Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

In the upper floors, dark figures had appeared and carefully snuck around the rooms of the high-ranking priests.

On the second to highest floor one of the figures that had spoken with Meno got ready to assassinate the Chained Apostles stationed in the stronghold.

It entered the first room. It moved towards the bed like a shadow his dagger at ready to strike the sleeping apostle. But before the dagger could take the life, the figure stepped back in surprise and confusion.

The bed was drenched in blood and the apostle was already dead. Somebody had beaten him to the punch. The shadow checked the corpse and found it was already turning rigid. It had been at least an hour since the priest died.

His eyes widened and the figure rushed out of the room and checked the next one. This one was already dead, too. In shock, the shadow found all his targets already dead. Something was going wrong!

He had to report!

On the way down he came across other rebels cluelessly leaving rooms. It was not only him. None of the assassins could do their work, as their targets had long been finished off by someone else.

The shadow collected these stragglers and lead them to hurriedly report to their leader.

----------------- Dungeons-----------

The guards lay on the floor with their throats slit. Same with the torturers in the cells. The people in charge of rescuing the prisoners were puzzled but didn't mind having their work eased.

They recovered the prisoners and heard stories of torturer's throats suddenly opening on their own as if killed by a divine force. While they were freeing the prisoners and giving them medical attention, other people were also working hard.

Two of Meno's henchmen were currently inside the cells of the mindless chimeras. The creatures did neither move nor react to their presence as they enchanted the collars of the beasts in silence.

"Let me guess, rebinding means you are registering a new master, right?"

They suddenly heard a curious voice ask. There was nobody and they couldn't make out where the voice came from.

"No need to look for me."

One of them could feel a big boot smashing into his stomach. More terrifying than the mere kick was the sudden shockwave that ran through his body and shattered the bones of his torso.

This was the power of the <Quake Bronze> Seth had added to his Disruptor Boots. He could use the shockwave skill directly on people. In this case, the damage of the shockwave was based on his strength stat, which had become tremendous lately.

The poor caster's body had no chance withstanding it.

Seeing his friend deconstruct and crumble in front of his eyes planted terror in the leftover shadow. He couldn't see, nor detect the enemy otherwise, while the enemy could easily kill him. He made a sensible choice.

"I surrender, please spare me!" he knelt down and exclaimed.

"Tell me what you were planning."

Meno's plan was simple. He wanted to take over this colony. It was true that he was once part of the rebels, but he joined for the power. Why would he still try to free people with the possibility to establish his own kingdom of slaves?

With the chimeras rebound to him as their master he had enough force to get rid of any opposition and then he could rebind the helpless warriors, magicians, and workers who lost their masters, too.

They had joined his scheme and had gotten rid of anyone opposing them to gain a high position in this new land.

"I told you everything I know, please spare my life!"

Silence answered the henchman. Was the powerful person gone? Had he survived!? A smile appeared on his lips when the thought of flight came to his mind.

Suddenly he felt a hand grasping his forehead. Terrible pain and heat filled the last moments of his life before pale blue flames turned him into ashes.

A wince came from the man on the ground when he saw what happened to his companion. He couldn't move. He couldn't even feel anything below his neck, but he was still alive. Tears shot into his eyes when he felt a palm lay on his head.

No flames came. Weariness called him and he fell into a slumber. The light vanished from his eyes and Seth harvested the souls. Just like he did with every apostle and priest on his way down.

With the Rebel's information and preparations, it had been a lot easier for Seth. He had copied their homework and completely stole the credit for it.

Your plan? No, no, you mean MY plan. It was at this moment that the alarm sirens sounded. The rebels had killed the guards and sealed off the Rift. Perfect timing.

All Seth had to do now was break the nucleus of the suppression field and then his own preparations would come to fruition.

He would have liked to get rid of the chimeras then and there, but he had doubts. Maybe these people still had a mind and a will to live. He couldn't be sure whether they were allies or enemies until he removed the collar. That's why he decided to spare them, for now.

To reach the nucleus Seth had to retrace his steps, as it was situated all the way at the top of the highest tower. They had really put it in the completely opposite place of what Seth had expected. Really! Who puts something so precious into such a vulnerable place?

Seth could only shake his head as he walked past all the magical safety measures. How careless not to think of a completely invisible and undetectable enemy. His complacency only held up until he came before a door. Al detected all kinds of measures which would ring the alarm if the door was opened incorrectly.

And then his complacency continued. How very careless of them, not to take into account someone with the ultimate master key to open any door flawlessly. He unlocked the door without a hitch and continued on his way.

He argued that it had probably been a waste to use his one daily use on the door, considering the stronghold was already on alarm since the rebels sealed the rift. On the other hand, who knew who or what would come up here if the alarm sounded?

He could see the rebels and a few of the chimera's struggle against those creepy wardens and human guards. Struggle because there were also a few of those metallic angels harvesting lives. Something to point out was, that the chimeras did not differentiate between the rebels, other races, and the Theocracy's forces.

~ That rebel leader is probably getting rid of his unneeded subordinates. ~

Seth only nodded. He ascended a short flight of steps and finally came before the nucleus. Like a giant light bulb in a lighthouse, it levitated in the middle of the round room. It was one of the four highest towers and Seth knew from Lynri that one of the others held the center of the space lock.

He only understood the reason why they had put these important things so high up when he looked down at the battlefield. It wasn't just the unsettling angels, even the insect-like warden had set off the ground and flew with pitch-black insect wings.

They had air superiority. It was a lot easier to defend something like these towers than to fight on the ground and protect something subterranean like the dungeons. No wonder they needed slaves and chimeras to act as ground soldiers.

As much as he would have liked to see the church's forces and the chimeras wipe each other out, he saw Duhu and some people of the other races wreak havoc on the battlefield. They were the smallest forces down there and Seth didn't really want to lose them yet.

He had to hurry. Al' Salzar wanted to give him minute instruction of how to shut down the nucleus-

"I will just set it on fire. It will be a lot faster."

~ No! We don't know if that will work! There could be residual effects if it isn't shut down correctly~

"Let it burn. I will end everything in a sea of fire."

~Stop with the jokes and get to work. ~

"...Sure..."

Seth followed the expert's advice and dismantled the thing as best as they were able to. Even the lich was not 100% sure what they were doing. But finally, after a few minutes of work Seth could feel the pressure lift like a heavy blanket.

The suppression had lifted together with a shrill alarm sound emitted from the tower. The battlefield came to a stop as everyone hesitated for just a moment when they heard this alarm. Especially the theocracy's forces.

It was time. For Seth's preparations to bear fruit.