But Sinclair soldiers made short work of any goblin that crossed their path. They weren’t really a treat, even with several hobgoblins among them. But Melina did notice that every goblin that attacked evolved in some manner. Either as an advanced fighter, shaman, or specialized archer.
"They're getting stronger…" Melina noted quietly to Alistair.
"Yes, they are. We're managing for now, but if this pace keeps up…" He said with a frown.
He didn't need to finish the thought for Melina to understand. Yet another problem on their already full plate. But it was something to worry about another day. On this day, they had to deal with the enemy in front of them. Or behind them, to be precise.
It didn't slip Melina's notice that the System users didn't rush to fight the goblins; instead, they allowed Sinclair soldiers to take charge. Only if the goblin deliberately targeted somebody from the Church did they react. They were trying to conserve strength.
They were lucky that nothing more than goblins attacked them, but they hadn't even reached the Monster Realm yet. What would happen if they encountered a more powerful monster? Was Heiliger trying to wear them down, or even worse, take them out by using monsters?
It was a good thing that Sinclair soldiers were powered up by Melina's pastries, not to mention that they each had a healing waffle on hand. One bite and they could heal any minor or even medium injuries. Melina would make sure that nobody suffered any serious injuries, although it was impossible to know what they would encounter in the Monster Realm.
After what felt far too long, the whole expedition reached the passageway. There wasn't enough space for everyone in the clearing, so it was used mainly for the wagons, while Sinclair soldiers formed a perimeter around Melina and Alistair. System users, meanwhile, surrounded the priests and Heiliger, eyeing their surroundings suspiciously.
"Everyone, we have reached the passageway to the Monster Realm. Do not be alarmed that you don't see it, but also take care not to accidentally wander inside," Heiliger addressed everyone. "Our goal is to survey the area around the passageway, note any useful resources, determine the danger level, and return in one piece."
"That being said, your safety is not guaranteed. The Monster Realm is a dangerous place, so do not wander away from the group. You are unlikely to survive on your own. I hope that we are able to return before the Monster Realm night takes over, but it is impossible to predict when we'll be able to come back. It might take a few days, or it might take several weeks. You must be ready for anything."
Melina didn't like how the Bishop worded it. It was as if she were saying that if anything bad happened to someone, it was their own fault. Basically, washing herself clean of any responsibility. But it wasn't like Melina could loudly object to that. The best she could do was keep herself, Alistair, and the Sinclair soldiers safe from both the monsters and System users alike.
After some more instructions from Heiliger, preparations and short discussions of how to best proceed through the narrow passageway, they were set. Just as before, Sinclair soldiers would take the front, proceeding in rows of four with Melina and Alistair in the middle. The Church would follow a similar pattern with priests and supply wagons in the middle.
"Do not stray from the path. Just march straight ahead and you'll get through the passageway without any issues. Be ready for anything once you emerge from the other side," Alistair commanded his soldiers.
"Do not attack the passageway guardian. He will not attack unless you do so first," Melina added.
A few confused glances came her way, and Sinclair soldiers looked at Alistair, as if to ask for confirmation.
"You heard her. Do not attack the passageway guardian," Alistair said sternly.
One soldier stepped forward and saluted. "Sir, what does the guardian look like?"
"It's a large bug-like creature. Similar to a mantis," he explained.
"Understood," the soldier saluted once again and returned to his place.
While their faces remained mostly unreadable, thanks to their helmets and immaculate discipline, Melina knew that they were doubting her words. System users didn't bother to hide their disgust and looked at Heiliger. Except instead of looking for confirmation, their expression looked more like they were asking, "Will you really let this pipsqueak boss us around?"
"If the monster doesn't initiate the attack, then leave it be. We cannot fight every vermin we find. Our goal is to learn as much as possible about the area as quickly as possible. Don't get distracted," Heiliger said.
Melina resisted showing a frown. Passageway guardian most definitely wasn't a vermin. The Church should know that they were there to stop anyone from messing with the passageway. They maintained it and eliminated problems that could arise from magical fluctuations. Although some problems were beyond even them.
With that established, they finally headed into the Monster Realm. The relatively short walk through the misty passageway felt unnecessarily long due to how slow they were moving. Even Knight sputtered impatiently, wishing to move things along.
But eventually they emerged on the other side, in the swayshrub and rockpine forest that Melina had already grown used to seeing. The passageway guardian was visible, napping by the nearby rockpines.
It didn't react much when Melina, Alistair, and Sinclair soldiers got through, merely moving its antenna curiously. However, when the Church got through it quickly disappeared from sight somewhere in the shadows. Was it afraid or merely didn't want to be seen?
Melina hoped that it was merely unnerved by the large number of people coming through, but something told her it wasn't so simple. Something about the Church had scared it. Perhaps it was for the best that it stayed out of sight. Wouldn't give anyone any ideas to start trouble?
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"Alright, everyone. We'll begin our exploration by going through this forest of rockpines. Priests will be working on charting a map while we go. We will be moving slowly so they can do it properly, and also for the sake of the carts. Lord Sinclair, I'll leave it to your soldiers to keep us safe," Heiliger said.
Once again, she was making Sinclair soldiers do most of the fighting. Melina wanted to object, to call out the unfairness of it, but Alistair soothed her, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry, they can handle it," he said firmly but quietly.
Melina still didn't like it. She didn't like this whole expedition, obviously, but something should be done to make the odds more even.
"Perhaps we should demand to rotate the soldiers rotate, so not everyone is in the front. It would take a load of your soldiers, and keep Heiliger on her toes," Melina whispered to Alistair.
He thought about it for a moment, then nodded.
"Bishop Heiliger. I suggest we rotate our forces every two hours or so. That way we can spread the load evenly and also prevent fatigue from remaining in the same position for too long," Alistair said, turning towards Heiliger.
If she was displeased by this suggestion, then she didn't let it show on her face. "Of course. We can't expect trained soldiers to endure the frontline for too long. Everyone needs some rest. But since we have the precious supply wagons and scholars who cannot fight, the rear guard should have a larger number of battle-able people. I suggest we keep thirty of your soldiers in the front at all times and twenty in the back, while twenty of ours rotate the front position."
Heiliger was probably trying to keep the majority of the System users with her at all times. This only made Melina more suspicious of what she was trying to do. Was she just trying to lead them deeper into the Monster Realm and then just get rid of them? Or was it related to the supposed item they wanted to retrieve? One thing was clear. Melina had to remain vigilant.
"Very well," Alistair agreed. As much as they wanted to object, her reasoning was sound.
The soldiers were swiftly switched around, and they began their slow march through the Monster Realm. Melina kept her eyes wide open, watching both the front and the back, whenever she dared to steal a glance. She couldn't openly stare at the back due to Heiliger, but once in a while glance could be forgiven.
Each time she did glance back, Heiliger would look at her, sometimes even smiling pleasantly when their eyes met. Whenever this happened, Melina had to force herself to look back. She really didn't want to be anywhere near this woman.
They passed through the rock pine forest without many issues, albeit the pace was truly excruciating. It was very difficult to navigate with a cart due to the many verdant grasp roots on the ground. It was a good thing that it wasn't nighttime; otherwise, these pesky plants would have grabbed many members of the expedition just like they had grabbed Melina.
Once they were through, they continued farther in, noting any useful resources and monsters in the area. So far, nothing had attacked them directly, likely due to the sheer size of the group. Melina did spot a few nightcats—long, feline-like creatures who, like most things in the Monster Realm, preferred to hunt at night.
During the day, they looked mostly peeved to have their sleep disturbed, but didn't attack. At night, however, those felines could cause quite a lot of trouble. They were difficult to spot and were one of the most agile creatures around. The best way to defeat them was using ice, the one element Melina had the poorest compatibility with. Mango still had a lot of growing to do before she could offset this natural weakness.
They continued the march for about four hours, switching the soldiers once. After that, Heiliger declared that they would stop for a short break to eat and rest.
Melina frankly couldn't believe everything was going so smoothly. It really did feel like an expedition. Scholars were charting the map and noting the location of possibly useful resources. Melina had noticed several interesting fruits growing along the way, namely the place where they had previously picked feyfruit and something which she thought looked like feyberries. Although that particular bush was too far for her to discern clearly.
"It's going too smoothly," Melina noted in a whisper.
"It is…" Alistair nodded, looking around at how everyone ate in shifts. Half of the soldiers ate first, while half kept watch.
Frankly, it was surprising enough that nothing had attacked them so far. It might be just their luck since it was daytime. But it still felt strange.
But with nothing more than a feeling, there wasn't anything they could do but keep marching forward while Heiliger watched their every move. Melina felt like she was a tightly wound bow, constantly ready to launch an arrow but unable to do so because there was nothing to shoot.
For how long could she remain in the state? In the constant flight or fight mode? She was getting exhausted from it when everything around them seemed peaceful.
However, as they kept going forward, Melina realized something. She had missed a crucial detail. Namely, the direction they were going in. She hadn't thought much about it since the Monster Realm was unexplored, so one direction was as good as any other. She hadn't even recognized this part of the Monster Realm because it was daytime.
Melina had been here before. Three times, in fact, she had walked this very path, although once it was through Sienna's point of view. This was the way to the Monster Lord's tower. It took every bit of Melina's self-restraint and
"Melina?" Alistair asked, likely sensing the tremors of her hands.
Thankfully, he was shielding her with most of his body since they were both on Knight's back. Nobody else should notice her reaction.
"The route…" she whispered, hoping he would understand.
"Hmm?" He muttered, not understanding. He had only traversed it once, and during the night.
But Melina knew that there was definitely somebody else who had realized what was going on. Elowen, who was quietly following them, must have noticed it too, since he had traversed this route just as many times as Melina.
"We need to stop," Melina whispered, her eyes darting through the otherworldly foliage, looking for the watchful gazes of drow. Had they already noticed them?
What would the Monster Lord think once he saw Melina riding towards his tower together with Alistair, a whole bunch of soldiers, and the Church in tow? There was no mistaking what he would think. After all, this was pretty much how it had looked when she went to slay him.
"Stop?" Alistair asked, his hands tensing up on the reins.
"We're going to the tower," Melina hissed, unable to fully hide her frustration.
"Is something the matter, Melina?" Heiliger suddenly spoke up.
Melina and Alistair both turned to look at the Bishop, only to see five Sinclair soldiers fallen to the ground. Not dead, but sleeping. Five others had knives stuck to their throats, while the remaining ten held their hands in surrender. One of the System users must have some sort of skill that put them to sleep while the assassins apprehended those who tried to help them before they could make any noise.
The soldiers at the front instantly drew their weapons, but Heiliger and the System users remained calm.
"Order your soldiers to put those away, unless you want others to go night-night forever," she ordered with a smile.
"Stand down," Alistair barked, and the soldiers obeyed, albeit with some hesitation.
"What do you think you're doing?" Melina hissed.
"We're going to visit our old friend, and if you don't want these soldiers to die, then you will do as told," Heiliger said.
Melina gritted her teeth. She could try and free the captured soldiers with her magic. To wake up the ones who were sleeping. But there were too many of them. If a battle broke out here, then a lot of people would die.
"We don't want things to escalate now, do we?" Bishop asked coldly. "You will do as told, Melina, and help me achieve a better world."