Chapter 549: Six Months Later
(Six months later)
Ironclad City, a mining hub of the Magi Empire, nestled atop barren ground, devoid of any greenery.
The city lay at the foothills of a vast mountain chain, its landscape marked by rugged terrain and dusty plains, and unlike the grand metropolises of the Empire, Ironclad City was a rugged, functional place.
Its buildings were stout and utilitarian, constructed to withstand the constant wear of mining operations rather than to impress with architectural beauty.
Despite its industrial appearance, the city was well-developed, with a network of rail tracks, massive ore processing facilities, and simple buildings to acuminate its inhabitants.
However, at the moment, the Ironclad City was no longer brimming with the life of civilians and miners, but rather, it teemed with thousands upon thousands of soldiers, armed to the teeth and supported by battle automatons and Arcantrons.
The once bustling mining city had transformed into a fortress, prepared for the war looming on its doorstep.
‘Any time now,’ Alex thought, his eyes seeing through the ground.
As if in response to his thoughts, the ground began to tremble as a deep rumble echoed through the air, and the earth split open, releasing an unending tide of ratlings.
The Skaven poured forth, their miasmic green eyes glowing eerily through the rising cloud of dust that soon enveloped the tens of kilometers of surroundings. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
In mere moments, even the sky darkened as the dust mingled with the thick, toxic haze brought by the Skaven horde.
From the dust-choked air, massive Skaven behemoths emerged, mutated rodent beasts with grotesque, bulging muscles and armored hides, followed by both ground and sky soldiers.
At the forefront of this terrifying assault rode the Skaven commander, a towering figure mounted on a massive, horned beast. The commander’s staff crackled with virulent blue lightning, illuminating his fearsome visage.
He chanted in a guttural language that could heard loud and clear even through the growing chaos, and in response to his call, the sky roared as dark clouds began to gather.
The Skaven dug through the ground with frenzied fervor, their claws tearing through rock and soil as they advanced toward the city walls.
The commander raised his staff, and massive claws of light materialized, slashing at the city’s protective barrier. The barrier shimmered and held, but the force of the assault sent ripples through its magical field.
The defenders also unleashed their counterattack with the enemy in sight as Mana and pulse cannons mounted atop the walls roared to life, raining down fire upon the Skaven horde.
Explosions rocked the battlefield as cannon blasts turned scores of ratlings into blood and gore. But for every rating that fell, two more took its place, charging with a relentless fervor that seemed to embrace death rather than fear it.
The Skaven behemoths smashed against the barrier, their immense strength causing it to flicker and waver. Skaven magi conjured spells, hurling bolts of necrotic energy at the walls, while berserkers launched themselves at the defenses with reckless abandon.
‘This reminds me of the endless waves of Devourer Beasts that would do anything to breach the Elven continent,’ Alex thought as he watched the growing carnage.
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It had been six months since the tragic day the Magi Empire first encountered Ratanak, the King of Skaven, and since that day, much had changed, as the entire realm was in a state of emergency and struggle.
The King of Skaven, Ratanak, was not just a rat king with a title. He was a unique specimen of his kind, an anomaly who only existed in stories, but what was believed to be myths created by the delusional ratlings had come to life.
Ratanak had absolute loyalty over the Skaven race, having abilities that defied logic and strength that bent reality. He was a nightmare manifested into flesh, a creature whose very existence was a bane for life.
Ratanak had many unique abilities ranging from minor ones, like making the Ratlings grow stronger with his mere presence, as their already insane reproduction rate grew faster while their intellect also received a boost, and so did their physical selves.
He was also capable of granting strength to his chosen, morphing his flesh as he pleased and controlling billions of Ratlings, but all these abilities paled in comparison to his true strength.
Ratanak was capable of endlessly growing when he was around the Ratling race, capable of regenerating lost limbs, wielding any element he wished, endlessly fighting for days, weeks, or even months at his peak, and this was all because he was the Skaven King.
So, with such a creature suddenly appearing out of the blue and declaring war on the Magi Empire, chaos was engulfing many areas of the empire, as battles were being fought every moment of every passing day, and untold lives were being lost on both sides.
The Magi Empire was desperately trying to end Ratanak, but he was a cunning beast who survived every attack by either butchering his way out or running away.
Ratanak would keep growing with his people around, and with nearly all of the Skaven cities abandoned and relocated, now hidden from the world’s eyes, it was getting harder and harder to find him or lure him out.
Ratanak was causing great chaos for the Magi Empire, but he was not the only threat that had unsettled the peace of the Ancestral Realm, as both the Cultivator Domain and the Empire of Iron faced emerging threats of their own.
In the Cultivator Domain, mutated beasts and humans alike were growing in numbers at an insane rate, and while not a threat at the moment, if not controlled in time, they would become a headache for the entire domain.
Those mutated and enhanced humans and beasts were the results of something similar, if not directly, the Clone infusion and Mass Assimilation Techniques, but Alex expected to never see them, at least not so soon on such a scale.
Alex knew for certain that Vasticus killed the apothecary and gave a warning to the Immortal Phoenix Sect, but it seemed like he did not stop the sect from going on with their nefarious plan, and now that some time had passed, they were back at it.
However, this theory also posed another problem since five months ago, the Immortal Phoenix Sect was disbanded, and weeks after that, the abnormals began growing at an extreme pace.
While it could be that it was all a plan of the sect master to be aggressive, and when their strength reached the point they needed to overthrow one of the seven peaks, they would create their sect once more, that was yet to be proved since the sect master and all high elders were missing.
In the Empire of Iron, an unknown plague was eroding any metal from the inside out and spreading. While there was a cure for this plague of rust, it was only temporary and not permanent, as within hours of being cured, the plague resumed with more ferocity than the last time.
At the moment, just like enhanced humans, the plague was a nuisance but manageable, as no one really strong had fallen to it.
However, with time, it would surely change, and it would not be long before the two empires had apocalyptic-level threats that they needed to deal with, just like the Magi Empire, who had a much more serious threat on their hands which was growing worse by the day.
All three threats emerging nearly simultaneously was too much of a coincidence, and seeing that not even the powers that ruled the realm could deal with them made many question whether this was a natural thing or something planned by someone from the shadows.
Whether it was the doing of some power or a natural disaster in the making, tough times were ahead in the ancestral realm.
The past six months had been productive for Alex, as he not only collected ten of the eleven pieces of the entry token but also got promoted by two ranks in the army.
Alex was now a company captain, with six platoon leaders like Kiera working under him, and with his current position, it was only a matter of time before he decided to collect the last shard and ask for the help of Grand Arcanum Elara.