Chapter 134: The Eagle’s Vow
Chapter 134 of "Galaxy Fall: All My Skills Are Maxed" opens presenting: GRAAAA!!The dragon yelled, its earth-shattering roar turning into a choked gargle as the Eagle Guild... Don’t stop now!
GRAAAA!!The dragon yelled, its earth-shattering roar turning into a choked gargle as the Eagle Guild pulled it to the ground. The massive, heat-radiating chains dug into its magma-infused scales, and the huge beast smashed into the ground, weak and utterly defeated by the relentless coordination of the human vanguard.
"YES!!"
"WE DID IT!!"
They all yelled loudly, cheering and raising their soot-stained weapons to the red sky of the dungeon. Taking down a Level 200 Boss was a monumental achievement that would elevate the guild’s prestige across the empire.
Zephyra, however, did not celebrate. Her sharp eyes stared at the fallen dragon, analyzing its breathing patterns to ensure it wasn’t faking, then she turned her head to the side of the hill—the exact direction she had sent her three elite members to survey around the hill.
’Why haven’t they returned yet?’ She thought. A standard perimeter check shouldn’t take this long, and her veterans knew better than to slack off during a Boss raid. Her instincts, honed by years of bloody guild wars, screamed that something was wrong. She turned to the young man standing beside her, the second-in-command.
"Handle this, Vice... I will be right back." She said, her tone leaving no room for argument, and ran towards the direction of the rocky outcrop.
"Oh... Ok." He nodded his head, staring at her in surprised confusion as she abandoned the prized kill.
Behind the hill, Cupcake stared at the massive hole in front of her, then down at the three headless bodies bleeding out on the rocky terrain.
"Hmm..."
The winged tiger pointed her claw at the bodies. A crackling bolt of fierce, blue lightning shot towards the corpses, engulfing them in intense heat and instantly turning them into fine, unrecognizable ashes.
"This will hide some evidence." She said, her feline voice tinged with a cold, tactical pragmatism she had undoubtedly learned from her master. She stood up, her ears twitching as she sensed a powerful, oppressive presence rapidly heading towards their location.
"Seems we are found out." She shrunk her size back into a harmless-looking white cat, and ran quickly into the dark entrance created on the hill.
Deep within the cavern, Mirabella moved her gaze around the damp, mineral-rich stone, and stopped in front of a smooth, unnatural barrier.
"Another wall."
She placed her palm on it, channeling a fraction of her force, and the thick stone wall shattered into pieces. Coming into view was a grand, ancient chamber, hidden away from the world for centuries. Mirabella moved her gaze around the place; the chamber was huge, easily twice the size of a standard basketball court, illuminated by a faint, eerie bioluminescence. At the center of the chamber was an ornate stone pillar, standing five meters tall, and arranged perfectly around it were ten imposing, armored statues.
Mirabella stared at the dark tunnel opening opposite her, which was clearly the main entrance the dragon was aggressively guarding from the outside.
"So what now?"
She raised her head toward the ceiling, tracing the architecture, and suddenly spotted something atop the five-meter-tall pillar. It was pulsing.
"Huh? A heart?"
Mirabella took a step forward, and her heel pushed a hidden pressure plate, pushing the stone tile deep inside the floor.
WHOOSH!! X5.
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!!
Lethal, poisoned spikes shot out from the mouths of the statues, heading towards Mirabella at supersonic speeds. But the invisible Celestial Guardians reacted instantly, shattering the heavy steel projectiles into harmless shrapnel before they could even get ten meters from her. Mirabella completely ignored the deadly traps, her eyes locked on the prize, and continued walking towards the pillar.
{Lub-Dub.}
Mirabella blinked. She opened her palm, and the mysterious Ghost Orchid Cocoon she had acquired earlier appeared on it, glowing with a strange, resonant energy.
"This thing is actually beating with the heart?" She leaped effortlessly into the air, grabbed the massive, crystalline heart off its pedestal, and landed softly back on the ground.
LUB-DUB!! LUB-DUB!! LUB-DUB!!
She was stunned. The cocoon in her hand started vibrating violently, pulsing in perfect synchronization with the artifact, like it was wildly excited being close to the heart.
Mirabella held the strange heart in her left hand, and the glowing Cocoon in her right, staring at them in genuine confusion. What kind of ancient lore bound these two items together?
"Sys--"
"Master."
Mirabella turned to Cupcake, who skidded to a stop before her, fur standing on end.
"Someone powerful is coming, and I think it’s that Zephyra... She is the only one that can have such strong aura. She is even more powerful than Yakima." Cupcake reported urgently.
"That is for sure... They are both leaders, but their levels are different..." Mirabella held the two mysterious things tightly, weighing her options, and finally sighed. A battle here would destroy the loot and trigger an imperial incident. "Get on my shoulders."
Cupcake nodded, shrunk back into a cat, and jumped, landing securely on Mirabella’s shoulder. The next moment, bending the spatial laws of the dungeon to her will, they teleported away from the chambers without a trace.
Outside the hill, Zaphyra came to an abrupt stop. She stared at the scorched earth and the lingering smell of ozone and fresh blood on the ground. A deep, terrifying frown could be seen on her face. Someone had breached her perimeter. She raised her Galaxy bracelet, and tapped on it.
"Tied that dragon down. I need it... And bring mages who are good with tracking over here..." She ordered calmly, though her eyes burned with barely contained fury, and disconnected the call. Then she stood up, staring at the jagged, forcefully created entrance Mirabella had made.
She walked towards it, her hand resting on the hilt of her blade, and entered the darkness. After walking cautiously for two minutes, sweeping the area for ambushes, she arrived at the grand chamber, finding it completely empty.
"What is this?" She squatted down gracefully, picking up a broken half of the trap spikes. The metal was sheared clean off by an impossible, blunt force.
"Who was here exactly?" She asked the empty room, her mind racing, and stared up at the empty pedestal on the pillar.
"And what are they after? I didn’t even know such a place is here." She stood up, moving her gaze critically over the ancient statues and the shattered wall.
"Is this some kind of secret lair? Is this why the dragon remained at the entrance?" She thought, her sharp intellect moving her gaze around, taking in every single object, every speck of dust.
"But, there is nothing of value here... Why would that dragon protect--" she paused, staring at the crushed spike pieces on the ground again, the realization hitting her.
"I see now, someone knew about this cave, and while we were fighting, they sneak in here and took the main treasure..." She looked over her shoulder at the violently destroyed stone wall. It wasn’t magic; it was raw, terrifying physical power.
"And they aren’t weak..." She clenched her fist, the leather of her gauntlet creaking. "Taking treasures doesn’t matter to me, but do you have to kill my members... No matter who you are, I will track you down and have my revenge! That is a promise!!"