"As you wish," Ribry didn't ask any more questions; he had a blind trust in Fei.
He and Shevchenko accepted the mission, left the watchtower, and started to prepare for it.
Fei nodded as he watched these two men leave.
Shevchenko and Ribry weren't a part of Chambord, but Fei liked these two men who were straightforward, just, and intelligent, and he wanted to bring them up from their current positions.
When Fei sneaked into the campsite of Jax that night, he gained knowledge on the supply paths of Jax by accident, and he knew that the new food supplies were going to get here by tomorrow evening. Therefore, Fei gave the opportunity of gaining a lot of military merits to these two. If they were successful, they would be rewarded by the Military Headquarter after the war was over, and they might even be promoted.
Of course, Fei could complete that mission himself, but he couldn't do everything in this war between two big empires.
After he passed more orders to secure the city, he gave the duty of guarding the city to people like Cech, Drogba, and Huerk.
Knowing that the watchtower he was in was secure, Fei opened up a portal and entered Diablo World.
He spent a lot of time in the night reading through the records in the Mayor's Mansion and trying to find more information on the underground ocean; he hadn't had the time to kill monsters to level up.
...
In Diablo World.
On the [Ancient's Way] which led to [Arreat Summit].
"You mean the rest of [Wolf Teeth Legion] will be 30 kilometers away from Dual-Flags City by tomorrow?" Fei asked.
"Strategist Aryang did say that; he is considering if he should send a master warrior to get through the invaders who have already surrounded the city and ask you for the next step or if he should order the troops to camp outside the city," Elena said to Fei as the wind fluttered her long red hair.
As the Valkyrie told Fei about the situation the rest of [Wolf Teeth Legion] was in, she shot out several arrows and killed a high-level demon [Succubus] that looked like a beautiful woman with a pair of wings on her back.
Whoosh!
After Fei dashed forward and chopped a high-level demon [Blood Lord] in half, he asked, "How are all the coordination between each team and each battalion?"
"Strategist Aryang said that most of the commands are being followed. There are a few affiliated kingdoms that don't listen to his orders; if it weren't for people like Ms. Cindy supporting Strategist Aryang, they would have split from legion already."
Elena didn't say much, but she told Fei what he needed to know.
"It is within expectation... Aryang doesn't have a noble status, and he doesn't have an official status in the legion; how could those kings be obedient? If I didn't emphasize that Aryang would be acting as the Second Chief-In-Command before I left, those kings who aren't used to being controlled this much would have caused big troubles already... I need soldiers who can fight... those nobles? I have ways to deal with them."
As Fei moved forward, killed several monsters, and stained the ground with blood, he was already thinking about whether if he should show his domination again.
After 30 minutes...
"Elena, be careful! We are almost at the summit of Mount Arreat! Three powerful Ancients are guarding the path."
Fei reminded Elena as they finally found the path that led to the summit of Mount Arreat.
This quest they were trying to complete was named [Rite of Passage], and it was given to Fei by Qual-Kehk who was a cavalier captain in [Harrogath].
Although Fei killed the evil elder Nihlathak who had fallen into a demon, the Relic of the Ancients was already given to the super boss Baal. Using the Relic of the Ancients, Baal had already passed through the summit of Mount Arreat. Therefore, Fei had to enter Nephalem that was located on the summit of Mount Arreat and stop Baal from destroying the world.
However, before Fei could enter Nephalem and stop Baal, he had to face another difficult challenge.
There was an ancient altar on the way to Nephalem, and it was protected by three Ancients. These Ancients were in a statue form, but they would become invincible warriors once someone tried to enter Nephalem without the Relic of the Ancients; the only way to enter Nephalem was to defeat them.
"Be careful! These three Barbarian Ancients are mighty! If it wasn't for the Relic of the Ancients, Baal could have died here."
Fei had to remind Elena again. This quest was challenging; when he was playing Diablo 2 on Earth, he died on the altar too many times, and he could never forget about it.
After seeing how serious Fei was, Elena nodded and got acutely aware.
...
Fei and Elena arrived at the summit of Mount Arreat after passing through a few tunnels.
Boom!
Before they could get a better look at the surroundings, the tunnels they just passed through collapsed and stopped them from turning around.
Fei walked in the front and protected Elena who was behind him.
It was a world of snow. Huge snowflakes were falling from the sky, and there was an altar in the front. Behind the altar, there was the cliff. With white clouds and strong wind around them, Fei and Elena could see the city [Harrogath] that looked like an ant far away; that was enough to prove how tall this Holy Mountain of the Barbarians was.
Not too far away from the altar, there was a huge waterfall that was completely frozen.
It looked like the water fell from the heaven as the origin of this waterfall couldn't be seen.
The waterfall was at least two kilometers long, and it looked magnificent.
At the bottom of the waterfall, a massive mausoleum showed its edge behind the frozen water. Like a frozen city, it revealed one of its golden outer walls. This was Nephalem, and it was also known as [Worldstone Keep]. Super boss Baal already entered it and was about to destroy the world, but the black iron gate blocked Fei's path.
Fei's eyes finally landed on the altar.
Several structures and statues were standing on the altar in a pattern, and images of Barbarians fighting with demons were engraved on them. An ancient aura enveloped the altar, making it look very holy and majestic.
Three human-like golden statues were standing on the altar.
Looking from afar, Fei could sense the powerful auras from these statues.
These statues were holding weapons like axes and swords, and they had angry expressions on their faces. On this mountain where almost everything was covered in snow, these three golden statues were shining brightly with no snow on them; it felt like they were still breathing.
Fei took a deep breath and stepped onto the altar.
Suddenly, an old and deep voice sounded on Mount Arreat.
"We are the spirits of the Nephalem, the Ancient Ones. We have been chosen to guard sacred Mt. Arreat, wherein the Worldstone rests. Few are worthy to stand in its presence; fewer still can comprehend its true purpose. Before you enter, you must defeat us."
As soon as the speech was over, a golden light shone on the summit of Mount Arreat, and the golden light all concentrated onto the three statues. Gradually, the stone tone on them disappeared, and they opened their eyes; these three statues came to life.
They were the three Ancients – Talic the Defender, Madawc the Guardian, and Korlic the Protector.
As soon as the three statues came to life, red energy flames shot out of their eyes and enveloped Fei. The dominant sensation put a lot of pressure on Fei, and these three Ancients charged at Fei and Elena like ancient beasts who broke through the limitation of space and time; every time they stepped forward, the ground would crack open.
"Stand behind me!"
Fei shouted as he grabbed in the air. His Dual-Swords appeared in his hands, and he charged at the three Ancients with no fear.
Tink!
The Ancient One named Korlic who used a colossal ax used the skill [Leap Attack] and struck at Fei first. When Fei crossed his swords and blocked this strike, his wrist numbed, and he was forced back multiple steps.
Korlic was knocked back as well.
"So much power!"
Fei was shocked.
Since he was training in the real world as well, his strength level was far beyond the balance in Diablo World. When he encountered the boss-level monsters before, he was able to dominate over them. But now, he felt like Korlic who was only one of the three bosses was on his level.
"The Ancient Ones are indeed the most powerful entities in this world!" before Fei could finish thinking, danger approached him again.
Air-piercing noises sounded, and a few throwing axes flew towards him as they circled in the air; they were so fast that Fei even smelled the body odor of the Grim Reaper.
It was the skill [Double Throw] used by the weakest Ancient One – Madawc.
Madawc was able to identify this opportunity in battle and strike right at the moment, and it made Fei feel very weird; he wanted to dodge it, but he felt like he couldn't.
Tink! Tink! Tink! Tink!
It was Elena's turn. She shot out multiple arrows, and they all accurately hit the axes in the air.