The Terra Alliance and the people of Selhi weren’t willing to give them that time as they kept up their attacks.
The angels shot backward up into the sky as a pillar of light descended from the sky, Light herself using power to smash the Mana barrier of Selhi Capital. It hit another shield that was below, the shield created by the ono within the city. It stopped Light’s attack, looking untouched even as Light poured more and more power down upon it.
Wind picked up as a girlish figure appeared above Selhi Capital. “The people of Emerilia are not part of your fight,” the woman in the sky yelled out. Winds from around the area howled, creating blades that sliced through Light’s pillar.
“You dare, Air!” Light’s voice covered the sky, making many people cringe at the volume. The priests who were higher up held their heads in pain.
“I don’t care what you and Dark do to each other, but if you try to take more people of Emerilia against their will, I’ll play with you,” Air said.
An enraged noise came from above. Markolm had not stopped its advance; the angels and priests turned and shot upward toward Markolm a few minutes later.
White wind surrounded Air, covering her before she disappeared.
Josh let out a breath of relief, hoping that Light would think twice about threatening the people of Emerilia. However, he didn’t pass orders to slow down the evacuation of the cities that lay in her path but rather increased the speed at which they would be carried out.
As that had calmed down, the other screens that showed the Dark Lord’s forces as they advanced across Emerilia were deceptively calm.
“With every step they take, they drain more Mana from Emerilia and give it back to the Dark Lord,” Josh muttered.
“He’s going to be a pain in the ass to deal with,” Koza said, sitting nearby.
“That he will be, and he’s forcing us to pull people out of the cities in his path as much as Light is,” Josh said.
“We’ve seen what they do to the life they casually pass. If anything is within their range, they’ll use all their power to kill it as they advance. I don’t think that there are many people who could face them,” Koza said in a serious tone.
“I just hate how it feels like we’re turtling up in our different bases, watching all of this going on. Unable to do a thing.” Lines appeared on his forehead as his eyebrows pinched together.
“Rushing in will only result in more casualties. It might feel wrong watching all of this, but we’re doing everything we can. Also, we can clearly see that the onos in place are much stronger than we hoped,” Cassie said, trying to allay some of his fear and the tension he felt.
“Even the Dark Lord is making his people move around them in the cities that the Alturarans have marched through. They weren’t able to defeat them even with a good portion of their strength,” Alamos said. He and Jelanos had added themselves to the Terra Alliance table, representing the mages and their families.
“I hope that the Jukal just don’t start popping off everything because they get nervous or see something we don’t want revealed in time.” Josh had a calm expression on his face but his back was covered in sweat and he was slightly pale.
As the days went by, the towns and cities that were between the Dark Lord’s and Light’s forces were cleared.
Light sent down people here and there, draining power as they could and pulling up different artifacts that they had found. However, they no longer attacked the cities they passed.
Markolm moved much slower than the Alturarans; however, it was also massive so even moving a small bit would cover a large area. Already it seemed as if it were taking over the southeastern area of Heval controlled by the Selhi kingdom.
Nearly everyone in the kingdom had been moved from their homes.
The dwarven mountains Zolu and Donsk had taken in a great number of people and sealed their mountains. They watched Markolm as it moved past. Under strict orders not to engage, they hunkered down and watched as Markolm flew by.
Myrar, Asamal, and Holmslatr were cities in names only now. They had been crushed under the Alturaran formations that marched across Gudalo, leaving a lifeless line in their wake as they moved over the harbors and jetties of Holmslatr and dropped into the channel between Heval and Gudalo, once again walking through the water toward Heval.
They didn’t need food, nor air, nor rest or sleep. They simply continued on, moving in their perfect formations without complaint or care. They rose from the channel south of the once vibrant trading city of Moko.
The Alturarans fired at it and the Dark Champions went through the cities, looting anything of value as they had done with the past cities that they’d destroyed.
Markolm covered Selhi as well as sections from the Southern Grasslands and the Medlari Empire. All of these cities had been evacuated, taking millions from the surrounding.
Markolm stopped its forward progress and halted in the air, declaring that where it stood Light and Dark would finally have the battle that had been spoken of for hundreds of years.
Meanwhile, the flying citadels, which were a lot faster than Markolm, had made it to Heval and were around Zolari. Carts with soul gems moved to replenish their power stores as they created two arrow-like formations of eight citadels, facing toward the south.
Chapter 19: Looking on From the Sidelines
Dave and Deia were curled up on the couch, watching their interface. Koi had been put to sleep; however, the two of them wouldn’t be able to sleep if they tried.
On one side, ranks after ranks of Alturarans marched forward, with Dark Champions moving around their formations.
On the other side, the dominating Markolm overlooked the sky.
The Alturaran forward formation had come to a stop. Three more formations moved up, arranging themselves next to one another as they faced Markolm.
In the distance, dust was thrown up by the Alturarans still advancing. They were in an area between Moko and the swamplands to the south.
Shadows and smoke seemed to come together into a thick pillar that rapidly expanded. The smoke contracted into a massive black figure easily one hundred meters tall—the Dark Lord.
The distance between the edge of Markolm and where the Alturaran line had stopped was no short distance but from Markolm, light came together congealing into the Lady of Light. She was the same size as Dark, a dominating presence in the sky.
“So kind for you to greet me,” Dark said, his voice amused.
“Too scared to fight that you’d rather trade words?” Light’s tone was biting as her face was hidden underneath a veil.
“Not at all. I thought I would gift to you a few more minutes of life. Seems it has come to an end.” A light shone from Dark’s eyes as he raised his hand.
The clouds above Markolm shook and roiled. Smoke and shadows formed into clouds that looked similar to the ones that had formed over the headquarters’ island. However, these ones were tens of times more powerful.
Light snorted and raised her hand. “Cheap tricks to augment your people and improve their strength,” Light said with disdain. Light shot from the heavens down upon the clouds.
Her disdain turned to shock.
“Something wrong, dear sister?” Dark’s tone was sickly sweet.
Light’s expression changed into one of rage, as if she only wished to tear him apart at that very moment. However, she could only throw up her other hand as light shot from Markolm, attacking the clouds both above and below. It had little effect.
“Ah, little sister, seems that you’re not as mighty as you think.” Dark lowered his hand slowly. The clouds grew stronger faster; the Mana in the air became thick and chaotic as all those with a Dark Affinity gained a bonus while those with a Light Affinity were weakened.
From the clouds, abyss lightning that seemed to suck in all light and destroy it raged downward. Streams and streams of it shot down. The air above Markolm vibrated as the golden Mana barrier shook and trembled, light streams fighting against t
hese lightning streams.
“Go.” Dark waved his sleeve forward. Massive wormholes appeared in front of the Alturarans.
They marched forward as more wormholes appeared above Markolm. They dropped from the sky, falling hundreds of meters, as they weren’t attacks and their velocity was slow. They passed through the Mana barrier before smashing into Markolm.
From the craters, the Alturarans regained their feet, letting out war cries that sounded like glass shards being rubbed against a plate.
The worms dove into Markolm. The Alturaran normals rushed out in every direction while some units formed together under the mutated Alturarans’ command as they headed for the population centers of Markolm.
Angels raced into the sky, hunting down the Alturarans. They easily killed the normals with simply a swipe of their hands. The tanks took a bit longer while the worms hid in the ground, making them impossible to follow unless they wanted to be.
The mutated Alturarans were the best fighters, retaining some kind of knowledge or higher sentience than the other Alturarans as they worked to increase their strength through killing others. Some even threw other Alturarans at the enemy in order to escape.
Dark waved his hand again as more and more wormholes appeared above Markolm. The Mana he was using left all those watching shocked.
On the side of the feed, a new video was seen showing other wormholes appearing in front of the other Alturaran formations that were still advancing.
Sea water poured from the sky, as did Alturarans who charged forward. In a very short time, fifty thousand turned to a hundred thousand; then two hundred thousand before finally reaching four hundred thousand. All of the Alturarans on Emerilia were now raining down from the sky, passing through the Mana barrier and facing off against the legions of angels.
With a frustrated noise, Light’s body shook, turning into a stream of light that shot toward Markolm once again.
The siege of Markolm had begun—the final battle between Light and Dark.
Steve sent a party chat invite to all of the members of Party Zero.
Dave and Deia looked to each other before accepting the party chat invite.
“I have a great idea!” Steve said.
“Seriously, who made your coding? I swear, they crossed some runes somewhere,” Gurren said.
“We steal the divine wells,” Steve continued on, ignoring Gurren’s comments.
There was silence on the line before Malsour spoke. “What?”
“We steal the divine wells. Come on, please don’t tell me you have a moral issue with that. I know Dave at least has a Level 1 sneak and what did you think he used that for?” Steve asked.
“Even though it sounds insane, it might not be completely.” Deia sat up.
“We don’t even know where the divine wells are,” Lox said.
“Well, we actually know where the different halls are,” Dave corrected.
“So, is it possible?” Induca asked.
“It sounds like it,” Jung Lee said.
“Why didn’t we do this earlier?” Gurren asked.
“We weren’t as powerful. We also didn’t have the tech for it and they were just sitting in their halls. When they’re in residence, it’s really hard to sneak up on them,” Dave said.
“We can do a trial run on Earth. His hall is empty and he hasn’t been replaced,” Malsour said.
“Where is his hall?” Suzy asked.
“The southern reaches of Gudalo, in the gnomes’ and orcs’ territory. Buried fifty meters down,” Dave said.
“This week on Check Out My Crib, we’re going to be paying a visit to the Affinities Pantheon’s lords and ladies halls to see how the gods slum it,” Steve said.
“Fuck, I wish this channel had a mute button,” Gurren said.
***
Frank looked around the bridge of the battleship BloodHawk. The atmosphere had changed from a bunch of people trying to figure out their stations to professionals who could carry out their jobs without thought.
Today, there was a sense of excitement as people finished off their final checks.
“All systems are operational and good to go. The rest of the fleet is reporting that they are ready to move,” the second-in-command of the battleship said to the captain.
“Very well. Navigation, could you free us from the slip and move us into the main thoroughfare?” the captain called out.
“Yes, sir. Disengaging soul gem umbilicals,” Navigation replied.
The soul gem constructs that were still attached to the battleship were pulled away. Armored plates moved over the holes in the hull and fused together to make it appear as if there had never been holes there in the first place.
“Communications, could you get us clearance?” the navigation officer called out as the umbilicals continued to pull away from the battleship, returning to the sides of the slip.
“Jeeves, this is the battleship BloodHawk. Permission to move into the main thoroughfare?” the communications officer called out, her voice short and precise.
“Battleship BloodHawk, permission granted. Please follow the navigation prompts,” Jeeves said through the bridge.
“Understood. BloodHawk out,” Communications said.
“Disengaging clamps,” Navigation called out as large arms that connected to and held the BloodHawk in place were removed.
“Free of the slip, moving to thoroughfare,” Navigation called out, excitement in their voice. They had done this if not hundreds then thousands of times in training.
The runic lining along the hull flared in a few spots as flames formed in different magically coded ports.
The battleship BloodHawk moved sideways out of its slip.
Those in the thoroughfare watched the massive warship as it moved. They’d seen it time and time again in simulations but seeing it in real life was a totally different experience.
The ship left the slips, following the path that Jeeves had created. Navigation expertly used the different flight systems to bring the ship into rest within the thoroughfare.
As they moved, five more ships also started to move out from their different slips. These were the five destroyers that would be part of Fleet One.
“Holding position within the thoroughfare,” Navigation called out.
“Good work, nav,” the captain said with a smile. The navigation officer had a big grin on his face, his hands ready to move the massive ship at a moment’s notice.
The five destroyers were all cleared from their slips and entered the main thoroughfare. Here there were no shuttles or craft moving about. This was an area devoid of anything but the warships.
“The rest of the fleet is reporting that they are all clear of the slips and awaiting your orders,” the communications officer called out, looking to him.
“Well, let’s not keep them waiting. Navigation, give the rest of the fleet a countdown to teleport to the rally point. Twenty seconds,” the captain called out.
“Yes, sir. T-minus twenty,” Navigation called out, talking to the other navigators on the other ships. A timer appeared on the main screen, showing the twenty seconds counting down.
Frank was unable to stop the corner of his mouth from curling up into a smile that made his eyes shine.
The timer hit zero.
“Teleporting,” Navigation called out.
The six ships within the thoroughfare simply disappeared.
The screens around them now showed a very different view. They were deep in the asteroid belt and far away from the asteroid base. However, there were shuttles watching over the area, checking that their transition was good and also pooling data for the research and development people of the Initiative.
They all appeared in formation: the battleship in the center with the five destroyers around it in a pentagram. However, the ships were staggered in order to be able to cover more of the area around them.
“Engineering, how are we looking?” the captain called out.
“Running scans
. Looking good so far,” Engineering replied, bent over their console.
“The rest of the fleet are also reporting that they are green across the board,” the second-in-command reported.
“Communications, call up asteroid base and request clearance to begin the mission,” the captain said.
“Yes, sir.”
Communications talked into her microphone.
“Asteroid Base One wishes us good hunting and hopes to see us soon.” The communications officer’s stoic face cracked into a smile as the captain chuckled.
“Well, we shouldn’t disappoint. Navigation, prepare for transition. Let’s go and see what’s out there for ourselves.” The captain’s eyes revealed inner joy at the mission ahead.
Five minutes after they had appeared, a glow ran down the bodies of the crafts along the runic lines built into their sides. They came together and projected wormholes ahead of them. Without pause, the ships moved forward, entering the wormholes and disappearing from the Nal system.
***
“I wonder what that was,” a sensor controller muttered to himself. He was part of the Deq’ual fleet stationed in the Nal system.
A number of ships moved through the area all the time now, using it as a staging point for further discovery, dropping off materials and personnel as well as trading with the Emerilians.
The outpost was a grand undertaking, complete with a shipyard, living quarters, refineries, and storage facilities. It could operate as its own separate station from Deq’ual if it needed to.
It was the most advanced station yet and it was being built in record speed.
However, their rate of progress couldn’t be compared to that of the Emerilians. The sensor controller was bored from looking at the same rocks all the time and had taken an interest in running through every scan possible and looking for any anomalies.
“Doubt I could pick up an Emerilian ship if I tried.” Sighing to himself, he continued to go through the different sensor pickups.
Chapter 20: Stealing From the Gods
The Pantheon Moves (Emerilia Book 10) Page 28
