At dusk, protected by the darkness, he advanced wrapped in dark mana.A preemptive strike was better.
Lusian smashed the first vial against the rune wall of the tunnel.
There was no fire.No explosion.
Only a cloud of white vapor, dense and bright, that erupted like a specter and slid through the stone corridors.
Instantly, the three Lithaar giants guarding the entrance shuddered.
Their cores, once glowing a deep orange, shifted to absolute white in a blink. The runes that ran across their bodies began to flicker erratically, disordered, as if they had lost meaning.
Their granite arms remained suspended in the air, vibrating with contained violence.One more step… and they would have shattered.
With Dainslein in hand, he destroyed the golems' core.
It worked. He had been tossing and turning in bed trying to remember the formula for the paralysis potion, not knowing if it would work or not like in the game. Eight seconds of paralysis. Enough. Enough to deal damage before the enemy reacted.
—They really did stay still —Elizabeth murmured, watching how the symbols carved into the stone collapsed over one another—. Their cores interpret that the ground has turned to dust. They can't move if it's destroyed.
Lusian did not smile.
—Fast.
Lusian and Elizabeth were ready to jump into combat.
They crossed the tunnels, passing beside the motionless Lithaar. Colossi frozen in war stances, like statues forgotten in a place no one should have built. The vapor still floated in the air, nullifying magical perception and shutting down senses that did not belong to the living.
They emerged through a ventilation exit right in the heart of the enemy camp.
The mission was to destroy the divine artifact, the one that amplified the blessing of the chosen ones and weakened darkness.
In the middle of the night, surveillance was bypassed thanks to the tunnels created by the Lithaar.
Lusian gave them no time to react. He struck fast.
Dark mana compressed in his hand, and Dainslein released it at once. No long cut or visible technique, only impact.
The artifact was struck. The core broke.
The light shut off instantly.
For a second, the camp fell silent.
Then everything collapsed.
—THE ARTIFACT HAS FALLEN!
—DEFENSE, DEFENSE!
—SOMEONE STOPPED THEM!
But it was already too late.
Lusian was already moving toward the exit. He jumped over the containment wall without slowing down. Elizabeth followed right behind, laughing as she fell with him.
Inside the camp everything fell into chaos. The lights went out one after another. The Lithaar stood still and then stopped functioning, as if they had been shut down.
Outside, the night was waiting.
And Thunder was exactly where he was supposed to be, as if he had arrived before them.
Lusian landed without slowing. Elizabeth landed beside him.
They said nothing.
They mounted Thunder in a single movement.
The horse reacted instantly.
It shot forward the moment it felt their weight, leaving the camp without hesitation, abandoning the screams, broken lights, and the chaos still growing inside.
Inside, the chaos grew. It was no longer a battle. It was loss of control.
Then Aurelius appeared.
He came out of his room. Beside him, a priestess was dressing in a hurry. He saw the destroyed core.
He froze.
One second.
—…no…
His voice came out low.
Then it exploded.
—NO!
The scream spread through the entire camp.
Elizabeth, still hanging onto Lusian's arm, let out a short laugh.
—Told you it was fast —she snorted.
Lusian resopled.
She hugged him without letting go.
Tight.
—You didn't have to come —Lusian said.
—I don't want to —she replied.
She looked at him.
—After seeing you hurt… I won't let you go away from me.
Inside the camp, the chaos did not stop.
Aurelius was out of control.
—ALL BECAUSE OF THEM! —he shouted, pointing at the remains of the Lithaar system— THOSE USELESS TUNNELS! WHAT ARE THEY FOR IF THEY LET ENEMIES IN?
One of the Lithaar generals stepped forward.
His voice was cold, mechanical.
—The tunnels fulfilled their function. There were surveillance units at all access points.
Aurelius looked at him with rage.
—AND WHAT DID THAT DO? —he stepped closer, almost on top of him— The weapon sent by the gods is destroyed.
Silence.
The Lithaar general did not step back.
—That does not change the fact that the system was breached by an external intruder. It is not a structural failure.
Aurelius clenched his teeth.
—You deserve divine punishment.
The air tightened.
But there was no response.
Only orders crossing, soldiers running, broken light still falling from the destroyed core.
Several kilometers away, the enemy camp was already just a distant point in the darkness.
Lusian finally slowed down.
The cold wind hit hard.
Selvryn was waiting at the meeting point.
She said nothing when she saw him arrive.
She only watched him for a second.
Lusian got off the horse.
—It worked —he said.
Selvryn frowned.
—You should have taken me with you.
Lusian shook his head.
—Less is better.
She stared at him.
—If we had been more, they would have detected us.
Short pause.
Selvryn clicked her tongue.
—That doesn't mean I like it.
Lusian did not respond.
When day came, chaos began.
The Lithaar were sent to fight on the surface.
In the distance, the roar of herbivores thundered like an ancient storm. Carnivores, disoriented to see their stone guardians not responding, barely had time to react before a wave of horns, fangs, and hooves crushed them.
The mountain slope burned with screams, dust, and blood.
Lusian advanced to the center of the disaster.
Before him stood the three great Crystal Pillars.
Lusian observed them without hurry.
The fragments of the destroyed core had been reused. Embedded inside the pillars, functioning as remnants of a greater system.
The golden dome was still active.
But it was not the same.
It looked more unstable. Dirtier. Like a forced version of something that had once been perfect.
The divine power was still there… but reduced.
Incomplete.
Lusian tilted his head.
—So they recycled it.
Selvryn looked at him.
—It's the only thing they could do after losing the original core.
Lusian stepped forward, observing the pillars.
—Not bad —he murmured—. Recycle, don't contaminate.
Pause.
His lips curved slightly.
—Bravo.
Selvryn glanced at him.
—That doesn't sound like praise.
—It is —he replied, unchanged tone—. I just don't like admitting it.
The dome pulsed again, weaker than before.
The air was still heavy, but no longer oppressive like at the beginning.
It was… imperfect.
And that was important.
Lusian looked up at the pillars.
—If this is what's left of their defense… then they're already losing.
—Who handles the artifacts? —Adela asked, drawing her sword, still stained with luminous sap.
Lusian did not answer immediately.
He looked toward the main tent.
The white fabric opened from within.
Three figures stepped out.
Clean cloaks. Too clean for a battlefield.
Hands marked with divine light.
Selvryn narrowed her eyes.
—More Heroes…
—You destroy the crystals —he said with a calm that allowed no refusal.
Lusian stepped forward. He did not wait.
Darkness at his feet expanded like an oil spill over crystal water, clashing against the dome's light without yielding.
—I will make sure these "heroes" don't have time… —he said— to say their last words.
Voren was the first to move.
He did not speak. He did not need to.
His sealed armor activated with a dry pulse. The ground beneath his feet cracked slightly, as if the world recognized his weight.
Kaelen smiled.
A faint, twisted smile.
—So this is what they call "invasion"… —he murmured, amused.
Selene did not open her eyes.
Her hands were already moving.
—Prayer: Negation —she said.
The air changed.
The words did not sound like speech. They sounded like an order.
The light around the pillars flickered for an instant.
Adela stepped forward.
—I start with the left one.
Lusian did not respond.
He had already moved.
Dark mana spread beneath his feet, not as an explosion, but as a decision made too fast to be debated.
The first clash was against Voren.
It was not elegant.
It was direct.
Dainslein struck his armor.
The metal did not break.
It stopped.
As if the strike had lost meaning before finishing.
Voren slowly turned his head.
—Interesting —he said.
And returned the blow.
Lusian stepped back half a step. Only half.
Elizabeth appeared at his side instantly.
—That one's mine —she said, without looking.
—Elizabeth, fall back —Lusian said, frustrated.
But she did not obey and threw herself at Kaelen.
Kaelen did not dodge.
He let the fire come out of his hand.
Not normal fire.
It was fire that burned everything.
Elizabeth spun through the flames without stopping.
Electricity ran through her arm like a blue heartbeat.
—Let's see what you can do —she said, smiling. human —she whispered.
Kaelen raised his hand again.
The fire responded, but the air became charged.
The flames spread, forcing Elizabeth to step back. She did not stop and counterattacked with electric spheres.
but she was still pushed back.
Elizabeth snapped her fingers.
The lightning shot forward.
The impact exploded.
Kaelen was hit and fell.
—Arrogant.
He stood up and kept throwing fire.
The fire split into two unstable lines and vanished when it collided with the discharge.
Kaelen stopped smiling for a second.
On the side, Lusian fought hard for Elizabeth's safety.
—I must be fast.
Selene opened her eyes.
This time she looked directly at Lusian.
And the world changed.
Her words were obeyed like law.
—What kind of law is this…
But that did not stop Lusian. It only made him slower.
Voren took advantage and attacked. Lusian could barely move, as if everything had extra weight.
—Judgment of Silence —Selene said.
Lusian felt the effect instantly.
This time he did not limit himself. He activated divinity and the effects vanished.
—Doesn't work —he said.
Selene frowned.
Lusian raised Dainslein. He blocked Voren, tripped him with a turn, and, with his hand wrapped in mana, struck him, lifting him into the air.
Selene took a step back.
For the first time.
—…it shouldn't have broken like that…
Further ahead, Adela was already moving.
—"Left pillar!" —she shouted.
The sword came down.
The crystal held for a second.
Then another.
And it broke from within.
The golden light of the dome trembled.
It didn't explode.
It failed.
As if someone had cut the system's breath.
From the camp, screams were heard.
—"ONE DOWN!"
—"REINFORCE THE CORE!"
But it no longer responded the same way.
Order was breaking down.
Lusian lifted his gaze.
Elizabeth was still facing Kaelen.
But it was no longer just electricity.
The mana around her became dense, unstable.
Dark red mixed with blue.
Too heavy.
Too deep.
Kaelen stepped back for the first time.
—What… are you?
Elizabeth smiled.
She didn't respond.
The air around her broke.
A different pressure filled the field.
Lusian felt it instantly, lifted his gaze.
For the first time, he hesitated.
—…Elizabeth…
She didn't look at him.