BXBX NOVEL Chapter 291 290: Progress
With the Sariel Estate now firmly under our control, the next order of business was rather tedious and trivial, but it needed to be done.
Transporting all we found, and everyone we kept alive, over towards the Palace, where the Empress and her wives would begin to sift through the information we found and compile a report on it all.
Something that we wouldn\'t be reading for a long time now, since after Adelina makes her recovery to battle ready, we\'ll be departing for the West, to begin our Crusade and discover just what happened over in Tragon.
Learning about the Gates that appeared was much more important then anything else we were doing; sure, the optics of us retaliating were good for public morale and provided a good distraction for the turncoat Elven Families, but we desperately needed more information on what exactly happened in Tragon.
Because, like it or not, something that could create multiple Gates was not something we could deal with, even as strong as this Empire was.
Tearing open a hole into the Labyrinthian and letting dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of monsters through would spell doom for the Empire; the land we control is simply too vast to be able to swiftly respond to threats like Gates.
Especially if multiple are opened.
Would we fall as quick as Tragon?
No, no we wouldn\'t; in order to be acknowledged by the Empress, all Noble Family Heads need to reach a certain strength equivalent to your position.
Now, not all are at that level, but they usually offer something as important as physical prowess in compensation, or they are under the banner of a different Noble Head.
It isn\'t uncommon for Barons and Viscounts to band together underneath the banner of a Count or a Marquess, and it was rare, but still happened, for a Count or Marquess to find themselves under the banner of one of the Dukes.
The Empire, in reality, is a collective of City-States and Territories that all swear fealty to the Empress, who guides them all and keeps the peace as best she can.
So, if a Gate were to open anywhere in the Empire, the ruling Nobility should, in theory, be capable of sending for help and warding off the monster or horde that comes through for at least a few hours, which should be enough for someone stronger to be notified and arrive.
In theory, anyways.
Little is known about Gates themselves, and little is known about the depths of the Labyrinthian, so if something is able to create these Gates and connect them to the interior of the Labyrinthian, well...
That could very well be the end of the world as we know it.
With that sobering thought in my mind, I helped the others gather all the materials onto the path in front of the estate, to be collected by some of the Empress\' personal guards and transported to the Palace.
As for the prisoners, they were sufficiently bound with specially prepared mana sealing chains, given a healing rune to prevent poisoning and biting of the tongue, and checked for any hidden spells that would allow them to take their own lives.
After searching them thoroughly and finding nothing, we loaded them onto the prisoner transport carriage and sent them away, before getting into a carriage of our own and following behind them.
Leone had kept some of the papers to read on the way there, her red eyes narrowed as she scanned line after line, muttering quietly to herself.
Nodding to myself, I turned towards Anput to see how she was doing, the memory of what I had done at the border flashing into my mind, a pang of guilt wrapping around my heart.
The Jackalkin was staring out the window, her lips pulled into a thin line as she watched the buildings pass us by.
Taking a deep breath, I reached over and pulled her towards me, getting a raised brow from Leone and a yelp from Anput.
Smiling softly down at her, I wrapped my arms around her waist and held her close, burying my nose between her ear and enjoying the warmth of her lithe body.
Anput shuffled around on my lap for a few moments, her ears twitching and brushing against my cheeks as she muttered "W-What are you doing..?"
Kissing the top of her head, I took a deep breath of her citrusy scent as I nuzzled against her ears, whispering "Holding my cute little puppy whilst I wait... that\'s fine, right?"
Anput shivered in my arms, and I felt her ears twitch a few more times as she slowly leaned back into my chest, her voice small as she whispered back "F-Fine..."
Timidly shuffling closer and closer, the Jackalkin allowed me to drape myself over her body, her warmth permeating my body as I held her close.
~~~
Kat PoV
Another day passed as I trekked through the stone pillar forest, the wildlife avoiding me and the Arctic Cor\'s equally.
Snow began to fall early that morning, and it slowly added to the thick carpet of white powder on the ground, covering the tracks leading back to the cavern I had woken up in.
Not that I wanted to backtrack, but I had been walking for so long that the giant stone arch had long since faded into the background, covered by the stone pillars around me.
And honestly, I wasn\'t in a rush to climb up another rock wall for the rest of my life...
Once was enough...
The further I went into this forest of giant stone pillars, the more normal wildlife I encountered and less Arctic Cor\'s I saw flying through the air, suggesting the area I woke up in was the area that they frequented.
Continuing my journey towards the reference point I created, I eventually found myself staring up at a gigantic mountain range, far taller than the mountains I had seen previously.
Not only that, but the material was different; where the previous mountains were a deep gray granite, these mountains were two separate colors.
Mainly comprised of a pitch black slate, the mountains were given veins made from a pulsing marble, mana streaming through the rock and giving the mountain an almost alive feeling to it.
This...
This was something I knew about; something I had studied, but thought I wouldn\'t see in a long, long time.
What I was staring up at was the border of the Labyrinthian, what was often called the Ebon Bastion inside the Empire.
My heart dropped as I stared at the black rock that was splintered by sparkling white, panic beginning to set in.
The deepest parts of Zhu\'Rong Cavern were often compared to the edges of the Labyrinthian, and we had yet to step past the Gate of Hades, so I didn\'t want to even nurture the thought that I was inside the Labyrinthian.
However, I had two possibilities laying before me, both rather worrying.
The direction that the Soul Bond had pointed me in was North-West, which meant two things.
The first was that I was, in fact, inside the Labyrinthian, and that I was close to the border of the Ebon Bastion, meaning I could potentially be home faster than I thought.
This might sound good, but in all honesty it\'s the worse of the two options.
Why?
Again, the Labyrinthian is crawling with monsters and wildlife, meaning that the increase in wildlife around me could mean a slumbering group of monsters waiting for their food to fatten up.
It could also mean that this was a pocket of a normal ecosystem inside the Labyrinthian, which had been reported a few times...
That was the first possibility; that I was inside extremely dangerous territory that would require more careful thinking going forwards, and that I needed to try and locate one of the entrances of the Ebon Bastion.
If I could find the entrances and convince the guards that I was a citizen of the Empire, I could be home before I know it.
Only if I don\'t run into hordes of monsters inside the Labyrinthian.
Now, the second, more calming and hopeful possibility, is that I am outside the Labyrinthian looking at one of its walls, deep in the South-Eastern portion of this continent.
That would be preferable, mainly because dealing with normal people and weak monsters would be much easier than the real monsters inside the Labyrinthian.
Whilst I might be farther then if I was near the Ebon Bastion, that distance would be far safer for me going forwards, and I could still make decent time and reach the Empire soon...
I hope.
Personally, if I was inside the Labyrinthian, I... might not make it, if I\'m being honest.
Even if I hug this mountain and travel along it, the monsters inside are strong, and all it would take is just one monster being curious about breaking free of the Ebon Bastion to rip me to shreds.
Yes, the outside world would be fraught with it\'s own perils; sometimes, people are more monstrous then beasts, and I could very well be hunted by any Tom, Dick or Harry that wants me for one reason or another, but...
Running and hiding on my own, using my skills to their maximum, could likely be more then enough to remain safe and unscathed.
Either way though, this was not a situation I wanted to be in, but I needed to accept that I had two terrible possibilities laying before me.
One, I was in the most dangerous part of this world, alone, without a real guide to escape, and surrounded by monsters...
Or two, I was in a foreign land that I knew nothing about; no guarantee that they would speak the same language, no guarantee that I would be capable of blending in with the society, no guarantee of anything.
Both were terrible, but I would rather take my chances with the outside world then the Labyrinthian.
With that in mind, I took this progress I had made and continued on, traveling North alongside the mountain range and hoping, praying, and pleading with whatever Gods and Goddesses were laughing at me right now to take some pity on me.
Lugging my ice chests behind me, I traveled North, through the snow and wind, so that I could reach the three women who had so easily carved themselves onto my heart.