NOVEL NEXT Chapter 413: Skybreaker
The camp behind them hummed with the buzz of sounds as Dario led them to where their guests were waiting.
The soldiers sharpened their blades, stoked the fires, murmuring among themselves in uneasy voices, all the while unaware of the titanic forces assembling just beyond their reach.
Death walked in silence, Luna beside him, her hand brushing his cloak, the warmth of her aura the only thing that offset the suffocating chill of his own.
They crossed through the snow dusted trees until the forest gave way to a clearing.
There, standing as though they had always belonged to the mountain itself, waited two figures.
They kept a careful distance outside the circle of Death's aura. Even at Rank 9, they weren't untouchable, not from him.
His death aura wouldn't kill them instantly like it did lesser beings, but the steady drain would devour them if they dared to step too close. He was Rank 8 after all.
The first of the guests was a woman, tall and broad shouldered, with eyes the deep hue of stone and hair like cascading soil. The ground itself seemed to hum faintly beneath her bare feet.
Beside her stood a man with golden hair that seemed to glow, and skin that shimmered faintly as though every pore was lit from within. Even in the gray of winter, standing near him felt like basking under noon sunlight.
Death stopped at a healthy distance, keeping his aura well away from his guests. His eyes swept them with no hint of hesitation. "Luna," he said, his voice even, "this is Gaia, mother of the earth. And Atreides, the living sun."
Luna inclined her head, violet eyes curious, but her grip on his cloak remained firm. The air here was heavy with power.
Gaia's gaze was unyielding, like cliffs that had stood against waves for eons. "So it is true. You called us. But tell me, Death, why should we fight at your side? What guarantee do we have that you can win?"
Atreides's golden eyes narrowed, the faint light around him flaring hotter. "The Elders of Carthage are not so easily toppled. Their might is why we live in the shadows."
"Or will you tell me you've forgotten? Why there are so few Rank 9s on this godforsaken mountain range? They hunt us all down. Cull us. To not have to face opposition. Do you think you can succeed where others have burned?"
Death's expression didn't flicker. "Only three of the nine remain," he said flatly. "The rest are dead. Struck down by their own."
Gaia scoffed. "Impossible."
Atreides folded his arms across his radiant chest. "Do not toy with us, boy. The Elders are the most powerful beings on this mountain. When they joined their strength, even gods turned their faces away. You expect us to believe they've simply fallen?"
The wind shifted, scattering snow across the clearing. Death exhaled, a plume of white drifting from his lips. "Believe or don't. It changes nothing. You asked for proof of my strength. The corpses of their families, their soldiers, their subordinates already rot beneath the mountain. They are broken. And now, with your help, they can be finished."
The two Rank 9s exchanged a long look, each one remembering the cullings. It was all just too unbelievable.
Atreides broke the silence, his voice edged with the fire of old scars. "We remember their purge. Their fear of others reaching their height. We remember the slaughter. We are alive only because we buried ourselves so deep the Elders never found us. And you say they can be killed?"
Death's black eyes gleamed faintly. "They already have been."
The words hung like a tombstone in the air.
Still, Gaia's frown didn't ease. "If what you say is true, then tell us your plan. How can we take down the remaining... three? They have more soldiers than you have. They have more talent, through those exams of theirs."
"It's actually quite simple." Death said. His voice was low, deliberate. "We're going to crack them open like an egg."
Gaia's eyes narrowed.
"Come." Death turned, motioning for them to follow. "Let me show you something that would put your mind at ease."
He stepped past the clearing and into a narrow gorge hidden between the folds of snow clad ridges. The path wound down for nearly a mile before opening into a valley shrouded in mist.
As they walked, Death's tone remained calm. "When war begins, I'll need you, Gaia, to split open Carthage's walls. To tear apart the foundations that have stood for centuries. Once you bring them out into the open, I'll unleash one of my trump cards."
Atreides raised a glowing brow. "Trump card?"
Gaia's voice was more cautious, but tinged with curiosity. "And what card would shift the balance of an entire war?"
Death glanced back at them, his grin wide. "Tell me. Have you heard the legend of the Skybreaker?"
The air itself seemed to still.
Gaia's lips parted, her expression flickering in surprise. "That… is a myth."
Atreides's golden aura dimmed for a heartbeat. "A weapon forged before history. A colossus that could tear down the heavens. It was said to be buried forever."
Death stopped at the edge of the valley, spreading a hand toward the mist below. "Myth," he said softly, "becomes truth in my hands."
The fog shifted, as if moved by something vast. Slowly, the silhouette emerged. Towering, slumbering, metal glinting beneath the snow.
A colossus the size of a fortress, its limbs of steel and bronze folded like a beast at rest. Its frame was scarred, but whole, runes etched deep into its plating still faintly aglow.
The Skybreaker.
The valley trembled with the dormant power of it, as though the earth itself remembered being split beneath its tread.
Gaia and Atreides stood frozen, their eyes wide, reflecting the titanic shape.
"You…" Atreides whispered, his voice cracking through the air, "found it."
Gaia's usually immovable expression flickered, awe dawning in her eyes. "By the roots of the mountain… you found the Skybreaker."
Death's smile was cold. "No. I claimed it. And when the time comes, it will wake."
The Rank 9s stared down at the slumbering giant, the truth undeniable now.
Perhaps the Elders of Carthage could fall.