Jahi PoV


    We looked up at therge mountain that housed the city of Nogart, all of which was in ruin - unsurprisingly at this point, as it seemed that the creature had a penchant for destroying everything around it whenever it arrived at its destination.


    A chunk of the mountain itself had been carved away and used to bury one third of Nogart underrge boulders and loose stones, and we had no idea on whether that was on purpose or if it was an ident.


    Either way, we journeyed up the path and walked over the battered, splintered gates that had crashed to the ground so many moons ago, taking our first steps into the capital city of one of our enemies.


    A city that would be rebuilt and reused for the Empire going forwards due to its strategic location and ess to the mineral rich mountains that surrounded it.


    However, it would certainly received a makeover as we looked around at the tantly obvious human architecture; nd,pact buildings built atop one another lined streets that were barely a dozen or so feet across, while narrow alleyways sliced through the pale grey stone that was used to construct the city.


    For some reason, the humans seemed afraid of expanding outwards and growing the size of their city, instead deciding that building upwards was a better idea, so that they could live atop one another and have no free space to themselves.


    At least in the crowded lower quarters of the Capital back in the Empire there were public spaces and market squares dotted all around the quarters.


    Here, there didn''t seem to be much except for a few select locations dedicated to public space, and even those were small.


    Really, they were such an interestingly... boring race.


    Anyways, we entered the city of Nogart and began to march towards the pce, which had a small chunk of it crushed under the rubble of thendslide.


    Adelina ordered her troops to begin sweeping the city for clues inrge squads, which we all felt slightlyfortable doing thanks to theck of unclean mana permeating the air like back in Huran.


    The road was a straight shot to the pce, and we walked over butchered corpses - civilian and soldier - as well as rubble before we reached the opulent pce that contrasted the city below.


    "Well... this city is a tad more destroyed... Huran was still standing at least, while that Emor ce was a mix of destroyed and still standing... This ce though... whew~ The creature went on a rampage here... like a dog that was excited with a new toy..."


    I nodded as I looked around, before hearing Mom chuckle as she added "By the looks of it, that rockslide was idental too; the curvature of the cut looks like a wind de curved upwards and sliced into the rock face. Must''ve been a really~ excited doggy that wanted to y with this ''toy''."


    Nirinia, Anput and I snickered at that, while Leone frowned at us, her more kindhearted nature showing once more as she nced over at the corpses, likely wondering about the pain they felt and thoughts that ran through their minds before they died.


    Kolia, on the other hand, was looking towards the mountain above us to confirm Mom''s theory, her slitted blue eyes narrowed as she squinted up at the rocks.


    "I... think you are indeed correct, Marquess. That would be an odd angle to cut the rock away at, while also being something I doubt a creature would even think about doing. Not when it is as strong as we believe it to be... There''s no reason to rely on a cheap trick like a rockslide to take care of the city... Interesting."


    With that confirmed, we pushed past thevish - yet broken - gates of the pce and took in therge hedges and gardens that had been burnt, cratered, gouged...<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Bodies in all kinds of states were scattered around, their armor and weapons rusting with blood or bent into unusable shapes, while a scarce few Nobles or Officials were mixed in with the soldiers, like they had tried to escape.


    All of the corpses were facing towards the gates, suggesting the contact point this time was inside the pce itself.


    Therge golden doors were broken to pieces across the tiled entryway, while the light from the sun barely shone into the pce, the suns rays blocked by the overhang.


    Leone remedied that problem by creating spheres of bright me that hovered over each of us, anchored to our shoulders and lighting the way.


    "Let''s find the contact point first, before scouring the rest of the pce. I would imagine we would find the most clues there..."


    Kolia led the way into the pce''s depths, and we were greeted with the stench of corpses once more, which was mixed with the metallic tang of blood.


    The halls were seeped in the crimson fluids, like the creature had taken the time to paint the pce with the blood of the humans it had killed...


    That, or the thing was so drenched in blood that it coated the pce when it moved outside, shaking it off before exiting.


    Either way, we were greeted by another massacre inside the throne room, where the King, Queen, and the rest of the Nobility were ughtered mid court session, all wearing shocked expressions, likely not expecting a Gate to appear randomly in the midst of the pce.


    Blood still pooled on the floor from theplete rending of the human bodies, while a suspiciously clean circle of marble tile was situated in the center of the throne room, the white material gleaming a myriad of colors.


    Resting my hand on my great sword, I looked around as we walked in, Kolia and Leone focusing on the contact point while the rest of us protected them.


    "It looks like they all died quickly... I imagine that was a relief for them. No drawn out wounds or kills that looked... inhumanely painful. Other than the burns, of course."


    Mom nodded, her ruby eyes fluttering around the room beforending on Kolia, who was studying the marble tiles.


    "I would say that was a relief, yes... Though, the fear of seeing whatever it was likely traumatized them in their final moments."


    ---


    I have to say lol, sometimes the problems with having arge, ongoing story is that I forget if I''ve named ces or people and all that; like have I given the Capital of the Empire a name? I know the mountain it''s on is Sanctus Ignacia, but did I name the city?


    Anyways, should be reuniting soon..?


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