The cutscene ended, and Lily was shaken awake. It appeared that her character had been carried into the forest, having averted a terrible fate.
“Run! For Father’s sake, run!” one of the soldiers in front of her screamed as they opened a thick steel door hidden in the deep forest as quickly as they could.
As she stood, everything hurt. Her chest was tight, her arms strained to move, and her stomach was twisting and tightening into a complex knot. But as she turned, she saw another hoard of Voidspawn barreling down on their position.
Ignoring the pain, she ran through the door with all of her remaining strength. The only one who didn’t make it in was the soldier holding the door. The Voidspawn barreled into him, closing the door unintentionally along the way. The screaming was brief, but horrible. Lily locked the door, and took only a few steps before collapsing. The outpost bunker was their only refuge now. Dozens of holographic screens flickered and the lights threatened to go out.
The Voidspawn slammed against the door with a thunderous crash, but the door remained solid. Planet-wide corruption had taken everything else, this last bulwark was their only hope.
Their best efforts had failed. One by one, squad by squad, battalion by battalion, they had fallen. Torn apart, swallowed whole, everyone had suffered. It sucked all the life out of the planet. Leaves. Grass. Flowers. Wild beasts and the civil men alike were sundered and rent.
They needed to send a warning. A warning to the others, to the last of the Malakhim. Kolob was lost.
Lily found herself lying on the ground. She'd pushed herself too hard. Her legs wouldn't respond. Her arms quivered as if they were made of jelly. She couldn't move. Couldn't help.
She heard something. It sounded like a loud thud, followed by a groan. She forced herself to sit up, ignoring the pain in her abdomen. It was a man, lying nearby.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
He sat up slowly, grimacing. "Yeah..." He coughed violently, blood splattering his face. He shook his head, looking around. "What happened?"
"We were attacked by a Beast. We escaped into an outpost bunker."
"We got lucky." the soldier spat. "Where are the others?"
"Dead," Lily said softly. "All of them. There's no one left."
The man's shoulders slumped. "I need to get a message out. I wonder if we can reach Terra from this substation?”
"Terra?” Lily raised an eyebrow.
“Yes. The locals call it Earth.” he explained, “We have a small contingency of Malakhim soldiers stationed there.”
"Do you think they could help us?"
"No... it’s too late for us. But we must tell them what happened here, and we must warn them."
The man reached his hand out. Lily took it gently, helping him stand. Together, they walked over to the main terminal. It was massive, at least twenty feet tall. The cables coming out of the console reminded her of hydraulics. The screen displayed a map of the surrounding area.
"Do you know where Terra is?" Lily asked.
"Yeah. It's in a system called Sol on the edge of the galaxy, just north of the star Vega."
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
"Okay, let's see if we can get a signal out." Lily said.
He pressed a series of buttons on the terminal, trying to connect to the nearest relay station. Nothing happened.
"By Father!" He exclaimed.
He slammed his fist on the console, and it flickered back to life. The terminal clicked. One of the screens lit up with a transmission.
─ MESSAGE SENT TO ALL RELAY STATIONS: KOLOB IS FALLEN
─ CONFIRMATION FROM RELAY STATION 14-3: MESSAGE RECEIVED
─ CONFIRMATION FROM RELAY STATION 13-1: MESSAGE RECEIVED
The responses started to pour in. He checked each one, confirming that the messages were being received. One by one, the confirmation popped up. It took several minutes until finally he got the response he was waiting for. The message from Terra read:
─ CONFIRMATION FROM RELAY STATION 19-17: MESSAGE RECEIVED
Lily watched as he sighed and dropped his head. He slumped forward, his forehead resting against his hands.
"It’s done.” He whispered.
"Will they come?" she asked.
He paused, looking up at the giant door. It was almost completely smashed in.
"If they do, it’ll still be too late."
Somewhere, far away, a dark voice called out in anger. It was loud, and angry. A powerful echo. The door creaked as the doorframe bent inward. The hinges buckled, the metal twisting as the massive doors began to break.
And then, all at once it snapped.
The Voidspawn burst in, its body towering over them. The door shattered against the wall as its clawed tentacles tore through the metal. The impact nearly knocked Lily off her feet. Its eyes burned red as it stepped forward, its tendrils reaching out.
Lily froze in fear. Every instinct told her to run, but she couldn’t.
Its tentacle lashed out, wrapping around her arm. It pulled her up, tugging her closer. She struggled, but it was no use. Another tentacle wrapped around her leg, pulling her close. The third grabbed her neck, lifting her up into the air.
She screamed, fighting against the tendril that held her. It yanked her back, sending her flying into the air. She hit the ground hard, and the world spun out of control. Before she could even blink, she felt the sharp, warm bite of her own blood splattered across her face.
Lily lay there, stunned. Her body ached, her mind was numb. She could hear the Leviathan at the door, clawing at the wall. It sounded like a freight train tearing through a building.
“Yield thy soul unto me!” The smoky creature shrieked. Its voice was low and guttural, like a thousand voices speaking at once. It sounded wild and primal, like it was in pain. But it also sounded intelligent.
Every fiber in her being told her to run. To flee and hide. She had to escape. But she stayed put, staring at the creature as it neared her.
"No," she whispered. She didn't dare to move. Her entire body was trembling. "Go away."
The creature stopped in front of her. Its body was taller than her, bigger than anything she'd ever seen. Its eyes burned with anger, its mouth twisted into a sneer. It bared its teeth, exposing rows of razor sharp teeth engulfed in flames. Its breath smelled like burning sulfur.
She shuddered, and tried to back away. But the creature loomed over her. She felt as if she were about to faint. This was the end. The end of everything.
The Leviathan lunged forward, grabbing her by the throat. She couldn't breathe. It lifted her up, and her vision blurred with spots. She squeezed her eyes shut. Everything went black.
Another cutscene opened.
> High General Lakatar screamed, flipping over the small tea table in front of him. The ceramic pot shattered on the ground. Steam rolled up into the air as the general plodded through the shallow pool.
>
> “By Father!” Lakatar scowled. The other general in the room didn’t respond, instead just letting Lakatar roar and scream and calm down a bit. “That Leviathan destroyed Kolob!”
>
> “I know, sir.”
>
> “Kolob! Our bastion, our bulwark! What in Father’s name happened?!”
>
> “I don’t know, sir. No one knows. The battle was going very, very well.”
>
> “I know it was! I saw it myself, from the screens! What happened? We had ninety seven percent of the planet under our control, and four hours later, we had two percent! And ten minutes after that, we get a message saying Kolob is the Leviathan’s now? In the name of Father, how powerful is this thing?!”
>
> “I don’t know, sir. May I suggest a course of action?”
>
> “What? Do you have some idea on how we can beat this thing?”
>
> “Not on how to beat it, but on how to outrun it. Any sources of information we find seem to indicate it’s going towards the Watcher’s World.”
>
> “Terra?”
>
> “Yes.”
>
> The High-General scowled. “And what do you suggest we do?”
>
> “I suggest we take it from the heretics. Father was far too lenient in his dealings with them. We shall show them the light, offer them a chance to repent.”
>
> “Should they refuse?”
>
> “We shall show them the torch.”
After the cutscene ended, a prompt appeared in her NeuReality vision.
Level 1 Complete!
Kolob is Fallen
----------------------------------------
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