(Book 2 Complete!) Tales of the Endless Empire [LitRPG Apocalypse]

Thalion stood still, waiting just long enough for the others to catch up. The barricade ahead loomed like a wall carved from the bones of the earth. It wasn't just its size that was daunting, but the knowledge that they couldn't summon the divine formations down here. Without open sky, the radiant rings of light were useless. That left them with steel, magic, and blood.

The wall itself stretched over fifty meters high. From this angle, it looked more like a mountainside than any man-made structure. For all Thalion knew, there could be an entire hill piled behind it. Breaching it by force would be a nightmare, and yet there was no visible weakness.

"What now?" Kaldrek asked, his voice tight as his eyes scanned the stone barricade and the dark monolith behind it. For now, they were just beyond the defenders' reach, but that wouldn't last.

"Is that the pillar?" Maike asked, her voice soft and uncertain. "It looks dangerous. What if it fights back?"

Thalion had asked himself the same question. A structure like that, pulsing with energy and crowned with twisted architecture, had to be more than decoration. It would not surprise him if it had defenses of its own, perhaps even sentience.

"We have to get through that wall first," Kaldrek said, a hint of frustration bleeding into his words. "And I don't see how we do it quickly."

Thalion considered unleashing his bloodline skill. One properly charged strike could reduce the entire thing to rubble. But doing so would reveal far too much. Even though his powers no longer resembled the elven gift they once were, someone might notice the connection. He had kept his secrets this long. He would not give them away for stone.

Besides, the wall had clear limitations. The top was lined with defenders, but they were exposed. No shield covered them, and their cover only reached the middle of their bodies. A coordinated volley might force them into hiding. If that worked, Thalion could scale or bypass the wall using Mistform. Alternatively, he could shift into his eagle form and stir a storm within the corridor. Lightning might not harm the stone warriors, but it could obscure their vision. Still, that would risk hitting allies. Worse, it would mean revealing his true nature to everyone present.

There were no vampires in sight. That alone made him uneasy. Either they had retreated, or something worse awaited behind the wall.

"They'll throw spears," Thalion said, almost to himself. "Maybe boulders. But they don't have any system-grade weapons or siege tools. Just brute force and numbers."

He stepped forward, his voice rising so the others could hear.

"We send in the fast ones first. Draw their fire. Everyone else lays down suppressive spells and shots. The top of the wall is narrow. They can't mass there. If we keep the pressure up, they'll fold."

Without waiting for a reply, Thalion advanced. He was tired of stalling. Too many enemies waited for him across too many battlefields. This pillar might be the first key to ending all of it.

"Alright, he's going. Let's move!" Kaldrek shouted, signaling to the mages to activate the formations. Everyone except Thalion received the boost. He didn't ask for it, didn't want it. That kind of power, borrowed and temporary, made his skin crawl. Let the others take the blessings. He had his own strength.

"Let's smash that wall!" Kargul roared, his aura flaring like a bonfire. With a burst of speed, the orc surged forward, weapon raised.

The moment Kargul crossed into range, the defenders reacted. Stone weapons arced through the air with surprising speed. Spears carved down from the battlements with force no one expected from such blocky frames. One struck Kargul's weapon head-on, stopping him in his tracks and throwing him backward. He hadn't used full strength, but it was still a brutal impact.

Thalion followed close behind, launching thorned projectiles upward in quick succession. He stayed just outside the danger zone, testing the enemy's reactions. The defenders were well-trained. They raised shields, parried, and returned fire with deadly timing. It was clear this formation wasn't new to them.

Even so, they lacked the power to break through. Thalion weaved between their attacks like water flowing through stone. The empowered warriors beside him found gaps between the volleys and pushed forward. Spears shattered when they struck the earth. The momentum was building.

The wall would not hold forever.

And Thalion was already imagining the moment it fell.

The ground beneath their feet remained completely indestructible, a nightmare for the defenders. First the useless sand, now the unyielding stone. It must have driven them mad. Thalion imagined how often they must have cursed the System. Yet they remained, guarding the pillar instead of fleeing like the vampires. Why? What were they waiting for?

It didn't matter. Thalion was done wondering. The time for hesitation had passed. Now was the time to tear them apart. The pillar had to fall. Every moment wasted here was a moment stolen from the search of the tunnels and the underground palace. His aura ignited, crimson and wild, a flare of true intent. A patch of air to his left shimmered before bursting into burning scarlet flames. Power surged through him, and with one gesture, he hurled the fire forward in a devastating wave, crashing against the barricade that sealed the chamber ahead.

The stone spears thrown in response were pitiful against the sheer breadth of the spell. They were crafted to parry precision attacks, not to hold back a wall of fire. Thalion did not wait. His form dissolved into mist and he slipped through the chaos, nearly invisible in the wake of the flame. Smoke swirled around him as he passed unseen behind the blaze and entered the vast chamber.

Only then did he truly grasp what he had done.

The defenders had not even attempted to stop the flames. Their thick stone hides could endure the heat. But his goal had not been destruction. It had been entry. And that goal was achieved.

At the center of the colossal room stood the pillar. It rose like a monument to death, a massive structure embedded with screaming skulls. Around it, hundreds of stone warriors stood ready. They had fortified the space with additional battlements at the edges of the chamber, structures of thick stone providing elevation and cover. Thalion had breached their line, but they were ready.

Spears flew. Shouts echoed. He had only seconds to act.

Before they could overwhelm him, Thalion activated his bloodline skill. In a burst of crimson flame, he vanished and reappeared atop one of the enemy's fortified structures. He did not arrive empty-handed. A sword of fire, five meters long, gleamed in his grasp like an executioner's blade mid-fall. He swung it with all the fury of a rising storm.

The defenders atop the battlement had no chance. Designed for brute defense, they were too slow to react. The fiery blade cleaved through them in one sweeping arc, reducing fifteen stone warriors to charred remains. The impact shattered the stone beneath them, erupting in a thunderous explosion that hurled burning fragments into the air.

Thalion resumed his human form instantly. Across the chamber, one of the warriors stared in disbelief. Thalion returned the gaze with a crimson glare. The enemy's knees buckled and he toppled from the high platform, his body striking the ground below with a shattering crack.

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With a surge of blood control, Thalion launched himself higher into the air, staying above the chaos and using the pillar as cover against further projectiles. As he rose, he charged a blood arrow. The bow shimmered into existence, sleek and deadly. Its power had become one of his greatest weapons, perfect for piercing even the toughest defenses.

His first shot struck an unaware defender across the chamber. The arrow exploded on impact, reducing the warrior to dust and silence. More spears followed, but none were fast enough. Thalion relied on the sixth sense granted by his title, weaving effortlessly between the incoming attacks.

A group of warriors began sprinting up the walls, defying gravity as if it meant nothing. The sight looked like something ripped from a fantasy epic. Even so, Thalion kept calm and continued his barrage. Another arrow soared through the air, striking a cluster of soldiers on the right battlement. The resulting blast threw them into the air. From such heights, even their reinforced bodies could not guarantee survival.

He knew he had to move faster. His elite team, though powerful, was outnumbered. He had to tilt the balance in their favor. As he lined up his next shot toward the blockade where his allies remained trapped, a sudden explosion ripped the structure apart.

Stone fragments rained down as Kargul emerged from the dust cloud, roaring like a wild beast, his fists hammering against his chest. He stormed into the chamber with unstoppable momentum, a living avalanche of rage.

The wall-climbing warriors closed in on Thalion. He loosed another arrow into the far barricade, then dismissed his bow. In its place appeared the blade of the blooded Templar.

One of the stone warriors had taken a spear and used it as a makeshift surfboard, gliding through the air toward Thalion. In his hand shimmered a sword of pure stone, heavy and jagged. Thalion watched him approach, expression unreadable.

He did not wait.

With a breath, he activated the Crimson Garden. Blood-bound vines exploded into existence, writhing through the air like hungry spirits. He had already tested them against a spear wielder earlier, and they had outperformed even his own blade.

As the enemy closed in, Thalion pressed himself against the chamber wall, using blood control to anchor himself in place. His crimson eyes gleamed in the shadows, the vines already moving to strike.

He wanted to test whether he could fight like this, and to his surprise, it was easier than he had imagined. A grin crept across his face as he dodged the attack. It was strange, of course, to have the ground before him and the world flipped, but the experience itself felt oddly satisfying. The stone warriors with spears struggled against his expanding Crimson Garden. Yet the one wielding the sabre moved through it effortlessly, cutting the vines apart like weeds. This warrior was clearly one of their strongest.

Thalion's killing intent surged outward like a wave of pressure. Both combatants rushed toward each other, their weapons slashing through the air in wide arcs. The Blade of the Blooded Templar shimmered with crimson energy, and the crystal on the hilt pulsed with a demonic red glow. The impact of their clash sent a sharp shock through the air and forced both fighters to recoil.

As Thalion tried to strike with a vine and create space, a thrown spear shattered part of his shoulder armor. He barely avoided more serious injury. The Orrathi sabre wielder immediately dashed toward him, having been thrown farther by the strange gravity of the wall. Thalion slid a few meters before finding stable footing. Fighting in this orientation was chaotic, but he was starting to enjoy it. The only problem was the others interfering, making his duel more dangerous with every passing second.

Fortunately, his sixth sense, sharpened by his titles, allowed him to react to unseen threats. He focused fully on the sabre-wielder. Their eyes locked. Crimson flames flickered in Thalion's gaze, meeting the cold, steady eyes of the Orrathi. A powerful Crimson Gaze struck the warrior's mind. Surprised by the mental intrusion, the Orrathi faltered.

Without wasting a breath, Thalion lunged forward. The virenthorn hunted down the remaining three warriors with whipping vines, while Thalion focused on finishing his main opponent. A red slash burst into existence just a meter in front of the warrior's face. An instant later, the Orrathi was split cleanly in two. His body landed in broken pieces across the battlefield.

Thalion allowed his killing intent to fuse with the will of the crimson virethorn. He turned on the others with fire in his veins. They had no hope. One glance and the Crimson Gaze broke their focus. Flames erupted all around them. Vines snaked from every crevice. And in the center of it all stood Thalion, his sword cutting through their ranks with deadly precision.

Elsewhere, Josh, Jack, and the others were locked in battle with the stonefolk. Without air support from the skyship, they were clearly struggling. The battlefield here was unpredictable. But with Thalion cutting through enemy forces like a scythe through grass and lending aid when needed, their victory came swiftly. The tide had turned. The stonefolk began to fall back.

Eventually, only ten were left. And then, to Thalion's surprise, they surrendered. Until now, every opponent had fought to the death without hesitation. But these warriors knelt at his feet and began to plead.

"Please do not destroy the pillar," one of them said. "The undead betrayed us. They are focusing everything on defending one single pillar. Even with your strength, you will not reach it in time. Let Ankhet be revived, even if he returns stronger. Perhaps then he will not be so furious with you."

Thalion raised an eyebrow and stretched his neck.

"Why is the pillar so important? Why didn't you flee like the vampires? And how did you even get here?"

The kneeling warrior bowed his head and answered.

"We come from integrated space. Weak planets with little to offer are sometimes able to enter the tutorials. Our clan was lucky to be selected after a event. We were given a mission. Protect the pillar until Ankhet awakens or die trying."

That was not good. It meant these enemies had nothing left to lose and came from all across the stars. If all these groups converged in one place, conflict would be inevitable. A war between desperate survivors was coming.

Thalion tilted his head and asked again.

"So that's why none of you have spatial rings? Where did you pull those weapons from?"

"It is similar to your blood reservoir," the Orrathi said, voice trembling. "Please, we cannot tell you anything about the other pillars. Nor do we know anything about the undead."

Thalion responded by vanishing in a blur of motion. A single slash painted the air in red. The ten warriors collapsed to the ground, lifeless and silent. Their blood pooled around his boots.

He turned to the others.

"Destroy the pillar and keep moving. I did not come this far just to run in the end."

His sword pulsed with violent energy, flames dancing along the blade. The crimson glow from his mask flickered across the chamber when he turned to the pillar.