Chương 46: Chapter 45 - Justice

The third moon came fast. Alex levitated, sitting in the air, as she watched the Path SkyTower being built to a height of 30 floors, 10 more floors than she expected. It was then that her mana communicator device rang, and for some reason she already expected who it was, it was a call from Bitch Raven. She had designed the device to ring for at least 20 seconds before it times out. Out of pettiness, she let it ring until the 19th second before picking it up.

"Y-ello, who's this? Over."

"Boss… did you really have to let it ring until the last second before picking it up?"

"Huh? What? I didn't hear the word 'Over'."

"Ugh… boss. I just arrived. Have to say, this is a great place for a vacation. I even got myself a nice villa to hang out in the sun with free hotel lodging."

"Free hotel?! How much is that costing?! You better not be expensing that!"

"Relax. Some noble guy from Pandor gave me free lodging in exchange for 'companionship'." Raven laughed.

"Oof. Didn't think you were into that. Not that I care. Why are you telling me HR violations?"

"A simple sleep sigil puts him to bed fast. No HR violation here." Alex clearly did not mean the obvious shenanigans she was doing on the island. The HR violation was more about to do with Raven telling her boss personal things.

"Get on with it. What's up?"

"It'll take about 2-3 months for this rebellion to start boiling, unless you give me the A-OK on mind sigils?"

"Approved. What else?"

"There's this giant gem at the centre-most island. Looks pretty expensive. You want me to take a chunk of it?" Raven asked.

"What's it look like?"

"It's a giant rotating blue green gem, like a Fraedium gem, and its mana seems to seep into all 9 islands surrounding it."

"Did you ask what's it for?"

"The guy I'm staying with says it's something about keeping the corruption out of the islands. Whatever that means."

"Do what you want. Do we really care about the corruption?" Alex asked.

"Heard some Pandorians talking about the current chaos at the capital over losing their summoned heroes to Lyra. Not sure what that has to do with the corruption though."

"Forgot about those little shits. Didn't know they were in Lyra. Welp, that sucks for them."

"Ok, if you're letting me take a piece of the gem—""Take a picture of it first before you take a piece," Alex said. But as she thought so, she forgot there was no WiFi or 7G in this world. She had to wait for Raven to get back to take a look at the design and functions of the gem.

"Got it, boss."

"That all?"

"That's all. Boss, you sure I'm fine to do as I wish?"

"If I say no, is it going to stop you from doing what you need to do?"

"Nope."

"Then just get on with it." Alex gritted her teeth. Years after she had taken in Raven as one of her Witches, she clearly told her that as long as the job gets done, then she can do as she see fit, and the bitch always took that to the extreme much to her dismay.

"Alright boss, over and out."

"Bye." Alex hung up immediately. Standing menacingly in front of Alex was the almost finished 30 floor commercial tower. Her eyes peered over the last glass installed onto the side of the building of the Path SkyTower. It was the first step to capitalism in this backwater dump of a world. Just the thought of it made her lips tremble as a single tear pooled at the corner of her eyes.

"Goddess of might! The building is finished as per specifications! Long live the Path!" Yulka shouted at the top of the building. After the firing range test, she had worked to the bone to complete the project by leading her other blue collar employees (barbarians). It was one of the reasons why she came to Path HQ first before Grey. A blue outline appeared on Yulka's form, and a single second after, Alex telekinetically floated the barbarian to where she was.

A platform barrier materialized to which Yulka's feet stepped onto and the rest of the 15 barbarians floated all the same, joining them where they stood. There were a couple of things missing for this whole building to be officially finished. Four shafts stood empty, one had corridors that snaked across all rooms built within the tower and the other was at the centre of the tower, going all the way to the basement floors. First was the elevator.

Sure, the native Nulfraens were peak-er than the peak humans back on Earth. However, the elevator was also a symbol of capitalism. It efficiently transports bodies up and down a commercial or residential tower, allowing them to conserve their calories and or eat snacks while waiting to arrive at their floor. Second was the HVAC system. It would be an OSHA violation if fresh air was not circulated throughout the building. People would fall sick or feel dizzy.

Fat chance she was going to let her employees take free days off.

"Goddess, will you put in the final touches?" Yulka asked. All her employees behind her anticipated an answer.

"Yuppers. Guys, watch this." Alex grinned. Materializing a pre-built MCE (Mana Combustion Engine™), she placed it at the top of the building where the elevator shaft was. This specific model she designed had 50 horsepower for smooth operation of the elevator. Telekinesis and electricity in this case would be inefficient as the fuel for the shaft was already available in the ambient atmosphere. Generating electricity to power would require a different project that would take months.

She'd need to procure out the nearest source of natural energy, and that was inefficient. Telekinesis, on the other hand, was a waste of ether as it expended too much per revolution. Since this was only a single cylinder engine, it'll only take about 2 ethers per second, and she was left with only 244 ambient ethers per second from 246. A couple of whoas and murmurs spread behind Alex as she materialized a chunk of adamantite, shaping it exactly as an elevator with the exact measurements of the shaft.

A couple of Fraedium gems was installed on the back panel of the numbered buttons for floor selection. She created traces from each button to the Fraedium gem as well as creating a wireless linkage to each floor's up and down button, similar to the mana communication device with binary input and outputs. She repeated this two more times to fill the two other elevator shafts. All three were powered by a single MCE engine, exploiting the fact that adamantite can handle the stress.

Every part of the moving elevator was made with the same metal, from the main drive shaft all the way down to the pulleys, cables, and high-density counterweights. It was an OSHA-compliant, zero-maintenance masterpiece. But Alex thought to herself, every thing she made was a masterpiece, and no one could convince her otherwise.

"Goddess of might, may I ask what you've created?" Yulka asked.

"Nothing too big. You can just call this the elevator."

"What is an 'elevator'?"

"It'll help our employees ascend and descend the Path SkyTower. I'll give Grey the instruction manual for it later for everyone to be trained on." Alex couldn't believe that people even needed to be trained on how to use elevators. Then again… when they first popped up on Earth, she also had to take one apart to see how they worked. She was even startled when the floor started moving on its own on her first ride.

"Understood!"

"Now, the next part. We can't have our employees getting sick while working inside the building." Physical manipulations such as temperature control was one of the easier and more efficient parts of using magic. If it weren't for the United Knights, she'd be inventing modern magitech conveniences back on Earth. But alas, fuck the United Knights. A hollow 6×6 meter metal box appeared in front of her with rows of holes at the top. Inside of it was a fist sized Fraedium gem, hidden from plain view. That was it.

The gem itself held multiple functions. Temperature and air pressure control. As air moves through the holes, a spell would set its temperature to 19C, regardless of ambient outside air temperature. To move the air, the air pressure function would create a low pressure system within the hollow box. This creates a constant suction, forcing air down through the air shafts. A directional high pressure system at the base of the box pushes the cold air down the shafts.

To prevent over pressurization of the building, exhaust pipes were placed strategically between floors as passive release valves. The temperature control required 6 ethers per 10 second while the air pressure function required 18 ethers per second. In essence, the HVAC system consumed 18. 6 ethers per second. Ambient ether recovery was now set at 225. 4 ether per second. There wasn't a lot left. If she built more towers, the ambient ether would drop extremely low which may cause adverse effects such as fauna death.

Alex lowered the hollow box to cover the air duct shaft. One snap of her finger, and a low hum filled the area as air passed through the holes. The best thing about this HVAC system? No maintenance for days (ever). There were no moving parts. Only the elevator shaft needed oil changes every once in a while.

"I now crown the Path SkyTower finished." Alex floated everyone down to the front door of the SkyTower. As they all stood in front of the tower, everyone craned their necks upwards to marvel at the brute force engineering using adamantite to hold everything in place. That's probably what they thought anyways. Alex snapped her fingers again. The scent of lemon and freshly ironed clothes wafted through the air suddenly as all the dirt, debris, mud, and snow was cleaned off of all the employees.

"Let's go in." Alex took the first step forward. She moved through the revolving door and entered the lobby of the SkyTower. The lobby was 3 floors high. It was empty as expected. Only the table at the stone reception desk took the space just before the elevator shafts. Marble pillars scattered throughout in rows that stretch all the way to the ceiling. The smell of dust and fresh construction lingered in the air.

The temperature was just at the right amount of 19C as she could feel a soft breeze flow through the vents. She'll send Grey and Aurora a list of things to buy later and give instructions on how to decorate the lobby. Behind her, murmurs started increasing in volume as the blue collar employees filtered in.

"It's so warm in here…"

"A bit colder than summer's day."

"That's refreshing though."

"Long live the Goddess of Might!" Yulka shouted, the rest followed her chant.

"Yulka, I'll send specifications to Grey later on what to do with the floors. We don't have enough employees to cover all the SkyTower anyways," Alex said.

"Floors 3 to 15 would be used for residential purposes. Above that will be office space. Floor number 2 would be for recreation, leisure, and exercise."

"Does the Lady perhaps give a choice to her subjects choice to live in the SkyTower?"

"For 3 silver per month, hell yeah."

"Is anyone allowed to apply for it?" one of the barbarians behind Yulka asked.

"Anyone. As long as you can pay 3 silver a month." A crowd of cheers and claps echoed along the whole lobby. These claps were from barbarians who built a commercial tower in less than half a year. But their happiness was contagious, so Alex clapped along with them.

"Everyone, take a week's rest. All of you earned it."

"But Goddess of Might! Why must you punish us by forcing us to rest?!" Yulka shouted, sliding down onto her knees and begging Alex.

"It's not a punishment. Since all of you just did mandatory overtime for months, OSHA requires you to take a rest for a minimum of 7 days."

"Damn!" Yulka shouted. A couple of groans could be heard from the employees behind her as well. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"You want to talk to Grey about it?" Alex asked. Yulka suddenly stood up and saluted.

"We shall all take the puni—I mean, rest days." Alex smirked. Of course they wouldn't wanna be lectured by Grey for hours long.

"Good. Dismissed."

"Men, let's spar!" Yulka shouted as she turned around. All of her employees filtered through the revolving door. When the last one exited, silence returned. If it weren't for OSHA, Alex would've certainly allowed them to not take their punishment. Anyway, she still wasn't done for today. There was one last thing she had to do, and that was about Rand's reward. He protected the Marchioness Sarazzin's Star Cub's location very well, and was still currently supporting its front lines.

Sources did say that the corruption was somehow sending the majority of its forces there for whatever reason. It could be after the capital of Lyra as the first line of defense was that specific location…. Oh well, who cares. Pulling up her mana communication device, Alex dialed Rand. It rang for a couple of seconds before the line was picked up. The sound of lightning crash and swords clanging rang through the speaker.

"My Lady, how may I be of service? Over." Rand asked.

"Randy, for your protection of the Star Cubs location, you deserve something. What do you want? Over." Alex asked. Rand coughed at the other side of the line.

"Thank you very much!! I shall enact your will to these heathens that dare defy your lands!!"

"Ugh… yeah. Sure. So what do you want?" For a couple of seconds, Rand fought against something in the background. After a couple of swings of what sounded like his sword, the vile sound of flesh breaking apart could be heard.

"My Lady, my sword is half broken. May I ask for a weapon as a reward?"

"Sure thing!" Alex said merrily. It wasn't some stupid hard hat that a certain barbarian asked for.

"I'll send it to you in about an hour time. It'll come from the sky so watch out for it."

"Understood! I shall wait for it in an hour!"

"Ciao now." Alex hung up. It was time to deliberate. She couldn't allow him to still use that flimsy sword of his after all. Problem was, Rand's specialization was in lightning. A sword was a good pointy thing to direct energy. But Alex didn't want to just give him an ordinary sword. That would be boring and unfun. What about a hammer? Clearly not. A hammer was a stupid conductor for lightning strikes. Whoever came up with lightning hammers was a total idiot. It wasn't even cool.

The idea came to her almost immediately: the Lance. It couldn't slash nor have as much flexibility as a spear or halberd. But that wasn't the point. The lance had the perfect shape to direct lightning easily. It was also simply cool. Everything else was a cherry on top. The weapon was set, and no one could change her mind now. ☕︎ ☼ ☕︎ ☽ ☕︎ For weeks, Rand had stood alone against the massive horde of corrupted mutated monsters.

The first wave had monsters that featured humans that featured two or three heads side by side. Their arms were replaced by swords. On their transparent skinned chests were glowing orange bulbous hearts. None had eyes, only darkness within the sockets that stared at the living. The second wave were beasts that had multiple limbs ranging from 7 to 12, all patched and stitched to its body like a creator had just mashed them together. Hair grew all over its body.

Their eyes glowed red with pupils that were shaped like spirals. The third wave that happened just now had a mix of both the first waves, except it featured a tall lanky woman with a crown on its head and pure white wings on its back making it look like an agent of the corruption. Its hands held the skulls of multiple victims. Purple miasma flowed through its body outside. It was illusive and took Rand much effort to fight it.

In that fight, his sword broke on the last strike on its glowing orange heart in the middle of its chest. It ran away afterwards, and Rand couldn't chase as the other monsters distracted him by charging at the walls. It was now present time after the third major wave. In the middle of afternoon, sitting inside of the empty Star Cubs location in the Marchioness Sarazzin's location, Rand ate alone. Each one of the waves grew in escalating difficulty. The first wave was at around 300 prowess, and the next was at 600.

The demonic woman felt like she was at about 1000 prowess. Normally, he would've easily killed her. However, he needed to take care of the hordes of monsters that came along with it. Not one was allowed to pass through the walls. In the middle of the waves were smaller groups that attempted to breach through the walls. He'd be damned before he let even one in to sully the Lady's Star Cub's location. Turning his head down at his broken sword, it was shattered just at the half way point.

It had been with him since the fall of Stormbringer, the last sword his queen had given him after his own lance broke during the war with Reinglas. The armour he wore was simply just an armour he looted from a passing Dragus knight. Emotions swelled up inside of him as the last object that anchored him to his fallen queendom broke. Rand wanted to cry right there. If his men saw him right now, they'd laugh at him. How could such a big man cry over being sentimental about his sword? But he did.

He wanted to grieve the loss just before finally accepting the Lady's reward. It wasn't disloyalty to cry for fallen comrades, right? No, it wasn't. This mourning represents his first step to moving on from old wounds and creating new ones for the Lady. He didn't even need to call Aurora to ask if this was all part of the All-Seeing Plan. If she hadn't mandated them to go through the Grand Labyrinth, Rand wouldn't have been able to stand up alone against the hordes of corruption. Rand's fist tightened.

The Lady was truly… benevolent. Suddenly, the bells tolled everywhere within the fortified city of Sarazzin. The sound of people running all around the cobblestone paths rang and echoed inside of the empty Star Cubs.

"Corruption! Everyone to the safe houses! Women and children first! Go go go!" a man shouted.

"Everyone, run!" It hasn't even been more than 15 minutes and another wave was already sighted. Three knocks sounded on the main door of Star Cubs. A woman entered, her brunette hair down to her shoulders. She wore a simple baker's dress with a brown apron. On her hand was a basket of bread and sandwiches filled to the brim with meat.

"Sir Rand, must you go to protect this city?" she asked.

"I have to."

"You've fought the whole night already. Please rest and let the Marchioness' army handle the corrupted." She looked at him with trembling eyes.

"I understand your concern, Olivia. But I am a man bound by duty." Rand stood up, picking up his broken sword. He moved towards the door, but was blocked by her body as she spread her arms.

"Your sword is broken. You can do nothing with scrap metal as your arm. Please, take a rest and eat," she said.

"I've eaten plenty. Please, Olivia, move."

"I implore you, please. Let the Marchioness' army defend this wave. It pains my heart to see you sacrifice yourself." Olivia looked up at him with determined trembling eyes. He's been stationed in this territory for an extended amount of time, since the start of the Ter. For two months, this woman has given him strength to lead on with his duty. She fed him everyday, talked with him during times of calm. But the truth of the matter was, feelings could not be shared in times of war.

His loyalty still stayed adamantly with the Lady. However, maybe during times of peace, he'd wish to hold Olivia's hand dearly. She became the respite that Rand craved after he cleared the pests. He did not know whether she just came at the right time in the right place, yet the notion did not matter. What mattered was, she gave him peace while the Lady gave him duty.

"Please, I must go, Olivia," Rand said. He wanted to add that it was also for her that he was going, but again… such feelings could not be shared. It was certain he had grown strong, but who knows when another monstrosity showed up like the crowned demon.

"Look at your face. The way you walk—bruised and limp." Olivia softly touched the armour joints.

"You still dare to walk forward and defend?"

"It is an oath I've taken to the Goddess of Justice."

"And how much remains of your mana?"

"About a third…"

"What if the next one is tougher? What then?"

"Then I shall fight."

"I beg you, please rest for this wave!" Olivia shouted.

"Have you no fear of death?!"

"I fear death…" Because I wouldn't be able to see you or stand side by side with the Lady anymore, Rand wanted to say.

"Then stay!"

"What must I say to make you move?" Rand asked. Tears began running down her cheeks, marring her beautiful dirt ridden skin.

"Must you really go?"

"I must."

"Then promise me. You will come back. Otherwise, I won't move." Rand exhaled deeply. He didn't even know whether the reward the Lady would give him was enough to counter the balance against the corruption. If this was also all part of the test, and the Goddess of Justice was about to claim back the life that it had saved, then so be it.

"I promise, Olivia. I'll come back. For you." Olivia's arms slowly fell to her sides. Her shoulders shook as she spiralled into a sob. Her cries suppressed, yet it still stung Rand's heart. As he walked passed her, she shouted one more time.

"You promise! You'll come back!" Forcing himself not to look back or reply, lightning swirled around him until it formed an orb around his body. Before long, he was up in the air, overseeing the whole territory of the Marchioness. Beyond the walls was a smaller wave, a group of a couple of hundreds. The feeling they gave off was stronger than the previous. This wave was different. The monsters were bulging monstrosities of muscle and metal.

Their heads and eyes covered in dark gray-ish helmet, grafted onto their skin. Half of their arms were replaced. One was a harpoon and the other had a blunt bludgeoning device. Their legs weren't human. Hind legs propelled their large muscular bodies meters forward. Their feet were that of two giant sharp talons. Lastly, it had a tail, that of a devil's. When he put on his status glasses, he saw the corruption's prowess average around an average of 700.

Without hesitation, Rand ball of lightning'd into the middle of the field. Lightning exploded with him at the centre. Bodies charred and sizzled, glowing hot from being making contact with his lightning.

"CORRUPTION! COME AT ME!" Rand shouted at the top of his lungs.

"FOR THE WILL OF THE LADY!" The first monster came at him in a lunge. One swing of his swords sent a slicing lightning down a path, bisecting the monster in half. A harpoon bored a dent against Rand's armour. Circulating lightning around him again, he exploded it outwards, charring the three that surrounded him. Before the three hulking bodies even fell, another one came from above him, its harpoon hand out aimed for his head. Rand side stepped and drove his broken sword through the monster's neck.

[Mana: 812/3200] He sent another flurry of lightning around him in a swirling pattern. A couple of the monsters dodged and went straight for his throat. Transforming into a ball of lightning, he zipped passed through the two and charred their flesh. [Mana: 794/3200] One of the monster's bludgeoning arms hit him on the back, causing him to fall forwards. As he fell, sent a lightning slice towards his back, cutting the monster in half.

[Mana: 767/3200] If he was in top condition, he wouldn't have needed to empower his own flesh with mana to just stay standing. But right now, it was his only choice.

"MAY HER GRACE LIGHT MY PATH!" Rand shouted. [Last Stand Activated!] [All skills Overclocked by 150%] [Warning: Self Damage Accumulating] Rand didn't know what any of those meant. It didn't matter as he felt power coursing through his muscles and veins. His lightning became thicker. The explosions where it crashed were louder. His ball of lightning activated faster than before. [Mana: 520/3200] As Rand fought, time blurred as he hurled lightning again, and again, and again.

Every monster that jumped at him disintegrated with one swing of his lightning directed by his sword. The ones that pierced managed to resist and had their heads smashed in with his fist. Rand's breath grew more ragged and ragged. Blood dripped down his head, irritating his eye. His feet protested and dared to buckle at every pivot and step he took. He didn't know how much time passed. The only thing he remembered was swinging the sword over and over and over again.

In a single instant of a glance at the wall, he saw Olivia's form. Her mouth covered by her hands, tears running down her eyes. I'm sorry. Maybe it was true. It was just the Goddess of Justice reclaiming the life it saved. In one single blast of lightning, all the monsters around him [Mana: 260/3200] [Last Stand effect wore off.] Rand fell onto his knee, and for a brief respite, the battlefield grew silent. Mounds of charred corpses surrounded the centre of the blast.

But Rand could tell that he had barely even cut through half of this group. They had thick bodies, able to resist multiple lightning strikes while he needed to conserve mana. The last bits of Elador's potions had been used up already weeks ago, and a shipment hasn't arrived yet as Itzae was busy with her own supply routes. Everything was just against him. A smile flickered across his lips. Rand stood back up once more, legs barely holding him.

"May her… grace… light my… PATH!" A horde of corrupted monsters jumped at him. Tens of them all in unison, baring their harpoons at him. Tightening his grip, he attempted to swing his broken sword once more, knowing that his body had nothing left to give. It was the end. Then his perception changed, as if everything started moving through viscous liquid, Rand felt an enormous static in the air. A whistle from the sky slowly grew louder and louder into an ear piercing screech.

A golden flash blinded him just for a split second as the tens of bodies in the air that jumped at him disintegrated into dust. In front of him appeared a lance struck down at the ground. Its shape gilded in gold, adamantite, and the distinct metal of cinders. The lance itself was compartmentalized into 9 distinct disks, all narrowing to a sharp point. Each disk moved independently as if it had a mind of its own. Golden lightning coursed through the inorganic lines traced throughout its surface.

On its grip was black rubber. Its thick arm guard simply said 'Mjolnir'. It was the Goddess of Justice's gift. I passed. Rand stood up, taking the lance by grip. He felt his body lighter the moment he touched it as if he was its rightful owner. Golden lightning circled him as energy coursed through him again, seemingly replenishing his mana reserves at an alarming rate. [Mana: 276/3200] The lance had always been his favourite weapon, used against vile Dragus knights, especially on horseback. Had the Lady known?

Of course she did. It was a testament to the All-Seeing Plan. Maybe she had never planned for his death all along seeing as this lance came just as the reaper knocked on his door.

"By the name of Lady Alex Grace, I shall enact her will and light against the corruption that dare defies her land." Rand's eyes narrowed. Lightning surrounded him in a ball and he zipped multiple times through tens of monsters as he held the lance forward, skewing multiple bodies and heads all at once. [Mana: 276/3200] The first test of this holy armament was done. It allowed him enough to regenerate enough mana to use ball lightning at break even point.

Without wasting time, he zipped multiple times through enemies, skewering them against each other—not caring how many piled on top of one another. The horde of monsters fell one by one, their numbers significantly decreasing. They turned tail and ran away from the battlefield back to the mountains through which they came from. The other side was obviously Stronghold Hatir.

"COWARDS!" Rand shouted. Lightning coiled around his lance, multiple compartments of the lance spun in opposite directions from one another. Static in the air increased by the second until finally, he pointed down at the remainders of the horde and released the built up energy. A cone shaped golden lightning strike veined through the meadow, reaching to the base of the mountain. The next second, all the monsters fell. There were no more threats he could feel as no signs of movement or life moved except him.

Turning around, Rand walked back to the fortified main city. His legs groaned in pain as his steps took all of his effort to muster. It seemed like it took forever just to get to the walls of the main city that was just right in front of his eyes. A pebble tripped him, and Rand fell. He used the lance to keep himself upright from a kneeling position. Suddenly, a figure hugged his head softly, and whispered into his ears.

"Welcome back."

"I'm back" Rand said. Seeing her small figure and dirt ridden face gave him enough strength to stand up. She tried to help him walk by putting his arms around her shoulder. The thought made Rand laugh as her shoulders were too narrow to support him and his armour. But, he couldn't help but smile stupidly at the sight. Just before they reached the gate, the familiar sound of a Mack truck rode along by the side of the wall of the main city.

It was outfitted with a larger carriage and was labelled 'SSS-Security Personnel'. It stopped right in front of the gates where Rand was headed to.

"What's that?" Olivia asked.

"The cavalry has finally arrived."