In the blink of an eye, three weeks passed. Zeke and Celestia kept travelling across the lands while remaining clear of the large red clouds looming above cities and moving randomly about.The Dead Ends have appeared on Earth, but, unlike the homeworld of the Proto-Demons, the planet wasn’t entirely finished yet. There were a decent amount of places unaffected by them, or so the duo assumed.What was strange was the total lack of any humans, even in ‘safe’ regions. The only living soul they met was the man in the hazmat suit.Other than that, there was nothing but empty buildings, empty vehicles, and empty roads.The stiff air, perpetually cloudy and grey sky, and the lack of Aether made Zeke and Celestia move with caution and at a slow pace.They always remained in the vicinity of each other and didn’t delve into seemingly dangerous places without one another.Fortunately, there was no lack of food or living resources scattered everywhere. Moreover, their relationship had become a bi
Doctor Rouge was quite hospitable and in a particularly good mood as he kept scrutinising the two newcomers for the better part of two minutes.When the awkward silence had lasted for long enough, he clapped his hands and spoke,“Alright! I’m sure you’ve got a lot of questions, but can I go first? I want some clarifications about a couple of things.”Zeke and Celestia were quiet and their unresponsive attitude looked like agreement to the dishevelled Chief Scientist.“How did you get here? To Earth, I mean. As far as I know, magic-users are banned from entering our planet. Wait wait! Let me guess… Did you use somesort of teleportation device? It has to be!”Yet again, the only answer he got was a gloomy silence, which didn’t deter him in the very least. The man was bursting with energy and excitement as he kept looking back and forth between the youth and the girl.“I get that secrecy is the best option in a foreign land, but, as you might have seen, Earth has clearly seen better days
When the Dead Ends were less than 500 meters away, the Nuclear Reactor sprung into motion. One by one, they let out periodic and controlled bursts of Aether and radiation.The red cloud seemed unaffected by the first two, but on the third, its spinning came to an abrupt halt and it started twisting and distorting as if trying to get away from the blasts.“See how it’s diverging its path? I know it would work.”Dr. Rouge jumped up and down in excitement, his face containing an expression of pure bliss.“Basically, the reactors act as an amplifier for the Aether you poured into it. It’s not their primary function, but my theory was on point!”“That’s it?” Zeke didn’t seem that impressed by this whole process.“Well, it’s a teeny-tiny bit more complicated. The Aether bursts that are systematically emitting are like invisible waves that share the exact frequency. Only like that will the Aether itself be able to withstand the distortion within the Dead Ends and actually dominate it. No off
Before they realized it, a week passed as they continued learning how to emit the Aetheric waves. Alas, only Zeke reached minor mastery but he needed to be wholly focused on the task and completely unperturbed.Zeke was planning to continue training until he was able to use it at will, but the System didn’t seem to agree with him. Out of nowhere, to set a time limit to get rid of the Dead Ends, basically forcing him and Celestia to charge ahead with what little experience they had.With 12 hours on the clock, the truck drove straight into a seemingly stationary massive red cloud, seeing nothing but destroyed buildings and empty cars everywhere.There were no human stupid enough to remain in the vicinity of the Dead Ends, be it the lucky survivors or the military.After a half an hour drive, the truck was but several hundred meters away from its destination.“Brace yourself!”Celestia pressed on the pedal and tightly grasped the steering wheel as the truck started rocking back and for
Sitting on the crystalline throne, Nicneven Sin, the Witch Queen, looked down at Jonathan Stellar Link. He was joined by the last surviving member of the eradicated Proto-Demon Tribe, Essyna.The tragedy that happened to her friends and clan members had affected her greatly, nevertheless, for the sake of vengeance, she had held on and agreed to help the Witches and Jonathan.Her ability was most unique of all and no magical artifact could imitate it, therefore, she was going to play an integral part in what was soon to come.“I understand.”Nicneven turned to look at one of the 6-Star Witches, a gloomy-looking woman with curly brown hair and seemingly tanned skin.“You will start the necessary preparations at once, Verentia.”“By your will, Your Majesty.”The 6-Star Witch, titled ‘The Witch of Destruction’, respectfully bowed her head before walking away.Kleya and the remaining 6-star Witch were sitting behind the throne, motionless and stoic. “Any idea when it will happen?”“The Sy
There was a momentary silence after Zeke disappeared. The Witch Queen floated in the air with a surprised and confused look whereas Jonathan rushed to Essyna’s side and urged her to open the portal again.The Proto-Demon was breathing heavily and kneeling on the ground, incapable of lifting a finger, much less using her ability a second time.“Leave it. It’s over.”Jonathan gritted his teeth and wanted to protest, but once he saw Nicneven’s cold and murderous stare, he lowered his head and obeyed.‘He’s still alive. If he isn’t, the Special Mission would have failed. Damnit… What a crazy bastard!’As the barriers were being removed one by one and the Witches were lining up in front of the Witch Queen, the atmosphere grew heavy.After a couple of a minute or two in tense silence, the Nightmare Witch declared,“The outpost commanders will leave tomorrow morning. The rest will be stay here to fortify-”Before she could finish, there was a deep rumbling as the entire city shook violently.
“Is this really the truth?!”Celestia faced the Witch Queen and the three 6-star Witches with an astonished expression.“Mind your words, human. Her Majesty has no need to lie to the likes of-”The Witch of Destruction was rebuking Celestia only to be interrupted by Nicneven, who raised her hand.The bronze-skinned tall witch apologetically bowed her head and returned to her usual silence.“You can check for yourself if you want. Even if you don’t, the truth will be revealed before long.”“What do you mean?”The Witch Queen paused for a couple of breaths, seemingly musing about something.“The Serey Zhan Empire will attack the Nezulian Republic. For now, I will be taking a neutral stance.”“Attack? There will be a war?”“The Emperor cannot tolerate or condone the action of your nation anymore. I don’t either, in fact. However, the way I see it, the threat they pose is nothing compared to the Dead Ends. Sure, they can dabble in their beloved technology and try to harness the power of t
It was in the middle of September when Celestia had finally returned home, to the Sunken Metropolis. As expected, her and Zeke’s long disappearance had caused a lot of worry in their entourage, but they were left with no answers for a long time. The only people who knew a little bit about the matter were Sulong, Jeremy, and Jack, who refused to answer anything, even when Edward personally came. The trip back to the Nezulian Republic was, at least, comfortable for Celestia. She was escorted by the Witch of Destruction all the way to the border, and from then on, she travelled on foot until the nearest big settlement. “What’s wrong, sweety?” In the fancy manor in which the Black household lived, Celestia’s father softly smiled and asked his absentminded daughter. “A-ah… nothing.” Unlike her usual rebellious and defiant attitude, Celestia was, for most of the time, in a daze and responded with perfunctory answers. “I didn’t believe them when they said you went and got yourself kil