The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

The ground turned black, charred by the scalding smoke pluming from the cracks that spread along the bulging hills that stood where there were none before. Magma erupted, imploding the hills into calderas of deep red lakes, and rained down hellfire onto the land. Next to Oscar, Susan acted fast and sent forth a tide of water, aided by the other water users, extinguishing the falling flames. He swooped in with Emily and the other heavy hitters, destroying the smoldering chunks of land before they could do more harm. Fred let the fastest of their men and evacuated civilians one by one, carrying them onto the Excrusier.

The devastation never ceased. Great pillars of molten earth and raging fire roared to the sky, ashes clouding the beautiful dawn into a dreary sight, a gloomy shadow spreading over the hellscape. Oscar had Erden enlarge to the biggest size of a hundred feet and spread his wings to shield everyone from the blasts. It was strange. In each molten chunk that he bashed apart, in every searing flame that fizzled out from the waters, he felt hints of incredible Ein in every flickering ember and flake of charred dirt.

It was no ordinary disaster. Astonished, Oscar held a large piece of burning obsidian, using his flames to keep his hand safe. It gave him a familiar feeling, something he experienced long ago. But what was it? The pressing question gnawed into his head, waves of discomfort scrunching his stomach. He knew this Ein or an Ein similar to it. Crushing the obsidian, he tossed the question aside to the back of his thoughts and focused on the civilians. Fred and the others did well, sweeping in and out to pluck the civilians from the encroaching waves of magma. The entire army surrounded the disaster, holding back much of the flames with their spells.

"Look out!" Someone shouted.

The lakes of magma bubbled and churned, and a great bellow released from the depths, the immense Ein rippling through the air in great quakes. Even the Excrusier groaned, tilting under the pressure of the power. Every lake erupted from the arrival of strange monsters as they rode the rising pillars of magma and pounced down onto the ground, some flying straight ahead for the soldiers. They resembled no beasts or man. Their forms were of pure flames, some blazing blue, others burning red, a few softly emitting an orange-yellow glow.

Equally varying, their limbs, though divided into legs and arms, were not uniform in number. The burning heads resembled the flames atop torches, and strange glowing orbs floated evenly in the fires, darting around like eyes. These flame humanoids raised another great bellow, charging into the surrounding army. Oscar shielded himself from a forceful burst of flames and countered the creature, plunging his Golden Drill into where a heart might be.

The creature ignored the Golden Drill in its chest and extended its four arms. It wanted to grab his limbs. Erden rushed in, swung his antlers, which transformed into sharp blades, and cut off the red arms of living fire. The severed arms dissipated into motes of embers, and they streamed back to the creature, healing it back to its original form. It shrieked a shockwave of Ein and clawed back at Oscar. Slightly irked by the Ein the creature released, Oscar gathered Eirin into his drill and emitted his Shattering Wave, instantly blowing the creature apart and snuffing out the flames.

"Everyone! Put out the flames, and they won't regenerate. Spread the word to the others." He relayed to his forces.

Wiping his bloody nose, Oscar raised his shield and blocked several explosive flames. These strange creatures had different roles, separated by durability, melee, and range abilities. He soared across, dodging the flames thrown by the ranged types, strange, skinny flame humanoids that gathered and spun the fires into devastating attacks. As explosions boomed behind him, he reached the ranged fighters and chopped them into the tiniest fragments with a shower of golden rods in flaming swords.

Sure enough, breaking them apart until they could no longer regenerated worked. But the lakes erupted again, and a fresh wave of flame humanoids reinforced their brethren. He ordered his Black Aegis Legion into formation. Erden swung his mighty wings, forcing as many of the flame humanoids in the middle. Leading from the front, he charged across the narrow passageway, flanked by Erden's enlarged wings that crystallized into burning sapphire ramparts. Susan and Alec doused much of the inferno created by the clump of enemies, and the Black Aegis Order set themselves onto the living flames. One by one, they cleared them away.

But the endless waves continued to rage onward. The Marshal Exalts could not help the others, fighting against more significantly powerful flame humanoids that rivaled them in power. Even lesser living flames rushed out to the ground troops of Apprentice, Elite, and ordinary soldiers, a great war between humans and fire. The soldiers from Cartege City also joined the fight, their skills displayed to the fullest.

'Erden, are you alright?' Oscar asked.

'I'm fine. My wings are slightly burnt. These things are strange. What are they?' Erden groaned, enduring a heavy bombardment of fiery attacks. He swung his antlers, beaming a hot flare, preemptively discharging many attacks before they landed.

"Well, this is quite the sight." A voice suddenly echoed across the battlefield, a polite yet unsettling clear tone that caught their attention. Flying high above the Marshal Exalts, a man in a long white coat that swayed with the violent winds gazed down on them, his white eyes curling in delight behind the glasses. Strangely, he wore a pair of sandals and a black shirt and pants. The intruder lifted his hands and clapped, a strange gathering of cloaked individuals behind him. "I never expected so many flame elementals."

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"Os, that man was in the Rurin Gaols!" Fred exclaimed, pointing his short sword at the man. "He's the one who created the Sweeper."

"The one you mentioned before?" Oscar reported it immediately to the other leaders.

Relaxed as if on a casual stroll, the man bowed and introduced himself, "Hello, everyone. I am Faust Volten. Nice to meet you all." His politeness won only further caution from the others. "Pardon the sudden interruption, and I apologize for the mess we caused."

"You created this disaster?!" Celestina shouted, slashing a thousand beams of light at Faust.

"I said I apologize." Faust's white eyes sharpened, and he flicked his finger, a powerful Shattering Wave breaking apart the beams, not a scratch on him. He was a Greater Marshal Exalt, far stronger than Celestina. "This disaster is but a consequence, but it still factors into our plan." He turned to a group behind him and nodded. The black cloaks nodded and dove straight for the caldera into the center, disappearing under the molten surface.

"Oscar, Gavir, follow them now!" Celestina ordered through the communication bead. "They were all at the Knight Exalt realm. I'm afraid I can't follow you." She stared down another black cloak that matched her power, and on the other side, a powerful flame elemental surged over, lashing out great claws of dripping magma at both of them.

Oscar fastened his shield and mounted Erden, raising his artificial arm to the others. "Black Aegis Order, move out! We follow the enemy into the heart of the flames!" They didn't care about killing the elementals, crushing them enough only to create a path through their lines. Peering to his right, he nodded to Gavir, who saluted back, and they delved into the molten depths, his Ein shroud protecting him from the magma, but it would be dangerous soon since the flames continually ate away at his defenses.

At the very bottom was a large hole. Oscar signaled to his soldiers and rushed into the cavern. Whatever the New Dawn wanted here, he could not allow them to achieve it, not after all the deaths they caused. Fuming hotter than the magma, he burst across the long tunnel, a Golden Drill already gleaming brightly on his right arm.

…….

"My, how optimistic to send out a small force. But that is all within the parameters." Faust smirked, lifting his glasses with his fingers.

Draven flashed right behind him, tearing the space beneath his soles. Faust reacted quicker than he had expected and scurried away from his killing blow, space collapsing within itself before the path of his fist. Disappointed, Draven summoned his Kraken anima and swatted away every elemental, lashing them with fanged tentacles. His spatial deconstruction spell ravaged through their bodies, dissipating many into nothingness. A few tougher ones resisted with their powerful Eins.

"Oh, it's you. I have to say, you're quite the unique case as well, but your disciple is far more of a treasure." Faust said, twisting his wrists. "I forgot! I have to thank you for the many years of donating your flesh and blood. I made good use of them, better than you ever did to your own body."

"I remember now. You're the guard who chopped at my body every day." Draven felt the monstrous thoughts attempting to override his rational mind. He held them at bay, but the anger from recalling the many days of being helpless under this man's knife was unrelenting. He growled, "What a fool you are. I will tear you limb by limb."

"There's no doubt about that. Vexing as it may be, you are strangely more powerful than me, a son of the Volten bloodline. We should be the masters of Reis, but you and your disciple have torn that notion upside down." Faust smiled. "That's why I can't be your opponent. He is."

A large man, around twelve feet tall, approached. A black cloak covered him from his head to his chest, like an executioner's mask. His hands were cuffed, great steel bands linked by heavy chains that rattled around unsettlingly with the snarl behind the cloak. Faust snapped his fingers, and the chains broke apart. The large man tore off his black cloak, revealing his face.

"GUOOOH!" Rows of sharp, bloodied teeth revealed themselves from the lipless mouth. Metal spikes protruded from its shoulders. The bottom half of its head was mangled and burnt to a twisted mess of flesh. A helmet covered the upper half of its head, but its soulless, dark eyes glared strongly at Draven. Drool leaked from its teeth as its body expanded to a height of fifteen feet, the muscles bulging to a shocking degree.

Draven was unimpressed by the creature's display but was concerned about the strange mix of Ein in the creature. Somehow, it carried all of them? He stepped forward and let out a Ripple Shroud to clear the air from the inelegant snarls of the beast. There was no mistaking that Ein or Eins. "Why does that thing have my Ein? More importantly, why does it have Oscar's?"

"Ah, I forgot my manners. Let me introduce you. This is the Sweeper, my finest creation." Faust gazed pridefully at the abomination. "At first, it was quite a challenge, even with all the flesh and blood you graciously gave to me. But once it tasted your disciple's blood, it surpassed my expectations, unbelievable." He cackled, losing the pretenses of a polite and gentle man. "The only way to defeat it would be to use your Meld or even your Integration, but you won't use it, will you?"

Draven remained silent as Faust continued, "Your power is certainly great, but once you enter the Meld or Integration, the amount of Reis you generate will overwork your heart, and you will die after the battle. I couldn't believe it when I saw what you had done to yourself. No wonder you are known as a madman."

"Shut up, you lowlife scum. This thing is nothing. If it is your pride, I will break it and drag you to my prison to be tortured for centuries." Draven cracked his knuckles. He neared the Sweeper and stopped a few feet away.

"Alright then. This will be valuable data. Sweeper! Go kill him!" Faust cackled.

"GUOOOH!" The Sweeper charged, and Draven silently clashed against the beast, their fists meeting in the center and drowning out all other sounds, nothing else to hear from the crashing thunder of their knuckles colliding.

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