NOVEL NEXT Chapter 114: Game of fate
The dawn had surrendered to the morning light, casting a golden hue over the battlefield. Kal stood a few meters ahead of the Flame Astro Aether Glide, his stance unwavering, his feet rooted so firmly that the ground beneath him cracked in defiance of his presence. Behind him, Centric readied to launch another Thanacrite from their Miasmothrower when, from the far right, a Thanacrite soared through the air with deadly intent.
However, before it could cover much distance, one of the seven already-infected beasts channeled the essentia fluid within its core crystal, transmuting it into raw chemical energy. With a sudden surge, Its horn ignited with an unseen force, sending forth an invisible yet colossal force, cut through the wind like an enraged spirit, along a shockwave that tore through the air with a deafening howl. The The sudden clash of forces turned the incoming Thanacrite into an unwitting victim, caught between two opposing pressures, it crumbled instantly, detonating in midair.
The Mountain Astro Station, standing closest to the explosion, was forced into a hasty retreat, staggering back several meters as bone dust rained across them like divine punishment. Centric, who had sought to buy more time, knowing the tide of war was favoring them, realized that the situation was shifting dangerously. He had hoped to ensnare the distant beasts in their attack while maneuvering them into their optimal firing range. But witnessing the Mountain Astro Aether Glide fall back, his hesitation vanished. Without delay, he commanded his subordinates to unleash their mechanical wrath.
Three Thanacrites shot forth in rapid succession, each trailing a tail of smoke and fire. Two hurtled toward the seven infected beasts, while the third targeted their rear, ensuring a pincer assault. The impact was instant and merciless. A thick fog of bone dust erupted, shrouding both sides in an eerie veil, swallowing the battlefield in an impenetrable mist. The infected seven, caught in the devastating blast, trembled under the sheer force, their once-dominant, hulking forms visibly weakened.
Provoked by the unexpected damage, a barrage of retaliatory strikes surged from the primordial beasts' side. Beams of searing light, crackling lightning, raging fire, and slicing wind tore through the dense fog like vengeful spirits. Their wrath did not discriminate; the very same attack that should have devastated the celestial race also raked through their own ranks, the infected seven. The unleashed energy rampaged across the land, obliterating everything in its path. Explosions ruptured the battlefield, dust and shattered stone swirling in violent gusts. The Flame Astro forces, caught in the storm of destruction, stumbled as shockwaves sent them reeling, shielding their faces against the blinding chaos, the very land beneath them trembling beneath the chaotic onslaught.
Then, through the churning tempest of destruction, a singular beam of radiant light emerged, coiled with tendrils of lightning, streaking toward them with unrelenting speed. Centric's instincts screamed. "Everyone, get off!" His voice thundered through the battlefield, carried by the howling wind and the reverberation of countless detonations. Kal standing ahead of them, sprinted for his life, his feet pounding against the unstable ground as the aftershock threatened to consume everything in its wake and without hesitation, the other members leaped off and out of the Aether Glide,
Centric was the last to abandon ship, his heart pounding as the deadly beam struck with unholy precision. The Aether Glide erupted into a hellish inferno, the explosion birthing a shockwave that tore through the already-wounded landscape. Centric, nearly caught in the blast, was thrown violently, his body tumbling across the cracked and broken ground, the very earth itself seeming to resist his landing.
Dust choked the air, a suffocating veil of ruin settling over the battlefield. The silence was eerie, disturbed only by the lingering echoes of destruction whispering through the smoke-laced winds.
Centric, his body sprawled across the fractured ground, lifted his head slightly, his vision swimming through the shifting haze. His gaze locked onto the distant ranks of primordial beasts, their towering figures blurred by the swirling dust. In their midst stood a colossal rhino, its form unmistakable, though three feet shorter than the rest. The other beasts encircled it, their movements calculated, deliberate, as if shielding something of great significance.
A gust of dust suddenly surged forward, blotting out his view like the curtain of night swallowing the last rays of twilight. His breath hitched, his eyelids fluttered, and in a fleeting moment, his eyes glowed a deep, haunting blue, before shutting completely.
At the Northern Front Hildred led the Astro forces deeper towards the hostile terrain, their encampment nestled within Structurith Clan territory. Ahead of them, a horde of primordial beasts surged forward, their thunderous stampede shaking the very earth. But something was amiss, these creatures weren't charging at them out of aggression. No, they were fleeing.
A towering wall of dust rose behind them, swallowing the horizon in its relentless advance. Whatever pursued them remained unseen, but its presence sent a primal terror rippling through the battlefield.
"RROOOOORRRR! RROOOOORRRR! RROOOOORRRR!"nTheir guttural roars overlapped, intertwining into a nightmarish symphony that reverberated through the heavens.
Inside the Astro Lord's War Tent. A heavy silence loomed. The flickering glow of the war map cast long shadows across the tent's canvas walls, adding an unspoken weight to the tension.
Dunstan and Lumina stood before Hildred, the Astro Lord himself, his sharp gaze cutting through the dimly lit space. His hands, fingers interlocked, rested atop the war table—a stance of contemplation, authority, and unshaken resolve.
"It seems we've danced straight into their trap." Hildred's voice was calm, but the steel behind his words was undeniable.
A heavy sigh escaped Dunstan, his shoulders slumping under the invisible weight of failure. "I'm sorry for my incompetence," he murmured, shame evident in his voice. "Had I executed my task properly, this wouldn't have happened."
Lumina stepped forward, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "This isn't your fault," she countered, her voice firm yet soothing. "This trap was set long before we even decided to wage this war."
Dunstan looked up at her, his usually resolute eyes softened by uncertainty. "Lumina..." he whispered, his voice carrying the fragile weight of regret. A single tear clung to the edge of his lower eyelid, threatening to fall.
She offered a small nod, her gaze unwavering.
Hildred exhaled sharply. "She's right. If we were capable of strategizing an attack, what makes you think they wouldn't anticipate it? After everything they've done, they knew we would retaliate." He leaned forward, his eyes narrowing. "But the real question is, what exactly did they use to drive these primordial beasts into migration?"
Lumina's brow furrowed. "You think they manipulated them somehow? Forced them into retreat?"
"I'm certain of it," Hildred replied without hesitation. "They must have used Thanacrites… but in a way I can't yet comprehend."
A heavy pause hung in the air. Hildred broke it with a single, decisive command. "It's too late for regrets. Right now, our priority is survival. Gather your Astro forces and prepare for war."
"Yes, sir!" Lumina and Dunstan responded in unison, their voices ringing with newfound determination.
Outside, the distant roars of the incoming beasts sent tremors through the earth. The war was no longer looming, it had arrived.
Nyxander and his team also proceeded forward as planned, their movement a steady, rhythmic pulse in the silent expanse, escorting the non-official through the clandestine route. Their feet struck the earth with a muted finality, pressing into the thick ground veiled in short, whispering grass. Each step was a silent testament to their purpose, their presence marked not by words, but by the cadence of their journey. The night air pulsed with an unseen energy, as if the very land held its breath, watching, waiting.
The wind and the breeze, like twin sentinels of the unseen world, exchanged duties with seamless grace, one retreating, the other advancing. The air shifted between cool whispers and warm sighs, its temperament dictated by the whims of the ever-changing environment. It wrapped around them, a silent observer, sometimes caressing with a gentle touch, sometimes pressing with an unseen weight, as though nature itself wished to be part of their passage.
The daylight loomed like a watchful guardian, stretching its vast cloak across the galaxy, yet failing to fully conceal the silver slivers of light that peeked through the heavens. Ray of light danced alongside the travelers, their elongated forms moving with a ghostly elegance, flickering in and out of sight as if whispering secrets only the night could understand.
The scent of damp earth and distant foliage mingled in the air, weaving an aroma that carried both the crispness of approaching dawn and the lingering breath of the deep night.
In this quiet, undisturbed moment, time seemed to stretch and contract, moving at the will of something greater. Yet, through it all, Nyxander and his team pressed forward, silent, resolute, and unwavering, like phantoms on a mission only they could comprehend.
The war, once decreed by the celestials themselves, had now transformed into a game of fate, where both sides lay in wait, anticipating that single twist of destiny, that cruel stroke of misfortune that would bind itself into an unbreakable Lock.
Like a taut wire stretched between the Northern and Southern forces, tension coiled around them, linking their fates while sending ripples of unease through the battlefield, each wave a silent whisper of impending doom.