Our steps are fast, and our eyes are sharp as we move rapidly toward the exit.
The reality of this place had put fear into our hearts and the urge to get out of here became stronger; ten times stronger than it had been before.
At first, I thought that the temple is a vestige made by some civilizations of the world, but it is made by the most dangerous foreigners. The sooner we get out of influence, the better for us.
My father used to collect art, but also collected rare books. One of these rare books had been about the Draugr.
It is a race of undead, an extremely dangerous one. They are real masters of necromancy. The necromancer, liches, and other undead in the world couldn't be compared to them.
"Did you directly appear in the untamed garden?" I asked Jon softly, but could feel everyone's ear turning toward us.
He did not answer immediately, and I did not press. From the wounds I had seen, I know, the experience for him must be very traumatic.
"Yes. About the same time as Lord Viscount and he is the only reason I had even survived there. Without him, I would die there painfully," he replied, and I did not ask him about it further.
I very much want to know what he had experienced, but it is not time.
A little more than an hour passed since we had started moving toward the exit when another group of zombies appeared. There are only five zombies in it, with nothing precious to them.
Captain Azalea looked at Joseph and he wordlessly moved toward the zombies. It took him less than three seconds to kill the zombies.
The strength of the zombies lies in numbers, but they also need directions.
The hordes of undead are one of the most dangerous things in the world, but mindless undead in great numbers alone did not make it dangerous. The things that make it dangerous are people controlling them.
When a horde attacks, there are hundreds of necromancers and liches controlling them.
Amplifying the power of the undead through skills and spells. Turning them into terrifying reapers of death that scourge cities of any life.
These zombies here have no direction, aside from the influence of the temple, which is making them behave more strangely than zombies formed with the influence of death energy.
While the zombies I had faced on the island were only directed by a single lich.
The lich was powerful, but it could not properly use those zombies; there was precision or finesse in it; that come from the structure of necromancer and liches.
Not to mention those were the lowest and weakest zombies.
If it had the zombies level of, we are fighting here except for High-Mage and Knight, nobody would have been able to get out of that island alive.
It's why I never want to face a proper horde.
Four hours passed, and we have crossed nearly half of the distance.
There were a couple of groups of zombies that come across us. Joseph handled most of them; only in one instance did Captain Azalea need to lend a hand.
"There are two people ahead," said Zela, but I saw nothing. Captain Azalea seemed to see something as the frown appeared on her face.
"One of them is orc. How will we do this, my lord?" she asked the Viscount.
He did not seem surprised by the orc. Given his level and abilities, he had likely seen it before Zela did.
"We are not in the empire, captain; there is no need to deal with other races with the hostilities," replied the Viscount.
I and others couldn't help but feel relieved. It is dangerous here and the more people we have, the better it would be our chances of getting out of here.
So, if the orc and his partner want to join us, we will welcome them with open arms.
Still, I couldn't help but get surprised by the Viscount's approach. It is uncommon for the empire's nobility.
I shouldn't be surprised. He belongs to the fourth prince's faction; the most liberal one of all the princes. The one I most feel aligned with, and it is not because I work for Count Darrow.
A minute passed, and I could finally see the silhouette of the two. One is big, while the other is average, the bigger one is likely the orc, while the other one is human.
They also seemed to have noticed us, seeing they were waiting and looking at us.
Soon, we reached close enough to see their faces and I couldn't help but be surprised. It is a grey orc and a human. Both are armed to the teeth; their weapons are enchanted, while the gear is normal.
Seeing their gear, it did not seem like they thrifted from the bodies of the zombies, but the customized one, or maybe its skills, that is made it fit for them.
It sometimes becomes quite confusing with the power of skills involved.
I do not care; I am more than happy to see them armed and so comfortable with it. This means they are warriors, likely mercenaries, seeing there is no emblem on their gear.
"Well, I did not expect to see such a diverse group. Empire, merchant cities, and even Mayhurst," said the man beside the orc.
He is talking casually, but very alert, with his hands on its saber, and, like the orc beside him, he is looking at Viscount Atre and nobody else.
"We are going for the exit. You are welcome to join us," said Jon, without stopping. While we did not stop, their expressions froze for a moment hearing his words, before a big appeared on their faces.
"Of course, we will join you, dear neighbors," said the man, with no question, and joined us with the orc.
Zela appeared beside me, while Jon was on their other side. Those two noticed but said nothing.
"I am Heiman and this Borg. We are from the raven blade mercenary group from Jalrux city," introduced the man.
"Remus Silver, Greltheaven," I replied with a smile.
The man was in his late thirties with average features, but if one look carefully, one would see his fit body. The orc is a grey orc, with a tall physique and a long sword as a weapon.
It is clear they are powerful, at least Level 20 and above.
It couldn't help but make me happy. The more powerful they are, the easier it will be to get out of here.
"If you don't mind me asking; at what time, did you two got pulled here?" I asked them. "About eighteen and a half hours ago," he replied. It is about nine hours before us.
A few hours passed, and I made small talk with them while dealing with zombies that came to attack us.
There we have got another enchanted weapon, which Jon took.
He already has an enchanted dagger; he did not have an enchanted weapon before getting pulled here. I did not ask where he got that, as it is not my business.
Another one and a half hours passed, and we stopped, and with grim expressions on our faces. Especially Viscount Atre and Jon. They looked like someone who had eaten something nasty.
We are staring at a huge building, similar to the one I had appeared, like many we had passed.
"Fuck, we are dead!" cursed Joseph, looking at the building.
Till now, all the buildings forming the seal were the same except for this one. It looked the same as others, but unlike other buildings, here the untamed garden had invaded inside it thickly.
One could feel the danger crawling on their skin as they looked at the plants covering the building thickly.
"There are people ahead," said Jon suddenly, and a second later, a group of people stepped out from behind the trees.
A group of six people, four humans, and two orcs.
"Heiman, Borg; I did not know you guys have also got pulled here," said the leading orc while coming to us. He had a smile on his face, but his focus was on Viscount Atre, who was staring at them with a casual smile on his face.
"One moment, we were all sleeping in our tens captain, and the next moment, we are here," said the Heiman, and the green orc nodded.
The new green-orc is bigger than Borg and has two long swords at his back. The people behind him are all armed, some are standing confidently, while others are nervous, like Ethan.
"It is good. You have brought powerful people with you; it will make things quite easier," said the green orc and looked at our group.
Especially focusing on the Viscount, who had turned toward him.
"Orc friend, it seemed like you know quite a lot about the exit," said Viscount, for the first time opening his mouth to speak. The green orc smiled before his expression turned serious, but he did not say anything immediately.
"Sixty years ago, my uncle, the leader of our mercenary guild, got pulled here," "He had told me it is the most dangerous thing he had faced in his life." said the green orc after seconds of silence.
It seemed to surprise the human and the orc beside me. They seemed to know nothing about it.
Green-orc looked at us, before turning to the building covered in the untamed growth.
"From what I remember, he said there i…" he begins, like he was telling a story and had quite a talent for it.
The way he is describing it is clear that he heard it as a story and was likely younger when he did. He did remember things, but not all. Though, the way he is describing it feels like he knows everything.
I had taken out the diary and started noting the points; the more I note, the more fear I feel.
He might have incomplete information, but it is still information that scared the hell out of me.
It took him over ten minutes to tell everything he knew and the silence descended; nobody knows what to say.
All of us are busy thinking about our chances of getting out of here, some like Ethan, are shaking in fear.
"Fuck, we are going to die here," said the man in his fifties in the orcs group, and immediately, everybody glared at him.
"Thank you for the precious information, orc friend. It seemed like we need to do some planning before going for the exit," said Viscount Atre, and walk a few steps before sitting down and motioning others to do the same.
Everybody sat down, and the Viscount looked at all of us.
"From what, orc friend told us, it is extremely hard to get out of here, even for someone of my strength." He said with a self-deprecating smile.
"Still, no matter dangerous it is, we will leave this place, but before that, we need a plan."
"For it, I will need to know about your level and skills. Nothing specific, but in a general sense," he stated and immediately the expressions on people's chance.
"Are mad! I am not going to tell you my level and skills." Shouted the blond human man in his mid-thirties.
The levels and skills are the one's biggest secret. People did not tell others about them.
A small smile appeared on the Viscount's face, and he slowly turned toward the man.
"I wasn't asking," said Viscount, and the suppressive aura blasted off his body and target the man.
He shakes before falling to the ground, unable to do anything against the mighty aura pressing into him. The power couldn't help but surprise me; he did not show such power when he used it against Commander Dale.
"So, does anyone have a problem?" he asked as he turned off his aura and nobody said anything.
"Good. We start will you, Captain Azalia," he said as looked at Captain Azalea. She nodded, but did not open her mouth immediately.
Thinking about what she should tell and what she shouldn't.
"Level 25+. I have general combat skills, with two buff skills. One buff the speed, while other buff strength of allies," she said while trying to keep her expressions neutral, but having a problem doing that.
Viscount nodded and turned to Joseph beside her.
"Joseph," he said. "Level 20+. General combat skills, with one rare offensive skill," he replied, with the same expression that Captain Azalea had on her face.
"Young Ashav," said Viscount. "I do not have any combat class," Ethan replied with reddened cheeks.
Viscount seemed to have been expecting that as there was no change in his expressions. He just gave Ethan a look before turning to Borg.
"Mister Borg," said Viscount, and hesitation appeared on the orc's face, and he looked at the green orc, who nodded gently.
"Level 20+ defensive warrior. I have general combat skills, with three shields skills, one of which stuns anything living or undead," he replied and for the first time, a genuine smile appeared on the Viscount.
A moment later, he did something surprising. He took a hand into his iles bag and brought out a black enchanted round shield. He threw it at the orc, who caught it with shock on his face.
"I will be taking it back after we got out here," said, Viscount and turned to Heiman.