Chapter 55: True Solstice

Chapter 55: True Solstice

Sofia was anxiously monitoring her system prompt.

The timer had hit zero a good minute ago, but she was still there, waiting on a cold roof. The trial hadnt ended. Am I stuck here?

Hey Mr.Archangel, did you die while I was in there? Don't forget me...

Under her eyes, the letters of the system message morphed, forming new words.

[Trial completion : Commit to your thievery before the true solstices end]

What! Hey what is this! I am getting scammed!

What true solstice? What damn thievery? The trial should be over! I dont even understand what you expect me to do!

She was rightfully upset but no one was here to answer her complaints. Had this whole thing been the Archangels way to punish her for something? An elaborate trap? Maybe this whole trial thing was rigged in the first place. Nobody even understood why or how it existed.

Sofia was still asking herself what she should be doing, looking around, when the sky disappeared. As if the night sky and its stars were a torch that got snuffed out, replaced by a dark void.

Sofia knew of her own bad habit of overthinking and talking to herself, especially looking back at her fight against Orvod, she thought she could be more efficient if she toned down the pointless chatter in her head. It was easier said than done, but in times like this she at least managed to rapidly switch to a more survival oriented mindset.

This dark sky felt very familiar.

The city that had been in somewhat of an uproar until now had turned silent, everyone looked up at the sky. Reality shook with a muted thump.

My skills are all useless against that. Cant even try [Hollow heart]Im pretty sure Ill die if I get too close. Could try the arm throwing thing again but does that thing even have a heart? It looks closer to a stone tree than a living being Shouldve really studied the anatomy of the lesser Phageids a bit more back in Zangdar. At least this one isnt releasing poison gas. Yet.

Further away, an old, white bearded fire mage had tried to blast open the root wall. The explosion was impressive. The wall stood unharmed. The pavement near it was charred black, and that was it. He had been standing quite a distance away, nevertheless, a root had separated from the wall and charged at him. He dodged the initial blow and even cast multiple fiery barriers around him as he ran. He could run a few meters before the root split in four. He was impaled and dragged back to the wall. His barriers hadnt even slowed the roots.

This looks a bit desperate. I cant even move that much. I can still avoid the parts of the city that are being targeted right now, but Ill end up cornered soon

In the distance, a winged woman had managed to cross the root wall by flying over, carrying a child out with her.

[Hero - Lv. 178]

Sofia had no time to focus on that. Up above, the void was no longer silent. With a good enough hearing, one could detect a low rumbling. It came from somewhere near in the sky, but it was hard to pinpoint.

The sound came in waves, in her head Sofia pictured a huge snoring monster. It was getting clearer until it got everyone looking at the sky once again, only to be met with the same vision of a red crack and a crystalline murder tree. With a dome of roots closing in on them by the second.

The noise didnt stop, it got louder and louder and louder, until it was all anyone could hear.

Most people saw nothing of what happened next, only Sofia with her wider and superior vision could catch a glimpse of the thing that had traversed the sky in an instant. It was a golden and blue blur. Moving at an unimaginable speed. As it passed by the creature out of the sky, it split up. The golden light kept going forward, while the blue lights course changed to a straight line toward the crystalline pillar.

Then the world turned white.

If the rippling and crashing waves of pressure and heat that washed over the city weren't enough, one thing was unmistakably giving away the true nature of the blue light.

The roar of thunder.