The man climbed out of the crater. He seemed to disregard the attacks; his flames burnt them apart, overpowering them. It was like the flames were taking on beast forms. Tigers, lions, dragons, and bears circled him, waiting for the command, defending their master.
“Who are you?” Nico yelled out in frustration, backing up.
“You come into my city and attack a guild residing here and don’t think there will be consequences. Do you think that I will forget this, Nico Tolentino?!”
Nico shuddered under those cold eyes.
The blue-eyed demon pulled out hammers from his storage rings.
“City lord,” one of the Institute members shuddered out.
Mana tore from the surrounding area, condensing as the man threw his arms forward. “Chains of Fire! Enhanced reaction, Titan’s Roar! Poison Breath! Iron Skin!” Spells and attacks flowed one after another as the man struck the fighter’s lines like a tsunami.
Chains of flames shot out of a formation on the ground.
“Earth Pillar!” A pillar of earth shot up under Nico’s feet, throwing him backward.
Those that weren’t as fast screamed as the spikes on the end of the chains stabbed into their bodies, burning them.
Nico slashed out at the chains following him. He looked for the blue-eyed demon.
The blue-eyed demon’s hammer smashed into an immobile fighter’s head, denting their helmet. “Flame Burst!”
He was already covered in buffing spells. Pockets of fire exploded around him, using them for movement.
Nico tracked him by the dying screams.
No, this isn’t supposed to happen! I am Nico Tolentino! Cold fear reached up his spine. He stumbled backward and then staggered to the side.
“Earth Speed!” He started running through the hundreds of carriages and carts that lay along the road to Vuzgal. Their riders had run to either side of the road, most lying down on the grass there.
Nico made to run out from between the carts. Another Institute fighter was running down the side. Nico wanted to slap him. He heard the sound of crossbow bolts from within the boxy buildings.
The fighter brought up a mana barrier. Tens of bolts stabbed into it, taking it out in a matter of seconds. His medallions lasted a bit longer before they tore through his armor and into his body.
Nico windmilled his feet and ducked back into the cover of the carts. Bolts appeared where he would have exited.
Nico pedaled his feet, kicking up dirt to return to the cover of carts.
He kept running, hearing people screaming before sudden silence.
Chains appeared under his feet.
“Earth Pillar!”
Another spell formation appeared where he landed.
“Earth Shield!” The earth formed a barrier around him. He was rocked from side to side, draining his mana as he pushed forward. The trees were still seven hundred meters away. The carts were spreading out more as people weren’t lining up to enter the city.
“That is enough.”
Uncle Sho?
A spell formed under Nico.
A spike of ice dropped from the sky, breaking the spell formation before it started. Nico dodged around it before a mana barrier enveloped and protected him.
His body felt limp, watching his Uncle Sho walking toward him.
There was no way even that freak could defeat him! Nico managed a weak smile. His uncle was one of the strongest people in all the clan. Even the clan head respected him. Nico only had a quarter of his uncle’s strength. Uncle Sho was the true power of the Tolentino Clan!
Tolentino was too weak in his current state and started to move away, cursing his weakness.
Rage bubbled beneath Erik’s skin. The Institute had attacked faster than he or the others had expected. He ground his teeth, looking for the origin of the ice spike and spell.
A man wearing a simple cloak and with a hood to cover his face walked from the sidelines as people shivered on the ground. The air distorted around him with the sheer power he commanded. He had a mysterious appearance but resonated with the mana surrounding him with just three words. The man’s hands were wrinkled and old showing signs of callouses borne from a lifetime of fighting.
“Do you have him targeted?” Erik asked through his sound transmission device.
“He’s still too close to the civilians. Should have him in ten meters,” the major in charge of local defenses repeated.
“Fire when you have a clear shot.”
The man removed his hood, revealing a regal man with long gray-and-white hair pulled back in a bun. The hand-stitched runes on his robes glowed with mana.
Five meters.
“City Lord West, I presume. I am Elder Sho Tolentino from the Willful Institute. This is something between the younger generations. It is not something for us older generations to interfere in. The Adventurer’s Guild attacked us. We are repaying them.”
Three meters.
Erik’s overall strength was still low. He couldn’t use even half his strength or agility.
“You think I care what a declining sect elder has to say? You attack in my city, attack those who have my protection, you pay the price.”
“Seems the Associations are not so confident in you. They were willing to take the price we offered.” Sho snorted and shook his head as he gathered his mana. He acted like a teacher dealing with a student that didn’t know the way of the world yet.
One meter.
“Fuck you and fuck your Institute!” Erik reached out, feeling the strain through his body, channeling mana through the ground as he formed a claw with his hand. Sweat covered his face. Chains tore free of the ground in the shape of his hand. The sound of whistling bolts filled the air as Alvans fired on Sho.
Sho waved his hand. The bolts hit his barrier, darkening it with impacts. Erik’s chains made him stumble, and he looked at Erik in surprise. “You!” The repeater bolts drowned out what he was trying to say, exploding on his barrier and breaking through one layer before striking a second.
Erik fed more power into the chaotic mana chains. Links broke, but they surrounded the barrier and squeezed.
“Tracking Water! Water Waves!” Sho attacked.
Erik didn’t have the mana to defend and attack. He pulled out a spell scroll and ripped it. A barrier snapped around him, and the water attack impacts made the barrier shudder.
Sho Tolentino was out of time. The bolts and chains broke the last of his mana reserves.
The chains, made of elements forced into form, struck Sho. He screamed before the energies rebounded inside his body and exploded.
A tombstone appeared where Sho had been.
Erik turned. Flame shot out from his hand, burning through Nico’s stomach.
There was a look of loss on Nico’s face as all the mana in his body left him. He coughed, blood running down his mouth as he fell backward, leaving another tombstone.
“Roska, hunt down the runners.” Erik didn’t look up at the approaching flying beasts as he walked toward the dead Elder Sho.
Two of the air force birds remained, circling Erik. The other two sped off toward the runners.
Erik collected Elder Sho’s tombstone and stored his body in his storage ring. He would make a powerful undead. What a fucking idiot. Elder Sho was stronger than most people in the Fourth Realm. Though Erik couldn’t have fought him head-on, that would have revealed all his trump cards.
Erik repeated the process with Nico. He glanced at the Alvan Air Force beasts as they dove. Their spells spat out, cutting down any runners.
He covered his eyes against the wind as one of the circling kestrels landed.
“Sir!” Davos slid down the back of the kestrel’s ramp.
Erik jogged to the ramp, past Davos. Yang Zan was covering the area with the bay door gunner. They followed Erik inside, grabbing onto the vines along the walls and ceiling.
“Make sure they collect the bodies,” Erik yelled into Davos’s ear as the kestrel flapped its wings, for
cing them back into the air.
Davos nodded, talking into his sound transmission device.
Erik contacted Chonglu. “It was the Willful Institute. Have the guards make sure that none of them make it out alive. Organize with Elan. Cut off the Institute where we can. Declare that we will no longer trade with the Willful Institute. Have the military on fifty percent readiness. All leave is canceled. Others will learn that the Associations are willing to cut a deal. They could try to make use of it. Have all the Adventurer’s Guild halls notified. Collapse the ones that can’t defend themselves. Work according to the list.”
“Yes, sir.” Chonglu’s voice was heavy as he ended the sound transmission.
“How bad is it?” Erik used his sound transmission device to talk to Davos.
“It ain’t pretty. The medics are putting them back together. They were burning their cultivations to fight. Even if they recover, it will take time for them to heal their internal injuries. Their bodies are broken. The mana systems are shattered or strained to the point of collapse.”
“As long as they’re alive, we can fix the rest.” Erik felt the wind on his face, looking through the door gunner’s position as they scanned the city with their repeaters.
“Casualties?”
“Hundred and fifty-seven at last count. It’ll climb. We’re still recovering bodies from the guild hall. Two hundred and thirty-four wounded.”
“I’ll head there and lend my skills.”
“I can’t let you do that, sir. You’re the city lord. The guilds, traders, and others will want to talk to you. The army needs to be reassured. If there’s another attack, we can’t have you in the middle of it. Trust in the medics you trained, sir.”
Erik let out a hot breath. Holding back from venting his frustration at Davos.
He stared at the claw marks that cut through Adventurer’s Guildhall. Guards patrolled the area on the ground and in the sky. Healers had broken up the guild hall into sections, working on the people there.
Blaze took off his helmet and rubbed the back of his neck, tilting his head from side to side.
“They’re stuck in like damn ticks,” he sighed.
“Well, they can’t let every city go.” Joan checked her bow before putting it down.
“Some of the sects are rethinking the battle due to losses.”
“They desire rewards. As soon as it comes to dying, they get scared.”
“Just want someone else to die for them.”
The flap of Blaze’s tent was thrown to the side, the messenger face-to-face with Joan’s loaded bow and Blaze’s ready sword.
“Guild Leader! The halls were attacked!”
Joan lowered her bow.
“Which ones?”
“Several, across different realms. We don’t know how bad it is. They attacked Vuzgal, and we were torn apart. We’ve lost contact with other guild halls. Erik sent out orders to the other guild halls. Some were able to hide or flee before they were attacked.”
“Fuckers!” Blaze kicked a desk over, sending papers across the room. “That’s why they’ve been fighting so hard here. They wanted us to dedicate more people, draw us in and attack our rear. Shit.”
17
Wavering Faith
Marco Tolentino’s expression didn’t change as the messenger related the news of his younger cousin and uncle.
“Cowards! How dare they use all their weapons against Elder Sho!” His father and the Clan head, Andrew Tolentino, slapped his hand on his chair, cracking an armrest.
It was his own fault for being so arrogant as to think that there was no one as powerful as him. If Marco were weaker, he would use everything he had to defeat a stronger enemy. What did it matter if he won?
Marco snorted mentally, but kept it hidden.
“What does the sect head intend to do?” Andrew demanded.
“He has not promised anything at this time.”
“We have lost a genius of the younger generation and a venerated elder and we won’t do anything? They are but one independent city!”
The room was set up in a square, elders and clan leaders along one wall, opposite up and coming or powerful families, while anyone else could sit behind them in the rows going back.
Marco cleared his throat, making the room look at him. Among the elders and leaders of his clan, he didn’t show the slightest anxiety. “The sect reached an agreement with the Associations. There is an opportunity for us. We are fighting across many fronts. The sect has to prioritize.”
The sooner he got away from this sect, the better. It was crumbling, and the battle had barely begun. Not that it concerned him. His future was secure. He had been scouted by the Black Phoenix Clan in the Seventh Realm.
“Tell the sect head that the Tolentino Clan will not let this go.” Andrew’s words came through his teeth.
The clan had to show their strength—and now. If they made it through this calamity, they would gain greater power and open a path for them to lead the attack on Vuzgal. Well done, little cousin! Your death will come in useful. It is good that we lost such a useless elder before we had to go into battle.
“We ask that Marco be given the honor of leading the army.”
Putting forward a powerful figure to show their dedication was a good play. They could get a commanding position over the other clans and gain more benefits. Vuzgal only had short walls with odd square buildings facing outward and a mana barrier. They were a trading and crafting city. As long as the crafters were allowed to flee, there would be no backlash to face.
Marco stood and bowed to the Clan head. “I am honored to be graced with the responsibility. I will make sure that the deaths of Elder Sho and cousin Nico are paid in full!” His voice was hot and heavy, gritting his teeth together so hard they strained.
That should be enough to secure his position. It would look good to his teachers in the Seventh Realm as well.
“What the hell happened at Vuzgal?” Head Foster demanded as the doors closed behind Cai Bo. Several of the high elders turned, flanking him after having their discussion interrupted.
“The Guild members were stronger than we thought, and the city lord was there.”
“Strong enough to kill an elder of the Sixth Realm?”
“They used everything they had on him,” Cai Bo said, keeping her features suitably downcast. Elder Sho had been one of Head Foster’s supporters. Not just anyone could go in the face of their own family leader. “The guards reacted faster and were stronger than we thought.”
“Stronger than you thought? The Adventurer’s Guild has redoubled their attacks and revealed more experts than ever before! Your information was severely lacking! How did you not know that they had people who had formed their mana cores and attained Body Like Iron? Body Like Stone is not a rarity for them. It has backfired on us badly. People in our sect doubt our competence and other sects are forming armies to work against us.”
“Vuzgal’s reputation has also been harmed, and there are other sects that are undoubtedly interested in taking the city. The city will fall with time.” She tried to affect some nervousness into her calm. She needed to seem weak for him to feel in control.
“We cannot let another sect win Vuzgal.” Foster’s eyes sharpened.
Cai Bo cupped her fists to Head Foster. “What are your orders, Sect Head?” Oh, she would have smiled if decades of plotting, backstabbing, and training had given her complete control over her expressions.
“Prepare our army in secret. Support Marco. You will go take Vuzgal and draw in support from the other sects. Then we can use them to attack the sects allied against us.”
“I will see to it.”
“What about that girl you sent to look for information on Vuzgal’s people? Have you heard anything?”
“She has sent me updates.”
“Anything of use?”
“We haven’t found any weaknesses yet, but we will.”
“Good. Leave me.” Foster waved his sleeves. She didn’t
miss the sneers or looks of derision in most of the high elders with him.
Four of the seven simply turned around. It wouldn’t do to mock the lady who owned you.
Blaze waited calmly as the guards for the Alvan command center checked his identity and medallion.
“Thank you, sir.” They passed back his Alvan medallion and moved to the side. The doors opened.
He nodded and walked past them, surrounded in a grim silence.
The command center was quiet as he moved to the conference room. He could feel it, taste it as officers watched him walk by. It was like the smell of smoke upon the air. They all knew that these were the opening shots for something much bigger.
He opened the door. Elan stood talking about the report in everyone’s hands. Delilah, Erik, Rugrat, Glosil, and Yui sat at the table.
Blaze closed the door behind him. He nodded to Elan and moved to a vacant seat.
“After killing Nico Tolentino, the Tolentino Clan will need to respond, which means the Willful Institute will have to respond. They cleared out many of the Adventurer’s guild locations. Other cities not part of the fighting are putting pressure on the Adventurer’s guild to move.”
Elan finished and sat down.
“Blaze?” Erik asked.
Blaze looked over.
“How are your people?”
Blaze’s gut twisted, but he talked numbly. “The Guild has been shaken. Command and discipline have been hampered. They’re angry, and anger leads to more mistakes than it helps. We got overconfident. I have ordered all of our locations to be sold and to bring everything we have back to Vuzgal and to cities we can be sure won’t sell out to the Willful Institute. Different sects are pushing to renegotiate their contracts now that we can be seen on the back foot.”
Erik’s eyes chilled as Blaze shifted his tight shoulders, not averting his gaze.
“Glosil, is there something more we can do to assist the Adventurer’s Guild? They might not all be full Alvans, but they fight for us,” Erik said.
“I can think of a few ideas. Blaze, if you want to talk options afterward?”
“Certainly.”
Seventh Realm Part 1: A LitRPG Fantasy series (The Ten Realms Book 8) Page 17
