Chapter 583 - Nadir

We flew, we healed, we fought and we ran. Levels rolled in like the tide. We got hit by Lightning, buffeted by Gale winds strong enough to move Fenrir, and almost smacked by the Sea of Stars as something tried to ‘lift’ the entire thing up.

We’d followed the coast of the Sea of Stars, civilization sprouting where water met land like moss on a stone.

We were in Nippon-Koku when the sky turned to flames. I wasn’t being metaphorical - from horizon to horizon, clouds, sun and sky were replaced by a thick layer of roiling red flames, an inferno burning crimson above us. I couldn’t feel the heat, but it immediately made Iona break out in buckets of sweat. Fenrir started to droop and wilt, conjuring up thick plates of Ice around him to try and cool off. They boiled away, wreathing us in steam. A massive updraft as the Inferno sucked in all the air tried to pull Fenrir up, the thermals pushing him a second time.

“Lunaris’s gaze.” Iona swore. “Elaine, armor in storage, now!” She shouted, knocking her helmet with a hand.

Iona sat behind me on Fenrir, which meant I was usually leaning up against her. She clearly had dropped her armor-reinforcing skill, and while Fenrir continued to generate more steam than a dwarven forge, I slapped my hand on Iona’s helmet, making sure it was included, then teleported into my [Tower].

Each part of Fenrir’s gear was connected and touching every other part, and I couldn’t take one piece without taking all of it. Which was nice - I was able to take all of it, thank you 2.5 million magic power, although Fenrir’s size versus my tower’s storage forced it to ‘jumble around’ as it came in. With a well-practiced thought, I moved his armor to its designated spot, before continuing to [Teleport] Iona’s armor and my gear onto their respective armor stands.

Notifications started to ding.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Seraph of the Dawn] has leveled up! 994->998 +512 Speed, +512 Vitality, +1024 Mana, +1024 Mana Regeneration, +1024 Magic Power, +1024 Magic Control per level from your class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Strength +1 Mana Regeneration from your Element per level!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Sage of Tomes] has leveled up! 926->932 +1500 Magic Power, +1500 Magic Control, +700 Mana, +700 Mana Regeneration from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Mana, +1 Magic Power from your Element per level!]

[*ding!* [Teleportation] leveled up! 510 -> 511]

[*ding!* [Tower of Knowledge] leveled up! 434-> 435]

I snapped out of [Tower] a moment later and reoriented to where Fenrir was slowly flying. I zipped over, the wyvern looking much happier and steam no longer billowing off him. Auri was proudly puffed up, and I had to imagine she’d done something with the heat. It’d explain all the levels from the shared experience. Iona’s undershirt was still soaked through, and any other time I’d appreciate the view. 

“What do we think?” I asked as I landed, delicately leaning away from Iona. She was sweaty, and I loved her but did not want a sweat bath. No thank you. Not even at the end of the world, which this looked like.

Iona opened her mouth to answer, but the sky did the explaining.

We moved quickly, and it had been mere seconds since the sky had turned to an Inferno. A huge fireball ripped itself from the fire clouds, wider than Fenrir was long, and screamed down to the landscape below like a burning meteor strike.

That was the first one. It was joined by dozens, hundreds, thousands more as far as the eye could see.

A few headed our way. I doubted they were aimed, we just happened to be in the line of fire.

“BRRPT!” Auri ordered Fenrir to fly straight up, at the same angle they were coming down. The wyvern obeyed without question, and Auri stared fiercely at the firestorm, beak pointed directly at the incoming strike. 

I had just enough time and presence of mind to pull out a spellbook and cast breathing bubbles on all of us. The flames threatened to suffocate us.

It was possible to tell exactly what her range was. The moment we got close enough the fireballs veered off course, crashing into each other. 

[*ding!* Congratulations! [The Elaine] has leveled up to level 1349->1350 +200 Strength, +200 Dexterity, +800 Speed, +800 Vitality, +2000 Mana, +10000 Mana Regen, +4000 Magic Power, +4000 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Seraph of the Dawn] has leveled up! 996->998 +512 Speed, +512 Vitality, +1024 Mana, +1024 Mana Regeneration, +1024 Magic Power, +1024 Magic Control per level from your class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Strength +1 Mana Regeneration from your Element per level!]

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Sage of Tomes] has leveled up! 932->935 +1500 Magic Power, +1500 Magic Control, +700 Mana, +700 Mana Regeneration from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Mana, +1 Magic Power from your Element per level!]

The experience overflowed nicely to me.

We survived the first wave, then the second. The Sea of Stars started to boil and hiss as endless strikes hit it, the land burning as far as the eye could see. The whole world became fire and flames, a playground for Auri and a burning hellscape for the rest of us.

A third and fourth wave hit, and then they were coming so fast and furious I couldn’t tell the difference between them. 

I was willing to bet it was exactly eight waves though.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Seraph of the Dawn] has leveled up! 998->999 +512 Speed, +512 Vitality, +1024 Mana, +1024 Mana Regeneration, +1024 Magic Power, +1024 Magic Control per level from your class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Strength +1 Mana Regeneration from your Element per level!]

Oh come on! One more level to the big 1000!

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Sage of Tomes] has leveled up! 935->938 +1500 Magic Power, +1500 Magic Control, +700 Mana, +700 Mana Regeneration from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Mana, +1 Magic Power from your Element per level!]

The flames ended as quickly as they started. One moment the sky was endless devouring flames, sucking up all the air and burning the clouds, and the next it was all gone. It left behind an endless blue sky, one that was rapidly being filled with steam, smoke, and ashes.

We all traded looks, starting to laugh awkwardly in the ‘I can’t believe we just survived that’ way. There was no way we were going to find eight intact cities after that. I wasn’t sure we’d even find the remains of eight cities!

It didn’t help that our current city count was five. The last five cities we’d encountered were dead, in one way or another.

“My thinking is a dragon getting pissed.” Iona said, daring to invoke their name. One of them had just gone on rampage, why wouldn’t they like the attribution?

None of us were in the mood to vocalize a bet, to put money on the answer, to trivialize the murder and destruction.

“Brrrpt?”

Nevermind. One of us was willing to vocalize the bet, her gallows humor as black as her goth phase. 

“Let’s skim down the coast.” Iona’s suggestion was more of a need, a burning desire to see the damage first hand and help in any way she could, nevermind our prior philosophy on cutting things short. Not after the firestorm we’d just seen, not after the devastation delivered. 

We flew low and fast along the coastline. Burning boats made way to docks with smoke still billowing off them, which led to the burnt-out husks of homes. We were forced to concede defeat when the land slowly turned to tundra, the mark that we were nearing Modu, land of the ice giants.

We turned back, and silently flew over the roiling Sea of Stars.

All the excitement on land had stirred up the denizens of the deep, and parts of the sea ran red with blood.

====================================

“Where are we?” I asked, staring at the coast, then back at my maps. None of the landmarks matched. Oh sure, there was a river over there, and a few rivers on my map, but none of them had a bay quite like this one. Add in the town on the riverbanks that had somehow… the best word I had for it was ‘porcupined’ itself. It was like a gigantic bubble had come up under the city, then exploded in spikes like a sea urchin. Anything resembling a recognizable landmark was distorted too much. Nothing matched.

“Case.” Fenrir sagely informed us, then angled north and started flying. “Lair easy.”

Right. Wyvern, good sense of direction. It was needed, with how large their territories could be. We flew over endless scenes of apocalyptic destruction, Iona casually whipping off maps while I eyed my mana, hoping, praying it would dip down. A sign of civilization and people, that we weren’t alone out here. 

My efficiency combined with my obscene regeneration, along with my unblinking staring at the number made me think I’d lost a point or two of mana now and then, but nothing conclusive. 

[ding! You’ve unlocked the general skill [Mana Log]. Would you like to replace a general skill with this skill? Y/N]

It’d be nice, but like… as my 100th skill, maybe. If I had more skill slots, there were a thousand and one skills I’d get before that.

Fenrir flew, Iona mapped, I continued to play with [The Mantle of Dusk and Dawn], and Auri gazed sadly over the devastated landscape, deliberately letting the ever falling ashes accumulate on her head.

That was impressive. Between not burning them and not letting them fly off her head, that - oh, nevermind, she was simply recoloring herself to make it look like the ashes were accumulating on her head.

“Home.” Fenrir grunted near midnight, the coastline slowly becoming more familiar. I knew that rock!

Then we saw it.

“By all the gods and goddesses above.” Iona swore.

I was a tad more eloquent.

“What the fuck.”

Bloodmoon Bay was about twice as large as before. Where Sanguino had been there was just more water. A few city walls stood in crumbled chunks, the stones blackened by whatever disaster had befallen the city.

Chillingly, there was no flotsam. No debris, no wooden beams floating in the water, no random barrels, nothing. It was like a giant finger had poked the city out of existence.

“Brrpt…” Auri was devastated by the sight, freely crying crystalline tears. Fenrir sniffled, and I didn’t know it was possible for wyverns to shed a tear. 

Iona snapped her head around.

“Incoming.” She pointed, and my eyes followed. 

I stood up and waved.

“Heeeey! Skater! Over here!” I yelled, continuing to try and wave the Sentinel down. 

The Sentinel turned and skated over to us, conjuring Ice in mid-air right in front of her ice skates, moving with impossible grace and beauty. She had a whole sleigh behind her, one rope over her shoulder to pull the dozen people and piled bags on top of it. Her personal team and preferred mode of transportation. It was pretty slick, and Skater loved that pun.

“Dawn! Happy you’re still alive! What’s the situation?” She asked.

I gestured towards where I expected the capital city to be.

“I mean, not to be rude, but what’s the situation here?” I asked.

“I have no idea.” She answered. “Pillar of light came out of the sky. We raced over here, found a smoking hole being filled in by water. We’ve been sticking in the area to find other survivors. What’s the deal with… you’re attached with the Sixth, yeah?” She asked.

“Sixth is… I don’t want to call it dissolving, but they’ve decided to settle down on the shores of Lake Mare and try to simply survive. It’s the [Legata’s] decision, but I don’t do a whole lot of good standing around and making sure all their injuries are fixed up. They’ve got their own Optio of [Healers], and I’m able to move around quickly, help everyone. Huge firestorm in Nippon-Koku, we didn’t see much in the way of survivors. Was hoping there’d be something in Sanguino regarding command and control, but… that idea seems to be a bust.”

Deep inside, I was mourning. I thought I was fresh out of grief, but my empathy wasn’t done, was still far too willing to kick me while I was down. There had been over a million souls in Sanguino, all of which were gone. 

I didn’t believe for a second that Night or Arachne had died, but everyone else? Marcelle? Atlas? The rest of the friends I’d made over the years, Sentinels I knew had been stationed here? 

I was already writing their names down in my Book of the Dead, already planning on a funeral and how I’d immortalize their names.

Night had it right. A great stone wall, with every name carved by hand. It’d take me a decade or two to write down everyone’s name, but was a life not worth the effort? A form of Immortality, too little, too late, but a way to ensure their name was remembered and spoken forever more, staving off the second death.

People died twice. Once when their soul was released from their body, and a second time when their name passed a person’s lips for the final time.

Once more, I would write their names. Once more, I would speak each one, keeping their spark alive, blowing on their embers to keep my solemn promise.

I will not forget you.

“Night’s probably off assassinating elves, the slippery bastard.” Skater said admiringly. “What are you thinking of doing?”

Auri and Iona were trading various looks with the members of Skater’s team. My social bee of a wife knew most of them, and traded relieved looks. Auri was strutting up and down Fenrir’s head like a runway model - I’m glad she was distracting herself - and the mighty wyvern was hovering still in midair.

“I want to go home.” I said honestly. “There’s a whole community there that I asked to bunker down. See how they’re doing, then fly back to the Sixth and let them know what’s going on here. See if I can spot anyone else.”

Skater traced a circle with the tip of her eponymous skates in the ice.

“I might do that myself.” She said. “First settlement I’ve heard of. Got a map? And need anything? We’re well supplied, always happy to lend a hand. Pere has got one heck of a bag storage skill.”

I grinned.

“I was about to ask you the same thing! I’ve got a vault-like skill, I’ve been stocking it for decades at this point. Here, let me show you where Orthus is. You’ll be able to find us there.”

“Lead the way!” Skater said.

It was a shame I couldn’t just point to it - we could certainly see far enough on a clear day. The falling ashes created a haze thick enough that I could see all of where Sanguino should be, but not another twenty miles to where our home and mountain was, along with Orthus village.

We flew at speed, my heart sinking a moment later as we were able to see the devastation that had been our home.

My mango trees were burning.