Year 2000 AGS Underhaven Calendar
"We ran here immediately when we noticed the communications were down. What is the situation?" the head company commander asked Lioel. Seemingly saddened by the situation. "We are pinned down. No signal from divine presence, the cloud whales are not in the vicinity, and all other forms of communication are still down as well. The analogs cannot get out the perimeter." Lioel replied.
"Attack them all! Show them that reinforcements are still useless!!!" one of the enforcers shouted.
One of the lightspeed commanders heard this and got angry. "Useless?! You Domcreans should know your place!" The commander shouted. "Prepare for battle!" The commander ordered as he looked back from the company he was leading, nodding his head. "Yes, commander!" The company of 250 soldiers nodded in response.
"Start lightspeed impact!" The commander shouted, raising his sword, then moving it forward as a signal to begin the attack.
The lightspeed gift is one of these major gifts bestowed on the Templars. The gift is usually the name of the clan, like the Lightspeed clan, headed by Elder Uriel. Major and minor gifts are specialized, pre-blended variants of light and dark energy granted by the Makers to the Templars that are biologically safe and stable.
Major gifts are the superior gifts of the major clans, while the minor gifts are the weaker gifts of the minor tribes. They do not cause a resonance clash in the body since they are 'pre-blended'. The moment they are awakened, it's like an element of its own. It has a unique magic-and-martial-element property that does not cause problems when used with light or dark elements. There is no resonance clash.
The 'white light' variant of the lightspeed clan is different from the primordial 'pure light' of the Makers. It is vital to note that while they can be used simultaneously alongside one another, the 'White Light' energy variant still cannot be fundamentally combined or merged into a single, unified primordial attack with either the pure light or pure dark energy, ensuring the Makers' absolute design, which is that elements cannot combine with each other, remains intact.
"Yes, commander!" the Templar company replied.
"Wai---" Lioel was about to warn them but…
FLASH. FLASH. FLASH.
The sound of the lightspeed company's humming speed was so silent and calming, in contrast to its results in combat.
This forceful acceleration triggers the "Photonic Shift," allowing the soldiers to shed physical friction and transform their bodies into blinding, silent beams of white light (Though it is a vital law of Bastion's physics that no being can reach absolute lightspeed). In the exact second before physical contact, the company channels the Dark energy directly into their skeletons and weapons to trigger "Abyssal Mass".
By perfectly synchronizing the blinding, sub-light speed of their 'White Light' energy with the sudden, crushing weight of a falling boulder, the "Lightspeed Impact" should have delivered a catastrophic payload that would have instantly shattered enemy defensive lines. But…
"Soul shield!" The enforcers pulled raw ectoplasm from the unseen Wandering Souls on the battlefield, condensing it into a sudden, freezing-cold physical shield wall to block incoming projectiles.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The Templars' lightspeed impact was blocked!
"By the heavens?" Lioel and the head company commander said in unison.
"Counter maneuvers!" the enforcer commander shouted. "Walls!" he then added.
"Walls!" the Terrum user Domcreans shouted at the back line
Earth walls began to be erected on the back of the company of lightspeed templars.
"Enforcers!" The enforcers on the front line began coating their weapons with the soul element. A soul element martial energy attack!
THUD. THUD. THUD. The enforcers began to march forward in formation against the Templars.
HUM! HUM! HUM! Each sound of the enforcer's strikes hummed in the ears of the pinned-down lightspeed Templars. The lightspeed templars attempted to parry, but the weapons of their enemies just passed through theirs. It took them by surprise. They were about to move out when…
RUMBLE. RUMBLE. RUMBLE. Their feet were trapped by the emerging earth of the Terrum mages.
Those that managed to evade tried to fly upwards but… SWISH! SWISH! Stormut archers hit them with their supersonic arrows.
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*A short while ago.
"Elder! Reinforcements have arrived!" Tamael informed Elder Abaddel, and his face lit up as he faced him. "Was that part of the plan?" Equirel asked. "No, we have not yet seen the blue flares. This one is a fortunate coincidence."
"Kids, stay here. I'm about to join them. Remember what I've told you." Elder Abaddel's eyes pierced the two boys as he looked at them. This time, there are no hints of sarcasm. "Yes, Elder!" They replied.
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*Still a short while ago.
"Legate, those are reinforcements!" one of the blue lightning soldiers said to Laios. "Good news, but focus right here, or we are all going to die. Get hit by one arrow, and we don't know what will happen!" Laios replied as he glimpsed to those that are executing the ambush
---*
"Why is the smokescreen only on those parts?" The head commander asked. "Legate Natasha and the two remaining cinerary apothecaries were responsible. It was for the ambush. They might have difficulty maintaining it up to this side of the battlefield." Lioel replied. "The offensive of the blue lightning earlier might have worked because they were using the smokescreen while performing the hit & run." Lioel further added.
"Charge!" The first wave of enforcers resumed its advance.
The second wave near Apex, on the other hand, is being dismantled by Laios' Blue Lightning squad.
"Lightspeed, scatter hit them in different angles so their shield will be usele---." The company commander was interrupted by Lioel. "Wait! They have some type of element, I don't know, maybe a variant, that makes parrying weapons impossible without some Soul Property traits surrounding your body or your weapon."
"How are we…? Never mind they are already near. Defensive formation!" The commander shouted.
CLANG! Both sides clashed once again.
The lightspeed soldiers are going down one by one.
Magna stood up, slightly recovered from Catalyst's blow, and took notice of this. She then enveloped some nearby lightspeed soldiers with white flame mana like a cinerary apothecary. Then…
CLANG! Black smoke appeared on impact between swords.
The lightspeed soldiers were now able to block the attacks. "We blocked it?" some of the lightspeed soldiers shouted. "Counterattack!" the head commander shouted.
The lightspeed soldiers forcibly pushed their shields towards their enemies to create space, then used white light martial energy to accelerate their movements. This time without being hyper visible.
The unique traits of the variant lightspeed or 'white light' energy are that it mimics the traits of pure light but without its weaknesses. The effects include faster movement, stronger attacks, and more stealth.
"So, white flame mana can make that variant or coating of theirs blockable?" the head commander near Magna asked. "Yes, legate Natasha noticed and then ordered the rest of us to do so." Magna immediately replied. "Everybody! Tight formation! Do not stray too far from the white flame mana!" The commander ordered.
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*Back to the present
"Begin coating everyone with white flame mana!" Natasha ordered the two cinerary apothecaries with her. "Yes, legate!" they replied. "Make sure to continue doing so even if we are separated!" Natasha shouted.
RUMBLE! Natasha heard the ground shaking. SPARK!
"These are multi-element users!" Natasha shouted immediately. "Scatter!" she shouted again as she leaped to the side.
RUMBLE! Walls of earth were erected. Forming a rectangle.
"These fuckers! They planned to incinerate us inside a box." Natasha thought to herself.
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"Yes. Yes, Daniel. Come here. Let us fight each other. Let me prove to you Domcreans are now better than the Templars. Hahaha!" Apex taunted Daniel.
Daniel ran towards him, silent and focused. He then drew his sword and dashed towards Apex!
CLANG! Both of them clashed swords.
"Do you think those white flame mages can forever buff you. Soon, they will run dry."
Daniel did not respond. He used pure light mana, then became hypervisible, but his speed tripled.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! All his strikes were blocked by Apex.
Daniel suddenly, Eclipse Weaved, buried his sword in the ground by his side, then made a rotating kick. The kick was enhanced by pure dark energy at the last second, making it as heavy as a rock. BANG! It directly hit Apex, then made him cough up blood.
Apex then channeled his Soul Element Mana. He tried to put Daniel in a memory labyrinth.
The memory labyrinth is where the user forcibly traps an enemy's consciousness inside their own mind. The victim's physical body falls into a wheezing coma, while their mind is forced to endlessly wander a labyrinth constructed of their worst fears and erased memories.
"Hahaha," Apex shouted, but then…
Daniel took it directly but was not affected. "What the?" Apex remarked.
Daniel held his sword like an axe, then swung his sword six times at a blinding speed, using pure light. Then, on his seventh swing, he added the dark energy in his sword with all the momentum of the six strikes. The seventh strike was stronger, and due to the dark energy, its weight multiplied.
BOOM! "Ahhhhh!" Apex shrieked.
"How in the ---." Daniel did not stop. He moved diagonally and tried to pierce Apex.
Apex used his soul shield to block it. Daniel then created distance between them.
"The supreme leader shrieked like a girl against a Templar." Daniel insulted Apex.
"You piece of shit!" Apex shouted. He then began to multiply. Now there are five of them.
"These are phantom clones. You like it?" Apex told Daniel. "Now taunt us again!" he added.
The soul element can trigger clones. They can either be a physical manifestation, fragile, or an illusion that does no damage.
Daniel stood his ground. His body stood like a box. Then sprinted forward to destroy one of the clones. He pierced one, and it disappeared. "Illusion." Daniel thought to himself. He moved to strike the other in an instant. CLANG! The clone's sword parried him. "Real." He again thought. He moved to strike the third. This time, he used a singularity orb to pull it towards him. Then he slashed, but was parried again.
"Either illusions or physical manifestations," Daniel said to himself, but was still completely not sure.
The clones grinned. They then moved to strike Daniel. CLANG. CLANG. SWISH. One of them hit Daniel.
"If it damages, it is like a summons. If it does not, it is an illusion." Daniel thought.
CLANG. CLANG. CLANG. The attacks of Apex with his clones are beginning to hit Daniel.
"Well. Well. Well. The great Daniel is now being pushed back." Apex remarked.
Daniel was not overwhelmed by Apex. "Defense-good, speed-good, attack-good, mana control-good, then how about martial energy control-weaker than the rest." He thought.
Daniel took his stance once more, then slowly advanced towards Apex.
Apex struck Daniel, but Daniel took one step closer, parried it with his off-hand wrist, then hit Apex's ribs with a slash. ESCRIMA! The weapon combat technique of the Templars.
SHATTER. One of the clones was destroyed.
Apex's eyes widened.
Daniel continued. He came so close again to another Apex. Apex struck him again. Now, Daniel moved his feet diagonally, used his sword hand to go to the blind side, then used it to push the sword hand of Apex inwards, using his sword hand's forearm, punched Apex with his off-hand, and then slashed Apex's biceps with his sword, which Daniel is holding like a knife.
SHATTER. It was a clone. The second physical manifestation clone he destroyed.
"You fucking Templar." Another Apex shouted. Apex tried to swing his sword from overhead. Again, Daniel moved diagonally to evade the slash, while his sword arm pierced Apex's neck. FLICKER. It was an illusion.
One of the unique traits of phantom clones is that when they are physically manifested and destroyed, they shatter with a sound like glass. When it is an illusion, when there was physical contact, it flickers and then disappears.
"You think you are so good, Templar?! Soul Domain!" Apex shouted.
Soul Domain is an external expansion of the Memory Labyrinth. The user forcibly projects their Ectoplasmic Mana outward, transforming the immediate physical battlefield into a suffocating, atmospheric manifestation of their mind that drains the willpower of anyone trapped within. Anyone trapped within the Soul Domain would experience severe sensory distortion. The domain would assault their waking minds with lifelike, hallucinatory illusions designed to shatter their psychological resolve.
Ten more clones appeared, but the battlefield began erecting some ruined houses under flames. Daniel's hallucination manifests in the soul domain.
Now, Daniel saw Equirel. Bloodied on the ground, crying. "Dad, why did you leave me?" he continued to sob. "This is all your fault!" the crying Equirel suddenly became angry. "It's your fault that all of these happened!"
"No, son! You must understand. It needed to be done!" Daniel said, surprised and trapped in the hallucination. "It is for you and Underhaven!" Daniel pleaded with his son. "You mus---" PLOP! Daniel heard a single raindrop. A hollow, and echoing noise.
"Playing with someone's heart like this. You truly are evil, Apex." Daniel said after he snapped out of it.
"Hahaha!" Apex shouted delightedly. "Who said I wasn't?" He then added.
PFFT! POP! Apex made a signal to the Neo-Illumina army.
"You will now see why we attacked the mantle!"
---*
"The black signal flares were used!" Cipher shouted. Now, the one leading the first wave of enforcers. "Puppeteers, Use it now!" Cipher shouted.
"Puppeteers!" the enforcer commanders and the sub-commanders shouted.
"Yes, sir." The Soul Puppeteers responded.
True Necromancy is when, by bypassing standard elemental laws, users known as "Soul Puppeteers" can capture souls that are currently trapped within Bastion and force them into physical vessels, such as empty suits of armor, to create autonomous armored soul troops/undead.
The puppeteers exhaled dense clouds of raw ectoplasm. The Soul Library, or internal labyrinth, opens, forcefully expelling the stored souls in there and instantly reconstructing the undead's physical armor vessels. Now the fearless undead troops are ready for deployment.
"By the Makers!" Lioel exclaimed.
"It looks like emitting Elder Abaddel's flames, but it is purple and black." Magna was no longer surprised after all that had happened and looked straight at it. "Looks like death." She then remarked.
"By the Makers! Some of those are Templar armors! Don't tell me?!" the head commander stated.
"Yes, some of those are templars," Magna added. "And some of those are the ones earlier with us fighting!" Lioel grimly stated.
"Blasphemy! How dare they disrespect the dead!" the Antonel, head commander, stated.
"Attack!" Cipher shouted the order.
CRACK!
"Don't tell m…?" Antonel was about to speak when…
BOOM!
For the first time, the Templars felt fear against their Domcrean enemies.
Why do people who do not fear death fear the dangers of the storm? Strong winds, howling sounds, and trees that will seemingly fall?
That is because people fear overwhelming force; it is ingrained in their minds and bodies. They fear strength and what they cannot control.
And this time, the Templars standing on the battlefield felt true fear. For the first time, they will fight to the death their brothers, sisters, and Templar might. The gifts that were designed to be by their side during a war were now on the opposite side of the battlefield.
"Calm yourselves!" Antonel shouted. But the intensity of the battle already rattled the defending Templars. "Calm yourselves!" Antonel shouted again, but the Templars were still in panic.
"BY THE MAKERS, CALM YOURSELVES PARGONS OF UNDERHAVEN!!! IF WE LOSE HERE NOW WE WILL ENDANGER ALL OF UNDERHAVEN, OUR FAMILIES, AND FRIENDS!" He then exuded the blinding heat of a high-tier white-light user as his voice roared across their battle lines.
The Templars snapped out of it and returned to reality. Antonel was able to see this and shouted, "For Underhaven!!!".
"For Underhaven!" the templars responded lightly.
"For Underhaven!" Antonel shouted again.
"For Underhaven!" the templars again responded, this time louder.
"For Underhaveeen!" Antonel again shouted.
"For Underhaveeen!" the Templars again responded, now with fervor.
"Kruhay! YAHHH" Antonel broke the defensive formation and charged.
KRUHAAAY!!! Every templar on the battlefield followed him.
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"Rise, my legion!" Apex smirked toward Daniel. "Hahaha!" His laugh echoed in Daniel's ears as if only the two of them were on the battlefield.
PFFT! POP! PPFT! POP! Daniel released two blue flares in the sky.
"Hahaha. What do yo---" Apex was about to say something when Daniel dashed towards Apex in the middle of the black and purple undead armors materializing. But it FLICKERED, it was an illusion.
SLASH! A clone was able to graze Daniel from behind. "Ahhh!" Daniel shouted in pain. But was able to parry its second strike.
Then Daniel tripped over a stone in front of him.
"What happened?" Daniel thought in surprise.
Now two clones attacked him from the front. He parried the first strike of the first clone but was pierced by the second in the stomach.
"Hahahaha!" Apex laughed to his heart's content. "We call this luck severance. Who would've expected that someone who is so loved by Fate would be so unlucky?" The second clone was not a clone. It was the real Apex.
"For Underhaven!!!" Apex heard someone shouting, getting nearer towards him. He turned his back and saw that all his guards were dead. "Natasha." Apex softly spoke. "Hahaha! Come at me. Join your husband in the afterlife. No. As my undead. Hahaha.
"CETERIS," Apex shouted. Then there was a CRACK! BOOM! Then SQUALCH.
"GRAAAH!" Natasha vocalized a painful scream. She looked behind her. One of the blue lightning soldiers under the special unit attacked her. She looked into his eyes. "Hallow eyes," Natasha remarked.
"Yes. Yes! Do you see now why we were able to infiltrate Underhaven? Those are the enthralled. Since both of you are going to die. Let me tell you the secret. We call this enthrallment or name-binding. It rewrites the "True Name" or identity of an undead servant. But we recently discovered it can also be used on people. You see, they genuinely believe they have always been my loyal servant." Apex explained.
"TSK. TSK. TSK. You see, we discovered something, and that made all of this possible. That is the soul element." Apex continued.
"You're crazy. How did the Universal Spirit not detect it?" Daniel asked. "You see, it is not easy. We deployed a continent-spanning bio-hacking seal, illegal by the way. It erases the 'spiritual trauma' in children before their awakening. That is why the Universal Spirit cannot detect it." Apex replied. "Is that it?" Daniel also asked. "Well, we also starved the surface domains of the ambient ethereal energy. But the most exceptional of all is…" Apex looked at the spiritual armors. "You see, we were able to abduct the Soul Element during its unprecedented creation and placed it in a barrier that blocked its presence from the Universal Spirit, so he was unable to detect it."
"You see, our plan was not just to show Templars are beatable. It was also to gain templar puppets. But most of all…Hahaha," Apex laughed. "It was to lure you here and kill you, Daniel! You will be a thorn to our side, you see, with your skill."
"…" Daniel was silent. Then. "Hahahaha!" He laughed maniacally.
"You idiot. The whole time, I saw which one of you was the original. Hahaha." Daniel laughed maniacally. "Now we have enough battle data of Soul Element users. Hahaha!" Daniel added.
"What do you mean?" Apex asked, confused. "I have seen your plans. I have seen all this already." Daniel replied. "What do you mean, you are dying. What plan?" Apex asked. "It is also our plan to lure you here out in the open. Hahahaha!" Daniel continued his maniacal laugh.
"You are insane!" Apex exclaimed. "You need much more craziness to beat craziness. Now be in pain as your decades of grueling effort and sacrifices will all go down the drain in an instant!"
BADOOM! heavy, echoing resonance of like an artillery piece hitting the ground. A tall man with black hair and red eyes, wearing black and gold armor, appeared from the sky. He jumped, most likely. Then the surrounding air and matter began to vibrate. An AURA FLARE.
"The stage is set! The conditions are met! And here I am to destroy you, you punk!" Elder Abaddel shouted as he looked at Apex, his eyes full of fury. The battlefield was trembling like a man-made earthquake just started.
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*A short while ago.
"My father is dying! I need to go there!" Equirel stated that he had seen his father kneeling down and was about to die against Apex. "Stay here, Tamael. At least only one of us will get in trouble." Equirel further added. "Wai---", Tamael replied, but Equirel already jumped down the canopied tree and raced towards his father on the battlefield.
"Shit. Shit. Shit. What am I gonna do? Oh boy, we are gonna get in trouble for this big time." Tamael told himself as he followed Equirel.
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The battlefield is shaking. Apex's eyes widened.
"How did you get here? There should have been no Elder Templars near the area." Apex asked in a scared voice. Then he was about to pull his sword, which was piercing Daniel. "What, let go. Let go, damn you." Apex remarked to Daniel.
Daniel condensed his bones and muscles with dark energy to hold on to Apex's valuable sword. "Look at your wife and…" He was surprised. Natasha was also doing the same.
"Natasha! For Underhaven!" Daniel shouted to Natasha without looking behind him. "RRAAAAH! For Underhaven! FLAMMEA" Natasha shouted a word, then her body was burned by golden black flames. "I love you, Daniel! May it all start well!" Natasha's last words.
"As it will end well…" Daniel spoke softly. "I love you. Till the end of time, my love!" Daniel replied
Natasha then made a beaming smile until only ash remained.
The enthralled blue lightning soldier was also burned by the golden black flames and shouted. "AHHHHH!".
"FLA---" Daniel was about to say the word when he heard something. "Dad!" Equirel was running towards him.
Daniel smiled and spoke. "Thy, Fate. Thank you for this last gift." Daniel prayed to Fate one last time. "FLAMMEA," Daniel said lightly. He then looked at Equirel, which he had spotted due to the enhanced vision of the gift of 'True Sight'. Smiled and pointed toward his head. Giving the message indirectly as 'Be wise, my son.'
Daniel's body was now burned by golden black flames and turned to ash.
Equirel saw this and kneeled. Both of his parents are now dead. There were no tears. It was just him staring at the scenery, silent and devastated.
"Equirel, let's go. We can do nothing but escape right now!" Tamael said, but Equirel was not responding. So, he forcefully carried him out the battlefield. Adrenaline rushing.
Then the flames climbed through the Apex sword. Then it burned him as well. "AHHHHHH", Apex shouted in pain.
"Daniel! It was always you, wasn't it? Interfering with our plans!" Apex enveloped himself with ectoplasm to remove the flames, but he was still burning. The ectoplasm can only put it out slowly. He could not notice Equirel because of this, and since his attention is on Elder Abaddel.
In an instant, Elder Abaddel blinked from his position bit by bit until he reached the armored souls near Apex.
SWISH. SWISH. SWISH. One by one, he got rid of all the Templar undead that were under Apex. One strike to each of them.
"Shit. Shit." Apex took out his white signal flares and shot them through the sky.
PFFT. PFFT. POP. POP.
Then he ran as fast as he could, still burning from the black flames.
---*
"White flares?" Catalyst said as she saw it. "Why? We are winning." She further thought.
She continued running towards Apex. Then she saw Golden Black Flames.
"Wait, golden black flames and then an earthquake earlier…?" She pondered. "Oh shit! That's an Elder Templar!!!" She shouted in panic and turned around towards her enforcers. "Sound the retreat! Sound the retreat! Elder Templar. Get out now!"
"Elder Templar?!" one of the enforcers shouted. "Oh shit! Run away!" another shouted. "Run away! Run!" the rest of them began shouting.
The enforcers' battle line became shattered, and all of them began running.
BRAAA-UUUMMM! BRAAA-UUUMMM! BRAAA-UUUMMM! The horns sounded.
---*
Elder Abaddel heard the horns. The sign for a retreating army.
"Oh, fuck no!" Elder Abaddel exclaimed.
"Domain of the Abyssal Flames!" Elder Abaddel shouted.
The Domain of the Abyssal Flames is when Elder Abaddel projects his golden black flame energy outward, allowing it to rapidly blanket the battlefield. In this case, the entire battlefield near Apex. The ground becomes an undying sea of deep black and gold fire. Anyone caught within the domain is immediately subjected to crippling physical and spiritual torment.
By channeling his will through his ocular stigmata, Elder Abaddel flawlessly reads the battlefield. Elder Abaddel uses his stigmata to direct the flames to latch onto the specific spiritual signatures of his enemies and not on allies.
The golden-black flames act as a spiritual parasite, violently igniting and consuming the hostile targets' internal Mana and Martial Energy reservoirs.
"Ahhhh!" some enforcers shouted. "It burns!" others shouted. "Use ectoplasm to pluck it out." Some were smart enough to inform the others.
"Run! An elder templar is here!" All the enforcers were still scrambling. "Buffer-break!" suddenly one enforcer shouted.
"Buffer-break?! All enforcers here are master Domcreans." Cipher exclaimed in confusion.
"Buffer-break! Get away from the black flames." Another stated, then another, until most of them are shouting buffer break.
"Fuck! These flames burn our energy reserves. I've got to get out of here."
BADOOOM! A sound like a mortar has hit the ground near Cipher. Then the ground began trembling as an earthquake started.
"Fuck. Aura Flare! That is the Elder Templar!" Cipher thought and then immediately ran for his life.
"Domain of the Abyssal Flame. Expand." Elder Abaddel shouted.
The Abyssal Flames are now reaching the first and second wave enforcers on the battlefield.
SIZZLE. SIZZLE. SIZZLE. All those undead Templars hit by the flames sounded as if they were boiling in a hot frying pan.
HIZZ. HIZZ. HIZZ. They then began to disappear.
"May you rest in peace, my brothers and sisters." Elder Abaddel prayed silently.
"Commander. Reduce all those enemies to half. Let the rest go!" Elder Abaddel ordered Antonel. "Yes, Elder!" Antonel immediately responded without questioning.
"Lightspeed. Chase them, tactical pursuit, but stop on my signal and let them escape! No one is to disobey my orders." Antonel roared.
"Run!" The enforcers shouted. "We are gonna die. Buffer-break!"
Buffer-break is when a Domcrean is pushed to absolute exhaustion, and their Mana or Martial Energy runs out, the "Energy Buffer" shatters. Instantly, all the delayed physical costs hit their bodies at once. They do not just get tired—they begin to suffocate, flash-freeze, or suffer catastrophic bodily shock as raw physics reasserts dominance over their bodies.
That is what is happening to the running enforcers under Elder Abaddel's domain.
Some began to cry, experience internal heating, and suddenly suffocate. Some were inflicted with crippling dehydration and extreme thermal shock. Some got their eardrums burst, and lungs collapsed. Some began to feel severe physical sluggishness and became dead weight. But most of them…
The soul element users suffered psychological erosion, commonly known among them as "Memory Bleed". The mortal brain fundamentally cannot handle holding the memories and souls of others, causing the user to slowly forget their own identity, confusing their own life with the minds they have erased or the dead souls they have manifested.
They began to behave like insane people once their reservoir was depleted by Elder Abaddel's Abyssal Flames.
"Elder, with all due respect. We must annihilate them." Magna said. "Let it go, child. Daniel, Natasha, and I's goal is the bigger picture. We cannot achieve that if we annihilate them now.
Elder Abaddel took his high-pitched whistle and then shouted CACA. CACA. Then he took his low-pitched whistle and began CLICK. CLICK.
In an instant, a black messenger eagle and a black messenger crab went to him. Four each. He took paper from his molecular digitization device, wrote eight identical codes using his mana, and placed them in the eagle's and crab's pocket for analog communication. "Deliver this as fast as you can. The whole of Underhaven depends on it. Understood?" Abaddel talked to the eagle and crab.
CACA. CACA. CLICK. CLICK. Both messenger animals responded in approval.
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End of Chapter