GREED: ALL FOR WHAT?



Soverick is certainly victorious. He won against an army. It is a great achievement that should be more than enough for the child of the plane. The leader thought it is. Unfortunately for him, things haven't quite ended yet. They say that one shouldn't count their chicks before their eggs have hatched. It is so that one wouldn't run head first into a wall of fire that suddenly sprang up moments after celebrating their freedom. 

The leader escaped the zone of low visibility. Then he stopped because he ran into a wall of fire. His eye widened when he saw it.

"This is too much." He lamented.

The wall is the only thing he can see as he looked forward. It is too tall to jump over and it extends all the way around the army. The leader knows because he looked around for a break in the wall but he found nothing. The army has been surrounded by a wall of fire. It is literally blocking their path to freedom.

"This can't stop me. Surely it can't be that thick." He said as he ran forward.

He decided to brave the flames. Fire is dangerous but that's if it has enough time to burn. He intends to create a barrier around him with his solidified divine sense, rush through the wall of fire, and come out on the other side before the barrier is destroyed or before he dies. 

He isn't fortunate to have barrier armor. Those are very rare. So he will be injured by the flames but he might escape. The damage will be minimal if he is fast enough. Surely the wall of fire won't be that thick considering its incredible length. It is only reasonable for one to hope for that.

He ran head-first into the fire with the determination to escape. It takes a brave person to do what he did and a brave person deserves to escape. He couldn't see where he is going in the flame or through his divine sense but he continued to run forward. When there is a Will, there is a way.

He ran forward through the blazing wall and he was rewarded for his efforts. He was right about his conjecture. The flame wall isn't thick. It seems the child of the plane couldn't create a wall of fire that long and also thick enough to burn them to death. He was wrong about escaping though. He was right about the inadequate thickness of the wall of fire but then, he ran face-first into an actual wall behind the wall of fire.

Beyond the wall of fire is an earthen wall. This earthen wall is obscured by the flames so they didn't see it. Only those that ran into the fire and reached its end get to realize that it is there. For many of them, they don't even know what they ran into. They were running forward very quickly one moment as the fire burned them and the next, they have fallen on their butt from colliding with something they cannot run through. It is rather unfortunate.

Things are not over for those that were able to quickly recover from the brief setback. They have to run back the way they came from to leave the wall of fire. But who can easily remember the way back after being disoriented by the collision? Even if they did, the earthen wall has effectively doubled the thickness of the wall of fire. It is enough thickness to burn them to death. So no one escaped. 

The leader experienced excruciating pain as the fire went to work on him. He resisted as much as he could which slowed down his death. It was painful to experience but he didn't do it because he believed he could escape. He had the presence of mind to relay what happened to his lieutenants over the soul talisman. It is important that his death informs others about the danger of the obstacles to their freedom.

He shouted through the mind link as he died, "Something is blocking the way out of the fire. Don't run into the flames. Use consumables! Use consumables!" 

He warned them until he couldn't maintain his consciousness any longer and was removed from the competition. He is a good leader. Brave and dedicated to his army. He might die but his followers must live. He sent the information to all of his lieutenants so that whichever one is still alive can take charge. 

The fire hadn't done as much damage to the army as the spears. Not a lot of people are brave enough to run headfirst into the wall of fire so there is still a lot of them alive. It is not cowardice but rather a sign of sanity.

A lot of lieutenants were sane enough not to jump into the fire. They were alive to receive their leader's message. They got the information he acquired at the cost of his life and rallied the army. It came at an opportune time too because the wall of fire is closing in on the army. Sane or not, in time, they will have no choice but to be roasted in the flames.

The explosive consumables were used again. The army has a lot of it but they decided to be more efficient with it this time. They targeted a single point in the wall of fire to break through instead of scattering their ammunition. 

Their effort bore fruit. A section of the wall of fire and the earthen wall behind it was destroyed by the explosions. They were able to see what was behind the obstacle and what they saw made their heart sink. There's another wall of fire a short distance from the first one.

"Try another direction." A lieutenant ordered quickly with a shout. "Try another direction now."

They can't lose hope yet. It could be that Soverick healed this broken section of the wall as soon as it was breached. If so, then they just have to destroy it faster than he can heal it. It is their only chance. The alternative is worse.