Chapter 156: Chapter 156 - Obsidian Tower
Lucien had gathered dungeon cores two more times from the twisted towers.
But none of those raids were as easy as the first.
One tower in particular nearly broke them.
The rifts had begun vomiting monsters in waves and they had to hold the line while Elk threaded reality back together. If she faltered even for a breath, the tide would have overwhelmed them.
Fortunately, her speed was unmatched. The Void Thread sang in her hands and the seams of space obeyed her command.
Still, the danger was real. One slip of her concentration or if one cut was too shallow... then the rift might have widened beyond control.
The other tower was worse. Far worse.
A colossal figure had begun to push itself through. Its limbs were the size of city walls. Its very presence warped the chamber with pressure that bent knees and slowed breath.
For a heartbeat, Elk nearly fell into its grasp.
But Cielius and Lucien who both recognized the nature of the threat, acted without hesitation. They unleashed their might, forcing the colossal monster back before it could tear itself fully into their world.
The overwhelming presence was almost the same from the Gargoyle Lord’s colossal hand they had faced before... and they would not allow it to manifest here.
Within moments, Elk’s hands blurred. Void Thread pierced the rift like needles of starlight. She stitched reality closed before the beast could try again.
Seconds later, the large rift snapped shut, leaving only silence and the ragged echo of strained breaths.
Lucien’s heart tightened. A second of hesitation and Elk would have been lost.
And that colossal monster... if there were more like it lurking here then this place was far deadlier than he had believed.
’Could even two hundred thousand soldiers stand against such horrors?’ The thought gnawed at him.
Yet Lucien forced the doubt aside. His hand pressed against his chest where the Origin Core Fragment pulsed faintly. That fragment was his greatest trump card.
It was a mystery he was still trying to unfold and it was brimming with powers he had yet to comprehend.
It was his anchor and his assurance.
Also... Every time he stared at the rifts, Lucien could feel it.
A resonance. A pull.
The Origin Core Fragment within his chest thrummed each time he glanced at the rifts. He knew that somehow, with its power... he could cross. He could step into whatever world lay beyond.
But would he dare?
His instincts howled in warning. The mere thought of stepping through set his blood on edge. The world beyond was not meant for humans. To enter it now would be nothing short of courting death.
...
Lucien moved alone once more.
The monsters had begun to notice. Three of the twisted towers lay in ruins and they could no longer ignore it.
From the depths of the Black Mass, the response came. An army poured forth like a floodgate torn open. Black legions spilled across the wastes. The patrols spread wide.
They swept like hunters desperate to sniff out the hidden hand that dared destroy their strongholds.
But Lucien did not rush. He crouched within the shadows, watching their march with patience.
Perhaps this was no true offensive. It might just be a feint. A bait meant to draw him out. Or worse, a ploy to make him bare his strength before the real battle began.
Patience was its own blade. To swing too early was to dull the edge before it struck true.
"Damn... I wanted to raid more towers but looks like I won’t get the chance. Still... isn’t this better?"
The monsters scoured the place, searching blindly. They hunted shadows, never realizing that the shadow they sought was already slipping past them.
Lucien’s eyes lifted to the distance. To the black silhouette that pierced the horizon.
The Obsidian Tower. It was the heart of the enemy and the nest from which the endless monsters poured forth.
And now, its strength was fractured. Its legions diminished and scattered across the place.
He knew... It was the perfect moment.
Lucien’s decision came sharp as steel.
Strike the head while the body flailed.
That was war.
And the great clash could no longer be delayed.
•••
From a ridge, Lucien halted. He grabbed a Telescope and focused on what lay forward.
His gaze fixed on the monolith that clawed into the heavens.
Its surface glistened black as if carved from night itself. It swallowed the light instead of reflecting it. Lightning crackled around its spire though no storm brewed above.
And at its base, the true horror revealed itself.
Legions. Endless ranks of monsters gathered in grim order. Their camps sprawled outward like a sea of teeth and claws. They blotted the barren plain with a tide of black.
He counted battalions of goblins but they were not the filthy scavengers of old. These wore armor hammered from steel. They wielded all kinds of weapons. Their eyes glowed faintly green, fevered with bloodlust.
Behind them loomed hulking ogres. They were dragging war drums that beat like the pulse of the earth.
Further still, titan monsters moved. Trolls and giant beasts trudged across the plain. Their silhouettes blotted out fires behind them. Others bore a tree ripped from its roots as a club while others’ body shimmered with scales like molten iron.
Above, the skies churned with shadows. Wyverns, Vultures, Griffins and other Winged Beasts wheeled overhead. Their forms were monstrously large. Their cruel eyes swept the area, hunting for prey with a predator’s patience.
And scattered among them, Lucien spotted strong presences. They might be the leader of each species.
A Goblin Magus draped in a cape of stitched human skin stood atop a mound of bones, shrieking incantations and barking orders. Dark magic oozed from his gestures.
Overhead, a winged colossus the size of a fortress circled lazily. Its vast wings eclipsed the faintest of light. Each piercing cry sent shudders through the area and it rattled even the beasts below.
Other monstrosities stirred. Beasts whose auras surged with Tier 9 strength. Their presence gnawed at the edge of Lucien’s senses.
Lucien narrowed his eyes.
This was no rabble. The monsters moved with discipline. They bore the same cunning edge as the foes Lucien had once faced in the Mural World... only now their forms were twisted into something far more grotesque and more terrifying.
The Obsidian Tower was their fortress. And every moment... more and more monsters poured from its gates to swell the horde.
Their movements were unnervingly precise. Each creature slipped into formation as if it knew exactly where it belonged in the greater host.
The scale was staggering. Two hundred thousand soldiers inside his core would bleed to hold this field.
Yet he was still calm.
Because armies, no matter their size, were only as strong as the hand that guided them.
Fortunately, Lucien saw no monsters that exceeded Tier 9 among the army massed before the Obsidian Tower.
No Monster Lords and no greater beings either.
Perhaps such terrors lingered inside, hidden behind those black gates. All the better... he would carve down this legion first before any higher powers could awaken.
But still... there was one thing that gnawed at him.
The betrayers. The Golddusts and Ashreth. Nowhere among the hordes did he see them.
His gaze lowered to the base of the tower... and his breath caught.
Bones. Mountains of them. The ground itself was paved in pale remains. Skulls and ribs were woven into the foundation like mortar.
Lucien clenched his fists until his knuckles bled white. He could not even fathom the number. A hundred thousand? A million? How many helpless innocents had been fed to this tower of corruption?
His chest burned with rage yet his expression was calm.
"When they appear," he whispered, "only death will answer them."
The words were not promise. They were decree.
So...
Before the scattered hordes could return and swell their ranks again, this was the moment to strike.
They had to fall upon the gathered army now and cut them down before the tide could rise anew.
Lucein sent his voice inside his divine energy core.
"Everyone. Listen well. The time has come. You all know why we are here. If we do not strike first, the Black Mass will drown this world and everything we love with it. That is not prophecy. That is certainty. We will not wait for death to come knocking at our gates. We will bring war to theirs."
With a motion of his hand, the Gargoyle Drone’s recording flared to life. The jagged plains, the Obsidian Tower... and the endless host of monsters filled the air before them. Their sheer numbers darkened the projection like a tide without end.
A sharp intake of breath passed through the gathered leaders. Maxim spoke what many already thought.
"Almost a million... and still increasing."
Murmurs rippled. Unease, fear, disbelief.
But Lucien’s voice cut through it like steel.
"Numbers are nothing without discipline. A sea without a shore is only water to be split. Remember this. We have the edge. We have preparation. We have unity. And above all, we have purpose. They fight because they are driven. We fight because we choose to. That choice gives us strength."
The plan unfolded clearly. His words left no room for hesitation.
The strongest group, Midas, Augustus, Leo, Cielius and the rest, would descend first. Not as scattered champions but as a single spearpoint.
Their task was not simply to slaughter but to break cohesion. To tear gaps in the enemy’s ranks. To scorch their centers of command. And seed chaos before the tide could turn.
At the peak of this chaos when formations collapsed and lines wavered, Lucien would summon the full 200,000. Not into an ocean of ready blades but into a battlefield already broken.
Every soldier would strike ground already weakened by the strongest. In that moment, even a legion of a million could be forced to scatter.
The priesthood under Clara would weave through the ranks, fortifying the allies and restoring wounded.
The strongest group would adapt freely. Striking enemy elites. Sealing breaches. Bolstering faltering units.
Every fighter would have a role.
Lucien ended with the fire of command...
"We must strike fast. We must strike hard. We must not give them time to regroup. Because the longer this war drags, the less we gain. When you appear, hundreds of thousands will fall in moments. That is your edge. That is your duty. When the tide wavers, our armies will surge through. And when the dust clears... it will not be their shadows that linger over this land. It will be ours."