Suddenly, a voice echoed within Alister’s mind, the calm and commanding tone of Alzuring, his Sky Dragon.
‘Young lord, the sectors have been cleared. Our forces have secured the entirety of the ruined city, and we are all making our way back to you now.’
Alister responded, ‘Good. It seems our kin performed well in battle?’
‘Indeed, young lord,’ Alzuring confirmed.
‘Good,’ Alister replied, his gaze drifting briefly over the battlefield, ensuring no threats approached.
After a brief pause, Alzuring’s voice returned with a touch of concern. ‘You appear to be struggling, should I intervene?’
Alister glanced at the remaining undead and shook his head slightly. ‘You need not worry, I am just about done anyway.’
‘Understood, young lord. Also, Lady Terra says she has found something… a strange egg. She wishes to show it to you.’
Alister was slightly taken off guard at the mention of the word. ‘An egg?’
‘Yes, young lord,’ Alzuring continued. ‘It appears alive, yet at the same time, it isn’t. It’s rather peculiar.’
Alister’s curiosity piqued, though he kept his calm demeanor. ‘Alright. I’ll finish here, and then she can show it to me.’
‘Understood, my lord,’ Alzuring replied before falling silent once more.
Alister then refocused on the zombies before him, golden lightning beginning to crackle violently from his body. His eyes narrowed as he spoke, ‘Now, where were we?’
Lysandra, the female zombie, glanced around cautiously until her eyes fell on a discarded sword lying in the debris. She quickly picked it up, gripping the hilt tightly as she braced herself for Alister’s next move.
From his perch, Ethan, the archer zombie, fired a flurry of arrows aimed at Alister. But before they could even near him, the crackling golden lightning surrounding his body zapped each projectile, disintegrating them in the air.
Alister redirected his eyes at him. “You’re starting to get annoying.”
His hand clenched into a fist, and a crackling rod of lightning formed within his grasp. The raw energy vibrated through the air as Alister’s eyes locked on him with a deadly intensity. “Of course,” he said, his voice low and threatening, “there’s always a way to end that.”
Alister gripped the lightning rod tighter as he spoke, “I’ve never used this before, but I grasp the idea. Now that I recall Kaelan’s memories, it makes sense.”
“And my connection to Mar’Garet helps me have some level of understanding as well.”
“So it should work if I try it.”
As he spoke, the monsters around him couldn’t help but tense up, as if they could all sense something momentous was about to occur.
Alister’s voice seemed to echo unnaturally, vibrating through the fabric of reality itself. “Shattering, space law.”
Time slowed, the air thickening as the very space around him compressed and folded inward. In the blink of an eye, he vanished from view.
The zombies looked around frantically, their glowing eyes scanning the battlefield. They couldn’t find him. Suddenly, a radiant glow could be noticed in the distance, lightning flickering violently from a building behind them.
There, atop the ruined structure, Alister stood. The archer zombie, perched precariously beneath him, looked up in shock and confusion, too late to react.
“That’s one,” Alister said coldly.
In the next instant, the crackling rod of lightning he held thrust downward, piercing the skull of the archer zombie with ease.
The electric current surged through the undead, frying its insides and sending sparks in all directions. But that wasn’t the end of it-the raw energy was so intense that it sent cracks rippling down the entire structure.
The building beneath them shuddered before exploding in a devastating burst of debris.
[Congratulations! You have defeated an A-ranked monster!]
[500 prestige points obtained!]
Massive chunks of stone and rubble went flying, slamming into the surrounding undead. Vines and black blood splattered everywhere as several of the zombies were crushed instantly, their bodies torn apart by the force of the blast.
In the midst of the chaos, a massive boulder hurtled toward Lysandra, the female zombie. Her eyes locked onto it, and in a wild motion, she swung the sword she had found. Her strikes were so fast that they sliced the boulder into mere pebbles, which flew past her harmlessly, scattered into the wind.
Her eyes now turned back toward Alister, a dangerous glint in them, but her movements showed a hint of hesitation. Fear still seemed to slow her movements.
Alister’s voice echoed through the dust, his two glowing yellow eyes piercing through the debris as he slowly made his way out, his footsteps heavy, landing with loud thuds with every
step.
“I see,” he began, his voice calm yet with a touch of menace. “Your talent lets you cut through anything… as long as the sharp edge of that sword strikes it.”
Lysandra’s eyes widened slightly, the sword in her grip trembling for a moment as she stared him down.
Alister continued, his gaze never leaving her. “I’m lucky I caught your sword’s sides between my teeth earlier.” He gazed calmly, a chilling expression forming across his dragon-like face. “Else that could’ve been bad for me.”
Suddenly, there was a scuffle from behind. One of the smaller zombies, panicked by the scene unfolding, tried to flee. Before it could get far, Alister’s tail snapped like a whip through the air, cutting the undead clean in half. The two halves of its body fell to the ground with a sickening thud, black blood pooling beneath it.
Alister didn’t even look back. “What a peculiar talent,” he said, his voice dripping with curiosity. His narrowed eyes bore into Lysandra, who now stood on edge, gripping her weapon tighter. “But I wonder… how long can you hold that sword before it breaks?”
The air crackled with golden lightning still sparking around his body as the dust settled. His form loomed ominously in front of the remaining zombies, each of them hesitant to make a move, now fully aware of the monster they were up against.
Alister’s gaze was cold as he watched the female zombie struggle before him.
“I guess we’ll find out then,” he said coldly, his voice a low growl. With a wave of his claws, he uttered, ‘Void Rend.”
Massive claws of golden, swirling energy shot forward, tearing through the air toward the female zombie. She raised her sword, swinging it to counter the attack, and with a slash, the first claw of energy dissipated. But her victory was short-lived.
Her eyes widened as a second claw, hidden behind the first, struck before she could react. The sharp, slicing energy cleaved through her left arm, severing it cleanly. The sword tumbled from her grasp, clattering to the ground.
The female zombie looked toward the fallen sword, her remaining arm reaching for another weapon. But before she could act, a radiant golden aura suddenly flared before her, blinding
her momentarily.
“Don’t even bother.”
Alister’s voice was calm yet filled with absolute authority as he suddenly appeared before her.
In the blink of an eye, his clawed hand wrapped around her neck, lifting her effortlessly off the ground. She struggled, her remaining hand clawing at his iron grip, but it was futile. Alister’s strength was overwhelming.
“You fought well, you must have put a lot of effort into your craft while you were alive,” he said coldly, watching her feeble attempts to resist. The crackling golden lightning from his body sparked, singeing her decayed skin as he held her there, suspended in the air like a
broken doll.
“You may rest now.”