Chapter 156 - Grievances

'Status'

[Name: Ikarus | Species: Phoenix | Level: 578]

[Health 166,666*/166,666*]

[Stamina 31,322*/40,000*]

[Magicka 162,284*/166,666*]

[You currently have 22334 unassigned points]

'Eleven more levels obtained, how should I go about it this time?'

Back to the usual routine of flying while sorting my status out, still can't forget the endless jungle still below us all.

I've now got the choice to buy some more abilities from sacrificial lamb or stop neglecting stamina. It does feel like I need to stop ignoring it, it's got to affect something under the surface that I'm unaware of, right? Maybe it could improve stamina while doing you know what, making me last a little longer perhaps? Enough Ikarus, there's a time and a place for heaven and bliss.

'Eh, I'd rather save the last four abilities for a different time, been neglecting stamina for way too long so it does need some adding onto now. Can you put twenty thousand into stamina Aesa?'

[<Confirmed, adjusted status will now be shown>]

[Name: Ikarus | Species: Phoenix | Level: 578]

[Health 166,666*/166,666*]

[Stamina 71,322*/80,000*]

[Magicka 162,284*/166,666*]

[You currently have 2334 unassigned points]

'Thanks Aesa...'

__________

(Ikarus) "Wow, that Melinda wasn't lying about this place, no chance we're sneaking in here"

(Petra) "Me and you could sneak in easily with invisibility Ikarus. The others, not so much"

(Zeki) "Yeah yeah, orangey and sis have better abilities than us. We've heard it all before"

(Ariza) "Uh, I'm yet to see you two do that"

(Nathan) "That's a lot of fighters, even we may struggle here"

(Charlotte) "Don't worry Nat, we'll definitely be able to handle them all"

High above the jungle overlooking a gigantic camp carved out within it all, we're currently flying over it and boy, this really could be a challenge to get through. I reckon we could kill most of them easily enough, just the time to do this all could be maddening. That's only if we don't take a much easier and simplistic approach getting into this dungeon that's somewhere hidden down there.

As for the camp itself, we're talking about dozens and dozens of jungle styled huts, a sizable pike wall that stops any foreign trespassers and constant martial artists training together almost in a cult like fashion. Of course, there's not that much we can get from a quick flyover but it doesn't look like a reasonable place to live. Maybe I'm just trying to justify what I want to do...

"This could be a difficult battle that wastes precious hours of our lives or, I could just nuke the gorilla bastards straight away and be done with it"

"Fucking orangey man, why is it she gets OP shit like this?"

"Nuke them, Ikarus-sama? Not sure what that means but if it kills all the heavens quickly, then go ahead"

(Nathan) "I don't really have much of an opinion on this"

"Uh, couldn't we try speaking with them first and seeing if these lot are friendly?"

"You know... Maybe Ariza has a point Ikarus"

The main two who seem opposed to my kill all plan happen to be Ariza and... Petra!?

"I already understand your reasoning Ariza, but why are you agreeing Petra? Are you suddenly turning pacifist or something?"

Having just flown over it again, it's very obvious the people down there are the same style of martial artists from the last battle. It's not like I can see any women, kids or slaves as well. Who cares if we kill some more of these bulky idiots?

"Heh, not at all Ikarus. Are you forgetting about the potential EXP you could gain?"

"Oh, that's your reasoning? I guess it could be good... Hang on, scrap that idea of nuking them. Something else has come to mind"

(Petra) "What is it Ikarus?"

"I still have two kill all abilities I haven't tried out just yet..."

__________

"Are you going to give us a little more info orangey or am I just going to keep carrying sis remaining clueless?"

"Heh, Zeki does have a point Ikarus"

Having split up from Ariza carrying the other couple away for safety reasons, it's now just us three hovering around like vultures way up above this camp. You see, the idea to nuke them obviously saves more time, but this seems like an opportunity I probably shouldn't waste.

"There was two kill all abilities I got a while back and it should be safe to use one right now. I get the feeling you may like the other Zeki as it's supposed to rain napalm"

Raining napalm and sun kiss, both have been neglected because there hasn't been a perfect time to test them out just yet. This seems like the perfect opportunity.

"Just because I was American doesn't mean I'd like that orangey... that does sound pretty dope though"

"What about the other ability Ikarus?"

"It's called sun kiss Petra but I'm thinking it may be based around light magic, don't want to be hurting you after all"

...

Almost as if I've said something incredibly dumb, I get two odd looks from the others. I'm not sure why though.

"Erm, Ikarus, you do understand how light magic works, right? You never asked so I assumed you knew it works similar to fire"

"Yup orangey, it also has a burn effect so it counts as the same thing. I know it's pretty rare to come across but did you never spar with that nun?"

How the hell have I gone this long not knowing we're also resistant to light magic? They both look deadly serious.

"What the fuck!? You're pulling my chain, right? Priestess's magic for example would have zero effect on us? Why did no one tell me this sooner? Even Aesa didn't say anything"

...

No answers, even nothing snarky from Aesa so maybe she didn't know that as well? This just sums me up in a nutshell. If I had taken more care to learn the fundamentals about magic, I probably would've found that out pretty quickly...

Eh, blame that bitch mage for putting me off it all and not learning something that could've been pretty useful. I've always been a visual learner anyways, if that's even what it's called...

"Ah, forget it, I've always been someone more suitable for learning in the moment rather than all that boring shit anyway. At least that means I can use both if needed"

Finally getting onto the imminent destruction, I do a quick form change into the hybrid and fly a little bit away from the other two towards the centre of the camp. I do always find it odd how people just don't pay attention to what's above them but hey, no point bringing it up.

'Aesa, activate raining napalm'

[<Confirmed, this may take a second Ikarus>]

Waiting it out like Aesa says, very slowly, a tiny amount of rainfall begins to fall crimson in colour but does nothing to the ground or people below. Maybe it might be burning a few like how acid rain works but none of the artists even care about such a light drizzle, we are in a jungle so rain is frequent.

'This doesn't seem like it does much... hang on!'

The trickling rain suddenly turns into a downpour coating the area below and similar to a spark going off at a gas station, all of it ignites exploding all around us with the heavens still pouring more gasoline onto the igniting fire.

Like a work of art, the area below jolts into a smoky mess filled with thick deadly flame that seems to consume anything in and around the camp. The smoke cloud almost reminds me of how the nuke looks up close, just much thicker not allowing a glimpse of sunlight to peak into the mess.

"Hahaha, listen to all those ants scream orangey! That ability is fucking epic!"

"..."

Of course, Mr obnoxious likes napalm, shouldn't have expected anything else. The screaming down below is a little unsettling though, there may have been more fighters than first expected so it's like a disturbing orchestra, just aimed towards psychopaths and serial killers. I really hope they all deserved it and that other group was a reflection of them all otherwise, we may actually be the bad guys here.

Anyway, the napalm fades surprisingly quickly and what remains is a burning, charred camp devoid of life and... what the hell!? Just how many people survived that!?

Some people seem to be completely untouched from what just happened and I presume having a makeshift roof on their heads stopped the napalm affecting them? I'm actually shocked any survived that but at least it allows me to give the other ability a try now.

'Aesa, the other one please'

[<Confirmed, ability -sun kiss- has now been activated>]

After activation, now a slight roaring can be heard high above us in the skies. That roaring very quickly becomes visible when bright lights start to form all above me and the other phoenixes. This very quickly turns into something else though...

That light fades, then rapidly forms into something resembling god rays and they pierce through the clouds striking down any and all foe that dare get in the way. I'd say it's similar to how lightning hits the ground, except the deadly lines are straight and yellow in colour causing damage that pierces the body like spears.

'This really seems like overkill now'

All the surviving people try to hide or flee from the impending beams of light but all get struck repeatedly by the deadly precision of the attack. This just simply feels like bullying now, ain't no one surviving all this. I feel like a pissed off God right now damning the little mortals for some petty and pointless reason.

After doing all this devastation and feeling like I've committed quite the few war crimes, bot the other phoenixes have something to say about all that.

"Heh, your ability doesn't seem to like us Ikarus"

"Feel like I need to flip the bird to the sun God, motherfucker won't leave us alone!"

Neglecting to pay attention to my fellow phoenixes throughout that brief attack, both of them keep getting struck by the beams of light but it has next to no effect. I'm guessing they're getting struck more because there's no one left alive down there?

"Just give it a minute, or a few. That normally seems to be the case..."

__________

"Anyone have any idea where the entrance could be?"

"No clue Ikarus-sama, we'll just have to keep searching"

"Erk, normally I'm good at this sort of thing orangey but you really have made a mess"

(Nathan) "Remind me to never piss you off Ikarus"

(Ariza) "This place is a little depressing"

(Petra) "..."

From quite the thriving looking camp to this absolute monstrosity we're now walking though, maybe there's an ounce of regret towards the people I just did this to but it might be more down to irritation. Trying to spot anything that might be an entrance to the dungeon is proving annoying, mostly because this place is just an ashy dark mess.

It didn't take long for Ariza to bring the others back over here and to get everyone onto the ground, albeit there were still flames burning that we had to quickly absorb allowing the others to safety walk around as well. We've been shifting through this looking for anything since.

"It's got to be underground, right? I could just nuke it so we don't have to start digging even further..."

...

All the phoenixes look at me with faces of disappointment, even Petra goes to facepalm but cuts it out mid action.

"...It was just a joke, jeez, don't keep looking at me like that! As if I'm going to use nukes for finding the entrance"

I mean, I would do it and it wasn't a joke but still. All I'm trying to do is save us time since this situation was down to my curiosity in the first place.

"Heh, that idea really isn't needed Ikarus..."

While humouring me by giving a tiny chuckle, Petra bends down and starts to swipe some of the ash away on what appears to be a mound of dirt, but actually is a cellar door! Okay, we probably should've spotted that sooner.

"...There you go, something is down here"

"You using magic sense Petra?"

"Not this time Ikarus, something is making my skin crawl around here. Think it might be that sense thing I told you about"

'Eh, I won't question her further on that then, even Petra is unsure how that sixth sense sort of thing works so none of us will not he answer'

Being led by Petra, we all make our ways into the soot filled cellar and find a huge vault like door in the underground room itself. Looking at the steel door that probably could survive a nuclear blast due to the thickness, I'm desperately trying not to make a reference...

"Erk, it's like one of those shelters in that post apocalypse game with all the nukes"

"Hang on Zeki, you actually played those games!?"

"Don't look so happy orangey, all of them were shit, even the original turn-based ones"

Of course, us 'gamers' are the only ones who have a clue what we're discussing, he's pissed me off about that though. How dare he hate those games that passionately! Single player RPGs were like my thing and those games were some of the best!

"Hey! I don't rip on the shitty pay to win MMOs you used to play so don't be doing the same, dickhead! Urgh, just forget talking to you, anyone know a way in-..."

<Welcome to my dungeon children. Please, wait a second while I unlock the door>

"...side. Guess that's sorted then"

All of us can hear Athena's telepathic voice so it's safe to assume this dungeon is the one she owns then. Anyways, the door slowly starts to unlock with the locks rotating like we're about to enter somewhere untouched for centuries, at least this Goddess understand how to keep things secure. What's the bet it's a complete mess inside that place now?

'If we find this place covered in rotting humans or need to find a water chip, I'm unsure whether I'll be happy or sad... I knew I couldn't help myself...'