Dervahl's attack on Meridian's Sun King – Horizon Zero Dawn

We continue where we left off. I find myself in the bandit camp where we found Erend's sister, but unfortunately we were unable to rescue her in time, as she died in front of us from injuries sustained from torture. Ersa, in her last moments, reveals to us that Dervahl is planning an attack against Meridian with a destructive device.

With no time to waste, we all headed towards the city of Meridian to look for any clues indicating a possible terrorist attack.

After arriving, I informed the Sun King of what had happened and warned him of the importance of putting the city on alert for any sign of suspicious activity. As that would not be enough, I inspected some warehouses recently rented by a merchant, which unfortunately I had seen loading Blaze, a highly explosive material.

Upon entering the warehouse, the first thing we saw was the pump, but something wasn't right. The device looked very small. As I examined it with the FOCUS, I detected a trail leading up the stairs, and as I climbed them I got a huge surprise.

The bottom was a decoy or a trap, because the real bomb was on the second floor. In front of me I had 4 huge barrels of Blaze, which formed a huge incendiary bomb and there was no possibility of defusing it.

The situation was so complex that we had to improvise. Behind the pump there was a loading access leading to the ravine and pushing the barrels through there could be the only solution.

After pushing the barrels, there was a huge explosion that caused the decoy bombs to detonate as well. The flare was so big that we almost didn't get out of there.

Everyone was celebrating joyfully, but there was something that didn't add up. That bomb, however powerful, was nowhere near the palace, so it had no target, unless it was a distraction. With more doubts than answers, he used the FOCUS to follow a trail leading from the burned warehouse.

The trail led me to what appears to be a bookstore and on the second floor I found a hole in the wall.

Crossing the hole, I find a hidden path that allows access to a bridge that connects to the king's palace. It seems that Dervahl used this passage to reach the king.

My suspicions were confirmed when I saw Dervahl and his men crossing the bridge at the bottom. Fearing the worst, I hurried to get there in time to avoid the same thing happening as with Ersa, Erend's sister.

Arriving at the solarion, the place where the king is almost always, I find the Avad and all his guards on the ground, incapacitated by the loud noise produced by the Dervahl's device. Luckily, I still had the guards I took from the bandit in the camp.

As I approach, the fight begins and I have to face Dervahl and his men. But first I deactivate the sound device that had incapacitated all the guards. Those guards are still down, so I did it all alone.

After defeating some bandits, Dervahl activates his Plan C and summons some Glinthawks, which are attracted by a small device that produced some clicks and made them very aggressive.

To eliminate the pesky birds, I had to shoot them with fire arrows in the chest, as that is their vulnerable spot. After finishing them all off, I took a selfie with what was left of them.

Defeating Dervahl was a bit more complicated, but not impossible. This bandit carried an extra weapon that disarmed his attackers and tore off parts of the armor. Luckily, he already had the triple shot talent, which allows, as its name suggests, to shoot 3 fire arrows at a target.

In the end, after eliminating all the attackers, the only one left standing was their leader, Dervahl. Although he managed to survive, he will have to spend the rest of his days in prison. After watching him being dragged away, I went to talk to Erend to say goodbye to him, as the path of the seeker continues beyond the walls of Meridian.