NOVEL NEXT Chapter 422: It's Ren Ross!
The morning had been deceptively calm.
Ren, Lilith, and Thorn were seated on the cracked wooden table inside their hideout, breakfast spread out before them. A simple meal of bread, dried meat, and water.
Lilith chewed quietly, her gaze soft as she watched Ren slice the last loaf. Thorn, already halfway through his portion, grunted his approval.
They all had different things on their minds. Lilith's hand would periodically drift to her belly, while she focused her Divine Gift on the budding soul.
She wished Ren could see what she was seeing. A new soul, slowly growing into something whole. It was the most beautiful sight she'd ever laid eyes on.
She turned to Ren with a smile, about to explain what he was missing out on when the floor trembled.
Ren froze, his hand tightening around the bread knife. Lilith's eyes narrowed as she placed her meal aside, already reaching into the folds of her clothes and pulling out her throwing knives. Thorn slammed his cup down, jumping to his feet.
The bathhouse shook again, stronger this time, dust raining from the ceiling beams. The plates rattled and fell to the floor, shattering.
"Did they find us?" Ren's head snapped toward the door. His senses stretched, probing for any living presence, but there was nothing.
All he could sense was the steady vibrations, deep and growing, like the heartbeat of the mountain itself.
"I don't think this is an attack," Ren muttered.
"Then what the hell is it?" Thorn growled, bracing himself against the table as the entire building groaned.
Another rumble shook them so hard the walls cracked. Ren grabbed Lilith's arm, and Thorn was already moving. They sprinted through the creaking halls, climbing the iron staircase that led to the roof.
By the time they burst through the rusted trapdoor, the world had changed.
The sky was blinding. The familiar stone ceiling of their layer was gone, replaced by the pale morning sun. They flinched against the sudden light, shielding their eyes. Then, as they adjusted, the horror revealed itself.
The layer they stood on, and all other layers of Carthage, were no longer hidden deep within the mountain.
It had all been pulled into the open like some grotesque stage, buildings groaning and splitting at their roots as the very earth shifted beneath them.
And beyond…
"Gods," Thorn whispered.
Death's army. A sea of warriors, with steel flashing like fireflies across the fields.
They were already pouring into the exposed layers, slaughtering anyone they came across, whether soldiers or civilians. The smoke of burning homes curled into the air, mingling with screams and the crash of power against power.
Ren's jaw clenched. He didn't hesitate.
"We move now," he barked, jarring them out of their shock. "This is our chance. The tunnels are gone, but so are the walls. We can get to the Elders' Building directly."
Lilith's eyes snapped to him, then to the smoking battlefield below. She nodded without a word. Thorn cracked his knuckles and grinned grimly.
Ren tried to find the building, but he had no idea where the deepest layer had been sent to. So, they vaulted off the roof, landing in the broken street below.
The ground was alive with chaos. Soldiers sprinting, civilians screaming, and invaders cutting down anyone in their path. Ren led the way, weaving through the madness.
"There!" He had to tell to be heard over the roars of the battle. He pointed at a tall, half-intact building that towered above the rest of their layer. "If we get to the roof, we might be able to see the Elders' Building!"
They raced forward, pushing through clouds of dust and smoke. The streets were choked with rubble, splintered carts, and bodies. Every corner was a battlefield.
They rounded an alley, then froze.
A squad of Carthage's soldiers blocked their path, armor scorched and blades already drawn. Recognition lit their eyes.
"It's Ren Ross!" Their leader snarled, voice thick with hate. "Kill them!"
The soldiers charged.
Ren surged forward to meet them, vines exploding from his arms to lash across the cobblestones.
The first soldier screamed as the tendrils wrapped around his legs and yanked him into the air. Ren twisted his wrist, and there was a loud crack as the man's spine bent backward.
He fell limp, dead before he hit the floor.
A second lunged with a halberd, swinging in a wide arc. Ren raised his arm, his Vine Armor thickening just in time.
The blade screeched across it, sending sparks flying. Ren drove a Push into his opponent's chest, the man's ribs shattered inward with a crunch, and he was flung across the street.
Beside him, Lilith's knives gleamed as they left her hands in quick succession.
One buried itself in a soldier's throat, another in his knee. She Pulled with her resonance, and the man screamed as he was yanked forward, straight into her waiting knife. Blood sprayed as she slit his throat cleanly.
Another soldier tried to flank her, sword raised high. Lilith pivoted, eyes flashing. Her knife curved back in midair as if it was alive, slamming into the man's temple before he ever reached her.
On the other side, Thorn roared as he waded into the fray. His bone arm swung like a hammer, smashing through shields and helmets.
One soldier's chest collapsed inward under his blow, another went flying into a wall, leaving cracks spiderwebbing across the stone.
He shifted two charges into armor, and his bones grew, spearing through his skin to cover his body in bone armor.
Three more soldiers rushed him together. Thorn gritted his teeth, shifting charges into speed.
His body blurred, and he slipped between them, twisting like a dancer. His arm lashed out, catching one in the gut, then up into the jaw of another, breaking bones with sickening cracks.
The last soldier brought his sword down on Thorn's back. The blade shattered against his fused bone armor, sparks scattering.
Thorn spun and drove his fist into the man's skull, killing him instantly.
The fight was over in less than a minute.
The alley was littered with corpses, blood soaking into the broken cobblestones. Smoke drifted lazily overhead, the battlefield's cacophony swallowing even the sound of their breathing.
Ren wiped the blood from his jaw, eyes hard. "Move. We can't waste time."
Lilith reclaimed her knives, face unreadable. Thorn kicked one of the corpses aside with a grunt, his eyes already turning toward the tower.