I Can See Evolution Paths

Athy rushed toward the altar.

The tiny owl trembled, every flap of her wings hurting. The white light of evolution continued wrapping around her. She ignored it. The only thing in front of her was the crown.

Behind her, Athena and Mara could only watch.

With a tap, her claw landed on the ancient crown.

The instant she touched it, she poured every thought she had into it.

Activate the defense!

Nothing happened for one second.

Then everything froze.

The sounds of the throne room disappeared and the light disappeared. The world became white as Athy blinked and then something awakened. An overwhelming pressure crashed into her mind, making her tiny body tremble violently.

Hundreds... No thousands of images rushed into her.

Every street and building.

Every tower and alley.

Every inch of Dawn City flooded into her mind simultaneously.

Burning homes.

Collapsed streets.

Fighting and screaming.

Everything.

Athy let out a painful chirp. Her wings shook uncontrollably as she finally understood. The crown never demanded strength. Instead, it demanded someone capable of bearing the images of an entire kingdom.

And then she began seeing the outside. She saw the walls slowly descend, and it shook the city. The beasts who were still crossing all paused before their eyes widened in shock and they quickly continued to rush through.

The Goblins immediately noticed.

A Goblin Archer stumbled. "The wall," he said.

Another watched cracks spread. "It’s going down," he said.

A wounded Goblin whispered, "Did we get forsaken?"

Another slowly lowered his weapon. "Are we going to lose our new home?"

For one terrifying moment the defenders hesitated and the beasts noticed. They roared, and their assault became even more violent. Behemoths charged. Fire Lizards climbed faster.

Crystal Serpents flooded through the breaches.

Hope began disappearing.

Mithra saw the walls descending and for a brief moment even her heart skipped a beat. Then she remembered it might be Athena, Mara, and Athy doing. She immediately understood this might be the beginning of the defense system.

She planted her sword into one of the beasts she just cut down and turned toward every Goblin. Her Pathfinder uniform was torn, covered in blood, dust, burn marks. She looked exhausted but her voice still shook the area.

"STOP LOOKING AT THE WALLS!" she shouted.

Every Goblin froze.

"LOOK AT ME! They’re doing it! Athena hasn’t failed! Mara hasn’t failed! Athy hasn’t failed! They’re risking everything for this city! So trust them! They trusted us to delay the beasts and so we have to trust them to finish!"

Silence.

Then one Goblin gripped his broken spear. "The Prophet trusted Athena," he said.

Another raised his sword. "Then so do I," he said.

Another roared. Then another. Soon every Goblin joined in.

"FOR DAWN!"

"FOR OUR HOME!"

"FOR THE PROPHET!"

Their morale returned.

The beasts had expected surrender but instead the Goblins charged. The battle reignited with even greater determination. Nobody knew how long they needed to endure. They only knew they had to keep fighting.

Inside the crown, the pressure continued growing.

More images kept coming faster with more sounds and thousands of voices. They all overlapped and were beginning to overwhelm Athy.

The pain was terrible, it felt like someone was driving something through her skull. And Athy couldn’t stop her screaming and her mind began breaking apart.

Yet she recalled the image of Mithra shouting and the Goblins gaining there second winds. Not because victory was guaranteed but because they trusted her.

Athy chirped again and again as she continued pushing through the pain. Then she saw Arthur fighting against the Thunderbird Chief. She saw Sun and Kong rushing over back to the wall to rejoin the fight. She saw to her surprise Leon dealing with the other Thunderbird Chief as well.

And then as more images appeared with her now reaching close to the inner center of the city. She saw Goblin children curled together, crying, elders comforting them, mothers praying, and Goblins Warriors gripping their weapons as they looked out for beasts.

Every scene gave her more determination.

"I," she said. "I won’t fail either."

She forced herself forward, even though her mind felt like it was splitting apart.

Darkness began swallowing Athy’s vision. The pressure became unbearable and her thoughts began disappearing. She realized she wouldn’t last, not like this and so then she yelled inside her own mind.

"Hurry up! Hurry up and evolve!"

The white light exploded.

One feather changed, then another.

White feathers lengthened and black markings spread. Golden eyes ignited as her body grew larger, looking more elegant and wise.

The pressure immediately weakened. Not because the crown became easier but because her mind became larger and capable of processing more.

[Night Owl → Wisdom Owl]

The flood of information accelerated. Instead of hurting, everything suddenly became organized and the city unfolded before her like a living map.

She finally understood every part of Dawn.

Athy raised her head, her golden eyes shining.

She spoke.

"Dawn," she said softly. "Wake up."

The city listened.

Golden light exploded across the city.

Time itself seemed to stop.

The walls halted, then began rising again.

A deep rumble echoed beneath the city, so ancient it sounded less like stone moving and more like something breathing after centuries of sleep.

Every Goblin stopped fighting.

Every beast froze.

Even the Thunderbird Chiefs looked down. Arthur blinked before his face lit up as the golden light burst from countless cracks throughout the city.

Every road lit up.

Every tower answered.

Every abandoned house shimmered.

Ancient runes, hidden beneath dust and broken stone for hundreds of years, awakened together.

The first heartbeat echoed.

BOOM.

A second.

BOOM.

A third.

BOOOOOOM!!

The entire city had reawakened once more.

One abandoned road cracked, stone shifting, and a massive hand emerged. A Stone Guardian climbed from beneath the city, dust falling from its shoulders. It gripped a gigantic stone spear and then began rushing out.

A Fire Lizard leaped toward a wounded Goblin. The Goblin Hunter couldn’t move, no matter how much he screamed his body could. He simply watched death coming.

Then...

A massive stone hand erupted from beneath the street.

BOOOOOOM!!

The Fire Lizard exploded into a cloud of blood before it even understood what hit it.

Dust filled the air.

Slowly, the enormous stone figure stood. Its body towered over every Goblin nearby with its Golden eyes. It looked toward the battlefield and then lowered its gigantic spear. In one step, the ground shook and then another.

The other beasts around realized, the city itself had begun hunting them.

Another also came out from below and also began following behind. Across the city, dozens of Stone Guardians awakened from beneath streets, courtyards, and plazas, their golden eyes igniting together.

Roooooooar!!

They immediately charged into the nearest beasts.

Abandoned buildings began trembling next. Walls cracked. Hidden chambers burst open. Dozens of Goblin Statues stepped forward, each carrying ancient golden weapons, their stone armor gleaming beneath the golden light. They marched in perfect formation before joining the battle.

Then the ruined King’s Temple shook.

Everyone turned.

The shattered floor exploded upward, and golden mist spread across the battlefield.

One Spectral Goblin appeared.

Then another.

Soon dozens of Spectral Warriors materialized throughout the city, ancient warriors, Hunters, Mages, Knights, Riders, every one carrying the will they had left behind to protect Dawn one final time.

One Spectral Warrior silently placed a hand upon the shoulder of an exhausted Goblin Mage.

The exhausted Goblin Mage stared after him. "Great... Great... Grandfather..." His voice barely came out with tears leaking down.

The Spectral Warrior never looked back and he simply raised his ancient spear.

Just once.

The same signal he used hundreds of years ago. And the Mage instinctively remembers that his grandfather told him long ago. His own grandfather used to give that exact signal before every battle.

Immediately every nearby Spectral Warrior charged together. For one impossible moment it was as though Dawn’s last army had returned.

The awakened defenders spread throughout the battlefield. Together the Stone Guardians, Goblin Statues, and Spectral Warriors numbered just under one hundred and sixty, meeting the roughly two hundred and fifty remaining beasts head on.

The city itself had entered the battle.

Inside the throne room the pressure vanished.

Athy released the crown.

Athena and Mara were staring outside as the gold from the city faded and returned to normal. But they could still hear it, the Goblins cheering and some even shouting the defense are up!

Both women began laughing because they had finally succeeded.

"It worked," Athena said. "It actually worked."

Years of history being skimmed through.

Them bleeding as they kept on translating and deciphering the ancient texts.

The both of them pushing their body until the point it became numb.

Everything had been worth it.

Athy smiled, then suddenly staggered as the white light returned, stronger than before.

Athena blinked. "Again?" she said.

The second evolution began immediately.

This one felt different.

It no longer felt gentle but resolute.

Then the white light shattered like countless feathers breaking apart into light. Every feather circled Athy, one by one and then golden armor assembled itself around her body.

A chestplate.

Leg guards.

Wing guards.

A flowing cloak woven entirely from black-and-white feathers. And then the last to appear was the golden helm that descended slowly onto her head. The instant it touched, every feather around the room exploded outward like a storm.

Athena instinctively shielded her eyes.

When the light disappeared, she saw the tiny owl was gone.

Standing there instead was a seeker of conflict.

[Wisdom Owl → Seeker Of War]

Athena and Mara stared in disbelief. "Twice," Athena said. "You evolved twice."

Athy landed beside them and smiled. "We couldn’t let the others show us up," she said.

Mara blinked. "...Can you still see the city?"

Athy tilted her head. "I can see all the battles in the city."

Both women froze. "...Every battle?"

Athy nodded as she pointed toward the west. "Arthur is evading the Thunderbird Chiefs." Then east. "A Goblin child stopped crying."

Silence filled the throne room.

Athena slowly smiled. "...Monster." She then laughed through tears. "That’s my partner."

Athy walked behind Athena and Mara, her golden eyes glowing.

[See-Through World]

Their bodies became transparent beneath her vision, and she immediately noticed the weak points and mana flow twisting caused by overwhelming mental exhaustion. She gently tapped several precise points.

Shoulders.

Back.

Neck.

Forehead.

Black-white energy reconnected the disrupted flow.

Athena gasped as she felt the numbness faded.

Mara slowly flexed her fingers. "I can move," she said.

Athy smiled. "I didn’t heal you," she said. "I simply reminded your bodies how to move again."

Athena stared at her. "You’ve become terrifyingly smart," she said.

Athy laughed.

She walked toward the balcony and looked across the battlefield and she saw everyone still fighting.

She smiled. "I’ll be back," she said.

Athena didn’t stop her. She simply leaned against the altar. "Go," she said. "I trust you."

Athy nodded, then vanished, only an afterimage remaining behind.

High above, Arthur and Leon continued battling the Thunderbird Chiefs. While having to evade the lightning bolts from the ordinary Thunderbirds even with the help of the Goblin Hunters.

Then...

A silver line crossed the sky.

Nobody saw who moved.

One Thunderbird stopped flying as a thin red line appeared across its neck and then its head slid off.

Silence fell as everyone who saw this paused.

Then another Thunderbird folded in half.

Then another.

Then another.

Bodies continued falling from the sky.

Only after the fifth corpse hit the rooftops, did a lone figure appear above them.

Black-and-white wings spread across the lantern light. Golden eyes overlooked the battlefield without emotion.

Arthur blinked. "...Athy?" And then he smiled. "I knew you would make it!"

The Thunderbird instinctively backed away.

For the first time since the battle began, fear appeared in their eyes. The Goblin hunters looked upward and even the Thunderbird Chiefs paused before a hint of weariness appeared.

The battlefield had paused.

Leon blinked in surprise.

Hovering above them, Athy calmly spread her black and white wings, golden eyes glowing. A hunter descending upon its prey.