"Hehe, almost done."
"Is this... really going to work?"
The Snail Shaman etched the patterns while immersed in his memories.
It looked convincing enough, but Gron had his doubts. To him, the snail was merely scribbling on the wall.
Still, time was short and the task demanding. For now, he could only trust the Snail Shaman.
After all, the shaman had told him to rest easy, though he had no idea what there was to feel easy about.
"Mokura, Pokura!"
Reciting an obscure incantation, the Snail Shaman touched his iron staff to the rock face of the gate.
The iron staff traced an arc, then a zigzag, then a winding line.
Runes. Clearly, the Snail Shaman was doing what he did best.
This was a special ritual that, through elaborate preparations, allowed him to unleash power far beyond the limits of life.
But this time was different. The Snail Shaman seemed even more confident.
Ever since receiving the wisdom Lin Jin had bestowed upon him in the secret chamber, inspiration had poured from the Snail Shaman like a fountain.
[The script is written, but without an audience, wouldn't it lose its flavor?]
As the final stroke fell into place, a circular runic array appeared before all the bugs.
"My research seeks power from without, while my lord's craft seeks it from within."
"If the two are mixed in the right proportions, they can produce even more incredible results."
With a rolling rumble, the array began to glow. Every bug could feel a powerful force gathering.
Quite a few soldiers even took several steps back to avoid becoming noncombat casualties.
Even Gron, their commander, raised his shield against whatever might go wrong.
Mortas had retreated first. As hunters, the members of the Hunter Clan were all fragile, and their sense for danger far surpassed that of the other bugs in the expedition.
For a moment, the Snail Shaman, who stood closest, was the only one in the entire space taking no defensive measures.
"Hahaha, soon you will understand the greatest difference between yourselves and me."
The immense energy continued to gather, its roar even drowning out the Snail Shaman's boast. By then, however, no one cared about that.
The center of the array grew hotter and brighter, while the entire gate kept collapsing and breaking apart.
"This is...!"
Mortas exclaimed in surprise. He had already begun to understand. "So that's it. Simple and efficient. Why didn't we think of this before?"
Gron soon grasped what had just happened as well, and he could not help feeling wary of the snail once again.
How long had it even been? The shaman's research into Soulfire had already reached such heights, even though the Ashen Clan had been the first followers.
Gradually, the smoke cleared, allowing the ordinary bugs to see what had happened.
The gate that had thwarted several of their assaults was gone. All that remained was a heap of ash and the array still gleaming within it.
"Soulfire can affect not only oneself, but enemies as well."
The Snail Shaman laughed as he revealed the trick behind his magic, thoroughly pleased with the result.
"With a slight adjustment to the runes that form Soulfire, you can transfer it directly from yourself, its medium, onto an enemy."
"Then you simply ignite all the Soulfire serving as the medium at once from a distance, and you can strike the enemy remotely."
"Add the support of my specially crafted array, and the combination allows even lifeless rock and steel to serve as a medium. I call this the Point-Detonation Rune."
Every soldier was stunned. Making a target explode on its own, without slashing it with a blade or stabbing it with a spear, was utterly unheard of.
As they felt the power within themselves, they realized that the snail's words did seem credible. They simply had never thought of it before.
The gate was open. After a brief rest, the Expedition Army continued onward, and this time the Snail Shaman stayed with them.
To every bug's surprise, Gron was the one who took the initiative and asked him to stay.
Faced with tangible benefits, he too chose to set aside their past, baseless disputes.
And the Snail Shaman did not disappoint him. A bug who believed only in power would not dwell on the past, especially since he had not actually lost anything back then.
At the invitation of Gron, the Sunfire Commander, the Snail Shaman cheerfully accepted the position of magic instructor.
He would be responsible for teaching the soldiers how to wield their Soulfire when they were not at war.
It suited him well indeed.
Soon, the army regrouped and marched through the gate.
Simply getting inside had been this difficult. Surely even greater dangers awaited within this Royal City of the past.
Gron remained vigilant. He was the first bug through the gate.
The sight before him was solemn, sacred, and magnificent.
The scene beyond the gate was nothing like what Gron had imagined.
There was none of the decay or desolation he had expected.
The entire mountain had been hollowed out. Within this enormous cavern, a majestic city rose all the way to the ceiling.
"So this is the Royal City of the Ancient Civilization..."
Almost every soldier was stunned by the sight. They had never seen buildings so solemn and splendid.
Mortas was little better. Looking at everything before him, he felt increasingly certain that he had made the right choice. Staying holed up in that tiny cave of the past would have been digging his own grave.
Of course he knew of the Royal City, but only through his ancestors. This was his first time seeing it with his own eyes.
Of the entire company, only the Snail Shaman chuckled strangely, his thoughts a mystery.
The Royal City had been built against a ridge covered in steel and waterfalls. Waterwheels driven by those falls supplied the city with a constant stream of power.
Mortas recognized the largest waterfall. This was the source of the underground water that irrigated the entire Fungal Wastes.
The designer's original intent was plain: to make this city eternal through the power of nature. He had succeeded, but forgotten that its rulers and people were not eternal.
The immense, extravagant city stood at the very center, surrounded by several circular rivers and unbroken stretches of walls.
What the Expedition Army had passed through was merely the first small checkpoint.
The truly magnificent walls rose so high that ordinary bugs could not see their tops, naturally inspiring an intense sense of oppression and awe.
Within the walls stood neatly arranged buildings and roadways connecting the entire Royal City.
All these roads ultimately led to the king's palace, like veins converging on a heart.
The city also held many towering spires and pointed-roof buildings, gleaming with sacred light beneath the artificial illumination.
From afar, the entire Royal City resembled a dreamlike city in the sky.
"All troops, stay alert! Defensive formation!"
At Gron's command, the soldiers immediately snapped to attention and swiftly formed ranks.
There was no need to ask questions. Their duty as warriors made them obey instinctively.
Ahead of the company, several iron bugs covered in obvious rust staggered toward them.
"Defend... the Royal... City..."
"Eliminate... intruders..."
"It's the Iron Army, the old king's most loyal subordinates. It seems they went so far as to use soul infusion technology to protect the Royal Capital."
"Haha, now they truly live up to their name as soldiers of iron."
After a brief examination, the Snail Shaman volunteered an explanation. "Be careful, though. In their current state, they feel neither pain nor fatigue. Only complete destruction will stop them."
As the Snail Shaman spoke, those decrepit machines continued stumbling forward.
They held broken weapons ravaged by time. Some had even lost half their bodies, yet still crawled futilely along the ground.
Gron was moved. He had always respected the loyal and righteous, all the more so after learning the history of this place.
"Such loyalty, to give everything for so absurd a king."
"But I won't hold back. Times have changed, and everything from the past should be cast out into the wilderness."
Gron waved his hand and gave the order. He admired the enemy's courage, but he would deliver his judgment without mercy.
The soldiers obeyed, drawing their weapons and forming battle ranks. Perhaps there was no grudge between the two sides, but this was a battle for survival.
There was no hope in the wilderness. They had to seize every usable piece of territory they could.
"In the name of the Sunfire God!"
"Attack!"
Before you continue