As I drew closer, I realized something was off. It wasn’t just the size of the city but it was the fact that it was covered.
A dull grey dome stretched over the entire city, not shimmering like the believer shields I had seen before, but dense, almost solid. I slowed the horse and circled the perimeter, keeping my distance while watching for any opening to get inside the city.
But there was none. The dome was seamless.
I guided the horse further along the edge until the terrain shifted, the ground rising sharply into a rocky incline that formed a cliff overlooking part of the city. I dismounted without hesitation and climbed, gripping onto rough stone and pulling myself upward until I reached the top.
From there, I could see inside. There were people moving inside the city but not human.
They were beings from different race.
The first thing I noticed was that they were very tall. Eight... nine... some even close to ten feet, their bodies lean to the point of looking unnatural, their skin carrying a faint bluish tint that stood out even from this distance. Their eyes, emerald green, glowed faintly, visible even from where I stood. Every one of them wore long black robes that flowed with their movement, covering most of their form, giving them a uniform, almost ritualistic appearance.
There were many of them. Far more than what I had seen in Seum. And none of them looked weak.
I narrowed my eyes slightly, scanning the city. There were patrols, clusters, groups moving together, others standing still at intersections. Many of them were inside the central building and there were even two guards standing outside. I could not locate the prison because most of the administrative buildings looked the same to me.
So, I decided to get inside directly by breaking the shield. I knew it would alert all of them but there was no other way. Which meant, I would have to make one.
I climbed down from the cliff and moved back toward the dome, circling once more until I found a section of the city where the buildings were tightly packed together, the streets narrower and the patrols were far away.
"This should work," I muttered. I stepped back slightly and tightened my grip on the axe.
"Berserk Mode."
The surge hit instantly, energy flooding through my body, sharpening everything as my muscles tightened, I lowered my stance, eyes locked onto the shield.
Then, I used a skill I had never activated before.
"Limitless."
[Limitless 1 (Active) : Releases all stored internal energy in a single moment, The chosen action is pushed beyond its normal limit, greatly increasing its force, speed, and penetration. Consumes stored energy completely upon activation]
Every bit of stored energy in my body surged forward at once, rushing into the axe, flooding into the blade in a violent stream that refused to stay contained. The yellow glow intensified, thick and dense, wrapping around the edge, and then lightning followed, crackling violently along the surface, snapping outward in jagged arcs before being pulled back in.
The pressure was building and it was building fast even for me to control. The air around the blade distorted, the energy condensing into something far heavier than anything I had used before.
I could not wait. I moved. My body shot upward as I jumped, the force carrying me high enough to clear the outer height of the dome, my axe already raised above my head as the energy peaked. Then I brought it down. The blade met the shield.
BOOM!!
The moment of contact triggered a violent release, the condensed energy discharging all at once, the yellow glow and lightning tearing outward from the point of impact. The grey dome trembled, the surface cracking outward in a circular pattern as the force pushed through it.
For a second, it held. Then it broke.
The barrier shattered at the point of impact, the energy tearing a hole large enough for me to pass through as the shockwave spread across the surface, rippling outward through the entire dome.
I dropped. Straight into the city. I didn’t stop to look.
"Radiant Drive."
The energy surged again, not as heavy as before, but fast, carrying me forward in a sustained burst as I shot through the nearest street, then another, then another, turning corners without slowing, putting distance between myself and the entry point.
Three streets in, I stopped.
I slipped into a nearby building, pushing through the door and moving up quickly, taking the stairs to the top floor before stepping into a shadowed corner.
Then I stilled completely, holding my breath, not out of choice but because my body refused to move. The strain from Limitless caught up all at once, my muscles tightening and spasming as if they had been pushed far beyond what they could handle. I stayed where I was, back pressed against the wall, axe still in my hand, waiting for the tremors to pass.
Time dragged slowly. But outside, it didn’t stay quiet.
Within moments, I could hear it, shouts, movement, something spreading through the city. They knew someone had infiltrated.
Almost ten minutes passed before the strain eased enough for me to move again. My breathing steadied first, then my grip tightened, and finally I pushed myself off the wall and moved toward the window, just enough to get a view without exposing myself fully.
What I saw surprised me. At the center of the city, high above the ground, a figure sat cross-legged in the air.
Even from this distance, I could see him clearly. Draped in the same black robes as the others, but his presence was different. His hand was raised slightly, fingers moving with small, precise motions as if tracing something invisible in the air.
Then, he pointed. A black ripple spread from his finger. It spread outward from him instantly, expanding across the city in all directions, passing through buildings, streets, everything in its path without resistance.
My eyes widened.
"No way..." I muttered, already dropping down from the window, pressing myself flat against the floor.
Because I knew. I knew what that was. The ripple reached my position. It passed through the wall and stopped.
Right there.
For a fraction of a second, it lingered, as if confirming something.
Then it detonated. The entire roof above me exploded outward, wood and debris blasted apart as black energy filled the space, smoke-like but heavier, thicker, consuming everything it touched. The impact drove down into the structure, shaking the entire building as fragments rained around me.
Suddenly I heard shouts even through the explosion.
"Found him!"
A voice, sharp, clear, carrying across the streets.
"North side of the city!"