CHAPTER 173– EXTINCTION OF HUMANITY
LYSANDER FARADEISS
As I stepped aboard the Windwalker Airship, a sense of nostalgia washed over me, tinged with a hint of loneliness. The air was thick with the faint hum of the ship's machinery, a constant reminder of its once bustling corridors. I made my way to the bridge, where the captain's seat stood like a throne amidst the flickering displays. There, suspended in mid-air, a hologram globe spun lazily, casting a soft blue light that danced across the walls.
The emptiness of the ship amplified my solitude, and memories flooded back like ghosts haunting the silence. I could almost see Kate and I sharing coffee on the deck, her laughter mingling with the rustling of the wind as we watched the horizon stretch out endlessly. I recalled the time Gaeun, with her usual bright-eyed enthusiasm, asked me to fix the computer box of the terminals here on the bridge, her trust in my skills a small but significant bond. And Charlotte... our playful bickering over meals at the dining table, where her quick wit matched my own, brought a bittersweet smile to my lips.
Then there was Hiraya. Memories of her were intertwined with every corner of this ship, each room echoing with our shared moments. Now that the Windwalker was deserted, it felt as though those memories were all I had left, and the airship would never be the same without them.
“Welcome back, Lysander Faradeiss,” the AI, ULYSSES, chimed in its smooth, mechanical voice, breaking the quiet reverie. “How may I be of service?”
I unfolded the piece of paper Lyon had given me, the edges worn from handling. It contained the list of all human settlements left on this ravaged planet. Thanks to Gazelle Lockwood's devastating war, a mere 30% of the human population remained, all huddled within the territories of the Alterran Empire. Fortunately, the Windwalker had already registered the coordinates of these settlements, allowing me to traverse from one to another effortlessly.
“Windwalker, Fast Travel to New Vanilla City,” I commanded, my voice steady but my heart heavy with anticipation.
“Roger that, Lysander Faradeiss,” the AI responded dutifully. “Coordinates Locked. Fast Travel activating in three…two…one…”
Suddenly, two enormous magical circles materialized, one above the Windwalker and the other below. They pulsed with a bright, otherworldly glow, and in a heartbeat, the airship vanished from its place, reappearing at the southeastern edge of New Vanilla City. The cityscape unfolded beneath us, a testament to resilience and survival in a world forever changed.
I stepped out of the bridge and into the open air, where the dark, starless sky stretched above me like an endless void. The wind was a gentle whisper against my face, cool and soothing. As I walked to the edge of the deck, the city lights of New Vanilla City below flickered to life, casting a warm glow that pushed back the darkness. Despite being so close to Tasty Town, this city had somehow remained relatively unscathed by Gazelle's brutal invasion. If I recall correctly, a few hundred thousand humans still called this place home, their lives a testament to resilience in the face of adversity.
With a deep breath, I unfurled my dragonic wings, their span wide and majestic against the night sky. My eyes, now a vibrant rainbow of colors, illuminated the world around me with a prismatic glow. Slowly, I descended, feeling the air rush past me as I made my way to the heart of the city.
Landing softly atop a skyscraper, I placed a hand over my heart, feeling the surge of corrupted energy coursing through me—the power of Necross.
“Activating Necross Pulse!” I declared, my voice echoing into the night.
In an instant, an explosion of blue flames erupted around me, engulfing the nearest city blocks in a hellish inferno. The buildings crumbled to ashes as my nuclear navy flames surged outward like a volcanic eruption, leaving destruction in their wake. Glass windows in distant skyscrapers shattered, and some structures succumbed to the sheer force of the shockwaves, collapsing in a cacophony of steel and concrete.
Amidst the chaos, my body underwent a formidable transformation. I morphed into a thirty-meter-tall colossal crystalline black-silver dragon—a Necroblaze Dragon, a creature born of devastation and ruin. This form existed solely to bring carnage and demise, its mere presence a harbinger of destruction.
Screams of terror reached my ears, the cries of the people echoing through the burning streets below.
“Aaaaaaah! We’re being attacked by dragons!” panicked voices rang out in fear.
“Ruuuun! It’s Charizard!” one of the civilians shouted, their voice laced with terror. "And it's black!"
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“It looks like Charizard, but due to international copyright laws, it’s not,” another civilian retorted, their panic tinged with absurdity.
“But we should run as if it’s Charizard!” the first civilian insisted, urgency driving their words.
"Though it’s not," the civilian answered back before their voice dissolved into a terrified scream. “Aaaaaaaah!”
With a deep, menacing growl, I charged blue nuclear flames within my maw, feeling the heat build to a blistering intensity. With a swift motion, I unleashed a devastating stream of fire toward the ground, incinerating everything in its path. My first targets were the troublesome, fourth-wall-breaking humans, their uncanny awareness posing a significant threat to my reign of terror.
The flames roared downwards, engulfing highways, streets, and cars in a torrent of destruction. The asphalt melted and twisted under the heat, and vehicles exploded in fiery bursts, their metal frames crumpling like paper. The cityscape below transformed into a hellish landscape of smoke and ruin, and nothing was safe from my relentless power.
I showed no mercy, not even to the most vulnerable. A human baby’s cries for "Mama!" were silenced in an instant as the inferno swallowed everything whole. Women, crippled by falling debris, met their end beneath the relentless flames. Elderly souls in wheelchairs, who once sought refuge in their age, were consumed without hesitation. My flames did not discriminate; they were a force of nature, impartial and unforgiving.
In my mind, every human on this planet had to die, a cleansing fire to purify this world.
Suddenly, the sound of whirring engines filled the air. Helicopters and VTOLs surrounded me, their numbers swarming like angry bees. The sky was dotted with their silhouettes, about thirty in all. Among them were skysoldiers, two to three hundred strong, their presence a defiant challenge to my supremacy.
"Fire!" commanded one of the skysoldiers, their voice cutting through the cacophony of battle.
In an instant, the aircraft unleashed a barrage of missiles and machine gun fire. The air vibrated with the sound of projectiles whizzing past, a lethal orchestra of destruction. Skysoldiers aimed their assault rifles at me, bullets pinging harmlessly against my crystalline armor. From the ground, mages launched fireballs and lightning bolts, desperate to pierce my defenses with their arcane powers.
Yet, amidst this onslaught, I remained unmoved. The missiles exploded against my scales with no effect, their force dissipating like raindrops against steel. The bullets, spells, and flames all amounted to nothing against my invincible form.
I was a towering titan, an unyielding behemoth of destruction.
As the dragonoid contractor of the Ultimate Dragon Lord, the Mark of Vesryn bestowed upon me complete invulnerability to any attacks. I was immortal, an indomitable force of nature. As long as my link with Hiraya remained unbroken, I was a force greater than nature itself, an unstoppable harbinger of destruction.
With a mighty roar, I spread my crystalline wings wide, their translucent facets shimmering with an ethereal light. The diamond crystals embedded within them began to glow a brilliant blue, pulsing with raw energy. In an instant, beams of nuclear lasers erupted from them, fanning out in all directions like a deadly aurora.
The lasers sliced through the sky with devastating precision, vaporizing every human in sight. The aircraft, once formidable in their numbers, were reduced to tiny iron filings, disintegrating in the searing heat. The skysoldiers, who had bravely taken to the skies to confront me, were turned to ash in the blink of an eye, their remnants falling like dark snowflakes over New Vanilla City.
"It’s no good. The Imperial Forces were defeated!" a lone civilian cried out, their voice trembling with despair and disbelief as they witnessed the annihilation unfold before them.
"Run! Get out of the city!" another shouted, panic spreading like wildfire among the remaining survivors.
In a frantic attempt to escape, cars began to clog the highways leading to the city gates, horns blaring in a discordant symphony of desperation. Mobs of people poured into the streets, fleeing like ants from a collapsing anthill, each one driven by an instinctual urge to survive.
But I would not allow a single one of them to live. My purpose was clear and unyielding: every human on this planet had to be purged. If even one managed to slip through my grasp, Arthur’s Archonlight would remain active. I had to extinguish each and every human life, leaving no trace behind.
The chaos below was a testament to my power, a grim reminder of the devastation I had wrought. As the ashes of my enemies continued to fall, I remained steadfast in my mission, a colossus of destruction standing amidst the ruin I had created.
I stomped on the ground with my massive clawed foot, and the earth quaked beneath me. The impact sent ripples through the ground, and a gigantic magical circle began to form, glowing with an ominous light. It expanded rapidly, stretching outwards until it covered the entirety of New Vanilla City. The magical circle then erected a shimmering dome barrier, trapping everyone within its confines and sealing their fate.
This dome barrier spell was the very same one that Hiraya had used to protect the Cathedral Exa in the previous timeline. Having absorbed her memory crystal, I now possessed her vast intellect and powers. It was only fitting that I wield them to fulfill my purpose.
"Let us out! Let us out!" desperate humans cried, their voices tinged with panic and despair as they pounded furiously against the barrier. Their fists thudded uselessly against the unyielding surface, leaving no mark on the translucent wall.
But no one would come to save them. There was no escape, no hope, no salvation left for them. Their only deliverance now, and forevermore, was death.
I took a deep breath, drawing in the energy of the corrupted world around me, and charged a nuclear flame within my maw once more. The power built inside me, a volatile mix of fire and fury, ready to be unleashed. With a mighty roar, I released the searing breath, a torrent of nuclear flames sweeping over the city like a purging storm.
The humans below were swept away like the refuse they were, their screams drowned out by the roar of the inferno. Buildings crumbled under the relentless assault, reduced to smoldering rubble. The very ground scorched beneath the heat, blackened and barren.
The city, once a bustling hive of life and activity, was now a graveyard, a testament to my unstoppable wrath.