Chapter 524: The Fireworks

Although Jashin was dead, a small portion of his power remained. At least enough power for Rael to burst through the ceiling of the Silver Palace and float in the sky, suspended by a tiny bit of mana that lingered inside Jashin’s body.

From above, he overlooked the giant palace. In the courtyard, Roger was still beating up the soldiers, all the while trying to find Rael.

Obviously, he was failing miserably. Rael wasn’t even there.

I’d really like to loot the final vault as well, but it seems like 5 seconds are drained every time I move. I definitely won’t make it.

On the other hand, Rael could admit that the Silver Palace and even the city did look nice. He couldn’t wait until he had 50,000 Premium Coins so he could buy this entire place.

Heh… Though until then… Rael glanced to the side, where a single interface rested.

“Anna, wanna do the honors?” Rael asked with a smile.

[Your offer is akin to offering me a remote switch to kill my family,] Anna replied.

Rael’s brows twitched. “Good point… I’ll just do it myself—”

[I did not disagree,] Anna cut him off. [Allow me to press the button and destroy the teleportation devices.]

“Oh? What’s with the sudden change in attitude?” Rael chuckled.

[There is no deep meaning behind it. I have never done something remotely, so I am simply curious how it feels,] Anna explained. [If you do not want me to do it, then that is fine. I will simply watch through your eyes as I have done up to now.]

“Uhh… Yeah, here…” Rael focused on Jashin’s body and removed control from the right arm.

He immediately began feeling some phantom pain, but before the uncomfortable sensation could get too out of hand, his right hand began to move by itself.

As expected, it was Anna controlling the arm. However, he was curious just how this shadow worked. After all, he wasn’t in his own body at the moment, so naturally, Anna wasn’t here.

The moment he had that thought, Gaia’s voice rang out inside his mind.

[A shadow is connected to your identity. She is your primary shadow, so no matter where you are, Anna will be there. But for simplicity’s sake, just imagine her hiding in the shadows inside your Mind Realm,] she said.

I see… Well, that’s that then.

Anna controlled his arm and eventually pressed the “Yes” button.

She hesitated for a brief moment, but as if a switch had been flipped, Anna soon went ahead and placed her finger on the “Yes” button, prompting another pop-up.

Irritated, she pressed it again, and before either of the two could react, a giant mushroom cloud burst forth into the sky from a section of the Silver Palace.

It was a dark mushroom cloud, and even after a few seconds had passed, there was no sound.

It was a silent nuke. Literally.

However, despite there being no sound, the destruction was definitely present.

The walls of the Silver Palace collapsed, and a giant section was torn off completely, turning to ash. The portal room came into view, yet most of the portals had already deteriorated, with only a few being semi-stable.

Soldiers ran around, panicking. Some were charred, while others could only run a few steps before falling to the ground, darkness spreading all over them.

That was when Rael spotted the ground itself. Darkness was quickly spreading from the source of the nuke, covering the land extremely fast. Within just a few seconds, the entirety of the Silver Palace was covered, and even a small portion of the city wasn’t spared.

He realized that the darkness didn’t do much to the civilians or soldiers. At least, those who were alive.

For those who had died, their bodies began to morph into skinless figures, turning into gruesome chimera-like monsters that seemed like nothing more than faceless bundles of blood.

At first, there were only five or so chimeras, but as the soldiers began running around and impaling themselves on the rubble in a panic, more chimeras eventually emerged. It was shocking that this was the so-called trained legion who had undergone extensive training for a decade.

The soldiers fought back vigorously, yet no matter how many attacks they made against the chimeras, or how many times the chimeras were cut down, they kept getting back up, almost as if they were immortal.

Noticing that fact, the soldiers ditched fighting completely, and to the surprise of many civilians, the soldiers fled into the Silver City. The civilians were used as bait for the soldiers to run away, but even then, the cowards were killed, while those who managed to escape were stabbed in the back by vengeful civilians.

It was total chaos, and the chimeras multiplied endlessly, soon numbering in the thousands. Only Roger hadn’t become a chimera yet. He fought with all his might, but upon realizing how little hope there was in winning this fight, he fled into the city as well. But unlike the cowards, he had gone there to protect the civilians.

There was also Alcetas, but Rael had no clue where he went.

The chimeras didn’t follow after the soldiers and instead began scavenging the armor and weapons of the fallen soldiers. Some even went as far as to split the soldiers into several pieces, producing miniature chimeras that went on to do the same, increasing their numbers further.

But as Rael thought that was the conclusion to the nuke, he remembered one crucial detail.

Special Option: Remote detonation. Upon detonation, trigger the skill: Ring of Destruction (Transcendent)

The Ring of Destruction still hadn’t triggered.

The fallen Silver Palace turned eerily quiet, with only the sounds of crunching and cutting lingering in the air. There were some screams of the soldiers that hadn’t escaped, but they too died down eventually.

And that was when Rael felt a strong pull of mana from the black mushroom cloud. It had made its way far into the sky, and instead of fading, it started to glow an ominous crimson color. It sent shivers down the onlooking soldiers as fear began to set in.

Yet the chimeras weren’t in the same boat. They got down on their knees and bowed in the direction of the crimson mushroom cloud. It was as if they were revering it.

A single crimson lightning bolt suddenly fell from the sky, striking one of the chimeras. Instead of dying, the chimera’s body grew in size as a white bone-like mask appeared over its face. Not only that, thick crimson runes also appeared across its gruesome body.

But the lightning didn’t stop as it struck again, then again… and again. Hundreds of chimeras mutated into even more powerful versions, and soon enough, the crimson mushroom cloud began to dim.

Right as everyone expected the chaos to be over, however, it seemed like it had only started. Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn novel-fire.net

From the eye of the mushroom cloud, a single figure began to descend.

It was a red-skinned figure with two spiraling black horns coming out of the sides of its head, and a royal-looking crimson crown atop its head. It had long black wings and a luxurious white suit that didn’t befit the battlefield in the slightest.

As it scanned the Silver Palace, its expression turned to one of ecstasy. It was amused by the greeting it had received, but as it was about to descend further, its gaze locked onto Rael who floated not too far away.

Its expression soured slightly, but instead of fighting, the figure bowed at Rael, expressing genuine gratitude before turning away and descending toward the chimeras.

What was that about? Rael wondered, paying close attention to the figure who finally landed on the ground, crushing the skull of one of the fallen soldiers in the process.

It turned its head side to side, then cracked its neck as an unrestrained smile appeared on its face.

“Ahh… How long has it been since someone has graced me with such a sacrifice…”

The moment it uttered those words, it raised a single hand. Crimson mana darted out of its arms, causing ten crimson rings to appear high in the sky. Each ring was the size of a small house, and from the mana those rings radiated, Rael knew they were incredibly deadly.

The figure’s grin widened as it stared at Solenne’s army in the distance.

“How you people have fallen… Once a feared army reduced to a bunch of weaklings seeking protection from powerless mortals.”

The figure clasped its hands, and in the next instant, each of the ten crimson rings shot out a single laser beam aimed at only the soldiers. It was thin and seemingly ordinary. Some soldiers even thought they could block the lasers.

Yet, when they raised their swords in an attempt to block, the lasers pierced clean through their bodies, not even leaving behind a scorch mark and killing them in an instant.

The soldiers didn’t turn into chimeras, and instead, their bodies dissolved into thick black smoke that clung to the ground. It expanded the area of darkness further, as with each soldier’s death, 50 meters of darkness followed.

Just like that, laser after laser, the soldiers fell. Roger, the one most capable, stepped in, but even he was unable to block a laser completely. The attack he had deflected hit a nearby soldier, repeating the cycle.

<Ding!>

So this is it… Rael thought as he watched the destruction unfold.

He knew he was the cause of this, and although he hadn’t expected it to go this far, he knew there was nothing more he could do.

In war, there are casualties. Some are innocent, while others are deserved.

In the end, no war was ever perfect, and he wasn’t powerful enough to change that.

The soldiers took the civilians and fled from the Silver City, suffering heavy casualties in the process.

But with Roger alive, Rael was certain the majority of the people would make it out alive.

With those thoughts, Rael turned his gaze away from the Silver City. He glanced at the palace, then the sky, and even the Darkness World Effect that continued to spread in all directions.

He got what he wanted in a way, and for that, Rael put aside all his regrets and closed his eyes, waiting for the Marionette Dominion’s duration to finally end.

But amidst the sounds of destruction, Rael heard a single flap of wings, causing him to open his eyes.

He was met face to face with the horned figure. It stared at him intently, and then, with a slightly softer smile, the figure tipped its crimson crown at Rael, signaling acknowledgement.

“The Demonic Realm sends their regards…”

<Ding!>

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