The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

The air ran thin, barely a wisp of white breath escaping his lungs as he drew in what little precious air lingered in the snowy peak. The mountains were deceptively taller than they appeared from the ground, the statues reaching two hundred feet high. Shaking off the bits of snow on his helmet, Oscar reached out and scraped the snow off the base of the statue, unveiling a toe. Like Volten's treasury, the stone appeared stuck in time with no blemish or crack, as if freshly carved rather than standing for the countless eons it certainly stood in Fallen Heaven. Everyone else camped nearby, waiting for him to speak.

"Peculiar…." Oscar knocked on the stone with a low thud, surprised at the scratches along his knuckles. It wasn't made from any ordinary material and was solid and dense throughout. Frowning, Oscar turned his focus elsewhere. Below him, the crowds gathered in droves at the basin, the lake appearing like a small puddle from this height, a great vantage point to gauge the entire area. Amid the snoring of Gnar's wolves, shouts and thunderous calls of battle raged on. Scattered groups of Marshal Exalts slaughtered one another, his ears picking up declarations of all sorts of factions from Vallen to Shattirma.

'Ignyres. Volten mentioned Fallen Heaven is a chunk of Talos detached from it in the ancient war, so why are these still here?' Oscar felt it was odd. A lingering doubt nagged in his mind, knocking on his thoughts. Three statues pointing at a nice, ancient palace where treasures certainly existed seemed uncanny. Even if it was the former homeland of the Caerulumen, having three statues gesturing toward a location was outlandish.

'It is quite odd. But those Caerulumen are cunning bastards.' Ignyres seemed to understand his thoughts. 'They see all the angles and lay their plans in terms of hundreds if not thousands of years. Those fireless traitors might have put contingencies in for their defeat.'

'So you say. Break it or not. Up to you.' Demon said, pushing Oscar to act.

Oscar clenched his fist and stabbed the foot of the statue with his platinum drill, the sound of shrieking metal halting the moment he struck the foot. The air distorted as ripples expanded in the emptiness. His drill failed to penetrate an empty layer that buffered his strike from reaching the stone. Oscar retracted his hand and shook off the drill, pieces of platinum sinking into the snow before dissipating away. The stone was special, so he tried out a drill formed from only Ein, resulting in this failure. Curious, he palmed the stone foot and rushed an influx of Ein into his hand, a sudden repulsion flinging his arm back, nearly dislocating his shoulder as the protective layer pulsed.

'Ein doesn't work. Then how about primordial flames?' Oscar formed several azure swords, flames glinting along their sharp edges. He thrust the swords and aimed for the same point, driving them deeper through the protective layer. But even the fire spell powered by primordial flames couldn't breach the defenses as they bounced off, cracks spreading before they shattered into blue embers, mixing wonderfully with the falling white snow. On the foot, a small charred mark had been etched, crackling audibly as a slight smoke wafted up. 'After all that, this is the result?' Oscar clicked his tongue.

The only option was Reis. Oscar clenched his fist, veins popping from his knuckles, and generated an immense amount of Reis, punching it into a single Shattering Wave, condensed by the Line. His fist landed on the stone without obstruction, bypassing the protective layer, the stone resounding with a loud gong like a bell rung. Oscar strained himself, nose bleeding as the reverberations of the statue blasted through him, a simple sound wracking immense pain in his organs. Gritting his teeth, he pushed onward, sweeping up more Reis from the backlash and adding an Omnireus to his feet. In a forceful kick, he felt his knee screaming in pain and retreated several steps.

Cracks spread along the toe, reaching up to the ankle. Oscar breathed in and prepared for another attack, but a tremor shuddered across the mountain, rattling his sight around like flying through a storm. Across great distances, the other two statues released a similar gong-like sound, harmonizing with the one he had struck, three tunes blaring. Then, a thunderous clap burst from each statue, trails of smoke rising from their heads. Oscar ordered everyone to group up and prepare for battle, the wolves rousing from their slumber and baring their fangs.

Three blurred figures landed close by, explosions of snow and rock quaking the mountain and rising to the starry night sky. Oscar darted his eyes to the faint shadows standing up within the veil of snow. If he had to surmise, these things, whatever they were, were launched from the statues and targeted to land wherever a statue was struck. As the snow settled, the shadows cleared and revealed themselves to be strange warriors wearing armors of rusted brownish-red and brandishing weapons barely clinging to their handles, many scratches and cracks along the dull edges.

"Reis user. Heir of Volten. Identified. Exterminate." One of them said in a mechanical voice, azure eyes gleaming brightly under their rusted, domed helmets that exposed their steely faces.

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'Ah, damn. It was a trap. Of course, a proper Reis user with the knowledge would avoid a Caerulumen palace and try to desecrate the statues. That's why I left the thinking to Metures. Sorry, boy.' Ignyres apologized. 'I guess they didn't account for how long it'd take. Look at the state of those metal buckets. For all their genius, they couldn't keep these golems timeless.'

Oscar ignored him and eyed the golems. They moved stiffly like wooden puppets lacking grease on the hinges, joints creaking and squeaking in stuttering motions as they raised their broken swords. Despite the strikingly rigid motions of their limbs, they vanished at breakneck speeds, too fast for his eyes to track. Oscar shoved Astrid to the wolves and had the Azure Sea Company group together. The snow scattered away from the fierce movements of these ambushers, falling down the slope.

Summoning Demon to his side, Oscar charged out and noticed a faint shadow zipping by his peripheral. Back to back, Oscar and Demon followed the trail of its movements and waited for a chance. It lunged at them. Slashing down, Demon caught the rusted golem, one sword releasing a dull groan while the other rang clearly before a faint crack silenced them. The blue-blazing white sword couldn't withstand the rusted sword of the golem, nearly broken from one exchange. Oscar swerved around and shoved a powerful drill toward the golem, who jerked its head to face him and swung a single punch.

The scarlet-platinum drill, forged from both flames and metal, empowered by Shattering Wave, screeched as sparks spewed from its tip. He didn't overpower it; rather, he was being pushed back, his feet digging into the ground to oppose the sheer might. His drill shattered like a glass jug, and the golem's fist was blown back. Oscar held his hand, bruises forming on the back as blood oozed from the deep gashes on his knuckles, spilling on the tossed snow. On the other side, the golem jolted its arm forward, a large dent caving in a part of its fist.

'Demon.' Oscar said.

'I know.' Demon sheathed his blade and clenched his hands, raising them into an offensive stance.

The golem tilted its head unsettlingly as if observing them and spread its arms, an open stance yet not a single opening found within. Oscar leaped above as Demon swept below. He rained down a flurry of platinum spears and azure swords and drilled straight down onto it. Demon melted the snow and burned the ground, ruining its footing before retaliating with an onslaught of drill punches. The golem propelled up with a jet of Ein from its feet to stabilize itself and swung its sword as fast as the beating wings of a fly, splitting their spells cleanly in two.

But their drills landed, scraping the rust and plunging deeper into its shell. Oscar and Demon coordinated as they had for many decades, shoving or pulling each other out of immediate danger and countering the incoming blows with assurance from the other. Still, Oscar felt the golem was too powerful. A punch landed directly on his stomach, his fast platinum armor and Edureisclad easily broken by the fist. Demon kicked the golem with a drill foot, and Oscar pointed his finger at the golem's rusted chest, overlapping his scarlet-platinum orbs of flame and magnetic force ten-fold, condensed by intersecting ten Lines.

The spinning orb tapped on the golem's chest and exploded tremendously, flinging Oscar back halfway down the slope. He clung onto a protruding rock and held on, sweat turning his hand slippery, his fingers digging into the stone. From the smoke, the golem dragged its leg along, a gaping tear in his chest. The golem stammered incoherently and went berserk, leaping in a great dive. Demon found the timing and stuck a drill into the opening on its chest, stabbing straight through its rusted back. In a burst of primordial flames, blue streaks surged out of its joints, eyes, and wounds, the light fading from its mechanical eyes as it fell to the floor, charred black but holding its shape.

"What a monster." Oscar coughed out blood, clutching his stomach that nearly ruptured. He munched on several herbs.

'If it were in pristine condition, you would have lost. The eons were not kind to it. It was a golem meant to fight King Exalts.' Ignyres cackled. 'They were few and had fewer followers, so naturally, they had to make their own.'

Oscar kicked the golem and scoffed, "It went mad at the end. They may be Caerulumen, but their golems aren't close to Gol-4's."

After collecting the golem, he stumbled to the peak and widened his eyes. Fenu and the others of the Azure Sea Company had fought a fierce battle, many weapons sticking out from the golem. Many of them were weary and gasped, wounds covering their torn clothes. To the side, Astrid was on her knees, paler than usual at the outstretched arm of the golem that clearly had broken through her ice. He tossed some plants and cores to Aster, telling her to concoct some healing elixirs.

"Fenu, what happened?" Oscar asked.

"Young lord. We almost died. Thankfully, they all stopped before they could kill any of us." Fenu coughed profusely, clutching his bloodied arm that limped by his side.

"They turned off?" Oscar was confused and circled one of the golems.

"Failure…Failure…Must go to the one." A golem said, attracting his attention. Oscar snapped his head at the partly frozen golem who said that. The golem fell apart as the last crackles of Ein fizzled out from its eyes.

"The one?" Oscar mumbled. What did it mean?

"Run!" A shout roared.

Below, the estate imploded and swallowed all nearby Exalts in a devastating explosion, reducing them into ashes. The people on the fringes rushed away without care, flailing their spells to kill a path out. A deep groan shook the mountains, and the snow erupted into avalanches that buried any slow stragglers. Oscar saw a large hand rise from the rubble of the palace, two glowing red eyes rotating in a low hum toward the sky. Another hand lifted up, stone and rubble shaking off to reveal a metallic skin.

"Must reunite." A mechanical voice groaned.

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