Hollow Creek

“The main Core is 96.2% charged, Lord Consul!”

One of the Arman Engineers faced Viscount Kirn Sparrow.

His blindfold removed and his eyes radiating a golden radiance, Kirn looked at all the Arman people that awakened from the Cryo-sleep.

They had the bodies of normal humans, but their heads were anything but normal. Made of an unknown alloy, their heads were wide and rectangular, a bit creepy and slightly big. Some even had tubes and constructs embedded into their bodies, making them look like machines rather than actual living people.

Their appearance notwithstanding, they were Armans. Living beings that could think and equipped with individual consciousness and a soul.

The absurdly spacious room, filled with all kinds of foreign active machines, all of which were active, had rows upon rows of Arman soldiers.

There were thousands of them, divided into orderly square-shaped formations. Each group had a special kind of soldiers, some wielded advanced firearms and others were holding somesort of long and big halberds.

The Viscount walked a couple of feet away and signaled two soldiers, who soon dragged an unconscious elderly woman. Olivia Vir Divitae. The Seat of Nobility.

An Arman Scientist used a syringe to inject a light-yellow liquid into Olivia, making her body convulse.

A soft moan escaped her lips before her eyes flung open. She instinctively flailed around, her golden radiance, lacking the radiance of an Arman, panickedly looked around before spotting the cold-faced Kirn.

“I wanted you to be awake and witness everything.” He spoke while turning his gaze away.

“Kirn! You were the one behind the attack?”

Olivia was able to speak, but her voice was noticeably weak. As for her body, it was forced to sit on a chair, her four limbs bound.

“You’ve made a big mistake, Kirn. You will suffer the same fate as Terden.”

Kirn scoffed, “I’m not sure about that, Olivia.”

“...”

The old woman looked around, seeing the unfamiliar and overbearing machinery.

“These… what?”

“Your fellow Armans. Though, unlike you, they did turn their back on their own.”

“You cannot still be on about that?!”

“I certainly am.” At last, the Viscount turned around and looked straight at her. His piercing golden eyes shining brighter, “You are an unworthy descendent. You chose to forget about your origin.”

Olivia glared at him, her face turning red from anger.

“Do you remember what happened three years ago? The Consortium found an Arman facility South of Ember City. I begged you to help me convince them not to give it to the Southern savages but you shunned me. You accepted the gold they offered and acted as if nothing happened. In the end, that facility was desecrated. Ruined beyond repair. The ignorant southerners activated the self-defensive mechanisms which terminated all Armans slumbering there.”

“So what?”

“Two hundred Armans, all in Cryo-sleep, died. But that is nothing compared to the millions killed in the past… by the humans that live on this world. They annihilated our glorious empire, indiscriminately killed every Arman, and hid any and all records about us.” The man paused, his voice getting much colder, “No more. I will reclaim what’s rightfully ours. I will give my people what they deserve.”

“You’ve completely lost the plot, Kirn!”

“We will see about that.”

He smiled and waved and raised his hand, which made the thousand of armed Armans to bang their boots on the ground and salute.

“We stand at the ready, Lord Consul!”

An Arman Engineer, holding a tablet, approached Kirn and waited for his order.

“Do it.”

“Yes, Lord Consul!”

Excited, the engineer hastily sprinted away while shouting orders at his subordinates.

“W-what are you going to do?”

“Don’t you worry, Olivia. You will see everything.”

Thereafter, Kirn proceeded to give orders to the soldiers, which dispersed in an orderly and synchronised manner.

Soon, the entire place started to shake. An ear-piercing ringing sound reverberated everywhere as the main Core was powering up.

“It’s starting!”

The engineers backed away from the control command and held their breath as the shaking got more intense. However, the earthquake-like tremors didn’t cause any damage to the facility.

…

Outside, the entirety of the Hollow Creek shook, split, and then crumbled as if it was swallowed up by a bottomless abyss.

From the Western coast to the Northern, Eastern, and Southern edges of the eerie woods, thick and gargantuan dark-golden walls surged forth, rising higher and higher.

That was only the beginning as dozens of small and big buildings also appeared at the centres and near the walls.

The last few things to appear were sky-piercing golden spires that were hundreds of meters in height. There were three of them, with the middle one being the tallest.

Literally, in a matter of minutes, a sizable and highly-advanced city rose from below Hollow Creek.

The dirt, grass, trees… everything that made up Hollow Creek was either swallowed up or destroyed. The process was incredibly smooth and quick.

The walls, thick and dwarfing everything around them, were dozens of meters in thickness and over a 100 meters tall. There were exactly 12 walls, all connected to each other and acting as an impregnable line of defense.

Compared to Blackcrest’s walls, these ones were on an entirely different level.

However, upon a closer look, one of the 12 walls was missing, or better say, still stuck underground.

“Lord Consul! The wal-”

Viscount raised his hand and stopped the engineer,

“I can see what’s happening, Hammon.”

The Consul thought for a moment before picking up some sort of a communication device,

“Firan, do you copy?”

“Yes, Lord Consul!”

“I’ll send you the coordinates, so send half of your Division there and capture the Baron. Unless it is necessary, do not kill!”

“Yes!”

After tapping on the device, Kirn sighed,

“At least it’s one of the Southern Walls. The closest settlement is Wilsden. Hammon, get ready to activate the Central Tower.”

“How much Energy are we using?”

“Enough to blow up a fortress. A warning with only words isn’t enough to scare them. We need to show them what we’re capable of. Oh, also, get me a clear footage of what’s happening in Blackcrest.”

Blackcrest

‘Damnit! I told her to leave!’

Using the Mist of Decay for rapid movement and the Sanguis Barrier for protection, Arthur rose toward the city’s walls and headed toward Evelyn.

Whether it was the Demon Lord’s blight or the Fire Spirit’s blazing and uncontrollable flames that spread everywhere, the parasite had to constantly repair his barrier as he glided slightly above the top of the walls.

‘Down!’

With Halric guiding him, Arthur reached the Southern wall, which had been completely destroyed by the clash of the two powerful entities.

“Ugh…”

As he glided down at high-velocity, Arthur’s human host was inflicted by the Blight. It convulsed and then his Magic was cancelled, causing him to crash into the rubble.

Like an airborne poison, the miasma invaded his body and caused fatal damage, thus forcing him to switch to another host.

Against the intangible Blight, the knight’s heavy armor was rendered obsolete.

Arthur possessed a Savage Baboon, which was more resistant than a normal human body, and then started taking big leaps amidst the burned and scorched buildings.

The entire city was covered in a thick miasma that made visibility difficult, but what was worse was the balls of dark red fire that kept pouring down from above.

Abrigel and the Fire Spirit were still clashing against each other, shaking the very sky and disintegrating all of Blackcrest.

Within minutes, Arthur saw a figure rapidly moving around and using her blade to cut through the miasma. It was a clever attempt, but not particularly useful against the Blight.

When she saw the Baboon, Evelyn was startled and turned towards it, but she quickly realized who it was.

“I told you to leave!” Spoke Arthur as he returned to a human body and surrounded both of them with a barrier, which kept shattering and then slowly repairing itself.

“I tried. The wall collapsed.”

Arthur, standing right next to her, looked at the canopy and inwardly cursed.

“Get ready, I will open a way.”

The maid hesitantly looked at him, but his firm expression gave her no room to object, especially not in the current dire situation.

Arthur extended both hands and used [Wither Touch]: Like a vacuum, all nearby miasma and fire was pulled into his hands.

Whether it was the Blight or fire, they were still made up of energy. Admittedly, Arthur’s skill wasn’t suited for the absorption of any type of energy, and what he was doing would inflict serious self-harm, nevertheless, he could discard the body when it had reached its limits.

Slowly but surely, the surroundings were being cleared and the two started advancing away from the center of the city.

When they reached the destroyed Southern wall, Arthur’s body could no longer take it. The skin had turned into a mix of red and grey color, a disgusting liquid oozing from all of his orifices.

He hastily switched to another host and repeated the same thing, though not before using all the absorbed energy to conjure a potent and shiny semi-spherical barrier.

If they continued at this pace, they would be able to escape to a relatively safe place outside of the city proper.

However, Evelyn suddenly stumbled and then fell. She coughed some blood before motioning for the parasite that she was alright.

“It’s… nothing.”

There was no way the Blight had not affected her, but now wasn’t the time to deal with that. After all, a Prolonged exposure to the miasma would end her life faster.

Parasite

An unpleasant and loud voice rang in Arthur’s head, surprising him. He looked upwards, toward the Demon Lord.

I require your help.

Unexpectedly, Abrigel was directly speaking to Arthur.

I will let you feast on all the bodies. Help me take down this Fire Spirit.