Chapter 339: Cleaning Up The Mess
Slowly, I walked through the wreckage, bodies broken, ground torn apart, the air thick with the smell of blood and burnt flesh.
Each step echoed across the ruined battlefield. The only ones left were the weaker Masters, those who had remained at the back while the stronger ones rushed ahead.
Now, they stood frozen. Or knelt. Some still gripped their weapons, hands trembling. Others had already dropped them in surrender, their faces pale with fear, their eyes hollow.
I swept my gaze across them. For a brief second, I considered sparing them.
But the thought passed.
With a deep breath, I let Essence rush through me again. Crimson wings burst out from my back, heat crackling through their veins. I flapped them once, just once and the world blurred beneath me.
In the next instant, I hovered high above the remaining crowd. Their heads tilted upward, slowly, hesitantly. Some dropped to their knees, others stared in stunned silence. The fight had already left them.
"Silver," I called.
He let out a sharp cry and shot through the clouds, a silver blur cutting through the green sky. With a soft thump, I landed on his back, balancing easily as the wind whipped around me.
I crouched low and whispered into the wind.
"Let’s finish this."
He understood.
Silver flared his wings wide, and the air cracked.
Wind surged around us as he began flying in wide, rapid spirals above the battlefield. His crimson mist poured from his feathers in thick waves, mixing into the rushing wind. With every pass, the cyclone grew, wider, faster, deeper. A vortex of howling wind and thick red fog formed beneath us, growing until it could swallow hundreds.
The sky churned, and the cyclone screamed.
I felt the pressure build and raised my hand. Essence flowed into my palm. I closed my fingers around the heat and ignited it. Flames burst forth, violet and red, seeping into the swirling storm below.
The mist caught fire.
In an instant, the entire cyclone turned into a roaring inferno, a spinning wall of flame and wind and screaming death.
It moved.
Silver guided it, diving and banking above it like a god of storm. The firestorm tore through the crowd, incinerating everything in its path. Screams rose and were swallowed by the roaring wind. Weapons melted. Flesh burned. Bodies were lifted into the air and shredded before they hit the ground again.
Below us, there was only fire and chaos.
The cyclone raged on, wild and hungry like a beast unleashed. Fire and wind roared through the battlefield, leaving nothing behind but ash and broken earth.
I flapped my wings once and lifted off Silver’s back. The wind pulled at my clothes as I flew over the battlefield and then landed softly in front of the ice wall.
My eyes lingered on the tornado for a few more seconds. It spun furiously, tearing through the last clusters of enemies. I reached out with my mind and gave Silver a simple order—hunt down every last straggler. Leave no one behind.
Then I looked up.
The green clouds above were still swirling like boiling water.
Thunder rumbled every now and then, and from deep within the storm, I could feel the clash of powers, Dante and Hugh. Their vortexes kept shrinking and reforming like breathing lungs. I didn’t know who was winning, but for some reason, I had a quiet, unshakable belief in Dante. He’d win. I just felt it.
Turning back, I stepped up to the ice wall. It melted away in front of me, letting me pass through.
Inside the base, I walked straight to the teleportation circle. I let Essence flow into it, and the runes came to life beneath my feet. A soft hum filled the air, and the next moment, my body vanished from the hall.
I reappeared in the central chamber.
The moment I arrived, I felt Knight’s presence tucked into one of the corners.
His form blended into the shadows so well that only his glowing eyes were visible. A second later, he stepped out from the darkness, fully revealed in his massive panther form. His black fur shimmered faintly, and crimson mist curled around him.
He gave a low growl.
I smiled and nodded.
"Yes, you did great."
He growled again, softer this time and then his body dissolved into shadows and reappeared behind me. I could feel his playful energy. He was trying to hide again, to sneak behind me like a child proud of his game.
I chuckled and decided to humor him, pretending not to notice.
But something else did catch my attention, the stench.
The room stank of blood and rot. Dozens, maybe even a hundred corpses were piled around, their limbs twisted and broken. Knight had cleaned the room in his own way, by killing everyone.
I raised a hand, and flames erupted across the chamber. The fire burned fast and hot, turning flesh and bone to ash in seconds. The room lit up in golden light for a brief moment and then fell silent again.
I exhaled and walked out, letting Knight stay hidden in his shadows. He’d earned his game.
I wandered through the base’s tunnels and side halls. No one alive remained. I passed room after room filled with bodies. Some still had their weapons drawn, others died running. I kept burning them one by one. Clean-up was necessary.
Eventually, I reached the large chamber where Lyrate had made her macabre display—Abominations arranged in eerie poses like a twisted gallery. I burned that too, watching her artwork vanish in flames.
From there, I turned into one of the tunnels and followed the path I remembered. Soon, I stood in front of the final tunnel, the one where Steve and I had once been locked away.
Roars echoed from deep inside. I heard the clash of weapons, the stomping of huge feet, the shouts of men and women, and the screech of Abominations. The earth trembled slightly under my feet. A real battle was happening in there.
But I didn’t go in.
Instead, I turned to the right. Toward the part of the wall that everyone had ignored—Steve, North, even Lyrate. It looked like plain stone, but I knew better. I remembered this place clearly. Back when I first explored the prison, this was the one place my perception couldn’t pass through.
Now it could.
And what I saw confirmed my suspicion, it wasn’t a wall. It was an illusion.
I didn’t hesitate. I walked straight into the stone and passed through it like mist.