34 Chapter 34: Leaving
Somewhere in the plane, an enormous mountain stood about ten kilometers high, surrounded by dense forest.
The forest was lush and teeming with life; animals roamed the ground, and birds sang in the air.
A huge city was built on the slopes of the mountain and covered most of its surface.
There was a massive medieval stone castle at the top of the mountain.
The Drakos capital housed over 100 000 Drakos and a lot of subsidiary races, totaling nearly 300 000 inhabitants.
Young Drakos ran through the streets laughing as passersby watched them with smiles.
Well, it was the scene just a few hours ago.
Now, the entire city was slashed and burned.
Nothing remained of the illustrious castle of the Drakos Empire and even a whole side of the mountain collapsed, burying much of the city under rocks.
The entire mountain was ablaze and cracked, with a thick column of smoke rising into the air.
The few Drakos still alive crawled through the debris covered with blood and dust as they tried to find their loved ones and their friends.
They could hardly face the cruel reality: the millennium-old capital of the empire had fallen.
...
High in the air, a winged figure scrutinized the scene with a piercing and emotionless gaze.
...
About a thousand kilometers away, there was the largest forest of the plane.
In the deepest inner part of the forest, the trees towered over sixty meters high.
A large wooden cabin was built on each one, build on its branches.
In the center of the forest, there was a giant tree nearly twice the size of the others, in which the largest and most magnificent cabin of all was located.
Inside, the crow-men king had his hands clasped and looked at his subordinate with a worried expression.
"Are you sure about this?" he asked.
The rank 4 crow-men kneeling in front of him nodded.
"Absolutely. The Drakos capital is completely destroyed and all the celestial powerhouses of the city, including the emperor and the preceptor, have been head-chopped while their heads are impaled in front of the ruins of the imperial palace."
If he had eyebrows, the crow-men king couldn't help but furrow.
Not long ago, he suddenly felt the world's will awaken and become angry near the Drakos capital, so he sent one of his men to check.
Although he hated to admit it, the Drakos Empire was stronger than the crow-men clan since the war.
The Valyr's magical technology was incredibly powerful, and despite being less than thirty celestials, they had managed to kill three-quarters of the assault forces, while the great elder killed their queen.
Even though, the empire still had 14 celestial beings, including the Drakos preceptor, who survived despite being gravely injured.
They had for their part 15 celestial beings, but none had reached the pinnacle; only two were at the advanced stage: they were much more vulnerable than the Drakos.
Nevertheless, there were over thirty rank 4 beasts, and two of them were at the pinnacle.
It was only by joining forces that crow-men and Drakos managed to keep some balance with the beasts.
"Inform every city to migrate to the capital. We must concentrate our forces and prepare for war."
He wasn't worried about the mysterious powerhouse who destroyed the Drakos capital. According to the will of the world, the problem has already been resolved.
However, now that their greatest allies were gone, the beasts would not miss such an opportunity to rid themselves of their race.
The crow-men were not like the Valyrs and did not have precious technology or artifacts to fight a stronger and larger enemy.
The crow-men king's face became solemn as he foresaw very dark times ahead for his race.
...
[A few hours earlier]
...
Small gray beings with six arms ran in all directions, dodging debris and explosions.
A large fireball fell from the sky and exploded in the middle of the road, blowing up several buildings and consuming dozens of people.
BOOM
BOOM
BOOM
Terrifying explosions occurred one after the other and ravaged the mountain.
Buildings collapsed like dominos, and debris tumbled down the mountain slopes.
From time to time, falling debris destroyed other buildings or swiped away people.
High in the air, Ilbert watched the scene with a neutral gaze.
He had his hands outstretched, and the mana of his spiritual sea was rapidly depleting.
He controlled his mana to resonate with the world's spiritual energy and ignite the ambient air.
A veritable rain of fire fell on the capital, killing thousands of people every second, but Ilbert seemed ice-cold.
Guilt, sadness, anger, hatred... A whirlwind of emotion churned in his mind as he watched the demise of those who had his race.
With his mental energy, he controlled the corpses of about ten celestial Drakos to float near him, including the one of the Drakos preceptor whom he defeated without difficulty thanks to his injuries and his new strength.
Yet he did not revel in the ease with which he had eliminated his enemy.
As Ilbert slowly regained control of his emotions, he only felt an immense emptiness in his heart.
...
In the void, all the professors watched closely the chaos in the plane.
"Well, at least this kid knows how to make an impression," said one of the elite class professors.
For the first time since their arrival, all the professors agreed.
...
Liam's incarnation stood in space right above the Drakos capital and communicated with the angry will of the world.
"For the umpteenth time, we respected the contract. It was Drakos who attacked first. Ilbert only responded to their attack. It's not my fault if these guys aren't smart enough to know there are people they can't afford to provoke."
Liam had already anticipated that such a situation would occur and asked Ilbert not to make the first move.
He only flown over the city and cast a disguise spell, taking on his old wounded appearance.
When he saw him, the Drakos preceptor immediately thought he was on death's door due to his injuries and had come to drag them into the grave with him.
Despite his injuries, he launched the attack without arguing and summoned the other rank 4 beaings to help him.
Unfortunately for them, Ilbert was no longer the injured old man he once was, and his power far surpassed his peak before the war.
It didn't take long before the capital turned into a veritable bloodbath.
Such a violent battle naturally attracted the attention of the world's will and pulled it out of its slumber, but Liam stopped it before it had time to intervene.
The will of the world couldn't really express itself, but Liam could still understand what it meant through his spiritual sense
"And so what? There's nothing that prevent us from showing ourselves to the natives. It's their fault for attacking."
Even if Liam tried to absolve himself, he understood its anger.
The war fifteen years ago had already greatly reduced the strength of his world, but the will of the world had no choice. It knew the renegade Valyrs would continue to plunder if it did nothing, so it had to act.
It didn't know that only a part of the race was involved and ordered the massacre of the Valyr kingdom. In the end nearly a hundred rank 4 powerhouses died.
Now, she just lost nearly 20% of the remaining rank 4 beings.
Even worse, it knew that, since the balance was broken, the beasts would not delay in targeting the crow-men, and she would have a hard time stopping them.
Overall, the plan had less than 20% of the forces it had before the Great War, making it vulnerable to invasion.
In fact, this plane was not the only world in this solar system; there were about ten other planes around the star, including an intermediate plane.
"Enough!"
As the two were in the middle of their argument, Mr. Idder sent his will and calmed both sides.
The professor first addressed the will of the world.
"He is right: the terms of the contract have not been violated, and it is indeed the fault of the Drakos for attacking first, end of story."
Even though the will of the world still had its say, it refrained from speaking, thinking of the immense power of the demigod in front of them.
Mr. Idder then turned to Liam.
"As for you, young Adler, I think that's enough to calm your believer's anger. So please give a face to our school and recall your men until the end of the exam."
Liam nodded and sent a divine message to Ilbert, asking him to return to the portal.
He needed the resources of the school and would gain no benefit from alienating the professors.
"Oh, by the way." He said to the will of the world. "I heard you were looking for a certain Valyr princess!"
Mr. Idder sighed, and Liam smiled as he felt the will of the world getting angry again.
...
A large number of people stood in the square of the only city of the divine realm.
Novarians, nagas, Valyrs. They all watched the spatial gate shrink and then close completely.
The very first planar invasion, which had lasted ten years, was finally over.
Many Valyrs shed tears of joy, while the nagas and novariens raised their weapons to the sky and celebrated victory.
On a balcony overlooking the square, Sylvera, Liam, Ilbert, and Ruvia stood silently, watching the commotion below.
Ilbert was by far the most affected of all and watched it all with a dull gaze, carrying the weight of his race's death on his shoulders.
Suddenly, he felt Ruvia embrace him.
Sylvera also approached and nudged him.
"Listen, uh, I know we've probably already told you this, but the past is behind us, and we can't change what happened. We can only accept it, as painful as it may be."
Even though the naga wasn't very skilled with emotions and feelings, he felt that the old Valyr was probably going through the same thing he experienced years ago, albeit at a higher level.
Liam approached and, as usual, placed a comforting hand on the old man's shoulder.
"He's right, stop wallowing in your dark thoughts and look around you: your granddaughter is safe and sound, and your race's legacy is far from over and it will continue in this new home. Even though we must remember those who are gone, the future is built with those who remain!"
As he watched the nagas leave, Ilbert felt a warmth rise in his old heart.
"A new home, uh…" he thought as he looked at the starry sky.
