XXXV
“What do you think he meant when he said the whole multiverse would be extinct?”
“It does link to Lord Pyrrhus’ belief,” Fulcan answered.
The king had insisted on titling Pyrrhus ‘lord’ ever since his death, stating how he was truly the last of Grozorg’s hope.
“How so?” I continued. We were underground again, passing time by discussing what we had just experienced.
“I’m not sure, but something inside me clicked,” the king spoke hurriedly. “There’s something else that has been bothering me, actually. Do you really think Askar is declaring war next?” Fulcan asked, setting my question aside.
“Are you wondering if Tyrannust told the truth?”
“It...it doesn’t fit with the pattern of islands that have declared war. Every island was directly across each other.”
“Maybe the high lord’s just throwing a curveball at us. It could be the next war; we have no evidence why it isn’t.”
“Wouldn’t Ferrius’ island be a more suitable candidate?” Fulcan continued to wonder, as if I hadn’t said a single word.
“Did you send any scouts out?” Tarsus asked.
“Only to Askar’s land, but they haven't returned.”
We arrived at a division in the tunnels; our one lane split into two.
“The left tunnel eventually goes to the metal domain,” General Zartan explained, interrupting the king’s answer, “and the right to the domain of air, according to this map. We have to make up our minds now.”
“I’d stick with the right, but you have the final say, Fulcan,” I immediately spoke.
The king and I both looked at Tarsus.
“I don’t know,” he quickly confessed. “Both islands have evidence on why they could be the next domain declaring war.”
“If you were forced to choose?”
Tarsus didn't answer. He looked down, thinking through his thoughts.
“What if we split our troops?” He asked, immediately responded by grumbles of complaint.
“We’d be facing a two-front war,” the king replied. “And I can't afford to lose more men now. We have to make a choice. So?”
“Well, I’d rather trust the high lord’s words than some pattern we’ve been following.”
“So we desert all order to follow the villain’s few words?”
“This isn’t a question between chaos and order,” I answered. “This-"
“What would happen if we stepped foot on the wrong island?” General Zartan questioned behind me, cutting me off.
“Most likely nothing,” the king replied, “so there’s no risk heading left to Ferrius’ domain.”
“We’re caught between a rock and a hard place; if we step foot on the wrong island and they find out, they would most likely declare war on us, and we’d be facing a two-front war then,” Tarsus countered.
“That’s an assumption,” the king scowled. “We’re going left.”
“I’m with you, King Fulcan,” the general responded. Another soldier voiced his agreement, then another, and soon enough, the whole army backed their king’s decision.
Without waiting for our counter, the king began to walk down the left path, disregarding both Tarsus’ and my decision completely, as before. Hopefully he was right this time.
Tarsus glowered as he picked up his pace, ready to confront the intransigent king. He was stopped in his tracks by a gentle arm firmly gripping his broad wrist, Glo halting him from unleashing his temper in front of the king again.
“He...that man...Fulcan...augh!” Tarsus choked on his words, trying to express his anger to Glo.
“He’s like that, and we already know he won’t change his mind once he sets it on something. There’s nothing we can do about it.”
Glo gently cupped Tarsus’ hands in her pale palms and Tarsus’ flushed face slowly returned to its natural, tanned colour.
“Well, there’s only one way to know now,” I started with a quick sigh. “The king will be the king. There’s only one way to tell if that was the right choice or not.”
I followed the army through the passage, and the two guilds followed suit. It would be a disaster if we arrived at the wrong island.
And it was.
It wasn’t just a disaster.
No, it was chaos.
We stood on the battlements of King Fulcan’s royal palace, holding our ground against the two attacking forces. Devastating gales from the Sisterhood crashed against the fortified walls as the Overlord of Metal rampaged through the city in his adamantine battle machine and his artificial army.
It was the final stand, the capital nearly decimated by the unceasing forces of air and metal combined. Villages and farmlands all around Tenebris were decimated to nothing but ashes and rubble. The frantic villagers, citizens, and refugees of the metal domain had sought shelter within the palace walls that bordered Tenebris, but the ramparts of the city had been crushed, and soon the walls would give way, exposing the capital city, the last beacon of hope.
“Squadron Phoenix! North wall, one two one! Squadron Quetzal! Northeast watchtower! All forces against the overlord’s machine!”
Commands were thrown left and right, words spat out from the king and his generals unrelentingly. The entire Army of Light and Purity scrambled around the perimeters of the city, carrying out their tasks to hold back the powerful elemental troops.
The Sisterhood of Air had begun their unstoppable elemental barrage against the South Wall, which were reinforced by three quarters of Fulcan’s army. Meanwhile, Overlord Ferrius had scattered his artificial army all against the North and East Wall, specifically targeting the smaller Northeast Tower. The overlord himself bashed against the West Wall, the enormous machine effortlessly crushing the fortified capital.
Our two guilds had positioned themselves across the North wall, directly facing the oncoming cyber attack. Sylvan took position within a watchtower while Foku fired beam after beam at ground troops, quickly recharging and unleashing his stunning lance. Glo spared no time to rest, tending troop after troop to prepare them for the brutal force of war again. Tarsus and I were scurrying across the bricked platform, slashing at the androids that attempted to scale up the lofty castle wall.
“Back to the good times, eh?” Tarsus managed to joke, shouting above the heat of the war.
“Who could’ve guessed?” I responded with a small grin, hacking a robotic limb off and slicing through another arm. The torrents of droids were never-ending; as long as the overlord was still alive in his behemoth battle machine the waves would never cease.
“Honestly,” Tarsus continued in a strained voice, “I would’ve much preferred your plan of ‘improvise’ over Fulcan’s ‘improvise’.”
A metallic head flew from Tarsus’ blade, colliding into my right shoulder, sending my midair cut off course.
“Watch it!” I scolded.
“Not my fault!” Tarsus denied as another robotic hand slapped across my face from Tarsus’ decapitating swings. “Blame Fulcan, if there’s anyone to blame! If it weren’t for him, we could’ve ended Askar’s war first, then Ferrius’. The king was wrong, again! Honestly, I should be the king!”
“Hey, on the bright side, we’re defeating two forces in a shorter amount of time!”
I was getting tired, my arms sore from the endless slashes and jabs at the lifeless androids. But the lifetime I had spent training for days like these kept me going, fuelling every swing and cut.
“That’s only if we win!” Tarsus exclaimed. His golden shuang-gou continued its hypnotizing, circular path, slicing through anything that dared to enter the rotating blade. As I was caught in a trance by his mesmerizing blade, a robotic hand collided against his deadly shuang-gou, five fingerings splattering across my face.
“Mm-augh!” I spat. “Stop that!”
“Stop what?” Tarsus chuckled.
“We’re not gonna win if you don’t stop sending those robotic pieces every which way!”
I was immediately greeted by a metallic foot against my chest from Tarsus’ swings.
“Oops, my bad. Well, I guess we’re losing for sure then.”
“Good luck fighting by yourself! I’m joining Kadava!”
The swarm of metal droids scaling up the castle wall had diminished, but the northeast tower was now crowded with hordes and hordes. The barbaric androids were commanded to retarget onto the lookout tower, and the metal scraps clawed against each other, robot piling upon robot, slowly inching up the golden walls of the fortified watchtower. Kadava and Sylvan were alongside the soldiers positioned within the tower, and I ran across the battlement to assist them.
“We need more help here!” Kadava exclaimed as I approached. He sent out shurikens and kunai, each one impressively puncturing into an android’s skull or chest, throwing the metal skeletons off the tower. His reformed metal leg was concealed under torn pants, and his swift movements and agile speed questioned if he still had two human legs.
Just then, the first brick started to fall. Then the next.
A gleaming hand reached up, then another.
One by one, the northeast watchtower started to crumble before my eyes as the swarm of androids overwhelmed the fortified structure.
Tenebris was breached.