Chapter 139: The Final Battlefield
Skreeeeeeee!!
Lightning exploded across the ruined street.
Two massive Thunderbird Chiefs descended from opposite directions, their wings tearing through the air as bolts of blue lightning crashed behind them.
BOOOOOOM!!
Arthur and Leon sprang apart just as the talons slammed into the ground between them. Stone erupted into the air. The shockwave blasted through broken buildings, sending loose rubble tumbling across the street.
The first Thunderbird laughed, electricity dancing between its feathers.
"You looked away during battle?" Its golden eyes narrowed. "How disappointing."
The second slowly spread its enormous wings. "You’ll die for that mistake."
Leon rolled his shoulders until several loud cracks echoed through the street. Arthur loosened his grip on his sword before tightening it again.
For just a moment...
The two glanced at each other.
Neither spoke.
Neither needed to.
They already knew exactly what the other would do.
The Thunderbirds attacked.
Lightning flashed.
The first Chief shot toward Arthur, both talons wrapped in crackling electricity.
Arthur raised his forearm.
CLANG!!
The lightning claw slammed against his gauntlet.
Before the Thunderbird could push forward—
Leon appeared behind it and his twin swords flashed like streaks of gold.
SLASH!
Feathers scattered through the air. The Thunderbird twisted away just in time and its partner immediately dove toward Leon.
Arthur was already moving.
BOOOOOOM!!
His shoulder crashed into the second Thunderbird before its talons could reach Leon, sending the giant bird skidding sideways through a ruined wall.
The four figures never stopped moving.
One attacked.
Another was intercepted.
The third countered.
The fourth covered the opening.
Again.
Again.
Again.
The ruined street became a blur of lightning and golden light.
One Goblin Hunter watched with wide eyes. "...They’re not fighting separately."
Another slowly nodded. "...They’re fighting together."
Every opening created by Arthur became Leon’s attack. Every opening created by Leon became Arthur’s.
The Thunderbird Chiefs quickly realized something was wrong. Every time they thought they had isolated one opponent...
The other was already there.
Leon grinned.
Golden flames suddenly ignited around his body before gathering inside his chest. The temperature across the street instantly rose.
[Fire Breath.]
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!
A torrent of golden flames erupted from Leon’s mouth. It wasn’t as overwhelming as Mephistopheles’ breath \but it was still terrifying.
The wave of fire swept across the battlefield.
Both Thunderbird Chiefs immediately crossed their wings. The flames slammed into them and made their feathers blackened. Before forcing them backwards before lightning burst out and tore apart the flames.
Arthur smiled. "Guess I shouldn’t hold back either."
Golden light erupted around him.
[King Aura.]
Power flooded through every muscle. And then the broken street beneath his feet cracked apart.
Arthur disappeared.
BOOM!!
He appeared directly before one Thunderbird and the Chief barely managed to raise a wing.
Arthur’s fist connected.
CRAAAAACK!!
The reinforced wing bent unnaturally and several bones shattered at once. The Thunderbird screamed as it crashed through the remains of a nearby building.
The Hunters erupted.
"He broke its wing!"
"With one punch?!"
One Goblin stared toward Leon.
Then toward Arthur. "They’re so amazing..."
"It should be obvious that the prophet was so amazing!"
"What about the other one?"
"He is a friend of the prophet so it makes sense."
The Thunderbird Chiefs climbed back into the air and their breathing had become uneven. The confidence from earlier was gone.
One looked toward the other. "...Together."
The second nodded.
Both shot upward.
Dark clouds gathered beneath the cavern ceiling.
Lightning exploded between them. Blue electricity raced from wing to wing until an enormous sphere of lightning formed overhead. The pressure alone made nearby Hunters instinctively step backward.
One Goblin whispered, "...That attack will destroy this entire street."
Arthur looked up.
Leon sighed. "Again?"
Arthur smiled. "Again."
The two stepped forward simultaneously.
Arthur inhaled.
[Command Authority.]
"Freeze!"
A golden energy swept over the lightning and the Thunderbird Chief. Before then to the disbelief of the Goblin Hunters who were watching. The lightning that was rushing down froze as if something was holding them or commanding them.
The entire battlefield stopped.
Even the Goblins forgot to breathe at the sight of lightning actually stopping.
Not dispersed.
Not weakened.
One Goblin Mage slowly whispered, "Did our... The Prophet command lightning itself?’
"As expected of our Prophet.,. Whether it’s the future or lightning, he controls it all."
The Thunderbird Chiefs froze mid-flight as Leon exploded forward.
[Dragon Dash.]
Golden fire burst beneath his feet. He became nothing more than a streak of golden light. Arthur sprinted after him and just before Leon shot past—
Arthur reached out and Leon grabbed his arm.
BOOOOOOOM!!
Dragon Dash activated again.
The burst of speed hurled Arthur skyward like a cannonball. Golden flames exploded beneath Leon as he chased after him.
Arthur rose higher.
Higher.
Golden light erupted around his body.
[King Aura.]
His fist glowed.
[Magic Explosion.]
Leon opened his mouth.
[Fire Breath.]
Golden flames blasted against Arthur’s back.
Instead of burning him...
The flames became another burst of acceleration and Arthur shot through the air even faster. The stunned Thunderbird finally regained control.
Too late.
Arthur’s glowing fist crashed directly into its chest.
[Magic Explosion.]
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
Golden fire erupted.
The Thunderbird screamed as it became a streak of blue lightning. It slammed directly into the second Chief.
The stun ended.
Both birds barely had time to realize what had happened as Leon was already there.
Twin swords flashed.
SLASH!
SLASH!
Golden arcs carved across both Thunderbird Chiefs. Arthur appeared beside him almost instantly and his sword swept forward.
[Armor Piercing.]
A single golden slash crossed both massive bodies.
Silence fell for a few seconds before the lightning surrounding the Thunderbird Chiefs vanished.
The storm overhead slowly dispersed.
For one long moment neither bird moved. Then, both slowly fell and their enormous bodies crashed through ruined rooftops before slamming into the broken street with deafening impacts.
BOOOOOOOM!!
Dust rolled through the battlefield.
Silence followed.
No feathers moved.
No lightning remained.
One Goblin Hunter stared at the motionless Chiefs.
His mouth slowly fell open. "...That’s..."
Another finished quietly. "...the last Beast Chief."
For just a second...
The entire area stood frozen and then cheers erupted across Dawn.
Arthur let out a long breath while Leon sheathed one sword.
For a few seconds they didn’t speak as they glance around at the cheering Goblin Hunters.
Then Arthur laughed. "We were actually last."
Leon sighed. "...Let’s never tell others. If Meph hears about this, he will questioned if I’m even fit to be his partner."
Arthur covered his mouth as he trembled. "Such high expectations."
"You have no idea."
Both immediately turned toward the city.
The battle... Still wasn’t over.
...
High above Dawn, the remaining Thunderbirds finally noticed. Their Chiefs had fallen.
For a single heartbeat, the flock hesitated. Then thirty furious cries erupted together.
SKREEEEEEEE!!
Blue lightning exploded across the cavern ceiling as every remaining Thunderbird folded its wings before diving toward the city at once, their formation spreading apart, intending to scatter across Dawn and burn whatever still remained.
Then the first Thunderbird suddenly stopped, its golden eyes widening. Someone was watching it.
High above the flock, Athy hovered silently, her black-and-white wings barely moving. Golden eyes calmly overlooked every Thunderbird beneath her, and the battlefield disappeared. Only the flock existed.
[Analyze].
The world became transparent. Mana flowed through every Thunderbird like rivers of blue light. Broken wings. Overloaded muscles. Cracked bones. Lightning gathering points. Weak joints. Old injuries. Every weakness revealed itself at once.
Athy quietly blinked. "I see."
Blue light suddenly surrounded her body, and three identical figures stepped out from her shadow, one, two, three, every clone looking exactly like her. Without speaking, all four disappeared.
BOOOOOOM!!
Wind exploded through the cavern, and the flock scattered. "Above us!"
One Thunderbird barely looked upward. Too late. A white wing sliced across its neck.
[Brave Light].
A ribbon of light carved through the sky, and the Thunderbird split cleanly in half. Before the corpse even began falling, another Athy burst through a second bird. Then another. Then another. Golden streaks crossed each other throughout the cavern, and the Thunderbirds suddenly realized there wasn’t one hunter. There were four.
"Kill the copies!"
Lightning exploded in every direction, hundreds of bolts filling the air. One Athy clone flew directly into them, blue light covering her body.
[Counter].
Every bolt that struck her instantly reversed direction.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!
The reflected lightning slammed back into the flock, and Thunderbirds screamed as their own attacks pierced wings, shattered feathers, and blasted several from the sky.
Another clone folded her wings and became nothing more than a white streak. Three Thunderbirds attacked together, and she slipped between them. One wing flashed, and three heads separated from three bodies, blood scattering through the air.
The real Athy never stopped moving, her golden eyes calmly shifting from one opponent to the next, every movement already calculated.
A Thunderbird tried escaping upward, and she appeared above it first.
Another attempted diving beneath the city, and she was already waiting.
One gathered a massive sphere of lightning, and Athy simply tilted her head, already seeing exactly where the mana was weakest. Her wing lightly brushed one glowing point, and the entire lightning sphere immediately detonated inside the Thunderbird’s own body.
BOOOOOOOM!!
Several nearby Thunderbirds were swallowed by the explosion.
The flock finally panicked. "Run!"
"Scatter!"
They fled in every direction.
Athy quietly looked across the sky. "No."
Her four bodies split apart again, each clone choosing a different direction.
The hunt began.
One Thunderbird flew through a narrow crystal arch, and a clone chased it. The bird smiled, thinking the passage was too narrow and then the clone folded both wings and accelerated.
[Brave Light].
She pierced straight through the Thunderbird before emerging from the other side without slowing.
Another Thunderbird climbed toward the cavern ceiling, and the real Athy calmly matched its altitude.
The bird screamed and unleashed dozens of lightning spears.
[Counter]
Blue light surrounded Athy’s body, and every spear struck, every spear reversed, the Thunderbird’s own attack tearing through both wings simultaneously. It spiraled helplessly toward the streets below.
The final six gathered together. "We attack together!"
Lightning erupted, six enormous bolts descending simultaneously.
The four Athys charged instead.
Light and wind gathered over their body before they rushed out. While some of their body shine blew. The sky became impossible to follow and the Goblin Hunters below could only see flashes.
One.
Five.
Ten.
Twenty.
Then silence.
Six bodies slowly began falling from the cavern ceiling, one after another.
The last Thunderbird desperately flapped backward, its entire body trembling. Athy slowly hovered before it. Neither moved. The Thunderbird looked into those calm golden eyes and finally understood. It had never been fighting another beast. It had been hunted.
A single white wing flashed. The final Thunderbird fell.
Silence returned to the sky. The three clones dissolved into drifting light.
Athy quietly adjusted one feather before looking toward the city below. Every street. Every battle. Every ally.
Safe.
She smiled softly, then disappeared in a streak of white light, flying toward Dawn’s final battlefield.
...
The atmosphere changed completely in the throne room. No more fighting. Instead, complete control.
Athena stood inside Dawn’s throne room, the ancient crown resting upon her head. Golden lines stretched across the entire kingdom and through them she saw everything.
Every fleeing Beast.
Every collapsed building.
Every wounded and surviving Goblin.
Every Stone Guardian.
Every Goblin Statue.
And every Spectral Warrior through thousands of glowing lights moved across the city. Then Athena began issuing orders without hesitation.
"Stone Guardians," she said.
Golden lines shifted.
"Block the eastern streets."
The Stone Guardians immediately changed direction.
"Goblin Statues. Protect the evacuation routes."
They obeyed instantly.
"Spectral Warriors. Hunt the hidden Beasts."
Golden figures disappeared into abandoned buildings.
"Crownwall Tribe. Support the western district."
A Cronwell Goblin Hunter immediately changed course.
Another Cronwell Elder redirected another squad. Every order spread instantly through the kingdom only Athena commanded.
Across the city everything changed. A Beast hiding inside a collapsed house immediately found three Spectral Warriors waiting for it. A fleeing Beast pack ran directly into Stone Guardians. Goblin Statues rescued another group of civilians.
The Crownwall Tribe swept through an entire district.
The scattered battlefields began disappearing one after another. The kingdom started breathing again. Athena slowly looked across the glowing golden lines. One by one the red lights representing Beast Chiefs disappeared.
Forax.
Silverline.
Strax.
And finally both Thunderbird Chiefs were gone.
Only ordinary Beasts remained.
A small smile appeared and she quietly placed one hand on the throne. "The Chiefs are gone," she said.
She watched through countless lines before then pausing at a particular scene.
A little Goblin carefully stepped into the middle of the street. His mother immediately reached for him and then stopped.
She blinked when she realized there were no roars, crystal bursting out of nowhere, fire exploding, and collapsing buildings.
Only cheers.
The little Goblin looked around. "...Does this mean we can stop hiding?"
The mother covered her mouth. Tears rolled down her cheeks. "...Yes. I think we will be able to soon."
Athena trembled at this sight before smiling. "Now," she said, "we can fully end this invasion."
The golden lines pulsed once.
Across the city. Every Goblin, every Guardian, every Spectral Warrior, every Hunter, every member of the Crownwall Tribe pushed forward together.