Chương 994: 1024 - World in Red

For long minutes, the only sound that could be heard throughout the ark was the screeching of metal and machinery being pushed to its limits. No one could see outside as all exterior view enchantments were dead. They were flying with only a single thruster, and no one knew how long it would last. Leon heard none of that screeching, though, as the sound of blood rushing through his head overpowered all other noise.

His eyes remained locked on the control console in front of him, though his fingers no longer danced across it. He had done all he could, and save for the occasional course correction to keep them rising as quickly as possible, he could do nothing more than wait for the final thruster to die. Once it did, if they weren't high enough to have reached the Void, then they'd fall back to Arkhnavi. They'd undoubtedly land amidst the expanding darkness brought about by the release of the Primal Devil.

He didn't know what might happen to them if that happened, and he wasn't keen on finding out. So, stare at the console he did, and silently pray to his Ancestors that the repairs he and Mari had made would be enough. As they pushed upward, his heart slowly calmed, letting him hear the deeply concerning sounds coming from the ark itself.

'Maybe we'd be lucky enough to just fall apart before hitting the ground?' he morbidly thought.

"How long do we have before the engine gives out?" Leon asked Mari, who still sat at the bridge's engineering console.

"I've got no fuckin' idea," Mari replied, her voice strained by desperation and fear. Leon sighed and sat back in his seat. He closed his eyes and focused on what he could sense, and found that his magic senses were much less constrained than they had been only a few minutes before. They'd reached high enough altitudes that the darkness was rapidly thinning. The ark was barely holding together, but that meant that its defensive wards didn't get in Leon's way as he projected his magic senses as far as he could.

They scattered before reaching the ground, but he kept his magic senses projected as he sought any potential observers around Arkhnavi. Their one thruster propelled them ever upward, the creaking mercifully quieting as they left the plane's atmosphere—and the darkness polluting it—behind. Eventually, all sound from outside the ark ceased. And then the ark was rocked by another loud metallic bang, and the last thruster finally gave out.

They were moving only by momentum now, but Leon thought that they were likely high enough that that would be enough. Gravity was a strange thing, largely affecting only those things around a plane, though one affected always fell away from the Nexus in the center of the universe. In the Void between planes, gravity was negligible. Mari, after the thruster finally died, sprang up and ran out off the bridge.

She didn't have to go far to reach the engine room, where she evaluated the damage and shut down the machinery that was still operational to ensure no additional damage was done. When she returned to the bridge, Leon had barely moved. He still sat in the navigator's chair, his magic senses projected as far as possible, searching for anything that could help them.

"Engine's down," Mari croaked as she collapsed on the command chair's shallow dais.

"Permanently?" Leon asked.

"I can turn the fucker back on, but I'd recommend not doing that," she replied.

"Might explode."

"What will explode?" Tir asked as he walked onto the bridge.

"Hopefully nothing," Mari stated.

"… Right."

"How're the two I left with you?" Leon asked. Tir scowled and took a moment to think before answering.

"Beyond my skill to treat. All physical wounds have been healed, though in both cases, neither had many wounds to heal."

"Mental, then…" Leon whispered, unsurprised.

"I hit them with the Thunderbird's lightning, and that didn't work. Maybe it'll work now?"

"Worth a try," Tir responded.

"I can do no more; if you are similarly powerless, then Ard'Nara and Serena are in the hands of the gods." Leon nodded and got up. He kept at least a little focus on their surroundings, but with their ark hurtling farther and farther away from Arkhnavi, their chances of being discovered were slimming. Unfortunately, a quick jaunt down to the foyer to blast Serena and Nara as harmlessly as he could with the Thunderbird's lightning was fruitless.

[Don't touch them any longer,] the Thunderbird warned him after his attempts failed. [If something is powerful enough to repel my lightning, then it's beyond you.] [Figured as much,] Leon replied. [Any suggestions for waking them?] [They're unlikely to wake,] the Thunderbird bluntly stated. [The Primal Devil has invaded their bodies; they're unlikely to have minds left.] Leon scowled, then made his way back to the bridge.

Tir and Mari had remained there while he checked on Serena and Nara, and they'd done so entirely in silence. Despair had set in; tears flowed freely from Mari's eyes, while Tir stared unblinkingly at the wall. His scowl deepening, Leon realized that he'd have to do something. Their situation was dire, but it wasn't over just yet. Even if they only had minutes left to live, he wanted them to focus on finding some way to survive. He wasn't going to meet his death willingly.

"All right," he said as he looked around at the still-active consoles and the multitude of emergency lights that still flashed throughout the bridge.

"We still have at least a bit of power. Let's see if we can do anything to further fix this can."

"Impossible," Mari immediately stated.

"We've done what we could. We're fucked. Old Mandy himself could appear, and he'd still be powerless to help us." Leon was a bit surprised that Tir didn't immediately jump into the conversation after that blasphemy, but he supposed such was the point they'd fallen to. It was hard to think about anything other than what was taking place on Arkhnavi.

'Has it been freed yet?' he silently wondered.

'Is the Primal Devil out? Has Arkhnavi already been exterminated?'

"We're only done for when we find ourselves amongst our Ancestors," Leon insisted.

"As much as I'd love to see them again, I'm not ready to face them just yet. If I'm ever to die, I'll die surrounded by my wives and a horde of children."

"Good for you," Mari growled, saying no more. Tir remained dead silent.

"Hey!" Leon shouted, his voice sounding particularly loud in the confined space, especially with the absolute silence outside of the ark's hull. Mari almost jumped to her feet she was so startled, and Tir visibly recoiled as if struck before focusing on Leon.

"Get it together, you two! This is bad, I won't deny that. But it's not over. The Grave Wardens would be foolish not to be watching Arkhnavi. We're going to be discovered. And if we're not, then we're going to have to find a way to make them see us. Then, once they learn of what's happened, they can go on down there and deal with that Primal Dick and save Arkhnavi."

"A remote chance," Tir dejectedly stated.

"We could shine like Bright Lucaelior; it would make no difference."

"I'd rather take a remote chance than sit around and wait for death," Leon shot back. He was about to continue before halting and looking at Tir with a slowly growing smile. With a wave of his hand, he summoned a book on basic ancient runes and flipped through it with practiced ease, having read it more than once. This time, however, he was after reference material for a rune he hadn't yet memorized. When he found it, he bookmarked the section and then dramatically snapped it shut.

"Bright as Bright Lucaelior, was it?" he said to a rather bemused Tir.

"I think we can do that. See if we can catch anyone's attention." He focused on an image in his head and then began carefully inscribing a new rune in the air. It took him a few tries to get right, but once he did, he leaned back and inspected the exterior of the ark with his magic senses. He'd inscribed a 'light' rune, though it was different from an ancient rune referencing the light element. This one's purpose was simple: make the exterior of the ark shine as brightly as possible.

And indeed, now the ark's hull shone like a star, acting as a beacon for anyone or anything that may be watching.

"We're not done yet," Leon stated with more confidence than he felt.

"Let's let Death work for its pay. Nothing's inevitable until it happens. Now get up and let's get to work!" Tir looked unenthused, but Mari, despite looking even more unenthused, struggled to her feet.

"Fine," she stated.

"Fuck it. If I can't die with a fuckin' wench in hand, then I'll die with a fuckin' wrench in hand." Leon grinned at her, and the three—Leon having to almost drag Tir a ways before he fell in beside them—ventured down to the engine room to see what could possibly be repaired. They may not have much time left before a Primal Devil was fully unleashed upon the universe, but they could at least busy their hands. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

They'd barely started before the ark shuddered—something large had taken hold of them. Mari looked about ready to burst into tears and Tir began to openly pray. Leon, however, sensing that the power was concentrating mostly around the bridge near the top of the ark, ran back there, leaving the other two in the engine room where they might be marginally safer. As he ran, he donned his armor and drew Iron Pride, readying himself to fight his last fight.

He'd barely reached the bridge when the greatly-stressed hull of the ark buckled. Leon, in a moment of frantic clarity, managed to inscribe a floating ancient shield rune, designing it to keep the air and warmth of the ark inside. If he didn't stop it, the Void would rip all atmosphere out of the ark, killing him and the rest of his team. Tenth-tier though he was, he wasn't yet tough enough to stand the rigors of the Void for long.

The rune was only just completed when the top of the bridge was torn right off as if by some terrible, monstrous beast. Leon gritted his teeth and channeled the Thunderbird's power, preparing to leap at whatever was waiting to devour him. Instead, what was revealed was a man in splendid regalia, his body covered by thick flowing robes that looked like they'd been spun from threads of an actual rainbow, and an elaborate golden headdress of almost comical size atop his head.

He was dark-skinned but appeared to have many colorful tattoos over most of his exposed skin. The aura pouring from him was overpowering to the point Leon felt rather sick just trying to get a good look at the man with his magic senses. More striking was that the hole revealed they'd drifted off-course a little, giving Leon a better view of Arkhnavi. And what he saw was almost as striking as the man who'd just ripped the hull away from the bridge. Arkhnavi looked completely normal.

Not a speck of darkness could be seen marking the face of the plane.

'Defenses are still up, then,' Leon noted. [Leon, be careful,] the Thunderbird whispered to him. [I'm on it,] he replied. The newcomer floated in, his arms spread, his legs still, his face completely impassive. Leon, deciding he wasn't going to waste any time, shouted, "I'm Leon Raime, the mage sent from Aeterna to scout Arkhnavi!" Before he could add any more, the newcomer's eyes fixed upon him, and the man's aura squeezed him hard, silencing him immediately.

For a moment, Leon thought that he was about to die, that this man he'd guessed was another Grave Warden was going to kill him for some unexplained reason. However, the man turned his head slightly, and Leon felt a burst of magic that almost had him dry-heaving. Hardly a second passed before a sphere of darkness with a core of deep blue sprang into being on the bridge, and out of it stepped Ambrose, his face twisted with concern, though lightening somewhat when he spotted Leon.

"Leon!" he shouted, his aura rising to counter the other man's and relieving the pressure placed upon Leon. The colorfully dressed man didn't seem at all put out by it, and he drifted a few feet away to watch and listen.

"What happened out there?! What's going on?!"

"Qo Weylekh's dead!" Leon immediately reported, and any trace of levity or delight in seeing Leon again vanished from Ambrose's face, while the other man's expression finally changed, becoming one of abject shock. Continuing, Leon informed them, "His Universe Fragment is missing! A Primal Devil is almost released! Its cage door is swinging open right now!" Another black and blue sphere appeared around the other man, taking him elsewhere.

Ambrose stared at Leon for only a moment longer than that before panic set in and he said, "Wait here!" He then vanished, too, leaving Leon alone on the bridge with nothing but his shield rune to keep him company. A few seconds passed with Leon not moving a muscle. He could hardly believe what had just happened. He just stared out the hole in the hull at Arkhnavi, knowing that his part in this was over. He could do nothing more. Ambrose had been informed; Leon had fulfilled the Grave Warden's request. But still…

could they move in time? Could they prevent the Primal Devil from being released? Leon wasn't sure, and as the ark drifted further out into the Void, it seemed he'd be sitting there watching what happened for a while. When he managed to finally process what just happened, he walked over to the command chair and flopped down in it, exhaustion catching up to him, though since Ambrose now knew where he was, he felt himself beginning to relax.

At the very least, he trusted Ambrose to send him home once all of this was over.

'Assuming he survives…' Leon thought as fear once more reared its ugly head. As if on cue, eleven bright lights began to shine between him and Arkhnavi. They were arranged in a circle, and the power they exuded was beyond description. It was like the power that Leon possessed was a grain of sand on a beach, and this power was the entire ocean washing over him, threatening to sweep him out to sea and never be seen again.

This power focused downward on the plane, and only a moment later, a hole was blasted in Arkhnavi's defenses, revealing the desolation beneath. Most notable was the massive patch of darkness so deep and opaque that it didn't even look real. Almost as soon as this hole appeared, magic began raining down upon this patch of darkness, every attack easily able to destroy Kataigida itself.

Bolts of lightning that made Leon's power look tame; fists of fire as bright as Arkhnavi's sun; motes of light that unmade all matter they passed through; gusts of wind that made the deadliest hurricanes look like a pleasant summer breeze; palace-sized shards of ice with constellations of crystals orbiting them, and more all fell upon Arkhnavi. Such destructive power was beyond anything Leon had ever seen or truly comprehended before.

The majesty of mages powerful enough to act as the guards for some of the oldest and most powerful beings in existence was put on full display for what seemed like him and him alone. And none of it seemed to matter; every Kingdom-destroying attack was swallowed by the sea of darkness below and vanished. Leon hoped they might be able to adapt or have some other plan. His hopes were rewarded when an enchantment of mind-bending intricacy suddenly appeared above the plane utilizing three dimensions instead of just two.

This sphere of intense power exploded with power, and then a dome of light began to spread across the sky of Arkhnavi. At almost the same time, eleven enormous arks suddenly appeared behind the Grave Wardens, each one shining with power.

Leon wasn't sure what they were going to do, and it didn't seem like the Primal Devil was willing to give them the chance; the enormous pillar of smoky black darkness rising out of the ruins of Qo Weylekh's tower suddenly elongated and smashed into the blue dome with tremendous force. The dome shook and then shattered. The force of its breaking sent the Grave Wardens and their arks scattering. Concerning Leon even more was that the shockwave didn't reach him or his ark, indicating a terrifying level of control.

A long tendril of darkness rose from Arkhnavi, its base in the black expanse that was Tell Kirin. It reached upward, winding with deceptive speed through the Grave Wardens and their arks, angling, it appeared, toward Arkhnavi's moon. The tendril grew with every passing moment, even as more magic sliced and cut into it. One of the Grave Wardens even conjured another enchantment array that seemed to try and slice the growing tendril off where it had broken through the previous blue barrier.

None of this seemed to have much effect, and to Leon's rapidly growing horror, nine smaller tendrils erupted from the end of the main tendril—fingers, he realized. The tendril—the arm of the Primal Devil—extended toward the moon, its nine fingers wrapping around the sphere like Leon's would around a handball. And then, despite the Grave Wardens doing all they could to stop it, the Devil's fingers squeezed.

The moon, though only about five percent the mass of Arkhnavi, was still massive, but all that mass availed it not as it shattered almost immediately once the Primal Devil exerted pressure. Leon was unable to do anything but watch in terrible dread as the moon exploded between the Devil's fingers, revealing at its core a comparatively tiny core of red light.

The Grave Wardens intensified their assault, their magics crashing into the smoky darkness of the Primal Devil's form so thickly that Leon could barely see past it. They brought all they had to bear, so much power that the waves of magic kicked up by the clash melted some of his ark's hull, and tore off many of its outer plates.

His ark was sent careening away, breaking his direct line of sight to what was going on, though he could still just barely monitor what was happening with his magic senses, which he did, as sick as witnessing such power made him. The Primal Devil's smoky darkness consolidated around the sphere of red light within the shattered moon, removing itself entirely from the surface of Arkhnavi.

The sea of darkness where Tell Kirin had been dissipated—the Primal Devil was released, the source of that dark sea now far above the plane's surface. Despite the attempts of the Grave Wardens to stop it, despite the apocalyptic magics fired at it, the darkness formed itself into a vaguely human shape—it looked like a pitch-black cloud with lighter clouds outlining it, keeping it visible even against the blackness of the empty Void.

The sphere of red light began to shine like a new star within the vague suggestion of a head the cloudy figure possessed. Leon closed his eyes even as his ark spun further and further out of control. He held onto the command chair with all he had, concern for the rest of his team flickering through his mind. But when the cloudy figure—the true body of the Primal Devil, he realized—turned that single red eye in his direction, all of that vanished from his mind. It filled his awareness, utterly dwarfing him.

He was like an ant floating in front of Aeterna's star, blinded by the red light he saw. He could feel himself screaming, though when he'd started, he couldn't say. He could feel his eyes burn, his eyelids either flying open or burning away entirely. All he could see was the red light of the Primal Devil. Malice slammed against his mental defenses, the strength of a being so powerful that Leon, for all his power, was insignificant next to it. All he saw was red.

He tried to summon the Thunderbird's lightning to protect himself, but his power didn't respond to him. Another power was filling his body, preventing him from exerting any control over himself. All he saw was red. Pain became his entire existence as he felt his mental defenses put up about as much resistance as his hopes and dreams against this devastating power. His muscles seized as his entire being was laid bare. And all he saw was red. Red light, all he could focus on, all he could see, all he could be …

'No, no, no, no, no!' he silently screamed, his body no longer obeying him. The Primal Devil had him, but he couldn't allow himself to die here. He saw Elise in his mind's eye. He saw Valeria, Maia, and Cassandra. He saw Anzu; he saw Marcus, Alcander, Gaius, and Alix. He saw Anshu, Helen, Anna, and Tikos. He saw Iron-Striker, the Jaguar, Nikolaos, Sar, Singer, Exallos Aetos, and all the other elders that had sworn themselves to him. He saw Artorias, the Thunderbird, and Xaphan.

'GET… OUT!!!' he silently roared. This was not going to be his end. It simply couldn't be. He had too much to accomplish, too much yet left undone. His Clan, his mother… Deep beneath his mind-shattering terror, wrath blossomed, watered by desperation, determination, and sheer spite. The Primal Devil would not end him here. He refused to allow it. Wrath burned away his fear like fire and dry leaves.

His wrath burned its way through him, starting in his heart, already beating so hard that he could feel his ribs straining to contain it. From his heart, its heat spread upward, through his chest, neck, and head. His wrath, burning hotter than any fire he'd ever summoned, hot enough to vaporize iron in an instant, hot enough to cut through a plane with ease, hot enough to cut through the universe itself, concentrated in his eyes.

All he saw was red, but that red took on a slightly different hue; a hint of orange appeared in the corners of his vision. Leon lashed out. He would not meet his end here. He felt the power around him, the power invading him from every angle, suffusing his being and raiding his mind, recoil, surprised. He lashed out again, his eyes feeling like they'd turned to fire. The power of the Primal Devil shook; it was becoming dislodged.

He lashed out a third time, feeling himself melt away in this wrath, becoming a simple being, all thoughts blending together until all he could think about was to crush the source of the power before him. And in response, the power before him flinched. This power pulled away, leaving him. All he saw was red and orange. But once the power had pulled away, all that Leon was crumpled. He thought no thoughts and spoke no words.

He felt like he ceased to be, the only thing telling him he wasn't yet dead was a vague sense of self-awareness. Utterly spent, Leon shut down. All color faded from his vision as he slipped into the sweet oblivion of unconsciousness, not even aware enough to wonder if he'd ever wake up. And all he saw was black.