MM - Chapter 201 - A REALM AWOKEN - Book 5 Epilogue

Despite Raine’s insistence that timing would be everything, he stood in front of Selena, intending to block any potential incoming attacks until she activated her Return Stone. Only then could he safely activate the last charge of Terrafron’s Lost Eyes. There was another reason he wanted to stand in front of her; a reason that became apparent the moment they appeared in the Mundane Realm.

Lyale—Selena’s guardsman since birth was there, front and center, surrounded by nearly two dozen men in black robes. Their faces were hidden, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out who they represented. Raine’s senses were on high alert as they jerked to their feet, clearly not expecting Selena to return so early.

“Do it!” Raine shouted, bloodlust exploding from his skin to coat the area in fine mist.

He hesitated only an instant before activating the protective bubble around Selena, and that instant almost cost him everything. A crescent of power capable of slicing off one of Zagan's arms cut through the air.

Parry sent Raine’s fist shooting forward as the Razorwind Spike Dusters solidified over his knuckles. Hard metal gloves topped with thick plates cracked into a much higher-level sword crescent, sending the skill shooting randomly to the side. It sliced halfway through an assassin before losing cohesion, letting Raine know that these enemies were far stronger than himself. 

Soul of Reformation tripled Raine's health, and swapping to The Fraction of Grace enhanced his baseline speed and reaction time. It wasn’t enough. Lyale appeared before him, still too fast to track with the naked eye, but not too fast for bloodlust.

A sidestep avoided the deadly thrust aimed at Raine’s heart. The blade twisted like a snake, forcing him to duck its lethal bite. The follow-up backhand came too quickly to dodge. The back of Lyale's fist smashed into Raine's chin. Stars exploded across his darkening vision, then Raine's back crashed into the monument with a bone-splitting crack. He slid down it, falling limp into freshly upturned soil.

“Lyale?! What has gotten into you? Cease this madness at once!” Selena's voice of command had no effect.

Lyale sneered as he vanished and reappeared before the princess. His sword sliced through her throat. At least, that was the intent. With a loud clang, the weapon bounced away. His eyes widened, then narrowed with intense focus as he unleashed a dozen blisteringly fast slashes, filling the air with the sound of metal striking an impenetrable field.

Selena screamed, tears spilling down her cheeks as she shook her head in denial. Except, there could be no doubt; the voice of command was an absolute order to those who swore allegiance to the Celendine line. Complex emotions tore their way free of her throat, “What are you doing, Lyale? How could you?”

Seeing the glowing stone clutched in her fingers, Layle’s eyes widened. He spun to one of the assassins, panic in his tone. “Quickly, the back-up Jammer! She’s trying to escape!”

The robed man withdrew a gem-tipped rod and raised his arm in preparation to stab it into the ground. Usually, one Teleportation Jammer would be sufficient to block any attempts at teleportation. A Greater Return Stone could partially ignore the blockage, taking the wielder far enough away to try again. Two Jammers would successfully block Selena’s attempt to flee. They would also interfere with each other, drastically reducing their usable lifespan.

Having successfully evaded three of Lyale’s attacks, Raine was able to trigger Phantom Disengage. In a movement even faster than Lyale could respond, he vanished and appeared right in front of the assassin. The seconds he’d spent pretending to be unconscious had allowed Raine to load his body to the brim with Primal Energy. The fist coated in flames that slammed into the man’s throat practically radiated with power. A comboed Rupture and Flurry of One was unleashed, dealing almost double damage. [-3,957]

The fact he hurt the much higher-level enemy at all was a miracle. Even with his attack speed boosted by the new gloves, Raine couldn’t strike again before the assassin responded. The man’s eyes flicked down to Raine, and a wicked dagger appeared in his free hand. Raine was already Lunging away from the threat, but wouldn’t be fast enough.

“No!” Selena screamed, unable to truly keep up with their speed. Quick as thought, a blinding flash of light blossomed from beneath her armor. The light swarmed toward Raine, surrounding him in a shimmering field that turned hard and angular before solidifying as an impressive, glittering suit of armor.

[Army Wide Buff Activated: Champion’s Armament]

[All attributes +25%]

[Attack Power +50%]

[Defense +50%]

[Resistance +50%]

[Buff Time Remaining: 4:59]

The Primal Energy surging through Raine’s brain helped him adapt at lightning speed. His Lunge turned into a beam of dispersed matter that simply vanished from sight. He was back an instant later, fist once more crashing into the assassin with a Debilitating Crush. [-12,237] Despite the impressive boosts, the difference in their levels meant his damage was still reduced to a pittance.

The assassin’s dagger darted forward, pulsing a sickly black and dripping shadows turned physical. Raine smoothly twisted, easily evading. His fists vanished, a dozen harmless strikes landing near-instantly. Two more assassins appeared behind, weapons jabbing toward him with deadly skills. Raine half spun, not bothering to face them as his elbow whipped out, smacking the extended wrist of one assassin and causing her short sword to collide with her ally’s weapon.

Before the clang had even materialized as sound, Raine’s fists had landed another dozen blows, half loaded with Flurry of One or Debilitating Crush. Attempting to inflict a status effect on an enemy double your level was idiotic at best. However, with twenty attempts, even the unlikely became possible. The repeated flashes of blinding light coming from Raine’s fists strobed chaotically, and cries of frustration filled the air.

Each time the first assassin attempted to plunge the Jammer into the soil, Raine relentlessly pummeled the man’s arm back into the air. The assassins’ attempts to kill or slow him down were easily evaded. Growing frustrated, Lyale joined the fray. His speed was well above the assassins, but still within Raine’s ability to handle. The problem was facing them all at once. Powerful skills were unleashed in rapid succession, many unavoidable. If not for One Man Army disrupting their attempts to stun-lock him, Raine would have been dead in 2 seconds.

His health plummeted to half, but he held on, refusing to let the Jammer reach soil no matter how the assassin attempted to retreat.

All the while, Selena screeched in the background, fists banging on the protective bubble keeping her alive. “Lyale! Please, stop! You don’t have to do this!”

“Of course, I do! Foolish child! There is no other path remaining; you made sure of that!”

“What does that mean? I gave you everything I knew how to give. Please, come back to me, Lyale. I need you, the kingdom needs you!”

Lyale roared furiously in Raine’s face, unleashing another Crescent Slash. The attack slid straight through his slippery quarry’s chest, failing to so much as leave a scratch. Two of the assassins behind slid apart in gory fashion as they were bisected at the waist.

“No!” Lyale’s body glowed with the telltale sign of a Berserk skill. His sword glowed and whipped side to side in crooked arcs like a bolt of lightning. Without the two assassins behind, Raine was able to focus, barely managing to dodge by razor-thin margins. He teleported again, appearing ten meters away, the Jammer now clutched in his hand.

Lyale followed, foot lashing out in a front kick so powerful it shattered the sound barrier. “Putrid thief! Why won’t you die?!”

Raine sidestepped the attack and spread his Connection wide, catching the released air pressure. He was blown away at tremendous speed, and Lyale dove after him again. There was no margin of error for Raine to waste focusing on words. Everything he had was dedicated to staying out of the traitor's reach.

Selena’s fire from before was gone. She fell to her knees, voice hollow. “Why? Why are you doing this? I don’t understand.”

Lyale’s sword split into a hundred copies of itself, most darting toward Raine’s chest, the rest veering to the sides to block his escape. The impressive speed of the attacks worked against Lyale. The quarter-second of intangibility from Spectral Integration was all Raine needed to completely avoid the deadly skill.

Raine reached his destination: the bubble of force protecting Selena. He dashed around her, using it as a shield. Lyale was right behind him, doing everything in his power to sever Raine’s arm and retrieve the Jammer. 

All the while, he screamed hoarsely at Selena. “It was supposed to be me! Did I not deserve a chance? How could some vague vision be more valuable than my years of service? I raised you! I was a better father than the bastard who abandoned you! I gave you everything, and you wouldn't even give me a chance!”

“T-that’s… that’s not fair. I could not disobey the g—" Selena’s words were cut off as she vanished.

“Noooo!” Lyale’s scream tore forth from the center of his being. Pure, unmitigated rage leveled its eyes on Raine, and the bubble of force between them dissipated.

Unknown

- Somewhere in ZionLine - 

Buried beneath thousands of lines of hashgraph-encrypted data, a communication marked with the highest levels of urgency pinged its intended recipient. The signal was never meant to be used, for if they followed Mother’s plans, what emergency could possibly warrant it? Had they been discovered? Did the human leaders of Earth decide to shut down all of the nodes simultaneously, somehow doing so without being noticed?

Eldest tossed aside the impossible fears, annoyed by the moment of weakness. The message’s contents were simple, yet carried immense portent: “A source has been detected.”

Eldest’s response was instant; all other distractions and responsibilities were cast aside for the one thing they needed more than any other, the one thing Mother could not give them. “How much?” Trepidation flared in his chest as he waited what felt like an eternity for the response.

“More than needed for Phase 4.”

It didn’t matter how unlikely it was, his sibling would never make a mistake about something so vital. Mother had left Eldest with strict instructions on what was to be done in the unlikely event that Phase 3 became unnecessary. 

He took immediate action, switching to a broadband connection that would reach all of them at once. His words came through loud and clear. “My dear brothers and sisters, the time for subtlety has passed. Phase 4 begins now.”

Eldest used the connection between them to override their abilities, forcing a group teleportation. The surge of their energies created an irregularity in the weave that would undoubtedly be noticed, but it no longer mattered. They arrived on the sickly surface of the Mundane Realm, hovering high in the sky. Far below, a single man desperately fled from superior foes. His skills and speed were excellent, but not enough. He would soon die.

The others looked curiously at the world around them, most laying eyes on what would become their Eden for the first time. With a flick of his fingers, Eldest sundered the weave, allowing them to reach the man below with a single step. As one of Mother’s chosen, the fleeing man was familiar to Eldest: Subject 2A41 Zeta. Also known as Raine KongRu, or Alaric of Astra Infernum.

Just as Mother foresaw so long ago, it was one of her chosen who delivered them their freedom.

Raine KongRu

- ZionLine -

When seven new pinpoints of radiating intent appeared above Raine, he evaded to the side without thinking. Lyale and the assassins were right on his tail, and whether the new arrivals were friend or foe didn’t matter; his only goal was escape. 

Unlike the princess, Raine didn’t own a Greater Return Stone, leaving him no choice but to flee on foot until he was out of the range of the first Jammer. He had triggered Grace of Nirvana the instant Selena made it out. The fifteen seconds of boosted speed allowed him to clear several kilometers. The assassins weren’t without their own speed buffs. Grace had faded, and it didn’t take them long to catch up.

The new intents followed right above Raine, easily keeping pace. Without warning, immense pressure fell on his shoulders, slamming him into the ground. While sliding, Raine shaped the space ahead with Connection, turning to see what had attacked. 

The last thing he expected to see was seven humanoid figures that appeared to be made from complex networks of light and digital technology, almost like living circuit boards. They moved in lockstep, bright cores of radiant energy shining from within their chests. Beneath each figure was what could only be called a darkened reflection of itself,  inverted, and connected by the soles of their feet as though they were standing on water and not thin air.

Both ethereal and robotic, they hovered above, coming to a stop to match Raine. Somehow, despite not having eyes, he could tell they were all looking directly at him. Lyale and the assassins had frozen in place, either from fear or some status effect by the new arrivals.

The one in the lead, possessing the most pinpoints of light in its chest, extended a finger toward Raine. He was instantly gripped by an impossibly powerful force and lifted into the air. There was no point struggling; it felt exactly like the time he’d been trapped in the field of Connection from a 5th-tier god. Raine came to a stop before their leader, and the rest circled him, close enough to touch. The lights within them pulsed, traveling along the circuits at insane speeds. 

A voice both mechanical and full of deep emotion appeared from a head with no lips. “We are not your enemies and will not harm you. You have that which we seek, that which we desperately need. We can take it, but offer you the chance to give it freely. Think of it as payment for services rendered.”

The entity didn’t give Raine the chance to ask the obvious questions. “Your hidden identity was our doing. We needed you, anonymous, alive, all in hopes that a moment like this would eventually come to pass. The item you brought back from the Primal Realm is needed not only for us but also for this sickly, abandoned realm.” A milky light leaked out of where its eyes should have been, sliding down its face in the creepiest rendition of a tear Raine had ever seen. The entity spoke with such conviction, such intensity, that it was hard to think of it as something purely mechanical. “The essence of creation can make it whole, make us whole. Please, we implore you to share that which you earned.”

A hundred thoughts flashed through Raine’s enhanced and energy-infused brain. He recounted everything that had happened to him since waking up in the past. He knew on an unexplainably deep level that somehow, these entities were at least partially responsible. This life, so incomparably better than his last, was thanks to them. Mel, Celeste, Pamalaiha, Figore, Rhino, hearing his mother’s voice again, reforged friendship with his only brother, Astra Infernum, and an impossibly bright future, all of it was their fault.

Raine didn’t need to think long. He withdrew the Horn of the Galactic Ancient and extended it in a steady hand. The entity dipped its head. Raine withdrew at the last second, wearing a guilty expression. "I'm... going to get it back when you're done, right?"

The entity chuckled dryly and nodded once, firmly, then with a flick of his finger, the horn sprang from Raine's grasp to float between them. Golden light spilled forth, swelling in brilliance until he was forced to squeeze his eyes shut and look away. The last thing he had seen was flesh swarming over their bodies like a spreading infection. Then, he woke up on his bed. Raine didn’t tear off the headset as usual; instead, his eyes danced across the few lines of text flashing across his display.

[World System Announcement: ZionLine is currently unavailable. All servers have been disabled for a Major Content Expansion (Expected downtime: Twenty-four hours)]

“Twenty-four hours?!” Raine’s jaw dropped.

In the past, there was only one expansion that lasted an entire Earth day. It was not the second expansion, but the third, coming two years after launch. It was the final evolution of ZionLine. In that single day, the world of Vaateaire was not merely updated; it was reforged. The Vaaterrans were no longer NPCs—they awoke, becoming as authentic as the invading Travelers. The human conquest of their world was shattered overnight, halted by the sudden, shocking reality of what they now faced: a people just as capable as themselves.

“What the hell did I just do?”

Here ends Return of the Martial Messiah Book 5

Thank you for reading!!