The Breakthrough has been sealed, but Maya was right: the Break's behavior is alarmingly similar to yesterday's activity. Does this mean we're anticipating another tear in reality tomorrow? It's possible, or it may be our imaginations running wild, suggesting that today's events will repeat. These considerations can wait, though. Even though the main threat has been neutralized, our work is far from over.
"Halley, Dobrynya! Assemble search parties and inspect the damaged cars and destroyed houses." After giving this command, I turned to Maya. "Announce the all-clear."
"Understood," she agreed. "I'll also request additional special vehicles." Once she finished speaking, she leaped off the roof and, in Sliding, rushed towards the police station.
Left alone on the parapet of a nine-story building, I took a moment to survey the scene.
For us, the raigs, this Breakthrough was probably the least challenging in my memory. The city, on the other hand, has not fared as well. Along its four hundred meter stretch, Burgundy Avenue resembled a warzone, stormed by no less than an infantry battalion. Car after car, parked neatly along the sidewalk, was riddled with large-caliber bullet holes. Sedans, minivans, hatchbacks, SUVs - none of them were fit for further use. Several lampposts lay toppled on the pavement, blocking a few lanes of the highway. It seemed they had been sheared off by the concentrated fire of aggressors from another reality layer, as if cut by a thermal lance. The buildings lining the street were also severely damaged: almost every ground-floor window along the length of the battle site was shattered, and few remained intact on the second floor. Miraculously, the third floor of nearly all the buildings seemed to have escaped any significant damage.
In pairs and groups of three, the Break Knights used their abilities to swiftly glide along the avenue, searching for casualties or injuries. After inspecting each vehicle, they reported back to either Halley or Dobrynya. The latter's job, as an open Knight, was to return to reality upon discovering injured civilians and guide rescuers to the correct location.
Unfortunately, we didn't manage to prevent civilian casualties. Inside one parked minivan, located almost at the center of the Breakthrough, two bodies were discovered. An elderly couple — it seemed they had hoped to sit it out in their car, ignoring the order to seek shelter in the basements of nearby buildings.
By the time we finished inspecting the cars and moved on to the ground floors of the buildings, we found numerous injured. Once again, I was taken aback by people's behavior. Despite living on the ground floor, hearing the alarm and the order to head to the basement, a quarter of the total number chose to remain upstairs. Was it laziness, or a concerning disregard for their own lives? Thankfully, those who stayed in their apartments had the sense to get down at the first sound of gunfire. This decision prevented significant casualties and severe injuries. However, nearly half of those we found were wounded by shards of broken glass or fragments of stone that were propelled in all directions by the impact of large-caliber bullets.
On the other hand, something that impressed me was the efficiency of the local rescue teams. I have been to many places in my past life and witnessed many emergencies, but I've never seen city services operate with such high quality and speed. Ambulances, police, firefighters, and rescuers all worked smoothly and synchronously as if they were one entity. Maya was a great help; using her abilities, she temporarily transferred injured people into the Break, only to return them healed.
Thanks to the combined efforts of the raigs and the rescuers, we managed to avoid any blood loss fatalities. We wrapped up the initial cleanup phase, where the Break Knights could be of significant help, in just half an hour. After that, most of the raigs retired to rest. Only five of us remained on the avenue: Halley, Maya, Leonidas, Rex, and myself. We discussed how repelling the Breakthrough went and what areas needed more focus in our training. Our conversation then shifted to discuss the unusual situation at hand - two Breakthroughs happening consecutively was unprecedented. Moreover, we all had a sense that at least one more reality break was imminent, most likely to occur at the stroke of midnight.
The worst part was that our prana did not recover beyond the level of our wounds again. So, despite the relative "ease" of today's Breakthrough, we understood that if this cascade of reality ruptures continued, we would soon start to falter. Both fatigue and a simple lack of energy would take their toll on us.
"The Break hasn't settled down yet," Halley concluded our discussion. "And if that means another Breakthrough tomorrow..." He trailed off, looking northward, where the first reality break had begun.
"Then it will most likely happen here," Maya picked up for him. "So, I suggest we call for a local evacuation." She paused, seemingly unsure, then continued, "Who knows what level of destruction could occur?"
"And if there's no Breakthrough, and we're yelling 'evacuation'?" Leonidas questioned skeptically. "We'll look foolish."
"Do you care about appearances if it could save lives?" Rex retorted. "Besides, we're not suggesting evacuating the entire city, just the residents along one avenue."
"One avenue is a lot," Leonidas held his ground. "I've estimated the number of buildings, the floors, the apartments - we'd need to relocate tens of thousands of people."
"Better to move that many people today than to have that many dead tomorrow!" Maya shot back irritably. "Plus, the evacuation could be conducted under the guise of inspecting the damaged buildings."
Since I had been considering suggesting something similar, I simply listened, observing how they managed without my input. In the end, I was pleased with the outcome.
"I would also leave the watch here," Halley suggested, "Like yesterday."
"I agree," I intervened this time, "Since Maya and Halley will prepare the evacuation and submit a report to the new curator, I'll be the first to take over. Rex will replace me in three hours, then Leonidas."
"I'll have the shift schedule ready by eight in the morning," Halley nodded, "I'll post it on the internal site and..." He hesitated, then, with a wave of his hand, continued, "In short, I'll organize it."
Before we parted, Rex stopped Halley and asked:
"How do you manage to do everything? You are still in your second year! Even without your duties as head, I am already at my limit, and you..."
"To be honest..." The new head of BKDW hesitated initially and then confessed, "I took an academic leave for a year. So I don't have to spend time studying."
"That's not good..." Rex sympathized, "Then it won't be easy to catch up - after a year's break!"
"I know!" Halley brushed it off, "But I set my priorities! And I'll think about studying later... In the future."
Looking at them, my resolve strengthened: I must find this Door and stop the End of the World. These boys and girls deserve a future!
Left alone on the roof, I perched on the edge and let my legs dangle. Naturally, I would never do this in reality, but in the form of a Projection, for some reason, it was oddly relaxing to sit at such a height and let my legs swing freely.
Clearing my thoughts, I tuned into the Break. Like yesterday, it still held a lingering tension. It was as if someone had wound up a spring, which eased a bit during the Breakthrough, but never fully relaxed. This vague "tension" seemed to interfere with the complete restoration of our prana and turned the wind of the Break sharper and nastier. No matter how hard I tried to sense something beyond this strain, I couldn't. The Break seemed normal, if the term "normal" could ever apply to such an odd space.
While I was trying to feel something else, the state machine was buzzing below in full swing. Honestly, I hadn't expected the authorities to accept our proposal to evacuate so quickly. Not only had it been accepted, but the procedure itself had already begun. I thought it would be better to start the evacuation in the morning, when many people were at work, but the House on the Hill had other ideas.
In addition to the rescuers, numerous buses also started to turn up at the damaged buildings. I hopped off the bus and listened in on the conversations. The official explanation put out by the authorities was that the buildings had sustained damage that needed to be assessed. During this evaluation, they said, evacuations were necessary as staying in the damaged houses could be risky. The people were reassured that the assessment would take no more than two or three days, and there was no need to pack up everything - just a set of spare clothes and important documents would suffice. Further, the people were comforted by the Castle's announcement that the repairs for the buildings and damaged apartments would be covered by the duke, and all victims would receive state insurance.
Obviously, ordinary people are not professional rescuers, and evacuating large nine-story buildings didn't happen instantly. But when I handed over my shift to Rex, the last buses were already leaving along the avenue towards the military camps. In my experience, such speedy movement of large civilian masses was quite miraculous. Moreover, everything proceeded without panic or disputes. This, by the way, was a unique advantage of a class society: an ordinary citizen simply didn't dare to argue with a shapeshifter officer and promptly followed the instructions given.
"Wow!" Rex exclaimed, clearly impressed. "Have you seen how they work?" He pointed toward a group of specialists that included a policeman, a firefighter, a medic, and a military engineer. "When they enter a damaged apartment, one of them films everything, two others inspect the place, and the engineer makes a list of restoration work. And all of this is recorded on camera! I've only counted two dozen such groups, but there must be more. And also... The protection of the abandoned buildings will be handled not by the police, but by the Castle security service!" He seemed to find it hard to believe, but for me, it was a powerful move that significantly reinforced the trust of the residents who were asked to leave their apartments.
"Something tells me that even the boldest thieves and looters wouldn't dare to even think about visiting the houses left by the owners," I responded with a slight grin.
"With such security?! They simply can't!" Rex agreed.
"It's not a matter of 'they can't,'" I corrected the young Knight. "A professional could sneak in and take what they want, even under such conditions. But right now, it's the professionals who will steer clear of this avenue because stealing something that's under the protection of the House on the Hill's security service means personally insulting the rulers. And such things..."
"Our duke and Heir won't let such things slide," Rex finished my sentence, seizing the opportunity during my pause.
"Exactly!"
After conversing a bit more with the Knight, I left him on his watch. Slipping into Sliding, I left Burgundy Avenue.
First, I dropped by the BKDW headquarters - just as I imagined, despite the late hour, Halley and Maya were still working. After discussing our shifts and the authorities' movements, I settled at a computer to browse the closed section of our forum. Judging by the somewhat lively discussion of several topics, many couldn't find sleep that night. A reasonable suggestion popped up in one of the forum threads: when leveling up as a Break Knight, under the current circumstances, it's advisable to opt for an increase in maximum prana if the choice presents itself. Why did I think it was reasonable? Because such an enhancement somewhat compensated for the so-called "non-healing wounds," the term coined on the forum to describe the issue of incomplete energy recovery.
Halley, Maya, and I deliberated over this recommendation and agreed that it should be endorsed. We did so by creating a separate thread advising Knights to choose the augmentation of prana reserves if the option arises when leveling up. We had no idea how long this Cascade of Breakthroughs would last, as the ongoing events were aptly dubbed on the forum, and the expanded prana capacity could prove crucial.
By the time I got back to my dorm room, it was five in the morning. Of course, I could have skipped classes given that academics were, mildly speaking, not a priority at the moment. But I decided against it, not out of fear of potential disciplinary consequences, but because the mundane routine oddly soothed me.
Thanks to the Break, three hours of sleep sufficed to make me feel reasonably normal and to avoid falling asleep during lectures. As I left my room in the morning, I found myself in better spirits than most students. The overnight news of the second consecutive Breakthrough, coupled with actual destruction and civilian casualties, had certainly disrupted many. Even the shapeshifter students I ran into on the street seemed unsettled. However, aside from this overall nervous tension on the university island, nothing else had changed. Lectures weren't cancelled, practical classes weren't rescheduled; the students carried on with their studies. It was this consistency that had a calming effect on me.
However, there was a shift in my routine today. The lecture from the Count of Runar was replaced with an astrophysics lesson. This was to be expected - the new duties of the BKDW curator were bound to affect Gabriel, especially in the days following a Breakthrough.
The ripple of anxiety was most evident when Jan Larson took a seat at our lunch table, something he'd never done before. In fact, he had always made a point of avoiding our trio. Today, though, he broke from his usual pattern and chose to dine with us.
Naturally, our conversation veered towards the peculiar second Breakthrough. I was preparing to offer reassurances to my classmates, but it turned out to be unnecessary. Christian jumped into the conversation, arguing with such certainty and confidence that the city's Break Knights would handle everything that he managed to convince not just Claire but even a skeptic like Jan.
"Besides, the city services are functioning exceptionally well, if the news reports are anything to go by," Claire added, trying to soothe us in her own way. "I had the TV on this morning while I was doing my makeup - they were showing Burgundy Avenue."
I wouldn't say our conversation entirely dispelled Jan's worries, but he did stride off to the next lecture with his usual confidence. The three of us lingered, finishing our dessert and chatting some more. We mainly discussed the upcoming out-of-town trip for Mary's birthday. Of course, it was mostly Christian doing the talking. I felt a pang of envy. All these events were unfolding around us, but he remained unaffected; he was far more interested in a country trip than worrying about Breakthroughs, evacuations of entire avenues, and other panic-inducing subjects!
How fortunate I am to have Claire and Christian in my life. They've rescued me from a sea of heavy thoughts countless times without even realizing it! Today was no different. After attending all my classes without incident, I returned to my room and slept for three hours. Then, I took a shower and shifted into the Break. Once I reached the cave where I kept my armor, which had become something of a second home, I spent a few more hours practicing the projection technique. Regrettably, I was making no headway with it, but, remembering the words of the Maker, I wasn't about to throw in the towel.
At ten in the evening, donned in the First Angel, I made my way to the Abode of Knowledge. The moment I stepped out of the Break and materialized on the meditation site, the "gardener" monk appeared on the scene.
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"Namaste." He greeted me, pressing his palms together at his forehead.
"Hello," I replied with a curt bow. "How is he?"
"There's no need to worry. The abbot is recovering."
"Can I see him?"
"The abbot is in a deep, healing sleep," the "gardener" shook his head. "It's best not to disturb him."
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Yes, there is," the monk nodded. "And you know what it is."
You certainly can't accuse the local monks of beating around the bush. His allegorical yet clear message was for me to keep out of the way. And he was probably right.
"I understand," I responded calmly.
"Good. In three days, the abbot will be strong enough to rise. You should come then."
"Thank you!" I was genuinely pleased by the Seer's words.
"May the Bright Sky watch over you!" The monk bid me farewell with a deep bow.
"And you."
With our conversation concluded, I quickly shifted back to the Break. The promising news of my friend's impending recovery significantly lifted my mood.
There were still almost two hours until midnight when we expected the third consecutive Breakthrough. To make good use of my time, I decided to head to the BKDW headquarters. The tension in the Break was palpable, and I wasn't the only one feeling it. There were already quite a few raigs at the headquarters, awaiting the dreaded midnight hour. To avoid wasting time, they held a meeting - or rather, an exchange of opinions - which I used as an opportunity to lighten the mood. I just needed to calm everyone down a bit. No one was afraid of the potential Breakthrough tonight, but many were feeling the pressure of the possibility that these Breakthroughs could become a daily occurrence. Few believed in such a scenario, but doubts and fears were undeniably present. Most didn't believe it, primarily because nothing of the sort had ever happened anywhere else in the world.
After I'd successfully calmed the raigs a bit, we conducted a tactical training session, taking into account the flaws we had noticed repelling the latest reality ruptures. Unlike swordsmanship, almost half of the knights usually didn't linger on tactics, presumably finding these sessions dull. But today, the mood was completely different, which I capitalized on.
When the large office clock showed five minutes to twelve, an absolute silence fell over the main hall of our headquarters. If a fly had buzzed into the room at that moment, it might have deafened someone in this quiet. The atmosphere was so tense, it felt like one could practically ladle it up with a spoon. Unfortunately, our apprehension wasn't baseless. As soon as the clock hands struck midnight, I immediately felt the familiar tugging sensation, almost impossible to resist. Over two dozen faint stars simultaneously shot up over Equality Square and hurtled northward, set to descend within mere seconds.
Burgundy Avenue greeted us with an eerie silence. All eight lanes were devoid of traffic. Not a single window of the nearest nine-story buildings was lit. The House on the Hill had heeded our warnings and taken them seriously.
As soon as we managed to steady ourselves, Maya and Halley promptly phased back into reality, pulling out their mobile phones. The others started scanning their surroundings, eager to pinpoint the source of the imminent attack as quickly as possible.
At my signal, four trios of raigs ascended and took up positions on the rooftops. The rest split into small groups and spread out along the avenue. The familiar, yet always disconcerting, wail of the Civil Defense sirens began to drift over the city. This rolling, bone-chilling sound seemed to serve as the trigger for the active phase of the Breakthrough.
Giant, bleeding pentagrams materialized almost instantly in about three dozen locations. These pentagrams appeared both on the roadway and on the building walls. The highest one I noticed manifested on the sixth floor.
Unlike the other Break Knights, I didn't draw my weapon and get ready to attack. Instead, I retreated into myself, focusing all my attention on my left wrist or more precisely, on the artifact that should indicate the direction of the elusive Door. Using a specific gesture, I transferred command to Halley. He immediately barked out the first order: to avoid the pentagrams. For most of the Break Knights who had come to ward off this Breakthrough, such a command was redundant, but it was necessary for the rookies and the independent raigs.
I delved deeper and deeper within myself, yet the artifact remained silent. Could I be mistaken, believing the Door to be linked with Breakthroughs? I thought I had a lead... Does this mean I have to start from scratch? But before these thoughts could fully consume me, the artifact within the watch "twitched," as if attempting to shatter into countless pieces, each pointing in different directions. Concurrently, the bloody pentagrams blazed with a crimson fire, each spewing a multitude of small monsters, before dimming and vanishing. As the drawn crimson stars disappeared, the artifact within the watch settled into stillness.
The small monsters that emerged from the pentagrams appeared to be, simply put, typical imps. Typical, in the sense that they resembled the common depiction of such creatures. They were short, reaching up to an adult's waist, with thin limbs and grotesquely vicious asymmetrical faces, their sharp, oversized fangs being particularly noticeable. Their demonic appearance was completed by a thin, rat-like tail and one-and-a-half-meter spears clutched in their scrawny, clawed hands. These creatures wore no armor or any other form of protection.
Despite each infernal sign disgorging almost three dozen imps, such grotesque little creatures did not seem to pose a serious threat to the Break Knights. Could this be a ploy by an unseen enemy? Sending cannon fodder our way only to deliver an unexpected and powerful blow?
I ordered the strike teams to hold their positions and continue observing from the rooftops. Simultaneously, Halley advised the raigs to proceed with caution. Leonidas' group was the first to encounter the horde of demons. I tensed, ready to swoop down and offer assistance if the enemy proved more formidable than they appeared.
However, my intervention wasn't necessary. The Knights' swords easily sliced through both the demonic bodies and the spears they used for defense. The confrontation between the raigs and the imps hardly resembled a battle; it was more akin to a slaughterhouse. Yet, even with such overwhelming supremacy, there were still some who miraculously managed to get injured in this clash. Five raigs were so engrossed in the slaughter of the demonic carcasses that they let their guard down and got wounded. The injuries inflicted by the demons' small spears were minor, but allowing such a feeble enemy to harm you is simply unacceptable!
I nurtured a faint hope that when the last demon fell, the Breakthrough might close. However, fate had other plans. Before the final otherworldly creature even hit the ground, new pentagrams, ablaze with crimson fire, sprouted across the avenue. These hellish portals ejected fresh hordes of demons, accompanied now by monstrous dogs, black as the night itself. These otherworldly beasts stood a meter tall at the shoulder, boasting jaws that would make any pit bull green with envy.
These hellhounds were considerably faster than the imps, and their teeth looked perilous. Without a doubt, they would be formidable foes for any ordinary person. With a guttural growl, these predators of the underworld lunged ahead, outpacing the horde of imps. A raig shouted out a warning that these creatures were impervious to ordinary iron or steel. He might have been right, but raig blades were neither steel nor iron. The first hellhound that lunged at Maya was effortlessly bisected by her. It was dispatched before its body even hit the asphalt.
From my vantage point on the roof, I kept waiting for Maya to pinpoint the Breakthrough and identify its source work. Her silence persisted, likely because the infernal theme was too prevalent in both literature and films. This made it difficult for Maya to identify the specific origin of the reality break.
The second wave was neutralized in under a minute. Yet, predictably, the Breakthrough showed no signs of closing. New crimson lines of familiar figures materialized on the avenue.
"Air!"
Rex's warning shattered my concentration on the artifact. Just in the nick of time! I managed to draw "Word" and "Purity" just as three harpies swooped down at me. These grotesque monsters, with their distorted female bodies, leathery wings, and half-animal faces, couldn't be anything else. Their sharp claws resembled stilettos more than natural weapons.
As my blades took their positions, I sidestepped. The right harpy missed me and swooped downwards. The one in the middle, screeching furiously, tried to dodge "Purity" but failed, dying as the wakizashi pierced her chest almost to the hilt. The left one persisted in her attempt to claw me, even as her wings fell on the roof, severed by my sword. I took a step forward, delivering a swift coup de grace - now this creature was dead too. Meanwhile, the one that had missed her dive and plummeted to the ground was taken care of by the other Knights.
Pentagrams emerged once again. This time, I paid more attention and noticed the fiery symbols floating in the sky about fifty meters up. By the fourth wave, a new species of monster had joined the ranks of imps, hounds, and harpies. They resembled minotaurs the most: standing at a towering two and a half meters, with muscles any bodybuilder would envy. The enormous double-edged axes they brandished were menacing. These subterranean titans wore no armor, only a simple loincloth. Besides their axes, their hefty hooves seemed equally threatening. Such creatures could probably give a shapeshifter a run for their money. However, for raigs, they were too slow and cumbersome.
The harpies I had spotted earlier didn't pose a significant threat either. I jumped high up to five meters, and while spinning my blades in a moulinet, I effortlessly sliced through the airborne monsters. Their dreadful claws were a poor match against my sword and wakizashi – I would even go as far as calling them pitiful and useless.
The minotaurs down below were dispatched by the Knights under Maya's command even quicker than the hounds. The latter sometimes managed to evade the raigs' blades, but the horned giants foolishly charged forward, swinging their monstrous weapons. I won't deny that their axes swung fast, but the speed was insufficient to land a hit on even a minimally trained Knight. Maya wisely didn't let the rookies near these monsters, assigning them to tackle the imps instead.
Given that the raigs were handling the situation without my active involvement, I spent more time observing the artifact rather than participating in the battle. Recalling previous Breakthroughs, it appeared that the direction to the elusive Door could only be sensed the moment the portals releasing the monsters were activated. It didn't matter what form the portal took: a pentagram, a tornado, or something else. Most likely, to find the path I seek, I need to breach one of these active portals. I'm not certain if my theory holds water, but no other explanation comes to mind.
As the saying goes, you won't know unless you try. Gesturing to Halley that I was moving, I leapt downwards. The pentagrams, from which the harpies were emerging, were simply too high for me to reach. Thus, the best course of action would be to try and intercept a crimson pattern that would appear either on the pavement or at the level of the first floor. I just hoped that this attack wave wasn't the last, and that the Breakthrough didn't close at such an inconvenient moment.
Clearly, the Break wasn't ready to release us just yet. The Knights were still mopping up the last of the demons when new pentagrams began to materialize all around us. Instantly, I found myself standing beside the closest symbol, my weapons held at chest level as I froze in anticipation. I squinted, straining my eyes to see any sign of change. So far, it was just an ordinary - albeit immaculately precise - drawing, not yet a portal to another Reality Layer, so my artifact remained silent. But then, the lines of the pentagram started to glow a vivid crimson, and I tightened my grip on my blades. The blinding red light hit my eyes, and the artifact drew me into the portal.
Leap forward.
My Fan of Probabilities sketched a multitude of tiny red trajectories, and I lunged, my blades spinning like a propeller gone rogue. I rushed headlong into the fray, earning a handful of minor - but still painful - injuries. "Word" cleaved through bodies, while "Purity" pierced throats. Yet, I was running out of time. I couldn't destroy all the monsters that the hellish pentagram was spewing out at a relentless pace. It was like trying to swim against the current just as a hydroelectric dam released excess water. I barely managed two steps beyond the portal when the pressure from the advancing monsters hurled me back like a champagne cork.
After a graceless tumble on the asphalt, I dispatched two overly zealous hellhounds and leapt behind the raig line for cover. While they handled the monsters, I had a moment to evaluate the situation.
First conclusion: I was right! The Door I sought was somewhere in there. That is, my objective wasn't in ordinary reality, nor even the usual Break, but somewhere deeper. Perhaps the Fantasy Layer, or somewhere en route to it. I wasn't sure, but I was definitely on the right track.
Secondly, this information came at a cost - my prana had been cut in half.
The third conclusion stemmed from the second: I wouldn't survive another attempt to break through.
I wasn't even sure if I could penetrate a portal like these pentagrams. If these hell gates remained open for more than a few seconds, it would be feasible to assemble a team of Knights and organize a counteroffensive.
However, the tantalizing idea was a non-starter. The pentagrams simply didn't stay open long enough. To pull off such a venture, we would need to prepare in advance. We would have to put together a strike team whose sole mission would be to deliver me, preferably unscathed, to the portal zone. But this couldn't be achieved without preparation, on a whim.
In the new attack, another airborne threat was added to the mix of already familiar monsters. These creatures resembled scaly, giant winged lizards with incredibly long necks. They were like grotesque parodies of dragons and were about three times the size of the harpies.
"Wyverns!" Rex hollered, directing his blade upward.
Hmm, they did resemble wyverns, I'll give him that; I'm no monster expert to dispute it. These new enemies, attacking in a trio, seemed like they could easily take down a combat helicopter. They were surprisingly fast considering their size. Their scales appeared to provide sturdy protection from bullets and conventional weapons. And the green saliva dripping from their fangs was presumably venomous. However, their long necks, which allowed them to easily bite and rip apart their prey, proved to be a disadvantage in a battle against the raigs. It was an easy target for the raigs' blades to slice. In the end, the harpies turned out to be more formidable opponents than the seemingly terrifying wyverns. The raigs managed to deal with this wave without my intervention.
However, the sixth pentagram activation introduced the first serious adversary amongst the already familiar foes. Emerging last from the hellish portals, behind the minotaurs, were tall figures clad in dark steel. Their bodies were encased in magnificent, even lavish armor, styled in high Gothic design. The narrow eye-slits on their horned helmets glowed with the now familiar crimson light. In their plate gloves, these warriors tightly held onto the handles of two-handed, blazing flamberges. An intense aura of chill radiated from each of these infernal warriors.
"Chevalier de la Mort!" Maya cried out.
Death Knight, I instinctively translated the phrase into a term I was familiar with.
We were lucky that only one such warrior emerged from each pentagram. Their armor withstood light blows and thrusts from the raigs. The chilly aura emitted by the Death Knights slowed us down, stripping us of our clear advantage in mobility. But what was even more concerning was that these warriors knew how to handle their weapons!
My first clash with the nearest Chevalier revealed that it would take at least five Wilflaes raigs to deal with just one of these warriors. Even for me, this proved to be a challenging opponent! Yes, the enemy's weapon wasn't as swift and precise as my sword, but the Black Knight was adept at exposing the particularly protected areas of the armor to the strikes of my blades. "Word" and "Purity" left noticeable marks on the dark armor, but couldn't penetrate it! The worst part was that the chilly aura not only slowed me down but gradually and relentlessly drained my prana. In essence, prolonging a battle with such an adversary was not an option.
Executing another combo, I managed to direct the flamberge, sliding down "Purity," to crash into the asphalt. This provided me with the opportunity to launch a powerful attack with "Word." My sword, with some difficulty, pierced the armor in the armpit and entered nearly two dozen centimeters into the Chevalier's body. Continuing my forward somersault, I simultaneously yanked the weapon out of the enemy and immediately struck down a nearby imp.
Only the Fan of Probabilities saved me from a blow to the back from the enemy's two-handed sword, alerting me to the danger just in time. I spun around, shocked to realize that my lunge hadn't finished off the creature. The Chevalier's left hand hung uselessly by his armored body, but he was wielding his flamberge quite competently with his right. I parried his assault with "Word," preparing to counterstrike with "Purity," but there was no need. His head, encased in a black helmet, separated from his body and soared into the air, cut down by a decisive strike. Behind the massive body, collapsing onto the asphalt, stood my Padawan, ax in hand, who had come to my aid just in the nick of time. Saluting Dobrynya with "Word," I dashed forward to assist the other raigs, with my Padawan immediately on my heels.
The strategy for dealing with the Death Chevaliers proved to be relatively simple. First, we erected a minimal barrier in front of each of them, not to attack, but merely to hold back the armored warriors. Then, having cleared their entourage, our attack group swarmed them. The armor of these adversaries was surprisingly vulnerable from the back, making this tactic quite effective.
However, at the very beginning, we nearly lost five inexperienced raigs who couldn't withstand the Chevaliers' initial attacks. Fortunately, nobody died, but these five had their prana drained to a critically low level.
The last Death Knight retreated to his mistress, receiving a simultaneous thrust of "Word" to the back of the neck and a strike from Maya's sword under the shoulder blade. Maya and I exchanged glances, saluted each other, and then turned around to guard each other's backs.
We had repelled the sixth wave, but we didn't know how many more similar attacks awaited us. So, we hastily rearranged our groups, sending those with depleted energy to the rear ranks.
But the Break once again demonstrated its utter unpredictability. Instead of new pentagrams materializing, the air cleared, the wind calmed, and the low-hanging clouds dispersed.
Three bronze columns of light descended from the sky. One centered on Maya, another fell on Dobrynya, and the third marked a new raig unknown to me, for whom this battle was his very first.
The Breakthrough had ended. The rewards from the Break confirmed this conclusively.
Before I could even lament about not receiving any bonus, it felt as though a deluge of energy had been dumped into me. Repelling this reality rift had advanced me to the next level of raig. Now, I was on par with Maya, a rank-four Break Knight. However, it was odd that I wasn't given any choice of abilities. I could only select one option, the "Affinity with the Break" that Maya had mentioned. At the first level of development, it granted me a thirty percent increase in maximum prana and a noiseless entry and exit from the Break at will. That was it. The Break didn't present any other options. So, I had no choice but to accept what was given.
"This time, it seems everything is really over!" Leonidas bellowed, raising his sword high.
Judging by the tranquility that now prevailed in the Break, and the stillness of its winds, his proclamation rang true. We had succeeded - we repelled the Cascading triple Breakthrough!
"Hooray!" Dobrynya roared at the top of his lungs, and many raigs echoed this exclamation, foreign to the French-speaking populace.