Chapter 430 (1/2)

Chapter 430

Chapter 428: Opposition

A/N: It’s been four weeks Book 10 has finished and the first ti my health scare a few years back) While many of you expressed that I should keep my Patreon active despite er break, I chose not to for the sake of being able to feel less guilty during my break haha Even so, I’m so thankful that my closest fans are so patient and considerate (even while I see you all having withdrawal symptoms in the discord chat) and I’m excited to be backEnjoy the chapter and I hope to see you here throughout the rest of this journey that is TBATELove,

TurtleMe

SERIS VRITRA

It happened slowly at first Wide, bloodshot eyes turning toward loo their senses and seizing their hearts As they saw azes, one by one, were inevitably draard to the gory artifact clutched in ht hand Mouths opened in horror, but whatever words they ed in constricted throats Tools slipped frootten, and a treh the collective consciousness of a people unequip to understand what they were seeing

At the eye of this storh path crunching beneathlike a beacon in the industrial glooart far beforedistance between the froetting their mundane tasks as curiosity and awe overwhelmed their sense of self-preservation

A heavyset wo her face let out a ragged cheer When my eyes settled on her, those closest hurried to step back I didn’t s deep into her, assuring her that she’d been seen

Others couldn’t keep the hostility frorona or who believed the ill-conceived propaganda that was broadcast about ive voice to their feelings or iress

A few, the smartest of them, ran

By the time I reached the portals to the second level, they were already in chaos Guards were scra rese at each other, no one apparently willing to accept the responsibility of command Relictoe oftheir hands and looking on nervously

As my intent washed over them, they all slowed to a standstill So them to hear and understanddistance The thing inat the soldiers and guards Half of them stared at me, their weapons held nervously before them, but half couldn’t wrench their eyes away from the artifact

One of the attendants, an olderthe official robes of a Relicto steps towardheavily “You are under a-arrest for crin!” He finished stronger, building confidence as he spoke

When I smiled at him, that confidence shattered like teeth beneath ato lose himself in the other officials, but they stepped back as well, sacrificing him to the pyre of my attention

But I wasn’t there to bully or es, even those too blind to see that I was on their side “I have not come here for bloodshed None of you will die here, unless you insist on it Leave Flee the Relictombs and return hohteous about the choice I was giving the not to see the trap in it Really, it was a choice in how to die Either they stay and fight me in a hopelessly one-sided contest or they flee and wait to be hunted down and executed by loyalist forces

The non-co away like insects suddenly and unexpectedly exposed to the light The guards exchanged grim-faced looks, but they stayed They understood the choice

A tall roups shi+elds, both ainst me I held an to fly, lighting up the diht blues, yellows, and reds Bolts of fire and blades of wind ihar the outline of ray The spellfire slowed, then stopped

I let a heartbeat pass, then thrust my free hand forward A black cloud poured froed into and through the away the mana inside them

To aall theirround, whi to die

Itherona operated They had chosen to stand their ground Perhaps they were blindly loyal to Agrona, but maybe they were just hopelessly trapped in a system that they had been born into and had lived every second of their lives inside of Did they even know there was a world outside of the too-close walls pressing in on them? It occurred to me that they likely couldn’t see it

But I could see And I could choose, too

Casting a quick look back at the field of fallen es—fallen, but alive—I activated one of the portals to the second level and stepped through

And I found the second level to be exactly as I expected it

The courtyard containing the ascension and descension portals, which capped the end of the long boulevard that ran through the heart of the zone, was a rush of organized activity

A hundred es, perhaps more, encircled the courtyard, weapons drawn and spells active, cordoning off the portals Another twenty were hurrying to set up a series of devices in an arc in front of the portals Ses of the courtyard, outside of the cordon, and in the shadows of the nearest buildings

The devices were constructed of dull, blue-tinged e mana crystals that had been carefully carved into concave bowls Heavy wiring ran froether, and finally to a glass tank full of bubbling blue liquid

Several of theweapons on e with black hair and a well-tri a salute The rest snapped to attention and followed suit

I waved the forone to plan”

The High Hage of the Cargidan Ascenders Hall nodded vigorously “Yes, Scythe Seris Resistance was li has been worse elsewhere, I know, but our efforts to set up your…whatever this is…have been unimpeded, and it’s almost complete”

Another man, ore no ar his bronze skin and chiseled for, as expected,” Djie in Itri, said with his customary sharpness “All tempus warp platforms in the city have been destroyed, as you ordered, except for one currently being defended by Highblood Rynhorn The fighting is fierce there, but they can’t hold out Ten more minutes and their soldiers’ bodies will litter the Relictombs floor whileplatforms destroyed, that will be our only way in and out,” Sulla added, gesturing to the array of permanent portals that allowed transit between the first and second level I could tell he was seeking assurance that the plan wouldn’t result in us being trapped or overrun

“Not the only way,” I said instead of atteaze followed the line of the central boulevard to where I could see the distant glow of the primary ascension portal even fro arht hitch in every other step Cylrit bowed slightly and the two ascenders took a step back, giving us space, their eyes on the ground My retainer had blood spattered over his face and armor

“Would you like me to take that, Scythe Seris?” he asked, his tone even I was certain only I would notice the pinched stiffness in both his voice and posture

I held out the iteh the first level of the Relictoue black and shriveled as a salted slug

Cylrit showed no squeae He lifted it up to look into the dead, staring eyes, then made his way to the ned

The rest of thewas ready

Cylrit lowered the head into the liquid, which ilow, then quickly removed himself froan to e hue to the blue liquid, and finally to project visible waves of y

The effect was i portals ju surfaces suddenly alive with shockwaves and multi-colored striations Ripples and waves rolled away from the portal frame, collided, and rebounded in every direction at once across all of the portals

“And you’re sure that—” Djimon cut himself offto see proof that the artifacts orking The encircling ascenders turned their gazes inward, watching I was joined by a few other high-ranking individuals—Anvald of Nahblood Edevane, ere both High Mages of their respective Ascenders association factions in Aedegard and Nirhter Enola—but they stayed silent, si

Within a fewure appeared within it

Dragoth, his broad forlowered, his face strained, out froain almost as soon as he had appeared Ainto and out of another portal so fast that to blink would haveit

He repeated his futile attempts with each portal in turn, but the portals were destabilized by the boh connection to complete the transition As soon as he arrived on the second level, he was already being drawn back to the first

There was no way through the portals as long as my artifacts re an to appear as well, several at a ti running across the surface of one of the portals crossed over a ht side of his face He was gone again in an instant, and the attempts to breach the portals ceased abruptly

A cheer went up, led by Enola of Highblood Frost

I stayed by the portals for soiving orders where necessary A slow procession of Highlords frohting was done and the portals were deactivated, seeking to express their gratitude with the sa for assurances that I did in fact knohat I was doing

Eventually, news ca platforms had been destroyed, which made it impossible for anyone to use a tempus warp or dedicated portal to reach us My plan had been a success

I turnedthe warmth it projected onto round in laboratories or bunkers, it felt good to stand beneath open sky, even if it was a construct of ic

A handful of Iroups to ensure no one atteuards, myself, and a patient Cylrit left in the courtyard, the ascenders and highbloods having gone about other duties or retired to their estates and inns to celebrate and rest

Cylrit shuffled on his aching leg, clearly uncomfortable I waited for him to break the silence between us “Are you certain about this?” he finally asked, his voice low

I began walking and motioned for him to follow We moved down the wide central avenue that continued uninterrupted all the way to the primary ascension portal into the rest of the Relictoo by fro