In the confines of the Rohese Estate, a sanctuary amidst the battle raging outside, Lassim was reunited with his friends. They appeared a few moments ago, brought over by his grandfather after they were rescued.
He was reassured to be in the company of Sirium and Lustria again. Alas, their reunion was bittersweet, as it was marred by the grave news of Master Kale’s fall in battle that they brought back to him.
Sirium recounted the tale with heavy heart, detailing how the beloved Master Kale had fought valiantly against overwhelming odds, only to be overwhelmed by a devastating beam from the star fish beholder-like creature. Sirium had been making his way through the academy’s grounds under the guidance of one of the Elders when he had been able to witness Master Kale’s death.
It was only moments after that when Lassim’s grandfather appeared with Lustria at his side, then whisking them away to the estate.
Lassim was internally a bit distraught, but he chose to control his face with a mask of stoic unperturbedness. The only thing that betrayed him was his clenched fists, so tightly bound they started to drip blood. He didn’t deeply know Master Kale, but he had been one of the teachers Lassim had spent the first couple months at the academy with.
Nearly every other day was spent in the training grounds together, obtaining advice here and there as they spectated duels together or learned strategies. The weight of grief and the burning desire for strength to protect and avenge filled his heart.
"If only I were stronger," he whispered, a sentiment shared in silence among the others in the trio.
Meanwhile, returning the the battle high above that was taking place, the Headmaster finally had enough. His long engagement in a fierce battle with the abyssal lieutenant had gone on too long and even cost the Nexarian race of someone with the potential to be one of the next Guardians of the continent.
Not only that, but someone that was a dear friend of his he had recruited to be an Elder at the academy for the last 3,000 years. The impact Master Kale had on the future generations was not small.
What could’ve been mattered not anymore, as Caelum Ferrum was outraged. Now he was determined to show why exactly he was a Guardian.
*BADUMP*
An intense thump of a heartbeat rang out.
A single beat.
Then, the world was overcome with a pressure unlike anything the mortals or students at the academy had ever felt. Heck, even some Elders at the academy had yet to see or feel the immense weight and gravity that a true Transcendent level cultivator releases when they fully activate their mana.
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Above in the sky, Headmaster Caelum Ferrum appeared saintly. With that heartbeat thump, his enemy froze on an instinctual level, it’s instincts screaming alarm bells that rang the message "DANGER" through it’s body.
*BADUMP* *BADUMP*
Then, with the Headmaster’s releasing of his full power, a two ringed halo appeared above his head. This was not the constellation that mere Spirit Ascension cultivators used to connect to the heaven tier of holy elemental energy of the heavens. This was the next step.
Spirit Ascension cultivators would need to shatter their solid constellations at SA9 before taking that energy and molding it to form a halo that would take the spot above them where the constellation once was.
Each rank up would add another fully formed halo, and it appeared the Headmaster already had formed his second one.
The halos above his head were pure silver and radiated an otherworldly and intense, metallic mana energy. It was breath taking, remarkable, and extremely holy with it’s presence. It represented not just the entirety of an SA9 spirit warrior’s cultivation, but one that condensed it and then multiplied it into a new form.
Not only that, but the headmaster had accomplished that much accumulation of holy elemental mana not once—but twice.
Their fight quickly escalated in intensity immediately. The cataclysmic display of power sent shockwaves through the skies. Each clash birthed destructive ripples across the continent’s sky. The slug-like Lieutenant became a rag doll under the headmaster’s assault, but it’s body was sturdy. It’s gelatinous form made it absorb the shockwaves and physical blows more easily.
It made it hard to actually slice or cut it’s body with his great axe due to that slimy physique.
Yet, the headmaster was undeterred as he continued his onslaught.
Down below at the academy, Vice Headmaster Evelyn Nightshade, was fully ignoring the battles around her as her face was set with determination. She worked feverishly on the elemental plane’s arrays using the orb that acted as the key controls for the now corrupted portal.
Her focus was intense as her mana was flowing into the intricate network of spells that bound the plane to their world through the crystalline globe she held in her hands. Then, with a final adjustment that turned the orb’s glow from blue to orange, she shouted upwards.
"Headmaster!" she called out, her voice resounding with power in all directions. "I’m about to collapse the plane. This will end it!"
Seizing the moment, Headmaster Ferrum executed a series of calculated maneuvers to drive the slug-like behemoth towards the portal. His strikes, blasted and herded the creature back downwards. He was manipulating its movements with precision and his control over the area around him seemed suspiciously god-like.
It was like the area within 1000 meters around him was enhancing him and he held control over the world around him in that space. It would be a curious sight to many that would spawn questions if the lives of everyone weren’t so endangered at the moment.
As the slug-like Lieutenant was forced towards the portal, a fierce struggle ensued as it tried to retreat anywhere else other than back where it came from.
However, what exactly was a Guardian? The name wasn’t just for show. The Headmaster overpowered the lieutenant’s attempts to escape. His eyes reflected a fire of retribution and anger in loss of his friend, never wavering from his target.
It was then that the headmaster forced the Lieutenant’s body into the dimensional veneer of the portal’s gateway.
Evelyn, sensing the critical moment, gave her final command as she activated an order to the rearranged arrays, infusing her mana into the crystal at the perfect moment.
"Detonate!" She shouted.
The energy built up within the arrays of the elemental plane from millennia of maintaining the prison was unleashed in a violent explosion.
The portal, the link between the two dimensions, trembled violently under the strain of the collapsing plane it hitched a ride on for the connection.
The slug-like creature, became stuck in the maelstrom of collapsing space. It roared in defiance and terror as it’s body was caught half-way, stuck transitioning, through the dimensional space in the portal’s connection.
The explosion of the elemental plane was monumental, and the only outlet for it to go was the portal’s boundary. A spectacle of destruction tore the abyssal lieutenant asunder.
The force of the detonation, magnified by the instability of the portal, ripped through the creature, shredding it apart. Its screams, a symphony of agony and disbelief, were the last sounds it made as it was obliterated, its body sucked into the portal’s surface like a black hole, only to be scattered across the void of a collapsed space tunnel between dimensions.
In the aftermath, the portal’s violent closure sent shockwaves throughout the vicinity, the landscape around the academy bore the scars of the battle and the portal’s destruction. The once menacing gateway to the abyss was no more, its remnants a twisted sculpture of space and time.
Not just the academy, but the entirity of the Aurora Kingdom felt the shockwave of the collapsing portal.
Back at the Rohese Estate, Lassim, Sirium, and Lustria felt the tremor of the plane’s destruction. They shared a moment of silent understanding. The Elders and Headmaster must have done something to close the portal, so their hearts heavy with the cost of victory but relieved that the nightmare would soon be over.
As the tremor subsided, a hushed silence enveloped the estate. Only the medical team still working frantically at new arrivals. The city was still being overrun with the abyssal legion, but with the Headmaster unoccupied now, was able to quickly use his overwhelming might to annihilate the remaining creatures with the help of the unaffiliated cultivators and academy Elders over the next few hours.
They ensured that every last creature was slaughtered as there was no longer any elemental planes to act as a training ground or prison. They would build a new one in the future, but for now they would focus on rebuilding the city, and contacting and compensating families that had students or Elders perish in the attack.
As the night crept in, the estate glowed with the light of hundreds of small fires and lanterns, a symbol of life and endurance in the face of darkness. The Rohese Estate, a sanctuary amid chaos, became open to the public for those needing aid across the city.
Other prestigious noble families opened their doors to help all and the architect division of the Rohese’s building empire began to rapidly construct housing to replace those that were affected; for free. Nexaria’s defense against the Dragal’s forces meant that it was times like this where they needed to come together and be strong.
In the aftermath of the invasion, the academy would mourn, rebuild, and grow stronger. The battle was over, but the war against the abyssal forces was just beginning.