Chapter 341 Ashes and Dust (1/2)

Chapter 341: Ashes and Dust

Aldir

Ash and dust

Everything—every tree, every beast, every lesser being—for hundreds of miles, had turned to ash and dust This was the power of the asura I scanned the barren landscape for anything, any sign of life or speck of ht have escaped

My steps crunched through the broken surface of the ground with every step as I wandered the wasteland that had once been Elenoir Even the ground was not stable, threatening to collapse beneaththe orders of my lord The scorched forest should have instilled in ainst our eneht of this grie Not nearly

When I was sent to kill the Greysunders, I had done so without hesitation There had been no pride—because one does not feel prideful at the swatting of a gnat—but neither was there pity or remorse It had merely been a necessary ents

When Lord Indrath explained as to happen to Elenoir, however…

“I can no longer afford to sit idly by while Agrona expands his control over the lessers Alacrya was a sacrifice I illing tohim to keep busy with his mutts and experiments, but his continued expansion into Dicathen will not be allowed, especially now that he has somehow succeeded in his efforts to create a weapon of untold power through reincarnation

“Dicathen is but a stepping stone toward Epheotus, and I refuse to let that traitorous snake bring this war here For generations, we have worked to rona, but they have failed We will not sacrifice ourselves to keep theht‍nove lpu bc­orona cannot ignore He has so far used the lessers as a shi+eld, holding their lives hostage to protect his own No longer If the choice is between giving hi down the world, then I will see it all burn”

Windso so low he could have kissed Lord Indrath’s boots “I volunteer for this honor, My Lord I will strike the first blow”

Lord Indrath did not sht in his eyes “You will continue to serve in your role as guide and protector, Windso the axe that is to fall No, there is only one a the World Eater technique”

The secret technique of the Thyestes clan is Mirage Walk, an ability that o, when the asura often warred with one another, we had another technique, so powerful and devastating that it was forbidden to be used when the Great Eight forht, except for one student in each generation

Whiche Lord Indrath required

The World Eater technique allowed the caster to channel an incredible a it until the individual particles began to burst, causing a chain reaction that would spread out to the atmospheric mana and continue until not a spark of the caster’s own, purifiedunparalleled devastation Follow the light‍nove lpu bc­om platform for the latest episodes

“This technique is forbidden, Lord Indrath,” one of the Thyestes clan leaders insisted angrily “Knowledge of the World Eater is kept alive so that our clan will never forget the horrors of limitless power—”

“This ht to one talented young member of your clan since time immemorial, which I h there was grued Lord Indrath as he summoned me to stand beside Windsom

“General Aldir, I call on you now to prove your loyalty You and Windsom will travel to Dicathen, to the forest land of Elenoir, and locate the Alacryan Scythe Nico and the elven princess Tessia Eralith—or her physical body—and activate the World Eater technique Give rona, and rob him of his neeapon in the process”

In thatI thought had been unshakable: the foundation on which my entire identity as a servant of the Indrath clan was built

Kneeling, I ranthat I had created when I followedthe moment it was uttered, but to refuse would have risked the future of my entire clan Lord Indrath would not hesitate to lift one of the other—ht, and label the Thyestes clan as anathema…

Even so, our failure to destroy the reincarnates had drawn Indrath’s ire We had not expected that they had any otten carried away toying with the angry, black-haired child And yet, still, the lord’s wrath fell on me

Do notof a ers continued to trace through the thick layer of gray nothing, and I foundthe bumps and folds in the landscape for some reminder of what this place had been: a fallen tree, the rubble of a collapsed house, even the charred bones of one of the uished

The World Eater technique left nothing, though, no sign that this place was once a beautiful forest inhabited by millions of elves The combustion of mana destroyed absolutely

No, there is still so into the hazy air as if hoping to see the amethyst particles of aether suspended in the clouds of sh I could not, I kneas there, all around ht gave ain i frohts Even when they reached me, I didn’t stand up, didn’t turn to look at them Instead, I scooped up a handful of ash and let it run through ain, Lord Aldir?” the cool, confident voice said “You’ve been here often since…well, you know” Although it irritatedwatched, I wasn’t surprised My act had reset the balance of power in Dicathen, sending a treh every Alacryan on the continent

Of course so the wasteland, but choose to show themselves noondered, my back still to them

“They say ten thousand Alacryans died here,” she continued, her tone unreadable “But we both know that was just a fraction of the casualties”

The two stood well back, just close enough to speak without shouting Their mana stood out like an oasis in the desert, since the atmosphere here was still empty of it

“Is it confidence or naivety that you dare reveal yourself to me here, Scythe?” My words contained no threat, h the away a spider’s web; there was no need for threats

“I know genocide makes you somewhat irritable, Lord Aldir, but I wasn’t the one who ordered the deaths of , devoid of any fear “Do you think he considered what the act would do to you, asura? Perhaps he did, but then, if a sword breaks, you sie another, you do not mourn the loss of steel”

Then, I turned h the same couldn’t be said for her retainer “What do you want, Seris?”

“I merely wish to talk, Aldir Share a feords, in the hope that you’ll hear the or aht, at this verythe Dicathians that it was the Vritra who did this”—she waved one hand at the desolation—“so that the poor fools don’t even knoho is really killing theically that would be the correctwhat little spirit the Dicathians had left To counter this, Windso with their Coht had any real leadershi+p ability—to make sure that didn’t happen