Athena's General Reincarnated in Another World

Kinue:

Professor Adrihna stood up abruptly, blasting away the rubble around her with a burst of radiant light that lit up the chaos.

"Damn it…" she muttered, placing a hand over a wound on her shoulder. Even visibly exhausted, she tried to force a smile as she assessed the situation. "Don't worry… My mana's weak for healing, but I can handle scratches," she said as a faint glow shimmered from her palm, closing the cut partially.

Before she could fully recover, Hugo came running toward us. His face was drenched in sweat, and a deep wound stained his shirt with blood.

"A portal!" he shouted, breathless, eyes wide as he stared at the abyss that radiated a palpable, malevolent force.

"We need to get out of here—now!" he ordered, helping Adrihna to her feet with effort.

Before we could move, the horde arrived.

An army of corpse-like creatures surged forward in a chaotic wave, attacking everything and everyone in their path. Adrihna didn't hesitate. She gathered her mana and formed a growing orb of yellow light in her hands—blazing hot by the time it reached full size.

She hurled it into the sky.

It split the air with a sharp whistle before exploding above us, unleashing hundreds of radiant arrows.

Bam! Bam! Bam! The arrows rained down like a holy storm, piercing through the undead and blasting craters into the ground. The deafening thunder of the explosions was followed by the collapse of dozens of monsters.

Then, she conjured a bow of pure light.

It formed in her hands, large and majestic, and she summoned a single glowing arrow. Drawing the string back with calm precision, she released it into the sky. The arrow split mid-flight into nine smaller ones, each of which descended to trap the creatures within domes of golden energy.

She snapped her fingers—and the domes exploded in a wave of searing destruction, disintegrating the trapped monsters in a flash.

"Go! We can't stay here!" Adrihna yelled, grabbing my arm. "I need to get you to a shelter—this place is too dangerous!"

Hugo followed, limping, but driven.

Suddenly, a monstrous roar tore through the battlefield, followed by the thunderous stomp of something massive. A figure emerged from the portal—a towering orc. Its skin was black as coal, and each movement sent waves through the air around it.

"Oh no…" Adrihna murmured, clenching her fists. "If I let that thing loose, it'll destroy everything in its path."

She focused again, summoning another bow of light. This time, it grew enormous, transforming into a divine weapon worthy of confronting the beast. A harpoon-like arrow began to form, glowing with a blinding intensity.

"Brace yourself!" she shouted, before releasing the shot.

The harpoon flew like a bolt of pure energy, slamming straight into the orc. It tried to catch it with its massive hands, but the impact was overwhelming. A brilliant explosion of light consumed the creature's left side, and it screamed in pain before collapsing with a heavy crash.

"Whoa…" Hugo muttered, awestruck by the professor's power.

But the relief didn't last.

A cold wave swept through us—an invisible force that drained the air of all energy. My skin prickled. I felt it deep in my bones.

The flame in Hugo's hand snuffed out instantly. Adrihna's bow vanished, as if it had never existed.

"This… this can't be happening…" she whispered, staring at her empty hands. Her expression was a mixture of disbelief and fear.

The silence that followed was broken only by the steady footsteps of the creatures as they kept coming.

Without our magic... we were completely exposed.

Nathan Evenhart:

We were flying toward the center of the city, and what lay beneath us was pure devastation. Chaos spilled through the streets and across rooftops, smoke rising in thick columns that stained the sky a heavy gray. The Sky Knights began splitting into formation—two riders to every winged horse. I quickly noticed a clear pattern: the second rider in each pair was casting fireballs. They were all fire mages.

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Of course... The Founder Emperor had always been obsessed with dragons. Even his aerial formations mimicked the very creatures he was so desperate to control.

Chloe led the way, riding with Elara on the same mount. I tried once again to connect with the serpent Jormungandr, reaching deep within, desperate for guidance—or anything—to help us face the portal ahead.

Nothing. Just the same suffocating silence.

She had slipped back into dormancy, and I still lacked the control to wake her. Still, even a single whisper of guidance would've been better than the gnawing uncertainty clawing at my mind.

"Brother!" Princess Rose's voice snapped me out of my thoughts, calling to Leonhard. "What do we do?"

"Provide aerial support to the soldiers on the ground," Leonhard replied firmly. "I'll go to the portal alone. Hopefully the other Inquisitors are already there."

He turned to me.

"You're not coming. It's too dangerous. You'll be more useful supporting from the streets."

"I'm going to find my mother first—then I'll help," I said without hesitation.

"If that's what you say," he answered coolly.

Leonhard pointed down toward the city. "There's an entrance to a shelter there. The tunnels are connected—leads to a more secure area underground. Some soldiers should already be checking on the majesties. It's a good place to start."

As we spoke, more winged reinforcements began arriving, clashing with the monsters infesting the streets below.

"This is the sovereignty of those who rule the skies," declared Prince Duncan, his voice carrying above us like a battle hymn.

He rode atop an Asalon Manticora—a winged beast larger and far more agile than any standard flying mount. Its wings tore through the air with raw power, and even the clouds seemed to part for it.

I stayed silent, my heart heavy, my thoughts locked on one thing—my mother's safety.

We continued flying over the city center, where the destruction was even more intense. I unleashed a continuous arc of lightning from the sky, sweeping through clusters of creatures and blasting them into the air. Chloe fired ice shards with surgical precision, while Elara launched bursts of pink fire that erupted into craters, reducing the monsters to ash.

"We're clearing the area quickly," Duncan said, his voice calm but confident.

That's when everything changed.

"ROOOAR!"

A monstrous roar tore through the sky beside us, the sound rippling through the air. Before I could react—

BAM!

Something slammed into us with brutal force.

We were hurled from the sky, spinning wildly. The world flipped end over end. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw one of the Sky Knights being torn from his mount by a winged beast, its massive wings battering the air as it brought him down. Another creature burst from the clouds and grabbed a rider mid-air, ripping him apart before tossing the remains into a death spiral.

Panic erupted as more monsters emerged—grotesque silhouettes that looked like twisted lions with giant, ragged wings slicing through the sky. Their claws glinted in the dim light, and their screeches were like a symphony of hunger and rage.

Then I saw them clearly—Griffins.

"Shit!" I shouted, watching the ground rush toward me.

The fall would be fatal unless I did something. I tried activating my Celestial Eyes—but nothing happened. The tower battle had drained them, and forcing them open against the Grand Duke had only made it worse. Even my Special Eyes were dormant, locked behind exhaustion and damage.

I had to improvise.

I summoned wind to my hands and feet, forming a reverse current to slow my fall. It wasn't elegant. It wasn't perfect. But it was enough.

I hit the roof of a house hard, the impact jarring my bones. I rolled violently and stopped near the edge, gasping for breath. Just ahead of me, winged horses crashed into buildings, their bodies limp, broken from the impact.

Above, chaos reigned.

The remaining Sky Knights were locked in battle, fighting bravely against the swarming griffins. Elara landed nearby, her mount clearly wounded, and other knights began descending, regrouping on the rooftops and nearby streets.

The sky above us was now filled with griffins, each more terrifying than the last. Reality hit us hard: not even the air was safe.

Martha Riverclimb:

I walked down the corridor, carrying Cylla in my arms. She was asleep, her small body even lighter than usual, as if every ounce of energy had been drained from her. I examined her carefully, confirming what I had feared: she had entered mana fatigue once again—limbo.

Transforming into her dragon form without fully recovering from the grave injury the young master had mentioned... it had left her vulnerable. Her mana was nearly depleted.

"We've got a lot of work to do to put this house back together…" I murmured to myself, my eyes scanning the wreckage of the mansion. Cracked walls, ruined furniture, and the air itself tainted with the metallic scent of blood and exhausted magic.

Outside, the neighborhood was beginning to stabilize. Winged knights patrolled the skies while parts of the army worked to clear the area, eliminating whatever remained of the invading creatures. Still, something didn't sit right.

How had that army made it this far without being detected?

Even at night, the Sky Knights should have noticed any movement through the forests. That could only mean one thing: someone had helped them get through.

"Lady Martha, the Duchess is requesting that we relocate to the royal mansion," a maid informed me, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"I'll seal a room before we go," I replied, my tone steady as I continued walking. The maid bowed and left quickly.

I quickened my pace down into the dungeons, the heavy silence amplifying every echo of my heels on the stone floor. My destination was Lady Katherine's laboratory. Even with the perimeter secured, I couldn't relax. Not yet. I needed to ensure the room was safe—sealed with an ice barrier.

When I reached the entrance, I stopped cold.

The sight of the lab's inner garden rooted me to the floor.

The exotic plants, with their unusual shapes and vibrant colors, looked untouched. But what truly drew my attention was the empty space in the center of the garden. The giant seed—should have been there—was gone.

"What?" I whispered, eyes widening. I moved forward quickly, heart racing. As I approached the spot where the seed had been, I saw it clearly: a deep hole in the earth. Fragments of the shell were scattered around, as if something had burst through the surface and escaped.

The hole stretched downward—a narrow tunnel vanishing deep into the earth.

"The plant grew... downward?" I asked myself, stunned.

Whatever had emerged from that seed... it wasn't here anymore.

Something had fled—burrowed into the ground, as if running from something.

Or worse...

Heading toward something.