Yuruki's POV
Yuruki's eyes scanned the throng of masked figures, whispering and gesturing among themselves. "Hey… are you seeing that?" she murmured, unease curling in her chest.
The pink-haired girl perched on Yuruki's shoulder groaned. "Ugh… you're so heavy…"
Shade's grip tightened on her mace, her expression hardening. "Yep. I see them. How dare they copy the mask of the Supreme One." Her head shook slowly.
The purple-haired man exhaled, exasperated. "Don't we… just stay here?"
Yuruki paused, weighing the cost of disobedience. Should she leave with this strange world behind and ignore Adam's orders? "I guess I should sta-…"
Before she could finish, Shade scooped her up with ease. Yuruki yelped in surprise. "C'mon, humanoid! Let's go! And Suki, stop being a dumbass and follow!"
"Get off me!" Yuruki protested, but Shade dashed from platform to platform, weaving through the city with practiced speed, pursuing the masked men. Shrines adorned the city blocks—one dedicated to three children, another to a woman in a flowing, noble gown. Her eyes were pristine white, and her crown gleamed pure white, like the White King's own.
The woman's dress was layered with wild sleeves, intricate collars, flowing skirts, and embroidered sashes decorated with beetles and delicate flowers. She wore no jewelry, yet her presence radiated authority and grace.
Shade's voice snapped Yuruki back. "C'mon! Stop dawdling over those shrines!"
Fragments of the city revealed countless shrines, each more intricate than the last. Miners dug at luminescent mushrooms, some red and towering like trees.
Suki's voice cut through the tension. "Hey! This area's under threat! Just move!"
An old man, long-bearded and defiant, shouted, "Who are you to tell me what to do? I leave only when the King does!"
Suddenly, vines and branches erupted, wrapping him in shackles. Cloaked figures chanted in unison, drawing glyphs in the air, inscriptions glowing as fireballs erupted from their conjurations. Yuruki erected her barrier, deflecting the fiery onslaught with a shimmer of protection.
Suki's eyes widened as purple mist curled from his hands, conjuring daggers and swords that danced in the air, slicing through the enemies with delusions as Shade swung her mace with precision and speed. Disoriented, the cloaked assailants faltered. Yuruki hesitated, questioning why they were fighting these masked people, but the chaos left no room for doubt. She fired a series of concentrated laser blasts, forcing them to retreat.
Yuruki's eyes fell upon a tomb-like structure, a rectangular box resting unnaturally in the center of the spell on the ground. Skulls and human heads were embedded in its sides, their hollow eyes dark as void, as if the shadows within were trying to claw their way out.
A voice whispered, echoing from the depths of the blackened gaze:
"Girl… of the distant world… come."
Yuruki arched an eyebrow, curiosity flickering for only a moment. She crouched, scooping up a handful of dirt, and with a casual flick, she desecrated the spell, scattering the earth over the box. Her smirk was faint but sharp—too clever to be ensnared by such tricks.
Then, without warning, a yellow orb of light enveloped them. Yuruki, Shade, and Suki floated upward, along with terrified villagers, including the stubborn old man, who could only gasp as the orb carried them toward the palace.
Yuruki's eyes widened at the spectacle above. A massive explosion erupted at the palace's peak, desecrating the upper spires. The sky burned red, then yellow, as the entire kingdom became encased in a protective barrier of shimmering white and gold. From below, she marveled at the flames that danced atop the barrier, intense yet restrained, leaving the kingdom untouched.
Adam's POV
"No cost too great… our glory to be done," Adam murmured, observing the White King fall, cape rippling, arms stretched behind him as he drifted, unconscious, across the sky.
Adam's focus snapped to the enemies. A single man had built a colossal terrarian city and pulverized its crown—what could drive someone to such extremes?
[Adam]
"Hm?" Adam muttered, sensing Rehan's awareness on every frame.
He realized the White King was falling backward, ten thousand meters from the ground. Teleporting instantly, Adam intercepted him mid-air, supporting the King's weight.
A mechanical figure raced toward them like a spider, tendrils whipping, body clad and her body in a black suit. "Who are you? Get off my Lord!" she demanded. Adam dodged the cleaving tendrils with careful precision.
"Hey, wait! I'm not—"
Suddenly, hundreds of white laser beams shot from cloaked figures, each aimed at Adam. The scene mirrored the chaos of the Piercing Box invasion—masked, cloaked individuals firing energy from their hands, light of power radiating from their forms.
Adam flicked his fingers, shattering the incoming lasers into harmless fragments. In moments, the black knights intervened, covering the cloaked assailants and restraining the six-armed woman.
"Citizens shouldn't be here right now," one knight instructed, guiding the woman into restraints.
She protested, but the knight's drill-like sword at her side left little choice. "The closer we stand together, the closer we are to stopping those monsters!"
Reluctantly, she acquiesced. "As the daughter of the Artisan Smiths, you'll be contained," he explained.
"Soft knights, do not engage. This is an Ascended One—the Hero and the King's Aide," another ordered.
Meanwhile, the White King was being transported by a massive walking beetle-like contraption with a carriage, safely supported as Adam landed on a nearby platform.
"Forgive me, sir… the battle erupted too suddenly for us to respond effectively," Adam murmured.
Rehan exhaled, stretching slightly. At the start, the White King had been traveling at Mach 20, bursting to Mach 40 at times. The scale of the kingdom was near continental. Of course, no ordinary being could traverse it so swiftly.
Adam shook his head, bracing for the next phase. "We've been moving from place to place so fast…"