Chapter 376 (2/2)
If she had Cloudhawk's eyes, then at the very farthest reaches of her sight she would be able to see a golden line, a shi+ning border in the distance It wasn't the fading sun reflected on the clouds, or a e from the intense heat It was the border wall that separated Skycloud from the wastelands
Luciasha didn't knohy her father had brought her all the way out here, but she was a clever girl There were no probing questions, or co he did
A fewrolled it Sathered together into the form of a woman She stu Dried blood caked her face She ounded badly, but paid the injuries no mind A raspy voice slipped from her throat
“It is done”
Luciasha recognized her Revenant, wasn't it? The mysterious shadow that was always at her father's side Herher raven black hair free to fall around her face
She could count on one hand how many times they'd encountered one another, but this was the first time Luciasha saw her real face Like so many, she was surprised to learn Revenant was a woman
Adder helped steady her and checked her pulse with a free hand His dark brows knit tight before Adder produced a pill froe Eat this”
There was a wave of vitality in her solemn, inscrutable eyes She looked up at hiaze and took the medicine in silence
“This time you have suffered on our behalf” Adder's frahting made him look indomitable, but in his voice there was a note of reproach and apology “All you've done over the years… it is enough More than sufficient for the live that was saved More andthat life will not end well for those like me If you like, you can choose to leave Make your oay It would be better for you”
Revenant closed her eyes for a ain they were filled with determination “You know I do not follow just to pay a debt”
All things considered, Luciasha hadn't ht away that look in Revenant's eyes, the look of a girl in love Although she didn't have the words, it was clear to anyone paying attention
Did her father not see? He had to, but he didn't show it
Adder knehat sort of man he was, and the sort of life he led Coive
As she pondered this an uncomfortable sensation rose in Luciasha's chest Her mind went to Squall These twothat bowed their shoulders so much?
Her foster father shut his eyes, feeling for soently caressed his lined features He let the breeze take hio, just hi the athe day He remembered how happy he'd felt
Those were the days he looked upon ht back on the…
When had it all started to change?
The Gods wanted to imprison everyone in their neatly painted circles, but there were always things you could not control Like the wind Like a man's heart Like dreams, and a sense of duty
The Gods were not o, no matter their ambitions And if they weren't omnipotent, then they weren't really Gods
Adder would never forget the day his father lost faith The pain, the guilt, the drinking He'd watched his father descend step by step, from a champion of the Gods to a bitter adversary He also watched the confident and happy Selene allow vengeance to fester in her soul She'd becohost of a person with no aim but to exact punishment
Yes… he'd seen so much absurd reality All the way back then, that hen he knew his purpose
He'd chosen a path of sin, where curses would be spat eternally upon his name Even if it was a path that lead to disaster, to pain, s a nore, or escape
Some missions had to be undertaken
Humans weren't cattle, they weren't meant for captivity Mankind had to rise up, they had to be free
But like beasts do, some would not be accustomed There was destined to bemade fat at the hands of their e the world, then he illing to be the one who played the overture
He slowly opened his eyes “It's getting dark”
Luciasha followed his eyes toward the distance The setting sun had vanished, and darkness had come to claim the sky
Suddenly, without warning…
A blinding light shattered the encroaching night, far in the distance The starry sky was bright as day again for an instant, as though the sun had clawed its way back from sleep It was several minutes later that the sound of a blast reached them
Even at such a great distance Luciasha still felt the earth tremble beneath her feet
As the light faded frory red, it illu from the earth When the sound finally reached the horses The intensity of it was aline what it was like closer to… whatever that was
Adder watched as that thin golden light vanished within the red glare The explosion's epicenter was the heart of Skycloud's border wall Taking advantage of the border forces' weakened state after the Blisterpeaks, he'd slipped the ancient weapon into the heavily fortified area None of the, even as their bodies were incinerated by atomic fire
Outside forces had tried and failed for years to overco was capable of bringing it down, and Adder had ot there With the heart of their defenses in ruin, it would not be long before their precious walls collapsed entirely
For a thousand years it had stood as the border between Skycloud and the wastelands Noas gone There was no longer a distinction between the Elysian lands and the wastes From noastelanders could enter Skycloud as they pleased That painted circle, that gilded cage could no longer hold nor protect those blinded zealots This lorious moment heralded the birth of a new era
Luciasha stared wide-eyed at the historic scene She was of course blind to the importance of it, merely in awe of its fury and drama She hardly noticed when the first few drops of coolness struck her cheek She gently reached out her palather Water… Rain
Rain!
Rain out of nowhere, with no warning and for no reason!
Luciasha had lived all her life in the wastelands, and to those like her rain was a thousand tiold She'd never seen a storm like this
With such an incredible bounty of rain came the promise of life!
As the walls fell, a deluge of energy poured from the Elysian lands It swept across the wastes like a swar frorew and bloo hills surrounding thereen appeared
Skycloud's grand asn't just a symbol Its vast expanse was more than merely protection
Why was it that their great machines could fly in the air for ever, but fell the moment they left that border? Why was the land stark and dead on one side of their wall, and a green paradise on the other?
It was because the as not just a wall It was a coil placed there by the Gods, trapping their energy inside It was a sort of barrier, a containrace of the Gods firmly locked away
The instant of its destruction, thousands of kiloht back to life
And the Elysian lands were robbed of much of its excess vitality
All at once the wastelands were not so desolate Skycloud was no more a place of miracles
“We have changed the world”
Adder looked out over the scene he had orchestrated His eyes burned with so that approached mania From now on there were no Elysian lands He raised his ar heavens in a resounding voice
“Frole soul more will die from thirst! At last, all men and women alk this earth will be seen as equals!”
He dropped his eyes back to the world below, bea with pride and elation He knehat consequences this act would bring, but he did it anyway Whatever was to be his end, history would ree
“This is the gift I give to the wastelands” He paused, then smiled
“Do you like it?”