The Ogre Strength Fairy and the Eldest 'Son'-Chapter 446 - Hunting Threats To The Last

The long abandoned mill complex sprawled across the dried riverbank. Some of the old stone buildings were still connected by rotted, open walkways. Windows without glass sat dark... except for the faint glow of firelight that leaked from one side of the central structure. Five months of hunting the scattered ex-Saltfire cells had led to the last stronghold of the leadership.

Yatrel er Goltbred crouched in her battle outfit behind the petrified tree line with twenty-three volunteers from various Guilds. All united by the knowledge that the people inside had tried to murder their families. A few of the heroes from that day and their relatives were among the number, but so too had many from Guilds that had been attacked by the sigil-breaking artifact joined up for this at various times over the half a year.

The mint-eyed mother of two flexed her Earth gauntlets. The familiar weight of stone wrapped and shaped around the supporting metal frame her eldest daughter sent designs back for, as her physical energy further reinforced her Bone Physique. They’d gotten more use than she felt Elua expected they would, so soon.

At least... she hoped that the girl with ancient memories only feared and did not *know* what was going to happen.

"Movement confirmed. The two targets are in the main building, upper floor. Unknown number of subordinates scattered throughout the complex."

A voice carried through their communication equipment, which the Coiled Serpent Guild got right on re-establishing in the wake of the Descent. Limited to Army operations for the most part even on peaceful periods, the deactivated ritual work prevented the Voidlings from destroying the infrastructure.

Commander Huri had insisted on tactical support for this operation when discovering it was within range, even though he couldn’t spare regular troops. Not for what amounted to a militia-centered revenge mission disguised as domestic security. Whether their actions were *needed*, ’just’, or not did not change existing protocol... and neither did it prevent the martially active mortals from being needed in other locations.

"Sigil-reinforced walls for longevity only. Standard deterrents against weather. Nothing close to the defensive strength of a modern Guild structure. It won’t stop determined assault by our composition."

Yatrel detailed with her expertise as she studied the complex through her spyglass. The old buildings were not clearly fortified against serious cultivator assault. But the real question was what other surprises waited inside - the Saltfire remnants had proven... inventive with using recovered artifacts as dangerous weapons.

"Team one and three will take the outer buildings. Eliminate resistance and secure all escape routes. Second team, with me - we strike through to the primary targets."

The acknowledgments to the hero running things came back crisply from the other leads. Months of coordinated hunting had forged them all, each of whom had served through Descents, into something greater than amateur vengeance seekers. Yatrel was among the team heading straight toward the central mill building, because she had shown her usefulness already in other attacks.

Just like at some of the other places, hidden rituals activated as they reached the overgrown courtyard. A warning noise rocked the building as barrier shields materialized across the entry points. An application of a set of ancient defensive artifacts that had been jury-rigged to work in new locales.

"Breach positions!"

The other members trailed after Yatrel er Goltbred on the voiced order. Her gauntlets expanded, using the weighty Earth material kept on her back, into massive stone mauls as she charged the reinforced wall instead of the door. The impact when the two sets of essence infused stone - her weapon and the wall - met each other sent a thunderous shock through the building’s foundation.

Thick and thin cracks ran across the surface, severing enough of the very old sigils for the construction specialist... and elementalist primary cultivator to inject her own control into the material. Stone fragments shifted and splintered in a rain around her even before the second maul shape smashed a breach, right into an area filled with overturned rotted furniture and other hastily constructed barricades.

All of them facing the ’wrong’ way, looking to make chokepoints. But the enemies now in ’front’ of what should have been concealed positioning had still had time to turn around to fire crossbow bolts into the opened entrance. Falling rock was nudged and slammed toward the projectiles to block as many as possible as the duelist advanced forward with her lightning quick team.

Defenders retreated and shouted toward the upper floor, the narrow staircase becoming the next problem area they would have to face. Anyone attempting to climb would likely be faced with the chance of death without proper shielding. But the Dame Goltbred hated people having the high-ground.

Punching through the foundational wall beside the stairs, it collapsed and trapped many of those retreating. But more importantly, allowed her to create a unique path upward through collapsed stone and timber. Reports came through shouts of her companions as she hauled herself up last into the mill’s upper level.

Dust and debris filled the air thanks to her great works, making visibility incredibly poor but not impossible to fight in for cultivators with their spiritual sense. A figure with a drawn blade and an intent filled with bloodlust tried to flank her position only for a reshaped gauntlet to shoot out.

Stone grip closed directly around the attacker’s short curved weapon and pulled him in. Her unchecked strike to his torso sent the man through a window, the barriers seeming to only serve barring entry one way. Something that would have been a boon to the entire continent to research, if the ex-Saltfire had not ’broken’ every one of them for these temporary defense situations.

"Final barricade!"

One of her team members shouted and she began tromping forward in the direction of the voice amid the combat. Heavy wooden doors that had no decay, reinforced with metal bands awaited her. The kind of traditional barrier that would stop a casual assault but not determined siege work.

Mint eyes glared at it as if it were her true nemesis - the Yecine estate main gate. She picked up speed and hopped up in the air despite the many hundreds of pounds weighing her down. The reddish blonde’s hair billowed back when her essence field condensed the Earth around her arm.

Yatrel’s landing was her cue to torque her waist, her punch hitting the very center of the door and leveraging the mechanical stress of the impact against the fittings. Rapidly followed by a second and third strike that created more than enough weakness in the material.

"Set!"

The final blow made almost every piece of the door shudder inward simultaneously. Inside, the two they sought to capture or kill waited with their weapons drawn. One man who had been at the original civil war incident and one woman who had taken a larger role after the schism.

Both showed signs of months on the run. Lean, desperate, and clutching to artifacts that felt like lethal contained power even at a distance. Enough to make those assaulting pause at the breach while the hero in the team worked their way around with their Cloak Astralism.

"We should have captured your daughter when we had the chance. Everything that has gone wrong is because she went missing. We could have taken over the whole continent. And now..."

The woman’s voice carried bitter ’satisfaction’ for getting to say that out loud while shaking her head. She had been among the group who had looked into kidnapping Elua er Goltbred... a small faction of the corrupt portion of the Guild that got together the moment that the man who had attended her wedding verified that the heiress would be handling their Acid protection ritual keystones.

Her opinion to do it quickly had been overlooked in favor of keeping quiet, only for them to decide to not keep so *quiet* at all in their movements as the Descent actually got underway.

"...You should have stayed away from my family entirely."

Trying not to react in a way that would alert them to the man slithering behind them... her response did not make the Saltfire pair happy. Both of them raised their artifacts up and pointed them at the group clearly after their lives... the energy building up suggested it was something capable of harming even experienced Primalists.

The pair of cultivator tools ’fired’... one lance of blue light surged through the head of the Saltfire man, as the woman suddenly ’changed her aim’ with a push from the Cloaked hero. And one beam of searing energy tore through a gap in the stone gauntlets raised in a devoted wife and mother’s defense.