Karl sat at the top of the steps and watched the spectral images of the beast clerics going about their daily business, as if the temple was still operating, and not thousands of years destroyed.
At first, he had thought it was some sort of playback, a spectral image of their last day that they were forced to relive over and over, but when the acolyte that was headed for the field accidentally brushed against him, the feline beastkin paused, looked around, then shuddered and continued about their day.
Karl wondered if that meant that there was a duplicate of the temple somewhere else, that was supposed to be linked to this location, but couldn’t be because the temple itself was destroyed.
Karl had been watching them for over an hour by the time that he realized that this was a form of closed anomaly. He could see the beast temple and its occupants, but it wasn’t actually this temple, and they were not haunted.
At least not in the conventional sense.
The temple layout didn’t quite match the floor plan of the ruins here, though they were so close that it took him a while to figure it out.
How they ended up connected by an anomaly was a mystery, but it didn’t seem to be harming anything, and neither Karl nor his beasts had any issues with it.
Perhaps that meant the anomaly was on the other side, and that it couldn’t be accessed from these ruins, but if they could pass through, there was no sign of it.
However, there was a sign of power. A sign of a magical beast undergoing an advancement. Remi’s whatever she was doing downstairs was noticeably growing in power, and if she kept it up a little longer, Karl was fairly certain that the last of his teammates was finally going to make it to the Royal Rank.
This was a momentous occasion, but he got the feeling that he should remain outside the temple for the process to finish as smoothly as possible.
But more importantly than that, the amount of power that was radiating from the basement of the ruins was going to be noticeable to beasts from dozens of kilometres away.
Most of them wouldn’t mess with a Royal Rank monster, even during their advancement. But there might be some close enough that had enough power of their own that they wouldn’t fear a freshly advanced Royal Rank beast, and they might be willing to eliminate the competition before Remi could finish her advancement.
Of course, with the others in the basement with her, that wouldn’t be an easy concept. Even the average Monarch Rank beast would not survive a full minute in the tender loving care of Rae and Cara, while Thor wouldn’t let anyone hurt his sister.
Karl settled in to meditate, trying to keep as fresh as he could for the inevitable moment when things went wrong.
He could sense the powerful residents in the distance, but he didn’t sense them coming closer yet, so there was hope that this could all end peacefully, but even thinking that gave Karl a sense that a flag had been raised.
That moment came as he felt the energy in the basement beginning to change. It was Royal Rank, and felt like Remi, but more. It should be the evolved energy of the Spirit Snake, in whatever form she had decided upon.
That was when a portal opened roughly a kilometre away, and directly in Karl’s line of sight.
“Stupid beasts, they still think that their gods can protect them as they advance. Let’s see what we’ve found.” Karl heard the deep voice laughing, but the portal was blocking the view, and they had stepped out the other side of it.
[Do you need help?] Rae asked.
[No, I’ve got this. Take care of our small snake as she advances.]
Karl stood and put his blade tip down in the dirt, so he could rest easy, without having to carry the weapon.
A large group of what might have been Ogres, though they were more stone grey than fleshy looking, moved away from the portal, and turned to face Karl.
They began to laugh as they saw Karl. “Well, look what we have here. Some idiot nature cleric thinks that he can keep us from taking our prize while it’s inca… incapashu… while it’s weak.”
Karl smiled over the distance separating them.
Dozens more grey Ogres, along with a few dozen other demihumans that Karl didn’t have names for, left the portal with three huge cages on cart bases. They had come prepared to take prisoners, and they weren’t going to miss out, even if there was more than one beast trying to advance at the ruined temple today.
They were almost all Commanders, but with a pair of Monarch Rank leaders. That seemed like something that Karl could handle, as long as he could take out the two leaders.
When they got to a hundred metres from Karl, they began to spread out, leaving a few of their members at the back with the wagons.
The wind shifted, and Karl smelled blood, as well as unwashed Ogres. His sharp vision picked out the mostly dried blood on the wagons, as well as the smell of humans and Elves. Neither species was here, so they must have been the last occupants of the cages.
“He looks like a capable enough fighter. Boss will pay good money for that one, so don’t kill him.” One of the Monarchs instructed.
They were not in the front rank, they were both planning to send their minions forward first.
It was a simple strategy. Weaken and exhaust him, then they could bind him and claim the beast downstairs in the middle of its advancement when it was utterly helpless.
“Is this all that you could muster? You might as well turn around and go home.” Karl informed them.
The leaders laughed, and two Commander Rank demihumans in the back, ones with deep mahogany skin and glowing violet eyes that matched the glowing horns at their temples, cast a barrier over the Ogres in the front.
Karl shook his head in dismay. A low Commander Rank mage armour spell was not going to last long once this got started.
[Well trusty blade, are we ready?] He joked, but the blade actually pulsed red in anticipation.
“I asked the sword, and it says you all die here today.” Karl joked.
The Ogres in the front laughed, but Karl raced forward with [Chain Lightning] arcing from his fingertips.
The first hit shattered their barriers, and Karl followed it up with a wide sweep of [Rend] as his blade arced through the sky.
The Ogres in front hit the ground to get under it, but the ones behind them had no idea what was coming for them until the skill bisected them.
Karl took a deep breath as his blade flooded him with stolen life energy. That attack at full output and over such a large area took a lot out of him, but half the enemy force was gone already, and the Mages were beginning to panic.
Three more long steps brought him into melee range of the front row of Ogres. Karl ignored them, using them as a stepping stone to spread [Chain Lightning] as he went for the mages.
Hastily erected barriers shattered like glass under the flames as the blade descended, and the first mage fell.
“Go for the beast, we will deal with the human.” The Monarch who had spoken earlier instructed his slavers.
The back swing of Karl’s blade eliminated the other mage in an arc of black blood, leaving Karl free to face his real targets.
“I warned you, didn’t I? You can still run away and live.” He warned them.
“Oh, a feisty human. The slave masters at the market will have a field day with you once we lock away your system skills.” The Ogre laughed.
Karl spared a bit of attention for the entry of the cave to see if Rae was ready for the attack, but none of the Ogres had gotten up. Nothing had survived the lightning.
“I think you might have misjudged your situation. You don’t have a team left.” Karl laughed as he felt Remi’s exultant cheering in his mind.
She was finished with her advancement, and they were almost ready to start moving. She just had to get used to the changes in her body.
