Hundreds of spells bombed the high city walls on the western side of the Berisons' territory. Multiple holes were already punched into it, the magical defenses built upon it being breached, and the army prepared for its upcoming assault.
"Get ready; once the wall crumbles, we are moving in!" Razael commanded the forces surrounding the city that were at least three times the size of Sussarim, where Lia and the Misfits were currently embroiled in their own conflict.
"We are ready at any time," Solren answered, keen to lead the vanguard forces, watching the robust, green pillar of energy rising towards the sky, signaling the city's fall.
The same event was happening at multiple places on Meriath, but it was the most frequent inside the domain of the Berisons. It was not looking good, no matter how optimistic Razael wanted to be. When the walls finally crumbled and the army started moving, bad turned to worse in the blink of an eye. Out of nowhere, thousands of soldiers turned, attacking their comrades in arms, gradually letting their hair turn white and their eyes green. Before Razael had a chance to bark out any orders, two overwhelming powers appeared, and a man was rushing towards him with his green eyes glowing in unmistakable greed and glee.
The aura he was emanating was above Razael's level, but it was not something he would be scared of. This was not the time to roll over but to fight and do his best. Luckily, he was not alone as they had multiple Amarins present, also in the Three Ri realm, one even being in the 8th Tier, A Legendri. When they clashed, the shockwaves alone were deadly, and to not cause unwanted casualties among their soldiers, their battle quickly switched to being fought in the air.
"Fight!" Yuya laughed, surprising everyone that a young girl's voice came out of the man's mouth, "I love it when my prey struggles before death! Entertain me, AMARINS!" With a shout, Yuya threw herself into the midst of multiple Three Ri warriors, using only hand-to-hand combat, breaking through their spells with a punch and ignoring any and all damage like it was nothing.
Solren didn't have it any easier as another Undead was fighting with him and his personal soldiers, cutting them down like nothing. It pained him to see and forced Solren to order his men to leave them alone, clear away, and deal with the other Undead instead. It was vital to reorganize their lines… and start retreating. This turned into such a mess... If they remain, they would be surely wiped out.
"You think you can stand up to me?" Killieth asked, wielding a longsword made out of pure miasma and pointing it at Solren.
"I do." He replied plainly, holding his own in a ready position, his blue eyes fixated on his enemy's posture.
"I heard that you are a sword genius. Let me experience it!"
Their exchange was so quick that nobody around them even noticed how they changed places. Turning around, Solren's forearm had a thin line as it was cut open, shedding a few drops of blood before the injury started closing up. On the other hand, Killieth turned around, his neck slashed right open but he remained unbothered by it.
"Quick… I will give you that!" He smiled, letting the wound mend itself by foul magic. "But can you keep it up?"
The two turned into a blur once more, exchanging multiple strikes, making it sound like metal scraping against metal until a sharp chime echoed through the battlefield, and they stopped once again. Looking down, Solren's blade was broken, and he only held the hilt of his sword as it couldn't take the strain anymore. Multiple parts of his body were sliced open, but his face remained calm, collected, and focused.
"It seems your weapon is weaker than you!" Killieth chuckled, regrowing his missing left arm and half of his head, which was destroyed in their exchange. "Too bad~!"
"It was always the case," Solren replied with an even voice, letting go of the hilt, flicking his hand, and a new one appeared in his grip from a ring on his index finger. "I have more. I will cut you up until you fail to regenerate." With a quick kick, he was already upon Killieth again, pushing him back, but even after decapitating his opponent a moment later, the Undead was back to normal, gaining distance between them.
"I have to acknowledge that they were not wrong!" Killieth shrugged, not minding the setback, "You won't survive this… you can try destroying me, but you will run out of energy first! Just… give up... And then I will make it painless!"
Hearing his words, Solren simply smiled, his magic coming to the surface, rising so fast it even surprised Killieth as the young man before him stepped into the 7th Tier. The element of light that burst out of his body for a brief moment was put under his reign in only a second, showing his immaculate control of his powers. The tribulation was seemingly nothing, not even a little bump to be concerned about before stepping into the realm of Three Ri.
"It seems I can't postpone it further. So be it!" Solren exhaled, cracking his shoulders once, pointing his sword at Killieth. "I will kill you for pushing me to do it before it was time."
…
….
……
In the middle of the Berison's territory, Loonah panicked, cursed, and tried to escape without success. Rangi blocked all her attempts to pen a route into No-Space, his shell flashing with a multi-colored light, stopping her from opening the fabric of reality. Her current body was already on the verge of disintegration; it was failing to regenerate more and more as she felt death closing in on her soul.
"This…" She groaned as a purple light hit her in the chest, tearing it open and separating her physical body into four pieces, "Can't be…" She tried to pull them back, but the strands of miasma she released were simply destroyed by Reyra, obliterating them with precise shots. "Happening!"
Yet, no matter how she didn't want to acknowledge it, it was happening. The moment her body came apart, unable to reform, it revealed her soul, naked and still somewhat weak. The injuries she had suffered previously were not gone, which made her fall for real this time. From Rangi's giant mouth, a sea of flame rushed forward like a tsunami, burning everything away and engulfing Loonah, who was trying to resist it. Then came Lakhmu's attack, based on Hajna's knowledge, as purple starlight hit her, which started to affect even the pure soul, puncturing many holes into her core.
"One down..." Reyra whispered as she took aim, and a ball of energy, half golden half black, hit Loonah's injured spirit.
It ended the Supreme Elder's unnatural existence before she had a chance to react. Her already injured essence got torn to shreds, and the darkness in Reyra's spell drew the pieces in while the golden light strapped them to place, preventing them from escaping once more. She wouldn't let Loonah flee or heal her injuries, staying imprisoned in Rangi's fire until nothing, not even ash, remained.
"We have trouble!" Lakhmu exclaimed the moment they all felt the destruction of their enemy.
"I know!" She answered, raising her bracelet, her eyes moving like lightning, reading the terrible news.
"We have to move!" Rangi added, also doing the same and reading that on multiple points, Undead appeared, seemingly in the 9th Tier.
"I will go to the south!" Reyra exclaimed, surprising the two as her own forces and sons were battling in the west. Seeing their gazes, she wasn't going to respond; it was not a time for explanations, and she had to go where they needed her most… and down south, the Dalal, the leader of the Ro's, were constantly having trouble and requesting immediate help.
"I'm heading to the Nerifits!" Lakhmu nodded, responding to the same type of request coming from Kaznak.
"I'm heading to the east then!" Rangi sighed, "But this looks bad!"
"It is bad! Start evacuating the Berisons!" Reyra bit her lips, feeling the worst day of her life had just arrived. "We are retreating! We need to regroup, or we will suffer losses that we will feel in the future!"
"Are we giving up on them?" Lakhmu asked in a heavy tone, but Reyra couldn't answer it directly… but it looked like it.
"They can retreat to the glacier and hold out… then we will have time to regroup and catch these Undead in the same pincer move they did to us now!" Rangi looked at them, trying to raise the morale.
"We can talk about it later!" Reyra shook her head, leaving at her full speed, spreading the order through every member of the armies they amassed: retreat.
…
….
……
"I'm not going!" That was the first thing Rinzen said when they received the orders from Reyra. Knowing what was happening all around the world and, more precisely, in the Berisons' territory did put them in a difficult spot.
A half-destroyed city was before them, its citizens in turmoil, not knowing what would happen next. The dead were no longer rising, but hundreds were killed just before their eyes, and it was a living nightmare. Something that would further put them at risk of becoming an Undead, one way or another.
"This is my home we are speaking about!" Rinzen continued, heaving heavily, "I will go back and stand with them!"
"Worse news after worse news…" Lia groaned, holding her head, feeling that her headache was becoming persistent now.
"What happened?" Arrived Heliett, who looked worse for wear, her face sunken in, feeling that death was close at hand… Which was not wrong as the city was sentenced by Lia, and the verdict was to be purged.
"What happened here happened everywhere." Lia told her plainly, "By all news we received, the House of Berison is…" She looked at Rinzen for a brief moment, "Is in danger."
"..."
"More are coming?" Heliett asked after a brief pause, and seeing Lia nod, she simply closed her eyes, taking a deep, long breath. She knew they would not be permitted to leave, not after what happened. With more Undead coming? She knew this was it. "Please make it painless… for everyone."
"You could…" Lia opened her mouth, but Heliett shook her head before Simbad could have a chance to protest.
"We did what we could. We failed… I'm sorry…"
"You didn't fail…" Rinzen declared, walking up to her and hugging Heliett, who started to sob, "We did… as the head of House Berison… I personally failed you… I'm sorry…"
"Long Live… The House of Ice…." Heliett whispered before her whole being was turned into ice, shattering, and Rinzen didn't hesitate, calling upon all her strength, encasing the entire city of Sussarim in ice.
It was similar to Lia's fire, yet not, as Rinzen's spell placed the whole city into a solid block, like a bug trapped in amber. But just like in Lia's case, everyone was dead before they realized what happened.
"You…" Lia looked at her, mouth falling open as everyone could feel that Rinzen, at that moment, stepped into the Three Ri stage, just like Solren, conquering her element with ease.
"I am Rinzen Berison, part of the Six and the Head of Hosue Berison." She replied calmly, her eyes engraving the scenery into her mind. "And I will stand with my House. If we fall, I will go down with them, but I won't abandon them!" With that, she slowly turned towards Lia, forming a small smile. "You should leave."
"Yeah, fuck that!" Lia harrumphed, and the others nodded as one, "I told you! You are a Misfit! And we don't abandon ours! Let's go, team, we are going with Rinzen!"
"You shouldn't, this…" She tried to protest, but Lia simply waved her hand with an authoritative look in her mismatched eyes.
"I am the leader of the Misfits! I outrank you, Miss Berison! Hmph! We came as a team; we will depart as a team! Let's go! We have a long way to trek!"
Lia couldn't help but look back at the now-dead city as they were leaving. Everything was deteriorating so fast she couldn't even register it. She… didn't want to think about it either. With a silent nod, she said her goodbyes in her head, parting with Heliett in her own way. She wanted to save them, but once again… another failure.
"Erias…" She thought to herself and to what Arcus has told him about the past… how Erias felt as city after city fell in the past. Now, she thought that she finally understood how her ancestors felt in those days.
While Lia's mind wandered to the ancient dragon, the brother of her forefather, Arcus himself, started to move in his little pocket dimension. The dragon's eyes slowly opened up as his black body sat up, slowly regaining his full consciousness and tasting the different memories… especially those that Lia brought back.
"It is time…" He spoke in a language that could not be understood by anyone but was heard by all the surviving dragons whose eyes opened simultaneously, no matter where they were.
Hundreds of spells bombed the high city walls on the western side of the Berisons' territory. Multiple holes were already punched into it, the magical defenses built upon it being breached, and the army prepared for its upcoming assault.
"Get ready; once the wall crumbles, we are moving in!" Razael commanded the forces surrounding the city that were at least three times the size of Sussarim, where Lia and the Misfits were currently embroiled in their own conflict.
"We are ready at any time," Solren answered, keen to lead the vanguard forces, watching the robust, green pillar of energy rising towards the sky, signaling the city's fall.
The same event was happening at multiple places on Meriath, but it was the most frequent inside the domain of the Berisons. It was not looking good, no matter how optimistic Razael wanted to be. When the walls finally crumbled and the army started moving, bad turned to worse in the blink of an eye. Out of nowhere, thousands of soldiers turned, attacking their comrades in arms, gradually letting their hair turn white and their eyes green. Before Razael had a chance to bark out any orders, two overwhelming powers appeared, and a man was rushing towards him with his green eyes glowing in unmistakable greed and glee.
The aura he was emanating was above Razael's level, but it was not something he would be scared of. This was not the time to roll over but to fight and do his best. Luckily, he was not alone as they had multiple Amarins present, also in the Three Ri realm, one even being in the 8th Tier, A Legendri. When they clashed, the shockwaves alone were deadly, and to not cause unwanted casualties among their soldiers, their battle quickly switched to being fought in the air.
"Fight!" Yuya laughed, surprising everyone that a young girl's voice came out of the man's mouth, "I love it when my prey struggles before death! Entertain me, AMARINS!" With a shout, Yuya threw herself into the midst of multiple Three Ri warriors, using only hand-to-hand combat, breaking through their spells with a punch and ignoring any and all damage like it was nothing.
Solren didn't have it any easier as another Undead was fighting with him and his personal soldiers, cutting them down like nothing. It pained him to see and forced Solren to order his men to leave them alone, clear away, and deal with the other Undead instead. It was vital to reorganize their lines… and start retreating. This turned into such a mess... If they remain, they would be surely wiped out.
"You think you can stand up to me?" Killieth asked, wielding a longsword made out of pure miasma and pointing it at Solren.
"I do." He replied plainly, holding his own in a ready position, his blue eyes fixated on his enemy's posture.
"I heard that you are a sword genius. Let me experience it!"
Their exchange was so quick that nobody around them even noticed how they changed places. Turning around, Solren's forearm had a thin line as it was cut open, shedding a few drops of blood before the injury started closing up. On the other hand, Killieth turned around, his neck slashed right open but he remained unbothered by it.
"Quick… I will give you that!" He smiled, letting the wound mend itself by foul magic. "But can you keep it up?"
The two turned into a blur once more, exchanging multiple strikes, making it sound like metal scraping against metal until a sharp chime echoed through the battlefield, and they stopped once again. Looking down, Solren's blade was broken, and he only held the hilt of his sword as it couldn't take the strain anymore. Multiple parts of his body were sliced open, but his face remained calm, collected, and focused.
"It seems your weapon is weaker than you!" Killieth chuckled, regrowing his missing left arm and half of his head, which was destroyed in their exchange. "Too bad~!"
"It was always the case," Solren replied with an even voice, letting go of the hilt, flicking his hand, and a new one appeared in his grip from a ring on his index finger. "I have more. I will cut you up until you fail to regenerate." With a quick kick, he was already upon Killieth again, pushing him back, but even after decapitating his opponent a moment later, the Undead was back to normal, gaining distance between them.
"I have to acknowledge that they were not wrong!" Killieth shrugged, not minding the setback, "You won't survive this… you can try destroying me, but you will run out of energy first! Just… give up... And then I will make it painless!"
Hearing his words, Solren simply smiled, his magic coming to the surface, rising so fast it even surprised Killieth as the young man before him stepped into the 7th Tier. The element of light that burst out of his body for a brief moment was put under his reign in only a second, showing his immaculate control of his powers. The tribulation was seemingly nothing, not even a little bump to be concerned about before stepping into the realm of Three Ri.
"It seems I can't postpone it further. So be it!" Solren exhaled, cracking his shoulders once, pointing his sword at Killieth. "I will kill you for pushing me to do it before it was time."
…
….
……
In the middle of the Berison's territory, Loonah panicked, cursed, and tried to escape without success. Rangi blocked all her attempts to pen a route into No-Space, his shell flashing with a multi-colored light, stopping her from opening the fabric of reality. Her current body was already on the verge of disintegration; it was failing to regenerate more and more as she felt death closing in on her soul.
"This…" She groaned as a purple light hit her in the chest, tearing it open and separating her physical body into four pieces, "Can't be…" She tried to pull them back, but the strands of miasma she released were simply destroyed by Reyra, obliterating them with precise shots. "Happening!"
Yet, no matter how she didn't want to acknowledge it, it was happening. The moment her body came apart, unable to reform, it revealed her soul, naked and still somewhat weak. The injuries she had suffered previously were not gone, which made her fall for real this time. From Rangi's giant mouth, a sea of flame rushed forward like a tsunami, burning everything away and engulfing Loonah, who was trying to resist it. Then came Lakhmu's attack, based on Hajna's knowledge, as purple starlight hit her, which started to affect even the pure soul, puncturing many holes into her core.
"One down..." Reyra whispered as she took aim, and a ball of energy, half golden half black, hit Loonah's injured spirit.
It ended the Supreme Elder's unnatural existence before she had a chance to react. Her already injured essence got torn to shreds, and the darkness in Reyra's spell drew the pieces in while the golden light strapped them to place, preventing them from escaping once more. She wouldn't let Loonah flee or heal her injuries, staying imprisoned in Rangi's fire until nothing, not even ash, remained.
"We have trouble!" Lakhmu exclaimed the moment they all felt the destruction of their enemy.
"I know!" She answered, raising her bracelet, her eyes moving like lightning, reading the terrible news.
"We have to move!" Rangi added, also doing the same and reading that on multiple points, Undead appeared, seemingly in the 9th Tier.
"I will go to the south!" Reyra exclaimed, surprising the two as her own forces and sons were battling in the west. Seeing their gazes, she wasn't going to respond; it was not a time for explanations, and she had to go where they needed her most… and down south, the Dalal, the leader of the Ro's, were constantly having trouble and requesting immediate help.
"I'm heading to the Nerifits!" Lakhmu nodded, responding to the same type of request coming from Kaznak.
"I'm heading to the east then!" Rangi sighed, "But this looks bad!"
"It is bad! Start evacuating the Berisons!" Reyra bit her lips, feeling the worst day of her life had just arrived. "We are retreating! We need to regroup, or we will suffer losses that we will feel in the future!"
"Are we giving up on them?" Lakhmu asked in a heavy tone, but Reyra couldn't answer it directly… but it looked like it.
"They can retreat to the glacier and hold out… then we will have time to regroup and catch these Undead in the same pincer move they did to us now!" Rangi looked at them, trying to raise the morale.
"We can talk about it later!" Reyra shook her head, leaving at her full speed, spreading the order through every member of the armies they amassed: retreat.
…
….
……
"I'm not going!" That was the first thing Rinzen said when they received the orders from Reyra. Knowing what was happening all around the world and, more precisely, in the Berisons' territory did put them in a difficult spot.
A half-destroyed city was before them, its citizens in turmoil, not knowing what would happen next. The dead were no longer rising, but hundreds were killed just before their eyes, and it was a living nightmare. Something that would further put them at risk of becoming an Undead, one way or another.
"This is my home we are speaking about!" Rinzen continued, heaving heavily, "I will go back and stand with them!"
"Worse news after worse news…" Lia groaned, holding her head, feeling that her headache was becoming persistent now.
"What happened?" Arrived Heliett, who looked worse for wear, her face sunken in, feeling that death was close at hand… Which was not wrong as the city was sentenced by Lia, and the verdict was to be purged.
"What happened here happened everywhere." Lia told her plainly, "By all news we received, the House of Berison is…" She looked at Rinzen for a brief moment, "Is in danger."
"..."
"More are coming?" Heliett asked after a brief pause, and seeing Lia nod, she simply closed her eyes, taking a deep, long breath. She knew they would not be permitted to leave, not after what happened. With more Undead coming? She knew this was it. "Please make it painless… for everyone."
"You could…" Lia opened her mouth, but Heliett shook her head before Simbad could have a chance to protest.
"We did what we could. We failed… I'm sorry…"
"You didn't fail…" Rinzen declared, walking up to her and hugging Heliett, who started to sob, "We did… as the head of House Berison… I personally failed you… I'm sorry…"
"Long Live… The House of Ice…." Heliett whispered before her whole being was turned into ice, shattering, and Rinzen didn't hesitate, calling upon all her strength, encasing the entire city of Sussarim in ice.
It was similar to Lia's fire, yet not, as Rinzen's spell placed the whole city into a solid block, like a bug trapped in amber. But just like in Lia's case, everyone was dead before they realized what happened.
"You…" Lia looked at her, mouth falling open as everyone could feel that Rinzen, at that moment, stepped into the Three Ri stage, just like Solren, conquering her element with ease.
"I am Rinzen Berison, part of the Six and the Head of Hosue Berison." She replied calmly, her eyes engraving the scenery into her mind. "And I will stand with my House. If we fall, I will go down with them, but I won't abandon them!" With that, she slowly turned towards Lia, forming a small smile. "You should leave."
"Yeah, fuck that!" Lia harrumphed, and the others nodded as one, "I told you! You are a Misfit! And we don't abandon ours! Let's go, team, we are going with Rinzen!"
"You shouldn't, this…" She tried to protest, but Lia simply waved her hand with an authoritative look in her mismatched eyes.
"I am the leader of the Misfits! I outrank you, Miss Berison! Hmph! We came as a team; we will depart as a team! Let's go! We have a long way to trek!"
Lia couldn't help but look back at the now-dead city as they were leaving. Everything was deteriorating so fast she couldn't even register it. She… didn't want to think about it either. With a silent nod, she said her goodbyes in her head, parting with Heliett in her own way. She wanted to save them, but once again… another failure.
"Erias…" She thought to herself and to what Arcus has told him about the past… how Erias felt as city after city fell in the past. Now, she thought that she finally understood how her ancestors felt in those days.
While Lia's mind wandered to the ancient dragon, the brother of her forefather, Arcus himself, started to move in his little pocket dimension. The dragon's eyes slowly opened up as his black body sat up, slowly regaining his full consciousness and tasting the different memories… especially those that Lia brought back.
"It is time…" He spoke in a language that could not be understood by anyone but was heard by all the surviving dragons whose eyes opened simultaneously, no matter where they were.
