Escaping the tower

At first, only its base became visible. But slowly as the towering structure descended from within those dark clouds, violent gusts of wind blew in every direction accompanied by rumbling of thunder. 

The way that towering structure descended onto the surface felt almost as if there was another world beyond those dark clouds in the sky and that massive structure was sinking in from the world above.

Even the density of mana around the vicinity surged to an unprecedented level.

Shielding his eyes from the debris that the violent gust of wind was sweeping towards his way, Lucius watched this calamitic scene unfold in front of him with eyes full of curiosity, thrill, and fear. 

Oddly enough, he found this scene extremely exciting. But at the same time, he couldn't deny that he was also scared of this event. 

What was this feeling, he was feeling at the moment? 

He couldn't be sure of it. 

Almost as if it was sensing danger, Gloo the griffin started acting weirdly, letting out restless shrieks, "Grrr... Grrr...."

Lucius who was lost in the magical sight unfolding in front of him was brought back to reality by the restless shrieks of Gloo. 

He was no expert in understanding familiars. But even he could understand that something was wrong. 

They do say that the senses of animals are sharper than human beings. 

So, even though he couldn't understand the meaning behind its restlessness, he could tell that something was about to take place. 

Or it could also be reacting this way because it felt its master's life endangered. 

Whatever the reason, Lucius wasn't willing to get himself involved. Thus, instead of accompanying the griffin in his attempt to rescue Blake, he unmounted the griffin and stayed behind while the griffin soared in the direction of Blake. 

Based on his observation, Lucius could tell that the sheer size of the tower was so massive that even if Blake tried to flee at his top speed, he'd still be crushed by the gigantic structure into a meat paste before he could successfully escape the tower's range. 

Well, even if he did make it out alive, he already had prepared a perfectly reasonable excuse he could use. 

Right now, his only priority was to get as far away from the range of the tower as possible in the shortest amount of time.

Invoking some chants, Lucius then applied a type of magic that allowed him to boost his speed while at the same time, he made use of the natural tempest to reduce his mana consumption. Having an affinity with wind magic, agility was his forte after all. 

In no time, he managed to run far away for him to successfully leave behind the range of the tower. But in doing so, he nearly exhausted every bit of mana left in him. 

Strangely enough, he didn't encounter any monsters on his way. It was almost as if, this entire forest was empty.

"Huff!! Huff!!"

Panting heavily after nearly draining him out, he stopped to catch his breath and recuperate his mana. But at this time, his eyes constricted in fear upon looking at the descent of the tower as he realized how wrong he was to think that he had grasped the size of this massive structure. 

Even with all those structures out, he still couldn't see its top. Moreover, it looked like there was still more of its body which was yet to make an appearance. 

Discarding his previously conceived estimation, Lucius then once again started to run. Sure he had already depleted his mana reserve, sure he could even feel his stomach churning from pain whenever he tried to run. 

But still, he had no other way than to run for his life. 

To make matters even worse, he could sense the ground rumbling, dust being blown from the path behind him, and the sounds of monsters. This meant, until now he hadn't encountered monsters while fleeing because the monster on in his path had already escaped. 

But the ones behind him had yet to make their escape. And right now, when his situation was already miserable due to the lack of mana, it was getting even more perilous. 

☼☼☼☼ ☼☼☼☼

Nord, Nexus empire

Protected by towering stone walls was a massive city bustling with activity even in the quiet hours. Illuminated by countless torches, its winding street was filled with a thick scent of wood and damp earth while the distant sound of revelry echoed from the inns and taverns. 

It was the capital of the Nexus empire famously known as Nord.

In the heart of this bustling city, stood a magnificently erected castle. Its resplendent towers soared through the heavens while its walls, hewn from the purest white stone, shimmered in the moonlight, giving it an ethereal appearance that could captivate the hearts of almost any onlookers. 

Its corridors, illuminated by countless lanterns that were swaying with the night breeze were only making its appearance even more beautiful. 

Step!! Step!! Step!!

A stark contrast to its serene appearance, heavy sounds of footsteps alongside unrhythmic sounds of breathing could be heard reverberating in one of its corridors while a silhouette of a person could be seen darting along its opulently decorated walls.

"Hngh!!"

"Ahh... Ahh..."

From one of it's countless rooms, a rather erotic moan could be heard while two figures could be seen moving behind the veil surrounding a massive bed, probably engaging in intimate actions.

The room was dimly lit.

Based on the silhouette of those two figures, it was rather easy to identify that one of them was a male while the other was a female.

The intensity between the two grew only stronger as time progressed while at the same time, the sounds of the moans grew louder along with the rising intensity.

Just then all of a sudden, a sudden knock resounded in the room which caused the figures to halt their movement.

Knock!! Knock!!

Upon hearing the knock, King Roman ceased his intimate actions as he turned to look at the door while appearing rather pissed.

But still, he didn't voice his anger as he was well aware of the person behind the door responsible for those knocks.

"Sorry to disturb you lord so late in the night"

A voice that sounded rather apologetic echoed from outside the door.

"What is it?" Roman replied while putting on his robes, sounding cold.

"Lord, it's about the prophecy" answered the voice from outside.

At once as he heard about the response, Roman's eyes dilapidated with fear and surprise.

For a while, Roman froze in his place.

And only the voice of his companion who was engaging in intimate actions with him sounded did he come back to his senses, "What's this prophecy about my king?"