MM - Chapter 253 - ENDLESS HORIZON

Raine sighed, lips pulling to the side in mild disappointment. Hoping for a more revealing lesson on Genesis and internal force wasn't enough to make it happen. Instead, he got another lecture on how to be a normal person.

Then again, maybe my definition of normal is the one that’s skewed.

A helpless shrug pulled at his shoulders just before he was whisked away by a Return Stone. The building he appeared in was practically deserted, aside from the few Vaaterrans cleaning the previous night’s festivities. He exited West Base Town's tavern with quick steps. The tantalizing aroma of freshly-baked bread wafted from the establishment’s kitchen, chasing him out the front door. As nice as it would be to sit down with the core group over a good meal, there was far too much to do. The equipment liberated from the Phoenix elites had lit a fire under Raine’s ass. There was no time to let them get further ahead.

The street outside was more alive, a slog of bustling activity, even at this early hour when the sun was far from breaching the massive wall that dominated half the horizon. It was so huge as to nearly reach the clouds, an inspiration for the nearby mountain range that could only dream of being so grand. Moisture built at its top and ran off in guided slurries, creating waterfalls all along its length. The distance to the ground was so vast that the water split apart into mist long before reaching the bottom.

Raine turned from Celendine’s Shield, toward the town’s adorably small wall and gate. Walking briskly, he took the brief moment to check his messages. As it tended to in a technological world, word had traveled fast that CronGate was beating a retreat from Carter. With the winner clear, offers for partnerships and business propositions were arriving in a flood. He set them all to ignore, instead reading one that was sure to improve his mood even further.

Damian Tafell’s righteous fury could be felt lashing out from the displayed text. “You rat bastard! I don’t know whose dick you sucked to change grandfather’s mind, but it won’t last. I’ll be in power someday, and your alliances won't mean shit! I swear by every man, woman, and child living in your shit-stain of a City, that if you don’t return the equipment you stole, there will be nothing but oceans of blood between us until the day you choke out your last word!”

More than one head turned at Raine’s outburst of laughter. This has got to be the absolute best way to learn that Malakar took the bait. He must have been impressed to even get Tannis to back off. And poor little Damian, you’ll never get the chance to make good on that threat. By the time I don’t need Malakar’s protection anymore, Astra Infernum will be powerful enough to sweep your little Phoenix Clan’s ashes into the trash.

Wiping a tear from his eye, Raine checked the other message flagged as important. Talerra Tafell’s words couldn’t have been more contradictory to her cousins. “Congratulations finding a grandmaster to cover for you. Not sure how they convinced grandfather to leave you alone, but it's a relief to know you aren’t in danger… well… as much danger now. Looking forward to the next round of our competition; can’t wait to see Damian’s face when you show up again. It’s going to be so good.”

Instead of responding, Raine’s attention was drawn to the guards on station at the town gates. They looked bored out of their minds, yawning and lazing about.

Since when is security at The Wall this lax?

One of the armored sentries leaning against a brick barracks caught sight of him. “Atten-hut!” The rest of the guards snapped to their feet, backs suddenly straight. Fists not clenching spears slammed into their helmeted heads in a raucous clangor.

An officer with the badge of a battlemaster snapped a full salute, his other fist crashing into his chest, over his heart. “Lord Baron, Alaric, Favored of the Queen, it is an honor to attend you!”

Raine’s brows lifted in surprise. He wasn’t expecting them to know who he was at first glance. He assumed Celeste told them in an attempt to gain entrance to the town. This left the question of why they weren’t allowed entrance. He pitched his tone to seriousness, but carefully unedged with arrogance or scorn. “If you know who I am, then you must have a good reason for refusing my forces entry.”

“Yes, of course, my lord. As Grand Marshall Lirik is still absent, and Grand Marshall Horris is quelling a Razorspine outbreak, yet to officially relieve him, the entire Shield is under wartime lockdown.”

Raine tilted his head, brows knit at the man’s peculiar phrasing. “What do you mean, Grand Marshall Lirik is absent?” As far as he could remember, Lirik remained in command of Celendine’s Shield until it was captured by the empire, long after most of the kingdom had already fallen. Whatever caused the man to be ‘absent’ long enough to need replacing couldn’t be good.

“Apologies, my lord. You would not be asking if you knew. Please excuse my lapse!” The officer bowed at the waist, not stopping until he was bent fully in half. “Nigh four hands past, Grand Marshall Lirik joined forces with Magister Militum Fondarois. They set out together in pursuit of an Archdemon after the damnable monster set off a near-catastrophic raid against the Rabinoid Queen. Neither has returned.”

What? Raine’s jaw dropped at the news, his thoughts racing at lightning speed. Lirik never joined forces with the Dantinians for anything. That would have been huge news; no way I would have missed it. And he definitely never went missing for almost a month. A sinking feeling that he was the root cause took hold. Pressure refused to release his diaphragm as his logic drew toward the inevitable truth.

The man’s clearly not lying or misinformed. When I saw the Rabinoid Queen in the ethereal realm, it had gained some demonic properties and even dropped demonic loot. So, it really was demons. And not just any demon, an Archdemon—basically equivalent to a 4th-tier Hierarch. It sent the queen after me specifically. I barely survived. Then, someone using demonic energy messed with my raid, not a day later… But if Lirik chased the Archdemon away, then it must have had backup… Are you kidding me?! That succubus who escaped?! How stupid am I for not realizing the connection right away? Zoarra told me it wasn’t her, but I didn’t want to believe a curse-sucking witch.

Then the question is: how did I go from messing with a scamp to attracting the attention of an Archdemon?

Raine was about to close his eyes and replay as much as he could remember of his very brief encounter with the succubus, but realized the battlemaster was still bowing before him. He firmly grasped the man’s shoulder and hauled him straight. “Enough of that. Thank you for filling me in, battlemaster. Now that I’m here in person, I assume there won’t be any issues with my forces entering the wall to aid in the kingdom’s defense?”

“No! Certainly not, my lord. And again, my sincerest apologies for denying them before.”

“You were only following orders, as any good soldier should.” Raine patted the man’s shoulder, giving him a firm nod of approval, and earning another salute in the process. He passed through the gate, not looking back. “We’ll file in shortly and head straight to the staging area. Would one of yours be so kind as to flag the adjutant?”

“Of course, my lord!” The battlemaster spun on his heel, snapping orders as Raine took to the sky. He swapped back to the Fraction of Grace, only half grateful he wouldn’t be running into Grand Marshal Lirik.

At least both sides lost a 4th-tier. If it were only the kingdom, the war might already be in full swing. How did Lirik and Fondarois lose to an Archdemon? If they fought in the Mundane Realm, it should have been weakened.

The obvious answer is that it led them into a trap. Yet, that seemed unlikely if the Archdemon was only at the wall because it was after him. A trap capable of not defeating, but killing two 4th-tiers before they could even escape couldn’t possibly be simple, and certainly required time and preparation.

Raine shook his head to cast aside the pointless assumptions. He had too little information, and the only reason he didn’t want to let it be was that he might be directly responsible.

No, ‘might be,’ about it. Whatever’s going on, it's definitely my fault the kingdom lost one of its most powerful defenders. Shit.

With his recently doubled Connection, it was no longer necessary to Lunge through the sky. Raine easily carried his weight forward at a decent clip merely by manipulating the air. It didn't take long to arrive at Astra’s camp. Though calling it a camp was generous. There were no tents or entrenched defenses. Roughly seventeen thousand souls were arranged in loose cohorts of 375, each led by a battlemaster. He hadn’t instructed it, which meant Celeste took the initiative to return to Hammer Smith Town and bring the last of the guild here via drifters. 

The core group waited at the forefront of the 45 formations. Raine landed before them, meeting their eyes in turn, and giving Celeste a deep nod of approval where all could see.

Fizgore and Rhino stood together. His old friend was as bare-chested as always, wielding a massive grin that Raine returned. Of all those gathered, Rhino might have changed the most. There was a hard edge to him that wasn’t there before. Leading the men and women he’d personally trained into battle, killing his enemies mercilessly, and witnessing the strategic resources that large-scale battles in ZIonLine demanded, were bound to change anyone, let alone someone of his potential.

Richtor’s team was doing their best to bottle up the laughter from whatever joke TwistedReligion said just before Raine’s arrival. He rolled his eyes at the lot of them, and they burst into giggles. Mel, Celeste, and Pamalaiha stood together between the two groups. Seeing all three of them at once was too much for Raine. He quickly averted his gaze before he was caught ogling in front of his entire guild.

Celeste invited him to the raid and passed leadership, “Forgot to mention; we already sent everyone in groups to bind. We’re ready to go.”

“Good thinking.” Raine cleared his throat, toggling the option that would allow his voice to reach even the most distant. He cleared his throat with a fist that failed to hide his curved lips. “They’re expecting us inside, so let's not keep them waiting. Stick to your cohorts, follow the lead of your battlemasters, and when you die, get your ass back to your formations without causing trouble in town.”

Nervous chuckles sounded behind as he led the way at a brisk trot. Glancing back, he crooked a finger at Celeste. She caught up quickly, Mel and Pamalaiha trailing behind. “Good job getting everyone here. I assume you’ve briefed the battlemasters and chosen the runners?”

Celeste nodded. “They know what to do. Pulling it off might be a bit sloppy with so many, but I’m sure they’ll figure it out soon enough.”

“Good enough. Where’s Constantine?”

She looked back, scanning the sea of faces before giving up. “No clue. He even said he wanted to talk to you.” She grumbled something under her breath, then nodded to herself. “I’ll go find him!” Celeste leaped into the air, directionality reversing with a Lunge that sent her zipping over the leading cohort.

Mel jumped at the chance to fill the silence and empty spot at his side. “Hi!” Her grin was brighter than the rising sun.

“Hi.” Raine returned the greeting, voice husky and eyes smoldering. He pinned her with a look that promised a more personal reunion when they were alone. She bit her lip in response. After appreciating the view for a moment, his attention fell on Pamalaiha. “Congratulations on level 18. You’ve been busy.” He wasn’t exaggerating: gaining three levels in less than three days against enemies in the highlands, who averaged level 16, required significant effort.

Her tone was curt, laced with frustration that wasn’t aimed at him. “I’ve little choice. When the next shipment of nutrients comes in, leaving the lab will be a challenge.”

Mel peered around him and smiled brightly at Pamalaiha. “You won’t have to do it alone. Between the two of us, we’ll be done in no time!”

Raine nodded sagely. “Don’t worry. You won’t fall as far behind as you think.” His intent was to be mysterious and tease the doctor a little. Unfortunately, the girls had full access to his thoughts, ruining his fun.

People only think levels are the primary bottleneck in ZionLine, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. The difference between class tiers is everything. 99% will fail their first class quest. Going in without proper attribute utilization, Discipline control, and skill completion rates is a death sentence. Only martial masters and grandmasters used to tempered bodies and internal force will stand a chance. 

With her background, Pamalaiha should be several steps ahead in all three categories. While the others will need weeks, if not months of training to become proficient, she’ll be ready in days. Only reason I let her take a rare class. She can handle it. The rest would be screwed by the increased difficulty.

It took all of her effort not to preen under Raine’s praise. The fear of falling behind in the coming days evaporated, and suddenly, Pamalaiha was back on top of the world. She hadn’t felt this amazing since her patriarch handed over the mask that unlocked her Shadowmancer class, proving that he valued her above all others. As far as Mel had told her, he had not let anyone else unlock a special class, only her. And now she knew why.

The feverish adoration in her gaze went unnoticed; Raine’s attention was pulled the other way as Celeste returned with a panting Constantine. The large man wasn’t as scarred or gruff as he appeared on Earth. His skin was young, smooth, and unmarred by even one tattoo.

“Sorry I’m late. Was passing out the equipment you let us keep, and putting a few touches on this.” He flicked Raine a contract that had his brows hiking north in surprise.

They were almost to the gates, so he would have to read the full details later. Still, he was curious to discover the intent behind the man’s proposition. Locking eyes with Celeste’s father, Raine spoke carefully, making sure he had the gist of it correct. “Ronexzera wants to officially join Astra Infernum, as regulars, without any extra incentives?”

The big man nodded emphatically. After witnessing firsthand what Raine was capable of, even defeating elites from the vaunted Phoenix Clan, his mind had been made up. If he didn’t do everything in his power to tie his people to Astra Infernum now, when the bar to entry was still low, it would be the height of foolishness.

Originally, Constantine had considered bargaining most of his Earth assets to keep a third of the equipment from the battle with CronGate. After all, that alone would vastly exceed his total wealth. Raine choosing to give so much more, without asking for anything in return, had cemented his determination. “That’s right. We want to join. No special privileges. We’ll each show our worth, or get tossed out on our ear like anyone else. Not one of my boys disagreed. Astra Infernum is where we want to be. I know we might not be—”

“Sure.” Raine cut him off with a shrug, then returned Constantine’s slack-jawed expression with an excited grin. “You’re a clever man. If you waited even two more days, joining would have cost you dearly.”

Constantine’s teeth clicked shut, and he swallowed hard. He fell back a few paces, struck by a sudden overwhelming sense of awe. His life had not been easy. Growing the small company his father started into the Ronexzera that it is today had nearly killed him a hundred times over. In the brutal, cut-throat world of martials, he was a small salmon swimming upstream, weaving through hundreds of hungry bears. 

He’d long ago learned to trust his instincts, and right now, they were screaming louder than ever before.

The massive wall—a construction too grand to ever find on a small planet like Earth—loomed large ahead of them. It was truly gargantuan, encompassing everything in sight. Yet somehow, the broad shoulders of the young man jogging ahead of him were more impressive. As Constantine watched, his new guildmaster’s back swelled in size until it drowned out not only the horizon, but the entire world.

The others felt it too. Whether they knew him as Alaric or Raine, not one missed that something unquantifiable had grown within their guildmaster—a power that swelled to new heights in the few short days of his absence. Confident silence settled over the core group as the man they followed effortlessly led them through gates that were once closed to them. The metaphor for what they were all feeling couldn’t have been more perfect. So long as they remained in his shadow, the future was endless.