Thump.
Shaun’s whole body tensed as he both felt and heard the thump run through his body. He locked up and when he tried to move he had no control over his body.
Thump.
“I……” He tried to speak but found he wasn’t able to form words properly.
Thump. Thump.
He felt the mana starting to drain from his body, a little with each thump but he couldn’t figure out where it was going, he couldn’t even understand what was happening to him in that moment. He was sure he was going to die from mana overload but now, he hasn’t so sure.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
He scoured his body, every inch of his mana channels and checked every single one of his skills, still he couldn’t find what was happening to him. He tried to activate his mana sight but pain wrecked his body the moment he tried to activate a skill.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
The thumping was nearly continuous now, he searched and searched and although he could feel the mana draining away he still couldn’t find where it was going. He checked his heart, his body and finally his mind but still there was nothing in the usual places. Only when he was starting give up on figuring it out did he check on the one thing that was a complete mystery to him, his heri….
“Ahhhhhhh” He screamed as he felt his body being torn apart from the inside out.
“Shaun…… need…… stop…mana…..”
He barely heard the words, missing most of them. He couldn’t even pinpoint who spoke. It was just the pain, the mana and the thumping.
His heritage was sucking up all of the mana and it was doing something to his body. The pain was beyond anything he knew he could experience. His body was already wrecked and now, with his heritage sucking him dry, he was being forced to endure even more pain.
“People……passing….”
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
“Arghh”
He let out a chocked scream as he felt his back torn to pieces, extra weight had him falling onto his back. As he landed everything felt off, it felt wrong, yet it also felt like something he had been missing was now found.
He still couldn’t move, he couldn’t use any skills, all he wanted to do was feel his back but he couldn’t.
“What….white….”
He tried to listen to what was being said but he couldn’t make out the words. More thumping made another wave of pain come over him and he felt his face start to burn. He tried to scream but he felt his mouth start to change and all he could do was open his mouth in a silent plea for help.
He felt someone collapse next to him unmoving joined quickly by a second body falling. He couldn’t see who they were but the only people close enough to him to land so close were Eric and Yarila. They had passed out, they weren’t dead. If they were dead their bodies would have disappeared. He had no idea what was happening but he wanted it to stop, he needed it to stop.
He laid their awake and unmoving, not being able to do anything but feel the pain and listen to the continuous thumping from his heritage. Bit by bit the mana drained from his body, no more was coming into him by his group anymore, now it was just sucking him dry.
It felt like hours had passed as he lay there waiting for the last of his mana to drain away. Bit by bit the thumping slowed until he felt the last bit of power drain from his body and finally everything went dark.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
“Ma’am we just got a flood of points come through and The Pantheon has halted their attack.” Viv stood in the compound control room waiting for updates on the retreat. Leaders had the ability to instantly teleport back to the compound three times during the event and no more. That was three times across every leader for the entire event. She had used one and she had messaged Shaun to use one if needed but she had never gotten any reply. She had no idea what was happening at the other compound.
She had been alerted when two of the Charlo siblings disappeared and when Jason started heading straight for their compound. She pulled up the points score and she was surprised at just how many had actually come through. Not hesitating she dropped all of them into increasing the compounds defences, buying them as much time as she could.
“Do we know why they have halted their attack? Last reports said they were marching to the compound as quickly as they could.” She didn’t know what they were up to but she didn’t like it.
“No ma’am, however reports say that they look defeated and their spirits have dropped considerably.”
She tried to message Shaun, Eric, Gabe, Yarila and anybody else she could think of to get an update from them but no one replied. She didn’t know if that was good news or bad, but someone should have been able to contact her.
Just as she was about to give the order to get in contact from anyone from their strike team one of her attendants rushed into the room looking flustered.
“What is it?” She had no time for gentle words, she needed information and now.
“Update came in from some of the people under Eric. They did it, they think.”
“What do you mean they think?” It was either a yes they managed to do it or they didn’t. It was the worst update she could imagine.
“Shaun, er, Mr Clermont? I mean, the Emperor….”
“Just spit it out!” Dealing with people stumbling over what to call Shaun had become an annoyance, one she had no time to deal with.
“He did something that drained the mana from everyone that was willing to give it to him. Some of Eric’s team didn’t want to do it so they are still awake but everyone else is out cold.”
“Go on….” She didn’t like that people rebelled against Eric but she let it go for now as at least she was getting an update.
“He killed them, all of them. The compound doesn’t exist anymore, its just ash…..”
“Ash……. Have they started claiming the compound. Or the area, or even the ash?” She didn’t know how to process this, how could Shaun manage to turn an entire compound into ash. He was powerful yes, but that shouldn’t have been possible.
“They can’t ma’am. They sent some people in but there was no message and there is just nothing left. Also they said….”
“How can they not claim it? That is the point of the event! If there is no compound to claim than that means the only compound left is ours?” Shaun was supposed to claim the compound not wipe it off the face of the event! He always made her job more difficult, but this? What the hell were they even supposed to do now?
“There is more ma’am. The report communicated to us says that umm, the Emperor has grown wings…..”
“I am sorry, what do you mean he has…..”
Event Notification
To win The War one side needed to claim both compounds. Due to the impossibility of now being able to claim two compounds as Shaun Clermont side is the only side to hold a compound they have been declared winner of the event.
However, due to the change in how the event was won the event has now been extended to allow for individuals to continue to gain points.
If you so wish to stay in the event the war will continue even though the event has already been won. The event will now end in 30 days or until no one is left alive.
Just like that they won the event. Viv could hardly believe what she was reading but he had actually done it. They won.
She didn’t particularly care about the individual leader board, the whole point of this for her was to win the event so that she would win the war between them and The Pantheon. With that decided she was now guaranteed to become world leader. They actually did it.
“We shall stay in the event. No point leaving when we will all be returned to Earth at the same time. Give the command to fight back and do as much damage to their army as possible. And ensure you give the order to celebrate. We won!”
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Jason read the message once then twice, getting angrier the more he read the damn thing. How did he do it? That what he wanted to know. The last update he got from his siblings was that Shaun was working with more mana than one person should have been capable of wielding and that they were planning on running out to stop him from finishing whatever attack that was building.
After that he got notification of his siblings deaths and that his compound was obliterated, then nothing. He had hoped that Shaun had killed himself after the attack but from what he gathered he was still alive, somehow.
He had lost the event and according to the agreements between all the factions he had lost the right to be world leader. He was done. Octavius was going to be pissed, everyone was going to be annoyed at what had happened here. There was no reason why they should have lost. They had the numbers, they were more powerful and they were on their way to wiping out The Empire.
Shaun. One person had changed everything. One person who wouldn’t have even been apart of the war if it had occurred outside of the event. Shaun.
He wanted revenge, he wanted to kill him. He lost everything because of him and he wanted to squeeze the life out of him here and now.