The Fall of Verdant (I)

Three months have passed since the entire incident with James and Wentworth. Everything seemed quiet on the surface. Edward focused on acquiring the Thunder, Water, and Death Law while supervising the war.

Meanwhile, the war is continuing fiercely. In such a short period, the majority of factions in the galaxy have fallen one way or the other, leaving only the Arcane Empire and Guzznad.

They fought over territory, population, and resources. However, Guzznad's situation has not been ideal, even with the help of the summoned demons from the Abyss.

Vita Star System, Planet Verdant:

Queen Mirthal, dressed in her elegant white dress, looked intently at a towering tree. Compared to before, the tree had regained some of its vigor. Although it has not returned to its peak, the tree was at most 80% healed.

Furthermore, the essence of the tree seemed to have improved. It was as if it was previously made out of normal iron, but now, it was composed of steel.

The tree is not the only thing that has changed. Queen Mirthal's surroundings would twist once in a while before returning to normal. Such a phenomenon was the result of her uncontrollable mana.

In a short few months, she made rapid progress, swiftly approaching Tier 9. However, as a result of her drastic growth, it was difficult to control her mana.

Regardless of this side-effect, Queen Mirthal was happy as a smile hung on her face. Her growth was a sign of the noble High Elves' bloodline in her body. As for the lack of Mana Control? Her long lifespan and inherited memories are more than enough to deal with this issue once Guzznad's trouble is dealt with.

Mirthal was caressing the tree with a beautiful smile that could make the most hardcore man blush. Then, she suddenly stopped, a deep frown plastered on her face.

'What is this sensation?' She found her body trembling slightly as a tremendous fear flashed in her mind. The process was so fast and so short that she momentarily thought she had been mistaken.

For the next minute, Mirthal stood in the same position, trying to identify the source of this strange reaction. Then, the sounds of fastly approaching boots interrupted her thought.

She took a deep breath to calm down her mind, regaining her regal and noble bearing.

"Did you find something?" she asked without looking back. In the past few months, she sensed some of the Elders were acting strangely. At first, she thought they became enthusiastic about studying the High Elves Bloodline, so she did not mind when they requested to retrieve blood samples from every citizen of the kingdom.

However, recently, she felt something was wrong, so she began to secretly monitor these Elders to see if she could find something wrong.

"That's not important right now," replied King Arion. "A while ago, I suddenly felt a sense of dread looming over me; it was instant before disappearing."

Arion saw his wife's movement paused for a moment, so he thought she was annoyed for bringing such an insignificant thing to her presence, so he hurriedly explained:

"The thing is, it was not only me. All the Elders felt the same way, and so far, it appeared that anyone Tier 6 and above felt the same thing."

Mirthal quickly turned around, "Are you telling the truth?"

"There is no point in lying to you."

Queen Mirthal only pondered briefly before saying, "We must enter the highest alert level. Furthermore, prepare to evacuate the planet."

Alas, she did not finish her words when she felt everything turn dark; the sun had receded. The two raised their heads to look at the sky and saw a black and eerie cloud enveloping the entire planet.

"The Power of Death," said King Arion with eyes almost popping from his head. His body involuntarily trembled, and he almost fell to the ground. Meanwhile, the queen reacted faster than him.

She raised her hand to summon a staff made of silver wood. She slammed the staff on the ground, and countless beautiful writing appeared on the ground, covering the entire planet.

Then, a shield appeared to cover the entire planet, pushing the black clouds outside of Verdant's atmosphere.

"Did you react so quickly?" said a deep and powerful voice that could be heard by every elf on the planet. "I tried to prevent your Danger Senses from activating, but it seems I failed. Worthy of elves with Sun Elves Bloodline.

"Unfortunately, it's useless. Today, your race will be turned into undead, serving me for all eternity."

"Guzznad," said Queen Mirthal with clenched teeth. In the past few months, their kingdom has survived countless encounters and even showed signs of regaining its prosperity.

As long as they are given enough time, Mirthal is sure to reach Tier 9 and be on par with Guzznadd and the Arcane Empire. Then, she can find a way for her people to survive this Undead Catastrophe.

But now, all her senses are telling her only a dim future is awaiting them.

Guzznad did not say anything else and acted. An enormous black hand with the power of death descended on the planet's defensive system.

The shield did not last for five seconds before showing signs of destruction. Luckily for the elves, their Sacred Tree–Validor–began to shine with silver holy lights. Then, with its blessing, the Planetary Shield was reinforced and blocked the hand.

The black hand reacted by pointing one finger and making a hole in the shield. Then, it scattered into a cloud of black energy that prevented the tear from closing. And upon closer observation, the cloud is trying to open the size of the tear while the shield tries to close itself.

From that tear, Guzznad's troops swarmed in. Countless ships that looked like ordinary sailing boats traveled into space and entered the planet. There were so many of them that it covered the sky in a few seconds.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The three pillars of lights flashed corners of the Planet Verdant, annihilating all the ships along with the undead on its path. After the first wave of attack, only five people remained floating above the sky, and they were all Tier 8 Undead.

"Light Magic? Since when did the elves have such technology?" asked one of the Tier 8 Ghosts. "Did they buy them from the Arcane Empire?"

"No, in the past few months, we suffered many defeats at their hands. Headquarters believed there was a new alliance between them and the Arcane Empire, hence why they acquired so much Purification Magic Technology.

"But now, it appears this was the elf's development," replied a Tier 8 Vampire.

"So, these elves not only have the Sun Elves Bloodline, but some people awakened it?"

"Most likely."

"That makes things a little tricky."

The Sun Elves were known for their Fire and Light Magic or any [Positive] Magic.

"No, it doesn't change anything. We only need to increase the sacrifice so we can fulfill the Lord's plan," replied a Zombie wearing black armor.

"So, we send the Abyss Demons?"

"Yes. Isn't that why we contracted them?"

After making a plan, the five acted swiftly. The next group of people whole entered the tear were not undead but a group of Abyss Demons. These abominable creatures rushed into the planet; they instantly covered the sky as there were billions of them.

They looked disgusting, creepy, and scary, and the majority smelled of sulfur, rotten and festered corpses, and blood.

The elves quickly activated the planetary defense system they installed a few months ago. As these demons, they encountered a layer of protection.

In the first layer, they encountered a small barrier world composed of a powerful Purification Enchantment. So, the majority of these demons were instantly purified of their filth and sin, leaving nothing but their ashes.

But they did not care. The Abyss Demons used countless spells and methods to block the purification process before reaching the second layer of defense.

This layer contained a magical flame that imitated the sun. So, millions of demons were instantly burned to death. And since this flame also had some purification power, more of them died.

However, these creatures were bred to know no fear–including the fundamental fear of death from all living creatures. They bypassed that layer to reach the third level.

In that layer, many small creatures, often known as Spirit Elves, were chanting a beautiful sound. After hearing it, the demons turned on themselves and began killing each other.

And so, millions more die. But, based on their bloodline instinct, they must execute an order given to them. So, they still bypassed that layer after sacrificing millions of their kind.

"It's time," said the Zombie General, looking in the distance.