[Voidknight Ascension] Chapter 286 – Imperial Ambitions

Zarishna watched Sam go, frustrated, happy, and heartbroken all at once.

The inner turmoil was confusing. It felt too much like letting her husband disappear.

They were both Incarnates of War. Although they were different in many ways, they supposedly shared a piece of the same godsoul. The result toyed with her emotions.

In her own way, she had loved Sam. Not that she would ever admit that to him.

At first, she suspected it was because of the similarity to her husband, but now she knew it was a different kind of love. Like that between two siblings.

She missed him already, but the Empress of Alzahan had no time to miss her friend. An ally she had known for eons and minutes all at once. In some ways, she felt like she knew Sam better than she knew her husband. In others, they were practically strangers.

“Come along, Bar’ka,” Zarishna called fondly to her familiar.

There was much to be done. The cult of the Silent Stars needed to be rooted out and burned for what they did. It felt good to finally have an adversary to fight against.

Watching Sam play the role of hero all this time without being able to help him had been pure torture. Now she was finally unfettered and able to mete out proper judgment with her own two hands.

The Empress released the lockdown on the Proving Grounds and opened the tunnel back the way she had come an eternity ago. She knew the struggle that awaited her. The politicking, the courtroom espionage, and every eye watching her looking for a weakness to pry open was not something she was eager to experience again.

Then she saw the smiling face of her husband, an image she had nearly forgotten in her eternity within the Nexus.

Zarishna climbed atop Bar’ka and urged him on. He was faster than she was, but it took the bear time to build up speed. Time that she could use to sort out what to do.

She was no longer the Zarishna from before. She had lived a thousand lifetimes alone, then a thousand more with a friend, a student, and even a peer. She knew Sam from her past, her future, and her present.

Most importantly, she knew who had nearly destroyed her entire Worldshard, and she knew precisely where to find them.

Unfortunately, halfway through the tunnel leading back to Al Zurka, a flash of Shardscript nearly made her fall from Bar’ka’s back.

Worldshard Ascension: 95%

Zarishna’s blood ran cold. “No!”

It wasn’t that Worldshard Ascension was a bad thing, but Zarishna knew what it meant by speaking with Sam. It meant that the Worldshard was elevating to a higher plane of existence, likely joining a Shardrune of the multiverse.

She prayed to the few gods who would listen that her Worldshard would not fall like Islegard and Earth-17.

It meant that the people of her home would be fragmented and changed forever. Her Empire would be split up randomly, her people set adrift among the Shardrune.

Worse, it meant that the Silent Stars would once again elude her grasp. She knew just where to find them. They were less than a few blocks away from the Imperial Palace!

“Hold nothing back, Bar’ka! We must get back to the palace!” Zarishna cried.

The bear’s rippling muscles exploded with strength. A Silver aura flared around his furry body and the bear tore down the hallway.

But it wasn’t fast enough.

Worldshard Ascension: 97%

Zarishna lent all of her Silver power to her familiar. She could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Outlines of her loyal Queensguard were coming to meet her, obviously confused as to why she was returning so abruptly.

They bore down on the imperials, hardly offering an explanation other than Zarishna shouting, “Follow me!” She knew the Queensguard well enough to be certain they would follow.

Worldshard Ascension: 99%

“No, no, no!” Zarishna and Bar’ka rounded the corner into the Imperial Courtyard. They burst through the gates, scattering monsters and people alike. The assault on the capital was turning against the flagging monsters, but Zarishna had no time to help.

She had to reach the Silent Stars.

Turning into the next wide avenue outside of the Imperial Palace, Zarishna saw the black spire. So close. They had been advisors to the Empire for ages! Why hadn’t she put it together sooner?

The cult that had infiltrated the Immortals had been the very ones that rooted out its loose-tongued members. They had cleaned up their mess while remaining within the shadows all these years.

Zarishna would not stand for it a second longer.

With the heady power of [Anvil Lightning] filling her fist, she burst through the wall, not bothering to use the door. The first black-robed man she found was cut down in an instant.

It was clear the Silent Stars had expected her. More black-robed cultists rushed down the stairs with weapons and spells ready.

Without skipping a beat, she let loose a devastating wave of destruction intended to bring the entire tower down.

Brilliant lightning fractured in every direction.

Several of the cultists went down, but it wasn’t enough. She needed to rip them out at the roots.

The walls trembled and shook, people screamed out…and then velvety silence draped over everything. The building, halfway to destruction, froze along with everything else.

She had run out of time.

The Silent Stars were beyond her grasp now, but she would find them. She would hunt them to the ends of the realm and beyond if she had to.

They would pay. Each and every one of them would bleed.

Worldshard Ascension Complete!

Welcome to the Lesser Shardrune Realm of Il’dran (Third Layer).

END OF VOIDKNIGHT ASCENSION, BOOK 4