A short time earlier, Nacio stood on one of the tall towers of the Duce's fortress. He was the temporary leader of the stronghold while the Duce and the five generals were absent.

His skin was as white as fresh paper, he was small in stature and had a hunched back. But one should not be deceived by his appearance, for he was one of the few Polykenas who possessed strength on par with the generals.

Only the Duce was slightly stronger than Nacio. Moreover, he was one of the oldest Polykenas.

Dark blue veins shone in his black eyes, indicating his affinity for magic.

Normally, these observable veins disappeared once a certain level of power was attained, but he had a genetic mutation that made the veins permanently visible.

Nacio was a Space Mage, a less common type of magic among the Polykenas. The most prevalent magical affinities were the five basic elements: water, fire, light, earth, and wind.

Space or Dark Mages belonged to the rarer types of magic. However, the two least common types of magic were Chaos magic, which only their Duce possessed, and Symbolic magic. Apart from Ramor, none of the powerful Polykenas were a Symbolic.

Nacio gazed at the rift that was slightly open near the stairs, eagerly awaiting the return of his Duce.

As long as the generals and the Duce were outside, the portal was meant to remain open. In case of an emergency, Ramor had placed several active symbols that could block and close the flow of magic that was keeping the rift open.

Just as Nacio was about to turn around and return to the fortress, a massive explosion shook the entire west tower, causing Nacio's eyes to widen.

Another explosion followed, and the east tower shattered into a thousand small pieces. Nacio became furious,

"You! Go and report the Duce! The rest of you, come with me. Whoever dares to attack our fortress will be severely punished! Activate defense level two!"

The Polykenas immediately sprung into action. Although some of them were in the new world, the majority were still gathered here.

A loud roar reverberated throughout the fortress as the Polykenas sounded the alarm.

Nacio gathered the other Polykenas who were on his level. There were about fifteen of them. They were the foundation of their power, the first and oldest Polykenas.

"You close the gate to our birthing chamber!" commanded Nacio.

He jumped off the tower and started heading towards the east tower, with the other Polykenas gathering around him as a united force.

However, they never made it far as a huge section of the wall next to them exploded, and a lone figure emerged. The Polykenas immediately attacked. Nacio opened his hand and activated a vacuum next to the unknown man, but he simply waved his hand, and the space returned to normal.

Nacio's pupils shrunk to the size of a pin.

"This aura... It's so powerful."

The aura of the unknown attacker was overwhelming.

Nacio had never felt anything like it. Neither the Duce nor the Queen of the Polykenas possessed such strength. This became even clearer when the man launched his first attack.

With a wave of his hand, time seemed to slow down. Next, he snapped his fingers and something incredibly disturbing happened to the Polykenas.

They began to regress, becoming smaller as their mutations reversed. Within the next second, they were no longer fully grown Polykenas but mere infants. Nacio wanted to spit blood.

Within a few seconds, thousands of Polykenas became unable to fight. Among them were three of the elite Polykenas. Although they did not become infants, their aura significantly weakened. To Nacio's relief, he could see that the Polykenas were rapidly regaining their original forms.

He estimated that they would not regain their full strength for at least half an hour. Nacio gave the order, and the Polykenas retreated.

They had no chance, that was immediately clear. They ran towards the main fortress, but suddenly, a woman appeared above them. She was a true beauty, with long black hair and dark blue eyes that shimmered like starlight. She wore a flowing robe that fluttered in the wind. She raised both hands, and the sky seemed to come crashing down as thousands of stars rained upon the black fortress of the Duce.

Within a few heartbeats, it was completely destroyed. Nacio stumbled and came to a shocked halt.

"What?"

He couldn't believe it. Before he could even process the shock of their headquarters being destroyed, the next event unfolded.

The entire fortress wall crumbled into dust. Another man stepped onto the battlefield. He had short hair and a muscular build. He chuckled lightly as he clapped his hands together.

A gigantic chasm opened up and swallowed thousands of Polykenas into the ground before closing shut again. Nacio fell to his knees. A barrage of fire rained from the sky, killing thousands more Polykenas within seconds. A fourth person appeared. She was a red-haired, slightly older woman. All four of them emanated an overwhelming aura. They were the strongest beings Nacio had ever seen.

"Is this truly the end of our reign...?"

Nero stepped through the portal. What he saw shook him and his generals to the core. Nero's entire fortress had been reduced to rubble and ashes. He watched as four individual figures effortlessly slaughtered his subjects.

"What do we do?" Ester asked.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"Just look at them. They far surpass us in strength. We wouldn't stand a chance if we were to directly attack them," Nero replied without losing his composure.

Nero observed the battle and pondered intensely. He didn't know who these four individuals were or where they came from, but he was certain they were not from this world. It meant they must also have the ability to open portals to other worlds. If they were pursuing him, fleeing to another world would be futile as they could probably follow him.

"We have to make it to the rift for your dimension!" Nero said resolutely.

"Only I can open the rift. We can then take the time to consider our next steps calmly!"

They were about to set off when the black-haired woman in the air spotted them. Nero cursed as she flew towards them.

"I will stop her!" Shire said and stepped forward. His aura burst out, and his body doubled in size. He roared as he ran towards the woman.

She pointed at Shire, and a small star shot out from her hand. The star hit Shire and pierced through him, but the wound healed immediately. The woman raised her eyebrows in surprise. Then she smiled slightly and pointed at Shire again, only this time, it wasn't one star shooting at him but thousands.

The stars pierced Shire, but he continued to run toward the woman. He roared angrily and lunged. He struck with force and hit the woman on her shoulder and she spun and flew back.

But she got up unharmed. Anger shone in her eyes as she struck out with a short scream into nothingness. A gigantic ball of all-pervading light burst forth and shot toward Shire. The latter couldn't even react when the giant star reached him. He was instantly vaporized. No trace of him was to be seen anymore.

The woman turned and looked again at Nero, but he and the remaining four generals had already passed a great distance. The black-haired woman was about to charge at them again when Nero raised his hand.

He concentrated and a gigantic pain ran through his entire body. His fingertips cracked open and blood poured from his seven facial orifices. The shadows beneath the woman gathered and caught her legs.

She began to stumble. Nero exhaled, and the shadows exploded. A gigantic pillar of pure darkness stretched up into the sky, enveloping the woman and a large area around her.

Nero grew even paler as he activated more magic. A huge crater had formed where the woman stood. Slowly, the unknown woman stood up. Blood ran from the corner of her mouth, but otherwise, she looked unharmed. She raised her hand and a slight glow formed in it, but at that moment she froze and looked up. Nero yanked his hand down and the gigantic beam of darkness returned with immense speed from space and crashed into the woman.

It dug into the ground and a powerful blast wave rippled through the entire area. Many Polykenas died as a result and even Xersies and the others had problems. Nero staggered. His entire arm was covered in blood.

They were close to the remnants of the tower where the rift was in.

They just needed to fly up for a short while, and they would have made it.

However, in the next second, a wave of fire burned through his generals. Ester and Fril instantly turned to ash. Nero forced himself to use his magic again and shadows blocked the flames and protected him. He felt more cracks appear on his skin and that they were approaching his chest.

When the darkness lifted, he saw a red-haired woman standing in front of him.

He felt a strong aura from beside him and saw Xersies pull his arm back. A golden light began to gather in his hand. The light formed a long hot spear whose heat even Nero felt.

Xersies screamed as he threw the spear of light at the red-haired woman, but it vaporized against a thin layer of fire that enveloped her like clothing.

Xersies cursed and retreated, but it was too late. A fireball hit him, engulfing him in a bright golden fire that turned him to ash. In less than ten minutes, all of Nero's generals had died except for Ramor.

Nero took a deep breath. He only needed a very short time. Then he would have reached the crack and could retreat.

He forced himself to gather all his magic again. A sharp pain emanated from his chest, but Nero had to ignore it. A river of pure darkness began to gather, but Nero felt that he could not hold it for long,

"RAMOR!" he shouted.

Ramor understood immediately and began to draw symbols in the air. He strained himself, but it worked. The symbols enveloped Nero in a soft light and he felt his strength increase significantly.

It was suddenly much easier for him to control the darkness. His wounds also healed.

Nero exhaled and the river of darkness formed the shape of a gigantic Wyvern. Nero shouted.

The darkness started to race toward the red-haired woman. The Wyvern was fast. Very fast. Ramor continued to draw symbols upon symbols, reinforcing Nero's attack even more.

The old woman's eyes widened and a wall of fire formed in front of her, but the black Wyvern simply broke through it. It hit the woman. The darkness enveloped her and the layer of fire that protected the woman began to weaken.

The woman roared as she exploded in a gigantic fireball. The darkness that had formed the Wyvern tore apart and disappeared. Nero and Ramor both spat blood but did not stop even a second. They had come far closer to the crack and were now standing directly under it. Nero was about to use the shadows to lift himself up when a sharp pain ran through him.

Now it was again the woman's turn to attack. She screamed as flaming wings grew on her back and she took off into the air. She raced toward Nero and Ramor.

Nero looked up at the rift. He could already sense it, but he knew he didn't have enough time to reach it. He retreated as the woman approached him. The woman pulled her hand to her hip, her palm facing Nero. Flames began to gather in her palm as they formed a ball. The grasses on the ground began to burn and everything that approached the woman turned to ash. Nero knew he could not block this attack.

Suddenly, the woman froze and looked around. Nero felt the air around him grow heavier. A familiar feeling spread through him.

An idea spread in his mind. He took out a small black pearl from his pocket. He had found it in a book in the village of Tissling, but he had completely forgotten about it.

He had no idea what it was, but it gave off a faint aura, reminding him of the black crystals he used to absorb to strengthen himself. But at the same time, there was something strange about this little stone.

He didn't know why, but suddenly he got the urge to break this crystal. The woman looked at the small round stone. She also had no idea what it was, but she knew she couldn't watch the young man across from her use it. She began to fly toward Nero, but too late.

Nero started exerting his power on the pearl.

Instinctively, he pressed as hard as he could until he heard a small crack.

Suddenly, time seemed to stand still. The woman ran toward Nero, a large fireball formed in her hand. Ramor fell to the ground. He had lost consciousness. And Nero squeezed his hand as hard as he could. All this happened in the exact same second.

In the next second, it exploded in a gigantic explosion of pure Darkness. It enveloped Nero, Ramor, and the woman. The fireball the woman prepared simply disappeared and she spat blood.

Nero's vision briefly turned black, but when it cleared, he was no longer in the ruins of his fortress. He was floating in a gigantic empty space. He had been here before. Back then, before they had gone to the new planet, in the large corridor of his fortress.

In front of him was the red-haired woman, but this time, it was she who was burning. Black flames engulfed her, and she screamed in pain. The flames burned first her clothes, then her skin and flesh, and finally even her bones. She disappeared into nothing. Beside Nero floated Ramor, also enveloped in the same black flames, but he was motionless.

Nero felt a burning pain in his right arm and looked down. The black flames flickered there as well. Nero turned pale as he saw his skin and flesh slowly being burned. But the worst part was that he felt his magic leaving him. As if fueling the flames, his magic grew weaker and weaker. Now only the bone was visible, but surprisingly, his hand remained intact.

There was no flesh or skin left, but he could still move it as if nothing had happened. It went against all logic. The flames were still there, but they seemed to have become harmless.

But he could not take care of it now, because suddenly, he heard a deep, rough laugh.

"Finally..." a deep, dark voice said in Nero's head.

Then the world started spinning, and Nero blacked out again. He did not know how long he was unconscious, but when he opened his eyes once more, the sun was shining brightly above him. He stood up and looked around.

"Where am I?"