed, bodies mauled or cleaved in half and lying on the ground, staining it red. Exactly their type of handiwork, knowing their weapons.

A thick smell of blood stood in the air, that unsettling metallic scent automatically putting everyone on edge.

Anna noted that the trail wasn't straight, as Onheim's party possessed no Mage and, as such no one to follow the current of mana. As such they went around randomly, fighting whatever they came across.

This made their speed of advancement not very fast, making them easy to find. And sure enough, the Eleven found the Five in the process of battling a pair of boars, which weren't threatening the Five in the slightest.

When a boar charged, Onheim sidestepped it in the last moment, and with an excited grin on his face, brought down his Greataxe on its neck, severing it cleanly.

Meanwhile, the second boar was a bit more successful, ramming into one of his men and sending him flying, but it then received a mace to the skull, followed by a battlehammer. Its skull was shattered, leaving no chance of survival.

"Henry, ya aight? Your ass still owes me money!"

The five didn't show much concern even though one of their members was wounded. The man in question stood up while groaning, a dent was visible on his chestplate, but he seemed otherwise unharmed.

"I told ya I'll pay you back soon, you bastard... Hurts like shit, fucker must've broke my rib."

It was at that moment that the other Eleven caught up to the Five, Marilyn leading them.

"Onheim!'

"What, miss me already? In that case, we coul-"

"Why in the seven hells did you charge ahead so recklessly! Did you see where that led your group? If you are going to proceed like this, then you might as well return immediately, to not waste any lives."

"I-"

"You either go along with the rest or you fucking return, choose."

Onheim wanted to retort in his usual fashion, but Marilyn's glare pushed his words down. She was known as a Battlemaiden for a reason. And one of the things she hated most was recklessness soon followed by injury and death. Knowing that he decided to agree so as not to get kicked out for real.

"Fine... Whatever. We will play along with your rules. On your feet boys!"

Followed by frustrated groans and murmurs of dissatisfaction, the three parties (along with a guide) were now back together, progressing smoothly along the cavern. It helped that Anna already knew the way, giving them a straight path to follow.

But Anna herself noticed that compared to her last visit, the amount of monsters they encountered nearly doubled. And while this could be mostly attributed to them seeking shelter from the fire, she had a nagging feeling that there was more to it.

Nonetheless, to fifteen well-trained people, an ambush or two of normal monsters wouldn't do much harm. When such a thing happened, it was dealt with swiftly, efficiently, and brutally.

One such time was when they were attacked from the underground by enemies all too familiar to Anna - earthworms. And in a larger quantity than before as well.

They attacked simultaneously from the rear, front, and from right below their feet too.

The rear party led by Leo was the quickest to react. They jumped away from their current locations, and when six worms erupted where they previously stood, three were skewered by arrows and the other three were quickly dispatched with shortswords and daggers.

When monsters emerged from under Marilyn's party, said the party was on the move when they emerged. Some monsters were slashed in midair, and others were blocked by their shields or swatted by their arms. The party's mage was a tad too slow though, one worm biting into his calf, him falling on one knee.

Another worm then emerged and lunged towards his face. But, when it was mere centimeters from his face, it was stopped midair. After that mage opened his eyes, he saw Marilyn's armored gauntlet holding it tightly, before she retracted her arm, and crushed the attacker. She then stomped on the worm which clung to the mage's foot, ending it.

Marilyn then helped the mage back on his feet.

"Careful, you never know where they may come from. The ground is no exception."

The mage merely nodded before starting to heal his bitten calf.

Meanwhile, Onheim's party was the most unlucky one, the amount of worm monsters attacking them being the biggest, a whole ten.

They were too slow to react as well, and their weapons were ill-suited for such small and nimble enemies.

The leader himself fared relatively well, his vambrace protecting his wrist from being bitten into, and the worm biting into his side was hit a couple of times with his fist, and then falling off.

The others were less lucky. One of his friends had worms bite into his arm and his knee, bringing him down to the ground in pain, and causing him to lose his grip on his weapons.

Another one was currently fighting off yet another two monsters, not being bitten, but not being able to hit them with his hammer either.

The unluckiest one of them all was the one who got his ribcage cracked in their encounter with the boar. Additionally, he was attacked by three worms instead of two. One of them bit his leg, causing him to fall on his knee. Another bit into his arm, causing great pain.

Add that to his already present pain from his cracked rib, and he couldn't stand any longer, falling on his back. The third then emerged from the ground, tearing into his exposed throat.

When the two parties finished up and started to help Onheim's party, it was already too late when they got to him. When the worm was sliced away from his throat, it was already torn open, and the man's eyes already lost their light.

The man was dead. The first casualty of the subjugation appeared.