Shadowbane

The more I stare at the sky, the more I see it change. The thin brown mass of clouds spreading to the north is slowly but surely thickening. We're not waiting around long enough to time it, but I know they'll eventually evolve into the same black clouds we've been seeing all along.

Eldritch and Xerath have always changed the environment to fit the god they are associated with, but I've never seen anything quite like this before... Especially not from Xerath.

"Ishar, come up here for a minute!"

Ishar is walking alongside Aresa's wagon while keeping an eye on our surroundings. After I yell for him he runs up to the wagon and jumps on top of it, sitting down cross-legged next to me.

"You figure something out?" Ishar asked.

"No, I wanted to ask you about all the Xerath you've met up until now. Did any of them try and mold an entire moon into their own image? I know that's the end goal of every Eldritch and Xerath, but something about this one feels... Different."

"Hmm..." Ishar looks up at the sky, "Sadly, most of my Xerath exterminations began and ended with them as broodlings. After all, it's best to kill the fuckers before they can even mature. And Terra'ka is gradually lowering the corruption level of my home, so eventually we won't even have to worry about them anymore. Well, at my home that is. They are still a major threat in a lot of the moons surrounding Mother."

"What about planets like Aetheria?"

Ishar shakes his head, "Not very often since planets work differently. Moon corruption is static throughout the entire moon, but for planets each section has its own level of corruption, which makes it much easier to figure out which nation is in need of some restructuring. Some lashings and heads on pikes can fix a lot of problems if you have the stomach for it."

Ishar continues, "I've met plenty of nations who think talking your way through everything is the solution. And while they're talking the corruption scales higher and higher, leading to the same result every time, a full-on purge. Although I did eventually figure out just how naive I was. The talks of friendship and peaceful resolutions were nothing but a smokescreen. In reality, those 'peace-loving nations' are always aiming for something else, and I'm sure you know what that is."

"They wanted to expand their own territory, and what better way than claiming 'We tried our best, but now we have no choice' while exterminating them? Morally they appear right too."

Ishar nods, "Once I understood that, everything else began to fall into place." Ishar looks down, "I kind of miss my old naive self who saw good everywhere and wanted to better other worlds in the way Terra'ka bettered mine... But sadly, reality has rarely matched any of my old fairy tale views on the world."

"Rarely?"

Ishar chuckles, "Heh, they're not all fucked up. I've met some really amazing civilizations full of happy people who only think of bettering themselves and their nations as a whole. They're the minority, but they do exist, thankfully."

I'm honestly surprised to hear that...

"Back to my initial question, does this Xerath seem off to you in any way?"

"The whole fucking thing feels 'off'. The fact that this blackened sky blinked into existence the very second this moon passed the corruption threshold is so bizarre that I don't even know where to begin with it. For the record, none of the Lizardmen know what to make of it either, which shows just how strange this situation is. And as you said, they're quite literally terraforming the entire moon, or maybe xenoforming is a better term here. Either way, I've never seen Xerath expand on such a wide scale before, and it makes you wonder why they waited several months before they began to spread their influence."

That part is bothering me too. The sky went pitch black around the same time I woke up, which as Ishar just said, was months ago. And yet they're just now choosing to expand outwards? There must be a reason for it, and I'd bet anything that their home base is located in the area Fin had circled in his diary.

"You going to check it out? Or do you have other plans going forward?" Ishar asks.

"... I would prefer that Aresa and the others straight up abandon this moon, but I know it won't be easy for them to give up on their home. Especially Aresa."

"You're going to have one hell of a time convincing that girl to leave. She has a good reason to stay too, which is going to make it all the more difficult." Ishar says.

"The other option is one I don't even want to consider because it feels like it's far too late to be slowly gathering information, but I could try and sneak into the area Fin circled on his diary, because I'm almost positive that's where the Xerath's home base is. And the fact that it's so close to Xelba is really bothering me..."

"From what you've told me, that nation was destroyed ages ago and the leader, the man known as Viktor, fled to Aetheria through a portal and took the core of the Xerath with him. It's worrying that his right-hand man's journal suggested there are more broodlings, but Viktor had already left Urza long ago, right?" Ishar continues, "Having said all that, it is rather suspicious, even from an outsider's perspective..."

We both went silent after that, thinking about all the different problems currently plaguing us.

As we neared the city I saw a blue mana line connect directly into Ishar and Keith's wagon. Soon after that Ishar yells for all of us to hear, "They're coming to meet us at your side gate!"

The last time we came through here I could see citizens looking at Aresa's wagon in awe, but this time barely anyone even noticed us or the large angry-looking Crotia walking next to it. The fear was palpable in the air as people discussed the sky and all the weird protrusions popping out of the ground.

Off to the side I could see Tyrell and Tyra waving at us as they approached the main gate. I could vaguely hear them and the guards talking about refugees and what happened in Kellog.

The knights guarding the noble entrance approached Keith's wagon(which was in the front) in the same manner as last time. After a brief conversation with Cera, they opened the small gate and let us through. Once we passed the gate I could see Alicia and Nisha waiting for us on a bench nearby.

Ishar walks up to them, "Rookie, has our Lord made any decisions regarding the situation here?"

Alicia scratches her cheek, "Yes... But it's best we talk about this in the chateau. We only came here to meet you because we were out and about anyways, looking into something important."

More problems I'm sure, wonderful.

The two girls stand up from the bench and enter Keith's wagon. As we make our way through town I see the same thing inside the city that I saw on the outside. All the joy was gone from the expressions of the people here, and I saw several wagons being loaded up here and there.

I don't know where they plan on going, but I can understand why they'd try and flee. Also, at this stage the broodling won't be strong enough to force these people to stay, so this is their one chance to get away.

We rolled up to the chateau and everyone got out of their wagons. One by one we followed Aresa inside, finding an exhausted-looking Euphemia on one of the couches. Her maid Yuki smiled at us as we approached.

"I'm glad to see you all made it here safely... And my citizens made it too, yes?"

Seifer sits down on a chair next to her, "Yes, I saw Tyrell's convoy being led through the main gates. For now they are safe. However, we'll need to figure out what to do from here on out."

I sit down on the couch opposite Euphemia, "Where the hell have you been, Seifer?"

"Apologies, I was inside my soul realm, preparing myself for what is to come. The fight with the broodling showed me just how rusty I've become. I have neglected my training for far too long in favor of the pen."

He was protecting a large group of people against an onslaught of spears, and he calls that rusty? He's far stronger than I had expected. And even stranger is how I can't feel any mana from him even when he's fighting...

Ishar sits down in his favorite chair, "Ahh... Finally." Ishar points at Alicia, "Now speak, what happened with Terra'ka and whatever the hell you were doing in town."

Alicia meekly nods and looks around awkwardly, "Um, our Lord is giving up on Urza if Viseux doesn't agree to ally us in the next month... And Viseux's response to this was to spit in our faces, almost literally."

Both Aresa and Euphemia looked at Alicia as if the world was ending. For them it might as well be ending...

"Aresa, if you're going to use your influence, it has to be now."

{You mean start a civil war? Now?}

Ishar shrugs, "Either that or let the Xerath win. We won't be back here for a very long time... Understand, little one?"

{..........}

Aresa goes silent for a bit, until she eventually does something I had yet to see her do up until now. She entered her soul realm.

"Eldritch Lords can do that?" Alicia asks.

Cera shakes her head, "No, only ones like Aresa can. I'd bet anything that the Tengu's Lords have their own soul realm as well."

Aresa opens her eyes. {I do have control over a large part of this city... But are you absolutely certain of this? I'm going to need all the help I can get.}

"I personally think we should all leave for Aetheria, but I know you want to try and save this place, and it can't hurt to try." At least I hope it can't.

"Hang on, I still want to hear what you two were doing in town," Ishar says, looking at Alicia.

"Oh, we were looking for news about Godwin and Markus. From everything I've heard, we're going to need the Guardians and Templars, but the Templars were locked inside their temple until recently, and the Guardians are watched like hawks. As for where all the Templars are, we're not sure... But we did find Godwin and Markus's location. They're in the prison underneath the city." Alicia says.

"I could vaguely feel Uncle Markus beneath me when we walked near city hall. That's when I knew that he was down there. I have no proof that Godwin is down there too, but it's obvious that he and his family would also be locked up down there." Nisha says.

"We can do this one of two ways. One; I formally request that they be released into my or Aresa's care. Two..." Euphemia looks at me, which leads to everyone turning and looking at me as well.

"... It's possible, but I'll need time to look into it. Noble homes have Dwarven runes engraved into different parts that sap the mana from anyone who enters without permission. It's pretty much guaranteed that City Hall or the prison below it is going to have those very same runes. They rip my veil off, and it takes a few seconds to get it back. Not an issue if nobody is around, but it obviously is a problem if someone sees me. They'll know why I'm there, which will lead to all sorts of problems, including the fact that the prison will become a hundred times more secure."

"In that case we should decide here and now about how to proceed going forward. I believe our Lord would change his mind if Aresa took back the reigns on this city, but will it be that easy? How many people in the military would follow you?" Ishar asks.

{Probably twenty percent... Not all that much. My followers have mostly refused to allow their children to join the military, which has led to Rai'ga controlling most of it. I understand why they did it, but it's turned into a glaring issue that forced me to stay passive.}

"Yeah, that's..." Ishar trails off, leaning back and putting his hand over his eyes.

"Even I know that's nowhere near enough..." Euphemia says.

I raise my hand, "Wait, hang on. I need to know something kind of unrelated." I look at Yuki, "Where is your brother? Is he okay?"

Yuki looks at me and smiles again, "Yes! He left ahead of your group and arrived much faster since he wasn't in a wagon. You want to give him that diary, right?"

I nod, "We need to read the contents, so please call him over."

"Already did when we heard you were approaching. He's taking care of something for the princess and he'll be back in a few hours."

Perfect... I hope he can decode it like she claims he can. I'm dying to know what is in the darklands next to Xelba, and it would also be nice to know why Fin was bound to a Demon.

Looking up at the sky, I stare at yet another black sky giving off a nominal amount of light. On the other side of Viseux, a thin brown layer of cloud continues extending to the north.

The past month had pretty much been a complete waste of time. My allies tried their damnedest to try and come up with a plan to take over Viseux, but they were met with two obstacles they just couldn't overcome. First, as previously mentioned, the military. Viseux lost a lot of men trying to assault the town to the south that's currently spewing all that smoke into the sky which is extending the Xerath's control over the skies, but they still have way too many men who are staying loyal to Rai'ga.

And that leads to the biggest problem of all, Rai'ga. I haven't thought of him much since my reawakening, but after one glance at him, I knew right away that we stood no chance of bringing him down. It's an Eldritch the size of a large building with three distinct heads.

The head on the right is a mantis with human teeth.

The middle head is a lynx with seven eyes on its forehead and no mouth.

And the last head is a reptilian bear with a black tattoo-like swirl going around its face in a circle.

When I peeked into Rai'ga's chapel; hoping to get a look at him, he immediately turned all three heads at me and smiled. He began to tell me telepathically that he knew exactly what we were planning, and that he'd happily work together with Aresa to aim for a peaceful alliance with the Lizardmen, but Aresa was furious when I told her. She said she knows he's lying, because according to her, he always lies. I barely remember Rai'ga from my time in Xelba(since we avoided his lands after three crushing defeats), so I wasn't able to rebuke her at all. He may in fact be the liar she says he is, I honestly wouldn't know.

The broodling is... Well, this is where things get weird. Viseux managed to find it and kill it with ease, but nobody knows how they did it. Terra'ka became much more wary of Viseux after he heard about them pulling off a feat that even he has never seen or heard of before. As far as the Lizardmen are concerned, the whole reason to keep corruption below the threshold is because the birth of broodlings in your moon or planet will eventually lead to the end of life on that world.

Long ago the Lizardmen had run a test where they told worlds that passed the threshold on how they could protect themselves, and while most of them did a good job at first, they would always be overrun in the end. All it takes is a couple of mistakes and then suddenly your broodling problem has escalated into a Xerathian god problem.

But that was only one problem down. The sky issue has only been getting worse and worse. Ishar and Alicia have basically given up and are planning to go back to Terra'ka's homeworld soon. Ishar has chosen to travel directly to the portal instead of wait for Alicia to figure out how to use Aresa's chateau to power her dagger high enough to warp anyone she wants, but since he has no idea of how long that's going to take, he ended up saying 'Fuck it, I'm riding to the portal' earlier today.

"See anything different?" The Crotia in question said from my right.

"No... The same sky that I'm honestly quite sick of seeing."

"You and me both..." Ishar continues, "You're really going to do this though? I'll wait here to make sure you're alright, but even if you're not, you know there isn't a whole lot I can do, right?"

I chuckle, "I know, Ishar. I appreciate you waiting, but you really don't need to. It shouldn't take too long for Alicia to figure out how to overcharge the knife with all the ether flowing through the chateau. Most of the others are really dejected about the fact that they have to abandon this place, but I'm quite happy. Not that I'm going to tell Aresa that..."

"As you shouldn't. That would be a very bad idea with how upset she is lately." A voice from behind says.

Turning around I see Keith walking up to me.

"What are you doing here?"

Keith sighs, "I just came back from conversing with Arkaois at the temple. He's giving up on Urza too for now. He was originally planning on working with Terra'ka to take this place back, but he suddenly had a change of heart. He decided to not only abandon Urza, but he's giving up on this galaxy entirely. He's leaving my unit here to help until we've reached our atonement, but he's sending all of his other branded to Gaia. He's always been far more interested in spreading his influence there."

Gaia...

My core hurts a little when I think about that place. There is a long beam of light going through the entire universe, and within it, exists Gaia. I've only been there once, but it was everything I dreamed of and more. Gaia is one giant soul realm, and each region you're in changes depending on what type of souls make up the majority of that region. A region full of humans will lead to a human-based environment, seeds, weather, etc. Meanwhile, a region occupied by an Eldritch made of stone that primarily uses lightning abilities will live in a region made of rock that is under a perpetual lightning storm.

It really is a magical place. There's so much more to it than that, and it only gets better from there. Which is why I was so excited at the idea of living there with my friends, but thanks to Viktor, that dream was cut short forty-two years ago...

"Well shit, that's some of the worse news I've heard in a while... Terra'ka was very delighted to be allied with an old god that seemed to support most of his decisions." Ishar says.

Keith nods, "Yeah... I'm not happy about it either, but at least he's letting me live out my life here, so I can do as much good as I can until it's time to move on."

"How come I haven't seen the rest of your crew yet...? Does it really take that long to revive them?"

Keith threw his hands up in the air, "That's also thanks to fucking Viseux! Without the templars we don't have enough people praying to the artifact. It's going to take another month of just me and Nisha praying to bring them back, and we obviously don't have time for that. That's actually why I'm here. Rei, please find Markus and the other templars, we desperately need them back..."

"What? I thought the plan was to release them so they could head north and flee through Khan Uluhm's portal? There's obviously no way for them to come topside and casually stroll back into the temple."

"Godwin's family will flee north, but there is a way to enter the temple through the underground. It's also the same as the main entrance, only those who worship Arkaios may use it. Markus will surely come that way instead of running away." Keith says.

In that case, it should be fine, and it'll be quite reassuring to have Markus by our side again.

Just as I was about to wave goodbye to these two, Aresa's wagon pulls up and stops nearby. Aresa walks out of it with Shana soon after.

{So it's time... I really hope they're all okay down there.}

"They should be, but what spurred you to visit me? I was going straight to the chateau after I was done here. It's just a casual prison break... Not anything serious enough for you to worry about me."

{Hehe, liar! Things are going to become even more difficult from here on out, so I... I was feeling anxious. You'll be back soon, right?}

I reach out and pat her hair, "Don't worry, I'll be right back, and then we'll all warp over to Terra'ka's world. Whenever Alicia is ready that is, which will probably be much sooner than Ishar reaches the portal. Honestly, why the hell are you riding a Grakka there? What if the Xerath attack you?"

Shana nods, "Very stupid. Poor reptile brain... Can't make good decisions."

"Bah, fuck all of you. I'll be fine! It might take that rookie months to figure out how to warp a single one of you. And I... I need some time alone. I have a lot to think about... A lot of very unnatural things have gone down, so I need a break to relax." Ishar looks at me and continues, "Also, you never did tell us why you served Viktor. So you better do that one day."

"Never showed me your meeting with Eremnon either..." Shana said.

{I forgot about that! Well, the first one... I never heard about you meeting Eremnon though? Is that true?}

"It is, and it's as you guys say, I completely forgot about all of that... I'll show you all back at the chateau since we'll have plenty of time while waiting on Alicia. Ishar will have to hear it later though. He needs time alone, so that's why he's trekking through an abandoned area for nearly five days which could easily result in his death."

"Okay, okay, I get it! Even I have been thinking it may be a shit decision to go south alone. I'll just hide in Aresa's pool area for a while to relax." Ishar said.

{... It's a bath area.}

"Honestly I'm dying to read Fin's journal. There is far too many unknowns concerning what happened in Kellog. Hell, we never even found out how it was able to warp the entire fucking village down into those temples. Not to mention the fact that an injured Satyr just randomly appeared and was killed by the Grinning Demon. You don't just run into stray Satyr like that..."

Shana raises her hand, "I know why. The Lizardmen engaged and killed several Satyr near the Demon's portal, but one was able to get away using the mana from its necklace. It must have landed somewhere close enough to feel the ether from the temple and decided it'd be a safe place to heal up."

... Oh. Well that had a disappointingly simple but reasonable explanation. And I had all these wild theories going through my head for weeks now...

"I see, thank you, Shana."

Shana gives me a thumbs up.

I really don't want to cut this short, but the sooner I free everyone, the better.

"Alright, I'm out. I'll see you guys soon."

I waved to everyone and ran toward the ally next to the city hall building. Just as I planned in advance, I enhance my legs while looking around to make sure no one is looking and quickly turn invisible before jumping up to a window ten feet above me.

How nice of them to always leave this window open...

I drop down next to a desk that has an older woman sitting behind it who's currently mumbling curses about the other people working here. Same as the last time I was here.

Maybe it's because this is a room full of old books, but they have next to no lighting in here. At some point in my life I heard that lights were bad for books, but hell if I know whether that's true or not.

Sneaking through the aisles I pass by several workers who are reading instead of working until I reach two sets of doors near the corner of the room. One leads to the hallway which includes lots of lights, people, and runes, while the other one is a very convenient emergency staircase for people to escape the underground. Normally it's locked, but the always mumbling lady let me borrow her keys yesterday. I set everything up in advance so it should just...

I reach out and turn the handle, and soon after that the door opens.

I knew these people were too lazy to check all the doors before leaving for the day. Now there are only two other potential problems to overcome.

I enter the dilapidated staircase and close the door behind me. I begin to run down the steps, just like I did yesterday until I reach the bottom. After reaching the bottom I slightly crack the door open and see none of the same things I saw yesterday.

Thank god... Yesterday there was a whole contingent of Viseux and Khan Uluhm soldiers playing cards and talking in here, so it was impossible to enter.

I open the door and walk into the area, which is dimly lit today. It's a massive cavern, except the stone on this side has been processed into a large lounge area for the soldiers. The rest of it looks like the caverns under Kellog.

I exit the area plastered with the human element and walk deeper into the cavern, aiming my steps directly for one of the holes in the walls that is guarded by two well-trained men. The fact that they have nothing to do except stare at a bunch of rocks for eight hours and they're somehow fully alert, tells me I really need to avoid entering into combat with the both of them.

Upon nearing the two and their annoyingly bright crystal torch high above them, I speed past both of them and the light, heading straight through the tunnel to the other side. Here was problem number two, I was almost positive there would be runes here, but there wasn't it seems.

On the other end I find what I'm looking for, a room full of cells on four different floors.

Heh, the only reason I even knew it was here is because I heard Godwin yelling loud enough that it was echoing into the previous cavern, which was making the men lounging in there laugh in response. None of them seem to hate Godwin, but orders are orders to men like these.

Looking around I see one guard bouncing a ball against the wall, while another one is asleep at his desk.

Night and day from the men guarding the tunnel...

Checking the first row of cells I find no one I recognize. Advancing to the second floor I finally see someone I know. Hera is asleep in the corner of the cell with a few other women. After that I advance to the third floor and find both Godwin and Markus in different cells.

No matter where I stand the two guards below could see me if they look up here, but I remove my invisibility anyways outside Godwin's cell. Both he and the man in his cell see me, and the other man stupidly goes to say something which would obviously echo in this deadly quiet area, but fortunately, Godwin clamps the man's mouth shut and drags him over towards the bars.

"Took you long enough," Godwin whispers with a smirk on his face.

"How do I open this? I see no keyholes."

"You need one of those two below to channel their mana into the bars."

... Great.

I put my aura back on and make my way down the steps, walking right up to the man bouncing a ball off the wall. When I'm within one foot of him I remove my aura and he immediately begins to turn around, but I've already locked my arms around his throat and head while my legs are crushing his arms into his torso. He tries slamming me backward into the ground but it's pointless, we both had the exact same amount of time to enhance ourselves, so we're dead even in strength.

We roll around on the ground for a bit until he eventually goes still.

It's been a while since I had to knock someone out without killing them... This place is going to need every soldier it has, so it'd be a waste to end him here.

I bend down and pull the dagger from the man's scabbard. With that in hand, I walk over to the other man who's still asleep at his desk. Upon reaching him I grab a fistful of his hair and yank him up while pointing the dagger at his throat. He barely squeaks out a "hie---" before I push the dagger into his throat a little. Fortunately, my threat was loud and clear to him.

"Here's what we're going to do, Mr.Soldier. You're going to release three sets of cells for me, and then you're going to take a little nap like your friend over there."

I turn him so he can see the other guard that's out cold. It made him shake hard at first, but he must have seen the other guard's chest rise and fall down, proving he was still alive, because he stopped shaking soon afterward.

"O-okay... Which ones?"

I let go of his hair and grab his shoulder, lifting him up. He complies and lets me guide him around until we reach Godwin's cell. Once we're there, he reaches out and channels some mana into it. The cell opens up and Godwin lets go of the other inmates' mouth. The two of them walk out soon after, and Godwin immediately leads us to Markus's cell, where the guard opens it again. For his part, Markus looked like a deer in headlights. Unlike Godwin, he had a hard time believing this was all real.

Eventually he stands up and walks over as a smile spreads across his face. "Thank you, Lord, for decrying this girl as an ally..."

Godwin and Markus exchanged hearty handshakes and began smacking my back while laughing. The men outside the tunnel can probably hear it, but it shouldn't worry them. If these two think it's safe, then maybe the prisoners were always allowed to talk.

One by one we release all the templars and Godwin's family. Hera and Jasper were just as shocked as Markus was.

"R-Rei, thank you!" Hera whispers and hugs me from the side, but before she reaches me I drop the dagger so I don't accidentally stab anyone.

"Foolish daughter of mine, we're not out of here yet. If anything, here comes the hard part..." Godwin whispers, gazing toward the tunnel below.

"I haven't mapped out any of this cave, so I have no idea of how you're going to get to the north. And Markus, Keith says you have a way to enter the temple from below?"

Markus nods, "Indeed. And it'll be easier than you're thinking. We just need to reach the storage room that's down here in this very cave. We'll be able to pick up some spare uniforms there and---"

An alarm begins blaring, one I've never heard before.

"Is this for us?!"

"No! This is the call to arms!!" The guard says.

"He's telling the truth... Shit, those faceless ones of yours must be assaulting the city." Godwin says.

I let go of the guard, "Go on, help the city! We'll be up there soon as well."

The guard looks at me with a confused expression, but he doesn't stare for long, instead choosing to grab his gun and run out of the tunnel.

"I'm going topside to make sure my allies are okay. I know where Markus is going, but just to confirm; you three are fleeing to the north, right?" I motion toward Godwin's family.

Godwin nods, "Markus already knows as well. We had plenty of time to talk in this shithole after all..." Godwin stares at me for a moment before reaching out and shaking my hand, "Thank you, Reimia. Truly... I'll make this up to you one day, I swear my life on it."

Hera and Jasper thank me as well but before Hera can hug me again a large explosion occurs from above us, nearly knocking all of us off our feet.

"I'd love to say some proper goodbyes, but it looks like we're out of time!" Markus says, dashing toward the exit. The four of us follow him into the cavern, but the Godwin family turns left with me and Markus instead of turning right to go north.

"Why are you going this way?!"

"We can't leave looking like this with no supplies!" Godwin says.

Ahh... Sometimes I forget just how difficult journeys are for normal people. Godwin, Markus, and Jasper are all in boxers and nothing more, while Hera is in a heavy brown robe. Judging from the amount of skin I can see when the robe sways, she is probably naked under there.

Once we reach the lounge area I passed through earlier the four of them run into a door opposite where I came in, waving to me as they go inside. At a glance I can see why they chose that one, it's obviously a supply room.

I reactivate my aura and run through the nearby door, sprinting up the stairs as fast as I can. Once I reach my floor I immediately realize that there is no need to be quiet anymore. Whether it's the sound of combat, screaming, or explosions, the air is filled to the brim with every known sound related to a city being attacked.

Opening the door to the book room I see the previously lazy workers trying to keep the door to the hallway closed while something keeps slamming into it from the other side. The men are so focused on their task that they don't even notice the door I'm coming through has seemingly opened all on its own.

I run past them and through the rows of bookcases until I finally reach the window I entered earlier. At first the mumbling lady is nowhere to be seen, but once I look out the window I see what happened to her. Another type of Xerath I've never seen before had pulled her out through the window and is currently eating her.

Shit, if I drop down I'll land on the creature's back...

I pull some blood out of my arm and quickly make two patches of sticky mesh. I then jump outside the window and stick one of them to the wall and begin scaling the wall to the right until I can safely drop onto the ground. Once my feet hit the ground I dash out of the alley, where I'm met with complete pandemonium.

We knew they could invade areas under a blackened sky, but this is ridiculous...

The amount of red lightning bolts shooting across my vision is endless, and that's not all. There are two other types of monuments I've yet to see until now, and one of them looks like it's *moving.* Worst of all, however, is the Xerath peeking down from the clouds, firing enormous fireballs down at the city. It's really far away and mostly buried in the clouds so it's hard to tell, but it kind of looks like a serpent.

Another one of its fireballs lands on a building a few blocks over, causing the entire structure to explode, sending bricks and large pieces of the building everywhere.

So that's what almost knocked us off our feet earlier...!! How in the hell are you supposed to kill that thing if it's all the way up there?!

I run out of the alley and make a mad dash straight for Aresa's chateau.

She and the others had plenty of time to get home, so they should be safe...

A sickly aura washes over me from several different directions. Almost immediately most of the Xerath not engaged in battle turn to look in my direction. A few moments later they begin running right at me.

Shit! They were chasing civilians but my soul must have given off a dangerous enough aura that they decided the strange invisible humanoid was a far more important target.

Three large dark-purple Xerath, two aranaea, and four of the gangly ones with long claws close in on me fast. I drop my aura and enhance myself to the max. After I'm fully enhanced, I jump toward a nearby building and begin running up it at a ninety-degree angle. I get barely ten feet up when something slams into my side, sending me sideways at a faster speed than when the Xerath underground had punched me.

My back slams through one building and completely exits the other side, only losing a quarter of the speed despite the heavily bricked walls I just flew through. I burst through one more building's exterior and finally slow down enough that I smash into the building's interior walls instead of going through them, but the damage was done. I fall to the living room floor below, barely conscious as both my broken brain and cracked core struggle to repair themselves.

One of the tall dark-purple Xerath chasing after me finally catches up and charges through the wall. Wasting no time, it runs over to me and brings its larger than my whole body right foot down onto me, crushing me into the stone flooring.

I open my eyes and the first thing I notice is that I'm underground. There is barely any light in here thanks to the black webbing blocking out most of the light from above, but I can just barely make out the dirt around me.

This feels... familiar...

I slowly stand up and the first thing I notice is that I'm naked, again.

Wait, again?

Little by little I remember everything that happened, including the last memory I have where I was killed by one of the dark-purple Xerath.

I may be off by a year or two, but Xelba fell about forty-two years ago. The memory of Godwin saying that flashes through my mind, horrifying me to my core. Before I begin to freak out I sit down and push my palms together in front of my chest. I enter a deep meditation, focusing inwards on my mana to calm my mind.

Calm down stupid... There's no guarantee it's forty-two years again. For instance, I'm not as weak as a child this time. I've barely lost any strength this time and I still have all of my abilities. This is a major improvement from the last time I woke up in an unknown location.

Releasing the meditation, I stand up and begin climbing out of the hole. Once I near the webbing I activate my aura and rip it open. After that's out of the way, I pull myself out of the hole and stand up, finding myself in a large open field next to a village.

There isn't a single light on though... So odds are it's abandoned. Either that or all of its occupants were slain long ago... Which is the most probable explanation, considering what we're both under.

I look up, gazing at the black sky that stretches on for an eternity in all directions.

It's giving off the same white light as before but it looks a little brighter this time?

Returning my gaze to the village, I stare at it for a while, checking for any signs of movement.

No movement, no lights, no sound of any kind... So far it looks dead, but I won't know for certain until I've physically scouted the village out. And I need to figure out where the hell I woke up at, so it's time to get to work.

I lower into a sneaking stance and begin to creep toward the village. While my mind is focused on avoiding any ambushes that may be waiting for me, I'm unable to stop myself from thinking about something else I'm really worried about.

... I hope they're all still alive.