House of Amarin

The battle for the fortress on the southern borders was going on for two days, without ever stopping to rest. By now, the Undead were climbing up on their own mountain of corpses to reach the top of the walls while in the air, Supreme Elders and dragons were fighting. All the eight elements were rampaging through the air and ground as it plunged the region into total chaos and, one could say, painted the perfect image of the apocalypse.

"Get the fuck off my wall!" Keily shouted, blasting an intelligent variant in the chest with a mix of fire and lightning, exploding his body into pieces before hopping up to the edge and letting a sea of flames burst from his hands, burning away the bodies they were using as a ladder.

A few meters away from him, one of Ceiline's giant peashooters was just dragged down from the wall with a loud screech. Yet, it never stopped shooting, going up in flames at the end, exploding with a loud bang, quickly replaced by multiple smaller ones who continued spewing their attacks with angry faces. On his left, Raufon and Simbad were battling multiple other intelligent variants, working as a team in tossing them from the walls, stepping over the bodies of their own fallen comrades. There were not just soldiers who died in the constant assault but Misfits, people who were once classmates of theirs or came freshly from the Academy.

There was no time for thinking about it, though. Mourning the fallen, honoring their memories, had to wait for the day the Undead was gone. Aurora and Sion were in the midst of commanding the defensive army, diverting fresh forces to where they were most needed, while the brother trio, Razael, Lauron, and Solren, were battling a supreme elder as one, matching up to someone who was equivalent to an Ascendri.

"The wall's integrity is at 73%." Hajna's voice warned Aurora, who simply ignored it as there was nothing to do about it. It was Sion who asked her something else instead, not wanting to think about their dire situation.

"What about the other fronts?"

"On the east, the Undead is being beaten back, but their leading forces are not showing any sign of retreating. I have no clear numbers about our casualties, but no other Ascendri can come and help. On the west... Rinzen has taken over the defense as Lady Reyra is still missing."

"Damn it... what happened...?"

It was a curse that many asked in the past days as the sudden disappearance of Reyra was very troubling. What everyone knew was only that she sensed someone strong approaching from within their own territory... since then, there was no news of her, and nobody could contact her either.

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"If you really think you can take me over, think again!" Reyra chuckled, showing no fear as she was sitting cross-legged before her inner image, concentrating on protecting her mind and psyche.

"It will happen. I already have primary control over your energies. If you simply accept your loss, I would gently take your soul and send it into reincarnation." The ancient voice said in a friendly tone, trying to coerce her. "I am not here to hurt you; you must understand that."

"Bah, what a fucking hypocrite bitch you are! Dream on! I wasn't afraid of death, neither in the past nor the present; my family isn't strangers to it. We welcome it as an old friend! If you really want to fuck me over, then you will have to do better!"

"Stubborn. You're just making it hard for yourself... Keep resisting; your soul will shatter, and you will experience true death."

"The more you try to convince me to give up, the more I don't want to! It just tells me you are desperate... so get fucked, you ancient bitch! We will see who wins! But a heads up... This is my body; the only one I let into is my husband!"

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"Are we ready?" Lia asked, looking at Erias, who was seemingly back to normal after consuming all those souls he gathered.

"Maybe. I think this should do! I wanted to get closer, but I'm afraid this fight might have alerted them."

"I thought you said you managed to contain it!"

"I did, but this thing is created by that bastard... So if he didn't notice something, I should be named the king of the universe!"

"Ugh... What about Somia?"

"I wouldn't worry about her; she can take care of herself!" He said with a smile and a clap that was strangely loud and echoey, reverberating around them longer than it should naturally.

Lia was watching, feeling her heart rate increase as a complex, multi-colored magic formation materialized below their feet, and it was growing. It was getting bigger and bigger and soon replaced half of the space below them, showing no signs of stopping. All the elements she could feel in the air started vibrating, getting excited and following certain parts of the formation like a magnet sticking to its polar opposite.

"Incredible..." She whispered while trying to understand what she was seeing. She was sure that the formation represented all eight elements and was so complex that her mind had trouble making sense of it. Yet... deep inside, she felt she had seen something like this before. But where?

"Familiar?" Erias asked, still standing, hands clasped, a smile hanging on his face.

"Somewhat... yes... I just don't know why."

"You didn't see this before. You couldn't have done it, as it is my unique creation. The reason you find it familiar is because it is built upon the things I learned from the Golden Claw! In a way, those bastards made this possible, ahaha!"

"This is... not combining them... but...? Wait... This is very similar to what was on our tower's top floor! What Somia created!"

"It is only similar, yes. Some of her ideas are incorporated into this one. She managed to create an energy-feeding loop, and I implemented it, too! It does not combine elements but contains the knowledge of interactions between the eight. It follows a natural law and supplies energy for teleportation! And it needs a lot... so I will continue powering it up and..."

"And?" Lia gulped, feeling that she would hear something she wouldn't like.

"We run. As fast as we can! There will be a point where it no longer can be stopped!"

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"Found anything yet?"

"No." Answered Kyaranin and Laupa at the same time, sending their thoughts towards Che.

"I told you this is a waste of time," Laupa grumbled but said no more as it was an order from their Sect Master to return at once, abandoning the search for Erias. Something was happening that made their lord extremely angsty.

"Well... I wasn't a hundred percent honest..." Kyaranin added, after a bit of silence, "Two of my subordinates are missing."

"And? It happens from time to time." Laupa argued once again, but Kyaranin ignored him this time.

"I thought about it too... but... one of them is Korvall."

"He wouldn't go away without a word." Che raised his voice at once, "When did he disappear? Where did he go? Do we know it? He is someone who wouldn't just leave without a notice!"

"Who is he?"

"You wouldn't know." Kyaranin and Che shot Laupa down at once as Korvall was someone they knew from the old days, and for a time, Kyaranin was even his partner. Although... for not long, especially after she became the new Supreme Elder instead of him. "I sent word to look, and it seems he took up the task to go to that bitch, Yuya's place, to confront the problems brewing between our factions. He was always a good diplomat, so he should be able to handle it... but he has been gone for days now."

"Dealing with a fallen layer, especially one that sinned so badly... it can't be done quickly."

"That is also true..." Che whispered, finding logic in Laupa's words. "But I say let's go after him. It is a clue, and we can ask him to have a look; he is the best when it comes to acting... cordially."

It was then they all felt something change. A subtle tremor rushed through them as if they felt the fabric or their hidden realm shuddered for a moment.

"What was that...?" Laupa asked, finally sounding suspicious and confused. That was not normal, not in any way.

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"What...?"

With a deep groan, the Sect Master of the Soulbound Sect opened his single, green eye. With a quick scan, he couldn't help but stand up and take deep breaths, touching the thick tree trunk next to him. Through it, Lumamon could feel the souls constantly being fed to him, sent back from the battle that was raging in the material realm. The flow was slow... way slower than he expected.

Especially now. His inner senses had been constantly warning him for the past year; it was driving him mad... or madder, as he was already lost to his carnal desire to kill, tear, and destroy everything that made him so miserable. His body was still a mess. Injuries disfiguring him were still visible, even though he managed to heal around 70% of them. Yet, whenever he caught a glimpse of himself, he looked like a mortal who had been mauled by a bear.

The pain and anger only disappeared for a moment when he saw the Realm Door open and then made him realize that the beast behind it was missing. He knew it was his time to act. First, he had to return to Meriath, consume all he could, and head out to the Cosmos, everything else be damned.

The old world was already dead; all the disciples were nothing but souls, the dessert after his main course. He never intended them to live anew anyway. They served only one purpose: be his pawns and act as snacks when outliving their usefulness. He will reconstruct both Meriath and the Soulbound Sect after his victory. He will become someone who could create realms anyway; he already made this place... it should not be hard!

As he was just thinking about it, smirking weirdly, a tremor similar to the one that had awoken him a moment before rushed through the tree behind him. Looking up, it had twelve branches, all being one of the layers for his chosen elders. Watching it, he could see that one of them was acting out of order... trembling more and more, and when he wanted to look into it... his consciousness was suddenly repulsed from it.

"What?!"

"Access denied." Echoed a female voice from the tree, one that he didn't recognize, but Lia would if she was here, hearing it. It belonged to none other than Somia.

"Who... are... you?" Lumamon asked, his dry lips quivering, his one eye looking at the tree, anger making his whole body quiver, but no reply came from it. "You think you can cut it off?! FROM ME?!" With a bestial roar, he put both of his hands on the tree trunk, starting to squeeze it, even cracking its unnatural bark here and there.

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"Hurry...!"

"Somia!" Erias and Lia cried out when they heard her voice, then realized something was not right as she sounded to be in great pain.

"The old one has awoken... I found the main juncture; I am keeping it closed as long as possible... but I think he is so lost in madness that he is willing to destroy it! If I push it too... ugh... far, then he will forgo all reason and tear an opening into it even if it hurts him!"

"How long can you hold out?" Erias asked, his tone dark and cold, his blue eyes glinting dangerously.

"Half an hour..."

"Give me fifteen minutes, then escape!" Erias answered, surprising Lia a bit as she expected him to ask Somia to sacrifice herself if she must. "Don't worry!" He continued, reading her thoughts, smiling at his descendant, "I am close to finished! Even if that fucker comes out... there will be a bang to welcome him back! There won't be any more sacrifices! We will end this... here and now!"