MM - Chapter 233 - A SPARK IS ALL IT TAKES

“A soul fla—?” Celeste’s teeth clicked shut as Raine’s eyes narrowed dangerously. Glancing over her shoulders, she stepped closer, whispering harshly. “Isn’t this the thing you found in the raid?!”

Too fast to track, his hand reached out and snatched her wrist. Celeste didn’t even have time to gasp before he pulled her a step closer and pressed the Sunstone into her palm. She glanced down at it, but her gaze was inexorably drawn back to his. She tried to pull free from his grasp but failed to budge his arm a millimeter. Her words escaped, just as weak. “W-what do you think you’re doing? Why are you holding me?”

Raine’s voice was velvet-wrapped iron. “Because I want to.” He leaned even closer, towering over her with a confident yet light smile.

She’s not like Mel or Pam. She's shy, terrified of admitting her feelings. No more passivity. If I want to make her heart race, I have to show her exactly how much I want her. I have to chase, to pin her down and take her if needed. 

Celeste’s jaw dropped at the direction of his thoughts. Assuming the reaction was for a different reason, Raine pulled her tighter, until they were so close their armor squished softly. “You know me well enough by now… if there was a chance, even if it was only 1%, would I turn away from a treasure that I wanted to take?” Raine continued without giving her a chance to answer the obvious. “No, I wouldn’t. Then why would I turn away from you, when I could take you, and keep you all to myself?”

Her heart went from zero to a full gallop, and she jerked away on instinct. Raine let her go. She fell back a step, eyes wide and full of panic. He turned and nonchalantly walked toward the front line, speaking over his shoulder. “Until you tell me to stop, I’ll keep chasing you, to the ends of both worlds if I have to. Use the stone, I’ll keep you safe until you’re done.”

She opened her mouth to tell him to stop and never try anything like that ever again. However, Raine had long ago beaten into her the repercussions for lying. Of their own accord, her teeth clicked shut. She was terrified that if she didn’t tell him to stop right now, he never would, and she was equally afraid that he might actually stop if she told him to.

[What the fuck is wrong with me? It’s five little words. Say it, Celeste: I want you to stop! Say it. Scream it! Why… Why can’t I say it?]

As Raine dove into the thickest clutch of attacking monsters, tendrils of flame roasting beasts alive, Celeste could only watch on in awe. The way he controlled the fire called to her. It was a demanding itch in the center of her chest, mixing with her racing heart. She rolled the Sunstone between her fingers. Its subtle heat permeated her skin like a whispered promise.

Celeste’s determination to become more powerful, to become the Crimson Nebula that he often thought of, spiked. No matter how confused her emotions might be at the moment, the idea that Raine wouldn’t follow through with a direct promise never even entered her thoughts. He said he would protect her, so there was no reason to hesitate. She lowered herself to the stony ground right there in the open pass, the cold rock pressing against her legs.

She channeled intent into the stone and clicked the button that appeared in her interface. Streamers of fire curled through Celeste’s fingers, then exploded into motion, wrapping around her entire body in a cocoon that blazed like a miniature sun. The blinding shroud shot a massive beam of light straight up, piercing the overcast sky and casting long shadows across the rugged terrain.

The radiant glow acted as a beacon that drew every nearby monster's attention. Atop the peaks, more powerful versions began to spawn. Together, they tumbled downhill in a rush, determined to take her fortune as their own. They came from all sides, their roars blending into a deafening chorus that echoed through the narrow pass.

Intense joy tightened Raine’s stomach until every centimeter of his skin prickled. He couldn’t possibly have kept the massive grin from his face: Celeste hadn’t told him to stop. As if that wasn’t reason enough to feel like he was on top of the world, his regulars deserved any chance he could give them to grow stronger. He’d told her to use the stone out here, in the open, for precisely that reason.

Raine’s boots cratered the ground as he launched overhead in a powerful bound. He landed squarely in the densest cluster of the first new beasts to arrive. A 2-handed sword materialized in his grip. It slashed through an empowered Cragwolf's exposed throat in a clean arc. Instead of blood, shards of stone scattered through the air. Only level 18, the beast turned to stardust from the first hit.

Raine didn’t slow; he was an invisible whirlwind of death, spinning and sliding through the fast creatures without pause or mercy. Seconds later, a greataxe appeared in his grip. He sent it cleaving through a six-meter-tall golem's supporting limb in a spray of pulverized snow and rock fragments. With Leaps that sent him fifty meters, he jumped from one empowered golem to the next, wiping them out before they could collapse the front line of regulars.

He cycled through weapons repeatedly, each time, testing what little he had so far gleaned from observing the Phoenix elites' stances. Unfortunately, the movements weren’t as useful as he’d hoped. The old martials had relied heavily on ground-based movements, which aligned perfectly with their decades of experience fighting on Earth. They had not yet fully embraced the freedom offered by Connection.

While he trained, a contingent of guilders coordinated to repel an Avalanche Golem that barreled toward the front line with rumbling strides. Numerous Blasts and arrows clinked off its durable hide. Its thick leg fell into the waiting ditch, momentarily halting its advance. The huge beast roared, stretching its arms wide to bear its chest. Interlocked shields moved forward to absorb the incoming spray of jagged debris, sending impacts reverberating through their arms like thunder.

Melee strikers flowed around the defensive line. Their weapons clanged against the unyielding rock, not to shatter it outright, but to redirect the incredible force of its blows. Working in tandem, they unbalanced the creature before unleashing targeted Slashes and Pierces on its vulnerable joints. Reinforcements waiting behind rushed forward, swarming past the engagement to block the follow-up onslaught from a contingent of Merciless Cragwolves.

This scene of desperate defense was repeated dozens of times across the breadth of the line. Raine was impressed. Almost every person he saw was already using their skills, proving once again that leveling up in a desperate environment was for the best. Unsurprisingly, though, every last one of them was struggling to raise their completion rates.

Achieving master grades with skills was what separated the masses from the true elites. Even with all of his knowledge to help them train, it would be a miracle if one out of ten managed to cross that divide.

Celeste's influence as a leader shone through in their coordination and willingness to face danger for their allies. Holding ground against superior numbers and superior foes while maintaining morale was commendable, to be sure. Through these hardships, they were building a solid foundation beyond mere survival. Unfortunately, these kinds of engagements taught little about what ZionLine’s combat would one day become—vast numbers supporting a few individuals of overwhelming strength.

Raine set out to illustrate that principle here, sweeping through clusters of beasts with tendrils of flame that extended from his body to roast entire groups alive before they could close the distance. He moved to each beleaguered section in turn, thinning the hordes just enough to prevent breakthroughs, while leaving the regulars to handle the remnants. He called for buffs, heals, and covering fire when it would be most advantageous, ever so slowly drilling into them what it meant to be a pillar of support.

The entire time, he maintained a constant vigil on Celeste's cocoon. The color of heat it emanated slowly changed, further warping the surrounding air with visible ripples. As it did so, ever stronger variants of the beasts emerged to challenge them—golems reinforced with denser boulders that resisted Blasts more effectively, Cragwolves with sharper stone encrustations that sliced through shields on contact, and Frostworms that exhaled wider clouds of mist capable of freezing multiple lances at once.

Fizgore let out a booming roar as he collided with one such Empowered Avalanche Golem, his shield and mace pounding repeated cracks into its core until the structure finally gave way in a cascade of rubble. Rhino’s glaive was a nonstop laser that shot across the battlefield, sniping out the most dangerous Empowered Cragwolves before they could leap over the front line and reach the casters. Mel darted between wounded allies with agile grace, Healing Bursts saving lives as she cut the annoying worms to pieces.

Knowing it was almost time, Raine triggered Grace of Nirvana and vanished, moving too fast to track. Repeated uses of Great Divide cleaved gaping holes in the beast’s ranks and filled the air with cheers. He jumped high, stopping long enough to call for a rotation of the line. Dropping to the center of the regulars, he pulled aside a group who had performed exceptionally well. 

They wiped slick dirt and blood from their brows while adjusting grips on well-used weapons. He directed them away from the battle to escort the incoming Vaaterrans. The regulars nodded in unison. Their leader confirmed the order before they hustled down the pass and vanished around a bend. 

Raine returned to the thick of the fight, his presence alone bolstering the lines as he continued to thin the tide. Celeste’s cocoon held firm for several more minutes before it finally shattered outward in an intense heatwave of dancing wisps. She knelt in the center, slumped and visibly dazed, hair matted with sweat and skin flushed from the ordeal's unrelenting heat.

He arrived at her side without hesitation, squatting to her level. “Good job.” She didn’t respond. Her glazed eyes ever so slowly moved back and forth as she scanned text visible only to her. He gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze to ground her, speaking softly. “Log out, take a break. We’re about to clean up here; you can catch up to us in a bit.”

“Mkay.” She mumbled, then promptly vanished.

Raine composed a detailed message for her to receive upon logging back in, warning her explicitly against using the soul flame's Sacrifice skill. He wasn’t sure she even had access to it since she lacked the original flame. If she did, and used it without sufficient Vital Nutrients, the results could be catastrophic.

The Vaaterran conrois arrived not long after he rejoined the battle. Without needing to be told, their disciplined formations split in two, crashing into the fray on either side of the pass. The impact was immediate. Fueled by significantly higher attributes, each swing ripped apart multiple beasts. The few casters unleashed devastating evolved Blasts and Arcane Volleys that shattered golems into rubble and incinerated entire swaths of Cragwolves. 

The monster rush crumbled under the combined assault. Within mere minutes, an unsettling calm fell over the pass. The Astra regulars stood stunned, ragged breaths and the shuffling of their armor the only sounds. They had faced numerous monster rushes, yet never had they seen one so devastated that it dispersed entirely. They hadn’t even known that was possible.

Raine didn’t make a big deal out of it. Sometimes, the most poignant victory speech was the quiet that came with realizing you had survived and seen something incredible. He signaled for Mel, Fizgore, Rhino, and Varak to join him. Together, they walked out of earshot and huddled behind a pile of stones.

“Everyone, share your maps with me.” Before fighting the Phoenix Elites, he’d updated his map with what Mel had explored. His memory wasn’t nearly at the point that he could recall each nook and cranny of this section of the mountains. It was too vast and wasn’t a part of his regular farming areas in the past.

They complied with his demand, and one by one, Raine highlighted different passes for each of them that would bring them through the remaining mountains. “Fizgore, Rhino, and Varak, each of you will command 13 battlemasters. Lead their respective conrois through the passes I’ve highlighted for you. I want each conroi to be split by at least 1 kilometer.”

The new formations Raine tasked Celeste to implement divided the fifteen thousand regulars into tight-knit conrois of twenty-five men and women, or five lances. Further, each conroi's leader—a bearer—would report to an interim battlemaster who oversaw fifteen bearers—forming a cohort. This structure yielded forty battlemaster-led cohorts, each controlling three hundred seventy-five regulars, forming the backbone of Astra's new command hierarchy.

Fizgore grinned confidently at his orders, eager to take on any challenge. Rhino’s response was the opposite. He’d been pushing himself to get used to ordering others around, and his downcast expression was a clear indication he wasn’t there yet.

Raine's hand came down hard on the young man’s shoulder, and he stumbled forward. “You’re doing great. If you need a break from command, you can take one. But it will only be a break. You’re a natural leader, I won’t let you stagnate just because it’s hard.”

“No I… it’s fine. I can handle it.” Rhino drew up to his full height, spine straight.

“That’s the spirit.” Fizgore chuckled deeply, smacking Rhino on his other shoulder.

“Stop that!” he snarled, knees bent in a ready stance, back to the open air. Fizgore and Raine raised their palms, feigning innocence, a matching grin plastered on their faces. Rhino crossed his arms, frown returning. “You’re making us spread out in different directions? Is this to avoid another monster rush?”

Raine shook his head. “Yes and no. While this will prevent another rush from forming, I have a more important reason for splitting us up this way.”

Mel timidly raised a hand. Not wanting to scare everyone, she didn’t specifically mention the Phoenix elites. “Won’t this make our people vulnerable to being picked off by… enemy scouts?”

“Yup. But don’t worry, I’ve got a plan for that; you’ll understand soon.”

Fizgore scratched at his bare chest, afro swaying in the wind, “Brother looks left and right while speaking riddles.”

Mel and Rhino pinned Fizgore with eyes that screamed, ‘Who’s blaming who for speaking in riddles?!’ Meanwhile, Raine answered his old friend with complete sincerity. “It's a necessary precaution with all the spies. I won’t leave you in the dark for long.” The vicious smile he flashed carried a promise that what was to come would not disappoint them.

Realizing that he’d left her out, Mel tugged on his sleeve. “What about me? You don’t want me to lead anyone?”

“You’ll be in charge of the final battlemaster. And you'll split your cohort through these passes.” At the moment, he and Mel were the only ones with a complete map. Seeing where he had directed the others to go, and then where he wanted her to go, caused a deep frown to etch her features. Raine cut her off before she could ask. “Don’t say anything. Just do it.”

Mel's worry persisted in her expression, but she nodded in acceptance. “Roger-roger!”

“Any further questions?” They shook their heads, and he clapped gently, looking forward to what came next. “In that case, gather the battlemasters. I have some announcements to make, and it’s past time I meet the leaders Celeste chose.”