All was quiet for a while after Damien finished his story. Solaris sat there, a stunned expression on his face as he looked at Damien with what one would consider pity, or fear. Damien couldn't tell.

"So that's why you hate the Empire," it wasn't question.

"Don't worry, though," Damien shrugged. "I took my revenge."

Tenral only looked confused.

"Oh, you didn't know?" Damien smiled. "Before your scouts became aware of me, I had been quietly taking my revenge on those who were guilty. I mean, I spent my time training in a Proto-space for months on end before I could comfortably begin."

"How did you know the Empire was responsible? From your story the soldiers who attacked your settlement didn't identify themselves."

"It took time and a lot of investigation, but we were able to trace down the common soldiers who partook in the slaughter, and from there, we worked up through the command chain."

"Volei Nien," Tenral realized.

Damien smiled, "Yes."

Volei Nien had been the first Spirit lord casualty from the Empire. When the Empire had passed down the orders for settlements on the border outskirts to be included into the Empire, forcefully even, Volei Nien had taken it upon himself to do far more than that, wiping out entire settlements who outright refused. For such a ruthless individual, he had sure begged for his life when he was brought to his knees.

"But why? Your village could have avoided annihilation by just doing as they were told. Weren't your lives more preferable than pride?"

"You don't understand, do you? They didn't just want to include us into the Empire, the general of the northern pass wanted to conscript all essence wielders into becoming fodder for your skirmish battles with Camlen and Gandor," he waited. "Including the recently awakened."

Tenral sighed, "You have your revenge then, why the continued feud?"

"Because..." Damien collapsed onto the sand. "Despite there no longer being any blood feud between us, Solaria is still a power-hungry nation."

Tenral snorted, "Aren't we all? You think your Emissaries aren't the same? Given the opportunity, they would all jump on the chance of taking over the whole continent."

"Oh, I know that. But they aren't the ones scaring the other nations with threats of invasion, are they?"

"No b—"

Suddenly, they both looked up, turning their attention northwest. Tenral expression looked grim as he turned back to Damien.

"Speak of the devil," Damien gave a resigned smile.

***

The city of Yarlen was a beautiful city, with architectures of tall skyscrapers and massive angular shaped buildings made of silver metal and glassy stone, all beautifully arranged in between tall trees of beautiful leaves and emerald colored grass. Coupled with the hundreds of beautiful beaches and a warm and sunny climate, with a population of more than fifty million residents, Yarlen was a center hub for vacation, industrialism, trade exports, and many other things in the region. It was a city where the rich and powerful came to relax, and was considered a major city in the region, if not, the entire continent.

Today, Yarlen was not faring very well. It all started when massive pillars of golden filmy portals opened up a few miles away from the city. Now, the government of Yarlen were already aware of the impending war that loomed over the heads of everyone, like a calamity beast in their backyard. They were sufficiently prepared, with a wide range teleportation-dampening formation that covered the entire city and even beyond. The massive city dome was activated, protecting the city from both physical and magical threats, powerful defensive and attacking constructs were also brought alive, making the city practically an impenetrable fortress for any invading force, if that was even going to happen given their location far deep into the continent and a good distance away from any battlefield. Or so they thought.

On that beautiful afternoon, depending on who narrated the story in the aftermath, the city of Yarlen were going on as usual. Residents went to work, tourists threw parties on the warm-sandy beaches. It was all just usual. Until the portals opened.

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In the aftermath, nobody would ever know how it was accomplished, given the powerful arrays of dampeners the city employed, and that would put fear into the hearts of many governments.

From the tall golden colored portal came massive SkyShips, simple ships of massive blocky designs that were only created for their efficiency. Lining their hulls were long, metallic constructs, all radiating auras of devastating proportions. And they were all pointed down at the distant shining city. Troop carriers.

Accompanying those troop carriers were smaller, sleek, angular shaped ships, mostly in the shapes of avian creatures, but others also came in the shapes of sea-faring vessels. Strike ships.

If the troop carriers were meant to deal slow, heavy, devastating damages, the strike ships were meant for fast, long-range damage-dealing meant to carry far and wide, more than the troop carriers.

And leading those ships in a triangular shaped formation was a massive mobile command station, a construct of massive heights and widths that was meant to hold entire armies and the commanders that led them. The mobile command ship wasn't built for their damage dealing capabilities but for their damage taking ones. They could withstand the full might of multiple Spirit lords and still come out standing. All over the castle shaped construct lined hundreds of intercepting constructs meant for deflecting or unraveling incoming attacks, shield their inhabitants from mind altering attacks, and unravel any cloaking techniques. Deep in belly of the ship was a massive formation that projected an orb of protective energy surrounding the entire construct.

Altogether, the command ship was a true impenetrable fortress.

Its presence brought fear into the defenders who watched their advance. Like every city, Yarlen also had a massive army stationed in the city. Today, that army was roused and, meant only for the protection of the city, was quickly equipped.

Massive defensive towers were activated, and the projectile constructs lining them were pointed toward the invading force, alongside the projectile constructs also lining the tall walls of the city.

Despite the overwhelming power, the defenders of Yarlen were steadfast, intending on making full use of their home advantage.

Until the first shot was fired.

The attack didn't come from any Strike ship or Troop carrier. From the pointed roof of the humongous castle structure, a hatch was opened, and from inside it emerged a single long pole. A single metal pole of ordinary features. Non-threatening.

When it fired, it sailed through the air, unassisted with only the air to guide it.

Confused but knowing the threat posed by the invading force, the defenders of Yarlen didn't take any chances. Powerful techniques of wind to redirect the attack far from the city. Earth techniques to trap or entirely arrest the movement of the pole. Water to interfere with any of the enchantments woven into the construct. Fire meant to melt away the enchantments. And even esoteric elements like space were employed to try and spatially move the construct elsewhere, preferably back to the senders. Even time was used to hold the construct, trapping it in time for long years until the enchantments wore off.

All were completely squashed without any visible evidence of it happening.

And the pole sailed onward.

Unbothered.

Having emptied their entire repertoire of intercepting constructs, the defenders of Yarlen then relied on their purely defensive ones, praying that it would be enough.

With bated breath, everyone–both the invading and defending forces–watched as the pole landed, slamming into the city-wide protective dome.

For a moment, all was quiet, and the defenders had already began breathing in sighs of relief that their defenses had held.

Until....

BOOM! CRACK!

Over the city, the world was engulfed in a golden inferno of crimson light that shone over the city ike a second sun.

And when the light finally subsided, the results were horror inducing for all who saw..

Of the towers lining the city? Nothing remained of them but hot molten slag. Same with some of the skyscrapers inside the city.

The massive walls that enshrouded the city of Yarlen? Half were nowhere to be seen, melting into slag, just like the towers.

The worst was what happened to the city entirely. Like every city, the protective dome drew power from a colossally wide formation placed under the city. And when that formation was overloaded with an unbelievably powerful attack, the results could be seen from the long, deep fissures that criss-crossed the entire city.

Millions screamed and howled in pain as something far deeper than terror enveloped the city. Buildings collapsed, crushing people regardless of age, race, or gender. Tsunamis came in from the sea, swallowing a portion of the city and drowning millions, and massive fires raged, spreading and consuming.

All that from just one attack.

A simple opening move.

And like monsters eager to finish off their prey, the invading forces descended.

Massive bolts of lightning zig-zagged down unto the city just as balls of fires rained down. A sea of dark green poison doused the city in both liquid and gas form, outright killing some and subjecting others to unimaginable pain which made them shriek until their throats burst. Thousands killed themselves so as to put an end to the pain.

Some constructs were of a different kind, ejecting deadly substances that subjected their victims to horrifying deformations, twisting their body structures and leading them into complete madness.

And then the soldiers descended.

From the troop carriers now hovering over the city, figures of golden black armor rained down in the thousands. A sea of blood flowed as the soldiers began a massacre, slaughtering everyone with unparalleled impartiality.

Dark clouds covered the city, and rain fell as the massacre carried on for hours.

And when all was done, the Forces of the Solarian Empire left with a captured population of thousands.

Leaving the city a broken, dead, husk of its former self.

Leaving the city to the carrions that had already began descending, feasting on the open entrails of the dead.