Rise of the Devourer

Book 2: Chapter 58 — Game Plan

The rest of the group looked to Noah at his words. The spectre continued to grin from the shadows, as Noah began to explain.

“There’s a few things we know so far. First, the trap might be specifically set for me. So most likely they’ll be waiting for me. In that case, me going alone is kind of a stupid choice. But—“

“I don’t like where this is going,” Aurelia interrupted.

“—What if, I did go alone? But not quite me,” Noah said.

“What do you- oh,” Aurelia said.

The rest had caught on as well within a second. “How does that help? The clone gets caught and dies, they find out we know about the trap, but the Shard is still with them.”

“No, I think I know what he’s thinking of,” Aurelia said, glancing at Noah. “If Noah uses his dimensional pocket, or rather, the shadow clone does…”

Noah grinned. “Exactly. I can enter my own dimensional pocket, but so far, I had no way to move around when I did so. I would simply reappear where I had entered it. But now, I can move around.”

See? I’m already being useful, the spectre said, snickering.

Noah rolled his eyes, but continued.

“Hmm, it’s a good idea,” Aurelia said. “But it still puts you at risk.”

“We’re afraid there’s one major flaw. You can’t hold us inside your dimensional pocket,” Zax said.

“True. And not having Zax would reduce our firepower by a lot, even if we can catch them off-guard,” Aurelia said.

“Would they not expect the dragon? They should’ve noticed that he’s been freed,” Erwest said.

“No, that much we’ve taken care of. It has not been long since our chains were broken, and we made sure no cultists were left alive outside the castle when we entered with Noah. Those on the inside have been trapped here, and cannot leave its premises. They have no way back out,” Zax added.

“So an ambush, for the ambush huh?” Aurelia said.

Zax waved his hand, showing the centre of the castle. “This is where the remaining cultists are,” he said, as glowing marks lit up near the centre. “In this chamber, is the source of the spell connected to this entire realm and beyond. The Shard is at its core, powering the spell. And most likely being fed by it.”

A display of the shard came upon the projection, glowing in gold, with tendrils of red spell lines spreading out beyond the castle.

“So the trap is likely there as well?”

“Indeed. This area is still not clear, so our scrying is limited, but they’ve most likely put the trap there. But even before that, there is another challenge,” Zax said, as the map shifted. “At the entrance to this chamber is a beast, guarding it. To reach the center, you will have to defeat the beast first.”

“How strong is it?” Noah asked.

“Stronger than you can handle,” Zax replied. “The beast is close to B rank, if not quite over the mark. As you are now, you would lose.”

Noah raised an eyebrow, but did not question the dragon’s words.

“If all four of you went here, you could take it down. But alone, Noah will not be able to. Especially while also keeping people inside his Dimensional Pocket,” Zax added.

“So… what then?” Aurelia asked.

“We could eliminate it, but not without revealing our presence to the enemy,” Zax said, raising his hands. “Not with these still on us.”

Noah frowned, watching the map floating in front of Zax. “I mean, it’s a pre final-boss guardian fight right?”

“A what?” Aurelia asked.

“A pre final-boss guardian. Basically, it’s- a fight that tends to be gimmick based. Think about it, why would the cultists not want me to enter their trap. Makes no sense, yeah?” Noah said.

“Indeed. It is a bit strange,” Erwest said.

“Well, what if they put the monster there to guard the Shard. Which makes sense, they wouldn’t want to risk someone else getting there. And when they see me, or us, really. They could just artificially weaken the guardian, make the fight easier for us. Make us think we’ve won, cleared their hurdle, and then while we least expect it, they spring a trap upon us,” Noah said, glancing around at the others. “It’s exactly the kind of sleazy trick I expect Vix to pull on us.”

“But even if so, it’s still risky to send your Shadow to fight alone. And it doesn’t solve the problem of how we could bring Zax with us,” Aurelia said.

Noah turned to look at the dragon. “Could you scry if lord Krios is in this realm?”

Zax frowned. “We do not think so. The man was careful, even with us. We do not think he would be present there.”

“I think we can do it by ourselves then. If it really is a trap, and if it’s only Vix and the cultist, I think we can take them down. And if things go wrong, nothing’s stopping Zax from barging in and zapping everything to oblivion,” Noah said.

“We’ll still be taking on a risk,” Aurelia said.

“We’re adventurers. That’s kind of our job, isn’t it?” Noah said, smiling.

Zax laughed at his words.

“I don’t like how much you enjoy doing things like this,” Aurelia said, shaking her head.

“It is reasonable enough,” Erwest said, surprising Aurelia and earning a stare from her.

“We have a dragon on our side,” the paladin said. “Do you think the lord can stop him?”

“But- well- I mean…” Aurelia failed to find a reply, and then sighed once more. “Fine, I guess it’s a reasonable enough risk this time.”

“Something you are forgetting, is to ask how you intend to accuse the Lord. Do you have any evidence? Because the word of this child alone will not suffice,” Zax said.

“We could capture Vix,” Aurelia said. “As bitter as it may be, but keeping her alive could help us get a testimony against Krios. If he truly is as guilty as claimed.”

“Even if not, someone is. And having Vix with us will allow us to get some evidence at last about who’s behind all this,” Aurelia said.

“The church of Hellion will also be participating in the investigations. Some of which are already underway,” Erwest added.

“It’s not going to be easy to make her speak. What if she has an escape route ready? She does have the advantage on us in terms of location and preparation,” Aurelia said.

“We can take care of that much,” Zax said. “While you head towards the chamber, we’ll clear out the remnants of the cultists and the abyssal spawn, before setting up an anti-teleportation ward. No one will be able to leave or enter the Astral Rift unless we want them to.”

“Alright, sounds like we have everything we need,” Noah said.

“We’ll need some time to prepare the spell, and a little more to work on Snow’s Path. In the meantime, go and clear out the remnants of the abyssal spawn outside Noah, and get to level 100 if you can. Take some time to check your progress as well. Even if you can’t rank up here, it will still be significant to be at the cusp before you enter the fight,” Zax said, glancing sideways. “The battle ahead will help with what you can unlock when you do select your path evolutions.”

“Guess that’s as good a place as any to start,” Noah said.

“What about us?” Aurelia asked.

“We see no reason why you can’t obtain some more levels before the fight alongside him,” Zax replied.

Aurelia nodded, and so did Erwest.

The spectre moved around in Noah’s shadow, excited at the prospect of growth. Perhaps even more so than Noah himself.

Zax looked at the three of them, and then with a silent incantation, cast a spell. A flash of runes spun around the three, and a moment later, they were gone.

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