Chapter 69: Land Of The Fallen Stars
THE NEXT DAY.
King woke before dawn broke across the Victorian estate. The training room had kept him occupied well past midnight, drilling spell rotations until muscle memory took over and conscious thought became unnecessary. He’d pushed his mana reserves to their limits, recovered, then pushed again, testing the boundaries of what his Mind stat could sustain in prolonged combat and how truly versatile his spells were.
Vi found him in the common area an hour later, dressed and ready. She wore her combat gear, the light armor that allowed mobility all the while still being proctective.
"You slept at all?" she asked.
"Just about enough," King said.
He opened his interface and selected Eli’s name from the friend list. The message interface expanded, and he typed quickly.
[King: Status check. You good?]
The response came within few seconds.
[Eli: All clear, Maya’s safe with me, we’ll be engaging hostiles soon.]
[King: Okay, Vi and I are just about heading to Constin city to progress our quest]
[Eli: Understood. Be careful.]
King closed the interface and looked at Vi. "They’re both fine."
"That’s good," Vi said. She checked her own inventory, scrolling through consumables and equipment. "I stocked up on mana potions, and some health potions. Should be enough for whatever we run into."
"Alright" King responded, activating the map interface. The marker Zauron had placed glowed bright red at the edge of the zoomed screen, King zoomed out and traced the marker northeastward deep into the area tagged as Land Of The Fallen Stars. The label pulsed with a faint warning indicator, signaling high-level threats.
"It’s a long walk, northeast" King observed.
"Then we should start moving," Vi said.
They exited the estate together, sealing the doors behind them.
King led them Northeast, following the map marker through terrain. They moved quickly, maintaining a steady pace that ate up distance without exhausting their stamina.
Hours passed. The sun climbed higher. They encountered scattered groups of low-level creatures, minor threats that King dispatched with basic construct spells. Vi conserved her mana, watching their flanks while King cleared the path forward.
And then, they were there. King’s expression shifted at the sight of structures he recognized immediately. His pace slowed, then stopped completely.
Vi noticed the shift in his posture. "What’s wrong?"
"This place," King said quietly. "This used to be Constin City."
Vi’s expression transformed. Her eyes lit up with recognition as she scanned the ruins surrounding them. The broken buildings, the layout of streets now overgrown with wild vegetation, the very path they took in their escape had now been overrun by vegetation, but still recognizable if one looked thoroughly.
"My home," she whispered.
"Let’s go" King urged as he took the first steps.
Vi fell in behind him and they moved forward carefully now.
The ruins provided cover but also concealment for potential threats. King summoned a basic construct blade, keeping it ready at his side. Vi charged mana in her palms, the pink energy glowing faintly between her fingers.
The demi-humans appeared gradually at first. Single scouts patrolling fixed distances back and fort. King eliminated them silently, construct blades materializing and striking before the creatures could alert others. The bodies collapsed without sound, dissolving into ash.
Vi handled the ones King didn’t notice quickly, her mana needles piercing their skulls and rendering them completely immobile. They worked in synchronized silence, a practiced rhythm developed through multiple battles.
The strategy held for nearly an hour. They penetrated deeper into the ruins, following the map marker as it drew closer. The concentration of demi-humans increased, forcing them to slow their advance and pick targets more carefully.
Then, they found one. The demi-human stood in an open clearing, with nothing to provide cover, all that laid around it were dead twigs an indication of something destructive happening on that area.
King turned to her, signaling to progress silently while he observed the routine of its movements.
Vi nodded and progressed.
King was still observing, when...
CRACK!
Vi stepped on a dead branch.
The crack echoed through the ruins with the finality of a gunshot.
The demi-human several meters ahead snapped its head toward them, eyes glowing dirty yellow. It opened its mouth and screamed.
King reacted instantly, launching a construct blade that caught the creature in the throat mid-cry. The blade severed its vocal cords and continued through, decapitating it cleanly.
The body crumpled.
But the damage was done.
GRRRR.
Growls began to erupt from multiple directions.
The sounds bounced off broken walls and collapsed buildings, making it impossible to determine exact locations or numbers. Hoots and screeches joined the chorus, creating a cacophony of inhuman voices closing in.
"We need open ground," King said.
He grabbed Vi’s hand and pulled her forward, sprinting through the ruins toward the clearing the demi-human stood. They reached into the open space seconds later, a circle of scorched earth roughly thirty meters in diameter. King released Vi and turned, scanning their surroundings.
"Watch my back," he said.
Vi positioned herself opposite him, both of them facing outward. The growls grew louder, converging from all sides.
King raised both hands and channeled mana upward. A large construct blade materialized above them, the weapon expanding until it measured three meters in length. He set it spinning, the blade rotating like a helicopter rotor, creating a protective barrier overhead.
Vi charged mana in both palms, poised at the ready.
The first demi-human burst from the tree line, moving with inhuman speed.
The spinning blade descended and caught it mid-leap. The creature’s head separated from its body in a spray of black blood. The corpse tumbled to the ground and began dissolving.
More followed. They emerged from behind ruins, from tall grass, from gaps in collapsed buildings. Their numbers multiplied with terrifying speed, a swarm of twisted humanoid forms driven by pure predatory instinct.
The construct blade moved with lethal efficiency, King directing it through mental commands. It swept in wide arcs, clearing entire groups with each pass. Bodies fell in pieces, holding for a while before dissolving into scattered dust.
[DEMI-HUMAN KILLED]
[DEMI-HUMAN KILLED]
[DEMI-HUMAN KILLED]
[DEMI-HUMAN KILLED]...
The kill count kept rising at the edge of King’s vision but he paid no heed to it.
Vi released her mana needles in rapid succession, each thrust of her palms sending a volley of pink projectiles into the approaching horde. The needles struck with perfect accuracy, piercing skulls and chests. The demi-humans hit by her attacks stiffened, their bodies locking up as the mana disrupted their nervous systems. They collapsed immobilized, easy targets for King’s blade to finish.
But the numbers kept increasing.
For every demi-human they killed, three more appeared. The clearing filled with charging bodies, the creatures stepping over their own dead to reach the two players at the center.
"King!" Vi called out as the distance closed to critical levels.
King made a decision. He shifted his mental focus and the spinning blade stopped its rotation. The weapon dissolved and before Vi could question the choice, he channeled his energy to create another construct.
A transparent sphere materialized around them, expanding rapidly until it enclosed both players in a protective bubble. The construct solidified just as the first wave of demi-humans reached them.
Ta-BANG!!!
CREEEEE
Bodies piled on top of each other as their claws scraped against the barrier, creating a mountain of writhing flesh that blocked out the fading sunlight. The sphere held firm, King channeling constant mana to reinforce the structure.
More demi-humans joined the pile. The weight increased, dozens of creatures scrambling over each other in their frenzy to reach the players inside. The clearing disappeared beneath a sea of twisted bodies.
And then,
CRACK.
A fracture appeared in the construct sphere, a hairline split running along the upper curve.
"King!" Vi shouted, backing closer to him.
"Don’t worry," King said calmly, his eyes slowly closing shut.
He raised one hand with the palm facing upward. Mana surged through him, channeling into an A-Rank spell he’d practiced the night before.
His finger tips glowed red, and he muttered...
"Cataclysm."
The air above them shifted. Reality warped as the spell activated, drawing on King’s Mind stat to fuel its devastating effect. The sky tinted with a red hue, as multiple red seals appeared.
From them, dozen balls of fire materialized in the crimson sky. They hung suspended for one perfect moment, compressed fire and stone that radiated heat intense enough to make the air shimmer.
Then they fell.
The first meteor struck the pile of demi-humans with apocalyptic force. The impact sent shockwaves rippling outward, and superheated flame erupted in all directions. The creatures caught in the blast screeched painfully as the flames consumed their flesh and bones.
More flaming rocks followed in rapid succession. They rained down across the entire clearing, each impact creating a new explosion of fire. The area-of-effect coverage was total and absolute, sparing nothing from its wrath. The demi-humans, the trees, the grass, even the ruins at the clearing’s edge, all of it caught fire and burned.
The temperature inside the construct remained constant, it’s nature being made from the same mana source. Vi pressed closer to King at the sounds of the explosion as the transparent surface glowed orange from the inferno raging outside.
The meteors continued their descent for thirty seconds exactly, the spell’s duration ticking down as destruction accumulated. When the last meteor struck and the flames began to subside, the clearing had been transformed into a scorched wasteland.
King dismissed the construct sphere. The barrier dissolved and only then could Vi feel the heat of the dying flames.
King stepped forward, kicking aside the pile of demi-human corpses that had surrounded them. The bodies crumbled to ash at his touch, before dissipating into scattering dust.
Vi stood beside him, staring at the devastation with wide eyes. The clearing had expanded to nearly thrice its original size, fire having consumed everything within a very wide radius. Smoke rose in thick columns, obscuring the sky.
"That’s..." Vi started, then trailed off, searching for words adequate to describe what she’d witnessed.
"That" King finished.
He checked his mana reserves. His pool had dropped below sixty percent over the last hour. Acceptable, considering what they’d faced. He pulled a mana potion from his inventory and drank it, feeling the restoration begin immediately.
Vi did the same, replenishing what she’d spent during the initial assault.
They moved forward through the ash and smoke, following the map marker that continued to pulse ahead. The ruins thinned as they advanced, giving way to open ground that led toward their destination.
The marker grew brighter with each step, indicating proximity.
And then they saw it.
The territory Arandiel had claimed during the rescue operation, the same corrupted space where the Fallen Angel had manifested his power.
But the location had evolved dramatically since King’s last visit.
A temple floated in the air above the ground, suspended by no visible means. The structure was massive, crafted from black stone.
And at ground level, was a towering wall, and a Black Gate.
Before the gate, stood a figure that made king swallow hard.
A true Nephilim.
