The race for freedom and safety ended the moment we left the tunnel for two reasons; one we were already far away from the fight and the second was that there was a huge explosion of energy in the underground that almost collapsed the tunnel.
An explosion of this level can only happen if the leader of these cultists or the rest of the cultists has decided to fight the Templars and Priests, if they had chosen to flee there would have been signs of conflict, but nothing as dramatic as this last explosion.
It looks like the church and service are going to fight a pretty fierce battle down there, this will solve a lot of our problems making our side the winner today, and when I tell us, I mean our kingdom. The church and the cult will suffer great losses today, as few templars and priests can displace during the single use of a large-scale space magic that is possible here today, the space of the region is really unstable after this type of event.
Because of this the bishop must have sent out a group of elites, but given the cultists' defense and reaction they must have a great deal of confidence in their combat power. I wonder what would be better for us, the cult to win and flee or the templars to win and realize their enemies disappeared even after such a fierce battle.
When we were all breathing fresh air from the plain around the pine forest, I could see a surge of mana and elemental energy of death swamped the entire forest, the spirits above the forest were awakened by this surge of energy, like a swarm they descended from the trees and flew towards the cult base.
"What the hell was that?"
"The necromancers must have started fighting the templars."
"Quiet, the fight has already started and we don't have time to lose. Earth, Lightning and Wind you will help our new allies get out of that mine, try to save as many slaves as possible and clear your tracks for a few kilometers, that's the most help we can give them right now."
"The rest will prepare our departure, take the mounts to the mine and wait for everyone to gather. When we're all gathered let's get out of this shit kingdom, there's no reason for us to be here anymore, the cult in this kingdom has really been uprooted and not even a bishop can complain that our great contribution to your war against evil wasn't good or complete enough."
When everyone was gone, I headed towards the mounts only to feel a violent grip on my shoulder. Raven's gauntlet completely locked onto my shoulder.
"You stay, we'll guard the forest while the rest of the team finishes their preparations."
"Combat is a little far away, my perception is not that good."
"Don't worry."
It didn't take long for the group to leave my field of vision and when that happened, Raven started dragging me into the trees as I had feared. Her solution for me to be able to 'see' the cult's underground base was the simplest solution, unless I approached the extremely dangerous and possibly deadly location.
I did not like this solution.
"You don't have to be nervous; we're not going to get too close to them. Just enough for you to get an idea of how the fight is going, I think now there won't be much interference for your perception capabilities."
When we got close enough, I noticed that above the base there was a cloud of undead gathering. I know this kind of undead is pure energy and has no body, but since when can they unite?
"It's close enough, I'd rather not get any closer."
"Yes, I can feel the energies clashing underground. Most of the runic arrangements and structure near the church group were broken or damaged."
"Well, they're not taking it easy on the cultists. Describe to me?"
"Not much to describe, it's not like I can see through so many feet of solid earth. But the fight is basically the church group standing in a big room while the cultists try to kill them."
"So the fight is stagnant?"
"Not exactly, I believe the Templars and Priests opted for a defensive strategy because they have a small number, they are like a torch being bombarded by a special fog that tries to extinguish it."
"How poetic, the cultists are trying to exhaust them because they know they won't have backup for an extended period of time. Depending on how much space in the region was shaken, the temple would have to wait at least twelve hours to be able to send a second group, but even if they did that group would have to be almost half the size of the current one."
"Pretty suicidal mission, isn't it? Being thrown into mine from the enemy base where you have no reinforcements, depending on how strong the cultists are, the fight could be completely one-sided."
"That wouldn't happen easily, Wolf, I might not be able to feel clearly beyond a lot of elemental energy and the chaotic mana underground. But I would bet that a good part of the church group has the element of light and fire, an earth element priest too is strictly necessary for this operation."
She's not wrong, I used the word torch before because their defensive formation is covered with a ridiculously high amount of concentrated light, which spreads across the base of the cult making the field less favorable to the elements of death and shadow.
It appears to be some sort of battle matrix, but that's not shocking and quite obvious that the church has a lot of experience fighting cultists especially when their goddess has the elements and qualities to oppose the undead and darkness.
"I can confirm your hunch is correct, but even if the element of light and fire are good against the undead and cult's death or shadow warriors, the advantage of being inside your base and having a large number is still in your favor. the cultists."
"Did they send their elites to try to break the Templar formation?"
"I don't think so, it feels more like they're using the undead and ranged attacks to drain their enemies' energy."
"This is not a good strategy, be very alert cultists should make a big move soon. Trying to deplete the templars and priests in this idiotic way, they must be carrying a good number of elixirs and aid tools to maintain their combat capability over a long period of time, Wolf."
"But even with preparation to a limit, isn't it? Templars and priests can be strong warriors and mages, but their minds and bodies have a limit, and using external forms to enhance their regeneration doesn't stop stress and fatigue from accumulating in them, especially in such an intense situation."
"Yes, but don't underestimate divine power, especially when their goddess has healing properties. She may not be as healing focused as her twin, but she is still able to heal her subjects very well."
"So divine power will make them fight non-stop?"
"Basically, pretty fucked up when you think about it, isn't it?"
"Very, I don't know which side is crazier."
"Don't try to figure it out, it might screw your head, you're too young to be crazy."
"You were right."
"That's normal, but where was I right?"
"That the cultists were going to make a big move."
"What they did?"
"Did you just drop a mighty bomb on the Templars?"
"Really? Kind of uncreative and I didn't even feel a tremor."
"It wasn't a fire element bomb; the entire cavern was taken over by a death and plague nine element. I figured it doesn't vary this group using plague magic, it's also not very useful against fire as far as I can remember."
"So, they're drowning the templars and priests in energy toxic to them, while the undead and death warriors keep them from moving. Is the light element going out or is it just contained?"
"Contained, but the area he covered has decreased a lot even though he is still stable."
"But the leader of this base appears? I doubt it's common."
"No, but I feel like he will soon show up."
"What are you looking at?"
"Opening tunnels around the room where the battle is taking place, shit, the tunnels are full and warriors and mages and one of them is powerful as fuck."
That death mage looks like a shadow element mage as his body is so dark, he must be covered with a massive amount of death energy while holding a halberd. Shouldn't it be a scythe?
"Death Element Mage?"
"Yes, we better get out of here. I think the ground is going to be unstable here."
"I think you're right, let's go before we get involved in this."
Raven held me like I was luggage and darted towards the mounts without worrying about being noticed, she released her aura without holding back. Her top speed is actually superior to mine, which is a little humiliating when I'm a warrior who has the wind element here.
But before I could say anything, a huge explosion happened underground. The shock wave began to create cracks in the forest floor and topple trees that must be a few hundred years old.
This battle will destroy this forest.
"That the church group is screwed, the cultists really do have an earth elemental mage. To be precise they have three."
"Shit. What are they doing?"