Chapter 45

After the Dothraki retreated from Qohor, I began my return to the city. Tired, yet pleased that I had managed to help save it and rid it of the goats.

"I can finally rest…" I thought to myself.

"Daeron! One of the monsters took a woman with him!" Avus informed me.

"Damn! Can't I just rest for a moment?!" I raged internally.

"What happened?" I sighed, accepting that nothing ever goes quite as we wish.

When the battle at the walls of Qohor began

From a third-person perspective

After Daeron had left to defend Qohor, three Arphenians initially planned to head towards Volantis, where, as they understood, relatives of the future mother resided.

However, reaching there was a daunting task due to the considerable distance from Qohor to Volantis.

"Are you sure they will help you in Volantis?" Diya asked the target of all the cultists.

Feylina nodded uncertainly and said:

"If they can't help me, I don't know who can…"

Avus, seeing how his daughter and wife sadly looked at her, just sighed and suggested:

"In that case, maybe you should come with us to Braavos?"

"Are you sure?" the woman asked with a flicker of hope, looking at the giant.

"Yes, I'm sure Daeron wouldn't mind helping you with your situation."

"Thank you…"

"You can thank us after we've saved you," Avus replied, seeing how Feylina was moved by the offer of help.

With renewed vigor, the group moved further and further from the city, surprisingly without being pursued, though they had expected the entire city to chase after them.

"Strange… It can't be this easy," Avus thought, though he hoped they would encounter no trouble.

"Father, I feel terrifying magic emanating from the city!" Diya, the most sensitive to magic among the three, exclaimed.

"Damn! Why are we so unlucky?" Avus thought as he prepared for a battle.

"Get ready."

The other two began to arm themselves and channel magic into their bodies, while Diya prepared her traps.

As the most gifted in magic among the three Arphenians, Diya found it easier to set traps based on knowledge passed down from her ghostly ancestor. Arphenians were among the best artificers of their time, though their creations were more architectural. However, years of war with a demon had slightly improved things, even though the swift demise of their civilization's greatest minds had stalled these magical disciplines.

Despite their ingenious architectural abilities, Arphenians also possessed a physiology that aided them in combat.

The reason Diya could not train her magic was that Arphenian physiology did not allow practicing magic until a certain age. Nevertheless, Diya was knowledgeable in this field, as her ancestor had taught her everything he knew, deeming her exceptionally gifted in the magical arts.

After a relatively short time, she finally achieved some success in this endeavor.

"I'm ready," Diya declared, taking out her recently crafted devices.

Having prepared the area for the impending battle, the Arphenians waited for their visitors, as they could not flee forever, feeling that their pursuers were swiftly catching up. They had no choice but to stand and fight, but on their terms, significantly aided by Diya's traps.

"I hope everything works as we expect," Diya's mother expressed her concerns.

Avus and Diya, though silent, agreed with her.

Several minutes later

Three humanoid figures appeared before the three Arphenians, but they remained vigilant as these figures exuded such terrifying magic that even those without magical ability could sense something dreadful.

One of the figures took a deep breath and said quite loudly:

"Mmm, I smell the future mother of our God. Do you guys feel it too?" The voice was quite young.

"Undoubtedly, I can definitely sense Lady Mott," a terrifyingly familiar voice said, one that should have been dead.

"It can't be…" Feylina whispered, recognizing the voice but unable to believe it.

How could the dead come back to life? Or speak? And no one in Avus's group doubted that the owner of this voice should be dead since they had killed him.

"Oh, what's this I sense?" the young voice continued. "Fear, perhaps? Hahaha, don't worry, there's nothing to fear... unless you refuse to hand over Lady Mott."

Avus's group remained silent, waiting for the three figures to come close enough into the Arphenians' trap zone. They didn't have to wait long as the three cultists, clearly lacking patience, cautiously moved forward.

CLANG

At that moment, the first wave of traps was triggered, and spikes erupted from the ground, impaling the cultists.

The people pierced by the earthen spikes screamed in pain, as most of their lower bodies were riddled with wounds, creating an obstacle for the three cultists.

Despite this, the Arphenians still did not come forward, sensing that the magic emanating from the three figures was intensifying. Soon, the three figures proved that the Arphenians' caution was justified, as instead of three men, three goat-like monsters stood before Avus's group.

"Hahahaha, you are indeed irritating..."

After the monsters fell into the spike trap and their movement was halted due to the severe wounds they sustained, it was clear that their regenerative abilities were still in effect.

"Looks like their wounds heal like a dog's," Avus observed as he watched the monsters' regeneration in action.

"What about amputations?" Avus's wife inquired.

"The holes from the spikes healed in an instant. They possess remarkable strength as well," he replied.

"Then we'll watch their next move. We still have two more lines of traps," Diya concluded.

Soon, the monsters stepped into the next trap set by Diya, a fiery hell that scorched their bodies. Although two managed to avoid prolonged exposure to the flames.

"AAAAAAH!" a creature screamed briefly as the smell of burnt fur and flesh filled the area.

Where the monster had burned, the charred corpse of a human now lay motionless. Seeing this, Avus's group sighed in relief, realizing that they had simplified their task.

Meanwhile, the cultists, witnessing this spectacle, were stunned, having believed themselves immortal. This proved to be a mere fantasy.

"We need to be cautious. We don't know what kind of magic was used here," Eysinus stated.

"Clearly, unless we want to end up like that old man," Moron replied.

The monsters, taking cues from their connection to the unborn child inside Feylina, decided on their next move. Unfortunately for them, being in Diya's field played a cruel trick on them, as once they stepped in, it was unlikely they could leave—just as the trap's creator had intended.

"They should already be bound," Diya communicated.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, after the fire arena, I only had binding left."

"Maybe we should have made more fire?" Avus asked, impressed by the power of that trap.

"I maximized the fire and used the remnants for binding and earth traps," Diya replied, a bit weary. "I had very little time to prepare."

Avus nodded understandingly and dared to look at the two remaining monsters. At that moment, they were caught and could not even move, enveloped by unusually looking chains. Despite their muscles contracting, it was clear they were struggling in vain.

"Damn!" a transformed voice shouted, recognizable as the young one who had threatened them earlier.

Avus had his own score to settle with this bastard since he had dared to frighten his princess.

As a tall man with a massive axe approached, Eysinus, panicking, said:

"Oh, you want to die first?"

Avus, saying nothing, stood in front of the monster, unable to decapitate it with one strike. Due to this, he had to hit the creature's neck several times, the regeneration causing the owner of the neck immense pain.

"Phew..." Avus sighed, tired from his consecutive actions, as the creature's head finally fell to the ground.

Meanwhile, seeing how brutally his companion was treated, Moron said:

"Don't kill me! Please, spare me..." the monster began, but then, changing his expression, he finished, "You're all doomed."

Moron's last words sealed his fate, as Avus proceeded to kill the last monster. This time, it seemed rather straightforward.

"Diya, can you remove the binding field?" Avus asked after finishing the beheading.

"Okay."

Diya then began to remove her traps, and once she was done, she reported:

"I'm done."

Avus nodded in gratitude and began digging where the bodies of the people were thrown, but the heads of the two monsters were buried in a separate pit.

As soon as they finished burying Moron and Eysinus, they felt a sudden disappearance of the terrifying magic from the bodies of the two beheaded cultists. At the same time, the magical disturbance from the body that was burned sharply increased.

"Feylina!" Avus only managed to think.

At that moment, the group of Arphenians heard the scream of the future mother and began chasing after the monster.

"How did he survive?!" Diya questioned.

"I don't understand how this is possible either," Avus simply stated.

"We should have been prepared for something like this, especially after hearing the voice of that cultist."

Avus and Diya didn't respond, though they agreed with these words.

"I'm done with my monsters," suddenly said Daeron.

Present time

From Daeron's perspective

"You're saying that the burnt corpse of the monster suddenly came back to life?" I asked Avus.

"Yes, but before that, the two bodies we buried were emitting magic."

"Hmm... Understood, I'm heading to intercept," I communicated to Avus.

It turns out that the magic was distributed among these cultists, and each enemy slain transferred their power to the surviving members. This explains why my adversary became so formidable. However, it also creates a new problem as the monster that took Feylina with it is tremendously powerful.

"Tun, can you track this beast?"

Initially, Tun remained silent, but then he spoke:

"I've found it; it's moving toward the place where their meeting was held."

"I could have guessed as much..." I whispered, already knowing where to head.

"I've located exactly where our beast will be. It's the place where I sent my spies," I relayed to Avus's group over the communicator.

"Understood, we're also heading there."

"Be careful, it seems that after the death of its allies, this monster has become the most powerful member of its organization."

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Chapter 60 has already been published