Tim, his friends, and the group of dragons bounced through the portal, and therefore escaped the nano-universe of Mare Draconum. They were more than relieved, because considering the recent events, they'd rather not fight a dragon ever again!
“That was easier than I expected,” Tim sighed, after they made it to the other side. “Let’s hope that time ticks similarly on both universes, because we can't afford the priest forgetting us. He hasn’t blessed us yet.”
Despite their anxiousness to get back to the pyramidal Church of Ontarum, they otherwise felt content. Timothy was very happy that they escaped that universe without as much as a single battle, he was over the moon! He and his friends made it out in one piece, because the dragons at their disposal had helped them greatly, and the peaceful escape they achieved was what mattered to him the most right now. Iron Claw the Wicked's desperate move to kill off the platoon, failed to kill him and the team.
Almost two hundred people were still in the nano-universe of Mare Draconum though, and they may actually die, but that didn’t matter so much right now, it didn’t matter to him. They were all capable mages, in theory, and perhaps their bottomless ego will help them find their way out of the universe, it might save them, assuming that they aren't dumb enough to start a war with the hundreds of dragons there. Tim didn't care about their well-being whatsoever, and Gustav was just as nonchalant, as he was thoroughly done with the platoon now! He was to hand in his retirement notice as soon as they got back to the city.
Regarding the city, it wasn’t exactly close by. The team had asked the dragons to make a portal that would lead back to that rocky mountain, where Iron Claw was killed, but they were in the middle of a lake here, and the lake was between a lush, green field, not a mountain.
There was a platform made of hard stone in the middle of this two-hundred meter wide lake, and on the platform, there were three different pillars. They only were ten meters tall, and were six meters apart from each other. These pillars had numerous carvings on them as well, so it would appear that they were very much connected to the pillars of the prior universe, so the team couldn’t have teleported anywhere else regardless of how much they wanted to.
With that considered, they were far away from the city of Runimus. From what Arvena could guess, they had to be at least a hundred kilometers away, but at least they weren't lost, because they could just follow the setting sun and end up in the city after a couple of hours.
All things considered, they were very happy about how things turned out for them. Every friend of Timothy's was alive, and they still had the dragons with them, so this was a good day. At one point, they felt so lucky that they started believing that the gods hadn't marked them for death after all, because if they survived that streak of dangerous events, then they could survive anything that the gods threw at them!
Anyway, after they recovered from the shake that the portal had caused them, everyone climbed on top of a dragon, and wanted to hit the sky. Everyone knew what dragon to pick, they've grown accustomed to the dragons they've befriended, apart from Skendus, who just hopped on Georgie's back, and held on to Arvena.
Once he climbed on, Arvena joked. “You’re not gonna caress my breasts too, are you?”
That question was loaded with jokes, and she looked at Ortana as she asked that question, winking at her. The latter didn't react, and climbed on Short Tail the dragonfly's back, to avoid any further awkward conversations.
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As cluelessly as ever, Skendus the great illusionist, then answered the prior question. “Why would I hold on to your breasts? They're the most wobbly parts of a goblin woman’s body, Arvena. I'm not suicidal, I don't want to fall to my death because you're feeling romantical.”
Ortana almost cracked up laughing in response, but she held her composure. The group took off afterwards, and the remaining dragonflies followed suit.
The city of Runimus was a couple of hours away from them, so they were moments away from being blessed by the third, and final church. They put in a lot of work to attain their blessing, but at least it was almost over, and the Mark of Death was moments from being dispelled!
…
The priest of the Church of Ontarum blessed them. The altar-like pyramid within the church shone upon the priest's firm words, which only marked their grand success! Their souls were free, and Falakame, who was one of the goddesses of mana, won't be sending her freakish sons down here on Valporovus any longer, they were not to hunt the team.
“Thank goodness for this. I'd rather not deal with another super yeti again, that stupendous coldness still hasn't left my bones.” Tim thought, though he didn't dare to say that to the priest directly, because he was afraid of getting the group's blessings revoked. “We could've been in the Ruins of Aqumus by now, if we weren't side tracked by all of this shit just to feed the ego of the gods! Oh well, one way or the other, we won't be lacking mana from now on. We'll be fine.”
There were a lot of thoughts going through Timothy's brain, but his demeanor was as goofy as ever. Being free of that curse now, he also wanted to confirm things with the priest, he wanted to make sure that they were not going to be hunted by the gods anymore.
He asked, “How do we smell now, priest? You can ignore our sweaty armpits, but you need to tell us if we smell like death or not, please?”
The priest was stunned by how direct his question was, but he wanted to get these people out of the pyramid, so he told them whatever they wanted to hear. He told the truth, to be fair, and made his explanation as simple as he could.
“You’re free from the Mark of Death, as I said, so no, you don't smell like death.” He nodded.
Afterwards, to get them out of the church, he said. “I suggest you leave now, and perhaps go and take part in the city-wide feast, as we'll be celebrating the death of Iron Claw tonight. They killed him just a few hours ago, as you know, and I hear that they'll bring his skull down from the mountain next month, to mount it in the city center. His wicked ways have finally met an end, he won't be bothering anyone from now on, all thanks to the Guard Master.”
The team just nodded in response, they didn't care to be praised right now, even though it wasn't fair for Guard Master Zedim to take all the credit for the recent covert action. Sure he killed the dragon, but it was the rest of the platoon who had to pay the price of the cruel battle!
There were around two hundred people who were stuck in the nano-universe of Mare Draconum right now, and surely, they'll be angry when they'll hear that the Guard Master took all the credit. Assuming that they escape the universe, they will be very angry!
Anyway, since it was almost dusk now, the team went to the city to have a free meal. They needed their energy for the rest of the journey that they’ve taken upon themselves, and also, they had to meet Gustav there, as he was to join their team. Gustav went to the city to sign his retirement from his duties as a guard, and after claiming a couple of bags of expensive gems for his services, he was to join the team, and head for the Ruins of Aqumus with them!
Anyway, Timothy was the happiest goblin from the bunch, because as soon as they left the church, the system gave him a notification, and flashed a point counter in front of him. This was one of the greatest notifications he could get!
[Congratulations, you completed task number nine, as you got blessed by all of the three churches of your close vicinity. You received 11,000 system points as a reward, and in total, you've accumulated 30,000 system points!] She beeped.
“Woohoo! Risk and reward baby!” He celebrated, inwardly.