Chum rushed around the Lake Encampment as every fighting monster was mobilized - Gang Otters, Peach Rhinos, and Hidden Spiders. By this time, only Otters were still under the lake as the Peach Rhinos and Hidden Spiders were gathering elsewhere.
Having Poe as a runner would have been convenient in the chaos, but he and Tiria had to make do with the children as runners. The Templar had been slowly leaving the Lake a little at a time and Kumo had left with them. All of the Hunters with Stealth were being shuttled one way while those without to another.
The Inquisitors and Healers mostly waited by Gi and they weren't the only ones. A spike of anger drilled itself into Chum's heart at the sight of the cold woman who stood so casually in their base that she'd attacked not long ago. Her own Elites were off with the Peach Rhinos and the Hidden Spiders, but she herself stood shoulder to shoulder with their Progenitor.
The Troll attack had been relatively easily beat back with Poe's help, but the disrespect of attacking during the funeral of their fallen clanmates wasn't so easily put aside. Chum wasn't the only one sending angry looks towards her either. The Hunters had to actually be moved as they tended to take after Kumo's own aggressive nature and they all seemed ready to scrap at the sight of her.
Chum's anger was easily suppressed though as he wasn't the type of monster to hold onto ill feelings. He focused on the chaos of organizing an army and eventually, the chaos dispersed leaving only order. The Hunters had all been relocated, and only the Inquisitors and Healers remained.
Chum joined the Progenitor, Tiria, and the twins at the front of the army though even as a Classer, he didn't feel that he measured up. Thinking back to the battle with the Brain Goblins, Chum didn't think that he'd have had as much impact as Tiria or any of the other Elites.
"Thanks for your hard work," Tiria said, resting an arm across his shoulders. Her eyes seemed tired and the stress that normally seemed to hang about her face only seemed more intense on the day of the battle.
"For you anything," Chum said, not realizing how romantic that sounded until the words had left his mouth. She didn't seem to notice though. She never did. He'd give anything for her to see him the way that Samba saw Tala, but he supposed it wasn't to be. The only thing that he could do was lighten her burdens.
The twins' stepped up next to him, interrupting his thoughts. "Did you... get someone to watch Killer?"
Chum smiled at the pair. Their strange back and forth made them seem creepy to many of the newly spawned, but to him, they just seemed pure. "I personally brought three Whisper Goblins to keep him company."
The two of them nodded in unison. "You're a good... monster."
Elizabeth's cold drone cut over their conversation, though it was directed at Gi. "Your little army is assembled. Are we going to be on our way now?"
Chum wasn't the kind of monster to speak up, but he did glare at her so she'd definitely know that she was out of line. Well if she looked at him at least. He glared harder just in case.
"Yes, let's move," Gi said, seemingly unconcerned with her demeanor. "Tiria, will you do the honors?"
Slipping her arm from around Chum's shoulders, Tiria stepped up to the gathered group of Inquisitors and Healers. "Most of the clan is already moving to their assigned locations so I won't bother with an emotional speech. Just remember that today is the day we defeat a Sky Clan and take their place at the top of the hierarchy."
There was a small cheer, but most of these Otters had spawned a week ago and handn't fully come into the clan themselves. They were confused and would be battling with what little remnants of the First One's Will that they had in them. Chum remembered when he'd first ascended after the Dungeon. That had been an intense time for him as well.
"Everyone follow me!" Tiria shouted and despite her simple words, Chum found her bearing regal and welcoming. It was much better than Gi's frankly terrifying demeanor. The Progenitor had a scowl that could make a Child wet themselves.
Tiria dove into the barrier that separated the Lake Encampment from the rest of the lake and then started to swim up towards the east side. Their group would only come out of the lake at its furthest side, shortening their walk across the Barrens.
It wasn't expected for them to have a long battle, but Rocky had managed to outfit everyone with waterskins and rations just in case. The few wild remnants of the Dragon Pike clan didn't want anything to do with the over two hundred and fifty monsters swimming through their waters and gave them a wide berth. The lake itself was turbulent even though the Otters could naturally glide through the water as there were just so many of them.
They popped up out of the lake, naturally forming rough ranks as they marched out into the Barrens. The cracked earth and the blazing sun overhead beat down on them, but all of the older monsters had spent time out in the Barrens leveling. The current heat was manageable.
Most of the monsters of the barrens found other places to be at the sudden movement of so many monsters, but the occasional suicidal one was blasted into pieces by the various Inquisitors that followed them.
"Let's speed up!," Gi yelled out. The Spiked Eagle's main base wasn't very far into the Barrens, but they didn't want to give them too much time to prepare. The group kicked into a loping run and it was only a few more minutes until they saw the mountain off in the distance. A few shadows of Spiked Eagles were visible between its tip and the sky-ocean and Chum watched as they disappeared back into the mountain itself.
"Spread out!" Gi yelled and the group broke apart as Chum himself had instructed them earlier that day. They wanted to limit the impact of the Spiked Eagles' dives if they managed to get that far. The group continued running forward as more and more Spiked Eagles started to pour out of the mountain.
When a matching army about the size of their own had come out, Gi held up his hand. "HOLD!" He commanded, but Tiria, Gi, the twins, and Elizabeth continued forward.
As Chum was now the sole commander of the Inquisitors and Healers, he looked back nervously. "Spread further!" The twins had given them detailed information on how far apart they needed to be, but Chum would rather err on the side of caution. The clan moved to spread and Chum faced back forwards, his eyes locked on Gi.
The Progenitor took a final two steps and then was flanked instantly by three golden otters on either side. Peaking out of his black Demon Steel Robe, Chum could still see his injuries from his final Dungeon battle. If they bothered him, he showed no sign of it.
Instead, Gi held his good palm up to the sky and his summons all moved in a mirror, each charging up Aether inside of them. The twins, who could see Aether with their [Omniscience] Domain actually placed a hand over their eyes as they watched the Boss charge up.
"Loose!" Gi yelled out, more for those watching than any need to verbally communicate with his summons. Seven huge globes of light burst out from their lined up palms and flew into the air like an array of terrifying mini-suns. With raucous shrieks, most of the Eagles flew out of the path of destruction that Gi had wrought, but not all of them were able to in the packed skies. When each of them finally struck, they exploded with the force of a dozen of the Inquisitor's [Divine Blast]s.
Shrapnel made of light burst like fireworks in the sky and it was Chum's turn to cover his eyes as the light cut through swathes of the Adolescent Spiked Eagles who'd foolishly come out to challenge Gi himself. That one attack had probably cut their gathered numbers by a tenth, but more and more Eagles were pouring out of the mountain.
Many of them that had dodged began to initiate a dive towards the their attacker, but the twins didn't let them. A long stream of light moved almost instantaneously across the battlefield striking down any of diving enemies before they could gain any momentum. Their upgraded [Piercing Light] couldn't fire in a burst like most of the Inquisitors, but what it lacked in multitude, it made up for with vastly increased range and damage.
Where Gi had to shoot of the equivalent of alchemical bombs, the twins stood shoulder to shoulder, arms completely lined up as they fired off blazing fast needles of light. Every shot caused one of the approaching Eagles to fall from the sky.
Unfortunately, the Eagles weren't stupid.
Many of them hovered outside of the range of Gi's attacks or dove low towards the ground to approach from a more extreme angle. The Eagles that did continue forward were struck down as the Inquisitors finally got to join in the fight, but more and more Eagles poured out of the top of the mountain and Chum kept his eyes on them.
"Come on," he said under his breath, his words lost in the sound of Eagles' screams of battle and death. The crashes of Eagles against the cracked ground of the Barrens mixed with the shouts and sounds of light blasting from the army at their back.
Chum knew from the Brain Goblins attack that a battle was far from silent, but even now the cacophony tried to pull his attention in a dozen different directions. He watched the incoming Eagles, none of them managing to finish their approach yet, but they were starting to gather for a more concerted push.
That organization had to mean...
"THERE!" Chum shouted, thrusting his finger towards the sky. Gi glanced back at him and followed his line.
"I see them," he said. A group of nearly fifty Spiked Eagles had emerged from the top of the mountain. All of these were larger than those that were dying to their barrage from below and they moved with a coordination that spoke of experience.
The Elites.
"Poe," Gi said and the Dragonfly swooped in from somewhere that Chum hadn't even noticed. "Send the signal."
****
Elsewhere while Gi's army approached the main base of the Spiked Eagles, Georgia led a group of mixed monsters. Most were her Classers and the Hidden Spiders, but they had a couple dozen Gang Otter Hunters to fill out their numbers. They'd crossed the length of the Bazaar and taken a side path that landed them near Elizabeth's Encampment.
A group of drowned looking humans waited for them and Georgia assumed these were Elizabeth's Elites as well as a few Adolescents based on what her eye skill [Pierce the Veil] told her. They weren't strong enough to worry Georgia, but they were stronger than she'd been led to believe.
"Are you ready?" Georgia asked.
A dwarf who appeared to be their leader nodded. "We've got the path mostly constructed and can finish it on the way."
"Wasn't it supposed to be done already?" Georgia snapped. She wasn't really annoyed with them, though she'd always hated Elizabeth. What mercenary didn't hate their competition after all? No, she was more worried about Poe. He'd be at the far more dangerous part of the battle and that filled her with unease.
The dwarf just rolled his eyes as though she was the stupidest monster he'd ever met. While she wasn't the brightest and she knew that, she decided she hated this dwarf from that moment onward. "Unless you wanted to expose our attack, it seemed prudent to wait to finish until we were all in position."
He made a good point. Damn. She hated when that happened. "All right then," she said, refusing to acknowledge his correctness. "Let's move."
Now joined up, they ran to the far edge of their manor where an ice bridge had been constructed. The Hidden Spiders started first moving above the bridge and spinning out handholds from their silk. The Hidden Spider Progenitor watched her clan work and placed one of her legs on Georgia's back.
Danna will watch over us.
Georgia snorted. She didn't know much about this god Danna, but Poe seemed to respect her. Maybe because she was a little slow herself, she was hesitant to just dive headfirst into a belief like these Hidden Spiders had.
"You watch my back and we'll be fine."
Georgia, not willing to let her clan take the risk, stepped out onto the ice first, grabbing at the silk rope that hung down for her to grip. The bridge was slippery, but thankfully, it held her weight. She and the rest of her army moved around the mountain for almost a quarter of a mile before they reached the almost perfectly circular hole that was embedded in the side of the mountain. Poe had sketched it out for her so she knew this was it.
The dwarf and his ilk had extended the bridge right up to the entrance and Georgia was still in the process of moving over when a Spiked Eagle stuck its head out and looked down at the ice below it. Its head cocked quizzically upon seeing it and Georgia's breath caught in her chest.
She couldn't afford to let any of them escape. If she did, Poe would be in even greater danger.
She kicked off, destroying the ice bridge beneath her and smashed her meaty forearm across the Spiked Eagles neck and slamming it back into the mountain. Its neck crumbled beneath the weight of her bulk and the head plinked down the mountain side as its body slumped to the floor.
"You crazy asshole," the dwarf whispered loudly from further down the mountain than where the bridge was supposed to be. He was making his way back up using ice as a handhold while others of Elizabeth's mercenary crew fixed the damage that she'd done to the bridge.
Since she could already hear more Spiked Eagles starting to stir, she ignored him and motioned for the rest of her Classers and Otters to pile in. The Otters, being smaller, kicked over the broken section of bridge and piled in beside her and peered into the darkness from where the sounds of the Eagles were coming from.
One of them pulled a torch from their [Expanded Pocket] but waited to light it. Another Eagle appeared just as the last of their monsters climbed into the tunnel, but Georgia had her warhammer out now and it was child's play to tear the Eagle apart.
The noise of a second Eagle's death must have been too much for those inside to ignore as the sound of flapping stone wings echoed through the tunnel. Georgia turned back to the Hidden Spider Progenitor.
"Close it up."