With a crack of thunder, the sky broke apart to reveal a sea of roiling flames and molten rock. For a second, nothing else happened, but then, a cataclysm of unprecedented proportions fell upon the city of Ivern, burying the dome of the Barrier in hellfire and brimstone.
Inside, Lord Adontis looked up and sneered at the expression of the massive spell. It was impressive. Powerful and destructive. Yet, it was not enough. The monsters – or more appropriately, whoever had harnessed their might – had given it their best shot, and they had come up short.
As was appropriate.
However, just because the massive attack had failed didn’t mean that it had been completely ineffective. The Barrier verged on insurmountable, but like everything else in the Eternal Realm, it had limits. The city-encompassing enchantment was powered by a thousand slaves, each one linked to the enchantment via a lunar steel collar.
A full half had fallen, completely drained of all mana. When their cores had run dry, the enchantment had sucked the vitality right out of them. Lord Adontis didn’t need to inspect them to know that they were dead.
Normally, the loss of a few slaves wouldn’t have concerned him. However, these slaves were special. Powerful in their own, very specific way. They’d each been forced to take a class that gave them all sorts of advantages – in terms of mana capacity, regeneration, and the ability to funnel all of that into the enchantment – which meant they were largely irreplaceable, at least in the short term.
Fortunately, the danger quickly passed.
The flames retreated, and the molten rock slid away from the shimmering dome of protective power, and Ivern still stood – perfectly safe and undamaged.
It was not surprising, but inwardly, Lord Adontis could at least acknowledge that it was a relief. The monsters were far more powerful than they had any right to be, which only enhanced his certainty that they needed to be removed from the world.
Unfortunately, none of his allies had answered his requests for aid. The so-called Imperium of the Radiant Host had ignored him altogether, and every other ally had made excuses.
Cowards, all.
He intended to deal with them appropriately. He’d been in seclusion for too long. The Eternal Realm had forgotten what it meant to insult Adontis. Years ago, he would have laid waste to an entire empire for such a thing. Yet, he’d been far too focused on his own development, of late.
The world needed to be reminded who he was and why they should respect his people.
But for now, they had a monster horde at their proverbial gate. And it was becoming increasingly obvious that the current strategy of simply waiting for them to disperse on their own was a losing proposition.
Perhaps it was a sign that he needed to take a firmer hand in his city’s defense. That went against his overall strategy. He’d spent nearly a century trying to usher them to self-sufficiency. That meant taking a hands-off approach where he let the Knights of Adontis defend themselves so that, when the time came for him to ascend to the Ethereal Realm, they could help nourish him even as he’d nurtured them.
He was no expert on what to expect upon ascension, but he did know that no one climbed to the top without followers. So, he’d spent the past century preparing his people to fill that role – which meant leaving them to fend for themselves. Now, that strategy looked like it was on the verge of failure.
Thousands had already been lost.
He’d given even more to the Imperium. And for what? So they could refuse him aid when requested? It was an insult, and of epic proportions. The moment he removed the monster horde from the equation, it would be time to turn his attention to the so-called Imperium. They were vulnerable, now. And if they weren’t allies, then they had established themselves as enemies.
Lord Adontis was just getting worked up when something stirred outside the Barrier. At first, he thought it was another spell. But then he felt the power swirling.
And he flinched away.
It wasn’t just destruction, though that was there. It was so much more. Like his very concept of destruction was merely a shadow of the real thing roiling overhead.
A black sun of pure annihilation manifested, and it brought ruin with it. At first, it simply pulled everything – mana, air, the very notion of gravity – to it. It yanked streams of energy from the Barrier, draining it of all power. Yet, the shield held.
Mostly.
Even as fissures spread across its surface, more slaves fell. Lord Adontis dashed forward, leaping from his balcony and sending himself sailing across the city. He landed among the fallen slaves and yanked a collar from an unfortunate soul’s neck. Then, he clasped it around his own and channeled his own mana through the apparatus, hoping the influx of energy would give it the power it needed to maintain its structure amidst that dreadful pull.
And over the next minute, he poured more mana into the Barrier than he ever thought possible. Yet, it worked. The pull slowed, then ceased altogether.
Lord Adontis let his shoulders sag in relief.
But then the sun exploded. The Barrier shattered, and for the first time in a century, Lord Adontis felt the wrath of true agony.
Of annihilation in its purest form.
Buildings were destroyed, stripped of their structure right down to their most fundamental pieces. In the space of a second, people caught fire, melted, then turned to ash. Then, that ash dissipated into motes of mana as the brief instant of annihilation tore them entirely apart.
Lord Adontis activated every defensive skill he had.
But even then, his armor – an artifact of massive power on its own – melted to his body. Fortunately, the shield had blocked the worst of the effects, so the locus of destruction only extended a couple hundred yards from the black sun’s location. Even then, the casualties – especially among the Knights, who were mostly stationed near the outer wall – were devastating.
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For his part, Lord Adontis survived more or less intact. Yet, the strain on his stores of mana as well as body exceeded anything he’d felt in centuries.
He was still alive, though.
And now that the Barrier was down – and it didn’t look like it would ever recover – he was free to exact revenge on whoever had brought a monster horde to his doorstep.
Only then did he hear the screams.
Lord Adontis whipped around and launched himself through the air. On a cushion of pure moonlight, he raced to the center of the city, where he saw his worst nightmares come to life.
Thousands of monsters – scaley and armed with shields and spears, of all things – poured out of a sinkhole in the middle of the city. A few Knights were stationed there, and they put some degree of resistance, but most of his strongest warriors had been stationed near the wall.
Most of those were now dead, destroyed so completely that nothing but a few motes of mana remained.
If his city was going to survive, Lord Adontis had no choice. He needed to intervene, and quickly. So, he summoned his sword, pushed what mana he retained into [By the Light of the Moon] and rushed forward to slaughter the monsters who’d invaded his city.
He only got a few feet before he felt himself falling in the wrong direction. An instant later, something hit him with enough force to rattle his bones and send him sailing across the city. His momentum didn’t stop until he crashed into his palace, toppling one of the soaring towards and sending a cascade of brickwork falling to the ground a thousand feet below.
Climbing free of the wreckage, Lord Adontis looked back to see a massive golem standing just inside the city. It looked like a statue forged from blood mithril and silvery steel, though with enough jagged protrusions to suggest more brutality than beauty.
He used [Eyes of the Moon Lord]:
Arcane Colossus – Level 65
Strength – Peak
Agility – Average
Dexterity – High
Endurance – Peak
Vitality – Average
Intelligence – Very High
Wisdom – Extremely High
Resistances – Extremely High
[Eyes of the Moon Lord] was an extremely powerful skill, and one that had, on many occasions, proved to be the difference between life and death. After all, a warrior who didn’t know his opponent was bound to make mistakes. Yet, for the first time ever, he wished for ignorance. The monster was only level sixty-five, and yet, its attribute tiers were more impressive than any Lord Adontis had ever seen.
That was enough to confirm that this Arcane Colossus was the leader of the horde. Was it the source of that black sun skill? If so, could it bring it to bear again? If that was possible, Lord Adontis was certain that nothing would survive.
Still, the creature was only level sixty-five. No monster of that level should be capable of standing up to him. Yet…
Even from so far away, Lord Adontis could feel the weight of the thing’s accumulations. Its attributes were unlike anything he’d ever seen, and the presence of its Will was nearly overwhelming. Finally, there was something else he’d never felt before. Something otherworldly.
Or divine.
He shuddered, a wave of fear crawling up his spine.
Then, he clamped down on that unnatural feeling. He was level eight-seven. Twelve unimaginably vast levels past the threshold. He’d killed millions. Hundreds of millions, perhaps. And he’d spent decades slowly accumulating levels while augmenting his own Will. He feared no being.
So, after shoving his dread aside, Lord Adontis stepped forward, using [Moon Bridge] to support himself. He drifted slowly toward the ground, ignoring the monsters who were, with every passing second, slaughtering his people. They had sheltered beneath his might for far too long. If they couldn’t defend themselves from a monster horde, then they didn’t deserve his protection.
Instead, he focused entirely on his opponent.
The Arcane Colossus had yet to move. Instead, it stood rooted in place, carrying a massive and brutal club. Or was it a hammer? Whatever the case, the barbaric weapon had a handle of bone, with two tapered protrusions on opposite sides, with smaller, perpendicular projections on the others.
“Monster,” he shouted. “You are blessed to become fuel for my rise. You must –”
“Oh, shut up,” the monster growled.
And then, Lord Adontis was once again falling toward the creature. He managed to use [Protection of the Moon] just before the monster’s massive weapon hit him. Yet, the protective shield that had been the inspiration for the great Barrier could do nothing to dissipate the sheer force of the attack, so Lord Adontis was once again sent flying across the city. However, this time, he was ready for it. Using [Moon Bridge] to allay some of his momentum, he kicked off another tower and launched himself back at the Arcane Colossus.
What followed was a clash that shook the very foundations of the city. And thus, the battle truly began.
* * *
Silik felt the impact of the clash as a shockwave swept through the city, kicking up dust and tearing down the already-crumbling buildings. However, he couldn’t afford the attention necessary to assist Ak-Toh. Instead, he forced himself to trust the savior of his people as he focused on the battle at hand.
A Knight of Adontis, wearing its ridiculous metal suit, aimed a sword strike at Silik. He raised his hide-bound shield – it had been made from layer after layer of hardened leather that had, in turn, been created from the skin of the cyclops Ak-Toh had killed in the dungeon. He blocked the two-handed attack, shoving it to the side before ramming his spear into the Knight’s chest.
It skittered off the protective breastplate, but Silik followed it up with a shield strike that sent the monstrous human staggering backward. Then, he aimed his spear at the Knight and let loose with [Spear of Memories]. A beam of blistering light tore across the intervening space, searing through the breastplate and destroying a large portion of the stunned Knight’s chest. A second later, one of Ak-Toh’s assassins fell on the enemy, ripping it apart with corruption-laced claws. The second the Knight died, they disappeared from Silik’s awareness as they went on the hunt for other targets.
That was the plan, after all.
As soon as Ak-Toh’s devastating skill had dissipated, the kobolds had flooded out of the gate where they were kept safe, entering the tunnels they’d dug in preparation of the assault, then bridged the gap from where the shield had once stood to the surface of the city. After that, they’d erupted into the center of the city, where they were tasked with destroying everything in their path.
Meanwhile, Ak-Toh fought the powerful leader of the Knights, sending shockwaves of force to sweep through the city.
In the distance, Silik saw Pudge ripping through a group of Knights. They flailed to stop him, but he was too fast. Too strong. As was proper. The demonic bearkin was second only to Ak-Toh in terms of power, so it felt appropriate that none of the mundane Knights could stand before his might.
The same could be said for the rest of the kobolds, though. Enhanced by Ak-Toh’s twin domains, they were far stronger than they otherwise would have been. And because of that, the Knights who’d managed to survive the devastating combination of the destructive spell and Ak-Toh’s skill of annihilation were ill-suited to standing up to the horde of kobolds.
It was a sign of things to come.
A portent of the future Silik had seen the moment the Mother had declared Ak-Toh their savior.
He kicked out, taking another Knight in the chest before rejoining his legionnaires. The wall of kobolds arrayed themselves against the remaining Knights, encircling them before, at last, advancing. The Knights fought back, throwing out various moon-themed skills. In response, the kobolds sheltered behind their shields as well as the collective [Bulwark of the Legion].
As a result, none of the attacks landed.
Not until a trio of men crashed into the defensive line. It bent, then buckled beneath the weight of their power. Silik rushed forward, leading the charge with his shield. His target – the largest among them – wielded a giant axe. The other two were armed with swords.
It didn’t matter.
Because when Silik hit, he was stopped cold by the large Knight’s strength. And then, he was sent staggering back from a backhand that took him in the shoulder.
That’s when he felt Pudge step up next to him on one side. On the other was the former Knight, Adara. She shouted, “The triplets. You’ve finally pulled yourselves out of seclusion?”
“Traitor!” shouted the shortest among them. It was only then that Silik realized that she was female.
All around, the battle between the two forces raged. The sound of metal scraping against metal filled the air as Silik, Pudge, and Adara faced off against the so-called triplets. And then, at some unknown signal, the Knights launched themselves at Silik and his companions. Thus, the battle within a battle began.