NOVEL NEXT 760. The 2nd Phase
Crystal meteors crashed through the blanket of smoke. Ruins and festering Hearts that called them home were wiped clean from the face of Elysia. Craters as large as 50 meters riddled the lands as warped trees were folded due to the immense shockwave.
The Justica Starfall was a 12-cannon weapon designed specifically for long-range engagements against structures and areas rather than an enemy force. This was because the 1st Branch’s primary focus in Jusitca Arms was to wield the very essence of Galia’s motto: “Justice must never stray behind judgement.”
If there was a settlement that Justica Arms had condemned, then the 1st Branch would deliver her will through her crystal ordinances. It would appear as divine intervention in the eyes of the world. After all, what else would that beam of light be other than the rightful wrath of a deity?
It played into Galia’s hand as a religious figure in the world of Elysa, who was worshiped by even her own personnel. Elves in the furthest reaches of the world knew her name, and only the most ancient were aware that she was much more than this.
The spectacular shower of stars that turned the dark skies white was one of Justica Arm’s efforts to further portray Galia’s ‘divine’ power.
Kilometers of land were rendered inhospitable. Decades of restoration efforts would not be able to revive it. But it was a small price to pay compared to the rot the Memento Mori ushered into northern Grandis.
The wall of clouds was pushed back after the first volley of 300 Star Pellets found their mark. It revealed the withered wasteland that had once been a beautiful forest. The rivers ran with blackened waters carrying the bloated bodies of reanimated remains.
The 1st Branch Apostle remembered the villages that once relied on those waters. She wore a strained face. It agonized her that things had gone out of hand.
“The fault was ours for abandoning them so quickly.” Simonia lamented, brushing the surface of one of her Justica Starfalls. “She gave the order to abandon it when things spiraled out of control.”
Her voice was nearly silenced by the ear-splitting booms of her weapons. The bullets were not propelled, but they still created a sound as though they were being propelled out of cannons.
The massive bullets travelled in a brilliant arc, flying across the skies like shooting stars before they suddenly teleported. They moved vertically now, descending at a speed that was difficult for the naked eye to detect.
This speed alone was what gave the Star Pellets so much kinetic energy.
“Darkness wrapped Primus Ramus before we knew what was happening. Grandis… has always been in a perilous state. But now that we are here, I cannot help but to think back on our failure. How many lives did we turn our backs on?”
200,000 people lived in Primus Ramus. This did not include the cities beyond it. Northern Grandis was a large part of Grandis as a whole.
But Simonia knew that the number of survivors could be counted on just two hands.
Their strength was overwhelming. But in the end, there were things that the Ateliers were simply unequipped to deal with, such as the Hearts of the City that not even this kind of power could even dream to scratch.
Simonia continued to fire her barrages, eventually finding rising pillars of light that she immediately targeted.
“How must you feel, O’ our Galia? These people were yours, but we could not protect them while you were locked away in the Nexus. Not against the Necropolises that arose that day. A Branch stands no chance against such a Heart without your intervention.”
She was not alone in how she felt. The entirety of the 1st Branch was just as vengeful as their Apostle.
30 minutes of continuous bombardment passed. Kilometers of land were stripped bear of everything. The Star Pellets stopped falling the moment Simonia received a word from Galia.
“Cease the bombardment. We have more than enough land to serve as a buffer for our forces. Prepare to begin your descent. The 2nd Branch and Time Reverberation will push up. You will provide support and annihilate the enemy’s strategic emplacements.”
“Yes, O’ Galia.” Simonia sealed her eyes out of pure reverence before relaying this to her personnel. “The 2nd phase is over. Prepare for the 3rd phase. Follow the light. Communications will be difficult within.”
Her personnel did not react other than with a few understanding nods.
The Moons and Aspiring Moons on the other hand, verbally confirmed this. They were unaware of the mostly silent culture of the 1st Branch. Simonia simply expected her personnel to understand her.
Gestures like confirmation or acknowledgement were unnecessary.
The flames in their eyes yearned for the same thing as she did.
With the moon on pace to reach midnight in the next 2 and half hours, she turned her gaze to the black forest and grinned.
* * *
Thousands of impaled Impuritas marched forward. It was as though the black forest had come alive and begun moving on its own volition. Repenters held the black, cross-shaped stakes over their shoulders.
The weight alone crushed their bones, but they were not allowed a single moment of respite as they entered the smoke. Further ahead were 1,000 personnel donned in grey-feathered coats. They were the personnel of the 2nd Branch, and they ploughed through the smoldering battlefield like a swarm of locusts.
They reaped the bodies of Impuritas that did not perish after the initial bombardment. If the Impuritas were unlucky, then they’d have their souls reaped by an eccentric Black Moon. They operated within an Isolation Sphere to hasten their approach. The Repenters needed all the help they could get to travel the 50-kilometer buffer in just 2 and a half hours.
“They missed one~!” A Peace Flock hummed with delight at the sight of a Catacombs.
Their squad of 20 assailed the small town containing the untouched Impuritas Heart. Magical circles surrounded them as they pushed onwards. Within each magical circle were 24 smaller circles.
All hell broke loose moment they came crashing through the front gates of the settlement. Hundreds of tiny crystal bullets were fired from these magical circles like floating shotguns. The bullets possessed weaker penetrative power than regular Justica Arms.
But their lack of range and penetrative power was more than made up for it for their unparalleled close-range effectiveness. If one looked at them closely, they’d quickly realize that they didn’t wield Justica Arms.
It was implemented into them. They orbited their bodies on a horizontal and vertical axis like satellites, shooting holes into the Pawns of the Memento Mori.
The defending Knightmare of the Catacombs watched as they flowed into their domain. It could not believe how many of them there were. The assault had left them incapable of meaningfully fighting back.
However, this did not mean they were at a disadvantage. No matter how many of his Pawns were unceremoniously ripped apart, they had an infinite reservoir to take from. Not only that, but the Memento Mori could replicate should they perish.
The same could not be said for the enemy force.
