Chapter 375

When the Star Fell (V)

“Ugh!” Emma grunted angrily as she found herself afoot the arena’s edge, barely pulled back by one of Senna’s flying swords. Fire raged everywhere as though a series of volcanoes erupted at the same time, tossing out black soot and molten rock everywhere.

U’nul was a fiery blur as she repeatedly distorted their ranks, forcing them further and further toward the edge, coming dangerously close several times to kicking a few folk off. In fact, if the twins hadn’t intervened, eight would at least be dead. And, as more and more people got out of commission, it became harder and harder for the rest to keep up.

Seeing the writing on the wall, Emma sighed in defeat and rushed toward U’nul, surging with both Mana as well as sacrificing some of her Health to push out a violent swing of the warhammer, managing to push back even U’nul several paces. Gritting her teeth, she yelled into the crowd.

“RETREAT!!!”

Everyone felt a sudden sense of deja vu, their minds ringing back the bells of the years gone. The distant memory surged and they were back to when they first entered this hall, to when they were first beaten like wet pups, and kicked out unceremoniously. And yet, nobody contradicted her. One by one, they poured out of the hall, like a swarm of locust on retreat. Strangely, U’nul didn’t follow, merely staring at their backs. Glancing one last time, Emma was the last to leave, a bitter thorn in her throat.

Harmony and Nature walked up to U’nul with faint smiles on their faces. This was mostly expected; while the raid party hadn’t been lied to, in so much that they were indeed more than equipped to deal with U’nul, it was the classic of building up to level out.

“The masters will have some questions,” either Nature or Harmony said.

“I’ll deal with those,” U’nul replied.

“I’m sure you will. What do you think?”

“... surprisingly quick,” she replied. “They’ll storm to 40s rather easily.”

“Hm,” both Harmony and Nature nodded, though just one spoke. “Still short of lofty expectations, but considering the scale... even I’m a bit shocked. There seem to be a few evolutionary ticks that make them a bit different than other humanoid species.”

“Social evolution, I imagine,” U’nul said. “Mirrors of themselves in the others. Inability to be lesser. Jealousy. Envy. A want.”

“Yes, but still. The scale seems to large for just that. I’ve been observing them all this while. There’s competition everywhere, the fire of wanting to be the best. It’s what propelled the two of us, too. But we hated cooperation. We fought to put others underneath our boots, never thinking of joining hands. Weak did so, so that they may compete with the strong.”

“Is this that different?”

“There are clear, distinct layers within their group,” either Nature or Harmony said. “That Yuki kid, for instance, is by far the best healer. And yet, time and again, I saw him giving tips to others, helping them, and, more insanely perhaps, learning from the others. Senna, too, falls in the similar category. The kid seems to loathe everyone but her family and yet consistently goes out of her way to help others. It’s a convoluted little race of who’s who.”

“That only works because of one reason,” U’nul said. “There’s one that oversees them all. An unreachable goal.”

“Hm... maybe. Cain doesn’t really fit that... archetype, we suppose. He’s like those hermits that stick themselves in the mountains, sniffing flowers and getting high. You will never guess it, but if you piss them off enough, your head will roll. That’s why he relegated the leading duties to Emma.”

“Leader isn’t the one shouting and barking orders, you’ll learn,” U’nul said as she turned around and began walking toward the fiery heart at the center. “It’s the divine net that casts itself wide. The silent hum of protection--when children can run amok knowing there’s a voice to vindicate their security. The world held together by a singularity is at the same time both the most powerful... and the most vulnerable. Such is life. Star gives life and star takes it all when it dies.”

Nature and Harmony shrugged their shoulders simultaneously, turning away and walking out as well. Expecting a downtrodden and wet-behind-ears folk beaten into depression, they were quite shocked to see the entrance swarmed with high-hung heads, eyes pointed at the sky. A flash of blinding light shocked the two of them--but it wasn’t the visuals of it, but the expenditure of Mana. Frowning, they looked up and, beyond the veil of the atmosphere, noticed the faint signatures.

Looking around, they spotted Quinn perched on a nearby mountaintop, vanishing and reappearing near her near instantaneously.

“What’s happening?” either Nature or Harmony asked.

“... the world’s being invaded,” Quinn replied with grim expression. “The battle didn’t go well?”

“As well as we expected. Invaded by who?”

“You have to go back in,” Quinn said. “And keep pushing them. They have maybe ten-fifteen days to defeat U’nul and undergo the first wash.”

“Shouldn’t you go help him?”

“It’s sub-optimal, which is probably why he didn’t ask for my help,” Quinn replied. “I’ll do the prep work for the ground battle. He won’t be able to defeat them, not without revealing who he is.”

“And he won’t,” the twins sighed, though just one spoke. “But who the hell is bold enough to invade a kindling world? If the word gets out, there will be a hell to pay.”

“Desperate sort, I imagine. I’m sure you’ve noticed it too,” Quinn added. “But time... has turned wonky ‘round us.”

“You asked Cain about it?”

“I did.”

“What did he say?”

“Nothing,” Quinn sighed. “Just gave me one of those smiles of his.”

“Ah. The ones that make your brain alarms go off?”

“Yeah, that’s the ones,” she nodded. “I suspect he knows something about it, but since he isn’t sharing, it’s likely something that shouldn’t be shared. With the wonky time likely came a strange Mana signature and a huge influx of Mana. Other worlds could have gotten worried.”

“But still... to invade?” either Harmony or Nature shook their head. “Worlds capable of interstellar invasion are likely well-developed, and those desperate for a lunch wouldn’t have the capabilities.”

“Judging by the scale and Mana signatures, it’s not just one world,” Quinn said. “But a few, at least. If the Earthly shield breaks without them having beaten U’nul, he’ll have to reveal who he is to repel the invasion. From the looks of it, there’s at least a hundred thrice-Awakened aboard those ships. The three of us wouldn’t be of much help in that scenario.”

“... even if they defeat her, the battle will still be tight.”

“True,” Quinn nodded. “But at least possible, with some luck. From the looks of it, he’s guiding the battle so that the eventual fallout collapses above one of the oceans. I’ll take, kidnap if need be, earth-based Mages from nearby and get them to erected temporary landmass that he can use as a guide. In the meantime, you two need to push them. What are the chances of breaking through in ten days?”

“Honestly? Low,” either Nature or Harmony said with a sigh. “They are skilled enough to persist, butt get overwhelmed quickly because of the lack of experience.”

“Then go in cycles,” Quinn said. “Group by group, while one is getting its ass handed to them, the other recovers in the rear. Don’t sacrifice on the quality, however. Only the perfect Ascension will give us any chance of fighting back. And even then... we’ll have to rally still.”

“Cain mentioned that Rick guy, remember? If we ever need anything, just go to him.”

“That was the plan,” Quinn nodded, looking at the two. “Did you ever think this would happen?”

“Hm?”

“The three of us working together to save a world that isn’t even our own?”

“Oh. That. Nope. Not in a million years,” the twins grinned. “Funny things, Kings are.”

“Funny indeed,” Quinn grinned back. “Go back in and shape them up. He’s slow-decaying the fight so I need to act quickly. It’s gonna be raining molten rocks in a few hours.”

Cain blinked back, somewhat frustrated. Holding back on purpose... was difficult. His lungs felt stuffed, his entire body feeling like a rusty machine that just needed a touch of oil to recover to its prime. But he couldn’t oil it. He had to keep it running at the sub-optimal. Furthermore, he mostly played with the element of fire--it wouldn’t be a battle that would last hours, but rather days, if not weeks. The act of escalation is the code of fighting here, he knew. And the aggressors, like he had hoped, were matching his pace.

Though they were of alien origin, climbing the Tower taught Cain several rather simple yet important things--namely that evolution, cross-cosmos, favored similar outcomes. This meant that even with the general discrepancies, basic philosophies still someone found their root in the cultures. Such as the ideas of colonization, mass expansion, and warfare. Warfare, specifically, was in most cases a carbon copy of Earth’s, just on varying scales and with varying elements.

Basic reconnaissance, probe attacks, scaling, and the idea of ‘home advantage’ still persisted in virtually every species. Right now, they were testing his limits--matching him pace-for-pace, and they would continue to do so until they begin approaching their limits. They likely weren’t in a hurry as they’ve identified him to be the world’s ‘Guardian’ of sorts, which meant that if they could defeat him, the world was theirs. But acting reckless could open them up to a fatal flaw. Caution was the mother of breeding, in most cases. In this particular one, however, it made Cain a very, very happy man. If the invading armada simply went all-out from the start, they would have won. At least fulfilled their likely goal, as Cain would have to go all-out to just barely match them. Luckily, evolution, though a beautiful beast it was, was also predictable and exploitable. At least today, and at least for now. Not for long, however. In the end, the might was right--and their might outmatched his by quite a bit. All he could do now was hope, hope that he could last long enough to even out the field just a tiny bit.