Chapter 127: Run

    Maxwell’s head snapped up from where he had been lying on his arms, a shooting pain streaking across his mind like lightning.

    He couldn''t even bother grunting in pain, simply placing a hand against his head while he clambered out of his seat.

    He hurried over to one of the dozen bookshelves in his room, his knotted fingers reaching for one dark red book and pulling.

    Mechanical noises rang out for a few seconds, then stopped. A small void had opened up behind the shelf, a softly glowing teleportation circle inset in the floor providing the only source of illumination from within.

    He didn’t pause for a second before slamming his foot down on the runes caked in dust from years, possibly decades, of unuse.

    A flash of light lit up the cavity, and Maxwell was gone.

    He saw the little room one second then a dark underground cellar the next. Surrounding him were kegs and bottles, all in pristine condition and infused with incredibly dense Magika.

    The value of this cellar was worth magnitudes more than the average person would ever see in a lifetime.

    But none of it was important at the moment. Maxwell stormed past it all, hurrying up a staircase and finding himself before a massive bedroom.

    It was large enough to be considered a house in its own right, but it was only one portion he had seen fit to maintain of a more massive structure.

    His heart pounding, he ignored the luxurious trappings as his eyes snapped to one spot: a full-size mirror flashing white by the wooden slab of a dresser.

    With gritted teeth, he stalked over to it and slammed the glass with his fist, a swirling light growing from where he hit it and forming yet another portal.

    He stepped through it to find himself at an unknown but familiar location, multiple silhouettes of people gathered around him sitting at a table.

    “Ah, Maxwell. Seems it’s true then.”

    Maxwell glanced over, finding Anderson in one of the chairs with a huge toothy grin. All around him were other manifestations, other people. But he couldn’t make out their mere figures. They were too far beyond him to gaze upon, especially if they didn’t want him to.

    One woman across from Anderson, One of the few that Maxwell could actually see, garbed in shimmering white robes and a deep dark blindfold, shot back at Anderson.

    “Why do you seem happy about it then?”

    “Don’t patronize me, woman. You know exactly why I’m so fucking happy. Now, where is Anarchy?”

    “Purple Sky.”

    “Hoho.”

    Anderson chuckled as everyone turned to face a dark shadowy figure.

    “Prophet. It’s been a while.”

    “I’ve no time for pleasantries. Get ready to move. I will send you all universal coordinates soon. Every second is valuable.”

    “Yeah? Why don’t you join us, then we might be able to kill a King today.”

    “Not the time.”

    His response was sharp and succinct.

    “But I can tell you that if you aren’t quick, the Light will not shine favorably.”

    “The Kingdom’s future is at that base, true. But wh-”

    “No more questions. It’s time to act.”

    “Hmm.”

    Anderson let out a sharp exhale as he was interrupted, but chose to stay silent.

    Maxwell glanced at Prophet before turning away and closing his eyes.

    “Make a note of my Protege, please. That is all I have to ask.”

    The woman flicked acerbic words back at Maxwell.

    “I was hoping you wouldn’t speak at all, heretic. But to hear you have a protege is certainly interesting. Which poor bastard have yo-.”

    “No more questions!”

    Prophet interrupted once more, the woman clenching her jaw in irritation before waving and disappearing.

    Anderson also disappeared with a knowing smile, Prophet following after that.

    Maxwell retreated with a gloomy face, leaving the unknown area and reappearing before his mirror.

    He recalled the meeting, something that only happened among those who could sense the oncoming of the Kings. Except, whereas he used to be capable of seeing everyone, he could now only see Anderson and the Cardinal of Peace.

    Those two didn’t care if he saw them, but the others did. They didn’t even deign to allow him to gaze upon their images, their Auras obscuring their figures. He could no longer even decipher them, nor their words, despite knowing their names. The only exception was Prophet. Nobody knew him.

    He sighed.

    “I just hope that’s enough. Get your ass home, John.”ara cried out as the Steed flew out of the garage. Even Vetsmon and Feiden were holding on for dear life as it rocked about.

    While locking her body against the seat, Umara looked to the side and found John furiously operating the steering wheel, every movement sending the entire vehicle flying across dirt paths around the base.

    Well, the magic powering a Steed was certainly more powerful than anything else they had ever driven. Regardless, she was wondering where the hell he learned to drive like this. It was insanity.

    But she wouldn’t want it any other way right now. Somehow it was comforting, especially when she watched as they flew through the base with wild abandon.

    John didn’t even flinch when he rammed several people locked in battles. Many people dodged, but some were so engrossed that it took a massive truck plowing through their backside to snap them out of it.

    Didn’t matter to them. Nobody could seem to care about anything except their own battles.

    The pillar of darkness splitting the sky in two was of even less concern... until it started getting closer.

    It got closer until it seemed to be right on top of them, and then in the distance, they could see a wave of terrain flowing toward the walls of the base.

    It grew larger and larger until the squad could see a wave of rock and dirt, taller than the walls themselves, flowing towards the walls of the base like water before the bow of a ship.

    It wasn’t just a pillar of darkness.

    It was the slash of a blade from the King of Anarchy. A blade of pure power, devoid of all technique, capable of annihilating the base in its entirety with sheer brute force.

    There was only one who could contend against it, and in front of it they seemed like a mouse.

    The Authority 12 manning the Purple Sky bastion was a warlock, a woman draped in embroidered robes that fell well below her feet. Rising to the sky, her robes rippling about with a life of their own, but a mere speck before even Anarchy itself, to say nothing of its blade, she raised a crystalline staff that blinded with the power of the sun.

    A single rune the size of a person flashed into existence far above in the sky, blinding light marking its division into two, four, eight...

    In mere moments, a runic shield of size to rival the slash with a chromatic glitter spread before the black tear.

    The moment the two touched, everything exploded into white light.

    A shockwave of not sound but pure magic rolled across the base, knocking those dueling to their feet. Even diluted by the sheer volume it had to cover and whatever else was simply reduced to nothing in the collision, John could still feel the strange tingling in his Aura all across his skin.

    What was reflected away from the walls was even worse, creating a massive tsunami of pure matter that rose nearly a mile into the sky as if meaning to create a new mountain.

    A voice echoed in everyone’s ears.

    “Man the walls. Hold the line.”

    The Authority 12 gave her command, and all at once, everyone who was fighting on base stopped in their tracks.

    They looked around dazed before the voice came back with greater intensity.

    “Man your stations! We are under attack!”

    “Hoh!”

    There was a resounding wave of acknowledgement from the entire base as everyone forgot about what was happening and ran to their positions.

    Finally, mounting the walls, they were able to see what was beyond. And while some directly collapsed to their knees, others were able to retain enough of their faculties to start hurling spells and arrows at the roiling mass below their feet.

    The King of Anarchy marched with an army straight from hell. The landscape around the base couldn’t be seen. It was now nothing more than an endless carpet of countless monsters.

    The Aura created by this army was so overwhelming that it created a tangible fluid all around them, one that suppressed every human within the base. Anybody below a certain threshold of power would have directly died standing within such an Aura.

    But the base wasn’t completely helpless. It only took moments, critical moments, for all of the walls to flash with countless runes inscribed on each brick, causing a massive shield to appear from the top of the wall and rise into the sky, forming a protective dome.

    The suppression disappeared entirely with that, and a flood of Magika rejuvenated the battered bodies of the soldiers within. John glanced up for a split second before sighing.

    “Fancy gimmicks. That shit won’t hold Anarchy. We need to gain as much distance as we can. I’m setting my Aerial, everyone connect to it.”

    After he spoke, Feiden, Umara, Tana and Vetsmon all tapped their own Aerials and connected it to his local Node. With that everyone was able to maintain their connection regardless if the base fell or not.

    John then dialed the Puppet Master, who shockingly picked up.

    “John.”

    “Puppet Master. I’m leaving. That’s Anarchy.”

    “I’m not even going to ask how you know. Either way, I have a request. I’ve already sent the surviving students to the gates. Please, save as many as you can. Not many survived. A few Elites even died.”

    “Hm, sorry your perfect record had to fall today.”

    “Agh! I know they say shit gets worse before it gets better, but I’m failing to see how this gets better!”

    He yelled while flooring the gas pedal. It made the ride much less stable, but they didn’t really have a choice now.

    The Steed roared with power and flew across the terrain, Tana panicking from her spot in the turret.

    “John, we got incoming!”

    “Use the turrets! Don’t let them intercept!”

    “Okay!”

    Tana nodded before she and Feiden spun the turrets around, centering their sights on the incoming hordes.

    Two barrels aimed for the groups. There was really no need to aim, so she pulled a clamp by her hand and fired.

    Two spell circles appeared over the ends of the barrels, multiplying in size before flashing and firing off a massive bolt of fire that hurdled straight into the hordes.

    BOOM

    It exploded in their midst, sending several flying and slowing them just a tiny bit.

    Tana’s eyes widened in excitement.

    “Haha! I got guns like John!”

    Repeatedly pulling the clamps, Tana and Feiden let loose dozens of bolts of fire that broke up the incoming hordes. They were far so the shots were inaccurate, but they didn’t need to be accurate when there were just so many targets.

    It was only when they started to close in that Tana started panicking.

    John yelled. He could see them.

    “Just keep firing!”

    “Should I go up?”

    “No. Save your energy.”

    He stopped Umara from moving, instead knocking on Vetsmon’s armor.

    “Go talk to the other students. Tell them to be ready to abandon ship.”

    “Will we really?”

    “I don’t know. Just do it so they’re ready to fight.”

    Vetsmon nodded while stepping into the cargo hold where all the students were stuffed.

    John continued to listen as Tana and Feiden unleashed fiery hell onto the hordes. Almost all of them were converging on the Steed, all because the templar wanted to make a beacon out of them.

    Before long, the noose started to close. Umara pushed herself back into her seat as the monsters got within 200 yards.

    “Threading the fucking needle here. Get ready!”

    John shouted, watching the distance close.

    200... 150... 100...

    80... 50... 30...

    The explosions from the turrets practically licked the Steed as they made contact.

    The Steed rocked as several bodies slammed into it, feral screaming making its way past the thick runed metal into the cabin. Several students shuddered.

    The templar suddenly shouted.

    “Done!”

    With his word, the device in his hands suddenly dimmed, the beacon disappearing from the sky.

    Just like that, the mass of the incoming hordes slowed themselves down, turning toward the base. What was left chasing them was only a tiny portion.

    The issue was that they were still being chased, and not just by a bunch of mindless small fry.

    Everyone could feel several high Authorities barreling toward them, regardless of how undeveloped their Aura was. None of them would be able to contest them.

    The templar shouted again.

    “Cooper! You take everyone and keep running! I’ll handle the big ones!”

    “Fine! Whatever that beacon was, I hope it was worth it!”

    “It was worth more than my life.”

    He drew a sword and shield, his armor flashing as he took up a stance.

    Three Authority 10’s on wings barreled at him. One of them dove down like a missile while the two others flew straight at him, faster even than the Steed could go.

    “RRAAAAHHHH!!”

    With a sound to rival John’s guns, the templar let loose a sweeping wave of Vigor that blew all three enemies back, catching hundreds of lesser beasts in the crossfire. What remained was now a mere fraction of the fraction still chasing them, only smaller and weaker and slower beasts.

    The Steed was ahead. They just had to drive straight. The only threats to their life were the remaining few enemies.

    But the templar could only handle so much as a knight. Perhaps a warlock at the same level would be able to handle multiple enemies at their level for a duration, but a knight was limited in reach.

    So perhaps it was inevitable that the Steed was rammed, tossing the entire thing into the air like it was a sack of potatoes.

    Nobody could do anything as they were suspended. And thankfully, Vetsmon had quick enough reactions to wrap John up in a bear hug right before they landed.

    The heavy hunk of metal skidded across the ground.

    John could sense one of the Authority 10 beasts outside about to trample all over the Steed. It would kill them all, crushing them like a bag of chips.

    But right before that happened, a familiar flash of blue light enveloped the area, highlighting every being around them for all to see.

    A dozen different shields appeared around the Steed, intercepting the beast. A massive shockwave had blown it back, clearing the area of the scraggly purple grasses and any Blood Thorns looking for an easy meal.

    “...Prepare to disembark.”

    John muttered when everything went quiet.

    Vetsmon carried him while climbing through the now broken windshield, more shockwaves reverberating in their ears from the battle around them.

    All the other students also climbed out of the cargo hold, Tana and Feiden pulling themselves from the turrets.

    The Puppet Master’s voice came to their ears.

    “We can only do so much for you. Start running, and don’t look back. John Cooper has a map of the region. Follow him.”

    With those words, John suddenly looked down at his Aerial, seeing that he had received a large data packet from the Puppet Master.

    When he opened it, a huge map was projected in the air. It had everything from the most recent frontlines — a huge mark of randomly twisting red marking Anarchy’s passage — to the geographical routes back to the military depot. It also had routes to nearby villages, even distant cities.

    It was a map John had recently been wishing for. A little silver lining.

    “Run! Now!”

    A yell came a moment after, prompting all the students to make a run for it.

    There were nearby forests that John had been avoiding, though in preparation for this, had stuck close to. Everyone decided to head for that, using all manner of magic to cross the distance as fast as possible.

    Tana disappeared while Umara flew with air magic. Feiden ran beside Vetsmon who carried John in his arms.

    Ponteck was naturally there nearby, along with the other Elites and those who specialized in speed. Everyone was running, monsters hot on their heels.

    Once through the treeline, John pointed.

    “Follow the direction of the tree line. That’ll keep us in the proper direction.”

    “Got it.”

    Vetsmon responded while following that direction. Like that, they created more distance.

    But the shockwaves from the battle behind them only continued to get worse. Not only that, but they couldn''t completely outrun the monsters behind them.

    After all, those beasts were stronger.

    John grit his teeth. He could see all the students behind him. Most of them would be cut down as soon as the monsters caught up. Given enough time and no help, they would eventually reach them.

    There seemed to be no hope, but that was only if they had one squad. The entirety of the Elites were here, as well as what remained of the regular students.

    Making a decision, his Aura projected outward, touching everyone’s minds.

    “This is John Cooper. Those monsters will catch up to everyone given enough time. That leaves us one choice. There’s only two Authority 7’s. The others can be killed easily. So on my mark, we turn and fight. Given a group effort, we can win and continue smoothly while the Templar and Puppet Master fight off the others. Get ready.”

    John took out a Lewis Gun after finishing, pounding in the pan magazine before glancing back.

    Then, before the student at the back of the group could be caught up to, he sent the signal.

    “Now!”

    Vetsmon stopped in his tracks and turned, John aiming his gun and Umara drawing spell formations.

    And then they watched as all the students passed them, continuing to run off into the distance.