The grand throne room of Terraxum was already waiting for him when the doors exploded. Fragments of blackened wood flew across the white marble, streaking it ash.
Alex stepped through the smoke like a being ascending from the depths of Tartarus. His cloak was soaked with blood that painted dark streaks across the floor. Each of his steps left a red print behind him. His face was empty, a mask stripped of everything but purpose. All except for his eyes which burned like twin azure stars.
The throne room guards hesitated, their discipline wavering under the weight of Alex’s gaze. Fear crawled across their faces. Some backed away, weapons trembling in their hands. A few tried to stand firm.
Alex didn’t slow his approach, but he didn’t hurry either. He moved like a whisper, like a blade. In seconds each of the guards were on the ground, disarmed, broken, their weapons scattered like fallen leaves to the wind. The marble drank their blood, joining the crimson trail that followed him.
Beyond the carnage the King of Terraxum sat upon his throne. He was unnervingly calm, draped in regalia that shimmered faintly with protective wards. He did not rise to meet the coming threat. Nor did he call for aid.
He simply leaned an elbow on one armrest, his chin resting on his knuckles. He smiled faintly, as if greeting an old friend.
“Ah,” the King said, his voice carried across the vast hall. “I wondered how long it would take you to arrive.”
The King rose a single hand, golden magic rings igniting in the air around his gesture. They spun slowly, enchantments woven so tightly they sung like a chorus of voices.
His declaration was smooth, carrying to every corner of the throne room. “After having attacked the peace summit, killing my son in the process, you do this? Sadly while I personally did not see those actions, now, before my eyes, you storm my palace and strike down nobles and royal guards alike.”
The rings of energy around the King’s hand blazed brighter, feeding on the weight of his words. “That certainly violates the restrictions of your System Oath.”
The golden circles flared brightly, runes spiraling outward to wrap around Alex. For a heartbeat, the throne room vibrated with their power. The System itself almost felt as it looked down on the room, a presence pressing down on the area, ready to deliver its judgment.
And then… nothing happened.
The glyphs stuttered, light faltered, shattering apart in tiny pieces like confetti from a birthday party celebration. The air went still. No punishment came.
Throughout this, Alex didn’t flinch. His face was blank. “You’re looking for something that isn’t there.”
He stepped forward, the fading light washing over his blood-streaked cloak. “You see, I have no Mage Core.” His words were calm, almost conversational, but each one hit like a hammer. “It was shattered, crushed into fragments of nothingness. There’s nothing left for your oath to cling to.”
This was the realization Alex had about the System Oaths so long ago. The possible work around that he had thought of, but never dared to whisper allowed in case of any possible prying ears. The Oath sworn be each of the worldstriders was under pain of their core being destroyed by the Heavenly System. Alex’s didn’t have to worry about that, he was already a walking anomoly, no core, yet still a mage.
The King’s expression flickered, first showing utter confusion, then realization. The power he had commanded with absolute certainty had found no anchor. After a few second a slow, cynical smile spread across his face.“…Interesting.”
The King’s fingers flexed, and a second hand rose. This time, the magic wasn’t gold, it was a deep, resonant crimson, laced with threads of black. Circles bloomed in the air behind him, each one a cruel flower etched with runes of binding. They spun, slow and inevitable, feeding on power drawn from somewhere beyond the throne room itself.
The air shimmered, and the wall behind him bent and moved. With a sound like chains dragging across stone, five figures were pulled into view from the passage beyond. Allie. Garret. Devon. Tom-Tom. Eric.
Each of them was locked inside their own prison, wrapped in threads of arcane light humming with lethal energy. Metal chains secured their limbs, biting into their skin, glowing faintly where spellwork merged with steel. They struggled, but the restraints only tightened, siphoning strength, burning with every movement.
Alex’s eyes flared at his friend’s predicament, the burning light in them twisting brighter, harsher. It looked that while Alex was dealing with the palace defenses and the guards, the King had secured himself a plan B; hostages.
The King descended the steps of the throne with measured grace, as he spoke, his words were as smooth and cold as the marble beneath their feet. “It seems,” he said almost conversationally, “that you’ve removed yourself from the leash placed on you.”
He stopped just short of the barriers, the golden glow casting distorting shadows across his regal face. “So let’s use another.”
The magic circles pulsed like a heartbeat, and the chains around Alex’s friends tightened with a sound of rustling metal. His friends all looked like the tried to endure it, but they all eventually let out whimpers or cries of pain.
Alex stopped mid-step. The power burning inside him buckled, coiling tight as if it too sensed the trap. His body shook but from the raw, consuming rage tearing at his insides. For the first time since storming the keep, he didn’t know what to do. He was unsure of his wrath’s direction.
The chains clinked as Allie lifted her head, blood trailing from her temple. Her tone cracked but she didn’t falter. “Don’t do it, Alex. You know this is what they want. They want you to be a demon, so they can paint this whole mess on you.”
Eric strained against the bindings, breath ragged, “This isn’t you Alex, you’re not the monster they want you to become.”
Garret tried to grin through split lips. “Not the first time I’ve been a hostage… but hey, maybe it’s the last if you go full dragon, huh?” He coughed, blood staining his teeth, “Do me a favor, don’t make my last words a bad joke.”
Tom-Tom didn’t say anything. His gaze locked with Alex’s and he just shook his head. No.
In the corner of Alex’s mind, Obby flickered to life, almost gleeful. “Ohhh, this is fascinating. Do you feel it? The choice. The weight of it all. I wonder, what will you do?”
The room suddenly felt smaller. His fury pressed against the walls like a balloon about to pop. Despite this, his friends’ words cut through, sharp and clear. They weren’t begging for him to save their lives. They were begging for him to be saved instead.
Allie managed to speak in between gasps but her tone stayed strong. “If you... kill him now, Alex… you don’t come back... from it.”
The chains rattled and magic circles pulsed. The King just stood there, smiling.
Alex stood frozen. The weight of the moment on him shoulders like a mountain. His hands closed tight, fingers digging deep as if to hold himself together. His breath came in primal gasps, a beast caught in a trap, desperate to break free.
Tears traced clean paths down his blood-splattered face, warm and bitter. Around him, the air thickened, the aether radiating off his body seemed almost alive. It writhed and pulsed, desperate to explode.
The Wyrm-heart inside him roared an inferno of coiled energy so tight it threatened to tear his aether channels apart. Power hammered at his very being. Between his constitution, the Demon Asura style, and his own internal rage, he was a beast waiting to shatter the world. And then, slowly, Alex lifted his gaze. His eyes glowing with a cold, terrible light that no one could mistake for anything but pure wrath.
If the game is hostages. Threats and leverage. Then the board is set, I just need to play the pieces I have.
“You’re going to kill him? Oh, you think you can do it before he destroys their cores? This is really edge-of-my-seat stuff.”
No, I don’t need to kill him. I just need to make him think I can have him wish I had.
When he finally spoke, his words were sharp enough to cut through stone. “Let them go. Or I won’t stop with you.”
The King’s eyes narrowed, but Alex didn’t stop, he stalked forward, taking the steps of the dias towards the throne. His words came like a vow, measured, confident. “I’ll take your queen, the rest of you children too, bastards included. Then, the entire court, noble houses, guilds, sects. Your temples, your city, and your fields.” Each word was a hammer strike, each sentence a promise of ruin. “Every stone with your crest. Every flag. Every last citizens who would remember you enough to whisper your existence to another soul”
If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
The final words fell like a curse, heavy and absolute. “I’ll burn it all. Down to the last name.”
The King stood still, the carved marble throne room feeling suddenly colder. For the first time, Alex saw the surety in his posture wavered, subtle but undeniable. It wasn’t fear, no, not something that simple. It was something more complicated. The steady iron foundation beneath his calm had begun to rust.
He met Alex’s eyes for a moment. The King’s gaze lingered longer than expected, as if searching for a sliver of the man he once ruled over, or maybe hoping to find a shred of mercy hiding somewhere. But Alex showed him only relentless, burning determination.
With a motion quieter than a whispered secret, the King raised his hand. The spell that had shackled Alex’s friends pulsed one last time before it shattered, energy braids being undone. The metal chains clattered softly as they fell away, barrier vanishing to nothingness.
Allie hit the marble floor first, her body trembling. She coughed, drawing in a ragged breath. Garret slumped beside her, trying to crack a weak grin despite the pain. Devon’s hands clutched at his chest as if remembering how to breathe again. Tom-Tom and Eric collapsed too, faces pale but alive. The room seemed to exhale with them.
The King finally broke the heavy silence, his words carrying the weight of grudging respect. “You are… formidable, Alex Pierce.”
There was no triumph left in his tone, no arrogance remained in his eyes. Instead, Alex saw something like a recognition that the game had changed, and that the player standing before him was no longer one to underestimate.
The fire in Alex’s eyes softened just a fraction as he looked down at his friends, at the faces that begged him not to lose himself in his hatred. The storm had passed for this moment, but it hadn’t completely died.
And the King, for all his power, had just taken his first step back.
Alex turned toward the heavy doors, his cloak trailing behind him like a bloody shadow. The others fell in step behind him. But then the King called out from behind them, his words till laced with restrained anger and prideful pain. “You’ve won a moment. Not the war.”
Alex’s steps faltered only slightly, but he didn’t turn back. The words hung in the air like a blade hovering just beyond reach.
“The world won’t forget what you’ve done.” The King’s gaze followed him with the cold precision of a hunter marking prey. “And neither will I.”
Alex stopped at the threshold. His eyes, still burning with that fierce fire, never wavered from the darkened hallway as he stared ahead. Then spoke with a quiet certainty, “Then let the world remember.”
The doors closed behind him with a final, echoing thud.
***
The war was over, at least for them.
Behind Alex and the squad, the capital of Terraxum lay like a frozen relic. Its walls, once proud and unyielding, now stood cracked beneath a greyed sky. They moved with purpose towards the outer gates. No officials stepped forward to halt their passage and there were no nobles or supposed political allies that appeared on balconies to cast hollow farewells. The Terraxum military watched from their high walls like silent sentinels.
Eventually the gates creaked open, revealing nothing but frost-bitten desolation beyond. Their departure came with no cheers or parades. There was no fanfare to mark the end of their conscripted torment. Just the sharp bite of cold and the soft crunch of boots on the frozen earth.
Their packs were light but their hearts were heavy, weighed down by the experiences they left behind. Eric adjusted his cloak absently. Allie walked with a quiet dignity, her head held high. Zach didn’t glance back once. Tom-Tom waddled beside them, stubborn pride in every step. Holly gripped her sword tight, the blade her shield against the uncertainty ahead. And Kate’s expression remained unreadable, a mask none dared to peak beneath. Together, they stepped beyond the gates, into a world that had never felt like home, and now felt more than ever like an enemy.
The team’s boots crunched softly over stone and dirt. Each step that brought them further from Terraxum’s capitol was one that took them farther from everything and everyone that had betrayed them. Yet no distance would be enough.
Behind them, Terraxum receded like a ghost city, shadows hiding secrets that still bled beneath the corrupted surface. Sour memories stained every street, and every stone was soaked in a history of martyred blood, political schemes and unearned sacrifice.
Alex walked out last, the weight of the moment settling on his mind. He paused, casting a glance back over his shoulder. His eyes narrowed, sharp and hard, but there was no feeling of contrition inside him. “We’re fucking done playing their game,” he whispered. “Now we make our own.”
The massive gate swung closed behind them, the sound deep and final, ust a resonant thud that echoed in the cold air. The door was shut, the past locked away.
And the future… well, that was theirs to shape. Not as heroes. Not as rulers.
Just free.
Sort of…
[Time Remaining; 628 Days, 20 Hours, 04 Minutes.]
***
ANOMALY REVIEW REPORT:
//ACCESS LEVEL: Administrator (Obfuscated)
//REQUEST SOURCE: Internal Anomaly Monitor – Euclid
//LOG CONTEXT: Progress Report in User Record #0117-A ("Alex")
//STATUS: Flagged
START OF RECORD:
:://Event Flag:
//Critical Event: Assault on Terraxum Royal Palace (Status: Success)//Primary Objective: Liberation of Allied Party (Status: Success)//Secondary Objective: Destruction of Enemy Power Structure (Status: Incomplete)//Unexpected Outcome: Target [King of Terraxum] Survived – Subject Withheld Lethal Force//
//Combat Performance Evaluated//
//Tactical Efficiency: 91% – Peak output recorded//Damage-to-Output Ratio: High//Environmental Impact: Significant – Royal Infrastructure Compromised//Psychological Profile: Elevated Rage Potential; Controlled Termination of Assault Confirmed//Overall Rating: Moderately Above Baseline – Event registered as High Threat to Power Equilibrium
//System Trial Evaluation//
//Likelihood of Future Trial Success: Moderate – Power Scaling exceeds projection, but Emotional Limiter detected//Behavioral Compliance: 67% // Subject resisted critical destruction protocol //Encouragement Measures: Adjusted to
//Additional Monitoring: Critical // Subject demonstrates potential to achieve systemic objectives, yet clings to unstable human ethics. Suppression of this trait is recommended.//
:://LOG END//?
[YES]/[NO]
Epilogue
The Tower of Light rose like a blade piercing the heavens, its mirrored walls catching the divine glow of the Ascendant Realm. Thousands of Beldia’s acolytes knelt outside the gates, their white robes rippling in waves as they whispered prayers. None dared lift their eyes as Eripo descended, floating with the calm authority of one who could turn mountains to dust with a thought.
The gates opened of their own accord. There were no guards or servants necessary. Inside were endless mirrored halls reflecting Eripo’s every step until it felt as though a hundred versions of herself walked beside her. The air shimmered with threads of golden radiance, soft yet sharp enough to sting the skin.
At the center of the tower, at the back of the near endless hall sat Beldia, Goddess of Light. Her throne was simple, silver and white, carved from pure light crystal, and figure upon it was even simpler. Radiant, yes, beautiful as only a deity could be, but her smile was faint, her posture weary.
“Eripo,” Beldia said, her voice like sunlight breaking through clouds. “It has been a long time.”
The Goddess of Earth crossed the mirrored floor and embraced her sister. The hug was returned, but it was… hollow. She felt no warmth, no life behind it. Only route habit.
“How have you been?” Eripo asked, pulling back just enough to meet her sister’s gaze. “The realm stirs with whispers. They say you woke after centuries. I had to see for myself.”
Beldia’s lips curved upward, if barely. “I have been… resting. But something caught my attention on my planet. An anomaly.”
The word landed like a stone in water. Eripo’s expression hardened. “An anomaly? Why didn’t you reach out to us? What happened?”
“It’s nothing,” Beldia said, smooth and calm as glass. “A minor blip. Merely the Heavenly System bringing in a few worldstriders. I scanned the area myself, found nothing of note.”
Eripo stepped back, her brows knitting. “Worldstriders are not nothing, sister. You know that as well as I do.”
Beldia waved a delicate hand, dismissive. “My world gets new worldstriders every few years. Almost none survive their System trials. Only one has ever reached the Ascendant Realm in a thousand years, and even that was… an exception. Your planet sees more of them than mine, and yet I hear nothing of your concerns.”
Eripo narrowed her eyes. “Why stir now, then? If it was so trivial?”
There was a pause, just a fraction too long. Then Beldia said, “It was during a down period in my cultivation cycle. My senses were… more attuned than usual. That is all.” The smile she gave Eripo was perfect, too perfect, but Eripo didn’t push. She moved to other topics.
For a while, the two goddesses spoke of old times, memories they shared, places they had once shaped together. When the conversation had run its course, Eripo rose.
“I am glad you are well, sister,” she said gently.
“As am I,” Beldia replied, her eyes reflecting endless light. “Be safe, Eripo.”
She left the mirrored hall without looking back. The gates closed behind her, the acolytes still kneeling in perfect silence as she rose into the sky.
Only when the Tower of Light was far behind did her smile fade. In its place was a deep, unsettled frown. She could feel it, Beldia had lied to her. Not fully, a twisting of the truth perhaps. But enough.
As she flew back to her fortress, her thoughts darkened. Perhaps I should reach out to the others…
Her gaze turned toward a distant, storm-wreathed corner of the Ascendant Realm.
Maybe Belinos will know more.
The earth goddess drifted into the clouds, her form swallowed by the mist, carrying with her a whisper of unease that would not leave.
Alex’s Character Sheet at the End of Book Two:
Stay tuned tomorrow for the first chapter of Book 3 of Aetherios System * Whirl Wind!
Thank you for your support and all the comments. I am not always able to answer all of the comments but I do read them and take them to heart. They are a great help to me in the editing process.
It means so much to me to have you here and to have your feedback!
Thank you.