MAZE - The Endless Quest

It took Hera four days to reach the alliance army, and two key factors contributed to her making such a good time. First, thanks to Nimbus, she was able to take a route that most people wouldn’t be able to access. This path, usually reserved for harpies, required a considerable amount of time spent in the air between two mountains. The Sentinel’s incredible speed also played a critical role, allowing them to cover ground in a day that would normally take others two.

The second reason was far less pleasant: the humans had broken through several of the alliance’s defensive positions. They were now just three rooms away from the Beastmen capital. The fact was, they were not ready to face the Soldiers of Strength. Some members of the alliance had dismissed these soldiers as mere rumors meant to scare the troops. Those skeptics were the first to fall—slain by the very enemies they thought were imaginary threats. The lack of proper calls for backup, not being able to recognize those enemies as they marched ahead, played a significant role in their defeat.

When Hera arrived at the room where the alliance was making their stand, she quickly sought out one of the commanders. This was standard procedure; everyone who participated in the war had to register to keep track of who was involved. More importantly, it allowed the alliance to know who came back, who had been captured, killed, or lost during the fighting.

After registering, the Empress gathered some information about the location of the Harmony Guardians and quickly dashed off. She had to leave the area near the command center before calling Nimbus again, but that only took a couple of minutes.

Reaching her team took another hour. Being in a room on the fifth layer meant that the monsters here only reached level 15, which was manageable, but the room itself was enormous. It was large enough to fit ten big cities and over a hundred smaller ones. Though the conditions made it difficult to establish more settlements, as the area was harsh. The vast, empty plains were seared by intense heat, with pockets of cooler weather near clusters of vegetation or one of the rare oases. She was not in a desert but the room escape the definition by a narrow margin.

As Hera flew across the sky, she saw other harpies darting back and forth, delivering critical equipment, information, or messages. Below her, thousands of people were organizing in lines, protecting the empty land in front of villages with hastily constructed walls and barriers. She watched as countless others digging trenches and preparing defensive structures, ranging from ballistas and trebuchets to pitfalls and spike traps.

No one was sitting idle, waiting for the humans to make their move. Every edge the alliance could take, they would do so.

In the distance, Hera could see flashes of explosions and spells flying from one side to another. Harpies risked their lives in bomb runs, dropping mana-charged explosives onto the human lines. Most managed to return, flying high enough to evade many projectiles, but a few were shot down, their bodies becoming yet more casualties in the growing toll of the war.

The closer Hera got, the louder the screams and shouted orders became. Even from her height, even from the distance, the sound was overwhelming. The chaos and destruction below were devastating. There was too much going on. Too much death and destruction.

“Nimbus, to the right. Six battalions down near the green banner. Can you see it?” Daskka asked.

The Sentinel squinted, his birdlike eyes able to see at great distances. It took him a moment, but soon he spotted what the Herald had pointed out. Among the masses, he recognized a familiar elf with pastel purple hair, a triton dressed in deep blue clothes, a harpy seemingly dancing in midair, a dwarf wearing a metallic exoskeleton, and a beastman surrounded by spectral green energy.

“That’s them!” Nimbus gasped. But right after saying that, he noticed three people covered in a red aura attacking the group, while another two made sure no reinforcements could get close. “They’re fighting the Soldiers of Strength!”

“Dive!” Hera commanded.

The Sentinel did just that, tilting his body down before speeding up even faster. Hera shared her plan with Nimbus through their bond. Which wasn’t something completely new, though the approach from above was a bit different. It took about a minute to get closer, the wind rushing past their ears, making them deaf for a few moments as Hera called one of her blades out. Nimbus was still a good five meters above the ground when Hera dismissed him and Daskka just as she triggered [Shadowstep Strike] with Shadow in her hand.

She vanished from the sky, reappearing behind one of the Soldiers of Strength who was about to strike Flint. Some of the momentum from her dive had dissipated, but she still had enough to spin the scythe directly on the man’s midsection. The blow opened a large gash on his stomach, sending him flying back toward the human army.

“I told you to stop any reinforcements!” one of the Soldiers of Strength yelled, attempting to tackle Flint. But Roan intercepted the attack, his spectral armor taking the form of a gorilla.

“That thing came from the sky! I can’t fucking fly,” another Soldier of Strength shouted as he brandished his weapon at Hera. Vulcan, Lurize, and Nimbus appeared, blocking the attack. Viper, Crimson, and Livy materialized behind the soldier, and in a quick, synchronized motion, they decapitated him.

“You’re late!” Neria shouted.

“I missed you all too,” Hera chuckled as she lunged toward the third Soldier of Strength with Eira in hand. The rest of the Court followed closely.

Thanks to the permafrost glaive shredding the man’s defenses, the damage they dealt was significant. It seemed like his healing couldn’t keep up with the cuts that now covered his body. The Soldier of Strength shouted in frustration and released a wave of energy from his hand. Before it could cause any damage, Forge stepped in front of it and breathed in the energy—being a Strength Spirit, it was just a light snack.

“What the fuck?” the man gasped before sound waves slammed into him one after another. The sonic attacks came from Vash and Skyler, who had realized the humans struggled to defend against such assaults—especially those that rattled their brains.

Taking advantage of the situation, Hera swapped Eira with Storm and Glacia, sending a [Crackling Strike] to briefly stun the man before following up with a [Glacial Strike] together with a [Grasshopper Slash] to finish him off. Now, only the two Soldiers of Strength blocking the reinforcements remained.

The woman on the left barely had time to react before Flint hit her with a three-punch combo—jab, cross, and hook—all empowered by the piston in his armor. The last punch sent her flying into the air. A dwarf from another alliance team suddenly leaped up and, with a spin, slammed his hammer onto the woman’s head, sending her crashing back down. She was too wounded and disoriented to defend herself as the surrounding alliance members quickly killed her.

On the opposite side, Roan dodged and jumped erratically as the other soldier tried to catch him. His spectral armor now took the form of a chimp. The man yelled in frustration and swung his longsword in a wide arc, but Roan leaped over him, grabbing the soldier’s head and pulling it backward. As the Soldier of Strength fell to his knees, he struggled to break free, shouting in frustration. Before he could react, a stream of water shot into his mouth. Neria, controlling the water, attempted to force it into the man’s throat, creating a continuous stream. With his head pulled back, the man struggled to close his airway, but even though he was a Soldier of Strength, his position made it difficult.

With a desperate move, the man clapped his hands together with such force that he broke his wrists. The sonic boom disrupted Neria’s concentration, and the water stopped. If Roan was in full control of his body, he wouldn’t have let go, but the beastial armor heightened his animal instincts, which forced him to let go.

The Soldier of Strength gasped for breath, coughing up water, but before he could fully recover, Hera stepped forward, ready to strike.

The human tried to get up, but he was struggling to breathe as he had just been waterboarded. Livy was already halfway toward the man when that happened. The constant stream of water on the ground activated [Inheritance of Cerulea], making her faster while in the water. She reached the Soldier of Strength and brought down the two-handed war axe with a [Grasshopper Slash] directly on top of the man’s neck.

In the nick of time, the human was able to move away and avoid being decapitated by the Leviathan. But the attack was still enough to cut off one of his legs. The man shouted just as a harpy appeared by his side. With a spinning kick that glowed like the moonlight, she left a massive wound on the human’s neck. Following that up, a Triton, in a lunging strike, impaled the man through his chest using his trident.

Livy nodded as thanks and brought her war axe down on the Soldier of Strength’s head, decapitating him so he wouldn’t be able to recover from the wounds.

This small battle was over, but the war still waged on to the sides. Hera glanced toward the first Soldier of Strength she attacked—the one that went flying back toward the human army. She saw him being tended by a couple of healers and a woman by his side, helping him get up. The Empress couldn’t help but feel that she was oddly familiar, but before she could do anything about that, Flint gave a rallying cry.

“To me!” the dwarf shouted as they pushed into the left flank of the human army.

Hera waited just for a moment to see if the back line of the Harmony Guardians was doing well.

“Is everyone okay?”

“No. But no one is hurt,” Neria replied, her eyes filled with sadness. The Ophidianite didn’t need to ask more. She knew Neria hated being this deep in a battle. The healer never wished to harm anyone, and here she was, helping people kill themselves.

Hera gave her an understanding nod. She had already made her peace with killing the Soldiers of Strength, but killing regular people still hurt. Turning to Skyler, she asked, “Do we need someone to cover the back?”

“I wouldn’t say no, but our allies on the other side seem to be doing better,” Skyler replied.

“I also have a few strings making sure to tell us if someone breaks off from that side,” Vash added.

“Got it,” Hera turned to her court. “Nimbus, stay back. Make sure everyone is okay. Robin, you are the conga line. Everyone else, let’s push these bastards back!”

“Yes, Empress!” the court replied in unison.

There was a lot that Hera wanted to say to her team. And a lot she had to do to make sure they were safe. But now, in the midst of this gigantic battle, she had to focus on doing one of the things she hated the most—killing humans. Her only hope was that this wouldn’t last long.