In Liurnia of the Lakes, a massive crater nearly a kilometer in diameter appeared upon the earth, its edge practically bordering the walls of Raya Lucaria. Water cascaded into the abyss from three sides like a waterfall, mud churned violently, and trees within a radius of several kilometers lay flattened.
At the center of the crater floated a gargantuan, iridescent insect. Its body seemed to be composed of hundreds of glowing purple spheres of varying sizes—the smallest of which was as large as half a carriage—and a coiled, scorpion-like tail reared fifty meters into the air. Its head resembled a screaming, shrieking human skull, scaled up thousands of times and wreathed in a malice and madness so thick it felt physical.
Four wing-cases, shimmering like reflections of the starry sky, were set into its back, each beat kicking up a localized storm. On either side of that magnificent yet twisted body were six long, grey-black arms that looked like snakes or gnarled tree roots, ending in grotesque, bony hands with protruding knuckles.
"Artillery, fire at will! Battle-sorcerers, cast in waves! Suppress its movement!"
Shells and spells rained down like hailstones, drowning the beast in a dazzling display of flashes and smoke; only that coiled stinger tail continued to dance above the haze.
In the next heartbeat, the spiral-coiled tail snapped straight, crossing hundreds of meters in an instant to reach the edge of the crater. A single whip-like strike crushed an entire phalanx of sorcerers into a pulp. The terrifying impact even triggered a small-scale landslide. The artillery positions on either side were forced to relocate, and a towed heavy Jar Cannon rolled down into the crater along with the cascading debris.
"Disperse the formation! Spread out the attack positions! Send the marionettes to charge and draw its attention!" A general roared into a portable glintstone communication device, one hand clutching a pair of binoculars. "Keep it pinned to the bottom of the pit! Notify the Academy sorcerers to prepare a strategic-grade spell to blast this monster to ash! Victory belongs to us! Glory to Caria!"
The monster's stinger began to rise, seemingly gathering strength for another strike. At that moment, a burly figure leaped high into the air, landing on the ascending tail. A shimmering azure greatsword extended from his hand until the blade was ten times his own height. He swung it downward with a force that seemed capable of cleaving the world itself.
Amidst the monster's shrill, furious screeching, he actually managed to sever the final segment of the stinger. Four glowing, carriage-sized spheres plummeted from the sky.
The Carian soldiers erupted in cheers at this feat of staggering valor. But in the next second, the wounded tail lashed out violently, flinging the figure into the high heavens before swatting him like a baseball. The man soared away, the friction against the air causing him to glow hot and bright as he flew toward the distant mountains, eventually vanishing from sight.
At this, the general's expression finally shifted. Beside him, an adjutant adjusted the magical frequency of a glintstone earpiece and shouted after a moment, "Knight Moongrum says he is injured but can still fight! However, he doesn't know where he landed and likely won't be able to return to the battlefield for an hour or two!"
The general's face relaxed slightly. "No matter. What about the other seven knights? Get them into the command link! This beast is not something they can handle by fighting individually!"
Just then, the great insect—battered by a relentless barrage of attacks—let out a long shriek as a hazy purple light enveloped its entire body. With a bizarre buzzing sound, the purple glow suddenly contracted into a single point and vanished. Shells and spells struck empty air to no effect.
"Dead? No... it fled?" the general muttered. Suddenly, his face paled as he spun around to look at the city of Raya Lucaria. "Oh no!"
Inside the city walls, a pillar of purple light shot into the sky. The tip of a stinger could be seen peeking just above the ramparts.
"It teleported into the city?!" the general screamed, losing all composure.
"General, what do we do?! The Gate Town bridge collapsed from the initial impact! Our troops can't enter the city from this side!" the adjutant cried.
"Get me ladders! Siege towers! Scale the walls!"
"We aren't a siege unit! Where would we get siege equipment?" the adjutant countered. "General, get a hold of yourself!"
"...Split the forces into two. Divert through the other gates." The general finally calmed down. After a pause, he forced out his next order. "Have the soldiers organize an evacuation of the citizens. Move everyone into the Liurnia lake district for refuge."
"General, are we abandoning Raya Lucaria?" the adjutant gasped in shock.
"You idiot! We're clearing out the civilians so we can use strategic-grade sorcery to blow that bug into the stratosphere!" the general snapped. "I'll take full responsibility. When the Queen returns, I will personally answer for it."
"This..." The adjutant was speechless. He turned back to gaze at Raya Lucaria. Could it be that this city—which had stood in Liurnia for thousands of years and had never been threatened even by Radagon's Golden Order armies—was doomed to catastrophe today?
Inside the city, the monster wrapped its six claws around a tower, snapping it in half like a twig. Sorcerers screamed as they fell from the roof. A sweep of its stinger sheared off the spire of the clock tower, leaving a trail of devastation wherever it moved.
Academy sorcerers poured out from every corner, unleashing countless powerful spells as if they had infinite mana. But the beast possessed a staggering resistance to magic; worse, it frequently summoned spheres of darkness that seemed to swallow everything. Whether it was a renowned Professor of Sorcery or a Master of the Glintstone Consolate, their spells were sucked into the void, vanishing without a trace.
Just as the situation took a turn for the worse, two old men stepped out from the depths of the architectural complex.
"Old friend Azur... I never thought we would have the chance to fight side-by-side again." One of the old men leaned on a staff. His eye sockets were hollow; he was entirely blind.
"Lusat, who are you calling an 'old friend'?" Azur replied with a dark expression. "If I wasn't afraid you'd trip and fall to your death, I would have left you behind and dealt with this thing myself long ago."
"Then go ahead. Next year, I'll sprinkle some Altus Blooms on your grave," Lusat chuckled, before descending into a fit of heavy coughing. "In your meditations, you too glimpsed the secrets within the depths of the stars, did you not? You were simply lucky enough not to lose your eyes. Then you should know that this beast is the legendary 'Astel, Naturalborn of the Void.' If you want to go to your death, I won't stop you."
Azur clicked his tongue. "Even if we join forces, and include all those Glintstone Masters and Professors, we still might not win, right?"
"I can no longer see," Lusat said softly, not answering directly. "Old friend... during the fight, would you hold my hand and guide me toward the enemy?"
"Stop talking so much."
The two old men supported one another as they walked down the steps. They looked like two rural farmers discussing the autumn harvest, yet the magic swelling around them was so intense it caused the hair of everyone within hundreds of meters to stand on end.
On the small path leading to the bunker, Loretta galloped at full tilt. Raven turned his head, but his view was blocked by Loretta's body. He couldn't see how the battle was progressing, but the sounds alone told him that a powerful enemy had breached the city.
He didn't say anything foolish like "Royalty doesn't flee" or "Take me back to fight." Though he considered his strength to be roughly equal to some professors or knights, Caria wasn't so short on manpower that they needed him. On the contrary, if he appeared on the battlefield and the enemy targeted him, everyone would be forced to protect him, which would only throw the battle into chaos.
The ground suddenly shuddered, followed by a furious, bestial shriek. It was a sound he had only heard when Loretta's four arrows had struck their mark. Clearly, the powerhouses within the Academy had made their move and dealt significant damage to the enemy.
However, this time, the pitch of the shriek continued to climb until it became nauseating. Raven suddenly realized this wasn't just a cry—it was a terrifying incantation.
A pillar of dark purple light shot into the sky, making it seem as if the entire firmament had begun to slowly rotate. Raven looked up; his demigod vision allowed him to see clearly that it wasn't the starry sky rotating, but rather purple meteorites appearing out of thin air, orbiting the pillar of light.
The meteorites began to fall. Stars fell like rain.
"Hold on tight," Loretta said. The hand she held the reins with tightened around Raven, pulling him into her embrace as she leaned low. The horse accelerated, swerving through the winding paths like the wind.
Even the whistling wind couldn't drown out the explosions and thunderous roars coming from all sides. Meteorites smashed massive holes into the dome of the Carian Knight's Hall; towers collapsed, and streets shattered.
A meteorite struck a sorcerer's tower by the roadside, sending masonry cascading down toward Raven and Loretta. Loretta let out a sharp cry, her silver war sickle swinging in wide arcs to knock aside the larger pieces of falling debris. She ducked even lower, shielding Raven with her own body as gravel clattered against her back.
Raven struggled to swing his staff, manifesting a magic shield to float above Loretta's head. He fired two Glintstone Pebbles in quick succession, blasting through the ruins blocking the road ahead. Loretta's horse leaped over the rubble, and the waterwheel leading to the bunker finally came into view.
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Elden Ring: The Unborn One's Journey Through Elden Ring(21 Chapter - Ongoing)
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