Right now, Stas had very mixed feelings about everything that was happening.

The good news was that he had survived. Moreover, everyone who had managed to hide under the dome of the Sumada supremes had survived as well.

Despite the apocalypse raging above them, they did not perish.

However, if there's good news, bad news is usually lurking nearby.

Here, the issue lay in the fact that whatever the samurai rune master had concocted, upon exploding, it struck not only with light and a shockwave.

There was something else. Something intangible.

Despite all his efforts, Stas failed to determine what had irradiated them. Nevertheless, it was clear that something had penetrated through the impervious earthen slabs, adversely affecting the living people.

Specifically, the weaker the person, the stronger the impact.

Those who were exposed to the radiation felt feebleness, after which, rolling their eyes, they fell to the ground. In their team, Mari was the weak link and now lay unconscious on the floor.

Stas himself did not have the strength to hold her in his arms.

He tried with all his might to comprehend what it was, but faced defeat time and again.

"The world is crying," Kaede's contemplative words from behind caught Ordyntsev's attention. She looked as if the wave had not affected her at all.

"What do you mean?"

"I... I don't know," she said, looking around in confusion as if she were seeing the world anew.

Stas didn't press her. There were more serious issues at hand.

A couple of minutes later, when the rumbling above had ceased, and the survivors had somewhat recovered, a timid movement emerged.

"I did it! I did it!" Takehiro Satoshi's feverish exclamation caused Stas to grimace, and the surviving rune lines that lit up under their feet made him step aside warily.

'I wonder how this old man managed to stay conscious? Did he have some sort of shielding?' Ordyntsev thought seriously.

Despite the dome of the supremes substantially hindering his sensitivity, he still managed to faintly feel the notes of natural energy above.

And that made sense. Only natural energy, with its infinite reserves, could be used to power such a massive fortress, not prana.

"Attention!" the voice of Jonoro intruded on the earthling's thoughts. "Take the unconscious fighters in your arms and get ready. Be vigilant and cover your airways with a wet cloth. According to the supreme warmasters, the outside is pure hell. We move together, as one group!"

Without question, Stas began tearing already torn pieces of his clothing, forming tight bandages. Next, opening a miniature scroll, he took out a bottle of water and moistened them. One went to Kaede, another to Mari.

And if there were no particular problems with the unconscious Rinako, the "respirator" fit perfectly, then making a mask for Leviathan's huge snout took some effort.

Stas even had to push his way through to the dead warmaster cut in half to use the fabric of his clothing from the back.

Judging by the snake's thoughts, she was not thrilled, but she did not protest.

Of course, it would have been logical to try to escape underground. But the problem was that almost none of the people here had any prana left. The fortress's foundation, on the other hand, was specially reinforced.

Even the supreme warmasters were left with mere crumbs, as all their strength went into maintaining the dome. What more to say when one of them even managed to faint from overexertion, a thought utterly unimaginable.

A supreme warmaster running out of prana was more of a joke than a real possibility.

With an unpleasant crack, the dome began to part in a couple of places. This happened slowly and laboriously, as its creators had almost no strength left.

As soon as it finally opened wide enough, a blindingly hot burst of air struck inside the enclosed space.

Stas, squinting, watched as the door to the sanctuary slowly opened, letting in overly bright rays of light.

The grim supremes pushed through past Stas. Among them, he noticed grim Jun. It was clear that the teacher was not pleased with what was happening around them.

He loved fierce and vivid battles, not running away with his tail between his legs.

"Forward!" With a new command, the supremes stepped out confidently, forming a stone path under their feet as they went. And soon, it became clear why.

The warmasters stepping outside collectively gasped, then began to cough violently from the scorching air that burned their lungs.

The energy chamber's explosion didn't just destroy Gaibatsu. It wiped it off the face of the earth, leaving a giant, glassy crater where the castle once stood, with the black dome of the supremes frozen at the bottom.

It was terrifying to imagine, but the explosion was so powerful that the dome remained standing on a sort of pillar, as the earth around it was also destroyed, turning into plasma.

Now, from this crater glowing with crimson light, streams of hot steam rose. There was no smoke because everything that could burn had already burned.

However, the temperature was so high that one could only breathe by strengthening their bodies with prana, simultaneously protecting their lungs from burns.

And it was worth remembering that not all of the present had retained energy for such a feat.

The path created by the supremes was a sort of aerial bridge. From the flat foundation, legs-columns occasionally branched off, crunching as they plunged into the glowing glass below, strengthening the structure.

Of course, the heat gradually destroyed them, but there should have been enough time for everyone to pass.

The bridge itself led straight to the edge of the crater high above.

Only the base was not very wide. At most, two people could walk side by side.

And now let's remember the inability of some to imbue their bodies with prana.

Shielding his eyes from another burst of scorching wind and hoping it wasn't radioactive, Ordyntsev grimly watched as one of the samurai, stumbling and losing consciousness, first crashed onto the stone and then rolled off, flying into the fiery abyss.

His scream, like that of a frightened bird, soared upwards and was abruptly cut off on a piercing note.

As they moved a few dozen meters away from the "mushroom" dome, a small explosion inside caused the room to plummet to the very bottom. The Rashata rune masters decided to keep their secrets to the end.

So they walked, drenched in sweat, shuddering from the scorching pain in their lungs, and losing their own people almost at every step.

Advancing at the forefront, Stas couldn't help but wonder if everything he saw around him might not be a transfer to another world at all.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Maybe, having died on Earth, he went straight to hell? And the initial absence of suffering was merely a prelude to the real torments?

As if mocking his thoughts, his eyes found old man Satoshi. His garments, glowing with green fire, protected the owner's frail body from the dangerous environment no worse than any spacesuit.

But half of his apprentices had no such protection, which meant their death was agonizing, though quick. However, judging by Takehiro's cheerful face, it seemed he couldn't care less.

Nevertheless, the higher they climbed, the easier it became. There was no longer a need to moisten the mask every few seconds and fear the next breath.

The heat gradually subsided, and they could breathe more freely.

When they crossed over the edge, a view of an almost flat sea of fire unfolded before them.

If the first few hundred meters of land, buildings, and everything that could burn were simply blown away by the shockwave, then further on, all this stuff was burning merrily, sending up numerous thick columns of smoke.

Through kilometers of sprawling devastation, it was exceedingly difficult to locate the Higatsudo army. Nevertheless, after a minute, Stas still managed to do so.

On the edge of visibility, the surviving warmasters and samurai were digging, throwing aside chunks of walls and other debris to rescue the wounded. Emerging pillars of water extinguished fires, but there were too many of them.

Perhaps they could have tried to attack the weakened Sumada, but they didn't.

Right now, they were all too tired from the carnage they had wrought.

After catching their breath, the remnants of Gaibatsu's defenders moved towards the wall of fire. The black barriers rising from the ground opened a path for them toward the lands of Rashata.

The Kami see, they needed rest more than anyone else.

*****

Their battered and almost crushed troops retreated several towns deep into Rashata.

They were taken in by the Ainu clan, based in a town with the proud name of Ro. It was a Sumada subordinate clan focused on trade.

The accommodations and service they provided were top-notch, but Stas couldn't care less.

Out of the six hundred warmasters who went to battle, only a hundred survived. And most of them were advanced warmasters. The ordinary ones and the regular fighters only faced death in this battle.

Unimaginable losses.

The only thing that was somewhat comforting was that the losses of the Sumada themselves weren't that many. Most of the forces sent to defend Gaibatsu consisted of fighters from allied clans. Yes, the supreme were Sumada, but none of them were killed.

Another reason to say "thank you" to Jishin's brother.

By the way, things were going much better for the younger prince. His army, having clashed with the Higatsudo troops near the former lands of Sansa, now Hogoro, emerged victorious, pushing them back and covering themselves in glory.

The whole battle took place on the so-called no man's land. Territories between Rashata and Higatsudo, where dozens of small countries were located.

Each of these countries smiled through clenched teeth at the giants fighting each other near their cities.

On paper, neither Sumada nor Mizuno wanted casualties among unrelated countries. But the more Stas thought about it, the more he realized that this was just the beginning.

The development of warmasters, countries, samurai, and rune masters was such that they had already far surpassed the level of medieval wars. Now, they were approaching the destructive wars of the "New Age," and the scale of losses in such cases was utterly different.

Later, news also came about the elder prince. His successes were not so impressive. His army was equal in strength to Mizuno's, forcing them to extend the front, capturing a couple of foreign cities.

But let's return to Gaibatsu's fighters.

Commander Jonoro was ordered to wait for army reinforcements and further instructions.

The Higatsudo and Mizuno troops also delayed, focusing on other directions and not daring to move towards the destroyed Gaibatsu.

And although commander Koji Sumada quickly organized a guard service and tried to keep the free fighters busy with training and maneuvers, they were mostly left to their own devices.

It had to be understood that warmasters rarely dealt with joint training and maneuvers. As a result, even the appointed commanders had little idea how to improve the interaction of troops.

Among the survivors, there were suspicious rumors. No one knew how the command would react to their retreat. On one hand, they managed to stop the advance, destroying significant enemy forces. On the other, they fled the battlefield.

During this tumultuous time of pointless standstill, Stas decided to focus on natural energy. It was in it that he saw the constantly elusive solution to most of the current problems. Specifically, in the mixture of the absorbing and transforming ether and the infinite natural force.

And the reason for this was the gut-wrenching fear that spawned after everything he had seen in that cursed siege.

And it would be strange otherwise.

It's hard to stay the same when you see so many deaths, even if an ancient spirit had worked on you a bit earlier.

For over five years, Stas had dedicated himself to becoming harder to kill. These were grueling, draining daily efforts that were making him ever so slightly stronger.

And the fact that he survived in the ensuing meat grinder confirmed his success...

Or rather, Stas would like to sincerely believe in the above. But he could not deceive himself.

If the supremes had reached him, he would have simply died without managing to do anything.

His survival became possible mainly due to luck, not strength.

If he wanted to live, he had to rise above the level of strength that separated ordinary mortals from the "gods" of this world at any cost.

That's why he was holed up in his newly-created underground lab. If it was his turn to stand guard, Mari or Kaede would call on him. It was also them who brought him food.

The strange obsession of their master concerned them, but after being coldly dismissed several times, they had to come to terms with it.

Or so Stas thought.

*****

"Master Jun," Kaede bowed deeply to Shiro's master sprawled on the cushions. Besides the Sumada himself, there were three undressed female bodies, which had drunk so much sake the previous night that they did not react to any stimuli.

She involuntarily noted that two of the women were warmasters.

"Oh! The little yokai!" the sensei greeted Kaede cheerfully, raising his hand.

He himself was also undressed, but neither the yokai nor Jun were bothered by such trifles.

Christian shame of their own bodies did not affect this world, so the attitude towards nudity here was much simpler.

"I wanted to meet with you when you were free, but it's been two weeks, and I haven't been able to. I'm sorry to distract you from your rest. Believe me, if it weren't for the situation, I would..."

"Just say it straight," grunted the man. "What happened? It's clear you wouldn't come to me without an important reason."

Kaede was unsettled by these words. She still couldn't overcome the subconscious fear of Master Shiro's strength.

This was exacerbated by the fact that Jun had an abnormally high reserve of spiritual energy, more suited to some onmyoji.

The yokai didn't know about the past of this terrifying man, but she could guess something. Specifically, who his mother might have been.

"It's about your precious serpentling, isn't it?" asked Jun insightfully, causing Kaede to open her eyes in surprise. "So, I guessed right," nodded Jun to his thoughts. "If one has eyes, it's easy to see how you look at him every time."

"You are very perceptive," Kaede lowered her gaze.

"I've got plenty of that crap," Jun nodded indifferently. "So, what's with that restless one? I've been keeping an eye on you all, and he has performed very well. His lineage techniques, although a bit weak, are just right against all sorts of riff-raff."

"I'm worried about how he's behaving now," the girl confessed without any reservations. "He barely eats, doesn't rest at all, and doesn't want to talk to anyone. It's been two weeks since that battle, but he flinches as if he expects an attacking technique from anyone who approaches him. And he looks at us... as if we are enemies. But that's not true!"

"Yeah, it's a tough case," Jun croaked, standing up and starting to walk naked around the room, looking for his own clothes. And it wasn't an easy task. "I thought he would be tougher than the other two weaklings. Seems I was wrong."

"Shiro is strong…" Kaede tried to argue but deflated under the mocking gaze of the supreme.

Having dressed in his clothes and repaired armor, Jun picked up his hefty mace.

"Alright, I'll go talk to him. Otherwise, he'll just die underground, won't even need burying."

*****

Stas carefully allowed a drop of ether to penetrate into the dead hand lying before him.

Even despite the horror that unfolded at the siege, Ordyntsev managed to seal a couple of the most intact Mizuno bodies into scrolls.

Now, he temporarily reanimated their cells or entire prana network segments with Healing Palm, intending to treat them with a special natural energy.

Its peculiarity was that he finally managed to transfer some of the properties of prana to natural energy.

Simply put, prana is very susceptible to the influence of emotions and certain mental messages, which makes it possible to create and use techniques.

Natural energy does not have this ability.

Therefore, for a long time, Stas worked on combining prana and natural force.

The last success in this direction was when ether became able to draw life force from the modified natural energy for the owner's healing. This allowed him to not worry about energy during healing.

Now, the natural energy modified by prana received a certain form of memory.

However, when Ordyntsev was already celebrating success, watching how natural energy changed the dead tissues precisely as he needed without his control, everything went awry.

For some unknown reason, the imparted setting simply faded, and the piece of flesh began to swell again under the influence of uncontrolled mutations.

"Damnation!" A full-force blow smeared the specimen across the opposite wall.

"Oh, I see you're having fun too," the teacher's voice made Stas startle and turn around.

"Sens-s-sei," he hissed, calming down and wiping his blood-covered hands on a white towel lying nearby. "What brings you to my abode?"

"They're complaining about you, you see," Jun smirked, turning back to the door. "Now, follow me."

"But I have an important experiment here..." Stas frowned.

"There was no question in my words, my foolish student." Jun didn't even slow down, and the mentally grumbling Ordyntsev had to move his legs faster to keep up. Jesting with the sensei was ill-advised.

The sunny day hit his eyes with full force, making Stanislav squint painfully.

"Where are you taking me?" Ordyntsev finally lost patience after several minutes of unhurried walking.

"What do you think?" Jun answered the question with a question.

"To booze?"

"That too," approved the teacher. "But let's hold off on that for now. First, let's talk."

The earthling sighed heavily, though it was easy to hear that his sigh was mostly feigned.

He was aware that lately, he had been treading water, wasting valuable time.

Perhaps his sensei, suddenly willing to chat, could help him get through this bottleneck?