Kingdom Building: Civilization Starts with Divinity-Chapter 67: Eternal Crimson Mountains

"Welcome to the second layer: The Eternal Crimson Mountains." Gravana introduced the area.

The sight wasn’t exactly foreign to Alchemy, but she didn’t expect to see such a thing here.

"So it’s always like this? Have you not noticed any side effects? More anger than usual, an unceasing hunger? Anything?" Alchemy asked.

"Grahaha! The great Gravana has endless mercy! Anger is something that’s easy to keep in check! As for hunger... I’m always hungry!"

Hearing Gravana’s answer, Alchemy nearly fell to the ground.

’I guess mental debuffs can’t affect idiots?’ Alchemy hummed inwardly.

"Should I be feeling angrier for some reason?" Gravana let out a fake cough as he got more serious.

"To an extent, yes. Blood Moons are a natural phenomenon when the moon reflects large amounts of Magical Energy. When the Mana becomes dense enough to become red, monsters start growing crazy, as if drunk on power." Nera explained.

While the natural color of Mana is a silverish-blue, when it becomes dense enough, its color begins to change. Red was the default of this, but it’s relatively easy to change on a small scale. The Species of Mana unlocked custom mana colors after upgrading their Civilization to Tier 5.

"What about you, Sapphire? Feeling alright?"

"U-uhm... It’s a little uncomfortable, but that’s it." Sapphire answered.

"That’s good, at least. Blood Moons should be a somewhat rare occurrence, though. For it to be eternally crimson..." Alchemy pondered for a while.

"Agh! It doesn’t make any sense! Everyone is okay, so let’s go hunt down the lions! Teacher, you’re experienced with hunting here, right? Could you brief us?" Alchemy gave up for the time being.

"Hmm." Gravana hummed while stroking his chin fur.

"Well, the Lions rule the outer mountains of the second layer. They’re pretty weak and, as such, were forced to the edge. There are 4 groups out of them, each controlling one of the four primary elements. The ones we’re looking for today manipulate fire, the Mint Lions." He continued.

"Fire? Of course, it has to be the one element we have a terrible matchup with." Alchemy let out an annoyed sigh.

"Mother Goddess! Look up there, footprints!" Nera pointed upward at a gravel path that wasn’t too far away from the group.

While her stats were reduced, the thought of dealing with magical fire monsters irked Alchemy, but she couldn’t just back out after the system gave her a mission. Wasting rewards was a sin she wouldn’t commit, even if the king of death loomed over her!

’At least the hardest part is gonna come quickly.’ Alchemy mused inwardly.

"Oh! Good eye, Nera!" She cheered.

Heading up to the gravel past, Alchemy examined the large footprints with interest.

They were larger than that of normal lions, go figure, and there were two sets of them.

’It doesn’t seem too bad if it’s only two, but we don’t know their levels yet. I shouldn’t jinx it.’

"Hmm, the Ore Dwellers weren’t joking when they said they were close. They could exit the boundary anytime if they’re hanging around here. It seems my workload is going to increase again." Gravana sighed.

As his words finished, Alchemy caught the scent of a solution to her lack of levels.

"If it’s exterminating pests, we’d be glad to help. If nothing else, we’re pretty good at killing things." Alchemy chimed.

’If I can help the Ore Dwellers long term, that’d give me a steady stream of EXP and other quest rewards, wouldn’t it?’ Alchemy schemed as a mischievous smile appeared on her face.

"Grahaha! We’ll see how you handle yourselves today!"

Gravana was a little worried about Alchemy’s intentions with that facial expression of hers, but he wouldn’t turn down competent helpers.

"For now, let’s follow their footsteps. These are still fresh, so they couldn’t have gotten too far."

"R-right!"

"Is that okay, Teacher?"

"Sure! Lead the way, little shapeshifter!"

|<Notice: Another hour has passed. Draining Divine Power>|

With Nera’s lead, the group traveled until they reached the end of the footprints.

The gravel path quickly turned to stone, the path ahead becoming uneven and sharp. Small plants were growing through the cracks, and shrubs scattered throughout, but there were no signs of them being disturbed, much less trampled on by a pair of massive lions.

"They just end? Are these lions capable of flying?" Nera questioned.

"No." Gravana turned down rather swiftly.

’Then... Are they smart enough to hide their footprints? But then why would it only stop here? They could have deliberately not walked on the path if that was their goal... Unless.’

Nera’s eyes shot up to the walls. The path led them quite a distance down the mountain, and they found themselves in a small valley. There, she saw claw marks all along the walls, as if something was digging into them to climb.

Then, a massive ROAR! Echoed out as Nera’s eyes met with the owner of the footprints and claw marks. Not just him either; three other lions were there as well! It was a trap!

And they were leaping down at them.

"Shit! Scatter!" Nera shouted, decreasing the gravity around the lions to slow their descent.

"Ah, right. I forgot to mention. The Mint Lions are quite foxy despite being supposed proud lions." Gravana chuckled as if he saw this coming.

As she jumped away, she managed to slow three lions down, but the fourth passed without issue.

His landing point was right next to Sapphire, causing a small explosion from the force of his landing.

"A-ah! Stay away!" Sapphire shouted in a panic, hardening her body and slamming the lion away before it could properly attack her.

The damage was rather pitiful, as nothing could be seen under the lion’s blazing mane. Luckily, the same could be said for Sapphire.

She protected herself with crystals quickly enough as a panic response and managed to avoid the brunt of the explosive damage.

Unluckily, however, the rest of the lions finally landed and surrounded Sapphire.

"Tsk. Sapphire, jump back!" Alchemy shouted, stretching her arm in front of herself.

|<Idol [Clausura Aeternum] has been activated!>|

As Sapphire obeyed Alchemy’s command, chains shot out from the ground around her, attempting to capture the lions.

At first, it seemed like the chains missed, but it didn’t matter as it allowed Sapphire to retreat and regroup with Nera and Alchemy. But shortly after, Alchemy’s chains shot up and knocked a loose sizable rock, causing several other rocks to fall as well, dropping them onto the lions.