CHAPTER 1139: TEARING THE WAY

Eccar and Aesa hovered in the air, their wings slicing through the burning wind as the last of the abominations that had come from the rift suddenly let out shriek and fell apart in the middle of their flight to them.

In seconds, the twisted creatures began to unravel. Their flesh, metal, and bone separating violently as if torn apart by an unseen force.

The sky rained gore and splattering the ground below with the remains of what had been an army moments ago.

Eccar shifted back into his half-Dragon body. His armor-like scales gleaming faintly under the chaotic light. His eyes darted across the horizon, his brow furrowed in disbelief.

"What the hell...?" he muttered.

Aesa’s wings flared as she steadied herself beside him, her expression tense and uncertain.

The air still churned with distortion of chaotic Magic and black and red smoke twisting into violent spirals that made it impossible to see far.

"They’re just dying all at once so suddenly," she said softly.

Eccar’s gaze narrowed. "No... that’s not right."

It didn’t take long for both of them to arrive at the same thought. The possibility that Zerathul was now dead so that his summoned creatures were also dead.

"Could it be...?" Aesa asked.

Eccar shook his head slowly, his instincts gnawing at him like claws. "No. It doesn’t feel right. If he was dead, the air wouldn’t feel this heavy."

Aesa looked around uneasily. The chaotic Magic around them screamed of chaos, not peace.

"You’re right," she murmured. "Something’s still wrong."

"Where’s Erend?" she asked, scanning the storm-choked sky.

Eccar turned his eyes upward, his pupils narrowing as he tried to pierce the clouds.

The smoke parted briefly and a distant light flickered through the haze. It grew closer until a figure emerged from the chaos.

"Erend!" Eccar called out, relief flashing across his face for a split second.

Erend arrived before them. His wings folding in with a rumble of displaced air.

The glow on his scales dimmed as he changed the scales on his body, revealing his face that was set in expression of drawn, grim, and shadowed by something heavier than just exhaustion.

Eccar’s stomach dropped. Aesa saw it too. The look that told them everything without a word.

"Where’s Krono?" Eccar asked, his voice low and tight with worry.

Erend’s eyes moved away before he finally answered, "Zerathul... absorbed him."

The words hit them so hard that it made their body shivered. That was so unbelievable that they didn’t know what to feel right now.

Eccar’s eyes widened. "W—what?"

Aesa swallowed her saliva that felt so hard, her lips parting in disbelief.

"We made a mistake," Erend said, his tone trembling with barely restrained panic. "Zerathul lured us here away from the worlds we were supposed to protect and he managed to absorb Krono. Now he’s unleashed an ancient storm god. He’s attacking my world. And the place where Adrien, Sylmira, Arty were located at the same time."

Eccar cursed under his breath, his claws curling into fists. Aesa’s expression hardened, her wings trembling slightly as the realization settled in.

They had been played perfectly.

"We need to leave this place now!" Eccar snapped, desperation bleeding into his voice.

"It’s not that easy," Erend replied, his tone dark. "He sealed this world."

"Damn it! But we can’t just stay here forever!"

"I know." Erend’s eyes flickered with fire and uncertainty. "We’ll have to break through it together. Combine everything we have."

Aesa nodded silently. She could feel the strain of what that meant. They might barely have enough strength left to fight after the effort.

Meanwhile, Erend’s thoughts swirled chaotically. "The System... Zerathul... the cost..." His chest tightened. Fear clawed at him. Not for himself, but for what he might lose and what he might become. "What if I’m already too late...?"

"Hey!" Eccar said sharply, pulling him back to the present. "What’s wrong with you?"

"Nothing," Erend muttered.

"No way it’s nothing," Aesa cut in, her voice sharp as lightning. Her blue icy eyes bored into him. "You talked to him, didn’t you? And whatever he says to you, it’s make you worry."

Erend stayed silent, his claws flexing as thunder rolled above them.

He and Aesa locked eyes for a few tense moments.

Eccar exhaled sharply and broke the silence.

"It doesn’t matter now," he said. "Let’s try to open the way out first before we talk about anything else."

Erend looked down, then nodded. "Alright. I’ll explain everything later. As much as I can."

Eccar gave a quick nod, his jaw tightening. "Good enough for me. We’ll figure out the rest once we get back."

Aesa spread her wings and turned toward the dense haze that surrounded them. "Then let’s start now. The sooner we break this seal, the sooner we can return."

The three of them began to move through the ravaged skies, searching for a point where the seal might be weakest.

Without Krono’s presence, they can’t easily open the portal from there.

Krono had been the one who had opened the portal here before. Now that he was gone, they had to rely on their instincts and their combined Magic to tear open the portal.

Erend hovered in silence for a while, feeling the crackling storm beneath his skin. Zerathul’s words haunted every beat of it.

Aesa flew ahead, tracing runes in the air with her hands, while Eccar gathered power into his palms and tested the flow of space around them.

When the air a few meters ahead cracked open from lingering Magical pressure, they both turned in that direction.

He took a deep breath. That’s where the seal’s energy was the weakest. If they hit it together, it might tear open enough for them to cross.

"Alright. We’ll hit it with everything we have," Eccar said.

They drew power into themselves, the air trembling under their combined might. Lightning gathered around Erend, earth power flared along Eccar’s arms, and Aesa’s Magic crystallized into sharp arcs of ice that cut through the air.

And then they struck together. Their power merging into one blinding force that tore through the clouds.

—

Far away, in the Elf Palace, thunder echoed across the sky. A storm raged above the crystalline towers but it was not the same ancient storm that had been ravaging the other worlds. This was just a normal storm with high intensity.

The enemy that came upon the city was not an ancient god, but an army of the dead. Corpses of fallen enemy soldiers that long buried beneath the roots and rivers around the palace rose again under the taint of dark Magic.

Their hollow eyes glowed red as they marched against the gates.

But unlike before, there was no terror in the Elves’ eyes. The city no longer depended only on blades and arrows and their Magic. All around the fortress, massive constructs of gleaming steel and carved runes stood ready. They were machines powered by the fusion of Magic and technology.

Flying constructs darted across the air, unleashing bursts of Magic attack to strike down airborne foes. On the ground, heavy artillery hummed with Magic-charged lights, tearing through lines of the undead.

Mechanical infantry with rune-etched armor advanced in formation, crushing the tide of corpses beneath their metallic steps.

The Elves no longer fought with fear. Their machines of war had turned the tide.

From the highest spire, Aurdis watched the battle unfold. Her expression was calm, yet beneath that serenity, her heart pulsed with unease.

Something in the air told her that this was only the beginning. That this battle was the shadow of much greater danger drawing near.

—