And (N)one Shall Remain

“Around fifty of them, at least five or six in the fourth tier,” reported Legisvula as he returned from where he kept an eye on the group’s pursuers above the valley’s ridge. Legisvula had some of the best stealth skills of the group other than Esperanza, so he was the one who volunteered to keep an eye out for the enemy, a task that placed himself at risk of discovery or worse.

 

Fortunately, while their foes seemed capable of tracking Esperanza and Nalihimatu through some esoteric means, they didn’t have skills capable of piercing Legisvula’s stealth from a distance, or if they did, they had no inkling of his presence and thus had not used any such skills.

 

“Both more and less than what the Exalted one expected, then,” noted Ani at the numbers Legisvula mentioned. Esperanza had expected whoever was tracking them to have a small party of maybe twenty to thirty but with a far higher proportion of fourth tiers. The party they discovered on their tail was larger in number, but with fewer fourth tiers than they expected.

 

“They all looked pretty strong and skilled, Miss Ani,” commented Legisvula. “Experienced, rather. Even their third tiers look like people who have been doing their job all their lives. I feel that we should not take these foes lightly, since they clearly have ill intent towards the Exalted One. They’re all wearing the same sort of clothes as the group we faced in the dungeon. People from the temple of the human usurper gods.”

 

“I guess that at least answers the questions of who these people are and why they are following us,” said Ani with a nod. “One or more of the people we killed in the dungeon must have some artifact that would alert others if they are slain. I have heard of such things, but as far as I know they were exorbitantly expensive, and thus rare.”

 

“Still doesn’t answer why they are specifically capable of tracking down the Exalted one and Nali, though,” questioned Tiesya. 

 

“Such things work by way of the Soul, I would assume. Maybe Nali happens to be the one that dealt the human in question the finishing blow back then, and thus a bit of the person’s Soul was stuck to his as a result. They could very well be tracking that residue,” guessed Ani after some thought. “The Exalted One also carried the human souls for questioning, so they might be tracking her because of that as well.”

 

“Are we sticking to the plan the Exalted One laid out?” asked Val-Kas’j for confirmation. The greater number of skilled foes was a surprise, but not an unexpected one as they had planned for several different contingencies before Esperanza ran ahead with Nalihimatu to make their foes think that they were still running away unawares.

 

“We should. Let most of them pass by our position, then we strike their rear and flank  at the same time,” said Ani with a nod. Other than Esperanza and Nalihimatu – who would rush back once the battle was joined – the rest of their group was present, even Dali and Gordy, who waited on the other side of the valley with nearly half their forces. Ani’s group would be the one to signal the start of the ambush, while the rest followed.

 

Esperanza had entrusted the responsibility to Ani since the woman was the most experienced of them all, something none of the group disagreed with. Normally Ani might have requested that Esperanza take the lead instead, but since Esperanza had to range ahead to play bait, it had to be someone else, so she had no objections either.

 

“You’re all familiar with the plan, so I won’t repeat it. Let us do our best so as not to disappoint the Exalted One,” said Ani, to which the rest of the group with her nodded.

 

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“They are very close, Your Eminence, maybe four to five minutes ahead at most,” Sister Nadia said after a moment of concentration to use her skills. They had nearly caught on to their quarry and the Bishop’s eagerness was palpable at this point. The expedition group had even restrained their own scouts after a quick inspection of the valley so as not to forewarn the targets they were pursuing.

 

Their targets were very good at keeping their tracks obscure and difficult to find, they had to admit. Even in the valley they barely saw any signs of passage, which indicated that they were either aware that they were being tracked, or more likely, a habit of hiding their tracks, perhaps from a life of hiding or perhaps because they were in enemy territory. The Bishop’s thoughts had gone a bit wild on the possibilities of the latter scenario.

 

It was certainly possible for it to be a team of infiltrating demons. He had heard rumors that the [Heroes]’ party themselves ran afoul of one such group of demons a good while ago. Despite the dangers, dungeons were actually some of the best hiding spots in the Kingdom, if one was powerful enough to mostly ignore the threat of the monsters in them.

 

After all, while the lower level dungeons were regularly cleaned and harvested for the useful things they provide, the same could not be said about higher tier dungeons. Dungeons with creatures in the third and fourth tier equivalents were maybe harvested only once or twice a year, each time with a rather risky expedition which carried a significant risk of injury or death.

 

Naturally, such expeditions were not the most popular outside of those who truly chased after power at all costs, which made such dungeons pretty much abandoned land for most of the year. If someone could ignore the weaker monsters in such places – which was easier said than done given that they would still be third tier equivalents or worse – then they made for great hideaways.

 

By this point the Bishop was almost certain that the dungeon delving expedition likely ran into a group of elite demon infiltrators who were hiding in their target dungeon. It would be a decent bit of merit on his part if he successfully uprooted such a group of infiltrators, and besides, it would allow him his much-desired revenge as well.

 

Bishop Uther was still thinking about those when a commotion suddenly erupted behind him and he saw several members of the expedition fall to unexpected attacks from the side, followed by the presence of around two dozen figures that charged at his expedition group from both sides of the valley, descending from atop the ridges.

 

For a moment, he was uncertain on what kind of enemy he was facing. He saw demons of all sorts, sure. Even the elusive aquatic Gour-ug’rech demons, but there were also humans amongst them, clearly working in tandem with the demons without hesitation. It was only after the moment of surprise that he recalled old stories of heretic unbelievers that persisted in believing the toppled pagan gods which fit the description. 

 

Such tales often mentioned demons and humans living in unholy unions, and now that he saw them for real, Bishop Uther wished for nothing more than to rid their stains from the face of Ephemera. He was just about to call upon the name of the Gods he worshiped and activate his mightiest skills when he noticed an aura of palpable wrongness approaching from behind, forcing him to turn his attention that way.

 

All that greeted him was a sight from the nightmares itself.

 

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Esperanza tsked in annoyance as her surprise attack – she had rushed back as fast as she could in her amorphous form, which could reach ridiculous amounts of speed under the right circumstances – failed to take down her intended target, one of the fourth tiers from the group that had chased after her. At the last moment, one of the women in black next to him saw the attack coming and shoved the old priest that was her target away, taking the attacks intended for him in the process.

 

Sure, Esperanza’s extended tenebrous limbs tipped with bone claws sheathed in [Soul Armament] directly eviscerated the woman in question – directly sheared her in half around the waist, in fact – but missing her actual target and possibly the strongest enemy of the bunch was still annoying. At least the ambush went well as they planned.

 

She had told Ilavakide and Dai’Vasy to focus their skills on some of the weaker enemies rather than the strongest if the enemy had greater numbers. The stronger enemies were far less likely to succumb to a single attack, after all, so it was better to cut down on their number advantage instead. Both girls had clearly followed her instructions judging from the three dead temple guards with arrows sticking out of their bodies and another four frozen or skewered by spikes of ice.

 

Those more skilled with ranged combat – Ilavakide, Dai’Vasy, the five from Zikeal, mostly for their own safety, and three of Ani’s people – stayed on the ridgelines and continued to deliver fire support to the rest of the group who were fighting below. The enemies had powerful fourth tiers, but not overwhelmingly powerful ones, other than the one man Esperanza tried to get rid of herself. That one would likely give anyone else a hard time.

 

As it was, Dali and Gordy each occupied one of the enemy fourth tiers, while Ani, Val-Kas’j, Tiesya, and Mel-Ivas occupied the other four. Normally Nalihimatu would be doing the same, but he was still rushing towards the battlefield as he couldn’t do so as fast as Esperanza could. Esperanza lunged towards the strongest of the enemy fourth tiers without hesitation as she knew that she had to keep that one occupied or even take him down.

 

They were still outnumbered by nearly two to one, and even the weaker foes had great skill and experience, but Esperanza hoped that the difference in quality would more than make up for it. A high level third tier with good classes were easily as powerful as a low level fourth tier with worse classes, and all the [Progenies of Yore] had some of the best classes in existence, according to Ani, which meant that they punched well above their levels. Combined with how almost all of Ani’s group were in their fourth tier by then, Esperanza’s group had a good advantage in quality if not quantity.

 

Still, the battle wouldn’t likely be an easy one. Already the priestly man she was assaulting managed to conjure a shield of light that covered him from her assaults, though it only held with difficulty. Typically priest types like those had the ability to grant buffs to their team and the like. She saw the other priests in the group do that already, so Esperanza put her effort into keeping her target too busy fending for himself to help others.

 

She had no idea what an experienced fourth tier priest’s buff skills and blessings could be like, and if she could have it her way, she would prefer to not know about it and instead get to kill the priest before he could make use of them like she originally intended. Her amorphous body sprouted another four limbs tipped with claws of bone, and with the six of them she struck blow after blow against the priest’s defenses from all angles.

 

From behind her she heard the sound of a yell followed by a heavy crash and a few people’s grunts. It would seem that Nalihimatu had finally caught up and joined the battle as well, which further diverted their enemies’ attention. While her group had the advantage, Esperanza still kept an eye over them, because unlike her enemies, her people could ill afford to lose members of their group in a fight like this.

While her tenebrous limbs continued their assault on the fourth tier priest, Esperanza also blared the full presence of her [Far Down the Deep End]’s passive effect, which visibly took a toll on the mental state of her enemies and forced a couple of the priests to change their blessings to counter it.