Act 4: Fallen Heaven - Chapter 677: A Rusted Trap

Act 4: Fallen Heaven - Chapter 677: A Rusted Trap

The air ran thin, barely a wisp of white breath escaping his lungs as he drew in what little precious air lingered in the snowy peak. The mountains were deceptively taller than they appeared from the ground, the statues reaching two hundred feet high. Shaking off the bits of snow on his helmet, Oscar reached out and scraped the snow off the base of the statue, unveiling a toe. Like Volten's treasury, the stone appeared stuck in time with no blemish or crack, as if freshly carved rather than standing for the countless eons it certainly stood in Fallen Heaven. Everyone else camped nearby, waiting for him to speak.

"Peculiar...." Oscar knocked on the stone with a low thud, surprised at the scratches along his knuckles. It wasn't made from any ordinary material and was solid and dense throughout. Frowning, Oscar turned his focus elsewhere. Below him, the crowds gathered in droves at the basin, the lake appearing like a small puddle from this height, a great vantage point to gauge the entire area. Amid the snoring of Gnar's wolves, shouts and thunderous calls of battle raged on. Scattered groups of Marshal Exalts slaughtered one another, his ears picking up declarations of all sorts of factions from Vallen to Shattirma.

'Ignyres. Volten mentioned Fallen Heaven is a chunk of Talos detached from it in the ancient war, so why are these still here?' Oscar felt it was odd. A lingering doubt nagged in his mind, knocking on his thoughts. Three statues pointing at a nice, ancient palace where treasures certainly existed seemed uncanny. Even if it was the former homeland of the Caerulumen, having three statues gesturing toward a location was outlandish.

'It is quite odd. But those Caerulumen are cunning bastards.' Ignyres seemed to understand his thoughts. 'They see all the angles and lay their plans in terms of hundreds if not thousands of years. Those fireless traitors might have put contingencies in for their defeat.'

'So you say. Break it or not. Up to you.' Demon said, pushing Oscar to act.

Oscar clenched his fist and stabbed the foot of the statue with his platinum drill, the sound of shrieking metal halting the moment he struck the foot. The air distorted as ripples expanded in the emptiness. His drill failed to penetrate an empty layer that buffered his strike from reaching the stone. Oscar retracted his hand and shook off the drill, pieces of platinum sinking into the snow before dissipating away. The stone was special, so he tried out a drill formed from only Ein, resulting in this failure. Curious, he palmed the stone foot and rushed an influx of Ein into his hand, a sudden repulsion flinging his arm back, nearly dislocating his shoulder as the protective layer pulsed.

'Ein doesn't work. Then how about primordial flames?' Oscar formed several azure swords, flames glinting along their sharp edges. He thrust the swords and aimed for the same point, driving them deeper through the protective layer. But even the fire spell powered by primordial flames couldn't breach the defenses as they bounced off, cracks spreading before they shattered into blue embers, mixing wonderfully with the falling white snow. On the foot, a small charred mark had been etched, crackling audibly as a slight smoke wafted up. 'After all that, this is the result?' Oscar clicked his tongue.

The only option was Reis. Oscar clenched his fist, veins popping from his knuckles, and generated an immense amount of Reis, punching it into a single Shattering Wave, condensed by the Line. His fist landed on the stone without obstruction, bypassing the protective layer, the stone resounding with a loud gong like a bell rung. Oscar strained himself, nose bleeding as the reverberations of the statue blasted through him, a simple sound wracking immense pain in his organs. Gritting his teeth, he pushed onward, sweeping up more Reis from the backlash and adding an Omnireus to his feet. In a forceful kick, he felt his knee screaming in pain and retreated several steps.

Cracks spread along the toe, reaching up to the ankle. Oscar breathed in and prepared for another attack, but a tremor shuddered across the mountain, rattling his sight around like flying through a storm. Across great distances, the other two statues released a similar gong-like sound, harmonizing with the one he had struck, three tunes blaring. Then, a thunderous clap burst from each statue, trails of smoke rising from their heads. Oscar ordered everyone to group up and prepare for battle, the wolves rousing from their slumber and baring their fangs.

Three blurred figures landed close by, explosions of snow and rock quaking the mountain and rising to the starry night sky. Oscar darted his eyes to the faint shadows standing up within the veil of snow. If he had to surmise, these things, whatever they were, were launched from the statues and targeted to land wherever a statue was struck. As the snow settled, the shadows cleared and revealed themselves to be strange warriors wearing armors of rusted brownish-red and brandishing weapons barely clinging to their handles, many scratches and cracks along the dull edges.

"Reis user. Heir of Volten. Identified. Exterminate." One of them said in a mechanical voice, azure eyes gleaming brightly under their rusted, domed helmets that exposed their steely faces.Fôll0w current novÊls o/n n/o/(v)/3l/b((in).(c/o/m)

'If it were in pristine condition, you would have lost. The eons were not kind to it. It was a golem meant to fight King Exalts.' Ignyres cackled. 'They were few and had fewer followers, so naturally, they had to make their own.'

Oscar kicked the golem and scoffed, "It went mad at the end. They may be Caerulumen, but their golems aren't close to Gol-4's."

After collecting the golem, he stumbled to the peak and widened his eyes. Fenu and the others of the Azure Sea Company had fought a fierce battle, many weapons sticking out from the golem. Many of them were weary and gasped, wounds covering their torn clothes. To the side, Astrid was on her knees, paler than usual at the outstretched arm of the golem that clearly had broken through her ice. He tossed some plants and cores to Aster, telling her to concoct some healing elixirs.

"Fenu, what happened?" Oscar asked.

"Young lord. We almost died. Thankfully, they all stopped before they could kill any of us." Fenu coughed profusely, clutching his bloodied arm that limped by his side.

"They turned off?" Oscar was confused and circled one of the golems.

"Failure...Failure...Must go to the one." A golem said, attracting his attention. Oscar snapped his head at the partly frozen golem who said that. The golem fell apart as the last crackles of Ein fizzled out from its eyes.

"The one?" Oscar mumbled. What did it mean?

"Run!" A shout roared.

Below, the estate imploded and swallowed all nearby Exalts in a devastating explosion, reducing them into ashes. The people on the fringes rushed away without care, flailing their spells to kill a path out. A deep groan shook the mountains, and the snow erupted into avalanches that buried any slow stragglers. Oscar saw a large hand rise from the rubble of the palace, two glowing red eyes rotating in a low hum toward the sky. Another hand lifted up, stone and rubble shaking off to reveal a metallic skin.

"Must reunite." A mechanical voice groaned.