131 The Divine Heralds
The Party Members of the Divine Heralds:
Zerth Graymore (Human): Male paladin and leader of the group with the skill of master tactician when it comes to combat.
Saro Earthwing (Human): Female druid who is in search of new land where her people would be able to settle and call it home. The newest member who join about seven months ago.
Durand the Golden One (Dragonborn): Male wizard with extensive knowledge of magic and history. Mentor to the current leader and member of the Platinum Wings, a secret society that follows the teaching of Bahamut the Platinum Dragon.
Elda the Brave (Elf): Female ranger and scout of the party. Equipped with a magical bow and trick arrows in which she managed to save the party numerous times.
Harland Duuhpim (Dwarf): Male warrior who is armed from top to bottom. A tank of the party and veteran of long wars before becoming an adventurer.
Ver Ravenwing (Half-Elf): Male rouge and assassin before faking his death to have a new start. Not much is known about him except that he prefers to keep one particular gold coin in his hand as if it's important to him.
Stan Cloudfist (Human): Male monk and chef of the party. Master of hand-to-hand combat and an excellent cook who can perform a miracle to boost his party's morale.
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"Who the fuck are these guys?" William said to himself as his armor finish its reboot and start to hum. The armor lit with bright light as William activate his armor's ability to release built-up kinetic energy from the battle.
Boom! Swoosh!
A single blast from the Terminator armor wiped out the weaker enemies while larger and stronger ones got pushed away like a rag doll. Even the magical shield that protected William was shattered as magic dispels and Storm Oracle Cyclops had to few steps back to protect itself from the dangerous blast wave.
"I had enough of this nuisance," William said out loud and point his combi-bolter right on Cyclops's head. A burst of bolter fire can be heard and its sounds echo through the hall as the big head of the Cyclops explodes, splashing its insides all over the place.
"Now, who's next?" William asked but this wasn't a question as he start blasting left and right, following the auto-targeting system to help him hit only the monsters.
Following William's counter-attack, Rana took this as an opportunity to push back as she begin to fight back with her sword and bolter pistol on her hand. A large group of monsters she was facing quickly crumbled to panic as their comrades fell faster and faster. Creatures with common sense used this moment to run while animated creatures and undead died by a half dozen in a matter of minutes.
While this is going on, members of the Divine Heralds didn't hesitate to help out the two strangers with unusual weapons. Taking the lead, the paladin raise his sword and charged while two more members followed him. Meanwhile, the Dragonborn wizard and druid cast various spells of protection on the frontliners so they have a higher chance of survival.
The ranger and rogue aimed their bows to take out the long-distance enemies as they have high ground to take advantage of, but the truth is due to William's vicious firepower, all they could do was take out a few survivors attempting to run such as ones from Rana's fight.
There was no communication between the party members as each and everyone knew their role in the fight. Their experience and trust among the members are synced to each other and individuals' actions didn't interfere with others. When the three melee fighters managed to get down from the high ground, a decent number of monsters nearby attacked as their escape is now somewhat blocked.
The three warriors kept their distance from each other but close enough to close any gap between them. The first among them to draw blood was the monk as his fist smash the Orc's face in a single blow which he follow with a strike right in the chest where the heart is and causing it to stop due to shock.
Paladin is the second one to put down a wolf-like monster as his sword decapitates the monster's head after dodging the attack. He didn't stop after this as two more wolf-like monsters jump in to attack the paladin but before they could reach him, two arrows pierced each other their heads as a ranger foresaw the incoming attack and took them down right away.
The dwarf warrior on the other hand came to face to face with a large troll who is about to club him in the head. Shielding himself with a tower shield, the dwarf warrior took the full force of the attack from the troll and withstood it without any damage or pushed back from the impact. On the other hand, the troll's expression changed to shock as it didn't expect a small creature to survive the attack, this moment of shock gave the dwarf a chance to fight back as he use his strength to push back and swipe his single-handed ax on the side, completely cutting off the troll's left leg and follow up with strike in the head as troll got down on its knee.
Eventually, the massive fight end as William and Rana fire more bolter rounds towards the hallway in which few of the monsters ran off to. With the threat taken care of, William turned his attention to the new arrivals but stay alert as he doesn't know if they are allies or another trap.
"Thank you for the help. I'm William, Lord of the Terranovis and Master of my legion." Said, William. Approaching William and standing next to him, Rana also introduce herself to the newcomers but was much more relaxed, unlike William.
"My name is Rana Bassilo Beckett, the Duchess of Agrus and Living Saint of the God-Emperor."
"It is an honor to meet you two. My name is Zerth Graymore, a leader of our small band and his loyal servant of the Bahamut." Said Zerth. William finally noticed the symbols within the paladin's armor which shows the insignia of the Platinum Dragon. The blue shield with the head of the dragon in the center of the shield. Realizing that he is within the group of honorable adventurers, William finally lowers his guard as he relaxes his hands in which few of the adventurers saw.
Following the introduction from the leader, the rest of the group did as each member said their name and their role within the party. Accepting their introductions, William proceeds with sharing information about how he and Rana ended up here. The explanation only took ten minutes as it was simple to change traitor Space Marines to some evil cult members and followers of the evil god. William also points out that he is looking for his men and doesn't know where he and Rana are as they were teleported during the military campaign. The question of their location picked Durand the Golden One's interest as he join the conversation.
"We are currently inside the Tomb of the Yar, the fallen great wyrm black dragon who was believed to be a close inner circle member of the Dragon Queen before betraying her and ultimately failing. As for the location of the tomb, we are in the Southern Nuskein which is made out of the massive swamp." Durand's words of Dragon Queen got William's attention as Star Child previously mentioned her name and how her fall would help William escape to the 40k universe.
"I'm not familiar exactly where we are but I know of Nuskein. I think we are southwestern region from where Terranovis is located." Said Rana but William didn't pay much attention as he was more interested in a clue to one of the dragon masks.
"By chance, are you on your way to clear the tomb?" William asks in the hope to see if he can join and find one of the lost dragon masks. For many, the quest of the Dragon Queen is to stop the cultist from summoning her but for William, his mission is to summon her and defeat the Dragon Queen to gain favor from the divine realm. With the favor from the divine realm, William can proceed with moving all his forces to space and to a completely different universe.
"Sorry to say but we already clear the tomb. We accidentally come across your situation when we got lost, attempting to find the exit." Said Zerth. His tone of voice and facial expression inform William that he is telling the truth but not all the truth as his voice is hiding something from him and Rana.
"In that case if you don't mind we like to join you and find the exit. I can't wait to return home and relax." Rana said as she remove a piece of meat from her shoulder using her fingers. Hearing this, female members of Divine Heralds show signs of agreement.
"In that case let us move on. I don't want to attract more unwanted attention from the remaining monsters if they regain their courage to attack us." Said Zerth and gestured to William to follow him. The two groups proceed to leave the hall filled with dead monsters and move towards the unknown tunnel with William taking the front as walking shield.
William suspects Zerth and his party might have the item he is looking for and to his knowledge of Forgotten Realm, a paladin of the Bahamut the Platinum Dragon exploring the tomb of the black dragon isn't some random encounter. As William moves on and removes obstacles, he decided to question the adventurers when he gets out of this tomb and makes contact with his men on the surface.
William's divine mission to summon and slay the Dragon Queen beings as Ver Ravenwing's bag containing the black dragon mask remains unnoticed but to everyone's surprise, one of its magical properties will activate when the mask itself leaves the tomb.
