Chapter 21: Alabaster
841 Words
Lucien Vance had secured Treyce Valmont's Flesh Forging Essence. With his breakthrough to the Harmonizer Tier now guaranteed, he could afford to stay—for the time being. But the moment any news surfaced about that mysterious corpse, he'd vanish without hesitation. Nothing outweighed its value.
The skies above Crimson Fortress choked on perpetual war-smoke. Battle raged without respite. Every few days, a fresh tide of mutants surged inexplicably from the west.
Above the ramparts, Crimson Roc Mutants blotted out the sun.
Glenna soared through the chaos, condensing firestorms into devastating Flame Palm Strikes. Shockwaves rippled through the clouds, raining embers that drew gasps of awe from the defenders below.
Too damn frequent, Lucien mused, his gaze fixed on the western horizon. Something's stirring out there.
"Glenna! Reinforce the southwest sector—now!" he bellowed.
Glenna gritted her teeth. A star-forged elite, reduced to taking orders like a common grunt? Yet Lucien's glacial stare froze her protest in her throat. That cursed "sparring session" yesterday... He'd sworn not to use Shockwave Palm, only to shatter her defenses with Void-Splitter Palm. Underhanded bastard.
KRA-BOOM!
Her palm strike cratered the earth, atomizing three hulking mutants. Glenna landed heavily, sucking in air. Strange. Since the Fall, beasts rarely attacked en masse unless provoked. This relentless frenzy? Utterly unnatural.
ROOOAR!
Two armored behemoths charged. Glenna spun, flames gathering in her palm—
"HOLD!" Lucien's roar split the battlefield. His hand clawed downward—the air warped like shattered glass. A vacuum cannon WHOOSHED past Glenna's shoulder.
He's targeting me?! She whirled in panic—
SHINK! Cold steel grazed her spine. Instinctively, she jackknifed backward just as Lucien's Void-Splitter shockwave KRA-THOOM!-ed into her hidden assailant. The man rocketed backward like a broken doll, painting the air crimson.
Lucien landed protectively before Glenna, his eyes drilling into the groaning attacker. "V-Void-Splitter?" the man wheezed, dazed and disbelieving.
Lucien's gaze swept the seething beast tide—and he blurred. Phantom Step carried him like a ghost into the heart of the horde. He zeroed in on a youth concealed within a mutant's armored bulk.
"RUN!" the first attacker screamed. Too late.
Lucien's palm met the youth's vibro-blade—SHATTER!—reducing it to glittering shrapnel before hammering his sternum. CRUNCH! The earth exploded outward in a fifty-meter maelstrom of dirt, rock, and mutilated flesh.
Two Scout Realm fighters. Two decisive strikes. Glenna stared, slack-jawed. His Combat Rating is a damned lie.
As if controlled by a severed puppet string, the beast tide melted away. The truth crystallized: these two had orchestrated the hordes.
"Who sent you?!" Glenna spat, adrenaline still scorching her veins.
The captives exchanged terrified glances, trembling under Lucien's arctic stare.
"Speak," Lucien commanded, his voice deceptively calm. "Or I'll let the mutants redecorate this field with your intestines."
"We're academy cadets! You can't—"
"Earth-born. Your rules mean nothing here." Lucien's smile didn't reach his eyes.
"Impossible!" they choked, eyes darting to Glenna for confirmation. Her stony silence was their verdict.
——
Later, within the citadel's grim dungeons:
"Why spare these maggots?" Glenna hissed, pacing before the cells. "They tried to steal Crimson Fortress!"
Lucien didn't glance up from the tactical holomap. "Kill them yourself."
Glenna stiffened. "...I'm no executioner."
"Drop the martyr act," Lucien's voice dropped to subzero. "Try manipulating me into another blood feud? This is your first—and final—warning."
——
Outside, Silas Third scurried over, beady eyes glittering with excitement. "Boss! The mutants—they're in full retreat!"
Lucien cut through his enthusiasm. "Out of Bio-Crystals?"
Silas flushed. "Used 'em all! But I'm stronger! Feel my aura!"
"Don't sprint toward Sky-Sovereign. Purify your Core Energy first—unless you want your potential clogged with Toxic Sludge."
He actually cares? Silas beamed.
Caring? Lucien hid a cold smirk. Polluted cores crash resale value. Terra-tier hits the profit sweet spot.
——
Zane Shaw's wounds knitted well under Glenna's advanced meds. "The star-rats?"
"Jailbird assets. Squeeze them for intel—learn their tricks," Lucien said, tracing a route on the map. "Heard they hailed from Azure Hills Province?"
"Dead west of here. We'll purge it when we advance."
"Why west?" Zane pressed, brow furrowed in genuine curiosity. "You've been pushing that direction since you got here."
"Truth?" Lucien met his gaze squarely. "Someone I need to see. In Lakeheart Province."
"Family?"
"Something like that."
Zane nodded slowly. "Your city, your call. Lakeheart means Leon Shaw's Luminara Citadel. Forge an alliance against these cosmic cockroaches?"
Lucien's eyes sharpened like daggers. "Leon Shaw. The Lumen Paragon. What's his angle?"
"Strength? Character? Dunno much. We barely crossed paths before the Fall. Ask Alabaster—they're... an item."
"Married?"
"Nah. Spark? Maybe." Zane grinned crookedly. "Ever seen Alabaster?"
Lucien shook his head.
Zane pointed skyward, his calloused finger tracing the billowing clouds. "Alabaster... is that."
Lucien squinted. "Clouds?"
"Lotus pure, untouched by mortal hand," Zane murmured, his gravelly voice softening with unexpected poetry. "Nymph of the crystal streams—a masterpiece breathed to life."
Lucien stared, genuinely taken aback. "You wax lyrical?"
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