Volume 3 Chapter 43 – Infiltration Force (Patreon)

"Haku, no, stop!" Galandir yelled as the dragon raged and spewed flames up and flapped his wings frantically.

"Protect the Princess!" guards yelled, and tried to surround Morrigan to form a protective barrier around her.

"No, something must have spooked him! I need to get to Haku," she brushed past them hurrying to the side of her friend. Guards tried to follow but were forced to stand back due to lava globules flying everywhere.

"Your Highness, it is way too dangerous!" Seon yelled, and bravely followed after her, dodging the lava. "Calm the dragon, boy!"

"I think his foot is stuck," Galandir yelled out while also trying to dodge lava. "We need to get it free."

"Calm, Haku, calm!" Morrigan said, trying to appease the raging dragon, then spoke into his mind. "You're doing great, Haku. Keep this up, but try not to throw lava around. I'm worried somebody might actually get hurt."

"Got it!" Haku replied in her mind and rose as high out of lava as he could, still flapping his wings. His front paw was indeed stuck under some rocks that Morrigan had secretly shifted with her levitation magic. But most of it was just an act on Haku's part—he could get his paw free whenever he wanted to.

"We need to free his foot," Morrigan yelled at the guards who scrambled around frantically, some trying to reach the dragon, others trying to dodge his violently flailing limbs.

"I'll go call Azrael," Deziara said and sped off. But of course, she had not gone to call the mage. Instead, she was heading out of the Lava Resort to leave the limits of the teleportation ward that Azrael set up.

"Maybe food will calm him? I'll go get some," Galandir said and disappeared inside. But he too was heading the same way as Deziara. But in the midst of the ruckus, the guards paid no attention to them. It was Morrigan's turn to disappear. The same trick wouldn't work for her.

"I'll get into the pool and try to dislodge the rocks from there," she announced and jumped straight into the hot lava. It was an odd feeling going into lava, but at this point she was completely immune to the heat thanks to Queen Milnea's blessing. 

"Princess that is dangerous, the dragon might crush you," the guards panicked, trying to get  closer to her, but Haku intensified his thrashing, forcing them to step. Meanwhile, Morrigan dove into the lava and with the help of her fire manipulation propelled herself towards the far edge of the pool.

"Keep them busy for a few more minutes, then free your feet."

"Got it. Good luck, Morrigan," Haku replied in her mind. Meanwhile, she had slipped out of the pool and turned into the shadow, heading out of the resort. Her incredible speed allowed her to instantly catch up with Galandir and Deziara. 

"We're out of the ward's range. Let's teleport before Azrael realizes anything," Galandir said, landing on the ground and retracting his wings. Deziara stopped and Morrigan materialized and outstretched each of her hands towards them.

"Grab it! I'll teleport all three of us," she instructed. Deziara grabbed her right hand and Galandir grabbed her left. Morrigan closed her eyes and imagined herself and both of them being teleported to the entrance of the Glittering Cave. She could feel that the spell initially only wanted to teleport her, but she persisted with the image of all three of them being teleported. 

"It worked!" Deziara cheered, and Morrigan opened her eyes. They were in front of the Glittering Cave. She exhaled a sigh of relief and let go of Galandir's and Deziara's hands.

"I can't believe it worked," Galandir laughed. "Your plan was shoddy at best."

"If it works, it works," Morrigan nodded with satisfaction, but then she felt a presence appear behind her. She whirled around, holding a fireball in hand, and met face to face with Melanos.

"I am not returning to the Resort," she growled at the spymaster. But much to her surprise, he dropped to one knee in front of her.

"I am not here to take you back. My task is merely to protect you—no matter where you go," he stated matter-of-factly. She blinked at him, extinguishing the flame in her hand. Was he trying to fool her? No, Melanos wasn't like Azrael, but she certainly hadn't expected him to act this way.

"Could it be that you also wish to fight?" She acted cautiously.

"I wish to fight beside my King," he replied and she saw a strong flame burning into his eyes. 

That's right. Melanos is my Father's right hand man, it's no wonder that he wants to fight beside him during this time. The only reason he stuck with me was because Father ordered him to do so. 

"Well, then… Let's go and open that portal. You grabbed my painting supplies right, Deziara?" Morrigan asked.

"As agreed—they're right here! But I only managed to nab two canvases. The rest were put away somewhere else," she admitted.

"More than enough," Morrigan nodded, and they hurried to the portal. No guards stood by the cave, and the portal which was hidden in a crag some distance away from the cave entrance was dark and inert.

Morrigan didn't waste any time, she set up her canvas, got out her paints and brushes, and began painting. After she had to paint so many difficult sceneries, something as simple as this, seemed almost too easy. Her brush gilded effortlessly without stopping, and within 15 minutes the rendition of the inert portal was already done.

"Is it me or have you gotten faster?" Deziara asked, looking at the painting and comparing it to the real thing.

"Yes, most definitely. I remember that the fountain you created took you several hours to pain," Galandir noted.

"I have been painting a lot during this journey, so it's no wonder I've gotten faster. Not to mention that I'm currently not focusing on the minute details. I'm just doing enough for the magic to recognize it," Morrigan said.

"Don't sell yourself, Morri. Everything you paint is beautiful," Deziara shook her head. "I mean this portal looks exactly the same as the real thing. I can't find anything to complain about."

"Thank you," Morrigan said, then cleaned her brushes and began assorting brighter colors to repaint the portal to look active again.

"Princess Morrigan, if I may say something," Melanos suddenly spoke up, and Morrigan flinched. She knew the man was there, yet his presence always spooked her.

"Of course, what is it?" 

"Be sure to draw this symbol on the top of the portal. It is what indicates where the portal will lead. Without it, it could take you to any random place in Doppelta," the spymaster explained and drew the symbol on the ground next to her.

"Got it! Thank you, Melanos," Morrigan nodded.

Good thing that he came along because I'm not sure whether I could properly recreate this symbol from memory. I haven't seen it very often and it is rather complex.

Repainting the portal to its active state was satisfying. The previously grey and empty interior was slowly replaced with swirls of colors. It didn't really matter which colors Morrigan picked as they were ever-changing, so just picked whichever ones she fancied at the moment. In the end, she made a circular rainbow of sorts, focusing the cooler colors on the outside while keeping the center warmer.

Her magic was being drained at a steady rate, but oddly enough by the time she got to painting the symbol at the top, she wasn't nearly as drained as she normally was. Then again, she was just repainting the portal to appear open. There was nothing to resist her. 

Those black orbs must have been especially draining on my magic reserves. Perhaps it was because they siphon magic away. Repainting the portal feels easy by comparison.

"There, done!" Morrigan proudly announced and pointed towards the now open portal which was swirling with colors she had painted on the canvas.

"You sure this will lead us to the Demon Castle?" Galandir asked sceptically. "Not that I doubt your abilities or anything, but now that you've repainted it, isn't this technically a different portal?"

"As long as the symbol on top is correct it should lead us to the corresponding portal in the Demon Castle. We should hurry before somebody on the other side notices that the portal has been opened and closes it again," Melanos said. Morrigan was surprised to see him talk so much, but the demon looked almost impatient.

"Wait… If I'm going to destroy that black orb I'm going to need as much magic as possible. We should rest here for a while. It won't take long for my magic to replenish here," Morrigan said. 

"Then at least allow me to enter. I'll make sure that the portal remains open," Melanos said and bowed his head. 

"Very well. Then I'll send you ahead with a mission," she said.

"Mission?"

"Find the location of the black orb in Linberor and report it to me," Morrigan instructed.

"At once," Melanos said and disappeared into the portal.

"Is it alright to send him ahead?" Deziara asked.

"He just wants to fight by our father's side. Besides, I do need to know where that orb is. Running around the city for hours isn't going to do us much good," Morrigan said and sat down.

"I suppose," Deziara said and sat down next to her. Galandir sat down on her other side, but not quite as close as Deziara had. 

"So we just wait for your magic to recover?" the elf asked.

"Yeah. I honestly want to run in, guns blazing, and repaint that stupid orb right now…" she said and sighed. "But if it's able to drain a whole city of demons from their magic, then I got a feeling that this orb is worse than the previous ones. I'll need every bit of magic I can get."

"Yeah, that makes sense. Except for one thing?"

"What thing?"

"What is a 'gun'?" the boy cocked his head curiously.

"Yeah, I was about to ask the same," Deziara said. Morrigan pondered for a moment, scratching her chin then answered.

"It's a horrifying weapon humans on Earth have created. Just as strong as magic, not even stronger in some cases. A gun can kill a person from far away in a matter of seconds."

"How could a weapon do that? Is it like a crossbow?" Galandir asked.

"In a sense. The mechanism is somewhat similar. But guns are smaller and easier to wield than crossbows. And they don't need to be reloaded as often."

"Maybe you should create some of these guns and we should take them to the battle. Distribute it among soldiers," Deziara suggested, but Morrigan shook her head.

"No. Guns are terrifying weapons. They should not be brought into Doppelta."

The conversation broke off there, and the three of them sat in silence for a long time, waiting for Morrigan's magic reserves to slowly recover. About two hours later, Morrigan stood up.

"Alright. I think I'm full," she announced, bringing Deziara and Galandir out of the half-nap they were in.

"Huh? What?" Deziara asked groggily. The elven boy, on the other hand, was instantly ready on his feet.

"Morrigan has recovered. Let's go," the elf said.

"Oh, right! Sorry!" Deziara chuckled and got up as well. "You could say that I'm well-rested and ready as well.

"I can't believe you could actually sleep at a time like this," Morrigan said and looked at the portal. "Let's go!"

"Together," Deziara announced, grabbing Morrigan's hand. She took it and offered her free hand to Galandir. He took it as well, and together they walked through the portal.

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