CHAPTER 87: | THE DESTRUCTION OF ATLANTIS | 8

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  ? Empire of Atlantis — Imperial Capital Seashore Clan Underground Blackmarket ?

  Step! Step! Step!

  Heavy footsteps clattered across the imperial capital of Atlantis.

  Soldiers in heavy armor appeared one by one from every nook and cranny, moving toward the areas the terrorists had begun to attack.

  All the soldiers raised their tridents as one, like a hive mind, and poured their mana into them.

  The tridents glowed with different colors, illuminating the entire capital as commanders reported in.

  "I, Hundred-Man Platoon Commander McKay, and my men report in."

  "I, Irean, Hundred-Man Platoon Commander, with my troops report in."

  "I, Libyan, Hundred-Man Platoon..."

  The roll call continued for a few minutes as the soldiers of the empire reported for duty.

  They then turned to face their enemies, the subordinates of the five gods who were wreaking havoc, and collectively shouted.

  [FOR THE EMPEROR'S GLORY!]

  Their shouts reverberated across the imperial capital.

  The powerless citizens began to close their doors and windows, knowing that the forces of the five gods had yet again tried to take over their emperor’s throne.

  This conflict had a long history, one that could be traced back to a time before the calamity, before the dimensional records had integrated their world into the grand schemes of the universe.

  The five gods who had reached the pinnacle of all lifeforms, along with other unknown and known gods like Ashin Sae Acoustine, ruled the abyss where no light could come or go.

  It was deep in the abyss, at the very bottom, where the god of water, Varuna, ruled this empire along with his pantheon, Surtr, the god of fire, Tellos, the god of earth, Izrael, the god of wind, and Edithe, the god of illusion.

  Their rule wasn't simple, like it was now.

  Some still remembered the day their parents were flayed alive before their eyes, all for the gods’ amusement.

  Others could never forget the cries of their children, begging to be spared, pleas that fell on deaf ears, as the gods’ cruelty demanded no offering be withheld.

  But it was when she was born that the church of Nevertale, the apostle of Skaira, Theodore the preacher of good and evil, received an oracle from the supreme god, that a great being would be born.

  A being whose power was too immense that even the false gods would tremble before her might.

  She was to be born as a god, and her name was the Herald, Ashin Sae Acoustine.

  It was then that the shift of currents began to change.

  The people rallied their power.

  Ashin Sae Acoustine began to overpower the gods in a test of might after just a decade, driving them out of their place and forcing them to hide like rats.

  But…the god of water, Varuna, didn't give up after being driven out.

  He planned the destruction of the entire capital again and again.

  Thus, he [###$##].

  "..."

  The narrator stopped for but a second before asking.

  "Hmmm? Where was I again? Oh yes. Thus, he failed again and again."

  "For the Herald Ashin Sae Acoustine, was the sole god who drove the evil gods out of their throne!"

  The voice stopped.

  "..."

  Meanwhile, Irean smirked, then raised his voice in a thunderous shout.

  "Glory for the emperor!"

  Irean was among the earliest masters to join Ashin Sae Acoustine’s entourage.

  He had sworn to see her destiny fulfilled.

  Pride swelled within him as he struck the ground with the butt of his trident, then leveled its gleaming tip at the enemy lines.

  "Charge!"

  He roared.

  His chainmail, forged of magically imprinted adamantine, clinked and shimmered as he raised his trident.

  With a thunderous crack, he struck the ground once more, then rushed forward, charging straight into the enemy ranks.

  "Praise the Commander! Commander Irean! Commander Irean!"

  The soldiers roared his name, their voices carrying over the battlefield.

  Irean lifted his head high, his pride blazing in his eyes, before driving his trident clean through a burning demon, snuffing its life in an instant.

  BOOM!

  The sound of explosions echoed, sending a wave of violent heat across the sector.

  His adamantine chainmail swayed violently, shining under the iridescent flames of the demon god Surtr, the cruel ruler of fire.

  But Irean didn't care.

  As he raised his trident, then shouted.

  "The emperor is watching us, so let us honor her and charge!"

  The soldiers under the banner of Ashin Sae Acoustine charged with zeal, with the belief that their emperor would praise them, appreciate their efforts to execute the criminals that dared to defile their holy capital, 'Atlanta.'

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  Their tridents tore through the molten demons who had sworn their fealty to Surtr and were named 'Eldthr?ll,' or Fire Thralls.

  Irean smirked.

  He knew that their goal wasn't to suppress the demon god of fire, Surtr, but to help the woman he was facing, the woman carrying a child on her left hand while swinging a sword in her right.

  She was given the title White Witch by Irean, who knew nothing of her name or allegiance, but only by her features a witch with white hair, that commanded the white lightning.

  He knew that they would be a burden if they tried to directly help the White Witch, since Surtr and she were an even match.

  So Irean commanded his troops to clear the clearing, thus preventing any 'Eldthr?ll' from supporting their god.

  That was their contribution in this battle, since they knew that with their limited strength, they could only do nothing but block these demons.

  "Soldiers! Block the Eldthr?ll, and we shall remain ever victorious!"

  He shouted as the soldiers stomped their feet on the ground and charged with renewed fury.

  Their tridents, made of cold steel, suppressed the fire of the Eldthr?ll upon contact, making their job easier.

  While directing his men and doing his contribution by killing any powerful Eldthr?ll, Irean watched the duel between the demon god of fire and the White Witch with shock.

  He saw the White Witch cutting down every projectile of the ever-burning Surtr in a single stroke, slashing the miniature suns that Surtr sent with masterful precision.

  He could hardly believe it.

  The blade in the White Witch’s hands was no ordinary weapon, but one of the Nevertale Order’s greatest treasures, the blessed twin sword forged from the bones of the storm god Indra, known as the Indra Storm Sword, long thought to be lost by the order after being stolen by a lightning dragon.

  "Then it means that he defeated that dragon?!"

  He stood in shock, watching a dragon slayer wield the Storm Sword’s power with masterful grace.

  He watched in awe as the White Witch cleaved through the miniature suns, shattered the hellfire javelins, and swept aside the torrents of arrows with effortless grace.

  Irean shook his head as his blood boiled with exhilaration.

  "Now I've got to show my best, huh?"

  He smiled and moved with renewed ferocity, unleashing his skills.

  “Water Pillar!”

  At his command, a towering column of water roared down from the heavens.

  “Wrath of the Ocean!”

  Planting his feet, he thrust his trident into the surging pillar.

  It erupted in a cataclysmic blast, bursting into thousands of razor-sharp spikes that tore through the Eldthr?ll within range, while the same deadly spikes washed over his allies, mending their wounds.

  Irean’s voice thundered across the battlefield.

  "The White Witch has stood with us to defend this sector! So let us, soldiers of our Emperor, of our motherland, bring no shame upon ourselves! Strike down every last criminal!"

  Meanwhile, Surtr could hardly believe what he was witnessing.

  He just couldn't believe that a mere child was cutting through his every projectile that he had mastered to their limits with ease.

  His fire mastery, which transformed into 'Surtr's authority' that was an 'Ascension V' skill, was being dismissed by a single slash.

  Infuriated, he roared with rage.

  "You damned mongrel, how dare you block this god's hellfire!"

  His pride wouldn't just let it be, as he was Surtr, the god of fire, the demon of Muspelheim, the giant of the draconian, the god who decimated the duchy of Kezam that stretched for tens of thousands of meters in a single spell.

  Even if he was suppressed under the sea where his authority was at its weakest, he just couldn't accept that he was incapable of killing the betrayer of Skaira.

  He sighed as he recalled his past glory.

  Of the time when he destroyed the king of the southern kingdom, Neil, ruled by a powerful God.

  It was none other than King Solomon that existed in the level-less era where accumulating your own power by the primitives methods that they created was the path to power.

  He smiled as he sent out a thunderclap, no, it was an incinerating clap that sent out a heatwave so hot that it destroyed nearly fifty percent of the sector that stretched for seven hundred meters.

  He chuckled.

  The soldiers were burned alive as Irean, with his face falling apart from the intense heat, gasped for breath while kneeling on the ground, clenching his trident with determination.

  "The Demon of Muspelheim is enraged! We, the Eldthr?ll, must appease him, offer this wretch as the sacrifice!"

  Irean ignored their outburst, his eyes fixed on Surtr with a defiant smile.

  He cackled, even as the claws of the Eldthr?ll pierced into his flesh with precision, as they began to engrave a magic circle on his flesh to twist him into one of their own.

  Coming to a decision, Irean bit his lips, then plunged a hand into his head.

  Squelch!

  His skull caved inward, and he tore out his monster core.

  Blood filled his mouth, but he raised the core high, as a faint smile appeared on his face as the last of his life force was slipping away.

  His body grew cold.

  As he commanded his core to self-destruct, then he shouted with a bloodied mouth.

  "FOR THE EMPIRE'S GLORY!"

  A nervous stillness settled over the battlefield.

  The Eldthr?ll staggered back, their forms trembling.

  "Damn it..."

  With a roar like a tsar bomb, Irean's monster core made of compressed water exploded outward, its immense pressure obliterating every demon within a three-hundred-meter radius.

  BOOM!

  His body soon followed, disintegrating along with the explosion.

  ---

  [Year 1, Month 4, Day 25 of the Imperial Calendar]

  The Hundred-Man Platoon Commander retired from the scene through a courageous sacrifice, dragging down 1,029 Eldthr?ll with him, thus slowing the empire’s destruction.

  ---

  Meanwhile, in the heat of battle, I faced the very god who had set the ancient forest ablaze with a single spell and, in its wake, killed my family.

  My eyes closed, I followed the intent of Surtr's spells, tracking the ten-meter sun hurtling toward me.

  I ducked at the last second, the fiery red fireball, the very one that had destroyed my life, sailing harmlessly over my head.

  A cold smile touched my lips as I reminisced.

  'I remembered being blinded by rage, consumed by vengeance, wanting nothing more than to rip this bastard apart.'

  Even now, with Ishtar sleeping soundly in my arms, that desire remained.

  'If only she weren't here, I would have already killed him.'

  Sighing, I gazed at Ishtar's sleeping figure as I shook my head.

  Then I watched Surtr as he hurled tens of miniature suns at me, and I smirked.

  "Is it time to end this?"

  Lowering my hips nearly to the ground, I took a ridiculous stance.

  Then I sighed as I clenched my sword, and muttered coldly.

  "Storm Sword Art: Lightning Draw."

  The flow of time seemed to stop for a second as Solia drew her sword.

  In the next second, a bright white line slashed all of the suns in a single stroke, and the world turned pure white in a split second as the Elra sector, now in rubble, crackled with white lightning.

  "..."

  Time then continued to flow normally as all of the suns tilted horizontally.

  Solia took a stance again, preparing for her next draw as she took a sharp inhale and her eyes sharpened like lightning.

  With a step, the world turned grey as she vanished.

  She then appeared meters away from Surtr in a split second.

  Surtr's eyes followed her movements, but he couldn't move as Solia was too fast for him to react.

  He was helplessly watching Solia, the former apostle of Skaira, slash her sword in a diagonal slash to unleash her fearsome technique before he heard it, the sound of a click from Solia sheathing her sword.

  Click!

  Then he heard her chilling voice and the clicking of time as it resumed.

  "Storm Sword Art: Flash Fang."

  A bright white line appeared on his shoulder, then slashed down to his waist.

  Behind him, a massive chunk of the land was missing, as if clawed by some mighty divine beast.

  He muttered weakly.

  "Impressive..."

  Then the sound of tearing flesh and a wet, sickening spray filled the currents as the white line exploded into gore, cutting Surtr in half.

  Solia turned away with a cold mutter.

  "How utterly despairing. I thought the great god Surtr would be a challenge, but sadly, he's just so-so..."

  Surtr, now split in two, looked down at his halved body, the top still standing, the bottom emitting a fountain of embers.

  He closed his eyes, a silent rage churning in his gut, then gazed at the sky.

  'Have I fallen this far? To be defeated by a mere sovereign? By a child who once feared me? Ha! How amusing. To be defeated by a young girl who is still wet behind the ears… it’s utterly impossible!'

  His lower half flinched, then stomped over to his head.

  ?As his foot crushed his head, it turned into thousands of glowing embers, floating like butterflies in the sky.

  The embers then rejoined his body, reconstructing his upper torso with a hiss of churning currents.

  He raised a faintly glowing finger and pointed at Solia.

  "Oi… how dare you run away from our fight?!"

  Solia merely put Ishtar in a safe place, closed her eyes, and pulled her other sword from her inventory as she took a stance.

  "Well, I guess champions do differ."

  Surtr let out a boisterous laugh as the entire sector trembled violently from the force of his laughter.

  "Bwahahaha... as expected, a titaness truly never runs in the face of danger, don't you think so... Solia?"

  Then he slowly walked toward Solia as he cracked his knuckles and neck.

  He then took a stance as his form burned with fury.

  Four arms formed from the excess of embers in his body as he smiled in excitement.

  Then he roared.

  "LET'S END THIS BATTLE!!!"

  Maybe give it a try? ??