CHAPTER 1140: NOT DONE

The huge and chaotic storm outside the Elf Palace began to fade into smaller storms. But the sound of thunder still echoed beyond the horizon.

The battlefield that was chaotic before now lay still, filled with the smoking remnants of the undead army that had been turned to ash.

The metallic scent of burned flesh hung in the air. The constructs stood or floated motionless now without the commands of the Elves’ soldiers. Their glowing runes dimmed one by one as the command circuits disengaged.

From the tallest balcony of the palace, Aurdis stood beneath the silver archway, her long cloak whipping in the wind.

Below her, the Elves were already tending to the small amount of wounded and ordering the retreat of most of the remaining siege engines.

However,, for all the victory surrounding her, her heart still felt tight.

Saeldir appeared beside her, his steps light despite the exhaustion clinging to him.

His young face was calm, but the shadows under his eyes showed the toll the battle had taken. He had prepared every construct since a few days ago so that they would be ready for the battle.

"It’s over," he said softly while gazing down at the fields that still burning. "The last wave collapsed almost an hour ago. Our sentinels report no further activity from the dead. My scouts also didn’t seem to notice something bad from the necrotic points. It was as if something suddenly turned it all off."

Aurdis didn’t respond immediately. Her eyes traced the distant forest beyond the walls.

"Do you feel it too, Saeldir?" Aurdis finally said.

He turned toward her, his brows furrowing. "Do you feel uneasy as well?"

She nodded. "Yes. Even now, after everything that went smoothly, it feels that something is wrong. This victory feels... too clean."

Saeldir sighed and leaned against the marble railing. "I was thinking the same. The necrotic energy on those creatures that attacked us faded too quickly. It’s as if the summoner himself pulled the power away, not because we destroyed it."

"That means this was just a test," Aurdis murmured. "Or a distraction of some kind."

The Archmage crossed his arms, his expression darkening. "If that’s true, then what exactly are we facing?"

He lifted his gaze toward the skies, where dark clouds still shimmered in the higher layers of the atmosphere.

"I feel like something—or someone—is watching us."

Aurdis exhaled slowly, her fingers tightening on the balcony edge. "Erend, wherever you are, please come back soon."

A gust of wind swept past them, carrying faint traces of static.

Saeldir frowned, sensing the shift in the air. "It’s not over, Aurdis. Not by far."

—

Far away, in the Kingdom of Astoria where Adrius and the others had been holding their defensive barrier, the situation turned even more worse.

The barrier Magic that Adrien pulsed violently after being hit by a lot of lightning at once, before long cracks began to spread across its luminous surface.

Lysander looked up from the ramparts, his eyes widening as a huge bolt of lightning that looked bigger than the others slammed into the barrier.

The explosion of light blinded everyone nearby.

"Master!" she shouted. "It’s breaking!"

Adrius stood at the heart of the formation, his hands raised, veins glowing with blue energy as he tried to reinforce the barrier.

"Hold it with me!" he shouted through clenched teeth. "Just hold it a little longer!"

But the lightning became even harder. Each strike of lightning carried power like a divine presence.

The next bolt hit, shattering one of the barriers. The shockwave blasted across the city. Roofs of the building closest to the wall exploded into fragments, soldiers on the ramparts knocked backward, and walls split apart as debris flew through the air.

Adrius barely hears the commotion around him. His focus was consumed by the torrent of lightning now falling from the sky.

Houses caught fire instantly, entire streets lit up in arcs of energy.

The screams of soldiers and citizens merged with the roar of thunder.

"Master!" Lysander shouted through the deafening thunder. His voice cracked as the wind whipped against him, his robe torn and soaked by the torrential rain. "We need to fight that thing and kill it before it sends more destruction!"

Adrius gritted his teeth, both hands raised toward the fractured barrier that still shimmered weakly above the city.

The Archmage’s veins glowed with harsh blue light as he poured more Magic energy into the spell, his boots sliding backward from the force.

"No," he rasped, his voice strained, barely audible over the chaos. "You should go... and fight him. I’ll maintain the barrier here. This thing is harder than I thought."

Lysander hesitated, staring at his master through the haze of rain. "But Master—"

"Go!" Adrius bellowed, his voice breaking with the force of the command. "If you waste even a second, the entire city will fall. I’ll hold this for as long as I can."

Lysander’s chest tightened. Yet, there was no time to argue. The man in the clouds was beginning to descend.

"I will do it," Lysander said at last, his voice steady despite the fear curling in his gut.

He turned and sprinted along the ramparts, weaving through the panicked soldiers. Explosions of lightning erupted around him, forcing him to raise his staff to shield others as he ran.

As he reached the outer wall, the ground beneath him shook violently. Another bolt of lightning struck the tower, reducing it to molten rubble in a single blast.

The shockwave threw several men into the air, but Lysander leapt forward, channeling wind Magic to fly.

He rose above the ramparts.

The clouds churned violently. From within the black mass, a form of man emerged. His body was made of crackling lightning and endless clouds and crowned with arcs of lightning now. He was not in the form of a man with just lightning snaking around his body.

Lysander feels his heart thumping hard. That man really looks like a storm god.

—