The world around Aether shifted as a deep crimson hue enveloped everything, tainting his vision.
His eyes gleamed a fierce red as he activated his skill, Crimson Veil, revealing a new layer of reality.
Where flesh and blood should have been, the internal workings of the monstrous elephant were now visible….. massive gears, nuts, bolts, and a bizarre network of circuits intertwined like a maze. It was a mechanical nightmare.
No biological organs, no vital points—just intricate, machinery!
‘What in the hell is this thing?’ Aether thought, moving his gaze to the tusks.
Unlike the rest of the elephant, the tusks were hollow….. Empty. Nothing inside but the cold void.
“Is that thing even alive?” the Principal growled in frustration, her eyes never leaving the beast as it circled the centre, using its trunk to pull the roots.
They had been locked in this battle for what felt like hours. Every attempt to bring the creature down had been futile.
No matter how much damage they thought they dealt, the elephant simply repaired itself without a scratch.
Its pitch-black metallic body looked as pristine as when the fight began…. save for a few loose screws and bolts here and there that the Principal had managed to knock loose with her powerful strikes—only for the damn thing to reassemble itself moments later!!
And the worst part? It absorbed Arcane energy. Every spell, every attack that relied on magic was sucked into its tusks, stored there, and unleashed back at them in devastating bursts.
No wonder the Principal had struggled before!
Aether clenched his fists…. Now he understood why even someone as strong as the Principal had difficulty against this beast. ‘It’s not just resistant to Arcane energy—it consumes it. There’s no magic that can help us here and its body… It’s made of some kind of metal even a Sovereign can’t scratch.’
This was no ordinary monster…. It was a near-indestructible machine designed to withstand anything thrown at it.
“I guess… it’s not alive after all,” Aether muttered, backing away slightly. He rummaged through his storage space, pulling out a few crystal bombs he had prepared for emergencies.
The Principal raised an eyebrow, watching him closely, “Oh? So now you can use space dimensions, huh?” she asked, surprised. “That’s not something a Level 50 could pull off. Exactly what level are you?”
Aether shrugged, seeing no reason to hide the truth. “Currently… Level 81.”
The Principal’s eyes widened slightly before she gave a nod of approval, “That’s really…. something else… Impressive… Really!!” she said, though she quickly turned her attention back to the elephant.
[+3000 AP]
Aether glanced at the Principal, who was still holding her ground despite her battered appearance. She had the strength to keep the beast at bay, but killing it? That was a different story.
Every time she tried using her full power, the elephant absorbed the energy and threatened to unleash it back…. an attack strong enough to obliterate not just them, but the entire empire!!
The stakes were high. One wrong move could wipe out everything.
“I think it’s best we inform Arkanis,” the Principal began, her voice firm. “It’s his empire. If anything happens—”
“Principal.”
“Hmm?” She turned to face him.
Aether’s eyes locked onto hers, his voice low and serious. “Will you trust me?”
The Principal stared at him for a moment, her gaze scrutinizing. Then, with a sigh, she crossed her arms. “Just tell me what you’re planning, brat.”
Aether grinned, his confidence returning, “If we can’t break it from the outside… let’s take it down from the inside.”
The Principal shot him a dubious look, clearly unimpressed. “Are you insane?”
“No, I’m serious!” Aether exclaimed, holding up the crystal bombs. “It’s a solid plan. I noticed something while it was attacking. When its trunk tried to slam me, I saw two openings—holes. I think those are our way in.
If I can get inside, plant these bombs around its internal systems, and then escape before it detonates, we can destroy it from within. What do you think?”
The Principal stared at him for a long moment before rolling her eyes, “It’s reckless. And I don’t think it is way to inside…. But… it might work.”
Aether nodded, a cocky grin spreading across his face. “Exactly! Now, all we need to do is distract it long enough for me to—”
Before he could finish, the Principal was already gone.
The bombs had disappeared from his hands. He blinked, stunned, and turned just in time to see the Principal slamming the elephant into the ground with a brutal tackle. She didn’t stop there. In one swift motion, she leapt into the air and dove straight into the beast’s trunk.
Aether’s jaw dropped. “Wait, what the—?”
SSSSHHHHNNNNNGGGGGGGGG!!!
A blinding light exploded from the elephant’s body as it unleashed a devastating blast of energy, flinging the Principal out of its mouth with bone-rattling force. She skidded across the ground, her body battered and smoking from the attack, before reappearing beside Aether.
“W-Well, that’s not going to work,” she muttered, brushing the dust off her torn clothes.
“Pfft—” Aether couldn’t help himself. He let out a snort of laughter.
The Principal glared at him, her expression deadpan. “I will kill you,” she said flatly.
Aether raised his hands in mock surrender. “Alright, alright! I get it, no more jokes,” he said.
With a sigh, Aether glanced back at the elephant, still rampaging, seemingly unbothered by their efforts, “So… Plan A didn’t work. Any thoughts on Plan B?”
The Principal crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing as she studied the creature, “We need more information. That thing isn’t just absorbing Arcane energy—it’s reacting to it. We’re dealing with something more advanced than we thought.”
Aether frowned, deep in thought. “Yeah, and if it keeps repairing itself, we’ll never take it down. We need to find its core… or its power source. Something we can target.”
The Principal nodded. “Agreed. But we can’t just rush in. If we make one wrong move, it’ll absorb more power and—”
“—obliterate the empire. Yeah, I know,” Aether finished her sentence, his expression serious. “But if we don’t stop it, this thing will eventually become unstoppable.”
The Principal let out a long sigh, her frustration apparent. “Whoever created that thing, they must have built it specifically to fight someone like me.”
Aether blinked, caught off guard by her words. “Wait… what did you just say?”
The Principal frowned, trying to recall. “I said… someone built it to face a person like me?”
Aether’s expression darkened, “Why would anyone create something specifically to fight someone like you?”
The Principal shrugged casually. “Maybe they were scared of people with our kind of power.”
Aether’s eyes shifted back to the elephant, which had returned to its strange task of pulling the roots from the ground. He muttered, more to himself than anyone else, “Someone created this?”
His gaze flickered to his log…. Clarion Energy. A single word escaped his lips, “Mother?”
The Principal raised an eyebrow, her surprise evident. “Are you saying the Mother Goddess created this thing?”
Aether looked conflicted, his thoughts racing. “I don’t know… I mean, maybe. This whole place is tied to her somehow, right? The summit, the monsters here—there’s no way this isn’t related to her.”
The Principal frowned deeply. “That’s impossible. The Mother Goddess is divine; she can’t enter the mortal world directly. And even if she could, why would she make something like this?”
Aether’s expression turned grim as he locked eyes with her. “Really? Are you sure about that? Think about it. This thing only absorbs Arcane energy. Why would anyone need a machine that absorbs the very energy these entire worlds runs on? Who else has more reason to hate Arcane energy than Mother? And who’s been playing games with Arcane, treating us like pawns in their schemes?”
The Principal went silent, her face a mask of deep thought.
Aether sighed, his mind racing. “If it can absorb Arcane energy, then maybe…”
He glanced down at his skill log again, focusing on Clarion Energy. His thoughts clicked together in a rush, “Let’s see if it can absorb this.”
The Principal furrowed her brows. “What are you talking about?”
Aether closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as he prepared himself…. He wasn’t supposed to use this energy as Arcane warned him but…. Slowly, he activated the skill.
!~Ding~!
[Clarion Energy Activated!]
…..
Meanwhile, deep within the Academy, the ancient Origin Pillars that stood underground, trembled.
Tnnnnggggg!!
The pillars resonated as if responding to some distant call.
Thin, thread-like tendrils of white light emerged from their centres, glowing faintly before bursting forth, travelling through the ground like veins of energy, connecting to the roots that spanned across five great empires.
Ssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…
The white light surged forward with lightning speed, coursing through the very roots beneath the worlds, until finally, it reached….. the Pyra Fulgur Empire.
….
‘Deep inhale’
Aether could feel it—an energy, subtle but powerful, pulsing around him. It flowed into him, filling his body with a sensation unlike anything he had experienced before.
His skin prickled as a burning sensation crept through him, though it wasn’t painful…. No, it felt… pure.
He frowned, absorbing more of the strange energy, its essence entirely different from Arcane energy….. It felt clean, untainted, almost perfect!!
Opening his eyes, Aether focused the newfound energy into his palm, conjuring a small purple flame. Without hesitation, he hurled the flame toward the massive elephant.
The beast snorted, unimpressed by the seemingly insignificant flame. It barely even registered as a threat, not even bothering to absorb it like it had with Arcane energy.
But then—
BOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM!!!!
The explosion ripped through the valley with the force of a thunderclap, sending the elephant hurtling backwards as if it weighed nothing. The metal beast crashed into the wall, a cloud of dust and debris rising around it.
The Principal’s eyes widened, utterly stunned, “What in the name of Arcane… just happened?” she muttered in disbelief.
Aether stood there….. frowned?
