Livy rushed to the side, dodging a few of the Cinder Hound attacks. Her target was the row of Forge Magmas, metallic constructs that had lava inside them. They looked like robotic furnaces, with the mouth being the opening where fuel would be shoveled into, a set of four thin, spider-like legs, and a pair of more robust arms. Of the eight monsters in front of her, the four on the ends of the line opened their mouths and started splitting our fire. However, they weren't aiming at anyone in particular, but just in front of them.
The Leviathan stepped away from the side of the tunnel, rushing head-on toward the monsters. The remaining four Forge Magmas started to open and close their mouths. At first, nothing was happening, but as Livy got closer, she realized that they were all working together to create a large ball of magma behind them. Before she could reach them, the monsters sent their attack. A large, rolling ball of molten rock was tossed forward, dragging even one of the Forge Magma's along. Livy halted her advance and spun her axe. She wasn't going to use the blade but the side of the weapon. With a mighty swing, she hit the magma ball that was almost as big as her, like it was a gigantic baseball.
If this was done by anyone else, they would likely fail the attempt, but the Leviathan was not only the strongest member of the team but also one of the two water specialists. That allowed her to push the magma ball back instead of breaking it apart or just failing completely. Her blow sent the flaming boulder flying back, slamming against three of the Fore Magmas and leaving the remaining four on the edges open for an attack.
Livy didn't waste time and stepped forward, spinning with her war axe to cut the monsters in half. Most of the damage was thanks to the high-pressure water that was coming from the blades of her weapon. Just as she finished the Forge Magmas, a pack of cinder hounds appeared to attack her. They behaved like wolves, spinning around the Sea Serpent and snapping their jaws at her. It seemed like they were trying to force her to move in a specific direction, but Livy didn't care about that. With a roar, she triggered the [Draconic Eruption] skill, creating a large wave that crashed down on the monsters, stopping them in their tracks. She lunged at them, wielding her war axe with a single hand while using the other one to grab the monsters and slam them against each other.
A group of Gloom Bats appeared and swarmed the Leviathan, hindering her vision. At the same time, the remaining Cinder Hounds retreated. Livy used her breath attack and another [Draconic Eruption] to try to get rid of the monsters, but the bats were able to dodge the attacks. Widen by the cloud of monsters, two dark shapes, almost as big as Livy herself approached. They burst through the shadows, trying to grab the Sea Serpent. Bipedal monsters made of pure soot and grime, with a single large eye in the center of their head and no mouth or nose to be seen. Those were the Soot Golem, lumbering giants that were the sturdiest enemies in the room, aside from the Forge Lord itself. Thankfully, it was also very easy to avoid being hit by them. Their bodies were too soft to properly crush anyone, and their movements too slow. Anyone could hear them coming from a mile away, and since the other monsters seemed to avoid them, one would never have to worry about being cornered. Yet, all that changed in a rampage.
The two creatures managed to grab Livy. One latched onto her free arm and the other to her legs. Even with all her strength, the two monsters were too much for her. She tried to push them away but to no avail. And that wasn't the only problem. The hounds, bats, and now even a few Cloud Serpents, flying snakes made out of the dark plume created by the volcano rushed at her. Not wanting to get hit without being able to fight back, the Leviathan returned to her weapon form. Being a court member meant that her body, her true body, was the war axe, not the bipedal form that was currently trapped. As an axe, she spun around a couple of times, using her breath skill, the [Leviathan's Torrent], while spinning like a record player as the water came from both dragon heads, one on each blade of her form.
Some of the hounds, bats, and snakes were killed by the blow, but the two soot monsters still remained, along with a horde of the smaller creatures, including hundreds of Magma Spiders.
'Livy, get back here!' Hera called in the Leviathan's mind.
With a nod, she changed shapes one more time. Now becoming the pale blue Sea Serpent with accents of pastel pink. She moved around the tunnel, hitting as many monsters as she could while activating the [Seal of Draconic Vortex] to pull all the creatures closer as she dashed back to the main cave. It seemed like the change disrupted the creations, which started trying to catch the Leviathan to no avail. When Livy finally left the tunnel, almost all the monsters she passed by were chasing her. With a smile, she returned to her bipedal form with a jump. In the air, she prepared the strongest [Draconic Eruption], creating a wave large enough to cover the entire tunnel. What really made this word was the couple of Smoke Weavers that were caught off guard. The large tortoises were close enough to the ground to hit the legs of the Soot Golem, causing it to topple. With such a large creature being dragged by the water, the rest couldn't do anything except be dragged along.
"I'm sorry. The monsters are acting weird. We need to stay close," the Empress replied.
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"What do you mean?" Livy asked.
Hera blinked and tossed a few poison needles at the last monsters coming from the tunnel Livy came from. They had managed to clear this area, and it seemed like they would have a small break.
"Don't you remember what we talked about yesterday? About the monsters we would fight?"
"Remember that most of them are weak to water and stuff," Livy scratched her cheek.
Hera let out a sigh, "OK. I'm sorry for having to do this. Livy, I order you to know everything we discussed about the monsters in this rampage."
The Leviathan was forced to close her eyes as the information rushed inside her mind. It wasn't a pleasant feeling, but at least it only took a few seconds.
"Ugh, this is not fun," Livy groaned.
"I know. I'm sorry," Hera replied, "but do you understand now?"
"Yeah… Cinder Hounds don't retreat. Never… And the Magma Forges don't work together. They are supposed to fight each other when they see another one of their kind. Gloom Bats and Magma Spiders are deadly enemies and should fight when they see one another. Is that information right when there isn't a rampage going on?" the Leviathan had a confused expression.
"No. This was all based on the last rampage," Skyler got closer to Hera, realizing the conversation they were about to have, "We don't understand why things are happening like that either. It doesn't make any sense."
"Is it just here? Maybe this entrance has something special about it," Viper suggested.
Vash, who just finished a call with the command center, approached, "No. There are a couple of other areas that are seeing that kind of thing. But not everywhere."
"Are they connected in any way? Each area, I mean," Lurize asked.
"Not as far as anyone can tell, but they are not 100% sure about it. Those who are waiting for their shifts in the Core Spire are looking over records to see if they find a connection," the harpy turned to Hera, "They also asked how far your spell is from being used. According to Vazor, this is the only plan that wouldn't have any drawbacks. Anything else they try to do will come at a cost.
Hera closed her eyes to sense her snakes. With the exception of a single one, all others had finished their jobs and were now hiding. They would stay there to help guide the mana when Hera triggered the spell. Only then could they be dismissed. However, the last order the Ophidianite gave them was to hide if a monster was getting close, and that seemed to be happening a lot. Almost as if the monsters were looking for something.
"I still need maybe half an hour. I think. If the monsters stop trying to get the snakes. It could be faster."
"OK," Vash sent a message, "If that is too long to wait, they will let us know whatever else they will do."
"And we have more monsters coming!" Skyler called.
Another wave of creatures appeared, but it soon became apparent that something was different. The creatures came rushing in, seaming against each other, fighting amongst themselves before even reaching the main cave. This time, the patterns that were shared with them seemed to be correct. If two monsters were supposed to fight each other, they did. If a species refused to run away or would be scared when faced with a specific effect, they would. This only made things even more confusing.
Time kept passing, and monsters continued to come, but now they continued to act like wild creatures, fighting as if they were part of a stampede. Vash warned the command center about the change, and they replied that the city below seemed to be under siege. A proper siege, not just a random attack of monsters. Some of the Forge Magmas were even working as blacksmiths, making crude tools and weapons for some of the monsters. Nothing too advanced or even useful, but the action itself was already worrying.
Hera was a bit worried, and she told the snake that was still hiding from the monster to make a break for it. There was a moment of tension when the Empress worried about what could happen, but this was the only thing she could do to help the city down below. Thankfully, the monsters seemed to have stopped caring about the snake and allowed it to reach its location.
The Empress quickly called Vazor, letting him know she was ready to cast the spell. The dwarf didn't wait and just told her to go for it. With a nod, Hera turned off the call and moved to the spot where she would have to cast the spell.
"Don't let any monster get me," she told her court, but the rest of the team was also going to help.
Focusing on the spell circle around her, she started spreading her mana, but even after emptying her reserves, she was barely able to cover this floor. Understanding that if she was to wait around to recover mana before continua, the spell would take days to finish, the Empress tried something else. She had made one more change in the spell circle aside from the size. To stop the need for a constant flow of mana, it had a way to gather the environmental mana. This should only work to maintain the spell as it was already working, but maybe Hera could attract the mana. She had a skill for it, and her title made Mana more 'interested' in her.
Trying to open that specific connection first, the Ophidianite started to sweat. Even if this wasn't a physical exercise, the amount of concentration required to do something like that was staggering. Without even realizing it, the seconds of casting became minutes, and I kept going. Little by little, she was able to focus on a specific part of the spell and call the environmental mana to fill it. The more areas of the spell she completed, the easier it became to fill the next one. After around 90 minutes, the spell was ready, and Hera triggered it.
All across the room, covering the entire length of the spire and the city below, wisps of green, purple, and orange started to appear, sapping the power of the monsters and giving it back to the people. Hera felt a rush of energy surging into her body at the same time that the monsters around them suddenly started to mess up. They fail to complete movements or accidentally trip and cause problems for other creatures.
The Pool of Styx was in effect, and the tide of the rampage was about to change.