SSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
The fire roared at full force as the two massive black metallic thrusters spewed out torrents of blue flames from the bottom of the Empire… pushing it with an explosive burst like a fiery dragon…. The entire Empire trembled under the force, groaning as it slowly, millimetre by millimetre, began to move.
“It’s moving!!!”
“YYYAAAAYYYYYY!!!”
The people of the Naiadae Empire, who had already been moved to the designated safe zone within their Empire, watched in stunned amazement.
Their gazes locked onto the Pyra Empire, the very force that had nearly obliterated the edges of their Empire—now, against all odds, it was pulling back, retreating!
A Miracle?
Delphine, who stood overseeing the entire spectacle, slightly raised an eyebrow. Her sharp gaze flickered with intrigue as she observed the once-inevitable collision of the two mighty lands slowly being avoided, the disaster seemingly halted in its tracks.
With measured composure, she turned back and nodded as it was directed toward none other than the Empress herself.
Hovering above the Palace, Sandra took note of Delphine’s subtle yet significant gesture.
A slow, astonished smile spread across Sandra’s lips, her expression a mixture of surprise and awe. “He’s actually pulling this off…” she murmured, almost as if she couldn’t believe it herself. Then, shaking herself out of her stunned state, thinking he might have pulled this previous time, she lifted her hand and snapped her fingers.
In an instant, holographic projections materialized across the vast Empire. The people, still gripping onto the remnants of their fear and uncertainty, looked up in astonishment as their Empress’s image shone across the sky.
Her voice, clear and resolute, echoed through every corner of the Empire…
“Do not be afraid, my people,” she declared, her tone cold yet comforting, “We are doing everything within our power to avert this unprecedented catastrophe. Our efforts, combined with those of the Pyra Fulgur Empire’s Emperor, will not be in vain!
He has vowed to protect his people at all costs, and I…” She paused, her eyes blazing with unyielding determination. “I vow the same for you!”
A collective hush fell over the masses, her words gripping their hearts like an anchor of hope amidst the storm.
“I know many of you are afraid,” she continued, her voice carrying the weight of their unspoken fears, “I know some of you worry about your futures… about what tomorrow holds.
But hear me now! This Empire—our home—stands strong!
No matter where we go or where we choose to settle, at the end of the day, we belong to The One and Only Aquaris Naiadae Empire! And today, as your Empress, I swear to you—I will see this through to the very end! I will fulfil my duty!”
A thunderous wave of emotions surged through the crowd!
Then, abruptly, the hologram flickered… The images changed, shifting to reveal Delphine and the other Generals—standing perilously close to disaster.
Holding enormous beams and rods, their sheer size is enough to resemble Mountains!
“What the hell are they trying to do?!”
“Are they insane?!”
“WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!”
“MOOMMYYY!!!”
The uncertainty that had just begun to settle was now stirred up again, people desperately tried to make sense of what they were seeing. And yet… despite their overwhelming confusion, a small sliver of hope remained… Their Empress, standing tall and unshaken amidst it all, was enough to keep that fragile hope alive.
Meanwhile…
“Mother! Father! Are you absolutely sure we should be staying here?!” Kai’s voice was laced with unmasked dread as his wide eyes remained locked onto the unfolding chaos before them, “I really think we should leave! Right now!”
“I’m thinking the exact same thing… This is not something we could handle” Leon muttered, his face pale as he watched Delphine and the other Generals actively engaging in what looked like utter madness.
A part of him was terrified, but another part—the bitter part—felt oddly relieved that, for once, this wasn’t his problem.
Leon let out a shaky exhale, his thoughts an absolute mess…. He wasn’t sure whether he should be laughing or crying about this situation.
This whole disaster… this colossal mess… should have been his burden to bear. And yet, here he was, standing on the sidelines while Victor shouldered the entire weight of it.
He had already suffered losses in his own Empire. And now, another looming catastrophe threatened everything!! Discover hidden stories at My Virtual Library Empire
‘Well, that’s karma for you,’ he thought, nodding to himself in grim satisfaction.
Not knowing these two bastards were supposed to be one who should endure this!
Anyway,
Velc, who stood beside him, also nodded, albeit for entirely different reasons. Unlike Leon, Velc had actually planned to flee the moment he sensed disaster creeping in…. But fate, as always, had other plans.
Delphine being summoned to the Royal Court had sealed his fate. If he dared to turn tail and run now… the weight of shame and dishonour would follow him for the rest of his days. His family’s name would be tarnished beyond repair.
Just yesterday, he had been contemplating how to present Aether to the Empress. And now? Now, the situation had flipped on its head as if destiny itself had intervened to save his ass.
Xara, however, had no time for such thoughts… Her eyes were glued to Delphine.
She knew.
Delphine’s future vision… her uncanny ability to foresee the paths ahead…
If Delphine had chosen this course of action, then surely—surely—there was a way forward.
Xara’s gaze swept across the group. Then, abruptly, she frowned.
“Where is Aether?” she asked.
Her question, however, fell on deaf ears… No one else seemed particularly concerned about the whereabouts of a mere Servant. Clicking her tongue in irritation, she wasted no time and hurriedly turned on her heels, rushing inside to find him.
Velc and the others remained fixated on the sight before them. The Pyra Empire had begun its ascent, its massive form lifting as the thrusters raged beneath it.
And then—
Delphine and her team made their move.
Drilling through the shattered, fractured edges of their broken world, they plunged the colossal rods deep into the Empire’s exposed sides.
From above, Empress Sandra watched it all unfold, her mind replaying Aether’s plan—the one he had conveyed through Delphine.
It was simple… and Daring!
Risky too!!
And yet… it was their best shot.
It was actually a simple plan… but whether it would work or not—that was a fifty-fifty chance.
The plan itself was straightforward. Since the collision between the Empires was unavoidable, Aether decided to take a different approach. Rather than trying to stop the impact, he chose to connect the two Empires together.
Yes. That was his plan!
Based on the collision angle of both Empires, they were set to crash into each other at an angular trajectory— a.k.a.. side by side!
Initially, everyone believed empires were pulling each other simultaneously, the Mother Root, which lay beneath the Empires as their foundation, would be the first to collide.
This wouldn’t be a side impact—it would be a catastrophic base-on-base collision, an unavoidable disaster.
Which meant… the Mother Root was not directly linked between the two Empires!
The Actual endpoint was somewhere else!
So then… where was the actual endpoint of the Mother Root?
That, Of course… Aether didn’t know!
But for now, what he had discovered was enough.
Enough to form a plan… A plan that could save them all!
The solution?
Aether proposed a docking mechanism.
All they needed to do was use massive rods and beams—structures as colossal as mountains themselves—to forcibly connect the edges of both Empires!
Once the connection was secured, the two Empires would remain locked beside each other, preventing any further disastrous collisions.
Not bad coming up in little time, right?
However… this would only work if Aether’s calculations were correct.
If he was wrong…
‘So many lives depend on this… Aether, please do your best and… come back to me!’ Delphine thought, gripping onto the beam she had been adjusting. With one final tweak, she took a deep breath, then turned and gave a firm nod toward the Empress.
Empress Sandra met her gaze and nodded in return before raising her hand. With a sharp snap of her fingers—
In the Pyra Empire, Raven flinched as a surge of energy rippled through her body. Instantly understanding the signal, she exhaled and turned toward Lyirrs.
“It’s done,” Raven confirmed. “Lyirrs… now.”
Lyirrs, standing at the controls, smirked slightly before gripping the lever.
Slowly… she began to lower it.
SSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhh!!!
The flames from the two massive thrusters, which had miraculously continued functioning despite holding a huge Empire (A Theoretical Error), began to diminish as their output was gradually reduced. The Empire’s motion was now carefully calibrated—controlled, but fragile.
Once again, the Pyra Empire leaned forward, tilting ever so slightly as it inched toward the Naiadae Empire, the distance between them closing with agonizing slowness.
Lyirrs furrowed her brows, every fibre of her being focused on the delicate task at hand, and worked the controls with precision, adjusting the thrusters’ power levels just enough to keep the movement controlled.
This was the most crucial moment.
One single mistake—one miscalculation, one unsteady hand—would send everything crashing into disaster, wiping out thousands in an instant.
The people from both Empires stood frozen, watching the docking unfold with a mixture of sheer horror and breathless awe… None of them had ever witnessed something of this scale before.
Delphine and the other Generals had already stepped back from the edges, retreating to a safe distance as they held their breaths, waiting for the miracle to happen.
The Pyra Empire continued its descent—slow, deliberate, measured with near-perfect control… Lyirrs’ face was now drenched in sweat, her hands trembling violently as she guided the movement with painstaking caution.
Every shift of the lever had to be precise… Every adjustment had to be executed flawlessly!!
The tension was suffocating.
“Please, God!”
“Please, save us, Arcane!”
“We beg you, Arcane!! Please, save us!!”
Desperate cries and prayers echoed from every direction, voices of fear and faith intertwining as the people of both Empires pleaded with the heavens. No one truly understood what the outcome of this reckless plan would be, but they knew their rulers were doing everything in their power to protect them.
All they could do now… was believe!!
“Please, Please Please….” Parents clung tightly to their children, whispering reassurances they weren’t even sure they believed. The elderly, worn by time and experience, closed their eyes, murmuring their final prayers, their frail hands clutching their chests.
And then—
THUD!!!
A deafening, earth-shaking impact thundered across both Empires. The sheer force of the docking sent a violent tremor rippling through the lands and oceans!!
Old buildings, already weakened by previous damage, groaned under the sudden shock before crumbling into heaps of rubble. Newer structures trembled violently, deep cracks snaking up their walls as their foundations were pushed to the limit.
And then—
Everything stopped.
The shaking ceased!
Lyirrs, her breath caught in her throat, blinked rapidly, her gaze darting toward the connection point. Her wide eyes took in the scene in disbelief.
It was… perfect!!
The connection between the Empires had been secured—without a single error.
“YAYYYYY!!!”
A deafening cheer erupted from the Pyra Empire. People screamed, shouted, and wept in pure elation as if an actual miracle had just unfolded before their very eyes.
The Naiadae people took a second longer to process what had just happened… but when they did—
“WE’RE SAFE!!!”
A wave of joyous celebration exploded throughout the Empire. Tears of relief spilled down faces. Strangers clutched onto one another, crying and laughing in disbelief, their bodies shaking with overwhelming emotion.
“He… He did it!” Delphine exhaled shakily, her voice trembling with happiness and uncontained pride.
Sandra let out a slow, steady breath, her shoulders finally easing as she whispered, “It worked…”
[+10 AP]
Far away, hidden within the grand temple, a lone figure watched the entire event behind the curtains.
The Prophetess, her fingers lightly tracing the edge of her ceremonial robe, nodded with mild surprise. “Hmmm… interesting,” she murmured.
A small, knowing smirk played on her lips as she mused, “He actually pulled it off… Quite impressive.”
However, her amusement was fleeting. Her expression shifted, darkening slightly, her voice dropping into a low murmur.
“But… did he forget?”
“He has angered the… laws of Nature.”
…
….
Meanwhile, deep within the Pyra Empire…
In the Valley, hidden beneath the surface, stood a massive, rotating stone covered in roots—
The Ebon Stone.
Trrrrr!
The Ebon Stone, wrapped tightly by the thick Mother Root, rotated slowly around its axis, just as it always had, in a steady, familiar rhythm.
But then—
A strange, inexplicable breeze began to swirl around the stone. It was utterly impossible. The underground chambers were dense, cut off from any airflow—there should have been no breeze in this place. And yet,
Ssszzzz~
A gentle, almost delicate breeze seemed to manifest from nowhere.
Suddenly,
Thud!
The Ebon Stone came to a sudden halt.
No, not just the stone—the Mother Roots themselves froze.
A faint, almost imperceptible white pulse passed through the roots, spreading like a ripple across still water, pulsing deeper into the earth.
And then—
TTTTTTTTTTTTTRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!
The Ebon Stone suddenly surged into motion—faster than it had ever moved before. It spun violently, almost out of control—like the furious motion of a wheel racing uncontrollably, its speed growing with each passing moment.
The ground beneath them trembled as if the very foundations of the Pyra Empire were shaking.
And then—
THUD!
The entire Pyra Empire jolted violently as though something had grabbed the ground itself and yanked it with crushing force.
“W-What was that?” Drakhairs asked his frown deepening.
Before Lyirrs could even react to the sudden disturbance—
BOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!
A deafening, bone-shattering explosion echoed across the Empire.
One of the massive thrusters—had just blasted off!