From one of the distant altars, another participant seemed to have been able to destroy it, as the same scream resounded once again. Although Alex expected a strong retaliation, it seemed he had overestimated the ritual. After all, Alex had broken most of its conductors before arriving here, and now he realized that wherever the other groups entered, it was highly likely that they also broke their conductors.
"These altars must be their last lifeline," thought Alex.
"What do we do next, sir?" asked Kragash.
"It seems there's no one in that direction. The orcs almost completely eliminated the Harpies, yet they didn't take care of the altar in their part. It's up to us to deal with that. Afterward, we'll see if the other groups do their part," responded Alex.
"I understand, sir," replied Kragash, rushing to inform the army of the new orders.
"Atenea, do you have any idea what's happening, where the other groups came from, and what the hell is in that circle that everyone wants so desperately?" asked Alex.
"I don't know. There's an extremely high density of energy at the center. Whatever it is, it's undoubtedly valuable. Furthermore, the other groups are all severely injured. I don't know where they came from, but their challenges must have been much more difficult, as they have many more Elite troops than we do, and yet they seem to have barely made it," responded Atenea.
"That explains why the orc leader didn't use his internal energy. He kept fighting solely with his physical strength," Alex remarked.
New waves of Void minions kept coming, but this time they were fewer and weaker, so reaching the next altar wasn't as difficult.
"Torel, are you ready for another assault?" Alex asked.
"Yes, I can still go on. Let's use the same tactic," Torel responded.
Approaching the altar again, another Ursino emerged from it. Alex noticed that this one looked different, larger, but it didn't seem stronger.
Torel approached the fight in the same way as before, so there were no major issues. Alex kept an eye on the other groups to prevent them from ambushing them while providing support to Torel with his archers. The fight didn't hold any surprises and followed almost like a script from the previous fight.
Alex paid close attention to the other groups. Their condition was much more pathetic than what Atenea had described. At this point, they were indeed like rag dolls, fighting hard for their survival. It seemed that even a strong gust of wind could knock them down, yet they all fiercely competed to quickly finish off the altars possible and obtain the objects from them.
"There are many valuable things here; it's worth hurrying," Alex thought to himself.
"Torel, change of plans. Let's hasten the march," Alex ordered, splitting his group and sending Atenea with half of the soldiers to clear another altar.
If what Atenea had said was true, the artifacts from the altars were valuable to their cause. Therefore, having more couldn't hurt. However, Alex must not lose sight of what was in the center, as that was the ultimate prize.
"Aren't we being a bit greedy, sir?" asked a nervous Kragash.
"We're taking a risk, but I don't think the others pose a significant risk to us. At most, we might have to retreat and leave behind the artifacts. I'm not so concerned about that as I am about quickly ending this ritual. That vortex in the center still makes my skin crawl," Alex said, aiming another arrow at the Ursino's eye.
"Ugh, now that you mention it, I almost forgot about that creature. It would be horrible if another one really emerged," Kragash replied, aiming his arrow at the other eye.
Although there was much tension, and at times it seemed that the other groups would make a move against Alex's separated group, nobody did. The reason for this was that during the assault on one of the altars, one of the groups failed and was completely eliminated by an Ursino.
The elimination of a group by an Ursino had everyone present on edge. Alex had managed to decipher the constant source of tension in the air and why everyone else was watching each other closely, even though they were in a clearly hostile environment.
There was no way out, or rather, the only way out was to completely demolish the altars. However, there was a problem with that. Although Alex didn't know how valuable the objects in the altars were, they were evidently valuable enough to incite the greed necessary to stab your allies in the back. No group would trust their back to another in these situations.
Alex himself faced a dilemma. Truth be told, he hadn't come here to loot the temple; he simply wanted to make sure a great evil was eliminated before it affected his comrades. However, that didn't mean that if he could acquire something valuable, he wouldn't. The problem arose in having to fight against a third neutral party. There was a part of his conscience that still wanted to cling to his humanity, to that humanity he had back on Earth. However, most of him knew what he had to do.
Alex's group was able to defeat the two Ursinos without any trouble. The only inconvenience might be that Atenea was using up her magical reserves, and these weren't as quickly replenished. However, Torel was still at full capacity.
"What do you want to do with the other groups, Alex?" Torel asked as he handed the altar relics to Alex.
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"I don't know," Alex muttered.
"Alex, you know very well what needs to be done. There's no point in delaying the matter," Atenea responded.
Alex tried to rationalize the issue, or rather, he was over-rationalizing it. "Isn't there any way we can all get out of this alive? Maybe then the other groups will have goodwill toward us," Alex said, though he honestly didn't even believe what he had just said.
"No one will take the Gnoll's side, sir. If it came to that, I'm sure the others would seek external help before coming to our doors claiming what we 'stole' from them. If we were the weak party, I know they wouldn't hesitate for a moment to massacre us," Kragash replied.
"I know," Alex replied.
"Showing mercy to enemies is the same as being cruel to your own people," Torel said.
"Being cruel to your own people," Alex repeated, his gaze unfocused.
The human was briefly lost in his thoughts until his vision finally focused on the other groups.
"Torel will take the vanguard, and Atenea will support from the beginning. We'll fight with everything we have," Alex ordered, then turned to face his troops. "We'll fight with everything we have. I don't want you to underestimate any enemy, and if any of you bastards die, I swear I'll revive you to kill you myself. We'll return home together, and I won't accept any failure."
The troops cheered Alex's name and turned around to form up against the remaining groups.
Currently, there were only two functioning altars left, and the spell seemed to have collapsed. It was deteriorating slowly without the possibility of defending itself, but that didn't make Alex relax. He intended to finish this matter as quickly as possible, which meant eliminating the other groups. He wasn't willing to risk the lives of anyone who followed him, so he had decided to go all out from the beginning.
The other groups felt the imposing figures of Torel and Atenea looming over them. In other circumstances, they might have joined forces to confront this common threat. However, in their arrival at this place, they had faced so many adversaries, so many internal and external betrayals that no one could trust each other anymore.
Torel began firing powerful arrows at the leader of the enemy party, who could barely defend themselves, leaving the rest of their troops exposed to the attacks of Alex's soldiers. There wasn't much suspense in the battle, as Alex's group used their vast reserves of arrows to besiege their enemies and reduce their numbers until they were more manageable, then proceeded to fight hand-to-hand.
With this tactic, one by one, the other groups fell, and slowly but surely, Alex cleaned up the battlefield. And although occasionally a group would attempt a surprise attack while Alex was fighting someone else, they could never truly surprise Alex's group.
Having Torel and Atenea felt like cheating in the fight. Alex was sure that if he had to fight alone with his army, they would be at the bottom of the totem pole. However, despite being the weakest nominally, they had managed to make it here with most of their forces intact.
Many things had worked in Alex's favor. For once, he didn't have to sacrifice everything he had to advance.
"These are the elves you were looking for, Torel?" Alex asked.
Torel looked at the troops in front of him and nodded.
"They're wearing auxiliary uniforms, and their weapons and accessories are legitimate ones used in the army. I need to know more about them and why they're here," Torel responded.
"Alright, soldiers, we'll try to capture as many elves as possible. Be careful not to kill if possible," Alex said.
They would take the elves they captured back to the surface for interrogation and search among their possessions for more information about them, how they had arrived, and why they were here.
The elven soldiers were tired and beaten down. Many of their numbers had already fallen, and it was evident that their hierarchy was broken as there seemed to be no one who could put order among their ranks. However, what caught the attention of those present the most were two things.
Firstly, the elves present showed the most animosity against the other groups, trying throughout to interfere with them. Furthermore, the most concerning thing was that from Alex's perspective, the elves seemed to be protecting the altars, which made him suspect that maybe they were the ones who had started all this circus or had taken advantage of it to summon the Void creatures.
Whatever the situation, these were the last things preventing them from finally putting an end to the damned Void ritual. Alex had had enough of all these damned Void cultists, and he just hoped to return soon with the rest of the Gnolls. He had enough with the war against the orcs to have to face the Void cultists.
Before starting the fight with the elves, Torel tried to communicate with them to see if it was possible to get any of them to surrender or obtain some kind of information. However, from the beginning, the attempt proved futile. There was no way to communicate with them as they seemed to have lost the ability to reason for themselves.
With no way to communicate, Alex decided to resolve the matter decisively. He shot an arrow at each individual's legs, and then the soldiers moved to capture the fallen soldiers. It was a simple plan that, although lacking elegance, was very effective. The soldiers had no way to defend themselves against this technique, and the few who remained were taken prisoners just like that.
"Damn, these soldiers seem completely corrupted. I doubt we can get anything out of them," Torel complained.
"It's not all lost. Maybe Atasha or Atarra can help us. Furthermore, many possessions have been found; perhaps there's something that can help us find what you're looking for, some letter or something," Alex tried to console his companion.
"I just hope we can get something out of this fiasco," Torel replied.
"Well, we'll definitely get something. After all, I'm sure the Lightning Protector will be more than happy to reward Alex for his service. When it's known what was found, it will cause quite a stir among the high command," Atenea said.
"At least you won't leave empty-handed," Torel said dryly.
"Don't worry; there are many things to check. Surely we'll find something," Alex assured him.
"Bah, anyway, there are still a couple of altars to take care of. Let's finish this quickly," Torel declared.
"Alright, you'll take care of both of them. We'll take it slow without using Atenea's magic. We still don't know what awaits us at the end. I want to be a bit cautious," Alex informed them.
Although Torel was eager to mock the boy for being overly cautious, he wasn't in the mood. He really hoped to learn something about the society behind his husband's death. Torel could joke about everything else, but not his husband, never his beloved.
"Come on, Ursino, it's your turn to dance with me!" exclaimed Torel.
The Ursino defending the altar snorted as if understanding Torel's words. Perhaps it did, but it didn't matter because it charged wildly at the elf.
Torel was still saving his energy, not using his double duality techniques. However, he didn't need them to defeat the Ursino. Using his energy to cover his sword with wind power, it began to generate several wind blades to cut the Ursino's joints. Although this being was linked to the power of the Void in the altars, its body still functioned as it did when it was alive, so the progressive damage to its joints quickly deteriorated it so much that it couldn't keep up with the battle.
Torel didn't play with his prey because he wasn't in the mood. So when the Ursino finally fell to its knees, the elf severed its head with a clean cut.
"Let's continue," was all he said, looking at the next altar. He didn't even bother to destroy it, leaving it to Alex to finish the task and claim the relics. Torel didn't need any of this; he just wanted answers and a culprit.