Chapter 216: The Heavens Weep (1/2)

I turned towards the Overseer, ”We're going to need your help.”

The Overseer nodded while lifting his hand overhead. He pinched his fingers together, a pulse of energy passing through the dirt. Light leaked onto us from above while I glanced up. He punched a hole through the rock in an instant. It was strange since the antimagic field had zero effect on him.

Hmm, he might be using tech instead of magic. For some reason, I never even considered that. In fact, using tech and magic would diversify an Overseer's arsenal, making antimagic zones like this less potent.

I didn't have time ponder though. I followed his lead, jumping over the hole in the orichalcum. Once out of the mana obstructing area, I lifted everyone with a gravitational vortex. It jerked us all up along with anyone else who came into the circle. The Overseer shouted beneath us, his metal voice absolute,

”Breakers, follow me. Send Sentinels to Rivaria.”

We didn't wait for a reply as we flew up to the surface. Glancing down, I found some poor sap being eaten by one of the organ caterpillars. Bloated and deformed, it was difficult to even make out the face of the guy. I'd put him out of his misery if I had time. From what I could tell, those organ sacks could keep their victims alive for days.

I didn't have time to help the poor guy out, however.

The Overseer channeled some mana before pressing his fingertips together. As he pulled them apart, a warp in space-time appeared, Rivaria and the mountain popped up in the portal.

A crisp wind brushed against my face from the opening. As I glanced into it, a frozen tundra replaced the once vibrant forests. It was ground zero; nothing was left alive within dozens of miles near the battle site. Well, no normal life at least.

The sheer scale of the battle made the inklings of fear crawl up my spine. Further cementing that suspicion, a cataclysmic explosion radiated out from the mountainside. Dozens of miles from the epicenter, the rippling echo roared out from Rivaria's mountaintop. Within the clouds, a snowstorm brewed. Pillars of azure ice created new geography around the entire expanse.

Flashes of blue light brightened these clouds as if suns were forming within. Each illumination exposed the shadow of giant wings looming over the shattered city. They were beyond enormous, dwarfing any living creature I'd ever seen.

The Overseer seethed out, ”Helios isn't to be underestimated. This is a threat to my entire sector.”

The Overseer turned to us, finding several Breakers and two Speakers waiting for his call. They wore variants of power armor, their faces hidden behind blue-tinted face masks. Some channeled mana while others used energy weapons. A few of them jumped on their feet and stretched. This must have been their first battle in a long while. I couldn't tell if that was a good or bad thing.

Understanding they needed time to get ready, the Overseer turned to all of us, ”Prepare yourselves. I'll be dropping us down several miles from the point of contact. Be ready for heavy resistance near the peak of the mountain where the ice collects. We will leave in five minutes.”

He turned to me, ”Say what you must say before leaving. Several of us might die here.”

I gave him a quick nod before jogging up to Althea. As I reached her, she jumped into my arms, and I spun her around in circles. She laughed a bit before I gave her a light squeeze. As I set her down, I smiled too and for her,

”Hey, it's amazing to see you again.”

She let out a sigh of relief, ”Same here, though you're a bit taller again. Hmm, maybe I'm just shorter?”

A lull happened for a few seconds, the atmosphere growing awkward. I snapped my fingers, ”That reminds me...”

I checked my status for a brief moment, investing all my points into endurance. I wasn't about to invest into constitution until my next armor evolution. Considering my armor evolutions tended to be big power spikes, getting it sooner was better for my immediate power. Besides, I had less than a day before it finished.

It wouldn't happen in time or during this fight though, but every second counted. Once that was handled, I turned to Althea, ”Sorry about that. Had to clean up my status.”

She frowned, glancing above my head, ”Dammit. You outlevel me again. Scientists don't give the same kind of points as evil toasters do they?”

I gasped in disbelief, ”Wait...toasters?”

She waved a hand, ”Pff, that's pretty much what you fought.”

I spread out my arms, ”Wait a minute. Hybrids are not evil toasters. They're horrific monsters.”

Althea glanced at her nails, ”Eh, seem like toasters to me.”

I rolled my eyes before Althea giggled. I deadpanned, ”Looks like you still have your sense of humor.”

She locked her hands behind her back while meeting my eye,

”Yup.”

I pulled one of the last shreds of my Gray Giant disguise off my leg, my last extra set left in tatters. I turned to her,

”On a different note, why did you let yourself get captured? Seemed risky.”

She took a deep breath, ”Uh, there's more than to that then you'd think. When the award ceremony started, I launched myself right at Thisbey. Dozens of guards reacted, but I, yenno, sliced them up. Anyways, after all that, those mind guys used some mental wave attack on me.”

She shivered, ”It crippled me, and that's when they captured me using some flash of magic. They put me in that containment capsule before taking me to the prison outside Yildraza. I didn't fight my way out because the mages quit attacking me. Once I was in there.”

I nodded, ”Ah, so you tricked the mind mages into releasing you. Smart.”

She banged her helmet, ”That and I could move because your armor is resistant to the time mumbo jumbo. You really thought ahead with that one.”

I grinned, ”I try.”

”Here's the thing though. I still didn't know how I was going to escape.”