Breaking Point

When Scryotra's rampage was finally over and Dormina stopped laughing like a maniac, the cultists marched back to the tunnel. Hera and the others followed along since they had no new chains in the quest. The moment they got closer to the city, they realized that things were very different. Unlike the small and tight corridors, now they were circling a giant pit, with the houses carved from the stone, almost like this place was the open area of a mine. Scryotra was right in the middle of this new version of the city. The creature had changed sizes once again. It wasn't the gigantic version that Hera had seen just yet, but now it was getting very close. But this wasn't what attracted the most attention about it. Despite its incredible power and the increased regeneration given by the Rejuvenating Feline, Scryotra was covered in wounds. Fresh wounds that were struggling to heal.

Suddenly, a loud crack of a whip echoed through the entire cave. That came from Dormina, who was by a platform facing the giant mantis head of the guardian beast. She seemed even older and had a cane to the side. Despite that, the cultist leader was launching spells at Scryotra and continued to berate the creature. None of the attacks was actually doing anything against the obsidian carapace. However, when she cracked the whip, wounds appeared around the monster's body. It was almost as if the guardian beast's body had been conditioned to damage itself when hearing the sound.

One of the cultists approached the group, "I'll take you to your house. Follow me," after saying that he didn't wait for a reply and just continued moving along the paths.

Hera and the others followed along, but they were still watching Dormina scream and lash out at Scryotra. Legan wasn't entirely sure why a creature so powerful would just take that abuse. The rest of them knew a bit more about the evil in the world and understood that growing up while suffering at the hands of someone was something hard to overcome.

The cultist took them to a house in the top layer of the city and gestured for them to go inside, "Everyone received some supplies after the last battle. Rest, and come downstairs to the training grounds when you are ready. We have much work to do before we assault the capital."

Once more, the cultists just moved along, not waiting for them. Hera and the others walked inside the house, and the door closed on its own after the last of them walked in.

"Ok… this is weird, isn't it?" Legan asked.

"Which part?" Hera looked around and saw a fruit basket in the center of the room, as well as four beds and a modern bathroom at the back.

"I mean, everything. It looks like we are just skimming through a history book. Also, I don't understand why Scryotra just doesn't fight back against Dormina. And this room is also weird. Is that a ceramic toilet? Did they have those back then?"

Helena walked over to the table and took some grapes, "This room is a rest area. Some dungeons are supposed to run for a long time and give us that. In Pinnacle Mountain, you had a place like this, didn't you, Hera?"

"I did. The bathroom there was also modern. But it didn't have a shower," the Empress glanced to the bathroom, "and I think that's the case here too. Also, I don't know why the system loves giving us fruit. Even in the role tests I always get fruit."

"Maybe it's because it's easy to eat?" Bonnie suggested, " You know, it doesn't require any preparation. Or baking. It's just a pickup and eat thing."

"That's fair, but I wouldn't mind some chocolate or something," Hera sighed. She thought about the times that she got juice or other foods during her role tests, but in those situations, Peaches was around. Maybe it wasn't the system that gave her something, but the guide.

"For the skimming through a book thing. Yeah, it's about right. You didn't get to run a dungeon in the Cold Water Lake, did you?" Alex asked.

"No, I didn't," Legan shook his head.

"Yeah, so. There is a dungeon there where a guy is carving a block of ice to make a doorway. He keeps asking us to go to his shed and back, and each time we do that, he gets older. Historical dungeons do that when they are about a long stretch of time. And considering how old Dormina seems to be, that sounds about right," Alex continued.

"Oh yeah, do Naga live for 300 years too?" Bonnie turned to Hera.

Hera thought for a moment, "Honestly. I'm not sure. I can ask, but it won't work inside a dungeon, I've tried. Either way, we can talk about why Scryotra isn't fighting back later. That is a more… complicated topic. But about the dungeon itself, we should trigger the next part of it when we leave here. Probably when we reach the training area since that's where the cultist told us to go."

"And we can stay here for as long as we want?" Legan asked.

"Yeah. I mean, I don't think we will get a refill in the fruit basket, but while we make it last we can stay here. Oh, and the water that comes from the faucet in the bathroom should be good to drink. Usually, there are some cups in the cabinet under it," Hera nodded.

The group decided to rest for about one hour. There was a lot of walking, and Legan seemed to be a bit tired despite everything. Unlike the rest of the group, he had yet to get any skills that improved his stamina. The dwarf tried asking about Scryotra during this time, but none of the others wanted to explain such a heavy topic for now. At least he understood their reasoning and accepted that it wasn't time to talk about that. In the end, they just talked about the Naga, how they showed themselves, and about the tail spike that Hera was wearing.

Eventually, they decided to move along. Getting up and opening the door to the rest of the city. However, the moment they did that, they were met with acid smoke, forcing everyone to get low to the ground. They could hear screaming coming from everywhere and the sound of a large creature moving away. Crawling on the floor, they left the room. Hera used her pulse spell to see the area around them.

Feeling that energy pulse, Alex asked, "Hera, is it safe for me to use a spell?"

"I think so. I can't sense any monster around," Hera replied.

Alex waved her hand in the air, forming a rotating sphere around them. A barrier that would create a safe space from the fumes around them. Now that they were able to move, they had a chance to see what actually happened in the city. Large gashes were all around the walls, clearly made by Scryotra's claws. The guardian beast should also have made the acid pools, as was the large hole on the opposite side of the city. When arriving at this version of the hidden village, Hera wasn't able to see the path Scryotra would take to leave this place, but now it was clear it didn't care about moving as it was commanded. Another thing they saw was Dormina. The cultist leader had been tossed from the lower platform and was now close to their room. She was gasping for air, and her body was completely mangled. Her lower abdomen was almost split in half. Only the bones in her column were keeping her body in one piece. Hera and the others rushed over to see if there was anything they could do.

Unfortunately, when they got closer, it became clear there was nothing they could do. Dormina was losing too much blood. The fact that she was still alive was nothing short of a miracle. Yet, despite her current state, she started laughing.

"Finally. Now, the guardian beast is complete. Scryotra shall end our entire miserable existence…. Finally…" with that last breath, Dormina perished.

"Did she… want all Naga to die? Like really? I thought it was just those in the empire," Bonnie frowned.

"Me too. I guess she suffered a lot," Helena got closer to Dormina and closed her eyes.

Just as she did that, a loud noise came from the hole in the village, followed by light flooding the place. Scryotra had just broken through the last layer of ground to the outside.

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Quest chain discovered

Scryotra is no longer under the control of the cult.

Stop its rampage.

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"We have to kill that thing?" Legan gasped.

"Not kill. Stop. Killing is an option, but it's not the only way," Hera said.

"Do we have a way to stop it without killing it?" Legan turned to the Empress.

"I don't know. We need to check. Either way. Let's go. Nimbus, can you carry us to the tunnel it made?"

The Sentinel appeared, "If we are going down, yeah, I can carry you, Legan, and Bonnie without a problem."

"Perfect," Helena smiled and fired a light arrow at the tunnel, moving along it just as it hit the ground. Following that, she called her Wasp Guard again.

"I guess I'll run," Alex rolled her eyes and jumped, starting to walk in the air.

"She says that, but she's the only one who can just fly without any preparation," Hera chuckled as she mounted Nimbus with the others.

They followed Scryotra outside, taking around 10 minutes to cross the entire tunnel. Outside, they reached a jungle with a few mountains spread around. This was clearly the same jungle they saw outside Zaxalam. Unfortunately, the guardian beast was nowhere to be seen. To find it, Hera asked everyone to get off Nimbus and flew up in the sky with the griffon. To their left, she saw the gigantic scorpion praying mantis centaur in front of a mountain, attacking something. The Empress was able to notice some small figures being tossed around and pieces of a stone statue breaking. Not to mention the large cloud of acid smoke coming from underneath it.

Coming back down, the Empress told everyone where they should go to. They rushed to climb the mountain to their side, but it took a while for everyone to get to the top. Then, Hera was able to notice a small patch of ground where Scryotra stepped and a cave to the side. The same one that she saw in her vision. However, the cave already had smoke coming out of it, meaning that the Naga who was inside should already have been killed by the acid.

Seeing the destruction caused by the monster, Bonnie gasped, "How are we supposed to stop that thing?"

Everyone silently tried to come up with a plan, but nothing came to mind. The monster was too far from them for the [Observe] skill, and they couldn't think of any way of fighting against it.

"Maybe we need to just let it tire itself out?" Alex suggested.

"I mean… after it's done killing the Naga, it shouldn't do anything else. That's a fair idea," Helena scratched her head.

"I don't like that… but I don't see how we can possibly stop it. Maybe I can poison it?" Hera suggested.

"Aren't Nagas like poison specialists? I think Dormina would make sure Scryotra has some resistance against it," Bonnie shook her head.

"So… what do we do?" Legan continued to watch the monster rampage through the city. The city that his people were now inhabiting.

"I don't know…" Hera replied.

They all knew the Naga were extinct, but watching this happen was very different. Even if this was only one of their cities. How could something like this happen? How did the cultists spend so long preparing a creature this size and this powerful without being noticed? How was it possible that Dormina, a single Naga, was responsible for so much destruction? Hera continued to question the situation and think of a way out while watching the monster destroy an entire city like a child destroys a sandcastle.