NOVEL NEXT Chapter 148: The Fall
All of the arcane knights stood together and stared at the humongous gates with their eyes widened in disbelief.
"Is this the end?"
"Why is it so big?!"
"That's what sh—"
Even the vagabond arcane knights had gathered near the imperial palace under the threat of the three gates that loomed over them like the scythe of the Grim Reaper.
Even though despair was permeating every single spot of the once grand capital, Fatherion. No one had the option of running away because there was nowhere to run. All paths led to a single outcome, and that was fighting against the dreadful nightmares that would come out of the three gates.
The gates were Master ranked, but the nightmares that were about to come out of them would be of humongous size; they would be stronger and more destructive than the smaller nightmares.
"What... can we even do against this?" Pheona muttered in disbelief and tightened her grip around the staff.
"Nothing," Yorina replied flatly and glanced at the other gates before turning back to return inside.
Seeing her return without saying anything, Xeron asked gravely, "Are we not going to do anything about it?"
She stopped in her tracks, turned her head towards him and asked, "What can we even do? The Saint-ranked nightmares that would step out of it would be king-level... even if we use everything we have, we wouldn't be able to kill them. Isn't it better to just enter the dream realm instead of dying here?"
Xeron's expression darkened at her words and he knew she was right. As a moon marked, he always viewed everything with utter calm, but against this overwhelming despair, even he was losing his calm.
"You all are thinking too much," Zaria commented with an impassive look.
Everyone turned their heads towards her and looked at her with deep frowns etched on their faces.
Even though they wanted to be as nonchalant as her. They simply couldn't because of how precarious the situation was... yet, she had decided to throw all of that in the drain and was acting like nothing of this mattered to her.
Her act annoyed Faemrion the most as he yelled furiously, "Do you think all of this is a joke?!"
He pointed at the dreamgate in the north and spat, "Tell me, what makes you so easy about this situation?"
Zaria turned her head towards the dreamgate and muttered, "The reason we were waiting here was because the situation was solvable, but because it's no longer feasible, we have no option but to abandon the capital."
Faemrion's expression worsened and his lips parted to breathe fire, but she stopped her by lifting a finger and continued, "At the same time, the Shadow Sovereign have no reason to keep the Sovereign-ranked nightmare trapped in his Shadow Zone."
Everyone's eyes widened as the understanding dawned on them.
All of this time, they had forgotten about the strongest person present within the capital — Shadow Sovereign, who was keeping the Sovereign-ranked gate guardian that had come out of the Saint-ranked dreamgate trapped in his Shadow Zone.
With the use of Shadow Sovereign's realm gate, even the Unawakened could enter the dream gate, thus saving everyone from this dreadful assault.
"We have to inform him about this," Baraham muttered with a determined look.
Everyone turned their heads towards him and looked at him with deadpan looks as Yorina muttered, "Inform him? Aren't the gates already grabbing enough attention?"
An embarrassed look appeared on his face, and he chose to ignore all the strange looks they were giving him.
"So, when do you think he will come here?" Yorina asked while staring at the students who were shivering while looking at the gates with despair-filled eyes.
A thoughtful look appeared on Zaria's face for a few seconds before she muttered, "Soon."
Yorina sighed at her detailed answer and the shadows around them began to wiggle.
All of them looked around fanatically as the shadows detached themselves from the beings and objects that were casting them and began to move towards a single spot — the grand gate of the Imperial palace.
"What is going on?" Baron asked with a horrified look as his own shadow slid away from him.
The shadows twisted and turned and took the shape of a dark hole before a gate began to rise out of the hole.
A tall, dark gate made out of shadows appeared over the hole and black began to swirl inside it.
It was the realm gate of the Shadow Sovereign.
Get everyone out of here.
A deep, chilling voice rang within the heads of all of the generals and they quickly began to prepare for retreat in the dream realm.
"EVERYONE!" Yorina thundered, and her voice echoed throughout the Fatherion.
"ENTER THE REALM GATE!"
The despair pale faces brightened a little and all of them began to run towards the realm gate without a single thought of anyone else.
"No matter what! I will survive this!"
"Finally!"
They shouted while running towards the realm gate, but suddenly, a pressure descended onto all of them.
Groans filled the ground as Yorina pressed them down with her will and muttered coldly, "Walk up to it like the humans you are."
They looked at her with furious eyes but they couldn't do anything but follow her command.
Right then, a deafening sound of cracks echoed throughout the whole capital.
Everyone's expression turned pale and they quickly turned their heads towards the gates.
The gates had begun to break.
"Quicken your feet!" Yorina shouted once again while the other generals got all of the arcane knights that belonged to their faction to a single location.
Jaden walked towards the realm gate and a blue screen appeared before him.
[Quest completed!]
[Found the realm gate of Shadow Sovereign.]
He tried to ignore the message but...
[You are being rewarded for completing the quest…]
[Ding!]
[You have obtained a single-use relic!]
[Call of the shadow: Summon a shadow being from the shadow realm. (You can only summon the being that you have met before)]
His tracks slowed for a moment but he shook his head and thought, 'I have to escape this place first.'
He stepped forward, and suddenly the world beneath shook as a heartbeat echoed within the capital.
"Blasted hell!" He cursed as the land beneath him quickened and he fell to his knees.
"QUICK!" Yorina shouted, and at the same time, the gates broke.
ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH—!
The roars of the nightmares filled the capital as they struck the wall to reach the place with the most souls for their nourishment.
Maria and Yorina looked at Jaden with grave looks because he still wasn't able to stand up.
"What's wrong with him?" They mumbled darkly.
Jaden had the same question because no matter how much he tried he couldn't stand up.
"What's going on?" He muttered in disbelief and his eyes fell on a person who was looking at him with a wide grin — Ansel.
His expression darkened even further and he mumbled, "No way..."
Yorina, who had already guessed that something was wrong with him, muttered, "Yuka, teleport Jaden here."
I can't...
"What?"
It's not working
"What are you saying?"
It's like... he no longer exists here...
"Huh?"
However, before she could continue her question... the wall that had stood tall for nearly a century fell under the relentless attacks of the nightmares.
The ground shook as countless, enormous nightmares began to rush towards the capital.
"I have to get him—" Yorina concluded but her steps were stopped by the words of the Shadow Sovereign.
Yorina... I can't keep the gate open for long... that Sovereign-ranked nightmare is rushing towards the imperial palace.
Yorina bit her lips and answered, "Alright..."
She glanced at Jaden for a moment before mumbling, "Yuka, use all of my mana and teleport anyone you can near the realm gate."
All right.
Suddenly, she felt all of her mana drain and every human present within the capital was teleported near the realm gate.
Before the frenzy could spread between them, the headmaster, who had been with the Shadow Sovereign till now, shouted, "ENTER THE REALM GATE!"
Just like Yorina, he made sure to force them with his will. No one said anything and began to run towards the realm gate.
On the other hand, Jaden was still not able to stand up. 'Should I just enter the dream realm?' He thought and closed his eyes.
A message appeared before him.
[Error! Error! Error!]
[Host is under the effect of a single-use relic: Space Prison.]
[Space Prison: An Epic Relic that traps the affected into a subdimension severed from the concept of space.]
His eyes widened in disbelief and he muttered, "What?"
The nightmares were about to reach the palace but suddenly the shadows wiggled once again and pushed everyone inside the realm gate.
The shadows touched him and passed through his body but did nothing.
A muscular man in dark armour appeared before the realm gate. He looked at Jaden and turned towards the gate.
His voice resounded in Jaden's head.
I am sorry.
Jaden closed his eyes and took a deep breath before muttering.
"Summon. Call of the shadow."
His grimoire appeared before him and black sparks fell from it.
The sparks moved and took the shape of a dark bracelet around his right hand and he mumbled, "Heed my call."
The shadows twisted once again.