CHAPTER 181: CLIMB

"It is said that many had tried reaching the peak." Alai said as she squinted her eyes at the mountain, with a storm surrounding it. "But few have nearly made it."

The dragon roared above the clouds up front.

After stepping out of the carriage, Phthonus, Alai, and Kali all looked heavenward at the towering spire of grass. The mountain seemed to have extended several feet in the air, piercing the blanket of clouds, inviting anyone foolish enough to climb it.

Aletha and Asahi stepped forth, their boots crunched on a carpet of brittle leaves, feeling the mountain’s agony. The giant pine trees shook in rapid movements, like dandelions in a sea of flowers.

At an instant, they clutched their claws that Ubel gave them, then tightly punctured it through the earth like grappling gloves; its hooks cleaving through the soil. He lunged forward, then back.

Furthermore, Kali stepped in, crunching her shoes on the ground, speaking formally as her cat ears shone underneath the gleaming golden sun.

"The lives of many have been lost here." She said with an undying unease. " Now, The Sealed Beatific consumes any failure one climber were to make. This mountain is restless. Something far beyond our control."

Crossing her arms, Kali pointed her finger upward and resumed. "But in order to save the nation, this mountain must be climbed. I know you can do this Asahi! And you too Aletha!"

All of a sudden, the air carried a faint, acrid bite-- the unmistakable tang of processed metal.

Once they smelled and heard this, their gazes tremblingly traveled to enemies clad in metal. They were of a humanoid shape, with morphed-like arms, limbs, and legs. Their feet were perfect for climbing with five sharp nails that can rend the land in two.

Fallen into utter shock at the rudeness of these impeccable creatures, Kali, Phthonus, and Alai all screamed at the wanderers.

"You two NEED to get to the peak," Kali said with urgency, preparing her green luminance. "NOW!"

"CROAK!" Said a creature as it clung its arms and legs at the grassy spire.

Several creatures then bombarded the group, screeching and crying as purple essence spilled out from the backs. Phthonus conjured up an orange luminance, while Kali used her green magic. But just as Asahi and Aletha came back.

"SCREE!" The creature latched onto a chunk of earth beneath them. Quickly, they kicked the creature down, climbing the mountain as more and more armies of creatures flooded the scene.

"Kali I need some assistance!" Phthonus asked as he conjured up arrows luminance that engulfed the group below. "The Promise is here!"

"Okay!"

As Asahi and Aletha looked downward, watching the chaos unfold below, Phthonus snapped his fingers and yelled to the wanderers.

"GO! Climb the mountain! We will take care of these trespassers for you."

. . .

Climbing up, they met a fierce wind.

Asahi reached his hand and clung his claw onto the earth. The winds blew furiously. The sharp claws

elevated their climb, escalating with each movement as they both were pushed upward. They then clung onto the surface, slowly feeling the winds push them back.

"What is going on down there?" Aletha asked as her gaze transferred to the tall shimmering ocean.

Suddenly, Asahi paused, his gaze sweeping across the slopes.

An unsettling stillness had fallen. .

Sunlight, filtered through the impossibly dense canopy.

And yet, they proceeded forth.

After resting on the ground, the sound of the roars of the dragon grew clearer.

"I hear it," Aletha said, "I hear the dragon!"

"We’re getting close!"

However, just as they were able to puncture the mountain,

"ALETHA!"

Suddenly, a piece of the earth crumbled. Rocks spilled out in all directions, forcing the two to fall down. As they fell meters down the mountain, Asahi clutched Aletha’s hand and threw his hand onto the rock. Visions of his training flashed into his eye sockets. How he hunched and used the pull-up bar, how he used push ups, and how he proceeded with all the exercises and adventures with Kendra. How he used his arms. Everything.

Although his mind can’t remember it, his body did, urging him to climb back up.

One, two, three. Three steps forward and another crevice opened in the unveiling mountain.

Sights of stone structures came into being, unearthed from the grasp of the mountain. The sunlight shone with intensity. It dappled the forest floor in patches, illuminating the soft mosses and fallen logs.

But as they grew closer to the peak, another patch of earth collapsed like fractured glass. What unveiled was a floating glowing inscription that read,

("They shall conquer the Dragon and all else shall be saved.")

"The Prophecies?" Aletha mumbled as she slew a creature from below.

"What do you mean prophecies?" Asahi asked her. "That inscription?"

"It’s... It’s the prophecies from Alaunus." Aletha replied. "Haven’t you seen them?"

"...no, I don’t think so..." And then, memories of the unnamed caverns flashed. The inscriptions floating in the air, the ones carved into the earth. The blue letterings and golden font. He shook his head and watched as all chaos ran loose beneath their very feet.

A voice came from his head suddenly, asking.

("Asahi, do you have a clue on what you’re doing?")

"No, Telos," Asahi said. "But I do know what Aletha’s talking about."

(Understood. I know that name somewhere. I just can’t figure out how to triangulate the proposed junctures.)

. . .

Another step and then another leap.

Asahi and Aletha made it to the middle point of the mountain.

The sunlight that had touched the relatively tame mountain faded as several more inscriptions arose from the crumbling earth. Monsters flew about and center, crawling and searching for the two. One, two, three, four,

Memories began to latch onto Aletha and Asahi.

Memories of love and loss; Memories of Phthonus, Alai, and the rest came into their perception.

How they traveled Gushy Geysers with Dina, how they passed Clearstar lake. How they helped them grow, how many battles they fought, the tornado, the race, the hospital.

All of them, these recollections of all these great people.

Isa, the underground caverns, Toivo’s mansion, their reunion, their strength. Drimi, Sergil, Emine, Alai, Kendra, Chloe, Ubel, Zeru, Kali, Pridia, Telos, Canyon, Katib, and Phthonus. All these people; these memories, all of them have appeared as phantoms.

This, along with all the memories, urged Asahi and Aletha to climb even more.

All of a sudden the earth shifted. But that mattered not for them, for they were nearing the end of their climb. Although they have tried time and time again, suddenly,

A giant blue beam shot at the two. Quickly, they fell, plummeting to their demise. But just as they were about to die,

(BOING)

A giant fat chicken cushioned their fall. What appeared was none other than the silver-haired girl,

"DINA!" Aletha mumbled ’You’re here?!"

"Aletha," She said with a face of seriousness. "Climb the mountain, now. That dragon won’t let you get to where you want to go, if you’re doing it alone."

"Yeah, members of The Promise are everywhere." Said Pridia as she focused a crimson laser at the approaching swarm. "Just go up, we’ll handle this."

As they see Phthonus, Alai, Pridia, and the others use their magic, suddenly rumblings from the ocean come into full swing...

(Meanwhile in the docks of Linuxinia City.)

"Are you sure this will work? We haven’t gotten confirmation about the weakness situation."

The water was restless, waves crashed onto the docks in rapid successions. Toivo, the blue-haired old man, stepped forth and unleashed a wall of water. Kendra quickly stepped in and formed an even greater wall which had surrounded the city. Suddenly, waves of different magnitudes crashed on the shores. Kendra, looking terrified, asked Toivo as people screamed in shock.

"Toivo, do you think this will help?"

What replied to her was none other than a silent nod. Kendra then heard thunder boom in the peaks.

"Stay." He said as he grabbed Kendra’s hand.

"B-But... Asahi!"

"Let him do his business. I saw him train, I saw him grow, he can make it without our help." Toivo said with guilty eyes. "Now we need to fight whatever the hell this thing is."

(Meanwhile in Clearstar.)

"Got it, Zeru?" Said a feminine figure as the green essences surged on the roots embedded onto the stone ceiling.

Coming from the empty houses, as he saw the pulsating heart-shaped thing fabricate black streams of essence, he clenched the strands of darkness then, with one full touch,

(SHATTER)

The blackness and the black orb that attached itself to the object dissipated in seconds

"Never knew it could be that easy--.

A sudden explosion ruptured inside Clearstar city, splitting the windows into two. Zeru quickly pushed his brown hair to the side and then raced out of it, saying to Isa..

"Yes, I got it. I secured the space. But this town must go. Leave without me. I’ll handle it."

As the city got caved in by black essences,

"Goodbye, Clearstar." He said as his vision and the black aura faded away. "My favorite abode."

(Meanwhile, back in Linuxinia Peak)

.

Their minds struggled to grasp what their eyes had witnessed. Creatures sprawling about. It was difficult to identify who or what it was since they were all focused on climbing the mountain.

Beneath, they were again, fending off the creatures in rapid succession. Phthonus used his orange magic to pierce the creatures and blow one of the heads of the humanoids. Kali seized the final weakness crystal, and Alai encouraged them to scale this mountain.

"Aletha, Asahi, you can DO IT!"

Sleek, metallic forms, moving with an unnerving fluidity, had emerged from the shadowed depths of the peak. They were constructs, alien and terrifying, their movements precise, and utterly devoid of life.

Asahi and Aletha looked heavenward and saw the dragon and a light, in all of its glory, encircling the circle of clouds enveloping the crumbling mountain.

Asahi and Aletha have reached the halfway point

With their every movement, climbing left then right, Asahi and Aletha both had moved with a chilling efficiency, their forms glinting dully in the filtered light. Then, a blue essence encircled them before...

The dragon shot yet another cyan beam. It raced through the smoke and clouds, shooting and piercing through the sky straight to Asahi and Aletha.

But just before it reached them,

(DING)

A beautiful green luminance shimmered within Asahi, forcing the projectile to deflect off the barrier.

(Go, my power won’t last long!) Telos said in Asahi’s mind.

Another beam of light shot out from the jaws of the black and blue dragon. But the barrier refused to back down. It latched onto Asahi like a shield, and deflected yet again another beam.

(GO! And pursue that dragon!) Yelled Telos as Asahi and Aletha chased the dragon.

After hearing Telos’ words, Asahi and Aletha nodded their heads and ascended.

The sounds of roaring bounced across every corner of the landscape, resounding over the funnel of clouds.

Coming after a green explosion, an avalanche of rock caved in, unveiling the spectacle of a giant castle underneath, crowning the lush mountain.

Feeling the land crumble below, Asahi and Aletha threw themselves upward and reached the top, standing on a stone surface enveloped in clouds and floating debris.

Not only a citadel, but a living-breathing city was unearthed from the depths of the peak, boulders floating everywhere.

The mountainous roar that tore from the dragon’s throat was not merely a sound; it was a physical force.

It began as a low, guttural vibration, resonating deep within Asahi and Aletha’s chest, rattling their very teeth.

Then, it escalated with terrifying speed, swelling into a deafening crescendo that seemed to tear through the fabric of reality. The wind, a sculptor of mountains, clawed at Asahi and Aletha’s armor. Each gust was a biting caress, stealing the meager warmth from their skin and whispering of tales of dreams and wonders. Sergil’s face flashed in Aletha’s mind as they took their pursuit into this giant castle.

"Sergil... I remember." Aletha mumbled. "I remember it all."

"Remember what?" Asahi asked as the ground tremored underneath.

The stones of the citadel beneath Asahi and Aletha’s feet vibrated, and they felt the sonic waves thrumming through their bones. It had threatened them to nearly dislodge their grip on the soil. But then something sparked in them.

"Remember Sergil."

And that’s when they finally reached the top, with everyone’s hearts clinging onto them.

"We made it." Aletha said as she cheered. "We made it to the top!"

After the peak shattered, they stood upon the highest battlement of Linuxinia’s Citadel, watching as the black and blue dragon warp in thin air and descend toward them.

After one last hitch, Asahi and Aletha witnessed as the dragon roared viciously, echoing across every corner of the mountain.