Everyone watched the powerful ray of light bury itself in the dark ground beneath them as the loud buzzing noise filled the chamber. The mood was somber as the reality of the current situation slowly settled in. Instead of the success they had been looking for, they found failure of the greatest form. Nothing would be left behind if they did not do something.
“How long do we have?” Asterios asked, the subject of his question more than obvious.
Abyss turned to him. “At the current pace, an hour at most. The absence of a few clusters certainly slows the process of cracking the mantle of the realm. The chain of explosions has been disrupted and it will take longer for the rock to crumble. But, the rays are still firing and their main purpose is most likely to reach the core of the world. When all of them find their target, it will be overloaded with energy and implode, adding another blast from inside. I don’t think I have to explain the result.”
“The end of the world…” Selene whispered under her breath.
They remained silent for a moment, taking in the finality of the situation. Umbra hadn’t said a word yet, his butler form standing the closest to the window pane and facing the destruction. He must have felt horrible not being able to do anything but watch as his home realm proceeded towards its extinction. Asterios could sense the powerlessness through their familiar and draconic connections.
“There has to be a way to stop this,” he said, his eyes sliding back to the control pedestal. “Just like we messed with the clusters, there has to be something we can try to interrupt this process.”
“I still can’t believe those weren’t power sources that supplied the shield but spiritual bombs meant to ruin everything.” Miria shook her head gloomily. “But Master is right. We can’t just stand by and watch. We promised to help. Not to… make things worse.”
“It’s not your fault.” Abyss glanced at her slowly. “If anyone is to blame, it is me for not predicting this outcome. No matter how we approached this matter, the result would have most likely stayed the same. He must have set things up so that in the event of any interruption into the seal, it would activate the self-destruct protocol. Had we drained about half of the clusters, the same would have happened.”
“We are… grateful for your assistance.” The Duke showed up by her side, his shadowy form smoking a bit more than before as it had trouble remaining in shape due to his distress. “Perhaps this is a better outcome. Many of us wished to be free and didn’t fear losing our lives in pursuit of that dream. Some might survive this apocalypse. They would take that small chance over continuing to exist in this forced slavery for eternity. Hell, I often wished this cursed place would just disappear. Looks like someone decided to humor my musings. But, at least I can finally be rid of this burden the moment everything ceases to exist, including the seal’s structure.”
That was grim, but no one could hold it against him. There wasn’t much else left besides resignation in their friend’s mind. His home was on the verge of obliteration.
“My statement still stands.” Asterios tensed his fists. “You created this realm so you understand it best. If there’s anything we can try, let’s at least give it a go before we jump back to Kraedorion to avoid the imminent downfall.”
“I’m with Master.” Miria stood straighter, defiantly raising her face. “Plus, aren’t you super powerful? I think this is long past the point of staying an observer. This place will be gone if you don’t do anything. This isn’t the end you wanted to witness, isn’t it? Nor was the whole thing that bastard built over your precious creation, right?”
“There’s something to her words,” Tina agreed. “This grand experiment of yours ended the moment he invaded it with the external influence you didn’t want to leak into the realm. I also think it’s time to take matters into your own hands. We don’t even know if it will change anything, but if it does, you can then decide if it’s still worth watching over or if it’s ruined. Whatever your decision will be, at least the people living here will be saved.”
“Every trial run has its end,” Selene shared sagely. “It’s up to you to decide if it ends up scrapped or if it will simply continue to operate further without your explicit attention. I think we both know which option would be more preferred by the inhabitants of this dimension.”
The ladies nodded in unison, everyone sharing the sentiment.
And they weren’t wrong. If there was a time to take action, it was now or never.
“You are once more overestimating my might.” Abyss lightly shook her head. “It took me ages to build the foundations of this world. An hour is nowhere near enough to save it. I can’t snap my fingers and get rid of the mesh surrounding the realm. I might be able to destroy each fortress one by one, but that won’t be quick enough. Nevertheless, I see the truth you are speaking of. I remained passive for way too long, convincing myself that things were not yet past the point of no return. Unfortunately, that point is here. And I shall use whatever knowledge of him that I have to fight back. Whatever happens, happens. He will pay back for this offense regardless of the outcome of today’s actions.”
Seeing a shadow of defiance in her deep, mesmerizing eyes, the girls smiled. Then, they hastily schooled their expressions and focused on the matter at hand. Time was limited. They would be able to celebrate their victory or mourn their losses after finishing things here. Until then, nothing else mattered.
Giving them a resolute nod, the dark-skinned goddess turned to the control panel and leaned over it. Just as her hand rested atop one of the golden crystals, the entire fortress shook again, surprising everyone greatly. They had assumed that everything that was supposed to be activated had already been turned on, and therefore they were relatively safe inside the floating castle.
Regrettably, they couldn’t be more wrong.
Suddenly, the gravity shifted and they experienced a strong pull from the side, which technically was down to how they were positioned inside the fortress. Miria yelped as she began sliding down the straight slope that had previously been the ground. Asterios quickly grabbed her and materialized his wings. He attempted to slow them down before they crashed into the window, but he didn’t expect to just… fall through it like it was not there.
They all dropped through the empty gap and stopped outside through their own means. Selene created a cerulean platform for them to stand on and the ladies descended onto the arcane sheet. Abyss and Umbra showed up by their side and they all looked up. Their eyes widened at the sight before them.
“Get away! Quick!” Asterios shouted and the platform disappeared.
He shifted in mid-air, the girls ready to catch onto his back. As soon as they were with him, he dove for the ground, trying to increase the distance between them and the changing structure. They had no idea what was happening, but seeing the power of the beam and the explosions rocking the world, no one wished to take any chances. Anything could be set up as a bomb or rigged with self-destruct.
Arriving at the ground, they watched the sky for any possible debris, but none came.
Well, that wasn’t entirely correct.
While the fortress didn’t burst into flames, it weirdly thinned out. The previously irregular shape made of cubes of various sizes turned into a much smaller upside-down cone, with the tunnel through which the ray continued to assault the ground going right through its middle. As for the missing pieces, four unidentified parts rushed towards the land below like rocks falling from great heights.
“Brace for impact!” Selene yelled and they lifted themselves off the dark surface just before the four segments hit.
The ground shook, and four new craters appeared around them. As the dust settled, it revealed four familiar shapes. They resembled the outer parts of the fortress, and one in particular had an extremely unique element, the long rectangle of the clear window, now missing the pane, or it had never been there in the first place. The chamber they had fallen out of was literally in front of them.
With a lot of rumbling, the pieces began to move and shift around. The cubes that they were made of switched places, connections, and their combinations. One after another, they altered the visible shapes until four relatively humanoid constructs stood in front of Ast’s group. Three of them were smaller, resembling a big industrial warehouse or two put one above another, while the last and fourth creature towered over them. In its case, it was equally as massive as the whole castle back in Glimmervale, the empty window serving as its visor.
“Now, that’s not something I expected.” Selene snickered lightly. “Did our control room just turn into a massive white Golem?”
“That appears to be the case.” Silvia nodded. “And it has friends.”
“That’s a problem.” Tina sighed tiredly. “We need to get inside the big one, don’t we? Ugh, that sounds worse than I thought.”
The girls laughed as she cast a rosy gaze at Asterios, who smirked back.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Honestly, I much prefer the other way, but if the situation requires it, I can be fairly adaptable,” Althea commented while stretching her fingers.
“Watch out! They are coming!” The princess pointed out and they abandoned the entertaining teasing.
They hastily entered their awakened forms and split up. Shortly after, a pair of house-sized fists smashed into the ground at their earlier location, the two smaller Golems brushing shoulders. The contact released sparks, grinding noise, and some bits of crushed stone as their external surface was damaged during the attempt. Naturally, that didn’t phase the constructs in the slightest.
The third one launched itself into the air, jumping over its two brothers, and dropped behind the fleeing group. Through its efforts, another cracked hollow was carved in the ground. The other two stumbled a little from the force, but the last one shrugged the tremors off, its much bigger frame and feet giving it greater stability. But, at the same time, that advantage was more of a disadvantage in the fight as it could easily crush its teammates.
Asterios and the ladies surrounded their opponents by forming a ring around the Golems. This wouldn’t be as easy. The enemies were incomparable to the one they had faced before, at least inside their own kind, so monsters like the giant snake didn’t count. These were the largest constructs they had faced. Additionally, the material these creatures were made of wasn’t common either.
Golden paths glimmered all over the Golems, still thrumming with power, perhaps even more now that the defenses had been activated. The energy continued to flow like it did through the corridors and hallways. All that white and gold created an intense contrast with the dark world. The light shining on those colors from the revealed seal further enhanced the effect. In the usual stories, this would be the arrival of holy forces whose goal was to purge the evil dimension, but the reality was much less black and white. This was more of an invasion.
“We better not show this to Grea. Knowing her, the next thing we would see is our own castle changing forms like this and walking past the town’s walls to repel thugs,” Silvia commented with a pensive expression.
Tina let out a small giggle. “I can perfectly picture Professor standing in that open chamber and laughing maniacally as the construct stomps on her enemies.”
“I think there would be less laughing and more moaning. It wouldn’t take long before she got turned on by all of that and roped Master into taking her then and there in front of the raging battle.” Selene hid her impish smile behind her slender hand, causing them to chuckle.
As the walking giants turned towards them, they exchanged nods and dove into action.
Asterios flew into the air and rushed towards the enemy. During his flight, he released thick black flames onto the stone monsters, aiming to check their durability. The fire licked at their white surface and darkened it in various places but otherwise didn’t do much, especially to the biggest one. They were as resistant as the facilities they had raided in the past, before the power-cutting part.
The Golems swung their arms after him but he nimbly wove between their attempts, twisting his draconic body according to the incoming blows. As strong as the constructs were, they couldn’t rival his speed. It wouldn’t be a problem for his much smaller mates either. Though, in front of such humongous enemies, even he couldn’t be considered anything more than medium-sized. He was a true lizard in their eyes. If they had any.
Curious about it, he launched himself at the window. Maybe it would be easier to defeat them from the inside. At the very least, the other Golems wouldn’t be able to hurt them if they hid in their leader once more. As long as there were no other security systems active, of course. Something could have triggered when they had been thrown out.
But, his idea was quickly shot down as the massive entity showed an incredible burst of speed to swat him away like an annoying fly. The girls shouted after him, but he assured them that he was alright, catching his balance before crashing into the ground. That one had to be special. It wasn’t only bigger but also generally better in every aspect, just not displaying that power until there was a reason for it.
“Let’s move into the air. There’s no way they can follow us there,” Althea suggested and everyone agreed.
Asterios swooped down to pick up Miria while the others flew up through their own means. They circled the Golems and threw some occasional attacks to gauge their toughness just as Asterios had. Lightning, fire, physical or spiritual blasts didn’t work on their outer shells. This enemy would be a pain to fight, but no one in Ast’s team had gone all out yet. It might be required, though.
“Uh oh…” The panthergirl giggled timidly on his back.
He followed her gaze and saw the smaller trio aim their chunky arms towards them. Three pairs of long and thick limbs followed a few women, completely locked on their targets. In a few seconds, the golden patterns glowed brightly and Asterios realized they were charging as a slight shimmer was visible over them, creating a tube around those outstretched arms. He felt the gathering of the energy shortly before it burst out.
Smaller versions of the light pillars that were raining from the sky through the fortress-less funnels rushed after the girls, illuminating the surroundings even more. Ast’s thoughts had warned them in time that something was going to happen and everyone managed to avoid getting hurt.
Tina’s draconic wings offered much more maneuverability than those she could borrow from Esil. Silvia’s fiery avatar swam through the air like it was water with zero resistance. Selene pushed herself from place to place with her powerful energy, achieving the level of aerial suspension long ago. And Althea simply utilized her serpent frame, coiling around the pillar that was trying to get her.
Since it wasn’t as safe up there as they had initially thought, they all dropped back to the ground. Those who had become the targets chose to descend in the middle of the enemy group and the shooters awkwardly lowered their arms in pursuit, which resulted in them scorching each other and doing much more damage to their surface than Ast’s Dragon Breath had. Still, it wasn’t a considerable injury that complicated the tasks of annihilating all their enemies.
“Hey, Abyss! Can’t you take care of them now that you are on our side?” Miria yelled into the open, knowing well that their friend was watching from somewhere close.
She didn’t expect it to be right next to her as the mysterious woman popped into existence behind her back, also sitting atop Asterios. However, the panthergirl bravely held in her squeak at the sudden jumpscare, simply glaring at the new passenger.
“You are right. We need to quickly get rid of the small ones and immobilize the biggest. They should be working on a similar principle to the underground facilities. There’s a spiritual power source inside their bodies that needs to be broken to completely subjugate the Golems. Save for the giant construct, since we might need it to function when I try to interfere with the control panel,” Abyss responded casually. “I can’t just transfer myself inside, unfortunately. His magic prevents me from doing that for as long as it courses through their conduits. But, it doesn’t stop me from blasting holes in their bodies like I did with the buried cluster safehouses. Allow me.”
With the briefest hint of a curl at the corner of her lips, she exploded into a shadowy puff of smoke. A violet glow captured everyone’s attention and they found the woman above them with her hands directed further into the sky. There was a tiny spot a little bit higher, into which strands of purple energy flowed from all angles, making it look like the dark hole was sucking in colored water.
An irregular blob of that energy gathered quickly, creating an ominous image that made the observers shiver anxiously. It wasn’t exactly wrong, but as far as Void abilities went, they were always a tiny bit creepy and definitely dangerous. Had that growing bubble burst, who knew what would happen to everyone on the ground?
But, Abyss didn’t allow that to happen and clapped her hands once, sending a strong echo into the flat field, something that shouldn’t be naturally possible without any tall mountains to reflect the sound. Ignoring these laws of physics, she launched glowing purple lances at the smaller Golems, each the size of their heads. Numerous projectiles rushed toward their targets with the intention to kill.
One managed to stab through the leftmost construct’s thigh, another blew off the second construct’s fist.
But, that was as far as they got.
The gargantuan creature stepped in the way of the Void Barrage and shielded its little brothers with its chunky arm and reliable back. All the other lances prickled its skin, digging only about as deep as an announcement board pin would sink into a person’s flesh, tearing rather insignificant chunks of the white stone.
She could definitely keep going, but Abyss had to stop her assault. As she had said, they couldn’t damage the main Golem too much if they still wished to attempt to save the Nethernight Realm. If it were going to put itself in harm’s way to protect the other constructs, that would be very difficult. It could even suffer accidental blows from its brothers if they brawled in close quarters like two of them were currently doing while chasing the people on the ground.
“We need to separate them and keep them busy!” Asterios noticed that too and issued a quick command to his trusty mates.
“Do we have to keep them alive?” Selene queried.
“No,” Abyss informed her.
The fox lady’s lips curled into a fierce grin. “Miria, let’s have some fun with that one, shall we?”
Her feline sister-mate whooped and jumped off Ast’s back, falling towards the vulpine girl who was turning into a big vixen. “Be right back, Master!”
Asterios chuckled, happy to see her being excited about having a chance to try out her new powers against a strong opponent. He had no doubt they would be able to wreck that piece of glued stones without much trouble. As long as it worked as a distraction for her compassionate nature, it was very well worth it.
Silvia and Tina shared a nod, glanced at him together, and smiled softly. He reciprocated the gesture and the two noble ladies hit another Golem with a combined blast of fire and water, pushing it away from the group.
Althea flew to his side, her draconic snout close to his. “Leave the last of the three to me. You can focus on the leader with Abyss.”
“Are you sure? The others paired up.” Asterios looked at her worriedly.
“I’m not alone.” She huffed a fiery cloud at him in a playful manner, a sweet giggle tickling their minds. “If it proves to be too much to take down on my own, I’ll at least keep it busy until others finish and come to lend me a hand.”
Not giving him time to respond, she nuzzled her cheek against his and flew away. Coiling around her opponent like a sneaky snake, she got it to pay attention only to her and led it in a different direction than the others had lured their prey in.
Before the biggest Golem decided to follow any of his girls, Asterios annoyed it with flames in its face once more.
“Umbra, keep an eye on Althea, please. This one is mine. I’m sure Abyss will assist me if needed,” he spoke to his familiar friend.
“With pleasure.” The shadowy butler’s voice resounded by his ear and soon the faint presence he had been feeling disappeared.
The final battle that would decide the fate of the realm was on.