The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

"It's going to explode!" Helen tugged on Hector's and stared into his red visor. He threw her a knowing nod and allowed himself to be thrown downward to reach Convecia City faster. He landed with the force of a meteor and buried himself into the ground, his furnaces roaring as they sucked into streams of violent Ein.

Helen spread her owl wings over the spires of the City Lord's palace. She sent out her soft feathers in multiple waves and willed them to spread everywhere over the palace. They filled in through the gaps to reach every room and opening, slowly chilling the area into her domain.

A rift cracked open directly in the middle of the palace. Violent flames of Ein swirled around and threatened to explode. Hector opened his furnaces further and lifted his furnace hammer, siphoning and eating as much of the Ein building inside.

Helen stabbed several icicles in a perimeter around the palace and covered the entire place in a land of snow. She sent out a continuous flow of Ein to control every feather and every speck of snow. "Hurry up and escape. We can only hold it back, not stop it."

…….

Avril mounted Erden with Oscar lying in front and shouted for everyone to follow them outside. It was the first time he rode with Avril behind him; it was strange and new. However, there was no time to waste. Hanging down his head from Erden's side, Oscar could only see the ground continue to split and explode with small amounts of Ein. The fierce quaking of the room intensified every few seconds like a tea kettle about to burst, the end of everything nearing. Each tremor contained a wild Ein within, unsettling everyone inside the halls.

The pathways started to undergo an upheaval, a hailstorm of stone, metal, and marble, tossing from rising flames that erupted outward from below. Avril and Erden covered themselves and Oscar in a shroud of Ein to prevent themselves from burning, but the heat was too intense. Teal smoke rose from where the hooves met the red-hot floor. The sizzles of Erden's hooves reached Oscar's ear. It grew so hot everything appeared distorted, attacked by waves of hot air.

"It's so hot…." A freed prisoner barely spoke, their voices rough and strained from the dryness of their throats. They began to stumble and lose their footing. The floor was restless and unrelenting, cruelly breaking apart to impede their escape.

Oscar cursed at his immobility and lack of Ein, which could not be healed even by Avril's anima, only by time and rest. With a speck of Ein, he could meld his anima into Erden and haul everyone onto Erden's antlers to ferry them across. They rushed up several rooms and halls where the remaining melted bodies of the New Dawn he slain before burned in bright vibrantly-colored flames, fanning the heat hotter.

"Faster! The entire place is collapsing!" Oscar shouted, still lying on Erden's back like a lifeless doll.

The destruction was spreading faster than he thought. The cracks advanced further past them. A great explosion caved in parts of the hallway, a stroke of luck that no one got hurt or buried, but it showed time was running out. Erden stomped faster, trying to outrun the pace of the destruction. Avril tugged on Erden's antlers and pointed weakly at the people behind them. Their frail bodies were far behind them. Gazing through Erden's eyes, Oscar spotted several of them on their knees, their bodies running on nothing but sheer grit and will to remain upright. But it only went so far as to keep them awake, their feet still unmoving.

'Is this it?' The distance to the exit was still a few minutes. At the rate this destruction was increasing, their chances were slim even if they sped off by themselves and left everyone else behind.

Then, the heavens answered their cries for help. Oscar looked on in shock as the unending flames retreated, lowering into the exposed opening on the floor and walls. The heat lessened to more tolerable degrees and gave everyone a small respite to suck in normal air, not arid, throat-choking air.

"This is….what happened?" Avril snapped her head all over in surprise. "Look!"

Everyone exclaimed. Feathers fluttered and floated everywhere, reaching all corners and crevices of their surroundings. One landed on Oscar's cheek, sticking like glue, and instantly, a cold wave swept through his body. It landed on everyone's cheeks, and life filled their faces, no longer as exhausted as before. He was pleased to see the ones on the floor rise to their feet. Then, a voice shouted, echoing through the broken halls.

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"Everyone! Escape the palace and fall back to the perimeter!" Helen said, their call reaching everything in Convecia.

"You heard her! Hurry up and get out of here. We're all leaving this place together!" Oscar declared.

With renewed strength and a cool feather to keep them going, everyone stampeded up the stairs and turned the corner, reaching the next room. They didn't stop there and kept going and going until finally, they burst through some rubble and were greeted by the light of the radiant moon. Strangely, the entire place was covered in snow, an impossibility for this summer night.

"Get out, now! Fall back far behind the icicle pillars!" Helen's shout roused them, especially the freed prisoners, who cheered and cried at the feeling of freedom and fresh air. Everyone regained their focus and pushed onward past the empty streets of the markets. A large panic must have happened here, Oscar thought while seeing the upturned stands and baskets of goods trampled on the floor.

Erden bolted across, his strides long and fierce. He made it past the large icicle pillars and kept running until they saw other clumps of people hiding behind steely walls of metal and Ein. These makeshift fortresses stood firm and connected, radiating a powerful pressure.

After passing through, Oscar, Avril, and Erden all shared a collective cry of relief. Avril and Erden slumped down a brick wall, sweating heavily. Oscar couldn't move an inch, but Avril turned him over and hugged him tightly into her embrace. Even with the thick ash, dust, and blood on her, she smelled lovely, intoxicating. He felt it was a pity he couldn't move. He wished to hug her with all he had and hold her with all his love for her.

"We did it…." Avril said softly, keeping him in her bosom. She carefully stroked the back of his head. "You can rest in your favorite place in the world. She knows her hubby is a pervert who can't resist. It's a pity he can't move. Hehe."

"You…that's not the thought I was having…." Oscar said within her chest. "Your safety is all that matters."

"And what of yours?" Avril never stopped stroking his head with a heavy sigh. "She wants Oscar to worry about himself at times. The whole time she fought up because she didn't want to see Oscar hurt himself from being reckless."

"...." Oscar had no response. "I wish I could move right now."

"It's fine. Just keep resting on me." Avril giggled. "Your ears are so red. Is it because I keep pulling on them or because you're thinking about something else?"

"Careful, honey. I'm very petty."

…….

On the fortress airship, Aldric, the former City Lord of Convecia, scattered the pieces of the activation cube onto the terrace. Hector and Helen flew down to hold back the explosion, allowing time for their forces and civilians to escape. His broadsword rested on his side, held in place by his hand, and he stared at the lonely moon in the sky, the entire fortress illuminated by its weak lights.

"My Lord. Why don't we interrupt the two Marshal Exalts and destroy most of Convecia?" An armored soldier bowed and suggested. "They dared to interrupt the great works of the New Dawn."

"If you wish to get sucked into the explosion, then do so," Aldric said, turning to the guard and towering over him. "But there's no guarantee they won't stop and fight, not caring about the rest of the city."

"But–"

Blood rushed out of his throat and spilled on the floor, leaking through his helmet. Clutching his chest, Aldric fell to a knee while his other hand clung to his sword. Several guards rushed to help him, but he waved them away and got back on his feet, albeit shaky.

"I am too weak at the moment. I drew upon the Reis Core far too much. Facing two Grade Eight is a daunting task. Still, we have gathered good data for Kais to use. We also don't have much time either. The reinforcements of the other guild branches are fast approaching." Aldric pointed at the soldiers. "Get the ship out of here. We retreat."

"Yes, sir!" The entire fortress began to move.

Aldric stomped on the terrace to stop his feet from shaking and walked slowly, not allowing himself to show a sign of weakness from limping or leaning. Slow and heavy steps crushed the ground underneath. Before entering the door, he turned and glanced at Helen in the sky, flapping her snow wings, and at Hector in the deep pit, absorbing the flames and Ein. The two fell back and retreated past the icicle pillars of Helen's making.

"Farewell, my old friends. I hope we never meet again." Aldric disappeared in the doorway before it closed shut.

The fortress airship became obscured by clouds of its own making and wandered off into the night.

The air was still momentarily before the sky roared and the mountains groaned. A large explosion laid waste to the City Lord's palace, destroying any traces of what it once was and the secrets that it hid. Underneath the night sky, the destruction shone like a sun in the ground, bathing everything in a dense, fiery light.

The battle of Convecia City was over. But so much had been destroyed in its conclusion. And Aldric, the man everyone had their faith in and trusted, vanished without a trace.

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