His grin widened as he released the white fireball, watching it descend through the water. The radiant heat it emitted caused the surrounding water to boil and churn violently.
The explosion was so catastrophic that it instantly vaporized the water within its radius. The Business Hub of Rise was obliterated in an instant. Buildings that had been reconstructing themselves were reduced to fragments of stone and metal. The sheer force of the explosion tore through the submerged structures. The water turned to steam under the ferocious heat. Towering columns of vapor surged skyward, shattering the hemispherical barrier that had enclosed the upper city like glass.
Adelasta was thrown off her feet as the ground beneath her quaked violently. The remains of the city were reduced to a wasteland of steaming rubble and glowing embers. The heat scorched her skin and the force of the blast knocked the air from her lungs. Gritting her teeth, she braced herself as the shockwave passed, leaving behind a ringing silence that felt almost deafening.
The water was gone. The entire makeshift flood that had engulfed the hub had evaporated in the explosion, leaving behind a scorched, barren landscape. The place was thick with steam and smoke, making it hard to breathe or see more than a few meters ahead. Adelasta hit the ground hard as the barrier's collapse left her without water to keep her afloat. Her body ached but she pushed herself to her knees. She coughed.
"Vastarael..."
Adelasta forced herself to stand. The heat from the explosion still lingered. She began to run, stumbling over the fractured debris, calling his name.
"Vastarael!"
"Foolish child, Your Betrothed is no more. Do you see the price of opposing me now?"
Adelasta ignored him. Her heart pounded in her chest and her vision blurred, but she pressed forward. He was the strongest person she knew. There was no way he had succumbed to this.
"Vastarael!"
The entire Business Hub of Rise was gone, reduced to a charred crater. The once-majestic spires were now little more than smoldering piles of rubble. Steam hissed from cracks in the ground where molten rock still bubbled.
Gathering her strength, she pushed herself back up and continued to search the wreckage for any sign of Vastarael. The mocking laughter of the Minor Dity grew fainter but she barely noticed.
Adelasta froze as she heard the faint voice cut through the suffocating silence.
"Sheesh… I survived a nuke."
Her head turned toward the sound. Through the haze of steam and smoke, she saw him. Vastarael's body was battered but upright. His messy white hair clung to his forehead. His upper garments were entirely gone, leaving his chest bare and riddled with burns, deep cuts and bruises. Steam rose from his injuries as his body struggled to regenerate. His pants were torn and scorched and his boots had been lost somewhere in the chaos. Blood trickled from a gash on his temple, mixing with the soot that covered his skin.
And yet, despite his state, Vastarael managed a lopsided grin.
Adelasta felt her legs move before her mind caught up.
"Vastarael!"
Without thinking, she threw her arms around him, clutching him tightly. She could feel the heat radiating from his wounds as it worked to repair the damage.
"Adelasta, careful... my injuries—"
She pulled away abruptly, realizing what she had done. Her cold expression returned in an instant.
"I-I know that," she said curtly but her hands were trembling.
Her eyes scanned him again, lingering on the burns and cuts that marred his once-pristine form. Physically, she looked composed but inside, her emotions were all over the place.
'Why am I so worried?'
Vastarael, noticing the turmoil in her eyes, offered her a small smile.
"You look like you've seen a ghost."
"I could say the same about you. You're more resilient than I thought, Prince of Anqerise."
Stephos emerged from the haze of destruction. His golden cloak billowed behind him as he sauntered forward with molten cracks forming beneath his feet with every step. His face bore a grin of mock amusement but his eyes gleamed with malice.
"You're alive? Impressive. You're more resilient than I thought, Prince of Anqerise. I'll admit, I underestimated you. But no matter. The game is over."
He stopped a few meters from Vastarael and Adelasta.
"Any final words before I end this charade?"
He glanced at Adelasta, who looked both furious and terrified, before turning his attention back to Stephos. Despite the pain, a faint smirk tugged at his lips.
"Final words, huh? Sure. I'll tell you my plan. You'll like it. It's clever, if I say so myself."
"Go on, amuse me."
Vastarael took a deep breath, ignoring the stabbing pain in his ribs. "Let's start from the beginning. My plan began the moment I realized you were hunting us. You see, I've been preparing for this since you trapped this cursed city. The first step was summoning water runes."
Stephos frowned slightly.
"Water is a rare ability in Spheraphase," Vastarael explained, his voice gaining strength as he spoke. "Only three beings can control it: my mother Lysameria, another I don't know, and me. The rarer the ability, the more potent its effects and the less essence it consumes to use it. That's why flooding this hub wasn't as difficult as it seemed. Sure, it drained a lot of my Essence but that's where your monsters came in handy."
Stephos' expression gort angrier as Vastarael continued.
"I didn't just kill them to thin their numbers. Every time I slew one, my Pinnacle Tether absorbed their essence, replenishing mine. It was an endless loop you see. Use Essence to create the flood, then recover it from your minions. Efficient, don't you think?"
"Clever. But flooding the city alone wouldn't kill me. So what was the point?"
Vastarael chuckled weakly. "I thought you'd ask. Flooding the city was Phase one. Phase two relied on you. You see, you're arrogant. You like to flaunt your power and I counted on that. I knew you wouldn't wade into the water to chase me. Instead, you'd vaporize it with your flames. And you did, just as I predicted. Now here's where things get interesting. You ever heard of pressure dynamics? Let me give you a quick physics lesson."
He gestured weakly to the surrounding destruction.
"When you heat water into steam, it expands. The barrier surrounding this city acted like a giant container. By flooding the city, I filled that container with liquid. When you vaporized it, the pressure inside skyrocketed. But here's the thing. Even a Tenth Star Barrier like yours can't ignore the laws of physics. The pressure built and built until…"
"The barrier shattered," Stephos finished but his tone was colder now.
"Exactly. All that destructive energy from the collapsing barrier did more than just wipe out your monsters. It destabilized the city, creating chaos that bought me time."
"So what if the barrier is gone? What difference does that make? You're still outmatched. What was the point of all this?"
"That's Phase three, buying time. From the moment my stepmother told me to stay alive until sunrise, I knew it wasn't random advice. She's never wrong about these things. If she said morning was the key, it meant someone would come to save us. My job was to make sure we survived long enough for that to happen."
"Your father is on another continent. Your two mothers are busy defending your precious palace. No one's coming for you, Vastarael."
Vastarael's smirk widened, though it cost him dearly to maintain it.
"Are you so sure about that?"
Before Stephos could respond, the air shifted. A crushing, otherworldly presence descended upon the ruined city. It was so powerful that it made the very ground tremble. The oppressive aura was like a tidal wave.
"No… it can't be..."
From the edge of the destruction, a figure emerged. Lysameria, the Nexus of Oceans, the Blade Nexus, and Vastarael's mother, had arrived.
Her hair flowed and her deep cerulean eyes shimmered with an intensity that made even Stephos take a step back. Her flowing white robes seemed to ripple like waves and every movement she made exuded the grace and power of the sea itself.
"You dared to threaten and kill my son."
Stephos clenched his fists, his bravado cracking under her gaze.
"You weren't supposed to—"
"Be here? You underestimated a mother's reach, Stephos. And now, you'll pay the price for your arrogance."
Adelasta stared in shock as Lysameria's Divine Presence washed over them like a protective tide. Vastarael, for the first time, allowed himself to relax.
"Right on time. About time, mother."
The tides had turned. Literally.