Fifteen Paragons — no, the right term to use here was Exemplars — unleashed their cultivation bases, making their presence known. Alarm bells continued to ring as Gemini managed to pinpoint their exact location. These Exemplars had taken up positions all around the fortress city of Ars, each of them a few kilometres away from its walls. But distance didn’t matter for people of such strength.
A single blast from them would crush any wall in their way. It would be support fire of the most potent variety, and for a moment, the Constellation couldn’t associate these tactics with the bloodthirsty, violence-filled madmen of slaughter.
Gemini took to the skies as other allies streaked out of their own residential towers. Ars had around eight Exemplars, not counting himself, but there was no point in complaining about the odds now, and he joined the small group as they took up positions around the city. The looks on their faces were grim, and as Gemini turned to look at the Exemplars surrounding the city, he was beginning to see why.
A bubble, around one kilometre long in radius, was extruding out of each and every enemy Exemplar. These bubbles, if one wanted to call them that, were known as Dominions, a power native to those who had achieved Paragon or Exemplar rank legitimately. Gemini didn’t have them, but after years of fighting against the beastfolk Paragons, he had understood why few people ever used them in the battlefield. The Dominion did not discriminate between friend or foe — anyone caught in it without their own Dominion would be weakened in various ways. Of course, they stopped being popular entirely once the Constellations entered the fray for other reasons
As far as Gemini could tell, these penalties were unique, their type and strength dependent upon the individual. But that was a story for later. Right now, given that the Exemplars of Ars were clustered and surrounded, using their own Dominions was out of the question, especially since doing so would affect Ars’ own defenders on the ground.
“Diwu, they’re trying to prevent us from interfering,” murmured one of the Exemplars. Gemini immediately recognised this person as Ars-Maia’s father, who had turned Ars-Maia’s face into a lovely painting of black and blue a few days back.
An unfamiliar Exemplar nodded. “Only the pawns would move, it seems. My children are already on the wall, Soho. Your son?”
“Maia’s gone off to lead the defence,” he replied. “But for the first time, I find myself in a situation where I cannot save him.”
“Mmm.”
“We don’t have much time,” another Exemplar said, cutting short their conversation. “We’ll take out some of the enemies for you before our life span expires for good. Make the best out of the opportunity. And as for you…”
He turned to Gemini. “Exemplar of a foreign tribe, thank you for coming to our aid. We…have a favour to ask of you. When Ars falls — make no mistake, Ars will fall — lead the young ones and bring them to the Crater of Purple Rain. News of our defeat cannot be kept hidden — however, we have long prepared a way out of the Grand Land, and now that we’re facing such odds, the time has come for it to be used. A formation has been set up there, one that will enable our kin’s flight to the legendary Five Lands.”
But we just came from there…Gemini nodded. “…Understood.”
“Good.” The Exemplar took a deep breath. “Let us go.”
Four other Exemplars nodded, and their bodies began to shine. With one look, Gemini understood what was going on. These Exemplars had little life force left — their lifespan was drawing close. Like Ark City, most of their strongest had been biding their time in hibernation, only to be called upon in times of great need.
Exemplars Diwu and Soho watched quietly as five streaks of light slammed into separate Dominions each. Ars-Maia’s father, Exemplar Soho, sighed. “They weren’t even carrying any weapons or armour. These five, the Fellowship, had come out of hibernation with the intention of never coming back.”
The first Dominion shattered, its bubble-like boundary fading away to reveal two motionless demons. They were frozen in the exact same position — a fist buried in the chest and another through the throat. Time seemed to slow for a moment, as Gemini burned the image into his eye, never looking away even as a white star flared into life for a few moments. Exemplar Soho leaped into action, flying towards the gap before anyone else could react, a Dominion erupting out his body as he moved. Countless lights followed him, and the entire city shuddered as one Dominion smashed into another.
At the same time, Exemplar Diwu and Gemini moved into action. Another Dominion erupted from the former's target, and at such proximity, the Constellation could see some wispy gases floating inside. Gemini could see a look of confusion in Diwu’s face as he charged forward without using a Dominion of his own, but he didn’t really have time to explain.
“Skill: Twin Star’s Sorrow.” Qi danced around him, forming a resplendent garment that trailed behind Gemini as he approached the Dominion directly above the city walls. If it was allowed to move any closer, the defenders would fall in short order, something that could not be allowed at any cost.
A long sword materialised in his hand — Gemini had obtained the use of an inventory when the Champion Support System was done with its factory reset — and qi clouded its edge as he activated another Skill.
“Psyche-Splitting Strike!”
The Human God had deliberately induced in the Constellation Heroes multiple problems and disadvantages, but one thing he’d done right was to give them a leveller in the form of the Psyche-Splitting Strike. This single attack was why the beastfolk cities were so easily overrun in the opening stages of the Second Extermination, and also the reason why no Paragon in the Five Lands ever used a Dominion now.
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This attack was targeted not at the origin of the Dominion, but at the Dominion itself. Gemini didn’t know how it worked, but when this particular attack came into contact with any Dominion, its user would fall into confusion and self-doubt for a period long enough for a Constellation to exploit, with fatal results. In the latter half of the Second Extermination, the beastfolk had figured this out, at which point the war began to slow to a crawl, as the beastfolk Paragons were ultimately more experienced in fighting.
But by then, the numerical disparity was too much to overcome.
A massive shockwave ran through the Dominion, and it fell apart as Gemini fell upon the senseless Exemplar. Without any resistance, the Constellation sliced through the enemy like a hot knife through butter, bisecting the Exemplar from head to toe.
Gemini controlled his emotions, and repressed the memories that were about to surface, before flickering over to the next Dominion. Most of the Exemplars of Ars had clearly succeeded in their suicide missions, a fact not missed by the enemy. The Constellation doubled his pace. Right now, Gemini still had the overwhelming advantage, as long as the enemies still had their Dominions up, but the moment they chose to engage in close combat, the game would be over.
One reason why the Southern Assembly crumbled under the assault of the East and the West a year ago was because their Paragons had worked out the weakness of the Constellations. They were far weaker when there was no Dominion for the Human God’s chosen to exploit. Gemini had tried to rectify that with his own training, but he wasn’t keen on trying out his newly-acquired combat skills in such a dangerous situation.
Another Dominion crumbled away as Gemini used the Psyche-Splitting Strike again, and a head flew into the air as the hero decapitated his target. And yet, Gemini knew full well that these demons were probably the worst match-up for him. The crux of the Psyche-Splitting strike was that it threw the user of the affected Dominion into self-doubt, but against an enemy capable of reviving over and over, it would be too easy to work out what exactly happened.
It was likely that this trump card would not be of much use come the second attack. Gemini glanced down at the walls, where the defenders atop it were putting up a magnificent resistance, and was about to turn away when a crimson avalanche of might slammed into the city walls of Ars.
One moment, the defenders of the city were still holding on to the walls, but in the next, everything had disappeared — demons, walls, buildings…anything caught in it had vanished. One by one, the Dominions surrounding the fortress city shattered, and their users turned into red blooms as an enormous existence made its presence known.
Gemini stared down at the red-hot mountains of slag in shock. The other two Exemplars looked at the walls, and the Constellation turned to look at Exemplar Soho, whose face turned from shock to sorrow…and then to madness.
A heart-wrenching cry erupted from the Exemplar’s lips, and before Gemini or Diwu could do anything to stop him, Exemplar Soho barrelled headlong towards the source of the attack. The Exemplar’s flight turned into a streak of ominous black, and the entire Grand Land shuddered as the suicidal charge smashed into an invisible wall.
“The Lord has decreed for all to unite under his banner.” A gentle alto echoed into the distance. A soundless pulse erupted from far away, and the black streak of light extinguished. Exemplar Soho’s presence vanished from the world with a solemn finality a moment later.
“I am the mouthpiece of the Lord, and this is the fate of those who would resist. Demons of Ars, why are you still fighting? Join your brethren, and let us recreate the Demon Nation of legend once more.” The voice was alluring, but the hero’s mind was not paying attention to it.
Gemini stared at the ruined battlements, still glowing hot, and felt his heart crack. Ars-Maia, who was on it, had died, along with countless other demons, some of which he himself had taught how to use a Straight Shot. His bodily condition wasn’t as great as it should have been, faced with an irresistible foe.
Exemplar Diwu wasn’t faring any better either. His face was a pale white as he stared at the overwhelming devastation the Demigod — this demon had to be a Demigod, there was no other possibility — had wrought upon Ars.
“Paragon Gemini,” a voice sounded in his ear. It was most likely that of Exemplar Diwu’s, and the Constellation forced himself to not move from the shock. “Exemplar Rilata is on the verge of awakening. Leave Ars city while you still can. The civilians have been evacuated — they’re waiting fifty kilometres north of here. Bring them to the Crater of Purple Rain.”
“How about you?”
“I’ll stay. I have one last job to do. Also, Exemplar Soho never got a chance to say this, so let me say it in his stead. It’s been an honour fighting alongside you.”
Gemini glanced at the approaching mass of power, which was only rivalled by one building up at the highest point of the tallest tower in Ars itself. He could feel the determination in the Exemplar’s voice, a stark contrast to the fear in his own. “I’ll make sure they get there safely.”
“Yes. Now go!”
Gemini breathed in deeply, and swept his gaze across the ruined city. He nodded at the Exemplar and fled the ruined city in a streak of light.
Behind him, two enormous existences continued to billow. Exemplar Rilata had stepped out of her tower, and the two existences stared at each other. There were no words, nothing. Just a silent exchange of glances, and as Gemini vanished across the horizon, gold and black coloured the world for a single moment.
Ars began to shudder as the two powers crossed hands. Explosions, deafening to the point that the retreating Gemini could hear it, rocked the fortress city, and the Constellation turned his head back just in time to see the last moments of Exemplar Diwu. The Exemplar’s body was tattered, but vermillion light continued to spill out from it, and with every flash, the city continued to shake and rumble.
With a final, mighty explosion, the entire fortress city crumbled away, turning into molten slag that closed off the only natural pass in the Earth-Splitting Mountain Range. The land itself shuddered, and giant fissures opened up all around the ruins of Ars. Only the Demigod and Exemplar Rilata was left, but Gemini didn’t stay to watch the battle.
There was little left he could do, other than bringing the refugees of Ars to a new world. Another brilliant flash of gold lit up the world, and the Constellation picked up his pace.
Time was running out.
[End of Book 4: The Unravelling World]