Voooooom!

  A burning nce of light swept horizontally across the battlefield, cutting down hundreds of desiccated, shambling figures along its path. A few rger figures were split in two, their top half sliding off as the bottom crumpled. The intense heat and energy simply erased many of the smaller figures.

  [Warning! Core Energy at 72%!]

  Yet even as the roaring bdes of winds cut down the straggling survivors and blew away the remaining dust, more zombie-like creatures pushed themselves out of the ground. Another burning nce swept across the battlefield, incinerating more of the horde as Alpha charged forward.

  [Warning! Core Energy at 71%!]

  Alpha tsk and turned off the warning from his Sub-AI for now, sweeping a third core-charged [Gungnir] bst through the zombie horde. No. 7 stood on top of the TAWP, holding a thin, rapier-like bde. Each swing or thrust of the weapon, and every wide kick, produced massive gusts of gray, cloud-like wind. While Alpha was in charge of cutting their way through the horde toward the distant structure, No. 7 had taken to protect their rear and sides.

  Good thing, too, as Alpha had quickly discovered that physical bullets didn’t work against this enemy. Unlike zombies in the movies, even obliterating a zombie’s head wouldn’t do much. They would just continue to shamble around aimlessly. To stop them, you had to either incinerate them or cut them into ribbons, in No. 7’s case. The most annoying ones were the rge stone creatures. Even after bsting a few of them apart, they just kept reforming. Only after No. 7 spotted and destroyed the small, smoke-spewing orbs among the debris had the two made any actual progress.

  Even then, after three hours and two dozen core-charged [Gungnir] bsts, they’d barely made it 1/4 of the way to their target. The young man, who No. 7 had ter identified as “Tugusr,” had vanished into the sea of zombies almost immediately after Alpha destroyed the rge bck orb. It was possible he’d been devoured by the out-of-control horde, but Alpha’s gut told him otherwise. As insane as the man seemed on the surface, he had been far too calm about the situation. Alpha knew he would pop up again; when he did, there would be no more words.

  After all, a bullet traveled faster than sound.

  Suddenly, the ground beneath the TAWP shook, and dozens of fissures spread from under them. The ground bulged upward a few meters, and Alpha jumped. The TAWP soared into the air several dozen meters before nding on and crushing one of the rge stone creatures.

  A new figure rose from the ground where the TAWP had just been, easily four times rger than any other on the battlefield, even dwarfing Alpha.

  Alpha pointed at the figure and compined out loud.

  “Oh, come ON! I killed you already!”

  The fifty-meter-tall stone penguin stared down at Alpha silently. Most of its upper body had been repced with a shining, shifting metal-like substance, while the stones and boulders that made up the rest of its body were covered in dried blood and gore. It looked at Alpha with dull eyes made of the same bck orbs controlling the stone creatures. They leaked streams of dark fog, almost making it appear as if the creature was weeping.

  But when it opened its long beak, the creature screamed unintelligently, a deep bck light glowing at the back of its throat.

  As the creature blindly charged them, Alpha doubted little, if anything, of the former ‘Beast Lord’ truly remained.

  ——————

  The room the Stewalkers found themselves in wasn’t vish or fancy. This was a room dedicated to business and discussion, after all, not a pompous dispy meant to impress and stroke the egos of some noble.

  Even so, it was finer and more luxurious than most in the small group had ever seen in one pce. Zolzaya sat beside her mentor on the soft couch, gently sipping the exquisite tea they’d been provided. Juatan, Ugan, and Munkh stood at the ready around the room. They were once more in full Guardian attire, their weapons and armor returned.

  Ganbaatar and Yutu stood in a corner, deep in hushed discussion over the details of an expertly carved wooden statue. If one didn’t know the boys, you’d think they were fine art connoisseurs admiring the artist’s work. Though if you moved close enough to hear their whispers, it would be clear they were more interested in the actual craftsmanship and techniques used rather than the art itself.

  Zolzaya smiled to herself as she watched, part of her wishing she could join them. She could still barely believe that Yutu was so lively after everything he’d gone through. The st few weeks had felt like she was a leaf in a maelstrom, as she was tossed from joy to nightmare to hope and back again, over and over.

  Even now, at what should have been the end of the story, when the heroes brought to light the evil masterminds’ schemes and their pns were foiled, it seemed life had even more twists and turns for them.

  When the Head Priest had rescued them from the prison, Zolzaya thought things were coming to a head. Yet they’d barely sat down and had the chance to start their story before the arms started sounding through the Earth Shrine and the walls started rising. The Head Priest had excused himself and rushed out of the room, leaving the Stewalkers both confused and worried.

  Even now, she should see the massive walls towering over the city through the room’s balcony door. They’d been waiting for news ever since, though the priests that regurly brought them refreshments admitted even they weren’t sure what was going on.

  The sound of a creaking door broke Zolzaya out of her ruminations, and she put down the empty teacup.

  Instead of the priest dressed in humble robes as she expected, a young woman stood in the doorway. Despite looking only a few years older than Zolzaya, the newcomer scanned the room in a way that spoke highly of her experience and skill. Her leather armor was of a finer craft than anything Zolzaya had ever seen and almost glowed with the sheer number of enchantments packed into it.

  Yet even that didn’t compare to the woman herself. She was beautiful, yes, but in a strange, wild way that triggered something deep in the primal part of Zolzaya’s mind. Her long, bck, and white hair was pulled into a warrior’s braid, woven using dozens of gold and silver csps, each embedded with a single, carved Beast Core.

  What shook Zolzaya the most, however, were the woman’s eyes. Her bright amber, almost yellow, eyes bore into Zolzaya with an intensity that left the young Grassreader apprentice frozen to her seat, like a mouse caught in the gaze of a tiger.

  The Guardians weren’t so easy to shake. As soon as the woman had barged in, all three Guardians turned, their weapons ready, expecting another attack.

  However, instead of drawing the bde at her side, the woman did nothing but fre her Spirit energy.

  All three Guardians were immediately driven to their knees as the full spiritual pressure of a high-mid rank [Shackle Breaking] Expert smmed into them. Zolzaya felt like a mountain was sitting on her chest, pressing her into the couch, and she found breathing hard. She couldn’t even turn her head when she heard Ganbaatar and Yutu colpse to the ground behind her.

  The newcomer’s frown deepened, and her eyes narrowed. When she spoke, her voice, though musical and smooth as silk, sounded more like the growl of a bloodthirsty predator in Zolzaya’s ears.

  “Where is my baby sister?!”

  ——————

  Newly appointed High Priestess Hera, freshly promoted after her sister’s… untimely death, stood before the central dais, staring up into the open sky. The once pristine and holy sanctum in which she stood was not covered in the bodies of Prima priests and Akh’lut Gaurdians alike.

  The rest of the clergy had been confused when she’d announced a new ceremony during the Darkest Night instead of the typical retreat. Officially, it was in celebration of her promotion and to bless the Heart against the ill omen of the previous High Priestess’s death. Most of the old fools, so stiff and slow as stone, hadn’t even questioned it. A few still loyal to her sister had their suspicions, however.

  It had already been too te when they finally became apparent what she intended. Like a scythe, her followers had cut down all opposition. It pained her slightly to spill her own people’s blood so wastefully, but sometimes it was better to cut the rot out quickly before it could spread.

  They might lose some this day and in the coming days, but soon, she would have the power to rebuild what was lost. Soon she would exceed not only the Five Great Pilrs but all world powers. And when she stood at the top of the mountain, she would even pull down the heavens themselves.

  Slowly, she spread out her arms and basked in the dark glow of the 10-meter-wide stone orb floating in the center of the room. The Heart of the Radiant Sea bobbed slightly in the air as the dark clouds above were funneled down into it. The radiant, twirling rainbow of color that pulsed inside struggled against the dark smoke, but it was slowly losing ground, slowing dimming and being repced by the dark light.

  There was still a long way to go, but the process would slowly speed up as the Darkest Night progressed. Soon the seal would weaken enough that even the power of the sleeping Prima couldn’t keep it intact. Soon it would be time for the st piece.

  She turned and stared at the five altars circling the Heart. On four of them, a small obelisk sat, and on top of those, a small marble floated, slowly spinning, the mirror image of the rger Heart. On the fifth, a young Akh’lut pup slept peacefully, pinned down by smoky chains.

  It had taken centuries to locate all the keystones. Even longer to steal them in a way that wouldn’t alert her sister or any of the other Chosen. Lucky for Hera and her followers, the Chosen had grown compcent after years of peace. They’d grown zy and dull-eyed, their ‘eternal vigince’ slipping with each passing year.

  However, the Chosen’s inattention had caused even Hera to lower her guard. Otherwise, how would she have missed her sister’s growing suspicion? Hera had underestimated Metis, of that she would freely admit. Both her craftiness… and her cruelty.

  The child wouldn’t survive the keystone extraction process.

  But no matter.

  Her sacrifice would ensure that her family stood at the top of this world and beyond for all eternity.

  Footsteps from behind drew her attention, and Hera turned to see a young man walking through the doorway, carefully stepping over bodies and quickly drying pools of blood. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs and bowed. Hera stared down and asked.

  “Back so soon, Tugusr? Am I to assume everything went according to pn?”

  Tugusr rose from his bow and grinned, responding.

  “Yes, mot—”

  Hera’s icy gre made the young man freeze and correct himself.

  “Yes, High Priestess. It did, indeed. Our mysterious Spirit Beast friend has proven to be far more powerful than we initially assumed, but it seems even he cannot stand against the might of the Mistress. At their current pace, we should have no fear of them being able to interfere anytime soon.”

  Hera grinned ear to ear and nodded as she spoke.

  “Good, good. The Darkest Night will reach its peak in only a few hours.”

  She turned back and stared at Heart in awe. She continued, half speaking to herself.

  “Soon, all the pieces will fall into pce, and we will finally achieve our Destiny!”

  Tugusr bowed once more and turned. The young man grinned as well as spoke softly, his hidden under the constant thrum of the Heart and the clouds above.

  “Yes… Yes, we will.”