Somehow, everything went back to the starting point, invaders had been slaughtered in such great numbers, their camps erased from the realm, but in the end, it had just pushed things back to how they had been a while back, for their hideout, where everyone supposed the gateway was located, and thus the source of the soldiers, was hidden beneath the earth, and encased in an alloy that was pretty much unbreakable, and after further tests, it became clear that they had gotten lucky the first time, only Antieeld's summoned spirits could step inside without being detected and besieged by traps.
So striking the head of the serpent was basically impossible, they tried everything they could, but the base was simply not something that could be destroyed from the outside, all stops had been pulled to make it egregiously resilient, but that didn't seem to concern the emerald folks too much, as long as the enemies pouring out into their realm were only living soldiers and not actual undeads, they would be able to handle it.
At this point, they were setting up things to sweep through the realm every few days to keep the amount of soldiers to a minimum at any given time, not allowing them to set down anything, anywhere.
No one really knew why they had decided to put this in place now, whether it was because it would be simpler and safer to send people out due the purge that had taken place, or if they had developed something that simplified the process, on this one, the heralds and priestesses did not share the reasoning, which made people assume that it was linked to the kind sun and All-Beast, as they were amongst the few things that could warrant any amount of secrecy in the realm's culture.
The fact that they knew exactly where the heart of evil was located, but could not do anything about it was most frustrating however, many were those who felt like attempting to storm it in spite of the obvious danger that awaited within, but only Milo could actually punch a hole into the alloy and even though he was willing to risk himself, he knew well that his own life wasn't something that was only valuable to him alone, he had Helena and his children as well, and thus, he would not take the risk unless absolutely necessary.
Though that did not stop him from participating in the regular sweeps that soon came to become a common thing, if he could not destroy the source, then he would simply make sure everything that flowed from it was properly culled.
The discovery wasn't for naught either, by knowing the hideout's location, they were able to build a seal around the area, and soon get the confirmation that the troops were deployed via means of teleportation or something similar, as the invaders continued to appear regardless, though less often as Liebeln, talent holder in the craft of architecture, was able to cook up a seal that interfered with manipulations of space, thus greatly reducing the amount of troops they could dispatch at any given time.
For all intents and purposes, the enemy had been rendered harmless, they may be like rats, not truly gone, but the threat they posed had significantly lessened, they could no longer gather en masse, and as such, they struggled even more against the emerald beasts, and could not bring with them resources and materials to create anything.
Nonetheless, there was a certain tension in the air still, the premonition that something was coming… It had not gone away even after all that.
The sensation of impending dread still hung thickly.
But impossible to locate its source, especially when the situation seemed to have gone under control, sure, from time to time, a pocket of invaders would manage to group up, or some strong elites would be discovered, but nothing insurmountable, the barrier was still tightly in place, and being improved upon every single day, it was far superior to what had once protected Tamaris from the threat of the nascent undead empire, so living soldiers could not hope to do anything against it.
But even with all of this, this unseen tension continued to rise.
"I see that you are back… How was the trip to the underbelly?"
"Uneventful, it's the same as it has always been down there, the Arahtazthat and their queens thrive, and the other beasts simply get by…" Iliz replied, her thin tail flinging itself against the ground, the sight seemed to amuse Ioleznta, her friend was awfully easy to read.
"But you found something, didn't you? Should I call for a meeting with the others?"
The Divine Dancing Priestess scratched her cheek.
"You probably should, down there, an Ahltaizth approached us and guided us to the very center of the underbelly, and the great Arahtazthat queen and her princesses present there did not throw any fuss, they also wanted to show us something"
"That old thing being cooperative? That's perhaps the most surprising thing I have heard since my birth"
"It put me off as well, but I understood soon enough, the sun worshippers sense and tend to the spirit life, right? But you guys don't sense it in its entirety, you rely on light to get an overall feel of it…"
"We do, what are you getting at?"
"In the center of the underbelly, light rarely reaches to begin with, and what we were shown was a hollow cavity that the Arahtazthat accidentally breached when digging around to lay eggs, and from what I understood, spirit life would rush into repair that unnatural hollow, but before it could spend itself to do just that, it would be absorbed by a pipe sticking out of the earth"
"I tried to shatter it, but I couldn't, it must be the same material as the hideout that was discovered, they have been siphoning spirit life for unknown reasons, for an unknown amount of time without us noticing a thing! We both know very well what they do to spirit life when they die, the particles they break into need to be purified actively, and by doing this, we prevent them from spreading whatever influence they are carrying- However, what if they have been secretly stocking up on spirit life and corruption it inside of their base? The spirit life that they keep captive could be far worse than anything we know, and they could have loads of it!"
Iliz clenched her fists, unknowingly manifesting claws and stabbing her own palms.
The priestess looked back at her friend, feeling like a frigid gust just passed through her.
"I was not expecting them to be able to interact with spirit life so casually… I fear that we have no other choice but to ignore all danger and tear them all apart right now…"
"-We'll do it in a jolly manner of course!"
"Please don't get serious like that again, it makes my bestial instincts feel like the world is ending"
"Heheheh, I just got a little bit annoyed for a second there… But perhaps you should go to your Mamiel for some comfort, let her pet your ears and-"
"Alright now, I don't need to be cuddled- In fact, I don't let anyone pet my ears or head casually! I don't care what Mamiel tells you, it's all lies! And I do not purr either!"
"See? Already feeling better… Purring though? That's new…"
"Urgh, this is awful…"
"Well, that's what you happens when you let yourself be tamed"
"Please, don't put it like that… And call the others already, we have to do something as soon as possible"
"I already sent the message, they'll be there in a minute… In the meanwhile, we can continue to talk about how the strong and fierce Divine Dancing Priestess, Iliz assumes the role of one that is subm-"
"I will not discuss anything more about this with someone who has never even been in any relationship!"
"Ooh, now that's low…"