CHAPTER 349: AND WE DID BREAK INTO

The world snapped into focus with a rush of air and energy.

We had arrived.

Stone platforms shimmered beneath our feet, glowing softly with teleportation runes. This was one of the Holt family’s hidden teleportation hubs, tucked deep inside their eastern base. For a heartbeat, everything was quiet.

Then the screaming started.

Six Holt soldiers stationed at the hub stared at us in shock. Their hands twitched toward their weapons, but they never got the chance.

Shink.....

Six bodies dropped in silence, blood pooling fast. Arkas hadn’t even moved. Thin blades of violet light had burst from his fingertips, slicing through the soldiers like paper.

"Nice entrance," Edgar muttered, nodding in approval.

I didn’t respond. My Psynapse pulsed as I pushed my perception outward like a wave. Essence flowed into my mind, painting the whole area in my thoughts.

We were inside the heart of the base.

No, not just a base. A fortress.

Massive and well-organized.

Black walls rose high on all sides, lined with runes glowing blue.

Towers with soldiers and weapons watched from each corner. I sensed hundreds of life signatures swarming inside the walls. Training yards stretched out to the right, weapon storages to the left. Soldiers moved back and forth across the grounds, with sparring matches breaking out in every direction.

The command center loomed in the middle, grey, tall and sharp like a blade, its roof lined with broken swords.

Then I felt them, five heavy auras pressing down like a storm.

Grandmasters.

Their presence was impossible to miss and they had already sensed us.

And now, the entire base was reacting.

A deep boom echoed across the walls. Alarms flared to life. Red lights blinked along the walkways, and soldiers started pouring out from barracks like ants from a kicked nest.

Thousands of them. Well-armed. Well-trained.

Steve let out a low whistle. "They’re not holding back."

I glanced down at the glowing runes under our feet. The teleportation circle still hummed, faint but active. If they tried to reinforce or escape, this was their only way.

’No. Not anymore.’ I thought.

I stepped forward, lifted my leg, and channeled Essence into it—letting the energy surge through my muscles and bones. Then, with a sharp breath, I brought it down and slammed it onto the platform.

CRACK!

The platform exploded from the center, shattering like ice under pressure. Violet light burst upward as the stone crumbled, runes snapping in a cascade of sparks. A pulse of force rushed outward, sending a few nearby crates flying.

The circle collapsed in seconds, a ruined mess of broken stone and fading energy.

"No more portals," I said simply.

"Nice work," Arkas replied, stepping to the edge of the broken platform. "They’ll have to fight now."

"They were already coming," Edgar said, narrowing his eyes. "Feel that?"

I did.

The four Grandmasters inside the compound were moving fast. Their pressure grew stronger with every second. I could tell by how they moved, they weren’t afraid. They were angry. Confident.

"They’ll meet us head-on," I said.

"They’ll try to stall," Arkas added, his fist clenched by the side. "We need to move fast."

I looked over the side of the platform. The army below had finished forming lines. Shields locked. Weapons drawn.

"Looks like they’re ready for war," Steve said.

"They think they are," I replied.

The compound buzzed with tension. The black towers shimmered with new protective shields. The main gate pulsed with defense runes. Banners with the Holt family crest, rose above the command hall.

"They built this whole base thinking it would never be touched," Edgar muttered. "Let’s prove them wrong."

Arkas turned back to the Masters standing behind us.

"You know your roles. Death or Victory."

He turned to me and gave a short nod.

And then we jumped from the edge, boots slamming into the ground below.

We ran out of the shattered teleportation hub, boots slamming against the stone as the sounds of alarms echoed across the base. The open courtyard stretched wide in front of us, and that’s when I felt it, pressure.

Heavy. Suffocating. Five powerful auras surged overhead like a wave.

I looked up.

Five Grandmasters floated above, glaring down at us. Robes fluttered in the rising wind. Essence surged around them like storms bottled into human form. Their expressions ranged from cold fury to outright rage.

And in the center, floating just a little ahead of the others, was a bald man with a thick beard and glowing bronze armor. His eyes locked on Arkas with pure hate.

"Arkas Rayleigh," he thundered. "Do you even understand what you’ve done?!"

Arkas didn’t even blink. He stepped forward, calm as ever.

"Not done yet, Brutus," he replied. "But I’m about to be. And step one is making sure a scumbag like you is buried a hundred feet underground."

Brutus sneered, his Essence flaring hotter.

"You Rayleighs never change. Still pretending you’re noble when your whole bloodline is built on slaughter. You think the Empire doesn’t need us? You think they survive without the Holts?"

"You’re right," Arkas said, cracking his neck. "We don’t change. Because people like you never stop giving us reasons to kill."

Brutus barked out a humorless laugh. "You’ll regret this."

"Not likely," Arkas muttered.

He turned his head slightly, glancing back at me and the Masters standing behind him.

"I’m leaving the ground to you," he said. "Hold your line."

Then he rose into the air, Essence coiling around him like smoke. Edgar, and the other Grandmasters from our side followed, shooting upward to meet the Holts mid-air.

The moment they rose, the sky darkened.

Clouds churned overhead like a living thing, swirling with power. Wind started rushing around, kicking up dust and sparks. Lightning arced across the sky like cracks in the heavens.

This wasn’t a normal skirmish.

This was a battle between the titans of our world.

I clenched my fists as the Grandmasters hovered above, facing off in silence.

"Showtime," Steve muttered beside me.

I gave a small nod.

The ground below stayed still. Neither we nor the Holts’ master ranked individuals made a move yet, though I could see them organizing their forces, forming ranks and preparing spells.

"Pointless."

They didn’t know it yet, but if I went all out, there wouldn’t be anything left to organize.

I exhaled slowly, then tilted my head upward, eyes locked on Arkas’s back.

Now and then, lightning cracked overhead, flashing across the sky and every time, it lit up the smooth curve of his bald head like a polished beacon.

He was ready.