Chapter 49 - First Draft

Chapter 49 - LOT (Alright! Feeling much less sick, time to get us caught up :) )

“Your Lordship… Is it really fine to leave them on their own right now?” The Spymaster of the Magma Clan, Morral Kinto, stared up at the Empyrean Lord, his eyes questioning.

Right now, they were under attack. Reports had flooded in, and the ongoing explosions outside had already made it clear that this was a fact. Morral could feel the presence of the Golden Flame Clan, and reports of the O’Bald pirates mixed in, as well as many powerful Spirit Beasts that had been let loose.

“My word is unquestionable, Morral.” An undercurrent of anger filled the Empyrean Lord’s voice as he grinded his fist on the arm of his throne, a frown on his face.

He’d expected an attack of some sort… but one by forces of the Void. Not one launched by the O’Bald Pirates and the Golden Flame Clan, on the Forinth Stronghold proper. At least, not yet. His men had found traces of the O’Bald Pirates, and their recent conquering of the Samier Collective and a few other territories to the north had no doubt angered the Golden Flame Clan.

But for this to all happen at once… there were undercurrents here that he was not fully aware of.

He sighed. In the end, it didn’t matter. As long as he was alive, it was impossible for the Magma Clan to fall.

Still, they would suffer quite a bit today it seemed.

“Let the younger generation treat this as an awakening moment. Leave them to fend for and defend themselves. With the preparations we made for the Void, we are more than able to defend against this joint attack. Moreover, only two of the Torches of the Golden Flame Clan are here.” His voice echoed authoritatively in the throne room.

“If they are unable to survive, then they were simply too weak to begin with. I was never coddled as a child, and that is why I am the Empyrean Lord, and the greatest warrior of the Magma Clan.” He waved his hand at Morral, motioning for him to leave.

“Go and assist the Royal Guards if they need assisting, and organize the evacuation of the regular members to the secured strongholds.”

The potbellied Spymaster bowed and acknowledged his commands, exiting the throne room.

The Empyrean Lord watched him leave. Soon the throne room was empty once more, the figure of a single man sitting alone atop a throne. The torches on the walls cast the room into a maze of shadows, where reality and fiction merged.

He sighed, and slowly rested his hand on the hilt of the broadsword thrust into the ground next to his throne.

“Not yet, old friend. The players have come to the board… but not all the pieces have been revealed.” His eyes gleamed as he stared at the sword, sitting patiently.

Silence resumed as the Empyrean Lord waited, unmoving.

..

Jack looked around at the bubble of flames protecting them, on the edge of his feet. He watched as the enormous ball of magma and golden flames crashed down, exploding downward. He could barely make it out through the flame barrier Arial had called up.

“Quick! Join me!” Arial’s voice had taken on a calmer edge in the face of death as she motioned to the few Magma Clan members that had made it inside her bubble. There were around a dozen people here, including Jack.

Rapidly, these fighters strengthened the bubble around them, adding their own creation of flames.

The Magma Clan’s natural bloodline was one that allowed them to manipulate magma. However, reaching that stage required a great deal of training and technique. The young elites here were all able to adeptly manipulate fire, and were currently training to be able to manipulate molten magma.

*WHOOSH*

It took only a split second for the massive ball of magma and golden flames to reach them.

The impact created a second, smaller shockwave, one Jack was able to keep his feet for. An immense feeling of pressure landed on their fragile bubble for an instant, setting it shuddering. Powerful heat washed over Jack and the others, almost setting the air itself a blaze. Smoke, dust, and storms of wind slammed into Jack, trying to knock him over.

Several of the Magma Clan younger elites trembled, a few of them coughing up blood and collapsing at the impact.

After a few seconds, however, the flames dissipated, and the magma sloughed off. The feeling of pressure vanished, and the devastating heat lessened. Jack felt at his skin, feeling it slightly singed, even with the protection of his Spirit.

Arial dropped the bubble of flames, her face pale. She gave Jack a worried smile after seeing he was okay before rushing off to check on the downed Magma Clan members.

Jack took several deep breaths, looking out at the area around them.

Small pools of burning magma covered the ground, dotted between areas of land. Many of the people that had been under the shadow of the blazing meteor had survived, either working with various Magma Clan members to create small bubbles like Arial did, or protected by various guards that accompanied them.

Still, especially for the new recruits, the casualties were not insignificant. Jack saw several still burning corpses just a few dozen meters away. He wiped a sheen of sweat of his forehead, forcing himself to remain calm.

Everyone seemed to be temporarily in a state of shock. The officials who had been ordering them around were nowhere to be seen, either dead or knocked unconscious. More than half the elite competitors here were down.

Off to the corner, Jack saw Bale and Evan moving away from the now cratered ground, headed towards a bleak, stone building in the distance. Jack’s eyes opened wide as he saw it.

A large, veritable castle of a building, built out of black stone, with almost no windows. Three central towers stood roughly thirty meters high, forming an inner hall, while a shorter collection of connected buildings looped around it.

The Central Ceremony Building of the Magma Clan.

Jack’s eyes flashed as he turned away, looking back at Arial. She was currently kneeling, looking over a wounded Magma Clan member.

Jack walked up to her,

“We’ve got a lot of injured fighters. These guys are the young elites of your clan, and we should try to save as many as we can, right?” His voice was quiet and calm, cutting through the chaotic scene like a knife through butter.

Arial turned to Jack and nodded, her eyes latching on to him like a sailor adrift at sea latching on to a piece of driftwood.

“Ye-yes,” She began, gathering herself. Forming the protective shield to block the impact of the flames and magma had taken a lot out of her, almost sending her into shock like it had many of the other young warriors.

“Yes, we need to get them to safety immediately, and then join the defense if we can help.” She took several deep breaths, seemingly regaining her poise.

“Alright, then let’s get everyone to a safe location. How about over there?” Jack turned and gestured towards the Central Ceremony Building. Of the nearby strongholds, it was the only one that wasn’t damaged or collapsing. The security and durability of the building, according to Liren, was supposed to be one of the highest in the entire Stronghold. It was made to be especially defensive, and difficult to damage or break into.

Arial’s eyes lit up as she saw the building,

“Yes, excellent! Alright!” She jumped to her feet, her voice regaining its normal vigor.

“Listen up, everyone that can move! Help carry the injured to the Ceremony Building! If you have any medicine, be sure to use it to help those that are injured recover. The Clan will compensate you.” Her voice was loud, and authoritative.

Immediately, the many Magma Clan members that were milling about, some in confusion while others trying to recover, all turned towards her and nodded. Swiftly they began to gather up, those that were free helping carry those that couldn’t move. Several of the surviving officials gathered up around Arial, complimenting her idea.

Jack himself walked over and bent down to help pick up a recruit he recognized that was lying on the ground. The other black masked fighter that Arial had said was interesting.

As he touched the body, however, it rolled over, revealing a horribly scarred and burned visage. Jack stumbled backwards in shock, looking at the corpse in horror.

According to Arial, he had been one of the strongest recruits. It seemed he hadn’t managed to find a bubble formed by a Magma Clan warrior, and had been killed in the meteor of magma and golden flames that had fallen down.

He had just been talking to him, just a few minutes earlier. Jack looked down at the dead, burnt body, resisting the urge to throw up. He hadn’t even gotten the man’s name.

He closed his eyes for a brief moment, and then opened them. All of a sudden, Jack felt extremely tired. He sighed, and walked over to another body lying on the ground. This one was a Magma Clan member, thankfully not dead. He helped pick him up, and then joined the rest of the group, heading towards the Central Ceremony Building.

..

“Strength… I feel it.” Liren muttered quietly, looking at his hands. He flicked his finger to the right.

Instantly, several large cracks appeared, and then disappeared, the space fluctuating violently. He clenched his fists, causing the space around them to distort, like a thousand cracked shards of grass centered all on his hands.

He relented, watching the world around him return to normal.

“My Natural Ability… my control of it and my strength in using it has jumped enormously. He did not lie about the benefits of absorbing a Seed. The strength and ability of my body itself had jumped by a large amount too.” He looked down, away from the volcano peak he was standing on, towards the Forinth Stronghold.

Down below, explosions were going off in five different sectors as far as Liren could tell.

Two of the sectors had Golden Flames combatting molten magma. One of the sectors was a mix of pure, black darkness thrashing against magma, and mostly losing. Ice was mixed in with the darkness, however, helping push back the magma. One sector, instead of magma, was constantly suffering under countless blasts of formless wind and sword strikes, devastating nearby buildings. The last sector was currently being peppered with enormous, shards of wood, appearing from seemingly nowhere, somehow resisting the red molten magma that was being blasted at it.

Apart from all of that, the island was covered in the sounds of Spirit Beasts going on a rampage. It appeared that someone had unleashed several hundred Spirit Beasts with bloodlines related to metal.

Liren couldn’t make out any of the individuals fighting, but he knew enough about his enemies to recognize the battles.

The Burn Lords of the Magma Clan were currently engaged with some of the Torches of the Golden Flame Clan, and, if Liren wasn’t mistaken, the Ironblood Captains of the O’Bald Pirates. The metal Spirit Beasts were a signature move of Captain Olai, the Beastmaster, one of the Ironblood Captains. The Meteor Swordmaster was also fighting someone, probably the Wind Scythe Captain Desmon of the O’Bald pirates.

The Commander of the O’Bald Pirates was nowhere to be seen, however.

Liren was extremely knowledge when it came to the powerful groups and warriors in this world. He had made it his mission to be fully prepared for any enemies or fights that came his way.

For the O’Bald Pirates to be launching an attack now, in conjunction with the Golden Flame Clan, so coincidentally as when he and the others were trying to sneak around…

It was just as Darfur had said.

Fate was twisted around him, drawing people, events, and things towards him.

Liren sighed once more. The world had become a much grimmer, darker place. But he knew what he needed to do.

He turned his head, focusing down the volcano, towards a particular building, at the center of the Forinth Stronghold.

The Central Ceremony Building.

Slowly, keeping his eyes on target, Liren clapped his hands and vanished, leaving behind an empty, desolate peak.