‘Even if the members of the senate were to listen to us and believe our words, it would still mean that all of their pain and sacrifices they just endured was for nothing.’ Solus said.
‘We’ll worry about that later.’ Lith replied. ‘Now we need to study the defensive formations of Zelex. No matter if we choose to parlay, raid the city, or ask for the Council’s help, we need to know how to safely get in.’
Solus had no trouble recollecting Eryon’s path and she guided Lith to a cave on the south side of the city. From there, departed a vertical tunnel that led outside whose access points were sealed with earth magic and protected by several defensive arrays.
Lith and Solus used the Eye of Menadion to study Zelex’s arrays as they moved. The city had mostly magical formations meant to keep it warm and freshen its air. The rest were about collecting and focusing the energy of the mana geyser.
The protective arrays were arranged in an outer layer, meant to protect Zelex from external threats, not from an inside attack. Aside from a self-destruct mechanism that would make the underground complex collapse if threatened, the city had no means of offense once an enemy broke past its entrance.
‘It makes sense.’ Solus pondered. ‘Based on what the Demons found out, right below the city there is the crystal mine and below that, there’s the magic metal mine. Too many arrays would destabilize the crystals.
‘Glemos couldn’t insulate them without also cutting the flow of world energy they need to grow.’
‘Also, both orc shamans and Fomors can freely manipulate the world energy.’ Lith pointed out. ‘They can use the crystals to fuel their powers whereas an invader can’t use powerful spells without the risk of blowing themselves up.’
The cave at the south entrance, however, was another story entirely.
Every centimeter of the rock was enchanted with spells that would sound the alarm and rain tier five spells on anyone who didn’t know their deactivation sequence.
‘Damn, there’s enough firepower to kill even a Divine Beast.’ Lith thought. ‘Also, even if they survived, the spells are aimed so that they would compromise the tunnel’s structural integrity and make it implode.’
‘Yeah, between the spells from below and the rocks falling from above, there’s no way to avoid ending up dead or buried alive.’ Solus replied. ‘Unless one knows the passcodes, of course.
‘I memorized them when the Fomor who carried me got inside.’
‘Question, are you sure that we have just to use the entry sequence in reverse? What if the exit password is different?’ Lith asked.
‘Only one way to find out.’ Solus replied.
A deep scan with the Eyes and a massive headache later, they had their answer. To enter Zelex safely, the array had to be unraveled in a precise order and the last rune that Eryon had used was meant to reset the protections.
‘Fuck me sideways, I have no idea how to open the array sequence from the bottom nor how to reset them once we get out from the other side.’ Solus said after studying the collected data.
‘On the bright side, once we bring this information to Ajatar, I’m sure that he’ll find a way to crack the offensive arrays safely and give us a clear retreat path in case things go south.’
Once they were done studying the arrays in the cave, Lith and Solus explored Zelex, finding one more cave leading outside at each cardinal point. The problem was that they all had different passcodes and arrays.
With their brains already burning and the clock ticking they had no time to scan them all.
‘Dammit, the underground complex is too big. Even with the help of my Demons, it would take days for a proper recon of the various floors.’ Lith said.
‘Agreed. Let’s not waste any more time and get out of here.’ Solus replied.
They moved to the extraction point where Nalrond was waiting for them. Not even by combining their powers could Lith and Solus escape but luckily there was no need for it.
A tendril of Spirit Magic slipped through the empty spaces of the arrays and reached Nalrond who was still waiting for them on the other side. At that point, the Rezar just used the dimensional stone to signal Friya to conjure Ubiquity again.
Ajatar took care of the external arrays while the others combined their Domination to bend the final layer just enough for Lith to come out.
“How did it go?” Morok asked.
“Better and worse than I thought.” Lith was still recovering from the mental exertion due to the prolonged use of the Eyes of Menadion. “I’ll show you everything in a minute. Let me catch my breath first.”
A tonic, a few minutes, a mind link, and several holograms later, the group was up to speed and completely horrified.
“Good gods, we can’t allow the Undead Courts to get their hands on Glemos’ legacy. There’s no telling how powerful they would become if they find a way to fuel the Harmonizers away from a geyser and get rid of the blood core’s flaws.” Faluel said.
“Speaking of my legacy, did you find anything of value aside from the Harmonizers?” Morok asked.
“There’s a metal and a crystal mine, but I think that the best stuff is sealed inside the senate palace.” Lith replied. “It’s built in the middle of the city and all the arrays depart and focus from it.
“It’s the perfect place for conducting Forgemastering and magical experiments.”
“Wait a second.” Nalrond said. “If the Tyrant’s legacy is really there how come the monsters haven’t used it to Forgemaster new Harmonizers instead of conducting something so barbaric as the rites of passage?
“As you already said, Fomors, Hati, and orc shamans can freely use all elements. Whatever protection Glemos has left, there’s nothing stopping them from combining their powers and breaking through the arrays.”
“That’s where you are wrong.” Morok replied. “There is something stopping them and that’s the fear that Glemos instilled inside of them their whole lives. To them, he’s a god and they are afraid of his anger were he to return and find his quarters violated.
“On top of that, to keep his ‘god’ façade, I bet that Glemos claimed Forgemastery to be a divine miracle and never taught them even the basics of it. Even if they found the courage and break the taboo, they wouldn’t know where to start.
“And that’s if Glemos wrote his grimoires without a code which I’m certain he did. Without a mentor or a textbook, learning any advanced branch of magic is impossible.”
“I agree with Morok.” Lith nodded. “The monsters have no idea that Glemos is dead and even after witnessing the memories of the past shamans, most of them have a hard time accepting that he was just an Awakened who lied and manipulated them.
“That’s why I think that our best chance is to send Morok alone. He’s a Tyrant and his scent proves that he carries Glemos’ blood. If he manages to convince them to be the son of their god, they’ll listen to everything he says.”
