Quest from the Divine
William, Rana, and the Divine Heralds walked for hours to reach the surface. During the process of reaching the exit of the tomb, the party encountered various monsters which they easily disposed of. William and Ran learned more about the Divine Heralds and their mission.
As everyone decided to stop to rest, William and Rana sat around with most members and exchanged information including why the group of adventurers are in the tomb of the most fearsome dragon in the world.
The party itself is a rather old one when it was formed but members of the party changed as time passes and gained certain fame among a few cities. The origin of the party is long forgotten but according to the tale, the higher pantheons decided to select their best and brightest to serve as guardians of the righteous and punish the wicked. Now, the party is working as high-ranking adventurers but their goal reminds the same recently the party received a message from the local oracle nearby city and a task that would change the fate itself.
"According to the oracle, we are to retrieve the artifact known as the dragon mask belonging to the Yar, the Great Wyrm. When we return to the city, we will receive further instruction from the oracle and what to do with this foul artifact." Said Durand the Golden One as he explain their mission to Rana. Since meeting them, Rana got very familiar with the party as their fame and tales were spread all the way to her home country.
"Do you know who sends the divine message to the oracle? Was it Bahamut? Or was it Tyr, the God of Justice?" Rana asked as she went over the names of the old gods in an attempt to remember the previous members of the party who might have worshiped them. Even though she is now the Living Saint of the Emperor, she is still native to this world and remembers the existence of the gods of the old. It makes sense that she has certain knowledge when it came to local religions and relation to the fame adventurers.
Hearing her bombardment of questions, Durand laughed and even sparked a fire from his mouth as he attempt to control his old body.
"Hahaha, please forgive me, my lady. I may be the oldest veteran in the group but I can't handle your enthusiasm like I used to. To answer your question, the message came from all of them. For whatever reason beyond our mortals' understanding, the divine realm gave the command in unison to retrieve the artifacts." The last part caught William's attention as he knows the existence of more dragon masks and what they have is only one, belonging to the black dragon.
"Are you telling me there are more of you out there and on a mission to retrieve the rest of the masks?" William who is without a helmet asked as he took a bite from his ration pack design for Space Marines. William did provide small supply packs for everyone such as food, water, and medical kits during their break but his ration pack wasn't something he rather gives away as highly nutritious and calories could kill a normal man.
"As you guessed, we are not the only one who is on a quest to retrieve the masks. There are others like us who are followers of the righteous seeking the other artifacts in other parts of the world. There are five artifacts in total and we will meet them after we receive the second message from the oracle." Durand said as he accepts the bowl of soup from Elda who is next to the small cauldron. The party was eating fresh food for the first time since entering the tomb as William provided the supply of fresh vegetables and meat to be cooked.
The road of adventurers is hard and straining as food is one of the most important parts of life. You never know when you will eat a decent hot meal on the road and perishable supplies tend to expire in a short period of time, this is why most meal adventurers eat hard rations such as biscuits and dry food. Having a hot meal is rare but it helps with the psyche and recharges the body from exhaustion. William providing the fresh good is a godsend to the Divine Heralds as their supplies were gone two days ago before meeting Williama and Rana.
"I see. That means there are four or more adventurers with similar tasks as yours. This is a relief but also worrisome." William said with concern while others didn't understand what he meant.
"Lord William, would you mind enlightening us on what worries you? This is once and a lifetime mission from united gods. What can be an issue?" Zerth Graymore asked William while he held his bowl in his hand.
"Lord William is not talking about the mission itself but rather a wider problem that could come from it. Such as what could be so big that requires a unified force of all gods and goddesses?" Stan Couldfist answers the question for William as a wise monk chopped fresh ingredients for the cauldron to be cooked.
"He is right. While you were exploring the tomb and retrieving the black dragon mask, the outside world went through wars with forces from other nature. I believe my quest and yours are intertwined as I was also tasked by my god to find and slay Tiamat the Dragon Queen." Said, William. Rana nods her head up and down as she agrees with William's words. William's words shocked the entire party as there was no mention of slaying the Dragon Queen.
Tiamat, the lawful evil dragon goddess and Draconic pantheon is one of the most fearsome beings in the world of the Forgotten Realms. Not to mention she is the sister to Bahamut, the god of metallic dragons. The task of killing a god is beyond imaginable and requires the resources of the nation. The reason is simple, summoning the deity requires a massive amount of magic and souls (if ritual requires) which is not a hundred percent guarantee. The other problem is what happens next after summoning a god. Forcefully summoned to the mortal realm isn't something a deity prefers and it would be seen as a weakness by other gods. This usually ends with an entire civilization being wiped out by the deity itself or by the wrath of Tarrasque.
On the other hand, slaying an evil god can be rewarding and the names of the one responsible can reach the divine realm, giving an opportunity to join the pantheon and to be a legend among mortals.
"I'm the Chapter Master and commander of the nation. My mission is to slay the dragon queen and embark on a crusade to return home. It will be a task in which no one has ever heard or will learn beyond this moment." William's words gave heavy pressure and responsibility that outsiders could understand.
As William was about to finish his ration pack, he heard a beeping noise from his helmet. Showing no excitement, William places the helmet back into his head and exam the cause of the noise. After a few adjustments, William took his helmet off with good news.
"It seems we are much closer to the exit than we thought. When we are done resting, let us move forward."
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Hour later,
William and the rest finally exit the tomb of the Yar. Unlike the entrance that Divine Heralds went inside which is covered with swamp and rotten trees, the exit was a few miles away with a decent amount of green land and trees.
"I missed the smell of fresh air."
"Can't wait to sleep in a soft bed after a bath."
"Ale and food first. We have accomplished the task given to us. We deserve a good feast." The last one came from Harland Duuhpim and as he is a dwarf, his priority was drinks and food for his belly.
"Let us find out where we are first before…" Before Zerth could finish his words, an arrow struck him in the leg, incapacitating the leader of the party.
"Take cover!" Rana shouts a command and pulls out her golden shield to provide a cover for the party while William scans the outland for an enemy. To his's surprise, he found hundred life signs, surrounding the exit and the entire party.
'Shit, here we go again.' William thought and bring out the heavy weapons to engage the enemy.
Without asking any questions, William opens fire and starts blasting the grassland and a few of the trees. Instantly, bloody mists paint the green grass as bodies exploded and enemy numbers begin to decrease.
"Open fire!" The man in the dark hood said and a few dozen others in the same clothes fire their arrows but it was a pointless effort as William's armor simply deflect the flying sticks. It was going to be an easy victory that was until magic spells began to fly in the air instead of arrows.
"Fireball!"
"Ray of frost!"
"Chaos bolt!"
"Storm Sphere!"
The last one surprised William as a 20-foot radius sphere of wind blind his vision and prevents him from firing any more projectiles. William simply hunkers down to the ground and activates one of his support items from his inventory to wipe out the spell casters.
[Marauder Bomber Strike: An fly-over bombardment using Marauder Bombers, a fearsome aircraft of the Imperium Navy known for extreme range and going beyond safety measures to accomplish mission objectives.]
Using his helmet console map, William places the direction of the bombardment. Five seconds later, his helmet received a radio signal, and communication from the Marauder Bomber pilot can be heard.
"This is Halo Wing One receiving a strike order. Order confirmed and proceeding the bombardment, stay clear if possible."
Five wings appeared out from the cloud and descend in formation to make the drop run. Firing a jet engine into max, Halo Wings 1 to 5 flew over the location where William selected, and in a matter of second later, a blazing line of fire gulf the grass field. The fire spread like a raging storm and enemies vaporize into ashes and blew over as if they weren't even there a few seconds ago.
"First round is good. I say again first round is good. Going for a second round," This was the last time William heard the ace pilot's voice before three massive creatures appeared from the sky and crush the Marauder Bomber like an insect.
William and others immediately recognized the creatures as their massive bat-like wings cause smoke to clear and claws to rip the steel plates like paper. Three creatures each have scales like a snake but it is stronger than steel as nothing other than a magical weapon can pierce them.
As their scales are tough and durable, the colors are different. The first creature is blue, the second one is green and the third one is pure white. One thing that is recognizable is how each monster has a different head size and character even though they are the same species.
The three Chromatic dragons join the enemy side as they crush the bombers with their claws and teeth. As they fly over the burning field and white dragon blasts its breath weapon, freezing the large scale and extinguishing the fire.
All three dragons land in the burned field and to everyone's surprise a rider can be seen as a blue dragon lowering its back. The man was wearing much more decorative clothes but one thing got William's attention. The man was wearing a golden mask with three dragon head figures on top.
Three dragon masks were already in the enemy's hand and they are here to collect the fourth one from William's group. The cult of the Dragon finally made its entrance.